Chapter 98 CHAPTER 085
For the first time since I was rescued from Tyler, I feel the stirring of my anger come alive. Of the need to revenge. To cause him harm. I want to inflict ten times the amount of pain and humiliation he inflicted on me and Ashley in that warehouse. I want to make him bleed and beg. I want to watch the fear come alive in his eyes with me standing over him.
"Ashley, he is still out there. He ran away." I say and it elicits the reaction I want. She stiffens and her mischievous grin bleeds off her face.
"Oh." She says quietly, shrinking into herself. I feel awful.
"Yeah, so I don't know the plan but I think you will be safer if you move into the mansion with us for the main time once you are discharged. It has more security."
"Okay." She says, avoiding my eyes.
"Yeah." Now that I have successfully stopped her deflection tactics, I find myself at a loss of what to say. There are topics to talk about, of course, but I just don't feel like discussing them at the moment anymore.
"Amelia. I am sorry. All this wouldn't have happened if I wasn't a dumb bitch." Ashley says, her eyes water and I pull her into another awkward hug.
"It is fine. Really. Don't mention it again. If anybody should be feeling terrible, it is me. All this shit had nothing to do with you and you bore the worst of it. I feel really bad."
I don't say it but it feels like we are even.
"I guess it was my punishment. But I want you to know that I truly didn't know he was going to take you. I had no idea he had all that planned."
"I believe you. You have told me before, when we were held in that horrible place together. I understand. I forgive you. Don't beat yourself up too much, you are already pretty banged up." I say with a small laugh, taking a page from her book, making jokes to lighten the mood.
Ashley brightens, laughing out loud for a second before she has to hold it off because of all the bruises on her face, but she grins still.
"Yeah, I am." She says.
We smile at eachother. I feel the pressure of my guilt loosening. My chest feels lighter. We are still friends. Sisters. We would always be. Having survived something like this together.
Linc walks up to us.
"Ashley, I owe you an apology too. I am terribly sorry for what you had to go through. I hate to say it but Tyler is still out there so we will have to keep an eye on you for the meantime, you can come stay at the mansion or anywhere else, but rest assured that I'll have security agents keeping you safe at all times till we get a hold of Tyler. Please let me know how I can make all this up to you." His voice is resolute and hard. Charismatic. I don't know if he knows Ashley knows about us. He doesn't let anything slip. Or maybe he just doesn't care. He is enigmatic like that.
I watch his tired handsome face longingly. It is crazy that all I can think about is finally going home with him, being alone with him. I have missed us.
"It is fine, Mr. Dmitri. I also owe you an apology for the part I played in all this." Ashley avoids his eyes. She is shy and deferential. Sometimes I forget the effect Linc has on other people. Everybody else actually. I am probably the only person who gets to see the other less uptight version of him. The man away from the reserved billionaire. And I love that man. So damn much, it is killing me.
"I guess we are all even then." He says. I glare at him, he ignores me.
"Yeah. But I will need time to think about your offer. I could do with some help. I will let you know, Mr. Dmitri." Ashley flashes him a defiant grin. I pat down her hair proudly. Linc gives us both a tight smile and strolls back to the door, giving us privacy we don't need.
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I get discharged the next day. The doctor advised me to get bed rest for the next two to three days and not get involved in any strenuous activities. I got stitches for the injury at the back of my head, the wound is about three inches wide. My hair covers it. It is almost easy to forget it is there. Almost easy to forget about the past week of my life. Almost.
But I still tense up when I see one of the inconspicuous security personnel around. Even Hernandez makes me tense up. Abbie treats me professionally, from a distance, like she didn't spend a large amount of time keeping tabs on me over the years I spent in college.
It is impossible to forget what Tyler did to me. I have to make peace with that knowledge. The trauma of it would probably never leave me.
Ashley decided to go back home to spend some time with her family. The experience with Tyler shook her up more than she would let on. It was literally a life and death situation, and no matter how much jokes she wants to deflect with, the fact is that we feared for our lives in that dreadful abandoned warehouse with a madman breathing down on us. Linc didn't object, he told her he already had someone tailing her who would be as invisible and unobstructive as possible.
They think it is highly unlikely that Tyler would show up to her. But he is not taking chances.
I came back home alone with Linc and we are currently having lunch. I can't deny the fact that there is a disconnect to Linc since we came back. I don't know what it is but he seems distant. Like he is pulling away from me even as he dots on me. He had his domestic staff set up my room nicely. Making sure I have everything I might need. Maybe I am just overthinking it.