Chapter 9 #2
“Are there tomatoes on this?” she asks, quickly chewing and swallowing the bite in her mouth. Frowning, she sets the burger down and pulls the hidden tomato slice out, tossing it onto the wrapper.
Riley chuckles, shaking his head, out of all the things she’s been through, this is the one that gets her? A damn tomato? He thinks for a second, popping in the last bite of his cheeseburger.
“That counts as your question,” he says. Liz opens her mouth to object. “And before you waste another one, yes, I am pretty proud of that,” he says, a smug grin returning to his face.
“Ass,” she mutters to herself. She plucks a fry out of the box and throws it at him.
Fear covers every inch of her face as soon as the food left her hand.
It’s been so long since she was treated with any sort of respect, she took too much comfort in the sheer normalcy of it all and slipped up.
Something about Riley is oddly comforting.
Maybe it is the lightness in his eyes, or the way she can tell he's smiling, even with his mask, but instead of actively forcing herself to stay on edge, she let herself exist for a moment, and it's going to get her killed.
She watches in horror as it hits him in the chest before falling into his lap.
He stares at her in disbelief as she shrinks back in her chair, cowering for what comes next.
Riley slowly reaches down and picks the fry off his lap, eyes never leaving hers, and tosses it in his mouth.
Her jaw falls open, in utter disbelief he would simply eat it and not punish her.
“You still owe me an answer,” he says before she can overthink anything. He gives her a second to take another bite, now that her food is tomato free. Hoping his next question doesn’t ruin everything, he leans back in his chair and asks— “Do you have a family?”
The pain on her face is almost enough to make him end the whole thing, let her eat her meal in peace. He knows if she has family, he can contact them and force the general’s hand to let her go, but the tears well up in her emerald eyes and make him wonder if it’s worth it.
She tips her head back, closes her eyes and steadies herself. “A husband and daughter.”
Silence fills the room; Riley isn’t sure how to keep going after that.
He got the answer he was hoping for, but something about it seems…
off. He continues watching her, breaths deep and intentional.
He knows she’s trying to pull herself out of something.
It’s painfully clear to him that this isn’t her first time wrangling her emotions.
She takes another breath in through her nose before blowing it out.
She reaches up and wipes away the tear that has slipped out, hoping he didn’t notice.
“What happened to you yesterday? When you came back your hands were red and bloody” she asks in an attempt to forget the last question.
Riley looks down at his hands, still red. Happiness swells in his chest to see her eating. How is he supposed to explain what happened without scaring her? She already thinks he’s just as bad as all the other men she has encountered.
“I told you; I dealt with some of the men who hurt you. I didn’t expect you to notice,” he says with a slight shrug of his muscular shoulders. A sad attempt at being nonchalant.
She eyes him cautiously, trying not to look scared.
“Does that bother you?” he asks coyly.
“No… I just thought you were the good guy, but you beat up who I assume are your men, just for being mean to your prisoner.”
“I never said I was a good guy. There is a reason even the general is afraid of me. I do what I have to do to the people who deserve it and protect the people who don’t. They disobeyed direct orders and got less than they deserved for it.” Riley takes another long sip of his nearly empty drink.
Liz looks away, thinking about everything he just told her. Part of her wants to be thankful. He stood up for her and made sure they won’t hurt the next person. The other part is scared that at some point, she will face the same consequences for attacking him.
“Is what your friend said true? About me not existing?” she says, noting the shock on his face.
He had no idea she had been listening when they were talking. He sits up straighter, trying to figure out how to explain what is going on.
“Yes and no. I ran your prints, and nothing came up. When you told me your name, I tried that with your prints and still nothing. I didn’t have high hopes with just your first name, but still, your prints should have matched a birth record.
You obviously exist, but someone worked damn hard to make it seem like you don’t. Unless you gave me a fake name,”
“Oh,” is all she can manage. Not sure what to say, she had a life, a long time ago, but still a life.
There should be photos, a marriage license, birth record of when her perfect baby girl entered the world, but it’s all just gone.
That’s not the answer she was expecting him to give.
Maybe she imagined it all, maybe being held prisoner damaged her more than she thought.
She’s so entranced in her thoughts she doesn’t notice the locks beeping and a man stepping into the room.
“What the hell are you two doing?” Mikey says, startling Liz.
She jumps, frantically looking around for something to use as a weapon. She looks at Mikey, the look on his face, and schools her face back into a calm expression, before looking at Riley and saying— “That counts as yours, you know.”
Riley knows she cheated, but he lets her have it, curious to know what she’s going to ask him next. Mikey walks to the table, not trying to spook Liz any more than he already has.
Riley watches her, eyes never leaving Mikey. Not sure if she is okay with him being here or not, Riley turns to Mikey and explains what they have been doing. Mikey slides into the chair between them and Liz wraps her arms around herself, trying to not let her discomfort show.
“If you really are trying to help me, will you teach me to fight? Like really fighting. What if he comes looking for me? If he finds me … I don’t want to be helpless again.” Liz blurts before she loses her nerve.
They both look at her in shock. Riley isn’t sure what he was expecting, but it wasn’t that. He looks at Mikey who is smiling like an idiot, clearly pleased with her question.
“I… Uh… Maybe?” Riley manages. “The general will be pissed. I know he will insist you're hiding something if you believe Dmitri will come back for you. It might take longer for us to get you out. You will need to stay hidden around base, but I guess it wouldn’t hurt. I’ll have conditions.”
Liz lets him finish, wondering what he means by “conditions”. He has been good to her so far, but it’s only been a few days. The thought of what he may demand causes her heart to race. Seeing the panic in her eyes, Riley is quick to explain.
“You need to take care of yourself. No more begging you to eat. If you’re going to train, I need to know it’s not going to kill you, got it?” he says, observing her as she overthinks every word, nodding her head. “Alright, your turn, next question.”
“Is it really safe to shower? Or are you just waiting for me to be naked and vulnerable so it hurts more?” Liz asks, unable to look at the men at the table, not ready to see how angry they are.
“You’re safe, love,” Riley says as gently as he can.
“One last question,” he says, knowing this one may very well ruin all the progress they’ve made.
He needs to know, it’s been all he can think about since he heard the way she spoke to the general.
“Why do you antagonize the people who want nothing more than to see you dead? You said you have a family, but since you’ve been here, you’ve literally told us to kill you. I just don’t get it.”
A mix of rage and hurt fills her eyes. He knew it was a bad idea, but he was too stupid to let it go. Fighting back tears, she stands so fast the chair falls over, the crash deafening in the quiet. She doesn’t say a word, just storms to the room, slamming the door behind her.
Liz stomps over to the bed and lays down on the plush mattress, letting all the tears she’s been holding back fall.
She sobs deeply into the pillow, waiting for one of the men to come punish her for what she did.
She waits, not caring about the blows she knows will come, until she has no more tears left to cry, and sleep claims her.