16. Chapter 16 #3
“Fuck!“ He exclaims. “Why didn’t I think of that? Damn, that’s a good idea.” Mathis replies as he opens the fridge door and digs around for something.
My heart thunders in my chest as I listen to their conversation.
If I didn’t know any better, it sounds a lot like Blaine just offered himself in place of Gatlin, and I don’t know how to feel about that.
Is he doing it because he actually wants to go with Mathis, or is it just to save Gatlin?
He seemed disgusted by whatever happens there, so he has to be doing it to protect Gatlin.
I don’t even have time to contemplate which side of the line Blaine is on because the front door swings open, nearly giving me a fucking heart attack.
I dart toward my bedroom door, but I’m not fast enough.
Her being home so soon ruins everything.
If Mathis asks about Gatlin, or mentions him in any way, it’ll all be over.
Him and his mom will know that Blaine lied about everything and was somehow working with me to put Gatlin down there before Mathis got here.
If they even get a whiff that Blaine is showing sympathy for either of us, he’ll become a pariah just like we are.
Even though he’s gone along with their demands countless times, I can’t force myself to want that kind of punishment for him. I know he’s good inside. I can feel it.
“And where the fuck are you going in such a hurry?” She purrs behind me. My steps halt, my feet glueing themselves to the floor beneath me.
“Lance!” She demands, wanting me to face her, but I can’t make myself do it.
I hate her. I hate her So. Fucking. Much.
I ball my fists at my side, begging whatever God exists to give me the patience to get through this interaction. It’s going to take a whole fuck-ton of it. I don’t know if I even possess enough of it, if I’m being honest.
“Lance! Open your eyes!” She yells at me, but no matter how hard I try to turn around, I just can’t. My hands tremble with the effort I’m putting into facing her, but I can’t get my body to move and I’m starting to panic.
“Look at me, pretty boy. Please, Lance.”
Pretty boy.
Only one person calls me that.
“Lance!”
My eyes pop open, glaring into the swirling brown ones that stare back at me. Roman holds me in his arms, my body completely limp as he clings to me in desperation.
“Thank God,” he rasps out in relief. “What the fuck was that, Lance?”
I finally take control of my body, forcing myself to roll out of his arms and plop back onto the mattress.
“Nothing,” I say as I tug on his arm. “Let’s go back to sleep.”
“That wasn’t nothing, Lance.“ He says with a scoff. “You were practically hyperventilating in your sleep. I was ten seconds away from calling Devlin over. Was it another nightmare?”
Although my eyes are closed, I roll them anyway. “Kind of. Now will you quiet down. I need my beauty sleep.”
“Kind of? What does that even mean?” He asks as he snuggles his way under the blanket behind me. It would probably be a lot easier for him if I let go of his arm, but he can survive without it.
“Some of it was memories. Some of it wasn’t. Talk later. Sleep now.” I mumble.
He groans his disapproval but finally falls silent behind me. Within a few minutes, his soft snores play like a steady lullaby, but I still can’t seem to fall back asleep.
What Blaine did in my dream, that was real.
That happened just weeks before I was forced to come here.
Gatlin and I had already been auctioned off to Maven at that point, and they were just working out the logistics of the contract for the two of us.
I wasn’t aware then that I would be talking to Maven just days later but overhearing that conversation between Blaine and Mathis changed the course of Gatlin’s life.
When Maven met with me about what terms would make me come with him willingly, I made him demand that Gatlin go nowhere near anyone else’s private parts before he was delivered to him, and they agreed to those terms happily.
He was also to be well fed and cared for until the date he was transferred to Maven, and if Gatlin so much as says a peep about any of it not being done, then Maven gets to keep both Gatlin and his money.
It was a win-win situation for Maven, so I hardly had to argue my reasoning behind it.
Not that I think Maven would’ve forced me to talk about it.
I’m sure that he could tell by the condition I was in and the panic behind my eyes that there was a good enough reason for me to want those demands met.
As my eyes finally start to flutter closed again, all I can manage to think about is what Blaine put on the line for Gatlin, and in turn, for me.
What will his life be like when neither of us are there for his mom to torment anymore?
Since Mathis follows their footsteps blindly, will Blaine be the next one they focus on?
Will he be the next one locked behind that iron door to starve?
No one else will be there to save him, and for some reason… that thought leaves another gaping hole in my chest.