“You can have a bath as soon as you agree to help me.”
“And what do I get out of it?”
“A life of luxury. A man who will be completely devoted to you.”
“This is if you believe I’m the right woman for him. This guy, he could kill me.”
“That’s true. I can’t tell you it won’t be a risk.”
“Ugh, I hate you right now. You know that, right? Like, I really fucking hate you.”
“It’s a given.”
“All I need to do is get this guy to fall for me and I get a bath. When can I go home? I mean, once I’ve lured him in, I don’t have to do anything, right?”
“What part of you will have this guy completely devoted to you don’t you understand?” Gabriel asked.
“Look, a week ago, I was a waitress and the post lady. In a matter of hours, I’ve been taken against my will, brought to a foreign land, and told that I’m someone’s twin, which by the way, hurts. I was never adopted. While my better half got a good life, I had to fight to survive and believe me, it wasn’t an easy fight, and now you’re telling me I don’t even get to go fucking home!” She looked from one to the other. “On top of that, because I’ve got issues with it, I can’t even have a bath!” She slumped back and groaned. “Kill me now.”
Rick chuckled. “We both know you’re going to take this deal.”
“How do you know? I don’t want to have some weirdo obsessed with me.” She didn’t see an alternative. Not that she intended to play along completely. She’d done this game with a foster dad who wanted to fuck her. He didn’t get what he wanted, but she got a warm bed for
a short time. “Fine. Fine. I’ll do it.”
“That was easy.”
“I want a bath, okay? I may be scum of the earth to you, but I like to be clean.” Even when she’d lived on the streets, she’d always tried to make it so she could have a bath. When she earned change from people passing by and wanting to do a good deed, she didn’t spend it on drink or drugs. Food, and a nice trip to the local swimming baths. She got a shower out of it, and it was relatively cheap on admittance.
Once she got her shit together to rent an apartment, there was no way she was ever going back on the streets, at least that was what she told herself daily. She had a plan and a way of executing it. She’d always been able to have a plan and to work around problems. Right now, it was a problem, a big one, but nothing she couldn’t fix. It would be easy for her handle.
“Fine. A bath it is.” Rick helped her to her feet and led her out of the room. She didn’t attack them. No, she would have to play along for the time being. It was the only way she was going to survive.
They went down a long corridor toward the end of the hall, then down a flight of steps. It was like a maze. Rick entered a huge bathroom. The bath itself was like a mini-pool. “You have everything you need in here. You’ve got ten minutes.”
“Wait, it will take that long for me to run the bath.”
“Oh, you’ve got ten minutes and then I’m coming in to make sure you’re not trying anything funny.” He held her wrist and lifted it up. She’d been too busy checking the layout of the house for a possible escape to realize he’d been holding her wrist, feeling her scars.
She tried to tug out of his hold but his grip tightened. “I didn’t try to kill myself, okay. This was an attack.”
“Really?”
“If you’re so smart, check it out. One of the kids didn’t take their meds or whatever. He tied me up, a couple of the other kids as well, and slashed our wrists. Told us he was bleeding the evil out of us. He ended up killing himself before the police got to us.” She shrugged. For weeks afterward, she had nightmares. “I’m sure there’s a police report for it. Believe me, no matter how horrible life gets, I’m not taking mine. Not yet. I will fight.”
“Good. You’re going to need that fighting spirit.”
He left the bathroom, closing the door.
“Arsehole.”
She put the plug in the bath, checked the taps for the hot water, and even found some bubble bath, which she added. While the water ran, she removed her clothes, seeing the stains from some of the food the chef had spilled on her.
Stripped down naked, she didn’t take a chance on the time and climbed into the water. After turning off the cold tap, she kept the hot water running. Closing her eyes, she dipped her head back into the water. Bliss.
She did love a nice hot bath.
Rick didn’t even knock. He walked right back into the bathroom with a chair.