Unfold Me (10 page)

“Do you see that tattoo?” Archer asks, pointing at the black symbol on the girl’s hip. “She was Raphael’s. Maybe I should get you tattooed, so you can be completely mine.”

I don’t move as he nibbles on my ear, because I’m too shocked to even think.

“He killed her, didn’t he?” Isaac growls, his nostrils flaring.

I just nod. He whirls around as if he’s going to kick the couch, but then seems to catch himself and just leans on it, letting out a frustrated groan. I blink at him and realize what’s wrong. The withdrawal is affecting him. He hasn’t taken any pills, and that’s probably what’s fueling his anger and anxiety. Maybe there’s a way for me to help him.

“Isaac? Would you like to go out with me for a walk?” I ask, and he looks at me as if he thinks I’m crazy. Well, maybe I am, but he’s been trapped inside for too long.

“We can’t. Someone will see us. You said it yourself; Archer could be suspicious about me being so obedient to you so suddenly, and people don’t usually take their slaves out where normal people could see them.”

“Not if we go out of town. Somewhere without many people. And if anyone wants to follow us, we’ll be able to see them and get rid of them. They won’t know where I’m taking you.”

He worries his lip between his teeth for a moment, then shrugs. “Okay.”

***

I glance at the rearview mirror, glad that I can’t see anyone behind us. Everywhere around us are empty fields, so it’s unlikely Archer’s spies are hiding in the sparse bushes. Still, I speed up the car until we reach the woods. Isaac arches his eyebrows as I stop the car under one of the trees.

“What are we doing here? Do you have a body in the trunk that needs burying?” he asks.

“Maybe I do.” I grin at him, opening the door. “Come on. I want to show you something.”

Isaac just stares at me, but he follows me through the trees until we emerge into a clearing with a lake.

“Seriously?” He rolls his eyes. “You brought me all the way here to see some stupid lake? What are we going to do here?” He rubs his arms. “Chase after ducks?”

“Fine, you can stay here if you’d like, and I...” I break into a run.

“Hey, where are you going?” Isaac yells after me, but I don’t say anything, just sprint across the high grass. “Wait!”

A smile creeps up my face when he rushes after me. I run all the way to the other side of the lake, the wind caressing my face. When I finally come to a stop, I lean my hands on my knees, panting. Isaac crashes into me, sending us both flying into the grass.

I burst out laughing as he ends up on top of me. He lifts himself up on his elbows and stares down at me. My lips part as I reach out to place a hand on his warm cheek. His eyes are so incredibly blue, but somehow a warmer blue than Archer’s. And the way he’s looking at me... it’s hypnotizing.

He dips his head and brushes his lips against mine. I capture his mouth with mine as I wrap my arms around him, pulling him toward me. He breaks off the kiss, breathless, and I look away from him to chase away the fire starting inside me. But I can still feel his body so close to mine, his hot breath near my neck, his... I press my hand against his chest.

“We... we shouldn’t,” I finally say, and as soon as his weight leaves me, I get to my feet, dusting off my pants.

“You have...” He plucks a piece of grass out of my hair.

“I...” I hesitate.

“Look!” Isaac suddenly says, pointing toward the lake. “Are those the ducks you were after?”

I look in the direction he’s indicating and see a family of ducks waggling through the thick reed that grows around the lake. “Yeah.” I’ll say anything to break the awkward moment between us, and if it helps Isaac keep his mind off the pills, even better. “Let’s go see them, but be careful so we don’t scare them.”

Isaac nods and we slowly step forward, carefully weighing our steps as the grass crunches under our feet. But as we come closer, Isaac rushes toward the ducks, waving his hands and shouting.

“Hey! What are you doing?” I try to keep my face straight as the ducks quack and spread their wings, readying themselves to fly away, but when Isaac turns back to me with a big grin on his face, I know this little trip has been worth it.

When my phone rings and Archer’s number flashes on the screen, I nearly drop it.

“Yes?” I say, trying to keep the nervous undertone out of my voice. What could he possibly want from me now? What if he discovered what Lilith is trying to do with Raphael? What if Caleb has been caught and confessed everything?

“Hello, Kitten,” Archer says. “Have you missed me?”

I breathe out a sigh of relief. It’s just Archer being his usual self, and now that we’ve been in contact more often, he thinks it’s okay to call me for nonsense. “Why would I miss you? Honestly, I haven’t even had time to think about you. I’m kind of busy right now.”

“Lying again. You know how much I hate that. If you were still mine...”

“I’m not.” I don’t want him to tell me what he would do to me, and I definitely don’t want to think I’d enjoy some of it. “Is there something you need or did you just call because you’re lonely?”

“Actually, I have an invitation for you...”

“Another one?” I frown.

“It’s not about the party,” he says. “I’d like you to join me for dinner. Just you and me.”

My mouth opens, but I don’t know what to say.

“You didn’t buy that slave for no reason. You must have known I’d be trying to buy him, so you outbid my man to catch my attention. I know you’re afraid because of our deal... Well, it was more your father’s deal, but you should know that you don’t have to be afraid to come look for me. If that’s what you want... we could... spend some time together,” he says.

I lean on the counter because my knees are so weak. What is he suggesting? That we get back together as if nothing happened? “I don’t think you understand...”

“I do understand, Kitten,” he says. “You’re scared of your feelings for me, but I know you and you know me. We could give our relationship a shot... to see what happens. You wouldn’t have to do anything you don’t want to.”

“Um, I...”

“I’ll let you think about it. If you accept my invitation, meet me at your favorite restaurant at eight.  If you don’t want to come, that’s okay, but please think about it... We can just have dinner and talk,” he says softly. “I’ll be waiting... See you, Katherine.”

I don’t let go of the phone even as the line goes dead. This has to be the first time he’s called me by my actual name. He’s trying to get me to agree to have dinner with him, but why? What is he planning? I finally lower the phone. Isaac appears at the door and raises an eyebrow at me.

“Are you okay?” he asks, concern filling his eyes.

“Yeah, I just... Archer called me.”

“What did he want?” There’s an angry edge in Isaac’s voice.

“He invited me to dinner.” I run a hand across my forehead.

“He what?” Isaac gapes at me. “Did you say yes?”

“No, I... I didn’t say anything, but he’ll be waiting for me and if I want to go...” I shake my head. “He’s crazy. He thinks we can just have dinner and chat over drinks as if we’re old friends or something.”

“Do you want to go?”

“No,” I quickly say. “I don’t. I just... I don’t know what game he’s playing now. He thinks I bought you only to catch his attention and that I don’t know how to approach him because of our deal and everything...” I wave my hands. “I don’t know what he wants, but I can’t just...”

“Yes, you can,” Isaac says, determination flashing in his eyes. “You should go to that dinner with him.”

“But why? What if it’s a trap?”

“Is he planning to send a car for you?” Isaac asks.

“No, he told me he’d be waiting for me at my favorite restaurant.” There’s a sour taste on my tongue. The fact that he found out about my favorite restaurant tells me that he’s been keeping a closer eye on me than I thought.

“That’s good. It’s a public place. He can’t exactly do anything to you there, and he doesn’t have a reason to if he believes there could be something between the two of you. I say you should go. You can have dinner with him. It’s better if he believes everything has been because of him, but don’t admit it. Try to gain his trust or find out something about him. It’s a perfect opportunity.”

“Yeah, except he probably rented the whole restaurant. And being alone with him... I just...”

“Are you afraid of what he’s going to do or of what you’re going to do?” Isaac looks up at me, and I bite down on my lip.

“Both, I guess.”

“Then don’t go, but I still think we’re missing an opportunity here. If he gets mad at you for not coming, it’s going to be harder to get him to trust you or let you in.”

I hesitate.

“You can take your gun too,” Isaac says.

I take a deep breath. “Okay, I’ll go, but I can’t promise I won’t ruin everything. If he tries something with me...”

“Just get away from him. We’ll figure things out even if he gets mad at you.”

“Okay.” I can’t believe I’m going to have dinner with the man I despise, except one tiny part of me is excited about this... What if Archer has changed? What if he would be willing to do it for me? What if he really cares about me and hadn’t realized that until after I was gone? The rational part of me is yelling that Archer isn’t capable of any of that, and that he’s just a sick and twisted psycho who stalks me and threatens my family... but deep down, one part of me wants to believe otherwise. Because how could I have even for a second fallen for such a cruel man otherwise? Stockholm syndrome maybe. But why hasn’t Archer left my mind already?

***

As I stride across the parking lot toward my favorite restaurant, which is only two blocks away from my apartment, I try to forget the pinched look on Isaac’s face when I stepped in front of him to show him the tight black and red cocktail dress I’m wearing for dinner with Archer. I don’t even want to consider what that look meant, but I can’t think about that now.

I glance at passersby with suspicion, because anyone who looks at me could be one of Archer’s spies, and I hate that... I hate that he can just follow me around like that, and I can’t really do anything about it because I’m sure he’ll just deny everything and say he’s found out things about me by asking others or accidentally seeing me somewhere. Besides, if I ask him to stop, he’ll say he isn’t really doing anything to harm me.

I’m perfectly calm when I reach one of Archer’s guards posted at the door. The man nods at me and opens the door wide. My strappy high heels click against the white floor, and I stop when I see there’s only one table in the whole room, and it is completely surrounded by red candles. Red rose petals are spread out across the floor.

Archer gets to his feet as soon as he sees me, his eyes running up and down my body, a slow smile spreading across his lips. He’s wearing one of his best black suits, and there’s a blue tie around his neck, the same tie he once used to tie my hands while we... I blink, pushing the memories out of my head, but my throat is already dry.

“I’m so glad you came,” Archer says, but he doesn’t look surprised at all. That bastard. He thinks he knows everything about me now. If I can focus on my anger toward him, maybe I can forget the tingling feeling in my stomach. “You look breathtaking.”

“Thank you,” I say, letting him pull out a chair for me, and I take a seat. “I didn’t have anything better to do, so I thought, why not? It would be a shame to leave you alone here in this big place. All the candles though...” I shake my head. “They’re going to give me a headache.” I set my black purse on the table next to the perfectly laid-out silverware.

“A headache? Ah, no, Kitten,” he says. “You know these candles can have... a higher purpose.” His voice is low and seductive.

The waiter comes and pours us some wine, and I immediately take a big gulp.

“Are you nervous, Kitten?” he asks, his eyes never leaving me.

“No, but my eye twitches every time you say that silly name. Seriously, who talks like that?” I run my finger over the rim of my glass. “If you keep forgetting my name, maybe you shouldn’t say anything at all.”

A tightness around his mouth tells me that I’m beginning to annoy him. Good. Let’s see if he’ll still want to get back with me if I’m not an obedient slave at his feet. Because that’s what he wants. Not me. He doesn’t even know the real me.

“Ah, you’ll have to forgive me for that. Some habits die hard.” His lips pull into a smile again. “I always thought you loved it when I called you that, even when you keep telling me you don’t.”

“What is it that you really want?” I meet his eyes. “You could’ve invited me to dinners before. Why now? Or is this about that slave? Are you trying to steal him from me?”

He lets out a small laugh. “Steal him? Never. He’s yours, but I have to wonder why... I know what you said, but you say many things you don’t really mean. That much about you I know. I don’t believe you, Katherine. I don’t believe you bought him for yourself. You did it to spite me, and I bet you don’t know what to do with him. Isaac... he’s... he has to be treated in a special way. I know best what he responds to, and you... Where do you keep him? At your apartment? I can’t imagine that’s safe.”