She gives me her best pouty face and takes both my hands in hers. “Yeah, I’ll take you up to one of the rooms. Come on.”
I grab my purse and my phone and follow her into back into the resort. I catch a glimpse of myself in the gift shop window and cringe. I look like hell.
“Come one, we can raid the shops. We’ll pay them back another day. Perks of being twenty-five percent owner.”
I pick out shorts, tank top, some underwear that is not tighty-whities, and she gets the same, but in a size that can accommodate her belly. Jack delivers two room keys to us and then we take the elevators up two floors, which is the top floor here, and she directs me to a room. “I’ll be across the hall if you need anything, OK?”
I take a deep breath and let it out. “Thank you. So fucking much. I’m so sorry I ruined your wedding. I hope you’ll forgive me and if you want, I will totally tell Johnny it was all my fault.”
She shakes her head at me. “No, Grace. It wasn’t you, really. I needed this time to get my head straight. If he loves me, this will not stop him. It’s just a bump, that’s all. Just a little bump in the road. I don’t need a man who will run away at the first sign of trouble, ya know? I need one who will stick.”
Hmmm. This really makes me think hard. We ran off today, right? So technically, aren’t we the ones who walked out at the hint of a bump in the road? I admit, my problems are pretty unique. But Vaughn was trying to help me and I pushed him away.
Why do I do that?
Pffft. OK, stupid question, Grace.
Kristi turns to go into her room and I go into mine. It’s a beautiful suite. A living room with a mountain view, and two bedrooms flanking the large living space. I head straight to the shower, and even though the soaking tub is totally calling my name, it’s all I can do to manage to stand up in the shower without passing out from exhaustion.
Kristi’s words are echoing in my mind. She wants someone who will stick. We all want someone who will stick. But what do I do at the first sign of trouble? I come loose. I take off. I run. I get the fuck out of Dodge and hit the road.
I can’t help it either. I really can’t. I’m not good at confrontation. I have been fighting with Vaughn since the moment we met. Literally, the moment we met in that bar and he was bossing me into that key lime pie martini. And that is so not like me. I’ve been the yes girl for so long, switching to the no girl just throws me all off balance.
Why does he bring that out in me? He must hate me. I’m not sticky at all. He deserves sticky too. And maybe it’s just my overactive imagination, but I think he was trying to tell me something important about this last night.
Goddammit, why can’t I remember what happened? And why would he ever want me? I’m so fucked up.
I wash myself quickly and then slip on my new clothes and lie down on the bed. The air-conditioning is cold, so after a few minutes I slip under the covers and my eyes get heavy.
The stench of urine and feces is all around me. No, my mind says. No, Daisy. That stench isn’t around you. It is you.
I gasp as the footsteps approach the closet door. I’m bound and gagged, but not blindfolded. He always wants me to see him coming. I lie on my side, my cheek pressed up against the nasty carpet, and I can see his boots through the crack under the door. He stops outside my closet and then the chain rattles as he unlocks it.The door swings open and even though I’ve been staring out that crack for hours, trying to get my eyes ready for the blast of light that always blinds me when he opens the door, I’m blinded.
I have to close them, and he hates that, so he kicks me in the ribs. I moan, because he always kicks me in the same place and they are broken, I know it.
He leans down, right into my face, and when he talks, I piss myself. “Daisy. Are you ready to learn how to behave like a lady, my girl?”
He wears a mask so I can’t recognize his face, but I will always be able to recognize his voice. I will never forget his voice.
I wake up screaming and then hands are on me, and I’m struggling to get away. He’s back! He’s found me! He saw me on TV and he’s back!
“Grace!” Vaughn says as he pulls me close. “Please, Grace. Calm down. It’s OK, I’m here. I’m here.”
I start to cry. Just straight up bawling and wailing as he holds me. I tremble and shake, but his soft words make their way to me though all that. “Shhh,” Vaughn says. “He can’t get you, Grace. He can’t get you. I will never let him get you.”
Chapter Seven
#IWannaBeThePrince
SHE TREMBLES in my arms and I hold her tighter. “I’m here,” I tell her softly. “That was just a bad dream.”
She shakes her head in my arms. “I wish. I wish it was just a bad dream. But it’s not. That nightmare was my reality for eight months. You don’t understand, you don’t know—”
“I don’t, you’re right. But that’s over now. You’re here, with me.” I smile down at her and all the pent-up tension in my body evaporates.
She pushes me away. I give her some space, but I’m not about to let her go. “How did you find me?”
“Kristi’s brother called the hotline and we came right away.”
“We?”
“Johnny is talking to Kristi right now.”
Grace stops struggling and relaxes at the mention of her friend. She needs a friend right now and that’s exactly what I plan to be.