I didn’t answer.
He tightened his hand and pulled my hair a little harder. “Right?”
“I’m aware.”
“Good.” All at once, he loosened his hold. “When we learned you were missing, I brought in extra security for the family. I even talked to that Benedict girl.”
Don’t. React. Don’t react. Don’t react.
“Who?”
He snorted, then picked up the flute of champagne and put it into my hand. Even as he closed my fingers around it, he pressed my hand so severely, I had a feeling the glass might shatter. While he held my hand firmly on the glass, he reached for his own. “Don’t worry, Princess. We’ll fix everything.” The promise left dread curling in my stomach. Even more when he tapped his glass to mine and lifted his for a drink even as he pressed upwards.
I didn’t want it, but unless I wanted to wear it—I drank it down in one long gulp. Approval radiated off of him as he finally released my hand. “Another,” he said and it wasn't a question. Instead, he just refilled my glass and his own.
The champagne was dry as hell and the alcohol hit like a punch. Maybe that was why he wanted me to drink it, so I’d just relax. Sure. Why not? I downed the second glass without any encouragement and he finally released my hand and settled back in his chair. The fact he clamped a hand on my leg sent my skin crawling in a desperate attempt to escape the contact, but by the third glass of champagne, I didn’t give a fuck anymore.
He didn’t ask anything else of me, nor did he insist that I eat when the attendants brought out food. “Your chaperone has been dealt with,” he told me rather conversationally at one point, but I didn’t care. If that meant he paid off Marta, or killed her, it was all the same to me. “You will also not be returning to that troupe in the future. In fact, I believe you should take the next couple of years and reassess your goals and choices.”
Sure. Why not? I was almost nineteen. Probably time to put away childish things. He kept talking, making plans, and I kept drinking. I finished the bottle before we landed. Instead of leaving the plane immediately though, Uncle Bradley made us wait until the new security team arrived. They came to the doors of the jet itself in order to escort us off.
The reason why was clear from the moment we descended the steps. Press was everywhere. Press. Flashing cameras. Shouted questions. My uncle drew me close and I dropped my head and looked away from all of them. One, I didn’t want to be photographed. Two, I didn’t want to answer their questions. Three, if I opened my mouth, I might start screaming and never stop.
All the way to the car, he kept an arm around me and the security pushed the people back. I caught the flash of a badge, but my uncle all but shoved me inside before he turned to deal with the man. The interior of the limo smelled of air freshener and faintly of cleaner and tobacco. It wasn’t until Uncle Bradley climbed in that the cloying notes of his cologne were there.
I shifted on the seat but before I could move away, he clamped a hand on my knee again. His fingers bit into my skin, the pain increasing with every second until I settled back. Only then did he ease up.
“I’ll introduce you to your new security detail tomorrow,” Uncle Bradley said, and it took a few minutes for his words to register. That and the fact he mentioned going to his home. "Your parents are preoccupied, though your return will be good for both of them to hear.”
“What security detail?” I wasn’t some celebutante who needed one.
“If you think I will allow anyone to take you away again,” Uncle Bradley told me in a voice devoid of emotion. “You’re gravely mistaken. Those who took you will be dealt with…you’re far too precious to me to be allowed to be harmed or ransomed back.”
Ransomed.
“No one ransomed me.”
“Weren’t you?” He gave me an enigmatic look. “How else did you think I found you, Princess?”
Bullshit. Even if my thoughts were running a little slower than normal. “If I’d been ransomed, you wouldn’t have had to threaten me to get me back.”
“I’d never threaten you,” he said before leaning in and kissing my cheek. I flinched away before he could touch my mouth. His tone hardened. “But I will undo the damage that’s been done to you. You were never afraid of me before.”
I stared at him, aghast. “I’m not afraid of you now.”
“No?” Challenge dripped off that single word.
“No.” Oddly, it was true. Maybe I was drunk. Or maybe I’d actually hit my limit. “I’m not afraid of you.”
When he lifted his hand to my face, I jerked away. “Really? Then why do you keep flinching?”
“Because you disgust me.”
The words slipped free. No matter how hard I tried to squeeze myself back into the mold of the old Emersyn, it just didn’t fit me anymore. He telegraphed the move. I saw it coming and watched it as his hand came back and then struck. The hot slap against my face burned. The force drove the soft skin inside my cheek against my teeth, and I tasted blood.
The coppery flavor flooded my mouth, sobering me alongside the pain flashing fire against my skin. I didn’t even have to reach up to cup a hand over it. I met his gaze, unblinking. “You still disgust me.” Flecks of blood sprayed as I spoke and a drop hit his cheek. The next blow slammed me against the glass of the window and the world darkened for a bit.
I should stay awake, but I didn’t want to be conscious. Not here. Not ever again. As it was, I roused again as we passed through the black gates marking the drive up to his huge home. Uncle Bradley didn’t wait for the driver, he just pushed open the door and stepped out before reaching back inside. He caught my arm and dragged me across the seat.
Limp, I didn’t fight him, nor did I help. Once he had me out of the car, I glanced around. There was no staff on the steps. The driver was still in the car and another vehicle was coming up the drive. Security?
I didn’t recognize it, or the man behind the wheel. The last thing I wanted was to go in that house though. I came back. That was enough. “Let’s go,” Uncle Bradley said, tugging me into motion and I “stumbled.” He wasn’t prepared for me to drop like a dead weight. It pulled him off balance and he had to let me go or risk falling himself.
How many times I’d practiced the next move had my muscles responding automatically, I slammed my forehead against his crotch. As gross as it was, the impact would hit harder than my fist and it kept my hands free to wrap his knee and yank, even as I hit.
An agonized sound escaped him as he crashed to the ground and I was on my feet and running. Get away. That was what Liam had been teaching for fuck knew how long. Stun, wound, incapacitate if I could, then run like hell. I raced away from him, from his horrible house with its horrible rooms and even more horrible memories. I didn’t head for the drive or the black gates.
Instead, I cut across the manicured lawn toward the trees that edged the property. There was a private reserve on the other side of the fence and state lands past there. All of it heavily wooded. I’d gotten lost out there once when I was little. I’d nearly frozen before Uncle Bradley and his search party had managed to find me.
Sometimes, I wished I had frozen. At least then it would have been me just going to sleep. Shouts came from behind me, but I ignored them. My lungs burned. All the alcohol I’d drunk didn’t make this flight any easier. The tattoo on my stomach pulled and twinged with every step I took, a reminder to keep going.