Page 72 of Bound To Me

A sudden, gentle tap on the door startled me from my seat. Approaching cautiously, I peered through the peephole. Relief flooded over me when I saw her standing there, arms crossed, gaze fixed on the floor.

“Hana,” I choked out as I opened the door; for some reason, seeing her familiar, friendly face brought me to tears.

She immediately smiled and tilted her head at me. “Jackie,” she whispered, reaching out to wrap her arms around me. Her hug instantly relaxed my body, reminiscent of the embrace she gave me all those years ago.

We let go after a moment and I turned to a smiling Elliott as he began to stand up.

“This is Elliott,” I announced proudly. “Elliott, Hana.”

“Elliott, hi.” She smiled and waved, seemingly a little anxiously.

I gestured into the room. “Please, come in.”

Elliott and I sat at the edge of the bed, facing the armchair where Hana had made herself comfortable. She set her purse down on the floor beside her and clasped her hands together in her lap, wringing her fingers nervously. Her light blonde hair flowed past her shoulders, and she bit the side of her matte red lips.

“It’s really good to see you, Jackie. You look well,” she said with a smile. “Even though, obviously, things haven’t been all that well,” she added quickly.

I shook my head. “No. If Michael hadn’t forced himself back into our lives, things would actually be really good.” I let out a bitter chuckle.

She smiled nervously and glanced at Elliott. I couldn’t be certain if his presence alone made her uneasy, but I could empathize—after all, we were about to discuss committing a serious crime, and Elliott was still a stranger to her.

“I think I’ll give you two some time to catch up,” he said as he stood up, sensing the tension. “I’ll be out in the courtyard.”

We both watched as he exited the small room and gently closed the door behind him. Hana looked back at me with raised eyebrows and a crooked smile. “Jackie, that man is gorgeous,” she said lightly.

I laughed and nodded. “Inside and out. Truly.” I wasn’t sure if I wanted to tell her about how we met, but I decided I needed to—I couldn’t leave anything out because I wanted her to trust me. I trusted her and hoped she felt the same. “Unfortunately, Michael had something to do with our meet cute.”

I proceeded to give her the details about Michael hiring him, about how when Elliott learned of all the things he had to doneto me, he immediately cut ties. I could see the worried crinkling of her forehead as I explained, but her sad eyes indicated that she felt sympathy toward me.

“And he…he knows about all of this?” she asked hesitantly. “About what we have planned?”

I nodded. “We’ve already planned the small details, but he’s aware he hurt you as well, and he unquestionably agrees with how we feel. In fact,” I leaned a little closer to her, “he wanted to do it himself.”

She nodded as if she understood. “It took a lot of convincing for Jack to let me do this instead of him. But I needed to be here, and one of us had to stay with Jenny, just in case anything happened, you know?”

“I’m not gonna let anything happen to you, Hana. I’m gonna do the dirty work. I just want you to be there to watch him burn.”

Now

As expected, Michael let me sleep with him all night, even wrapping his arm around me as I lay on my side, facing away from him. My jaw clenched at his gentle touch, knowing the depths of his manipulation. After learning what he had done to Charlotte, my mind was resolute. It was only a matter of time before he did it again.

I barely slept that night, my mind racing, wondering when my opportunity would come. Elliott was silent in my ear, and I worried that my earpiece had stopped working. But Michael hadn’t left me alone all morning, leaving me no chance to test my theory. He showered with me and fucked me hard against the glass door, and I couldn’t stop thinking about Elliott and what he might be hearing, if he was even still there. Michael hovered around while I cooked breakfast, watching my every move as he worked on his laptop. I tried to keep myself busy as I roamed the house. He had bought the house as-is, so we were set with everything from dishes to books on the shelves. I settled on reading a thriller I found and laid on the oversized armchair nestled in the corner of the living room. But I couldn’t focus; the more time I spent around him, the angrier I got. I was reeling since he told me about Charlotte.Poor fucking Charlotte.

“Tomorrow, we’ll go to the county clerk to get our marriage license. I need to wait for some documents to come through. We’ll be able to get married right after that.” Michael jolted meout of my simmering rage, and it felt like my heart stopped beating.Fuck. I have to do this tonight. I need to fucking kill him tonight.

I glanced at him and found him staring, as though he were gauging my loyalty by how I reacted. I forced a smile and nodded. “Perfect. What would you like me to wear, Daddy?”

A subtle twitch flickered in his eye. “Well, sweet Jackie, white won’t do. Perhaps something black would be more fitting,” he said, his smile taking on a sinister edge, one that I was very familiar with.

“I’ll wear whatever you’d like,” I responded, and I almost couldn’t hide the contempt in my voice.

He continued to stare, testing me. “Yes, I know. Go clean up and we can go shopping and find something.”

Clean up? I just fucking showered.“Put some makeup on. Do your hair. Get fucking dolled up, Jackie. I don’t want to be seen with a fucking troll,” he snapped as he answered my inner thoughts.

Anger and a touch of embarrassment heated my cheeks. I despised how much it bothered me, but the prospect of a moment of solitude was something I clung to.

“Okay, Daddy.” I got up and set the book on the armchair, turning to head down to our room.

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