Escaping Parker - F.T. Zele Page 0,73

to not sound as scared as I am. Steven builds on weakness.

My heart pumps faster than any other time in my life. Prior horrid events flash before my eyes.

“It’s necessary. I’m really helping you out, making it impossible for you to run any longer.” He tapes my hands behind my back around the wooden slats of the chair.

“I see you still don’t know how to keep a man. What did you do to Ryan to make him leave?”

Obviously he’s already done his research. My stomach clenches. What if he’s gotten to Rig first? “What have you done to him?”

“I haven’t done anything to him. I’m not saying some of my friends haven’t paid him a visit, but this isn’t about him. This is about you, your infidelity, and your running. You thought you had everything figured out. You thought the vows we made weren’t to be honored. You know, that really fucking hurt me, Clarissa.”

“We were over a long time before I even left. You don’t want a wife, you want a fucking servant. A robot wife with no feelings and no say in anything. Why would I even stay?”

“I wanted a wife, one that didn’t embarrass me, that just did the things that needed to be done without asking, and made sure her husband was taken care of. When you couldn’t do those things, I had to snap you back into shape. You became a fucking disaster once we were married. You thought you had your catch and you didn’t have to work to keep him.” Steven sneers. “That’s ok, though, I had others that were more than willing to do the things for me that you refused to do.”

“So why not let me go?” I yell, my wrists struggling against the tape. At this point I’m no better than dead, so I don’t really care what the hell comes out of my mouth.

“I will never let you go. You know this.” He takes a seat across from me in the recliner, resting his ankle on his knee. Always the intimidator. “Let me tell you about my journey. It all started the day you never came out of that office. The second your phone locator never moved I knew something was wrong. I must admit I thought you were kidnaped at first. But then I saw you with that lovely elderly couple in that shack. My god was that place a shit hole,” he says in an appalled tone.

“Alice,” I whisper to myself.

“They are fine. I didn’t really have to talk to them since I’d already found you. No use making an unnecessary mess.” He smiles, his warning clear. “I had one of my men then follow you for some time. Oh, I would come out occasionally when you would stop at one place for more than a few days. You know, I wanted to see how far you were willing to go to get away.”

“You’re sick.”

“Maybe, but you know the one thing that really sent me over the edge? The night you whored yourself out to him! It was like a fucking slap to the face, watching you do things with him you no longer did for me. I watched you guys holding hands, and it was then I knew you had feelings for this guy. It had to be stopped! I know how shy you are, how you hate to be touched, so for you to let this guy put a finger on you, I knew feelings were involved. So I continued to watch, and wait for the right time. I thought I was going to have to kill both of you, watching you two play house like nothing else was going on around you. You’re the ones who slipped and forgot what you guys were doing. You weren’t careful. You stopped looking around all the time, and it became easier and easier to watch you two. So what did you do to this one to make him leave?”

“I asked him to leave. It wasn’t his choice.”

“Well, if he loved you he would have fought, just like I’m doing here. You weren’t meant to be with him, that’s why he’s gone and I’m back. He never loved you and he used you, got his kicks in while he pretended to be your fucking savior.”

“Shut up! You have no clue what you’re talking about.”

He jumps up, his fist crashing into my jaw. “You won’t talk to me like that. Your mouth has always gotten you in trouble.”

A coppery