told that you needed help.”
The Kings?
Moments pass as she remembers each one of them from the dinner. She can’t even remember how long ago that was because she didn’t know how long she’d been left at Eden nor how long she’s been here.
Jasmine. Sweet, sweet Jasmine. The little girl was so smart and so full of life. Vivacious. Sunshine and rainbows. Everything that she wanted to be. Carefree.
Free.
Jasmine’s family loves her. That much she was sure. She’s seen the way everyone circled to protect her from Isabella. A beautiful and caring aunt. Uncles who are sinfully gorgeous. A father who she believes would kill to protect his child.
She can only hope that things will stay that way once Isabella marries Adam King.
And if Isabella is set to marry Adam King then the Kings are a big deal. They’d be lethal and merciless. They’d be rich and dangerous. She’s seen their estate and can only imagine what they have in power and fortune. There’s no way Isabella is going to let him slip through her sharp claws. Not without a fight.
Her gut churns at the thought. If he’s the total package and Isabella is already enamored by him…by all the Kings…then she’s going to be in deep shit once Isabella finds out where she is.
Maybe lying down and dying now will hurt less than what’s to come.
Chapter Eleven
“You’re getting stronger, Ariana. You should be proud of yourself,” Marcus commends her after yet another yoga session.
She’s never done yoga before but finds it enjoyable. In fact, she never wanted to stay fit. She’d always thought that if she could gain weight, she’d be less appealing by men and would be left alone.
“Why has no one come for me?” she spontaneously speaks and asks Marcus.
It’s just been her and him inside the house for the past two weeks. Sometimes, they’d practice yoga outside in the backyard. The sun shining on her skin felt amazing when they get the chance to be outside. But it’s been a rainy couple of days.
“I’ve requested it to be this way,” Marcus replies, moving into a lotus position. “It’s part of the process. We need to calm your mind, Ariana. No outsiders, no noise.”
That’s the problem. No noise means she’s lost in her head a lot, playing out scenarios and anxiously waiting for the other shoe to drop. Every scrape of the door has her on edge, thinking that Isabella and Cristian have come for her.
“You’re safe,” Marcus says as if she’d spoken her thoughts out loud.
“How can you be so sure?” she asks, moving into her lotus position.
“You’re not where you think you are. You’re under the Kings’ protection now. They won’t let anything happen to you if they can help it,” Marcus answers confidently.
If they can help it. Keywords there.
“They want something from me, don’t they?”
“I’m sure they do. But that’s not important right now. What’s important is that you recover through this. I can assure you also, that they know your progress and that they want you to stay clean. Is that something you want?”
She nods her head. “Yes. I want that more than anything. I never had a choice though.”
“You have a choice now. Some days, it will be harder than others to resist because your body will lie and tell you that you need the drugs. Your mind will play tricks on you as well. So we have to teach you how to cope with times like that.”
“Thank you,” she tells him for the first time. Because Marcus, whatever his reason for being here and whatever he’s getting out of this, seems to take his job seriously. He seems genuine about her recovery.
“The doctor will be by today to give you a physical check-up,” Marcus tells her with a warm smile.
Marcus mentioned that the doctor, Dr. Heinz, would be by but he never said that Adam King would be here as well.
She dares to sneak glances at him while the doctor does his routine workup. Thank God Dr. Heinz isn’t going to draw blood. She can’t even fathom seeing a needle at the moment and he must have made the assumption early on. He tells her right off bat that he won’t be doing so.
As she answered the doctor’s various medically-related questions, she can feel Adam’s eyes on her. It makes her nervous. It makes her paranoid and anxious. Is he waiting for her clean bill of health so that he can hand her back to Isabella?
It takes just over an hour before