And still, I was fucking terrified.
Roberto tightened his hold on my hand, getting my attention. “Pack light. Just clothes that won’t draw attention to you. Clothes you can run in. I’ll come for you at midnight. There is a secret path under this house that very few people know about. We’ll use it to make the escape.”
He grabbed something else from the bag and handed it to me, the piece of metal foreign in my hand. I looked down.
A cell phone.
I never had a cell phone before.
“This is untraceable. It’s been prepaid for about three months, but as soon as you can, get rid of it and buy a new one, understand? Remember, I’ll come get you at midnight tonight. I heard your father talking earlier, and he’ll be leaving for another meeting as soon as dinner is finished. He won’t be home until morning, and hopefully by then, you’re long gone.”
I shook my head and grabbed a notebook on my nightstand. I had started using it not long after I lost my voice to write down all the things I couldn’t say out loud.
I turned to a new page and wrote down my question before showing it to him.
What would I do?
His eyes softened. “Anything, Miss. Anything. You’ll be free.”
He kept his eyes on me for a beat, and I didn’t know what that look in his eyes meant. He stood. “I’ll get you out of this hellhole of a place even at the cost of my life, I vow it.”
Then he turned around and walked out the room, leaving me in there.
You’ll be free.
I’d lived so long in a cage, I didn’t know the meaning of the word free.
Free sounded terrifying.
And exhilarating.
I was free.