Athena doesn't say anything to that for a while and Aiden takes it that she had accepted this fate. He felt grateful she didn't decide to make it harder anymore.
"Please let me go", Athena says in a very tiny voice as she had no more physical vigour.
"And where would you go?" He asked, realizing how foolish he was for thinking she was not going to make it hard. This woman was the most stubborn person he had ever encountered. In his twenty-five years, he had never met someone so adamant and that's saying something as he had only been conversing with her for about an hour.
He thought he would tie her up and take her with him forcefully if she disagreed till he lost his mind. Sure, it would be considered kidnapping but he was Aiden Montgomery; no one would dare.
"I'll go back to o-", she starts to talk but is cut off.
"Go back to your father?" He asks, laughing and pointing in no particular direction.
"You think he would welcome you back? He will return you here for fear that he might have upset me. You might not even make it back to me because once the people who beat you to near death spot you again, they might actually beat you to death this time".
Athena looked at him and then at her feet; she had begun to grasp how dire the whole situation was for her. He thought this because, she had seized the crying and was seated up straight but he was wrong. What she had been doing was thinking of a temporary solution to the whole thing, she really was freaking obnoxious.
"I'm sure if I begged my father and the village people with you accompanying me, everything would be solved", She said with her hands palmed together, pleading.
"No, I won't do it. Your father is a bastard and your neighbors are murderers. They were not victorious in killing you but they would have been if I hadn't turned up and shoved them back", he blurts out to her.
"Maybe-", she starts again but Adrian bellows in anger, he was at breaking point and the kidnap idea was looking like the only option.
"Enough! What is wrong with you? These people were going to kill you. Thief or not, that is why a justice system has been put in place and your father, he is a bastard".
"Shut up! My father is not a bastard!" She yells back at him.
"Shut the hell up, woman!" He yells back but she does not listen.
"You don't speak to me that way, my fa-", she attempts to further defend her father but is interrupted.
"What father trades his only daughter and sole offspring for nothing? He didn't even ask for money, he just wanted you off his hands and all you want to do is go back to him? Don't be foolish, you are going to remain with me and that is final. I will punish you as I deem fit for your crime, it cannot be any worse than what you would be face back there", he says and gets up from the chair, walks to the window, and stares at the horizon.
She puts her head between her legs and mumbles something.
"Did you say something?" He asks and turns to face her.
"I said, what is to become of me now?" She speaks louder, taking her face out of her legs.
"Well I'm taking you with me, we're leaving Louisiana", he says grimly and folds his arms.
"I guess this is my fate and I cannot and will not question the decisions of fate", she mutters and looks up, the look of acceptance in her eyes.
"When are we leaving?" She asks.
"Now, or do you have something you would like to fetch?" He returns.
"No, nothing. Everything I possess isn't mine, they were all stolen", she says while spitefully nibbling on her lips.
Aiden, while watching her, fetches his phone from his pockets and dials a number. It rings for a while and the receiver finally picks up.
"Hello, Mike. Get the jet ready; we will be taking off soon", Aiden said on the phone.
While he conversed on the phone, Athena struggles to get out of bed, the pain was terrible but she bore it and stood on her feet. She limped to the window to know where exactly she was. It was possible they weren't even in New York anymore since she did not know how long she had been out. She did know she was out for an extended duration of time for her father and this man to meet, come to an agreement and sign such an absurd contract. She finally gets there and stares out and what she sees is the parking lot.
"We're still here!" she exclaims.
"How long was I out? Surely, I must have been out for a long time for you and my father to have agreed on this contract".
She stares at him and he finally understands what she is driving at. She probably thought she had been unconscious for a very long time, twenty-four hours plus even.
"Maybe if he sees me now, he will change his mind", she mutters silently to herself but he hears everything.
"Please, tell me. For how long was I out?" She stares at him and asks again.
"Miss Ellis, you were unconscious for just four hours. My lawyer drew the contract and your father signed it without any form of reluctance", he said with no emotion.
He was irritated at how much hope she continuously fed herself. "Why was she like this?" He wondered.
"Take me with you. I am sure whatever punishment you will give me will give my life the purpose it never had. My father doesn't deserve to be burdened with a liability like me", she says while managing to stand upright then walks to the door.
"Are we leaving or not?" She asks. He has a blank expression on his face and does not answer her. Instead, he whips his phone out and makes another call.
"Hello, Jim. Yeah, bring the car around. We are leaving now", He speaks briefly before putting the call to an end.