Tentatively, I open it and step out, allowing it to close behind me. “I could use something to eat too.” Keeping my voice calm is the hardest thing I’ve ever done.
Her eyes flick to the side before she gives a clipped nod. “Fine. Don’t screw around.” I give her a tight smile before moving closer to the table.
I let the silence fill the space for a few minutes before finally asking, “What are we doing out here? There’s a storm rolling in.” As soon as I finish speaking, thunder crackles across the sky. “We can’t stay out here.”
“We’ll be fine.” She ignores my words of caution.
Putting the food together, I place sandwiches on two plates with apple slices and hold them out as I walk over to the seat across from her. “I noticed the way you looked at me. At the boutique, when I was trying on dresses. I know you didn’t mean for me to see it, or maybe you did; I don’t know. But I get the feeling that’s why we’re here.” I keep my eyes lowered as I talk, not wanting to put her on the defensive.
“It doesn’t matter. You chose those two men. You didn’t even consider me.” The venom in her tone matches the hatred I see in her eyes.
“I didn’t know,” I defend. Until that day, I had no clue.
“Would it have mattered?” Her eyes narrow.
Taking a bite of my apple, I think before I speak, not wanting to set her off. “I wish I knew, but I wasn't aware. I think I’ve been in love with the twins my entire life, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t have been open to something different.”
I see a hint of hope in her eyes before she dashes it away. “I’ve been getting close to you all year. Letting you heal from what Tristan did. I wanted you to feel comfortable with me because I don’t care about your scars.” She reaches forward to brush a finger down the puckered skin of my cheek, and I barely tame my flinch. “I wish I could have given them to you,” she whispers like this is a seduction, and I asked to be burned.
“You want to scar me?” The anger I’ve been suppressing so I could be reasonable and get out of this with my life comes raging forward. “Do you comprehend the hell I went through that day and the following days, weeks, months? Christ, it’s been four years, and I still suffer because of him. And you want to sit here telling me you want me, but you also want to put me through literal hell as well?” I’m screaming by the end, and even if I might regret it later, I don’t now.
Her eyes grow wide as I push to my feet. I notice she leaves the gun on the bench as she stands too. “The scars enhance your beauty, Aria. You were so perfect before. Flawless. Untouchable. What he did... He made you a masterpiece.” I think I’m going to be sick.
Storming towards the stairs leading to the deck, I snare her in a glare meant to send her straight to hell. “You’re as sick as he was, and when the twins find me, because they will, you’ll get to meet him. You can spend eternity burning in the pits of hell right alongside him.”
I rush up the stairs just as the skies open wide and rain pours down on us like a tsunami. “Aria, wait!” Spinning, I see Kelsey's hands are empty. Precisely as I wanted. “He did you a favor.” My hatred grows the more she speaks.
“A favor? You’re kidding, right? I spent a year physically recovering. A year of my life wasted reliving all the pain he put me through. Still, he invades my head every night. How is that a favor?”
“I’m not like him,” she says. I let her walk closer to me as I back into one of the pillars holding a sail closed.
“You want to hurt me because I somehow rejected you when I didn’t even know you were interested. You areexactlylike him, only I think you’re worse. Because you have the knowledge of what he did to me, and you want to torture me too.” She reaches a hand towards me, and when I grip her wrist, a slight smile forms on her face, obviously thinking I might want her too.
Tightening my hold, I drag her forward, moving only as she’s about to hit me, and instead, she smacks her head off the pillar. Her body drops to the ground, and I rush to grab the rope hanging off a hook and tie her hands and feet together.
“Okay, now what,” I ask myself.
Pushing my wet hair off my face, I drag Kelsey to one of the lounge chairs in front of the covered cockpit. There’s a radio in there, and I can call for help.
Lightning and thunder continue to pepper the sky as the rain falls harder, pelting my skin like pointy icicles. Grabbing the raincoat I see hanging up, I put it on and pull up the hood. My eyes never leave Kelsey’s unconscious form on the chair as I pick up the radio.
Pressing the button on the side, I pray. “Hello?” There's static. “I…I…I need help. Hello? Is anybody there?” My voice cracks at the end.
“This is the United States Coast Guard. Identify yourself.” I nearly weep with relief.
“My name is Aria Adair. I’ve been kidnapped. I don’t know where I am or what to do. I need help.” My tears mingle with the rain as they both slide down my face.
“We are aware of your situation. Can you read us your location?” Panic quickly washes away the relief.
My eyes roam the gadgets in front of me, but I have no clue what any of them mean. “I can't; there’s so much equipment.”
“Princess. Breathe, baby. You can do this.” My knees almost buckle when I hear Severo’s voice.
“I don’t know how to tell. The storm is getting worse. The water, it feels like it might throw the boat.” I don’t know which dial indicates my location, and my body begins to shake.
“Aria!” Seven’s voice snaps me to attention. “Take a breath, then get a life jacket on. We’ll come back to the coordinates in a second.”
“Okay.” I breathe in deeply. “Okay. I’m doing that. Hang on.” As if they’d leave me. I know in my soul that they wouldn’t. Pulling open the tops of the benches around me, I secure the two life vests and put mine on before sliding one onto Kelsey as well. As much as I want her to suffer, I don’t want her to drown and never face justice for nearly killing us in this damn storm.