I washed the suds from my hair then lathered my body in the soap, scrubbing furiously at it just trying to get the feel of his hands off my body. My mind becomes consumed with him, the way his hands feel against my body, how his breath against my ear makes me shiver, the way I jump at the sound of his voice. Tears begin to fall from my eyes yet again, I slide down to the floor holding myself under the water just sobbing at my own stupidity.
I groan in frustration slamming my fists onto the tiles floor wincing when pain shot through my wrist. The water soon begins to change temperature I pick myself off the floor and shut the water off. I step onto the bathmat and grab the towel nearest to me wrapping it against my body tightly. On the counter I see he has laid out a t shirt and sweatpants for me.
Quickly I dry myself off and throw the clothes on. I move to the door trying the handle, and sure enough it's locked. I pace around the room nervously, thinking about what to do, I obviously can't stay in here forever. At the same time though I knew I didn't want to be on the receiving end of his anger.
"Aiden." I call out tentatively
I hear footsteps against the wooden floor moving towards the door and instinctively take a few steps back leaning against the counter. He unlocks the door and opens it. I look to his face which remains expressionless.
"Walk." he orders harshly pointing towards the empty hallway.
He was obviously still pissed at me, but he had no right to be. I was the one that was taken hostage, it was me that was tied to a fucking chair. I walk out of the bathroom, and he leads me back into the room I was previously in.
I walked briskly inside the room expecting Aiden to follow me. He walked inside a few feet to before turning around to leave.
"Aiden wait." I called out to him.
What the hell are you doing? A part of my brain screamed at me. He is a cold blooded heartless killer, you should be glad he's leaving.
He turned and looked at me expectantly. "I...well...I...um." My voice faltered . I had nothing to say to him, why did I call out.
I looked down at his hand and noticed the cuts and dried blood on his knuckles. "Your hand." I blurted out.
He gave me a questioning look. "It's bleeding, and cut." I muttered.
He gave me a puzzled look as if he was asking me why I care. "Let me clean it up."
Are you fucking stupid! Clean it up! What the hell is wrong with you? I fought inwardly with myself for a few seconds.
Aiden still stood there like a statue. I took a deep breath and walked forward taking his large hand in mine. I began to walk towards the door when his grip tightened around my hand. I looked back to him and gave him a sincere and pleading look. His features softened as he moved forward letting me lead him into the bathroom.
I flipped the lights on and sat him down in the toilet. "Do you have a first aid kit or something?" I questioned, my voice barely a whisper.
"It's underneath the sink in the cabinet." he softly replied pointing to the dark wood.
I pulled open the small door and grabbed the red and white box in the front. I set it on top of the counter and opened it quickly sifting through it's contents. I took out cotton balls and rubbing alcohol from the box and laid it onto the ledge of the bathtub. I took a towel from the closet and sat down with it covering my lap. I slowly reached over and grabbed one of his hands in mine pulling it over and resting it in my lap.
"Why are you helping me? You should hate me angel." he spoke.
"I don't know. Maybe I do hate you. I don't know." I answer truthfully. Why was I helping him?
I took a cotton ball and doused it in the alcohol before taking his hand in mine once again. I gingerly swept the cotton ball over his cuts to try and sterilize it and also get the dried blood off. He didn't even flinch as the alcohol touched the open skin. After some of the blood had cleared away I noticed other scars on his hands and knuckles, do doubt from other fights. I looked up at him only to find his staring back at me taking in what I was doing.
"What happened?" I asked hesitantly. Looking back down to his hand.
"I got into a fight." he replied nonchalantly.
"I see that. With who?" I pried even farther. After finishing with his first hand I let it drop and took his other hand in my lap.
He paused for a moment thinking to himself. "He shouldn't have hit you." the words left his lips more as a growl than anything else.
I tensed partially before gathering my composure once again. "Why do you care? He is your friend, shouldn't you have taken his side, I mean I stabbed hi, don't you think I deserve it?" I ask trying not to sound bitter and praying I don't set him off again.
"You are under my protection, and I gave them specific orders that they were not to lay a single hand on you. He needed to learn respect. You acted in self defense." he replied in a rough voice.
"You're in a gang aren't you?" I asked refusing to look into his eyes.
He simply nodded.
"And you say I"m under your protection. Does that mean you lead them." Did I even want to know the answer.
"Yes." his voice was soft. Neither of us spoke for a while.
I finished with his second hand, and placed it down on my lap. I looked into his eyes as he studied me. I noticed the bruise forming by his cheek. My hand moved without the consent from my brain. My thumb traced the slightly bruised area gently.
I stared into his wide eyes, just looking for some emotion, anything to help me understand him. He tensed visibly under my touch, and I froze in place, when I realized what I was doing. I suddenly stood and made my way out of the bathroom and into the bedroom like a dog running back to it's cage.
Before I made it through the doorway he caught my wrist and spun me around. I slammed right into him placing my hands onto his chest. I began to panic thinking I had done something wrong. "I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to leave. I just thought you wanted me to go back. I'm sorry." I kept rambling on fear evident in my voice. A tear fell form my eyes as I looked for signs of anger on his face.
His thumb brushed against my cheek and collected the fallen tear.
"Don't cry angel. I won't hurt you." he said gently. The he did something I never thought would happen. Slowly he tilted my head upwards and connected my lips to his, kissing me softly and gently. He took a step back wards seconds later releasing me from his hold.
"Why aren't you mad at me." I ask trying to change the subject.
"Angel why should I be mad. You defended yourself and those assholes deserved it. They shouldn't have treated you like that. I shouldn't have left either." he reassured me.
I simply nodded and went to turn and head back into the room. He caught my hand again.
"Are you hungry?" he asked.
I nodded once more. He lead me down the stairs into the kitchen. I noticed a few pots on the stove and two plates on the table. He lead me to one of the chair and I sat down. "I hope you like pasta." he said.
A small smile came to my face. "It's my favorite." I whispered.
"I know." he said in a low voice, obviously not wanting me to hear.
He brought over the two plates of pasta setting one in front of me, before sitting down himself. I took my fork and scooped up a few noodles testing them. My face lit up immediately, this was by far the best pasta I have ever had in my life. He saw my expression and smiled softly before beginning to eat. The silence in the room was killing me.
"Aiden?" I spoke softly.
He hummed with a mouth full of pasta.
"Why am I here?" I questioned averting my gaze.
He let out deep sigh. "What did they tell you."
"Only that you want my parents to drop a case." I told him exactly what I heard.
"Angel I need to tell you something, but it's not pleasant." he spoke slowly studying my face.
"The truth is never pleasant." I say. My mind raced at a million miles per minute, the main thought was that he was going to kill me.
He took a deep breath. "Your parents, their law practice, it isn't just a law firm. They launder money for us and if we need it they also act as our attorneys."
"Money laundering? That still doesn't explain why I'm stuck here." Okay it wasn't as bad as I thought.
"We found out that your parents have been taking money from us here and there. I wanted the money back but they had it stashed in a hidden account somewhere. I was going to kill them." he looked up to me again.
I sucked in a deep breath, but nodded my head telling him to go on.
"They begged for their lives, telling me they would do anything, give anything just to let them live. I said there is nothing I wanted, then they offered you to me."
My mouth fell. My parents traded me for money, they sold me to a bunch of criminals just so they could have a comfortable life!? Anger replaced every emotion I had.
"How much?" I spit out. "How much was I worth to them?"
"150 thousand." he said looking away from my gaze.
I huffed in disbelief. "Those fucking bastards traded me off for 150 thousand fucking dollars?" I questioned shaking my head. "That's why they left so suddenly, so they wouldn't have to be involved."
Aiden nodded, pain and guilt clouded his eyes.
"Huh I knew they hated me, but not that much." I scoffed.
Aiden tried to calm me down. "That can't hate you angel."
"If only you knew." I scoffed. "I'm not hungry anymore. Can I just go to bed?" I looked down to the plate, seeing it still half full. I felt bad for wasting it, but I was no longer in the mood.
Aiden stood taking my hand in his and leading me back upstairs into the room I was previously in. For the first time I had the chance to look around. It was fairly simple, the walls were a creamy tan color, a dark cherry wood bed and dresser on the opposite wall. It's not like I really needed anything else anyways.
"Goodnight." he murmured before turning around and closing the door behind him. I took a breath to say something, but there was nothing left to say anymore. I turned off the light and walked over to the large bed. It was fairly warm today so I took off the sweatpants he had given me and just opted for the oversized t shirt. I pulled the covers over my body and just laid there for along time contemplating my life, my parents, Aiden.
For the third time today, tears began to form in my eyes. I laid there for the longest time crying noiselessly, trying desperately to hold myself together. All I wanted was for this nightmare to just go away, dissipate into nothingness, but part of me knew it wouldn't.
Her face filled my dreams. All I could see was her lifeless body, the images of him killing her, tossing her away like trash. I saw it all happening before my eyes. I screamed and ran towards her just like every other time. But the more I screamed the lower my voice became, and the faster I ran the farther away I got.
She looked to me with pleading eyes, begging me to help her, to save her. Her cries became louder and louder as I struggled against the invisible force that was pulling me back. I saw him pull out the knife from his jacket. He looked into my eyes as he dragged the blade across her neck. I tried to close my eyes, to hide my face, but I was frozen in place. my sobs grew louder as I stared into her lifeless eyes. "It's all your fault Kara." she said.
I tried to get up from the bed only to be held down. Panic began to course through my veins as I began to struggle against the weight. "Let me go!" I cried out. "Please just leave me alone. I never meant to do it." I sobbed. tears streamed down my face as I was forced to relive the painful memories.
I was pulled against something hard, radiating heat.
"Sh, sh, sh angel. Calm down, it was only a dream. Calm down angel." his rough voice whispered in my ear.
I stopped struggling against the weight, knowing that it was Aiden holding me against his chest. My breathing came in short quick pants, and my heart hammered in my chest at an impossible rate.
He brushed his fingers through my hair and rocked me back and forth. "It's alright angel no one can hurt you. You're safe with me." he whispered into my ear again.
I relaxed against his hard frame, and tried to slow down my breathing. It took a while but everything was finally back to normal. I felt his grip around me loosen, and he began to shift from behind me. He let me go entirely and stood from the bed. He was leaving me.
My hand shot out and grabbed his arm stopping him from moving any further. His back faced me as I spoke, "Please don't leave me. Stay. Please." I pleaded with him.
He stood there for a moment, I let my hand fall from his arm, knowing he would walk out and leave me alone. I let out a shaky breath as I turned my back to him covering myself in the blankets once more. I felt the bed dip behind me as he laid down and maneuvered under the blankets.
I was thankful that at least someone could be here to comfort me, no matter how much I hated him, no matter how much I needed to get away I was glad he was here I was glad someone was here so I didn't have to be alone.
"Sleep now angel." he spoke softly, so I did.