“Can I call—”
“No,” I interrupted, already knowing what she was going to ask. I’d been expecting it all fucking night.
“I won’t tell them where I—”
“No.”
“Please, Creed. Just so they know I’m oka—”
“Mia!” I snapped in a harsh tone. “No!”
She scowled, grabbing the bottle of peroxide from the first aid kit, preparing the cotton swab to clean and disinfect my wound. “This is going to hurt,” she stated in an irritated tone.
I narrowed my eyes at her. “Can’t hurt any more than you stabbin’ me.” Before I knew what was happening, the little minx poured the peroxide on my gash, instead. “Motherfucker!” I roared, throwing my head back, clenching my fists in the sheets.
“Thought you said it wouldn’t hurt more than me stabbing you in the leg. What did we learn, Creed? Hmmm... That you’re not always right? So maybe I can call my par—”
“When ya gonna get it through your thick fuckin’ head, huh? You’re a smart girl, Pippin. Shouldn’t haveta spell it out for ya. Callin’ your parents will only get you killed. I’m tryin’ to save your life. Not fuckin’ end it. All this questionin’ ends here!”
Patience was never one of my goddamn virtues and it wasn’t about to start now. This was one of the reasons we kept her sedated and blindfolded, while we brought her up here in the middle of nowhere. No one could get to this place unless they knew the woods just outside the door. You needed a side-by-side vehicle just to get here. As much as I hated having her unconscious, I didn’t trust her enough to not call her family and tell them where she was. I couldn’t blame her for that. Anyone would call home the first chance they got.
“This is far from over,” she mumbled under her breath, sticking the needle into my leg a little harder than necessary.
I groaned, grabbing the bottle of Jack from the nightstand, chugging it down till I no longer felt the searing burn from my nerve endings. Letting out a grumbling sound from deep within my throat, I threw the empty bottle on the floor next to me, watching it shatter on impact. Gesturing to my leg for her to finish stitching me up.
It all happened so damn fast. One minute she was tying off my stitch and the next my phone pinged with a new text message. Both our eyes simultaneously darted to my phone that was lying in the middle of the bed, like it was wired with explosives, ready to fucking detonate.
Without giving it a second thought, she lunged over my leg, scraping my wound to grab the phone. Snatching it before I could, clutching it tightly in her greedy little hands. She propelled off the edge of the bed so fucking fast as if her body was set on fire. Taking off toward the adjacent bathroom in the corner of my room.
She never had a chance.
I caught her by the back of her sweater as she rounded the bed, thrusting her backward with my staggering hold. There was no way I could grab a hold of her securely without hurting her or the baby, and she knew it. My arm wrapped around her upper ribcage, tugging her into my lap, trying like hell to reach the phone. She twisted and turned, huffing and puffing until she weaseled her way out of her sweater. Hauling ass into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. I heard the lock snap into place seconds after.
“Fuckin’ A,” I clenched out. Throwing my injured leg off the bed, I stood, making my way over to the door. “Mia! Open the fuckin’ door!” I pounded my fists on the wood.
There was a jarring commotion, followed by a loud scraping noise, coming from the bathroom. I knew she was barricading herself in, moving furniture up against the door to keep me out.
“Mia! Open it or I will!”
“NO!” she screamed, not backing down. “I’m calling my parents! I can’t do this to them! I can’t believe you’re making me! This is all your fault! Now go away!” Her voice echoed away from the door like she was standing in the shower, far away from me.
“Jesus Christ!” I took a step back, ramming my foot against the door. Forcefully kicking it open, breaking it off the hinges and taking the frame along with it. Causing pieces of the linen cabinet she blocked the door with, to smash right along with it.
Her eyes widened in shock. I didn’t fucking hesitate, stomping over to her in three, hard strides. Making her retract until her back hit the shower wall. I loomed over her small frame with a menacing regard, getting right up in her face. Her bright blue eyes wide and anxious.
Here I was trying to save her life and keep her safe, and she was about to jeopardize everything. The thought alone made my blood boil, frustration erupting from deep within my core. My hands balled into fists, my chest heaved, reaching my breaking point very fucking quickly. I was at my wits end. I couldn’t go to war with everyone, plus her. Fighting a battle with a full-grown woman constantly throwing tantrums when she didn’t get her way.
We had to be on the same page.
No more fighting.
I needed to get my point across, and it needed to happen right fucking now.
“Didn’t I tell you to open the fuckin’ door?”
“I-I-I—” she sputtered, her demeanor quickly changing.
“Didn’t I just say you couldn’t call your fuckin’ parents?”
“Y-yy-ees...” She nodded, offering me my phone back. I crudely knocked her hand away, sending the device crashing to the tile floor.
I didn’t waver, I grabbed her upper arm and held her in place. This would be the second time I ever manhandled her this way. I wasn’t trying to scare her. I needed her to listen and understand. This was not a fucking game. This was about her surviving through a shit storm. Our way of life was cruel, I’d lived it my entire life. Mia, on the other hand, was privileged, a fuckin’ princess that had no clue and needed a reality check. It was my duty to protect her from unseen enemies, and rules had to be fucking obeyed. She was testing me, making me have to put her in her goddamn place.
Bottom line, she needed to fucking listen to me.
“You don’t run away from me. Ever!”
She jolted. “You’re scaring me.” Her lips started to tremble.
“Is that right?” I rasped, leaning down close to her lips. “This ain’t nothin’ compared to what our enemies would do if they found you. They’d rape you. Beat you, and then fuckin’ kill you when they had enough. That what you want?”
“No,” she breathed out, tears forming in her eyes.
“I ain’t got time for your childish, bullshit. I’m tryin’ to protect you, Mia. What part of that is so goddamn hard for you to understand?”
“I just want to tell them I’m oka—”
My fist slammed into the shower wall behind her, causing her to duck and scream. Tile cracked beneath my knuckles. “Fuck!” I growled, backing away from her, knowing I was doing exactly what I said I wouldn’t.
I was scaring her and that wasn’t my intention, I was fucking this up real quick.