“What freedom?” she shouted. “You’re just taking me out of one locked castle for another. Have you not listened to anything I have said to you about my life and my father?” She ran her fingers through her hair and took a deep breath as she looked up at the sky. “Never mind. I don’t know why I’m acting like this. You’re right. It’s not like we could keep living like this. It was temporary. Just a kidnapping that would have to end eventually.” Her fake smile returned. “I get it. I do.”
Without saying another word, she spun on her heels and began running back toward the house. I couldn’t chase after her because her words and her reaction to leaving were like a kick in the balls.
“I thought that something was happening between us.”
Her words.
Something happening between us…
Aria
Matthew walked into the kitchen. “I can see… no, I can feel that I have upset you from our conversation outside. I didn’t like ending it that way.”
I looked into his deep eyes and said nothing. I met his gaze and allowed him to truly see my pain. I wanted him to see how not being with him caused anguish like no other. Was I the only one who felt that way? Or was I the only one being honest enough to admit it?
“I just thought,” I began, hating that my voice shook as I spoke. “I just thought that there was more between us. That maybe that wasn’t the plan when your plan of taking me first began, but it happened.”
Matthew didn’t say anything but swallowed hard.
“Was it just fucking and waiting it out? Nothing more?” I asked, not wanting to hear the answer but also having to know.
If I couldn’t be honest now, and expect honesty in return, then when? Once I returned to my father, I would never see Matthew again. So, what did I have to lose in asking? I needed to know the truth. Had I misread this completely?
He pulled me into his arms harshly, pressing my head to his chest with more force than I had ever experienced from his hand. “It kills me to see you hurt. I want to never be the cause of your heartache.” Without releasing his grip, he continued, “But what you want is not possible. It’s not the way your life should be. Missing. Hidden away. We can’t just hide away up in here in the little utopia and pretend the world doesn’t exist out there.”
“I understand that,” I said. But did I truly?
“Do you?” he asked, clearly reading through my eyes. “Because I get it. I won’t lie and tell you I haven’t felt there is more between us. The last few days have been some of the best days of my life. I can admit that to you.”
“Then why do we have to end?”
“Aria… come on. Life has to return to normal. You, me, up here in hiding, is not normal. We couldn’t do this forever no matter how much we want it.”
I nodded, hating that Matthew was right, but also dreading what that meant.
“So, does that mean I go back with my father and never see you again?”
“I wish it could be different,” he said.
“But it could be. Why not? I’m a grown woman and could choose what I want.”
An eyebrow rose and he tilted his head. “Aria. I appreciate how open and honest you’re being with me, but you need to be just as honest with yourself.”
“What does that mean?”
“Could you leave your father of your own free will? Could you truly give yourself to me even if that meant going against his will?”
“I already did!” I snapped.
He shook his head. “No, you didn’t. I took it. I stole it. I made it happen because that is what I do.”
“But I wanted it. I just didn’t tell you. But I did. And I do. I want you, Matthew Price. There I said it.”
Matthew shook his head. “But could you say it to your father? And even if you could, I wouldn’t want you to. I’m an asshole and always have been. Money, power and success have always come first with me. I usually just fuck women and discard them like waste. I’m a fucking monster in that regard. I’m the pitch in the black. The only glimpse of light in my life is you. You and I are not the same and never will be.”
I pulled from his strong embrace. “I don’t care who or what you are. Just as you don’t care who or what I am.”
“When we leave here, the reality of life will kick in. A life for both of us that doesn’t blend.”
“How do you know?” I asked, fighting back the urge to break down and sob.
“Aria, this is final,” he dictated.
I had to do something. Anything. I needed to stop the pain inside. No more talk. I couldn’t hear his truth any longer. I didn’t want to face mine.