“Crazy is an understatement. He came to my house looking for you, but as we both know, I had no clue you had left, let alone where you were. He seriously looked like he was going to murder the entire city.”
A shiver runs down my spine, I can picture that face like I just saw it yesterday. “He was not the person we thought he was. He was the worst kind of monster.”
“What happened Lilly? One minute you’re moving in with him, the next I never hear from you again.”
I sink down onto the lounge and finish the champagne before I have the strength to answer her.
“He changed.” My eyes water, and my voice is shaky. “Those two weeks when we were dating, that wasn’t him. He hurt me, a lot. And he liked it. It turned him on. If I wasn’t marked or a shade of red, he’d find a reason to punish me.”
She drops next to me, her eyes are wide and looking shocked to the core. “What the fuck, Lilly? Are you okay?”
“Yeah, it was a long time ago now. But that’s the reason why I ran. It’s the reason why I ditched you. He was starting to drop hints about you, or how he can make girls disappear. Not just dead, but sold off, and…” I don’t have the stomach to finish the sentence. “That’s why I have to leave. He won’t let me go and he won’t care about this new arranged marriage. Not one bit.”
“And this guy? Or don’t I want to know?” She’s biting her lip, almost too nervous to ask.
“Ren?” I blow out a long, deep breath. “He’s the exact opposite. He’s trying to do what’s right, since it’s his fault I’m here and Sergei knows where I am again. Yeah, he is keeping me here against my will, but he has never hurt me, and I’ve bitten him and kneed him in the balls.”
“Well, him keeping you against your will makes me wanna kick him in the balls too!”
“Exactly! He is so stubborn and thinks he can convince me to actually be his wife.”
“Pfft, men! Don’t get me started.” She stands and walks back to the bar, taking both bottles in her hands and bringing them over. “So, what’s the plan? Shimmy down the drainpipe?”
A giggle escapes, and not just from the champagne but the many, many memories of me doing the exact same thing sneaking out of the house when I was a teenager.
“I tried out of a window at a restaurant, landed on my ass in a bush. Ren busted me that time, and his men the other time I tried to ditch them at a store. I think it’s gonna be harder than I thought.”
“Hmm.” She taps her lip, thinking. “Wait! why am I helping you? I don’t want you to leave again!”
“I don’t want to leave again either, but I don’t have a choice.”
“This is bullshit!”
“I know. I’m trying to talk sense into Ren, so he can just let me go, but he isn’t budging. I will think of something, and soon.”
“You know, he isn’t here right now?” She winks at me, a mischievous smile on her face.
“I promised I wouldn’t run today.” My phone beeps and distracts me from Ria’s very confused face. “Speak of the devil.”
There is a message from Ren, and not the first for today.
Ren: Do you need Rico to take you home to change?
I can’t help but smile when I read it. Wherever he’s been today, he’s still been in contact making sure I’m taken care of.
Lilly; Nope all good. Stop texting me and concentrate!
If it’s as dangerous as I think, he needs to keep his head in the game because there’s been a sickness swirling inside me since he left. I’m just about to put my phone down again when it beeps.
Ren: I miss you too xx
I giggle again and can’t wipe the smile from my face. I hit reply one last time with an LOL and tuck my phone away, looking back up to Ria.
“Look at your face, you sly little slut.” She playfully points at me and laughs. “YOU LOVE HIM.”
“WHAT?” I can feel my face warm, and my cheeks blush. “I do not! Don’t be stupid.”
“Oh Ren. Stop it,” she screeches in a high-pitched voice.