Page 53 of Deranged
I shook my head. “I have a storage unit, but I lease out my apartment before I go inside so I can save the money and use it to travel when I get out. My mother bought me the apartment years ago. It’s in my name, so I don’t have to worry about an income.”
With the Sito money, I didn’t doubt the truth of that. “Well, where do you want to go? Do you need clothes or anything from your storage unit?”
I nudged him with my shoulder. “I thought you wanted me out of my clothes.”
He cleared his throat and pulled out of the parking lot. “To the hotel it is then. I wanted you to have a place you felt comfortable and safe while you stretch and figure things out.”
His compassion caused something in my chest to open up. I let him take me away from that hell hole, and I didn’t care where.
The hotel wasn’t simply a hotel. It had to be the nicest one in the city. I suddenly felt very conspicuous in my white canvas sneakers and the scrub like uniform I’d been living in for weeks. “Don’t worry about it,” he whispered, as he hugged me close and walked me into the hotel.
The staff didn’t even flinch at my outfit, or the rumpled slacks and button-down Ash wore beside me. They checked us in and gave us an actual metal key. The desk clerk smiled as she passed it across her granite counter top. “A note on the account said to put you in the penthouse suite complements of The Poseidon.”
I glanced up at him and watched him flex his jaw and tighten his lips. Obviously, something had been happening while he’d been working on getting me free. When we got the to the room, I inspected all the rooms and groaned when I reached the bathroom. The tub was bigger than the entire cell I’d been living in.
I started taking my clothes off before I even ran the water. He entered behind me, and I felt the hot touch of his eyes on my skin. I needed this.
He came around behind me and watched me strip off every inch of clothing. I met his eyes boldly now, until he glanced down and lingered over my breasts and lower. “Allow me,” he said, huskily.
With a flick of the wrist he turned on the faucets. His eyes never left my body while he tested the temperature and poured some of the bubbles from the side of the tub.
I approached, and he gripped my hand while I climbed inside. “We have some things to talk about once you’re settled and relaxed.”
I splashed water at his face. “There’s room enough in here for two.”
“Not if you want to eat tonight. I need to order room service, and then I’ll come back and check on you. Anything in particular you want?”
I thought about all my favorite comfort foods. “Grilled cheese with mayo, french fries, and chocolate pudding.”
He laughed and started to leave. “You’re on the first grader diet I see.”
“I’m on the I’ve been locked up and couldn’t eat what I wanted for the last few weeks diet. Get the food and don’t judge me.”
I sank into the warm bubbled and soaked until the doorbell of the suite rang.
“Food’s here,” Ash called.
I didn’t want to leave the tub, but my stomach growling alerted me to the necessity. I dried off and wrapped a plush robe around my still damp skin. He scanned me head to bare toes as he arranged the food on the table.
He uncovered a steak and fries for him and my request with a flourish. “Hungry?”
His eyes were hot and all for me, but I took the seat beside him and brought the sandwich to my lips. Delicious cheese assaulted my senses, and I groaned out loud. “That is so good. Now that I feel a little more human, what did you want to talk to me about?”
He put his cutlery down on the table, his steak only half eaten. “The terms of the deal I made with Donny to get you free required some negotiating with your mother. There were some stipulations in the contract you should know about.”
I took another bite and spoke around the crispy bread. “What?”
He didn’t speak for a minute, and I swallowed my food. “Really what? It can’t be that bad. I’m free, for good, anything is worth that.”
“I hope you think that when I tell you what the terms are.”
“Then do it. You’re scaring me.”
He shifted in his chair. “Neither of us can ever talk to the media without permission, and we can’t see or talk to your mother without her reaching out first.”
I bit into a fry. “Done and done.”
“There’s more. You also have to assist in certain political functions.”
