Page 76 of His Captive

I wait for him to disappear before I make my way back upstairs. Walking straight past Ethan’s room and into mine because I really need to be alone. I lay out on my bed and try to piece everything together in my head. I suspect now that the bitter rivalry between Sorrento and Ethan went beyond business, and I wonder how the hell I’ve become a pawn in it.

“Buddy told me you were upset.” His voice comes from behind me and I sit up a little too quickly, the dizzy rush to my head causing me to feel off balance.

“I’m fine,” I tell him sharply, turning away from him.

“You don’t sound fine.” He approaches the bed slowly and sits down on the edge.

“Why didn’t you tell me that Sorrento used to live here?” I ask bitterly

“Why is it relevant?” he responds

“Do you not think I’m worthy of an explanation, Ethan?” I can’t hide how much that thought hurts me.

“I never said that.”

“And yet, you won’t offer me one. I have so many questions and I’m too scared to ask you them.” I admit. His hand strokes my leg as if trying to soothe me.

“You have no reason to be scared of me,” he assures me.

“Really, Ethan? Tell me the truth, is this what I am, another victory over Sorrento?”

He doesn’t answer straight away, and his face almost seems hurt at my words.

“And what about me, what am I to you? A protector from him. What's the real reason you haven’t left yet? Are you really afraid of me? Or, are you just more afraid of him?”

His words wound me, only causing me more confusion.

Brushing his hand through my hair me pulls my head tight to his chest, and places a kiss on top.

“Sleep, my angel,” he whispers into my hair.

Angel?

That was a new one. Lysa, little one, I think we’ve even had a cum slut at one point. Never an ‘Angel.’

He must hold me until I fall asleep, because I can’t remember him leaving, but when I wake up, he’s gone.

Twenty

ETHAN

What Lysetta told me this morning has played on my mind all day. She’d never had the chance to make friends. After her parents died, Sorrento prevented her from finding her place in the world, and now I’m doing exactly the same.

Lysetta is worthy of more than an explanation, she deserves to explore what the world has to offer her. And I have no right to keep her here, not like this.

After hours of more tireless thinking, I send Buddy to fetch Lysetta. Then I wait in my office feeling physically sick. My fingers strumming at my desk nervously,

This is why I vowed never to let myself feel again.

This is why I’ve resided in solitude for the past eleven years.

Lysetta doesn’t knock before she steps inside. She’s changed into the white dress I asked her to wear the night I’d paraded her around town like a new doll. Seeing her, so beautiful, cuts me like a glass dagger.

“Buddy said you wanted me.” She walks toward the chair opposite my desk, soothing the back of her dress with her hands before she sits down.

She blows out a breath while she waits for me to speak, and looks about as nervous as I feel

“Lysetta, Sorrento did use to live here. He grew up in this house, and then inherited it from his father when he got married,” I explain.

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