Page 71 of Wild Ride

I step into the shower and let the hot water tingle against my skin. I take my time. I use Bishop’s soap and an all-in-one shampoo and conditioner. Normally, I would balk at it, but being clean feels so good that I don’t care if I’m going to have tangles.

There was a time in my life when my mother used herbs to clean my hair. She’s used eggs, honey, you name it, she’s tried it, so all-in-one shampoo is not the strangest thing I’ve put in my hair.

Once I’m clean, every single ounce of me, I turn the water off. After drying off, I wrap a towel around my body, then use another one for my hair. It takes me a little while to comb all the knots out, but when I do, I take another moment to look at my reflection in the mirror. The purple circles beneath my eyes won’t go away unless I get some sleep, same with the paleness of my face. I also need food, but the rest of me at least appears healthier. Hopefully, Briana will feel better about this once she sees me.

When I open the door to the bedroom, I am frozen solid at the sight in front of me.

It’s that woman, Exorcist, and she’s standing in front of Briana. She turns to look at me, and her lips curve up into a grin. She doesn’t say anything to me. She doesn’t have to. My stomach sinks, then flips at the sight of her.

I watch as she slips out of the room and closes the door behind her. Only when the door is closed does Briana turn to me. Her face is as pale as mine, and I can only imagine what that creature said to her.

“We really need to talk,” she says, but her voice comes out as a hushed whisper.

Actually, Briana appears completely and totally horrified. I have no idea what that woman said to her, but I know that no matter what I try to say, it’s not going to sink in. That woman has planted seeds. She knows what she’s doing. I have to give her that much, at least. She is a master manipulator, probably how she’s stayed here as long as she has and why she surrounds herself with men.

Turning toward the dresser, I search through Bishop’s drawers for boxers and a T-shirt. I’m really going to need shoes soon. There is no way I can continue running around barefoot. I’m going to need a pedicure or something, too, at this rate.

After I’m dressed, I toss the wet towels in the bathroom and use Bishop’s comb to continue combing my hair. I know that all the knots are gone, but I need to keep moving. I need something to keep my hands busy.

I have a feeling that Briana is going to have some harsh words for me, and I can’t deny that I might have the same for her if the situation were switched.

“What in the hell are you doing, Dakota?” she asks. “Seriously, look around this place. You’re surrounding yourself with these… these…men. Criminals are what they are. I looked up that little name they call themselves, and it’s bad.”

I don’t ask her what bad things they’ve done, mainly because just today, I heard them kill one person with a gun, and then I watched a building go up in flames, no doubt filled with people. Maybe I’m living in a whole world of delusions, but it doesn’t bother me.

“Is Willamette Haven a front for a sex trafficking ring?” I ask.

I watch as she winces in front of me. That is the answer I need, and I don’t even have to ask the next question, but I do anyway. “And you were one of them?”

“That’s not what we’re talking about,” she exhales.

She didn’t have to say the words to answer me. I now know without a doubt that she was one of them. My heart breaks at that thought. Reaching out, I wrap my fingers around hers and squeeze. I don’t know what to say, knowing that anything I do say will never be enough.

“I’m sorry that happened to you,” I whisper.

She jerks her chin in the air, her eyes on me, and gives me a small smile. “You did not do it. Dakota, I know that this man is saying all of these things you want to hear. He’s going to go after the Haven. He’s going to right that wrong, and he’s going to marry you, but you don’t know him.”

“You’re right,” I say. “He hated me on sight. Hated everything I stood for, but only because he loved my father so much, he couldn’t imagine everything my father loved going to a stranger. Even if that stranger was related by blood.”

Briana shakes her head, squeezing my fingers with hers. “Listen to yourself, Dakota. You admit that man hated you. And now, just what, a week later, you’re going to marry him?”

A week.

Wow.

A lot has happened in a week.

I discovered my dad always wanted me. I met a man who hated me, fell in love with said hateful man, got kidnapped, and then engaged to the man who claimed he hated me. A whole lifetime happened in just days. Not to mention having an estate to deal with.

“I fell in love with him.”

She rolls her eyes to the ceiling, then brings them to meet mine. “You are naive. You have no idea what is going on. That man wants you because he thinks you hold some sort of power in this place. Having the princess means having everything.”

“I know that’s what it looks like. It’s what I thought it could be, too, but it’s not. You just need to get to know him. I think you would really like him, like these men and this place.”

Briana shakes her head, her eyes narrow before she speaks again, and I can hear the conviction in her voice with each word she says.

“I am not going to like this place or these men. I’ll help them take the Haven down, but beyond that, I honestly don’t ever want to see them again. And if you choose to stay, I can’t say that I want to see you, either. I can’t watch you throw your life away for trash.”

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