Sophia
He had kept her tied up on a bed in a dark, musky room that reminded her of gym class.
She tried to look around the room every time the sunlight started to creep in, but the room didn’t get much direct sunlight, and Peter made sure not to turn on any lights.
Even when he gave her bathroom breaks, he was careful to remove the light bulbs from the fixtures as though keeping her in the dark would keep her from finding out her location.
So far, he was right, but she had a feeling that she knew this place—she just had to figure out how.
He pushed the door open with the tray he carried in his hands and set it down on the table next to the bed.
It was his routine. He’d show up at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, bringing her a tray of food and telling her that if she’d just behaved herself, he’d let her up.
That was a lie. She knew that Peter wasn’t going to ever grant her freedom.
That would mean that she’d run, and he was smart enough to know that much about her.
“Was someone here earlier?” she asked, not bothering with small talk.
“No, why would you think that?” he asked.
“Um, because I overheard you talking this morning, and it sounded as though you were having a conversation with someone,” she admitted. “Was it Luca?” she tried to keep the hope from her voice, but failed miserably.
“Why would I call your ex?” he spat.
“He’s not my ex,” she insisted.
“Then tell me why he’s not here, Sophia?” Peter asked. “Why are you two not together right now?”
“We’re not together right now because you kidnapped me and are holding me here against my will. But we’re still together because you can’t break the bond that we have,” she insisted. He looked to be getting madder by the second, and she wasn’t sure if she should stop or keep going.
Before she could say another word, Peter slapped her across the face, clipping her lip with his ring.
“Did you really think that I’d allow him to keep you?
” Pete shouted at her. The blood trickled down her chin from her top lip.
His ring had broken the skin, and she knew that she probably would need a stitch or two, not that it mattered right now.
No, now she was going to have to figure out how to get away from Peter, and then she’d worry about the damage he had done to her.
“He wasn’t keeping me, Pete,” she shouted.
Once Luca moved her into his house, she became his.
He had kept her safe, and now he was keeping her heart safe.
Sophia would just have to find a way to keep going until Luca could find her.
The question was—would he be able to find her, or would she have to find a way out of this mess by herself?
Pete’s hand fisted in the front of her shirt and yanked her closer, his face twisted with something ugly and possessive.
“Don’t lie to me,” he snarled. “I saw you with him. I saw the two of you in his truck and in his house. I followed you around town—to the bar the first night you were together, and then to the bakery where you hung out with your new friend. I even watched the two of you at the gym. I bet you didn’t know that, did you, Sophia?
” Peter sounded smug and even proud of his stalking skills.
“But you’re mine, and the sooner you and that ex-boyfriend of yours figure that fact out, the sooner we can all get on with our lives.
You’re mine, Sophia,” he spat. Sophia forced herself to stay still, even though her instincts were screaming at her to fight, to run, to do something.
She tasted blood as she ran her tongue over her top lip, and swallowed it back, lifting her chin despite the pain.
“You don’t own me,” she said, keeping her voice steady. “You never did.” That earned her another shove, her back slamming into the wall hard enough to knock the air from her lungs. White sparks danced in her vision, but she refused to cry. She wouldn’t give him that.
“You were always mine,” Pete insisted. “You just forgot that fact.” No, she thought, but didn’t say the words aloud. They would only fuel his anger, and she’d end up with more blood running down her face.
She shifted her weight slowly, subtly, remembering what Luca had shown her when they sparred at the gym together.
He had taught her where to put her feet and how to stay balanced.
Remembering his voice, calm and steady, telling her she was stronger than she thought, gave her the strength to want to fight.
“Will you release me so that I can eat?” she asked. Her stomach growled as though on cue, and he sighed, releasing her shirt from his grip.
“Fine,” he breathed. He quickly unlocked her cuffs and released her hands.
Sophia rubbed the life back into her wrists and waited for him to free her legs.
She knew that once she was free, she’d have to fight like hell, but she was determined to get back to Luca.
She had just forgotten how strong she was until hearing his voice in her head telling her.
“I didn’t forget,” she said. “I grew up.”
His eyes narrowed, rage flashing hot and unhinged.
“You had to grow up once Luca left you in the foster care system. You grew up because of him.” Sophia had grown up because of herself.
Losing Luca hurt her, but she learned how to survive without him.
She knew that Peter would never understand that, but it was the truth.
She let her gaze flick past his shoulder, toward the door, and back at the cracked window. She was looking for anything that could be an opening for her escape. Pete noticed and grabbed her arm hard enough that she cried out despite herself.
“Don’t,” he warned. Outside, somewhere far away, a car passed.
Life was still happening around them, and Luca was still out there.
Sophia knew that he wouldn’t give up on her, and she couldn’t give up on herself.
Not now, when they had just found each other again.
She held onto that thought like a lifeline.
She knew that he’d come for her, and if he didn’t—if time stretched on for too long and Pete made another mistake, Sophia swore she’d make her own chance.
She wasn’t the scared girl from the foster home anymore, but Pete didn’t know that about her—yet.
She was a woman who had something to fight for, and she wasn’t done fighting yet.