Page 19 of Insatiable

“I think Base might be dead,” Tylar says, yawning. “He’s lying in the lobby in just a pair of boxers.”

Kade nods, and I want to look at him again so badly, but I don’t.

He walks up the stairs on my right, and my skin prickles at his nearness before he vanishes into the manor. My shoulders jump as he slams the door.

“So moody,” Tylar says. “I wonder where he went? Dez said he ran out the manor at seven this morning.”

I don’t reply as I stare at my shoes, kicking imaginary stones.

When the Uber arrives, we run down to the gates and jump in. Tylar lives an hour from here, and her place is smaller, filled with loads of art, statues and plants. Her cats press up against my legs as I try to walk to her room, nearly tripping me on the stairs.

Instead of showering and getting dressed, or doing anything productive, Tylar and I put on fresh pyjamas and climb into bed. We stay there for the rest of the day, and when I finally charge my phone, Luciella video-calls us for an hour to make plans for our upcoming trip to America. She’s flying out to meet up with her mother and Ewan, and see her dad, and has invited me along for a holiday.

I fall back to sleep after we eat pizza.

We do this for three days, and over those three days, I ignore every single message from Chris. They only grow angrier, more threatening, and even after I block him, he uses a new number to ask me to come home.

Or begs me more like.

Tylar finally drives me home after we collect her car from Lu’s, reminds me that I’m covering her class tonight then air-kisses me as I leave the vehicle. I rush to my bedroom, sighing in relief when I reach it and close the door, putting the chair beneath the handle to stop Chris from getting in.

I shower and lean against the tiles, remembering how close Kade was to me by the gate. His arm was around me, and then his hand was on my throat. I slide my hand up to my neck and bite my lip, closing my eyes and imagining it’s him.

The moment breaks when someone bangs on my bedroom door, loud enough that I can hear it in my bathroom.

Chris stares at me like an angry owl from across the dining table while Nora discusses with Kyle the importance of being more involved with the family instead of partying all the time.

I can barely swallow my food without feeling his vomit-inducing gaze on me. It’s murderous – like, serial killer murderous. If there wasn’t anyone else around, I fear what he’d do.

If Chris grips his fork any tighter, it’ll snap.

Psycho.

“When are you going to America?”

Nora’s question is enough to pull his concentration to his mother. He had no idea I was going away. Great, more punishment.

When I tell her that I’m leaving tomorrow, she asks, “And will adults be going?”

“Can we not do this? I’m twenty-one.”

“Regardless of your age, the last time you went over there, you came back with multiple bruises and a broken arm. How are you going to prevent that from happening again?”

I shrug.Your son has a screw loose. “Maybe not drink and fall in front of oncoming traffic?” That was the lie he’d made me come up with.

“There’s no need for that tone, dear. I’m just worried about you. Whenever you go away with your friends, you come back injured.”

“Why are you going there?” Chris asks, and I know he’s going to strangle me against my door when we’re alone, to try to squeeze every little last detail from me.

I can’t say,Oh to seeTobiasfucking Mitchell with his children,can I? First off, they’d freak because he’s famous around here. And then they’d lock me in my room, so I’d never see that family again.

When I don’t respond, he kicks the table. “Who are you going with?”

“Friends.”

“Who?”

“Fucking hell.” Kyle tosses down his fork, Nora scowling at him for his bad language. “Does it matter? Let her breathe, man. You’re unbearable at times. And so are you,” he says to his mother. “She’s old enough to do what she wants.”

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