My phone vibrates with a text from an unknown number. I check it real quick and see it's Ryan. That sneaky little bastard. I freeze for a second and text him I'll talk to him later. I look at Mack and give her a small smile.
"I'm grateful he didn't kill you and whereas you have not been the same since you got back you looked like you saw a ghost Monday." She stares me down over the rim of the glass. Her eyebrows were raised in the way of saying 'I know you're hiding something and you need to tell me now'.
"Where do you want me to start?" I ask as I grab the bottle of wine and take a sip.
"I don't know how about Monday." I let out a sigh and debate how much I should tell her.
"Well, I went to my therapist Monday, then work. I got a note at work from my kidnapper."
"He's contacted you!?"
"Yeah. He wanted me to talk to him when I was ready to but then before you got here I thought I heard him but didn't find anyone in the apartment. Then again before you got here I heard some movement in the kitchen so I went to check it out and he just got off the counter and my window was open." I spit out.
"He was here right before I was!?" Mac screams.
"Yeah. But remember how I told you that guy from work bought me a coffee and muffin?" I watch her face as it clouds with confusion and my phone vibrates again. I look at it and notice he asked me if I was alright. He really needs to stop texting me.
"Is that him?" Mackenzie narrows her eyes and tilts her head to my phone. I look at her and my face reddens. Of course my face gives me away.
"Like I was saying," I place the phone face down. "My kidnapper is that dude."
"Wait.."she holds a finger up thinking.
"Yes the guy who kidnapped me bought me food. Then he was also at the bar. He had been following me for about a month, actually three months, when he had grabbed me before work that one morning."
"So who is texting you? Was I right? Have you been seeing him?" Mac threw those questions at me rapid fire. I couldn't even begin to answer one when I hear footsteps on the metal stairs leading up to my door.
I hear a knock on my front door and grimace. "Athea it's me." My heart drops to my stomach and I fight a smile from appearing on my face. Mackenzie watches me closely like a predator as I walk towards the door. I quietly mouthe to her to please keep calm.
"Listen Mack he didn't kill me." I was desperate for this meeting to not happen. I open the door anyways and quickly walk into the kitchen and hear him shut and lock the door. He wasn't even paying attention to his surroundings as he took me in. He wraps me in a hug and I try not to relax but ultimately fail. I hear Mackenzie gasp as she takes in the scene and feel Ryan jerk back quickly.
"You." Mackenzie points a finger at him and narrows her eyes at him.
"Um.." Ryan looks to me as if asking if that was Mackenzie. I nod. "Hi Mackenzie. I'm Ryan."
"Ryan?" She looked shocked because I hadn't told anyone his name except for my therapist. She looks to me.
"This is why you said you'd talk to me later?" Ryan asks standing next to me partially in front of me as if to shield me from Mack's judging stare. That's one of the worst things she could ever do to me.
"You like him Athea?"
"Yeah."
"When did you come to this conclusion?" Mack asks not caring that Ryan was here. I don't think she was worried about anything but my sanity honestly.
"In therapy today."
"Why? I thought you were just ranting?"
"Well that's the thing. My therapist Pat said that I have an alter to possibly help with any feelings I have towards him due to the attraction before he became my kidnapper. Turns out that I was in denial about how attracted I was to him even when he was my kidnapper." I nod and Mack looks between us narrowing her eyes.
"What are you talking about?" Mack looks at me then looks to him seeing I won't give her an answer. I kept flashing back to the night he saved me from Brad and how I got drunk and kissed him. How we kissed a few more times while I was still captive and how we've kissed twice since he's been back in my life. How I don't want that to end. "Daydreamer come on. Tell me what the fuck you're talking about."
"He saved me."
"Saved you?" Mackenzie was confused now. Probably half as confused as I was when Ryan saved me himself. Actually there's no way she's half as confused as me.
"He threw a party to celebrate the start of the ransom. And this guy named Brad...well Ryan came down into the cellar with three other guys and two of them walked back upstairs but not Brad. Ryan was looking at the wine and Brad sat next to me and started touching me." I felt Ryan stiffen up at the thought and I squeeze his hand reflexively. Mackenzie's eyes follow the movements and see how calm I became and how he relaxed a smidge. "I was trying to be quiet because I didn't want him hurting me but I finally had to say no and I felt like I was on repeat. The next thing I knew Ryan had him by his shirt and tossed him across the cellar. Which the cellar wasn't that big. It was five foot across and ten foot in depth. But Ryan threw him. Once he started punching Brad I cowered in the corner trying not to see or hear it but I started to have a panic attack because I saw him hitting me instead. I was also scared he was going to hit me for causing a commotion but he didn't. After everyone left he sent me upstairs to shower and I walked back down to the cellar right after."
"I cleaned up the house and myself and when I went downstairs to check on her after thinking she bolted and she was drinking a bottle of wine." Ryan starts. I put my hand up hoping he would stop. When I know he wasn't going to talk anymore I finished.
"He came and checked on me and actually sat down next to me and drank a few sips from the bottle. I was apologizing for ruining his party and I told him that I thought his Uncle was innocent. Then I told him how I was insanely attracted to him and I kissed him. The next morning he took me upstairs let me shower again and gave me the room across the hall from him. He was still mean but he didn't hurt me after that even though I was a mess and I broke so many things on accident. I even tried to run off but he caught me and the worst he did was yell at me. I'd scream him awake at night and he'd come in and comfort me from my nightmares. Well he'd try to comfort me for the first month. After that I wasn't as scared that he would hurt me anymore. My nightmares were really bad and I started going into his room and sleeping in the bed with him."
Mackenzie was quiet while I recounted what happened and Ryan was staring at me but I was only watching Mack trying to gauge her next reaction.
"You saved her from being raped?" She asks him.
"Yeah. He wasn't allowed near her and from then on any party I threw I had her attached to me for her safety."
"You didn't kill her? You didn't hurt her after you moved her upstairs?"
"No. I didn't kill her and I didn't hurt her for the last five months I had her."
"Why did you let her go?"
"Because I care about her. I figured if she actually wanted me she would stay or come back. The only thing I've been doing is keeping an eye on her making sure she was okay."
"But you're here."
"I wanted to see her. I didn't want to stay away any longer."
"Why did you hurt her to begin with?"
"I was mad that I actually liked her and because of her father. I took it all out on her. Everything and trying to keep up with what my Uncle had started before he was unjustly imprisoned."
I step forward letting go of Ryan's hand in the process. I didn't even realize I was still holding his hand. "Mack please don't tell anyone. Please?" I put my hands on her arms and plead with her. She was just staring at me in shock and looking back and forth between Ryan and myself.
"Ryan leave." I say. Right now I was so scared of losing Ryan that I was willing to send him away to save him.
"What?"
"Leave. Go somewhere but don't tell me where. I'll leave something for you to find when it's safe for you to come back." I turn around and face him. He was upset and so was I. I wasn't even sure if I wanted to have a relationship with him or not yet but it still hurt.
"I'm not turning him in." Mackenzie speaks up as Ryan is holding my face in his hands.
"What?" Ryan and I say in unison.
"You're fine. Listen I may not understand why you even thought it was okay to do that but I probably would have done the same thing and you did save her from rape. You also didn't kill her."
We stared at her in amazement.
"You don't even know me. Don't be so surprised."
"He may as well cause I talked about you so much." I said letting out a sigh of relief. Ryan smirks and watches us talk for a few minutes but I could feel him watching my body language more than Mack.
"He is so in tune to you." Mack says as I hug her goodbye and try not to cry. Ryan looks at us like we're hormonal teenagers but smiles from the kitchen.
"Well, we did spend a lot of time together. I really need you to keep this quiet though. If my father or therapist found out he would be gone."
"My lips are sealed." Mackenzie does the zipping her lips locking it with a key and subsequently throwing the key away motion to show me how serious she is.
I shut the door behind her and lock it sliding down until my head rests in my hands and sigh. Ryan pulls me up and gives me a worried look that I know deep down I share the same concern about but I would never voice it.