Dark Boundaries (13 page)

Chapter Thirty Four

Kristine~

How the hell am I going to last three months?

It hasn’t even been an hour and I want to kill him. He’s so damn bossy. I don’t remember him being like this, but then again, maybe I was just too scared those ten days to notice it.

We’re walking through the airport. I was shocked when he brought me here and told me we’re catching a flight to New York. I never gave any thought to where Garrett lives or even what he does for a living. Come to think of it, I hardly know anything about him, only who his mother is. Talking about parents, New York is close to my parents’ home in Rhode Island.

Garrett has me by the hand, dragging me from one side of the airport to the other. He walks as if the whole damn world belongs to him. People have to step out of his way or be run over.

Part of me wants to yank free and make a run for it, but the other part – the bigger part – wants to stay. I still want to belong to him. Then at least I’ll be somebody.

As we board the plane I give a quick nervous smile to the hostess. We follow her to the front, to first class. I’ve only been on a plane once and I don’t remember it looking like this.

“You take the window seat,” Garrett murmurs.

I sit and he takes the seat next to me. He leans over me and when he starts to fasten the seatbelt, I slap at his hands. “I can do it myself! I’m not a child.”

His mouth lifts in the corner, and I stare like an idiot. Now that I take a moment to really look, I notice he’s much more relaxed. The tense lines around his eyes and mouth are gone and it makes him look younger, much more attractive than what I remember. My eyes skip to his and I instantly regret it. The warmth shining from them reminds me of those days we spent in the container, back when I believed he cared for me. Now I’m just a score to settle.

I turn my face to the window and try to think of anything but Garrett. I’m going to be at his mercy for three months. I need to soak up my last moments of freedom.

It’s a long two and a half hour flight. I’m just thankful Garrett doesn’t try to make small talk. He’s busy on his phone, doing who knows what.

“Would you like something to drink?” the hostess asks. I look at her to ask for a soda but the words freeze on my lips when I see how she’s smiling at Garrett. You’d swear the sun rises and sets in his ass!

“What would you like?” Garrett asks me when I don’t say anything.

“Just a soda please, any kind.” I can’t force my lips to smile at the woman. She’s being so obvious that she has the hots for Garrett.
Was I like that when I met Garrett? Is that the reason he took me, because I was easy prey?

I go back to my sulking position, staring out the window.

It’s late afternoon by the time we land in New York. As soon as I stand, Garrett takes my hand and I’m back to being dragged around an airport. When we get outside, I don’t have any time to take in my first trip to New York. There’s a black SUV waiting for us. A huge man opens the back door and immediately my heart starts to beat heavily.

What if this is all a set up to kidnap me again! I was so stupid to just come with him!

I yank back. “No! No, I’m not getting in that. I swear I’ll scream if you try to force me.”

Garrett stops and grabs hold of my shoulders. He pulls me close to him. Worry makes his eyes turn dark. “It’s okay. We’re going to my apartment.” He looks back at the huge man. “That’s Simon, he’s my chauffer. Nothing is going to happen to you.”

I don’t want to make a scene but there is no way in hell I’m getting in that SUV. I was stupid the first time, but I’ve learned from that mistake. I won’t let myself be kidnapped again.

Garrett looks around us and then points to a line of cabs standing nearby. “You want to take a cab? Will that make you feel safer?”

“Yes!” I don’t even hesitate to answer. “Please.”

“Simon, it’s okay. We won’t need the car.” Simon nods his understanding.

Garrett takes me to the nearest cab and opens the back door. I slip in, feeling much more relaxed. No kidnapping. I might be overreacting just a bit.

Garrett gives the cab driver directions. I take in my surroundings, the tall buildings, and the people racing around like ants. The buildings get bigger and more stylish as we keep driving. The cab stops in front of an impressive building. Garrett gets out first and then holds his hand out to me. I take it and then my eyes dart back to the building. It’s quite intimidating.

“This is where you live?” I ask full of astonishment.

Garrett gives me half a smile and I hate that his smile has the power to send tingles through my body. As he takes my bag from the cab, he says, “It’s one of the places I call home. I want you all to myself, so I chose this one.”

I look up trying to guess how many floors the building has. “On which floor is yours?”

“I have a condo on the thirty-third floor.” he sees my questioning gaze. “There are forty floors. You’ll love the view. Come,” he tugs me towards the entrance where a doorman is standing, “let’s get you settled in.” Garrett nods at the doorman. “Afternoon, Stan. It’s good to see you again.” And then he stops and I almost slam into his back, “Oh, this Kristine Marshall. She’ll be staying with me.”

“Hi.” I try to sound cool and calm, everything I’m not feeling.

“Good day, miss,” Stan smiles back at me.

While we’re waiting for the elevator, Garrett’s hand settles on my lower back. His thumb starts to move in slow circles and it takes me back to that awful day I was on display for all those men so Bill could inspect me. I take a step forward, breaking the contact. “Please don’t touch me like that,” I whisper so Stan won’t hear me.

The elevator pings open and I step in. Garrett doesn’t come to stand next to me. He watches me closely and just before the door closes he steps in. I take a step back when he comes to stand in front of me. He tilts his head slightly, trying to catch my eyes. When I won’t make eye contact, he takes hold of my chin and forces my face up.

“What?” I snap. I feel nervous being around him after all this time has passed. I don’t know what to expect. Things were different between us during those ten days. We needed each other to survive. I needed him a year ago! Now I don’t know what I want or what I feel.

“Why don’t you want me to touch you like that?” His stare unravels me so, for a moment I forget that I asked him not to touch me like that.

“I just don’t, okay,” I answer defensively.

Garrett leans down, bringing his lips within inches of mine. “I was there. Don’t forget that.”

I scowl at him. It’s the last subject I want to talk about. I yank my chin from his hand and like a sulking teenager I cross my arms over my chest and stare down at my feet.

I wish the three months were over already.

The elevator opens up to a long hallway. The tiles gleam under the electric lights as I follow Garrett to the door at the end of the hallway. He unlocks it, opens the door and stands back for me to go in first. I don’t know what I expected, but it certainly wasn’t such extravagance. This place is huge! My whole apartment could fit into his living room! There are floor to ceiling windows and the view is spectacular. I can see Central Park from here. Even though most of the furniture is white, the place has a fresh contemporary feel to it.

I take a few steps deeper into the condo. The kitchen is to my right, decorated with black fittings and chrome furnishings. It’s in total contrast with the living room. When I look to my left, my mouth drops open. There’s a spiral staircase that takes you to the second floor. A balcony looks down on the living room.

“The room is up there.” Garrett yanks me back to the now. “I’ll put your bag on the bed. You can unpack when you’re ready.”

He starts up the stairs and I’m quick to follow. I feel out of place. This was such a bad idea.

~*~

Chapter Thirty Five

Garrett~

The whole upper floor consists of the bedroom and bathroom. It’s a wide open space with high ceilings. I wonder what Kristine thinks of it. I hope I did the right thing by bringing her here.

I place her bag on the floor, right next to the king size bed. I’ve hardly slept in the thing myself. Normally when I’m here I work. I point out the walk-in cupboard. “You can unpack your clothes. Use the left side.” I point to the opposite side of the room. “The bathroom is through there.”

Her eyes follow the direction I’m pointing and then come back to the cupboard. She looks at my suits and some casual clothes I always leave here. “Ah …” she hesitates and then frowns, “where will you be sleeping?”

I point to the bed.

“Oh …” her eyes flit between the bed and me, “and where will I be sleeping?”

I point to the bed again.

She scrunches her nose and it looks fucking cute. “That’s so not going to happen,” she says and walks back to her bag. She picks it up and starts toward the stairs. Yeah, so much for cuteness.

“Kris,” I call and then go after her. I grab her arm at the bottom of the stairs and take her bag from her. “Three months. It’s the deal. You do what I say and right now I’m telling you to go up there and unpack.”

“I don’t remember you being so damn bossy!” she snaps. She grabs her bag back from me and stalks back up the stairs. From over her shoulder she yells at me, “This is just another form of kidnapping.”

I give her some time alone and head to the nearest couch. I’m tired and hungry. I sit down and go through the list of fast food places I have on my phone. I decide on pizza and place an order.

A while later they deliver the pizza. I place it in the kitchen and take out plates. I pour us each a glass of wine I had chilling in the fridge from when I was here two weeks ago. “Kris,” I call as I carry everything to the dining room table.

“Yes.” I hear her tired reply from upstairs.

“Come eat.” My eyes follow her all the way down the stairs. She looks as tired as I feel.

I pull out a chair for her and as she takes the seat, she chuckles and mumbles under her breath, “It’s a far cry from cheese sandwiches.”

I don’t know what to say to that so I start to eat instead. When I take my second bite I notice she hasn’t touched her food. I drop the slice back to my plate. “You’re not going to eat?”

She shrugs. “Am I allowed to?”

I scratch my jaw in frustration. “Why would you ask me something like that?”

She shoves the plate away from her and I notice her chin starting to tremble. “How do you think this is going to work, Garrett?” She places her elbows on the table and covers her face with her hands. “You say you remember … that you were there, but you don’t! You don’t remember it the way I do! You say you want to get me know me,” she groans and then looks up at me, her eyes huge with sadness. “You fed me! For ten days you fed me. You watched me take showers. You hosed me like an animal, watched when I used the toilet. You watched me get dressed only to be undressed minutes later!” Her voice climbs as she lashes out at me. “You made me have sex with you. You reminded me constantly that I was a nobody, that I’d be some sick man’s slave. How can you not remember that?” Tears spill over her cheeks, making me feel lower than scum.

“That’s why I asked you for this time. I want to fix it-” she darts up, shoving the chair back so hard, it topples over.

“You can’t fix what’s been done! Why couldn’t you just leave me alone? Let me live my life in peace. I was finally getting somewhere, getting over you!”

She’s been through a lot. She needs to get all of this out of her system. We’re communicating, this is good. “I can fix what has been done. Didn’t you see how much better Andrea is?”

Kristine slaps her palm to her forehead. “Garrett!” she screams. “Freaking hell! Are you that stupid? You didn’t torture Andrea! You saved her. Of course you can help her. You’re her freaking hero. But to me …” she seems to be searching for the right words, “you’re nothing but a twisted monster.”

I get up, wanting so badly to touch her, to comfort her. She must see the need in my eyes, because she throws up a hand between us. “Don’t touch me! Let’s get one thing straight,” her voice is hoarse with emotion, “I’m only here to pay a debt. You stole me. You broke me,” she cries. I can see how close she is to losing it. “You made me dependent on you and then you threw me away, like I was nothing but trash. You made it clear you only cared about finding Andrea and now you’re trying to ease your guilty conscience at my expense.”

What she says cuts deep but that last part is a stab through the heart. I grab her shoulders and pull her hard to my chest. Her breaths are fast and hot on my neck as she looks up at me. I can see fear in her eyes which only twists that knife deeper.

“I’m not doing this to ease my guilty conscience. My conscience is something I’ll have to live with for the rest of my life. I regret what I did to you, every single fucking day. I brought you here because I want to help you. I want to get to know the real you. I want a chance to make things right between us, because I do care about you. I care so fucking much it’s driving me insane!”

I weave my fingers into her hair and press her face into my chest. I hold her so tight, scared of what she might say next. By holding her I try to show her how much I care and how sorry I am.

~*~