River is watching me carefully as I go to her, but I do not care. I touch her cheek. It has been so long since I've allowed myself to touch her. To feel her. To breathe her in.
I want her. I want her to let me have her.
"You are mine, Bella," I assure her. "Only mine."
It is the right thing to say. Her shoulders relax, and she leans into my touch. It surprises me.
River smirks. I don't care.
"Where are you going?" Bella asks.
"I have some business to take care of."
She doesn't know about Luke. She doesn't know about the trouble he has gone to in order to find her. She also doesn't know that I've been looking for her father myself. And that Luke isn't the only matter I am leaving for today.
"How long will you be gone for?"
Her lip trembles and something wrenches inside of my chest. An urge to comfort her. To tell her it’s okay. But that would be a lie.
She is with me. And it is not okay.
"I will be back soon enough."
"That's what my father always used to say."
She retreats, and I feel the loss of her immediately. My hand is cold when I shove it into my pocket and turn away.
River gives me a nod before I go. One that says everything I need to know.
He will take care of her.
Chapter Twenty-Four
If Javi had a brother, it could be River. They are alike in so many ways. Both lofty and well built. Masculine. Dark. Mysterious. But where Javi is closed off, River is open.
There is something about him that alarms me. The way he smiles. It isn't normal. I don't trust that he's all there in the head. But then again, I don't trust that Javi is either, really.
And yet, I have started to feel safe with Javi. It is the story my father used to tell, becoming my own. I am the caged bird, adapting to my prison.
The guilt and confusion weigh heavy on my soul. I should want to leave. Before it’s too late. It's a long shot. But I have to try.
River is eating another apple. His third since he arrived. He is at ease in Javi’s home. He is at ease around me. I doubt there is anyone that can truly ruffle his feathers.
"What has Javi told you about me?" I ask.
"Very little, actually," he says between bites. "I was just giving him shit."
"So he hasn't told you?"
"Told me what?"
"That he kidnapped me? That he's holding me here against my will?"
River smiles. Unfazed. "Oh, he did tell me that."
I glare at him.
"So that's the kind of man you are? You're just going to let him do this..."