I stroke her hair. "Shh. It's okay. If anyone gets you, it's me."
She wipes under her eye. "I had flashbacks...it...it reminded me of Torres and his hosted fights."
"What are those?"
"You never had to watch?"
"No."
She closes her eyes and bites her lip.
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." I assure her.
She slowly opens her eyes. "After I discovered what was happening, I tried to get out. Instead, they made me go watch. I had to dress up in an evening gown. Two men who they said were traitors were put into a ring. They made them fight to the death. After the first fight, another set of men were brought out. All night, it took place. When there were no more men left, the winners had to get back in the ring and fight each other. The last man standing could hardly breathe, and one of Torres's thugs would give him the final blow with a kick to the head."
"That must have been horrible."
"Five times I had to go. Every time seemed worse. I... I thought one of them was going to die tonight." Her tears fall onto the pillow.
"I know. It was so violent."
"How could they hurt each other like that?"
"I don't know," I admit. We talk a bit more, and after several yawns, I say, "It's late. Let's try to get some rest."
I close my eyes, and I try to fall asleep, but all I can think about is Hunter. His face was so mangled up when I last saw him, and all I see is that.
And I keep regurgitating the events of the evening.
After several hours of debating, I finally decided I would tell Hunter everything. I didn't want to lose him. If that is what he needed from me, I owed it to him. I would ask him one last time to drop it, but if he still insisted on me telling him my secrets, then I would.
I went to find Hunter, and that's when I heard it all.
Tinker thinks I'm a gold digger.
Hunter just got out of a relationship and didn't tell me?
He was living with her. That means it was serious.
But all of that doesn't even matter. Hunter told Tinker that he's done with me.
It's over. I'm too late.
I ran out of the room half embarrassed from being caught eavesdropping, even though I hadn't intentionally been, and the other half crushed from hearing him tell Tinker that we were over.
Then the fight happened.
For most of the night, I twist and turn, worrying about Hunter and if he is okay but holding myself back from checking on him.
He made it clear he doesn't want me.
I finally fall asleep and wake up some time later from the same recurring nightmare I told Hunter about. I'm back with Carlos, and I'm forced to marry him. It feels so real, and I wake up sweating and crying. It's morning, and Julieta is already gone.
I take a shower but realize I don't have any clean clothes.
Great. I'm going to have to ask Hunter for my clothes.
Why did I walk off the deck? I shouldn't have walked away from him. Everything that happened is my fault, including the fight.
Maybe I can sneak into his backpack and get my clothes.
I'm going to have to see him at some point.
I secure a towel around my body and cautiously go to the other spare bedroom and peek in. No one is there, but Hunter's backpack is on the bed, so I creep in and start rummaging through it.
"Flower."
I jump and put my hand over my heart.
"Sorry."
"You just startled—" I cover my mouth in horror. Hunter's in a towel, and bruises cover his face and torso as well.
He doesn't move.
"Oh my God." My eyes well. I've experienced beatings before. It has to be painful.
Minutes pass, and the more time that goes by without him saying anything, the more my heart bleeds. I want to go to him, but I remind myself that he made it clear he no longer wants to be with me. And that was my fault.
When my tears fall, I spin and pull clothes out of his bag. "I'm not snooping. I'm only taking clothes."
"I didn't think you were."
I wipe my face and turn right into him.
"I'm sorry about last night, Flower."
I assume he's talking about the fight. "You don't have to apologize. It's my fault Ryker punched you."
"No. That was my fault."
"I played my role. I'm sorry."
He tilts my chin up. "You had no role in it. It's not your fault."
I reach for his face but pull my hand back down. "How much pain are you in?"
"I'm fine. I can handle it."
I can handle it.
It's what I used to say after Carlos hurt me and he would apologize.
"It's not fine," I blurt out.
Hunter opens his mouth then closes it.
I inhale deeply as my insides quiver. "You gave up a lot to help me and... I appreciate all you've done—more than you'll ever know." I swallow the knot in my throat. "Do you think Tinker would let me borrow his computer?"
"Why?"
The hole in my stomach grows. "I need to use it to transfer money."
"For what?" he growls, and I jump. He sighs. "I'm sorry. What for?"
"I need cash. I thought I could try and transfer money from my bank into a Honduran one under the name of my passport when it comes so I can access it."
"You can't do that. They will track you."
"I'll do it quickly. I have plenty of funds to survive. I just need to cash my accounts out."
"You can't. Carlos will find you. But you don't need to worry about this. I'll take care of you."
"You've done more than enough. I'm forever grateful."
His eyes turn to slits. "Does this have to do with what Tinker said last night?"
My heart breaks with every word. "No. You told me you'd get me out of Belize, and you have. You have a life, and you can go back to it now." I try to smile, but it's forced and feels fake.
"I'm not leaving you, Vanessa. You can't log in to any of your accounts. The minute you do, they will be here. And until you get to safety, you're not going anywhere without me."
"I'm not your responsibility. I—"
"Flower, I know I messed up, but this is one thing I won't back down on. I'll try my best not to make things uncomfortable for you, but until you're safe, you're stuck with me."
"I'm not uncomfortable with you," I blurt out.
"No?"
"No."
"That's not what this is about?" he asks.
"Not at all. I want to be fair to you."
"You don't have to worry about that. And I won't go away until you're safe."
"Okay. Thank you."
"You don't have to thank me."
"I do."
Uncomfortable silence follows as we stare at each other.
Hunter speaks first. "I'm sorry you heard what Tinker said."
"I didn't mean to eavesdrop."
"You weren't."
"I'm... I'm sorry about your breakup. I hope it isn't still painful for you."
"It's not. It happened over two years ago."