Chapter 6
Lily stood and stared at herself in the mirror.
She looked terrible.
Why did she look so awful? When was the last time she’d actually looked at herself in the mirror? She didn’t always look like this, did she?
Although she usually wore a ton of makeup, didn’t she? Selena, her mother’s maid, would do her hair and makeup each day. She’d even choose what she wore.
What would happen to Selena now? To James? Was her mother truly broke?
She guessed she was. And she didn’t much care about what happened to Selena. The other woman had never been nice to her.
She did sort of feel bad for James. He’d always tried to be nice to her as far as she could remember.
Hopefully he got another job.
When had she taken off her dress pants and sweater? She was just wearing her shirt and underwear.
That was concerning.
“Lily, you finished in there?” Harvey called through the door.
Shoot, she hadn’t even used the toilet yet. Could she really go with him standing on the other side of the door? But then she didn’t have a lot of choice. Things were getting desperate.
After using the toilet, she washed her hands, still studying the bandages.
Every other time this had happened, nobody had ever given her answers. But Harvey might. He had to know what had happened, right? She was thinking more clearly than she had been. And she was determined to get some answers.
So when she stepped out of the bathroom, she gave him a look that she hoped proved she meant business.
“I want to know what happened to me.”
He raised an eyebrow as he stared at her. “I want to know that too.”
What did he mean?
“How do you not know? Weren’t you . . . weren’t you here?” She wrapped her arms around herself. Had he left her here alone? Or had someone else been in the room with her?
Oh, God. She was going to be sick.
“What? I think we’re talking about two different things. I want to know what happened to you ever since you got engaged.”
Huh? What did he mean?
“When you said that you wanted me to tell you what had happened to you, what were you talking about?” he asked.
“These.” She held out her arms and turned them over. “And this.” She pointed at the bandage on her inner elbow. “When I went to sleep, I didn’t have any of this, and when I woke up, I did. I want to know why.”
“I can see why that would be scary,” he said.
Yes. Well, what he didn’t know was that it wasn’t the first time it had happened to her.
“What happened?” she asked as a wave of dizziness washed over her.
“Whoa, baby. Are you all right?” He reached out and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close against him.
That did nothing for the dizziness washing through her. Although this became a different sort of light headedness.
He smelled so good. Lily found herself leaning in against him, unable to keep herself upright any longer.
“You need some dinner. Come on, it’s nearly ready. Let’s get you downstairs and fed, and then I’ll talk to you about what happened.”
She should insist that he tell her first, but she found she didn’t have the energy.
She hated feeling this way, so weak, so useless.
He lifted her up against him and carried her out of the room.
That was something else she should protest. The way he just picked her up and took her wherever he wanted her to be. He didn’t really have any right to do that.
Like he’s going to care about your thoughts on that. He kidnapped you, and he’s holding you prisoner. Carrying you down the stairs isn’t even going to rate with him.
As he carried her into the kitchen, the smell of something cooking made her mouth water.
“What is that?” she asked as he sat her on a stool at the kitchen island.
“It’s just spaghetti bolognese,” he replied. “I’m not a bad cook, but I didn’t want to spend a lot of time away from you preparing anything more complicated.”
“Spaghetti bolognese sounds amazing to me. I can’t remember the last time I ate pasta.”
He started dishing it up. “You don’t like pasta?”
“Oh no, I love it.”
“Then how come you haven’t eaten it in a long time?” he asked.
She shrugged. “Mother said it was fattening and that I had to watch my weight so I didn’t end up . . .”
“End up what?” he asked.
Like Clem.
God, Mother really was a complete and utter bitch. There was nothing wrong with the way Clem looked. She was beautiful and fun and brave.
Lily wished she could be more like her.
But she’d let Mother do whatever she wanted.
“End up fat, I guess.”
“She wouldn’t let you eat pasta? Because she thought you would get fat?”
Lily shrugged, looking away. It sounded ridiculous when he said it. Why would she even let her mother dictate stuff like that?
Because it was easier? Because she didn’t have any fight left in her?
“That won’t be happening anymore,” he said to her. “From now on, you eat pasta whenever you want. And as much as you like.”
“Is that a command?” she asked, remembering what he’d said about commands earlier.
“It is.”
“You don’t think Mother should get to dictate what I eat, but you do?”
He stilled, standing there, holding two bowls of food. Her stomach decided that was the perfect time to growl. Urgh, her stomach never growled. In fact, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt hungry.
Right now, though, she felt ravenous.
That seemed to startle him out of his frozen state, and he set the bowl of food down in front of her.
“I get why you’d say that. But I am nothing like your mother. I want you to be healthy, and happy, and safe. It seems to me that all she wanted was for you to be her puppet. No matter what pain or stress it caused you. She didn’t seem to care about your welfare at all.”
That wasn’t true.
Wasn’t it?
When had her mother ever cared about her health, though? The only thing that concerned her was keeping up with appearances and making sure that she could live in the style to which she was accustomed.
All Lily had ever done was try to please her. Just to hear her mother tell her that she was proud. That she loved her.
God. Was she really that pathetic?
It seemed that she was.
“Lily?” he murmured. “What are you thinking?”
She shook her head. Even if she wanted to tell him, she couldn’t get the words out past the lump in her throat.
“I don’t want to force you to do anything that you don’t want to do. The only time I will do that is if it’s in your best interest. If you’re doing something that will harm you, I will make you stop. If you need something for your health or safety, I will make that happen.”
Lord. He really thought he got that power over her?
Well, maybe he had some power at the moment since he was holding her captive. But that didn’t mean she’d just roll over and give him whatever he wanted . . .
Unless that was the smarter option. Which it could be. Give him a sense of false security. Act like she was caving. And then when his guard was down, she’d get away.
Yeah. That was exactly what she was going to do. Surely, it wouldn’t be that hard to trick him.
Of course, she might have to be a bit stronger before she tried another escape. Right now, she was trembling and barely able to walk on her own.
Yeah, she’d have to wait a few days, but that’s what she’d do.
Harvey wished she was easier to read.
He wasn’t sure what she was thinking and that annoyed him.
Lily didn’t get to have secrets from him.
He sat next to her at the island, then turned her stool toward him so they were facing one another with her positioned between his open legs.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Feeding you.” He grabbed hold of her bowl and drew it over then used the fork and spoon to twist some spaghetti around the fork. Then he held it up to her mouth.
“I don’t need you to feed me.”
“And yet you weren’t eating. Plus, you have bandages on your hands.”
“Which you haven’t told me about yet.”
Oh, there was fire still inside her. Good. It hadn’t been completely extinguished by that bitch of a mother.
“Eat your food and I’ll tell you.”
She eyed him suspiciously. He just stared back at her calmly. To his surprise, she didn’t argue any more. Just took a delicate bite of the food. A small moan escaped her and she slammed her hand over her mouth, looking mortified.
“I’m so sorry!” she said around a mouthful of food. “Urgh, sorry again!”
“Why are you sorry?” he asked curiously. “I think it’s a compliment to make noises like that while eating someone’s cooking.”
“My mother would have killed me for making those noises,” she said swallowing her mouthful. “And then talking with my mouth full. It’s so rude and ill-mannered.”
“Thankfully, your mother isn’t here,” he murmured. “I am and you can make as many noises while eating as you like.”
She licked her lips nervously.
“Now, one mouthful of food equals one question. So ask me something.”
“I’m pretty sure I went to sleep on the sofa with all of my clothes on . . . did you . . . did you take my clothes off?”
And what else did he do while her clothes were off?
Harvey stiffened. “Are you implying that I touched you while you were asleep . . . intimately touched you?”
She looked so worried but she shook her head. “Of course not. I just hate not remembering.”
“You were filthy and I didn’t think you’d be comfortable sleeping like that,” he told her.
“What day is it?” she asked even though she hadn’t taken another bite of food.
However, he didn’t say anything about the spaghetti. Not yet.
“It’s Sunday.”
“Is it still the same day that you kidnapped me from Mother’s house?”
He blinked in surprise. “Yes, it is. You seem very calm about this . . . do you often wake up and it’s a different day?”
Lily shrugged.
“Lily,” he said in a low voice.
She tensed. Was she scared of him? Fuck. He needed to tread carefully.
“Have you woken up before and lost time?” he asked.
“Sometimes.”
“When? Where were you?”
Lily shook her head.
“I want to know.”
“Well, you don’t always get what you want.”