Chapter 182
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I curled up on the bed after Raines was gone, my left hand still hanging, and I was beginning to feel the pain.
It’s been this way for hours anyway. It was bound to start hurting.
How did I manage to land myself in this situation? Did I deserve it? Probably, for sleeping around and hooking up with a man like Raines.
This will teach me not to hook up with anybody when I’m drunk.
I miss Kade.
I even miss Gianna. And Papa.
Will nobody really find me there? I’m sure they’ve already reported this to the police, but Raines said we were in the middle of nowhere, and that man was a Colonel in the military with top training. If he wanted to hide, he would stay hidden.
Was I really going to depend on him? That would be torture, but…. but I didn’t want to die. I wanted to live.
Kade was still waiting for an answer. I had to give it to him. I know my answer now, so I had to give it to him.
He has been patient enough. He has done enough.
I fell asleep in that position, with my arm numb, tears in my eyes.
.
A clink was what stirred me from sleep. I was immediately awake, sitting up and I came face to face with Raines.
“Always on alert,” he said, stepping away.
“What do you want?” I asked, my eyes narrowed. My left hand was free, but I didn’t touch it. I just kept my eyes fixed on this
man.
He pointed at the table and my eyes followed his hand to see food and water already set. I looked back at him, my eyes narrowing even further. “Has it been up to a day yet?”
He shook his head. “It turns out I’m too weak against you.”
“Am I supposed to jump on my feet and rejoice because of that?”
He scoffed weakly, moving to the second chair in the room and sitting. “What a mouth you have on you. Come eat.”
I stood up slowly, rubbing my left wrist as I moved to the table. There was an ugly, red mark there from the cuff, and I kept looking at it.
“A mark like that shouldn’t be on your fair skin,” Raines said as I sat down, his gaze fixed on the wrist.
I picked up the spoon, taking the first sip of the tomato soup and I sighed inwardly. Can’t give Raines the satisfaction of seeing me enjoy his meal. “And whose fault is that?”
He said nothing and just watched me eat. His gaze made me uncomfortable, but I focused on my meal.
After long minutes of silence, he asked. “Do you want to step out? This room must be stuffy.”
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9:43 am
Chapter 182
PP
20 vouchers
And it was. There were no windows, so I couldn’t see if it was dark or not. There was no way to know how long I’ve been here.
I finally looked at him. “I can do that?”
He nodded. “There’s nowhere you can run to anyway.”
I rolled my eyes away from him. “Yay me.”
I could also figure out where we were if I stepped out, and know if escape was possible or not. But I refuse to believe 1 couldn’t escape from this place or this man.
He hasn’t hurt me, but until when? He could just snap and decided he was going to stoop low and force himself on me.
I couldn’t just wait and let that happen.
“I’ll go,” I said without looking at him.
He stood up, wrapping his jacket around my shoulders and moving to the door. “Alright.”
I watched his back. Somehow… I didn’t hate him. Why? I didn’t know. Because he was being gentle and considerate for a kidnapper? Because he hasn’t hurt me?
But I hated him for hurting Kade, for making him bleed. That was the only reason I was imagining what a knife would look like stuck in his back.
He held the door open for me without a word. I picked up the water and took a sip before I stepped outside the room.
There was a passage and after that was what I think was the front door.
There wasn’t a window in the passage so I just followed Raines. There was no point looking around because I couldn’t see anything.
Raines opened the front door and stepped out. I followed, and the night air hit my face.
It was night…
When I followed Raines, it was also night, but I know it’s been hours after that, so a day has passed.
The moon was the only light, but even that didn’t do much since it wasn’t a full moon. But with the little light it provided, I was able to see that we were surrounded by trees.
I walked away from the house and then I turned. The house was… little.
Just a little door in the front. No windows. Not a single light. A house this small could only hold two rooms.
Yeah, I was certain now that nobody was going to find me here.
I was on my own.
I moved to a log on the ground, Raines‘ gaze following me, but he gave me space. I sat on the log, shaking Raines‘ jacket off my shoulders.
“It’s cold,” he said from where he stood.
“It’s not that cold.”
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9:43 am
Chapter 182
0:01
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A beat of silence passed and I stared up at the sky and the countless stars. “Are you really going to keep me here?”
No answer.
“I will hate you more than you can imagine for taking my life away from me. And I do have a life, Raines. I have a company that needs me. I know a father who will be worried sick about the whereabouts of his daughter. Are you really going to take that away from me?”
Still no answer.
I sighed.
1 guess that meant yes.
There was no point trying to talk to him. I was going to have to figure out a way to get myself out of here.
A rustle came from the bush and I was immediately on my feet, my eyes wide, my heartbeat picking up.
“Did you bring me to a place where there are wild animals?” I asked, taking a step back away from the log, my eyes fixed on the bush where the rustle came from.
“There are no wild animals here,” Raines answered, his voice close.
As if to prove him wrong, a growl came and I felt Raines go still behind me.
“You were saying?” I asked, my voice shaking as I continued to step back.
Raines moved to stand in front of me, his gun raised. Nothing happened or sounded for a while but then I watched, with my eyes wide and my mouth open as a wolf, taller and bigger than any wolf should be, stepped out, its eyes glowing.
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Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
