Dante didn’t get it. This wasn’t about my freedom—if it were, I could learn to handle that, but this was about so much more than that. It was about dignity, being treated like a person instead of like an animal, having some small measure of control over my own existence. I couldn’t keep letting Vincent push me around, keep letting him dictate what I did.
I wanted something now. As I relaxed and lay on the floor, staring up at the ceiling, face throbbing, ribs throbbing, foot throbbing, I thought about Reid and about what he meant for me. It’d been so long since I wanted a man—since I was able to let one into my life. He represented choice and the future and everything that I thought I wanted out of life. He was a crazy choice, maybe a stupid one—but he was still a choice, one that made me feel good and one that I wanted to make, even if it was a mistake.
Dante couldn’t understand something like that and I’d never expect him to.
The day dragged past. They skipped lunch and dinner arrived an hour before the sun went down. It was pasta, jarred sauce that tasted like metal, grilled chicken, and a glass of water. I ate more because I was hungry and lightheaded than anything else.
At some point, it was dark outside, and I took a shower. I crawled into bed, still fully dressed, and curled up under the blankets, eyes squeezed shut, willing myself to fall asleep. The more I could sleep, the faster this would all pass, and maybe things would change, maybe things would get better for me.
I must’ve drifted off—because the next thing I knew, an enormous, house-shaking explosion went off somewhere outside.
I rolled out of bed and strangled a scream. My ears rang and I heard shouting outside. I ran to the window and stared out, trying to see what was going on, but I didn’t have a good view. I saw paper fluttering in the air and thought there were chunks of metal—maybe a side mirror from a car—and the flickering shadows of fire. I smelled smoke when I opened the window and heard more shouting, more yelling. Footsteps stomped around the house and I knew something big happened.
I pulled on my shoes and socks, heart racing. I didn’t know what was going on or what I thought I could do about it, but I wanted to be ready just in case. As the shouting got louder, and began to reach a panicked note, I heard steps outside. I stood up, figuring this was it—Vincent was coming for me, maybe using the chaos as an opportunity to make me disappear.
The door unlocked with a loud thud. I stood there, heart racing, bruises aching, but nobody came through. I took a few steps toward the door, but only heard the yelling from downstairs. I reached out for the knob, turned it—and pushed it open.
The hallway was empty.
I stood in the doorway, confused as hell, not sure what was going on. The shouting came through clearer. They were trying to put out a fire that was raging downstairs, and I heard snippets of what had happened—some sort of car accident.
Someone had unlocked my door. I didn’t know who, and some part of me thought this was a test, and maybe I should turn around and head back into my room—but no, I couldn’t do that, even if this was a loyalty test, I had to take the chance. I was willing to fail if it meant I could go free.
I began to walk as fast as I could in the opposite direction of the shouting men. I saw the staircase that led back down into the kitchen and started formulating my plan of escape—
When a pair of hands flew out from a dark room on my right, grabbed me and yanked me inside, a hand covering my mouth, pressing down hard enough to stop the scream that tried to rip out from my throat.23ReidI leaned up against an old Volkswagen Beetle and peered into the back seat. Small, wrapped brown bundles were lined up along the floor with a small square circuit board and a red LED light on top of it. We stood outside a low, gray building, the car parked next to the curb. Streetlight dripped yellow light down around our feet and people walked past on the opposite sidewalk. It was a clear, crisp night, almost comfortable, ten minutes past midnight, and I wondered if the weather would hold off for a little bit longer. I turned back to Aldrik, frowning and shaking my head.
“Tell me this is going to work.”
Aldrik gave me the thumbs-up. “It’ll work, boss. I rigged it myself.”
“That’s not exactly making me feel better.”
Enrico laughed and nudged against Aldrik. “Say what you will about him, but Aldrik knows his explosives.”