Chapter 16

Sixteen

I finish my apple and give my chips to Anders, who wolfs them down in one go. I offer him my second bottle of water as well, but he insists I keep it. When we have both eaten and drunk our fill, we settle onto the floor facing each other, leaning against our respective frames. I guess it’s time for our little talk.

“So . . .”

“Do you . . .”

We both laugh.

“Do you know what he wants?” Anders asks.

“That guy, he hasn’t asked for anything,” I hedge, knowing I need to tell him what is really going on, and how him being caught up in all this is my fault. But I haven’t worked out where to start yet, so I stall for a few moments before I begin.

“The man you saw... I don’t know him. I don’t think I have ever seen him before. He hasn’t given any indication of the specific motivation for us being brought here.”

“What about the other guy? Did he explain? If you can just give him what he wants, maybe he will let us go.” His voice rises with each question, though he is trying to still stay hushed. I can hear the panic coming through.

“He hasn’t told me what he wants from me yet, but I’m sure it’s coming.”

“What the hell does that mean? What did he tell you?”

“It’s not like that. He hasn’t said anything about where we are, or what he wants in order for us to leave. I genuinely have no clue what the actual fuck is going on here!”

As my voice raises, Anders turns to watch the door, like he thinks someone is listening or would come running from hearing our conversation.

“He must have said something, Aria,” he insists. “Influential people like him don’t just go around kidnapping their own daughters without a reason. Think! Tell me everything he told you and we can work it out together.” Anders’s voice is so desperate that it takes a moment for his words to sink in.

“I didn’t tell you there was another guy, Anders. Or that my father was behind this.”

His eyes snap to mine. “Aria, I . . .”

I wait. I wait for his assurance that I have misunderstood. I wait for the explanation that I am so sure is coming. Anders lowers his eyes to the floor, runs his hands through his hair, and takes a shaking breath. My heart sinks. I haven’t misunderstood at all. There will be no explanation. Anders knew my father was behind this.

I close my eyes against the shattering pain. I let my head fall back against the frame.

“When?” I ask.

“When, what?”

“Now is not the time to play me, Anders. When did you know who I was? Who I was to him, and him to me?”

His silence causes me to tilt my head back down to look at him. His eyes are still on the ground.

“Since before your first day,” he says eventually.

I go numb. The shock is too much to bear.

“So, you were a plant. Sent to what? Watch me? Learn about me? Trick me? Make me fall for you so you could seduce me? Fuck me, and then what? Betray me? Break my heart?” My voice rises with every accusation.

“No, not that,” he defends quickly, shaking his head in denial. “I mean, yes, I was sent by your father to learn about you. To make my way into your life so he could have an in. Your mother kept you locked up so tight he couldn’t find a way to see you. Once I met you, and told him how wonderful you are, he asked me to get to know you better.”

“Well, I hope he gives you a bonus for just how well you got to know me ,” I snarl. “Did he enjoy every sordid detail of that report?”

“It’s not like that, Aria. I didn’t know this was going to happen, I swear. I was due to report in on Sunday, like always. I had no warning either.”

“And you just expect me to believe you? Are you fucking serious?” I practically scream at him.

“I never meant to hurt you, Aria. Everything I felt, we felt, was real. I want us to have a life together. Please, you have to believe me.”

“A life... together. You honestly think, after what you’ve just told me, after finding out you are a part of this”—I gesture around the room—“that I would want anything to do with you?!” I shake my head. “We’re done. Once I am out of here—and make no mistake, I am getting out of here—I never want so much as to set eyes on you again. You disgust me. So, I hope whatever deal you made with Daddy Devil was worth it because you will get no more from me.”

“Aria . . .”

“No.”

“Please, just give me?—”

“No, you don’t have the right to speak to me ever again,” I say with deathly calm.

Sadness washes over his face, but I feel nothing.

“GUARD!” I shout. “GUARD!!”

“He can’t hear you.” Anders interrupts my shouts.

“I don’t want to look at you for a minute longer. I want you gone. Gone from this cell. Gone from my life. Gone!”

Sighing in resignation, he doesn’t argue. Reaching down to his ankle, Anders scratches at his binding for a moment and then stands, swaying slightly. He stumbles forward a few steps before catching himself. It is then that I notice his remaining shackle has fallen away. I watch Anders walk to the door.

He turns to face me and takes a breath like he is going to say something, but merely shakes his head and turns back to the door. He takes a key from his pocket, unlocks the door, and walks out of it without a backwards glance. I hear the lock engage again, and his footsteps slowly grow fainter as he leaves.

I’m alone with nothing but my thoughts, my shredded heart in tatters on the floor. How could I have been so stupid?

I try to think back over the last few months, looking for any signs I missed, any hints that Anders was in league with my father, but there is nothing. He seemed to actually be interested in me, for me. And the sex... well I didn’t think you could fake that kind of attraction, that connection, but it was all a lie.

I feel so used. So dirty. So sick. I rush to the bucket in the corner and empty the contents of my stomach and then continue retching long afterwards. Once I’m sure I’m done, I splash water on my face and sit against the wall, knees up to my chest, head in my hands.

I’m utterly shattered. And what’s worse is that Mum will never know just how right she was. I wish I’d listened to her. She warned me about trusting people, about their motivations. About them always wanting something from us. I just didn’t want to believe the worst.

Taking stock of my situation, I come to the horrific realisation that despite the repeated bombshells laid at my feet, the hits haven’t stopped coming yet. I still didn’t know what my father actually wants.