Chapter 13 Jade
Chapter Thirteen
JADE
My stomach growls louder as I hack my way into a can of beef and cheese ravioli with a knife. If I could find a fucking can opener in this shithole of a cabin, I might be in a better position.
It’s either this or starve, though.
The boards are off the windows, and I’m not locked in a room. I have full range of the cabin and based on the food I’ve gone through and the shifting of the sunrises and sunsets outside, I’d guess that I’ve been alone in here for a week.
How much longer before he comes back?
I pry the lid off the top of the can, dumping it into the pot on the stove. At least I can heat my fucking food.
I bite the inside of my cheek, stirring it with a wooden spoon, trying to ignore the revolting stench that rises from it. I’ve already gone through all the fresh food.
Ezra doesn’t seem to care enough to think about bringing me more.
I can’t believe I was ever attracted to him. I can’t believe that I told him things I’ve never told anyone else. Sure, I didn’t know who he was at the time, but I don’t think that makes anything better. In fact, I think it makes it worse.
Allowing him to get close to me has locked me in an entirely new kind of captivity.
I should’ve called Aiden the moment I got out of those cuffs.
The ravioli gets hot enough to eat, and I dump it into a bowl, bringing one of the knives with me into the living room while I eat. There isn’t a television here, but the shelves are lined with all kinds of books.
All my favorite books, specifically, and then dozens of others from authors I like.
If only I could have a normal man this interested in me. A normal one who doesn’t inject me with sedatives and shoves me into a cabin to die. One who loves me and wants the best for me.
Ezra isn’t that man. He might think he is, but he’s keeping me back from everything important to me.
I’ve missed so much school. Too much to catch up if I don’t get out of this soon.
And then there’s my family. I have no doubt they’re tearing the city apart now trying to find me.
Which means that wherever he has me has to be out of the city.
I finish the ravioli and get up, looking around the cabin again for clues on who I might be dealing with.
Everything here seems to be tailored to me, though. He doesn’t have any clothing here. The bedroom is dark and moody.
The bathroom is stocked with all of my favorite supplies, and while most of the food seems to be shelf-stable, there are some of my favorites tossed in there too.
I sigh and wash my dishes, throwing out the trash into the can that’s nearly full.
It’s only when I turn around that I scream, jumping back and slamming into the counters.
Ezra smirks and drops a laptop and my schoolbooks onto the little dining table. “If I knew you were going to be this excited to see me, I might have been here sooner.”
“Fuck off.” I look at the books and the schoolwork, holding a hand to my racing heart. “What are you doing here? I thought you were going to leave me to die.”
He shrugs, setting down a couple of bags of groceries on the counter. “Thought about it, but that would be too easy of a consequence after your actions, don’t you think?”
“I think you should let me go and just cut this weird obsession with me. I think you’re going to kill me sooner or later because people like you always lose control.”
Ezra gives me that crooked smile. It’s one that has me thinking that maybe he’s not as bad as he seems, even though I know he is that bad. Probably worse. The man was keeping sedatives hidden in my apartment just in case he needed them.
There’s something about him leaving them there that doesn’t sit right with me.
How long ago did he do it?
Has he always been planning to get his hands on me? He must if he planned that far ahead.
This has very little to do with either of our families, the more I think about it.
In all the conversations I’ve had about Noah with my family, Ezra has never been mentioned, which makes me think that he isn’t that close to Noah.
And holding me captive isn’t a way to win his favor. Killing me, using me against my family, would be.
Ezra nods to the paperwork on the table. “You’re going back to school on Monday. We need to keep up appearances, after all, which means I need to get your family off my back.”
“They know you took me?”
“Nope.” He stuffs some of the groceries into the fridge. “They don’t have the slightest idea where you are. It’s driving them insane, really. Ellie seems to be the only one keeping a level head, but that’s not out of the realm of normal for your family anyway.”
“Don’t pretend you know anything about them!”
He finishes stocking the cupboards, folding the paper bags and putting them into the recycling. “Oh, but I do. You don’t think you were the only one I was watching, do you?”
A pit opens in the bottom of my stomach.
He’s been watching my entire life.
Playing along with him is the only thing I know how to do. So, I draw closer to the books. “I’m going back to school?”
“You’re also going to drop out of the business program. I’ve enrolled you in the culinary one instead.”
Shocked, I turn to look at him, glancing for only a second before looking away. “You had no business doing that.”
“And you have no business continuing to study something you hate when we both know it’s not your passion. You love cooking, and you shouldn’t have to do something else just for your family.”
I don’t know whether to be pissed off or touched that he’s paid enough attention to know what I really want to do with my life.
I told him that I wanted to be a chef when we were messaging.
It was a one-off. Something I mentioned in passing that I didn’t expect him to pay attention to in the slightest.
And that’s the part of this that’s the most confusing.
He’s the one paying attention to me. He seems interested in who I am.
He also locked me in a cabin for days and left me with food he knew I wouldn’t like just to piss me off.
I decide on anger. It’s safer. “You have no right to change my program. I’ve spent years in business school, and then you go ahead and decide that I don’t get to do something I’ve been working on forever!”
“Okay, sure.” He shrugs and leans against the counter, crossing his arms over his chest. “If you want to be unhappy for the rest of your life, then who am I to stop you?”
“Screw you.” I storm over to him with some of the papers in my hand. “I don’t have time to do this. I made a commitment to my family, and you walked in here and decided that wasn’t going to be happening.”
“I did.” He grabs the papers and sets them on the counter. “And I’d do it again. You’re miserable going to business school. You told me you hated it and wished you could stop. I’m giving you the push you need!”
“You’re doing nothing but coming into my life and screwing it up!” Or allowing me to go and do the thing I’ve always wanted to do but was never brave enough to tell my family. But I can’t tell him that.
He can’t be my savior when he is also my stalker. My enemy.
I bite the inside of my cheek, trying to hold onto the anger.
I don’t want to be excited about this. Not when Ezra is standing in front of me and making decisions about my life for me.
If he holds me hostage for the rest of my life, is he going to keep doing that? Am I never going to get the chance to live how I want?
Then again, isn’t what he is offering what I wanted all along?
I let out a deep breath. “Look, I don’t know what you think you’re doing beyond trying to control me, but it’s not going to happen. I’m my own person, and I want to live my own life."
He taps the papers on the counter. "And this is the way to do it."
"No, it's not. I'm supposed to go to business school and take over from Skyla so she can go out and live her life in Vermont. I had this all planned, and you’re taking it away from me!”
“I’m giving you what you know you need since we both know you’re never going to do it yourself.”
I throw my hands up in the air, spinning away from him. “You don’t know me!”
“We spent over a year talking, Jade. Whether you want to admit it or not, I know you better than anyone else. I’m the one you told your secrets too.
You came running to me at the end of a bad day, and you told me things I quite frankly don’t think you ever would’ve told anyone else.
So, if playing the victim in this is going to make you feel better, then go ahead.
It’s not going to stop me from pushing you to live the life you want. The life you deserve!”
He strides out of the kitchen, his footsteps echoing down the hall before he slams the door shut.
The entire cabin rattles and when I rush to the door behind him, I find it’s already locked.
I let out a slow breath and turn around, slumping against the door and sinking to the floor. I bury my face in my hands, the tears coming hard and fast.
After a couple of minutes of feeling sorry for myself, I get to my feet and go into the kitchen.
At least if I go back to school, I can see Haven again. She’ll be able to get word to my family that I’m fine and to start working on a plan to get me out of this shit.
I just need to keep playing along with him and everything is going to be fine.
Just a little while longer.
I keep the words playing on repeat in my mind as I collect the papers from the counter and sit down at the table. Shuffling through the papers, I take a look at the course list and the syllabus for each one, going through them until I think I have a good idea of what I’m going to be doing.
As I make notes on what I’ll need to buy, there’s a tightness in my chest that starts to ease.
Maybe I don’t have to go to business school and lose myself to a job I hate.
A little bit of excitement starts to build as I search through the course information, trying to take it all in.
I’m going to be starting from the beginning all over again. I’m going to walk into some of those classes, and I might be the oldest in the room.
I might not have anyone I know there. Which means, I don’t have to deal with the people connected to my family if I don’t know anyone in the class. And that’s a good thing, I think.
This could be the chance I need to do something for myself, even if there is someone else holding me hostage in my own life.
I go through the papers, starting on some of the textbook learning. The sun shining through the bars on the windows starts to fade, shifting into night.
The front door opens just as I’m closing the textbook to get up and start making something to eat for dinner.
Ezra steps into the kitchen, wearing a dark shirt and jeans that hug his body in all the right ways. He looks good, and I’m sure he knows it.
Hell, I bet he’s the kind of man who has women falling at his feet.
And for some reason, that thought doesn’t sit quite right with me.
Ezra glances at the spread of papers and textbooks in front of me, nodding to the laptop. “Already starting to make some notes?”
“Yes,” I admit begrudgingly.
He smirks and leans against the counter. “Good. We’ve got tomorrow and Sunday, before you’re back in school, to move into our new apartment, then.”
“Excuse me?” My hands curl into fists, nails biting into my palms. "I'm not going to be moving anywhere with you. If you don’t want to keep me in this damn cabin, then let me go back to my own apartment.”
He shakes his head. “We need somewhere fresh where the two of us can start over. I want you to see the possibilities of what we could be together, and I think you’re having a hard time coming to terms with that right now. A new place is what we need.”
“I don’t think so.” I keep some distance between us, noting the dangerous glimmer in his eyes.
I don’t know what happened in the hours he was gone, but something seems to be bothering him. It’s clearly made him more unstable than normal.
“You don’t get a choice in the matter.” His tone is low and dangerous. “You wouldn’t believe how long I went back and forth for. I’ve thought about every angle of giving you freedom, and this is the best that I can come up with for now. School. But you’re going to live with me.”
“And if I refuse?”
“Then you’re going to stay locked up in this cabin.” He stalks closer to me, fingers brushing over my racing pulse.
My mouth goes dry as I stare up at him.
He’s serious. If I don’t agree to this, he’s going to keep me locked away in this cabin. He doesn’t have any intention of ever handing me back over to my family.
Biting the inside of my cheek, I nod.
I just have to be able to get to Haven at school. Once I get to her, everything should get better.
Even though I’m going to be leaving this cage to lock myself right back into the original one.
But I don’t have any other choice. Do I?
It is not fun being locked up with Ezra, but at least he listens to me, and is forcing me to follow my dreams.
If I go back, they’ll also lock me up, and it will either be back to business course, or no college at all. For “safety reasons”, of course.
So, as horrible as it sounds, I might be making the right choice by going with him. I might be doing the best thing I can do for my future. For me.
But there’s no doubt about it.
One of us is going to end up dead at the end of this.