Tangled Obsession: Book 2 of the Obsession Trilogy Page 13

  With nothing else to do, Camila looked around the room.

  It’s a nice house, she thought. Sort of large, too, at least compared to my apartment. There was probably a whole family living in here at one point.

  The inside of the farmhouse was decorated simply. The living room had several seats arranged around the room, with pillows and throws on them. There was a coffee table and some scattered stools, some of which held vases of dying flowers. It was daylight and the curtains were pulled open, with the sunlight washing in and the cream walls and brown tones of the room made it all look so pretty and cozy. But, even though she wasn’t looking at it, Camila knew there was a corpse on the floor. Besides, it wasn’t like she could be happy, ending up in such a beautiful place with a psychopath intent on hurting her. She had to wonder why Tansy’s corpse now rested in the house. She certainly hadn’t died there. And her body was starting to smell.

  However, that wasn’t what really worried her, though. No, what really worried her was that she still didn’t know exactly what Adrien’s plan was. He had put an electronic collar on her to control her, but she had to wonder if he would deliberately try to hurt her with it even when she did whatever he said just to mess with her? He obviously didn’t mean to kill her in the meantime, but would he later?

  What am I going to do?

  The question had been running through her mind since she woke up bound in a trunk, and she still didn’t have an answer. Now, especially, since she had no way to run away from him.

  Even though her fear of him had gone up even higher, her resolve hadn't changed. Whatever she had to do for him… as long as it was something she could stomach, she would do it. If it kept her alive a little longer and gave the police more time to find them…

  Camila heard some sounds that made her jump slightly. It was coming from further in the house, though she hadn't moved from the couch after Adrien dumped her there.

  What was he doing? It took Camila a moment to realize her body had stiffened, and her chest ached with uneasiness. As much as she didn’t want to be in his presence, him not being in her sights made her worried. He probably wouldn’t tell her what his plans were even if she asked, not that she was going to, and she might not be able to see it in his actions, but if it meant she could get some read on him, she would interact with him.

  It’s not like I have much of a choice, she thought with a sigh, letting her eyes slip closed. We’re stuck here with each other for who knows how long. Maybe I could try to distract him, or convince him to let me go and stop this… I wouldn’t care if he decided to run off somewhere to escape the law, I’d wash my hands of him the moment I got free.

  There was a long moment of tranquil silence, before it was ruined by more sounds in the house that made her flinch. Only, they didn’t just die down this time. She could hear footsteps moving around, and she felt like they were coming closer. Her whole body struggled not to tense up, because she didn’t want him to think she was awake yet. Maybe she could overhear something useful like in the movies when he thought she was out of it…

  She knew it when Adrien was in the same room as her, because his steps became louder. And then, with every step he took, she could feel her heart start to clench. She started imagining each step becoming even louder, echoing around the room, as if someone a lot bigger than Adrien was coming after her. Her heart started beating fast, but she thought she did a good job of pretending to be asleep. She was curled in on herself with her chin tucked to her chest so he might not notice, anyway.

  When she felt him touch her, her insides froze cold. She wanted to jump and scream, try to get away from him as fast as she could. She thought she’d lost her hold on herself and her body was trembling, giving her away.

  He didn’t hurt her, though. His fingers touched her elbow, then slid down her arm to her bound hands. She felt some tugging, and something cold in between her wrists, then the tape was cut.

  She couldn’t help it. Her eyes snapped open, and when she looked up, it was to see Adrien already staring at her face. He’d definitely caught her act.

  “So you are awake,” he quipped, releasing her and pulling away.

  He pulled back, a pen knife in his hand, likely what he’d used to cut her loose. He put it in his back pocket as he backed away to take the love seat a few steps away.

  Slowly, her eyes intent on him, she moved to sit up, pulling her arms from behind her to rub her wrists, then her aching shoulders. Adrien didn’t seem to be as interested in her, though, as soon as he sat down, picking up a bag from beside him that she only just noticed. He must have carried it into the room and she didn’t hear it when he put it down.

  What’s in there? she thought with fear.

  Right then, just about anything he did would make her feel very afraid. She couldn’t trust him, so any movement could be something he said casually, or carrying his intent to hurt her, and there was no way to tell the difference. She might as well go by the assumption that he was a crazy psychopath as she dealt with him, so everything would make her suspicious.

  Crap.

  They hadn't been like this for long, and her head already ached from all the furious thinking. Before, she could have at least made assumptions of what he would do based on what she thought she knew of him. Like how she hadn't thought he would actually go around carrying a gun, or try to go against the police, and he’d done both of those things. Camila wasn’t stupid, but she’d never been in a situation that put her mental capabilities to the test already, and with her life on the line, to boot.

  Samuel, she pleaded internally. Please find me before I go crazy, too, staying with this bastard.

  “It’s good that you’re awake,” Adrien said, glancing up at her. “I would have woken you up if you weren’t.”

  Camila had a lot of questions, but she swallowed every single one of them back, even the ones she thought were reasonable.

  “I won’t tell you where we are right now,” Adrien said, looking up and meeting her eyes. “But just know that we’re going to be here for a long time.”

  Camila immediately opened her mouth, a question almost slipping out before she stopped, and shut her mouth.

  Adrien arched an eyebrow at her, but he didn’t look annoyed or anything. “I wish I could have found a better place for us,” he said with a sigh. “I have several houses all over the country, actually, but we can't try any of them just yet. My brother knows about all them by now, I think. Knowing him, he would find us, and I don’t want that. This place is totally perfect, though. No one would think of looking for us here, and you can stay here and be my wife.”

  Adrien smiled at her, looking totally pleased with himself, while Camila tried to hide her building horror. Just looking at his face, she would assume he was totally sane. The face he was showing her right then wasn’t so different from the face he’d given her while they were still seeing each other, but that had ended a long time ago already. With everything in between then and now, there was no way Camila would ever think of him the same way.

  He didn’t actually think this would work, did he?

  Still, Camila kept her mouth shut, because she couldn’t think of something smart to say.

  Adrien wasn’t bothered that she still wasn’t speaking. Though his smile changed, from a smile to a grin that held a darker edge that sent a shock of fear down her spine.

  “You will be my wife, Camila, and you will play your part to my satisfaction, or you will be punished, do you understand? Like what you tried earlier. Hurting me and running away are ways to get yourself punished. As long as you just listen to me, everything will be fine, okay?”

  A rough sound escaped Camila’s throat. Far from just horrified, Camila was utterly disgusted with him. What the hell is wrong with him? Did he really just think she would go along with whatever he wanted without complaint? Well, he had a fucking shock collar on her so she had to, but dammit, he had to see something wrong with this!

  Adrien just continued to look at her p
leasantly, and she knew she didn’t have a choice. No matter what his face looked like, she didn’t think he would hesitate to dish out ‘punishment’ if she didn’t go along with him. She had to agree, if only for the sake of her plan and her continued survival. She couldn’t bring herself to say anything, still, so she just nodded. Adrien looked even more pleased, clearly finding that small acknowledgement enough.

  It’s only for a short while, she thought, trying to pacify herself. It won’t be long, and he won’t make you do something bad.

  She didn’t entirely believe that, though, internally worrying about what to do if he told her to have sex with him. She wasn’t sure she could go that far.

  “Now, for the first act as my perfect wife, I want you to do something for me.”

  Immediately, Camila went alert.

  Adrien didn’t do anything, though, turning away from her again as he undid the front of his jacket. She saw him wince as he carefully pulled it off his injured shoulder. The fabric of the jacket was dark so she couldn’t notice the blood, but as he pulled it off, she heard a wet sound as the fabric pulled away from his skin, making her grimace. He didn’t have anything underneath it, either, so he must have pulled off the t-shirt she’d seen him in yesterday.

  Was he wearing the jacket yesterday and that’s why the old woman didn’t notice he was injured? If she had, she might have been more weary of him. He only picked me up after he’d killed her, so maybe he discarded it afterwards?

  She hadn't thought this much before, but now that she realized it, he must have covered himself up to escape this far. They might not have been out in the city but there should have been cameras somewhere along the way.

  Come to think of it…

  Camila thought of another possibility, one that seriously frightened her. Surely Samuel or the police would figure out where she was in not too long. She didn’t know how long Adrien planned to stay here, he was running from the law so they’d probably leave eventually, but someone would find her before then, right?

  Just how much planning had Adrien put into this plan of his, anyway? Surely, he couldn’t have out-maneuvered the police force of New York City, right? Somehow, somewhere, there would be clues leading them to where she and Adrien were, and she would hopefully get rescued safely.

  However… if Adrien was a lot smarter than she thought, what if they couldn’t find her?

  Camila was a photographer, not a reporter. According to statistics, a lot of people went missing ever day in the city, but her blog didn’t deal with those sorts of stories, anyway, so all she heard about it was on the news. When a missing person’s case came up, if it was a kidnapping, there were probably statistics for how many people got saved, too, right? Camila didn’t remember if she’d ever heard it somewhere.

  Would she be among the ones that the police couldn’t catch up to?

  No! Don’t think like that. Someone will definitely come to get you.

  She was scaring herself with those thoughts of despair, so she threw them away before they burned her. She had to believe she would get out of this, that Adrien had been careless, or underestimated the police or Samuel, and someone found a way to get to her. She realized her body was trembling again, and held her hands tightly together, hoping Adrien wouldn’t notice.

  Now, she was even higher strung. She was worried about the slightest thing being annoying to him, so she sat there silently and tried to appear calm. Maybe, if she could trick him into thinking she wouldn’t fight against him, he would relax his guard around her quicker.

  Camila could only hope.

  “Hey,” Adrien said.

  Camila jumped slightly, before mentally chastising herself. She couldn’t force on a smile, and if she tried it would probably come out as a grimace, so she just faced him quietly and waited to hear what he wanted.

  “Get over here and help me with this,” he said, sending a frown her way. “I tried my best before but I’m not used to this and it’s a bit of trouble for me.”

  Her stomach crawled at the thought of nearing him, but she didn’t have other options besides following his instructions for now. Slowly, she pushed herself off the couch, feeling relief when she didn’t immediately stumble from weakness in her body. It looked like she’d recovered from the shock he’d given her earlier. When she walked the few steps to him, though, she noticed that her legs, her entire body, still trembled a little.

  Maybe not completely back to normal yet.

  She would also have to worry about if he would feed her or not. For the moment, the most important thing to do was conserve energy in case something happened.

  So much to worry over…

  She kept as much space between them as possible, but when she sat gingerly down on the love seat, she had to be right next to him. Not only because the seat wasn’t nearly as big as the couch, but also because if she was going to be treating his shoulder, she would need to touch him.

  Camila would just have to grit her teeth and bear it.

  “There should be everything you need in there,” he said, handing the bag over to her. “Just wipe the wound and bandage it.”

  She was glad when Adrien faced away from her, allowing her to reach out and start to unwind the bandages he’d wrapped over the wound. She had to tug carefully because the bandage was thick with congealing blood. Just like the jacket, when she got down to the skin, the bandage separated wetly from his skin. With a grimace, she let it drop to the floor.

  He’ll probably make me clean that up later.

  Inside the bag, she found some wet wipes, alcohol free, and she pulled out a couple to start wiping the blood around the wound, without coming close to touching it just yet. Several bloody wipes dropped onto the floor before she thought it looked clean enough.

  “Could you talk?” Adrien said, voice sounding almost snappish, glancing over at her. “What exactly are you doing over there? Don’t think that you can do something stupid just because I’m not looking.”

  Camila rubbed her lips together, for the ninth time rearranging the words that wanted to come out of her mouth. This time, though, because he had said it directly, she had to speak. He was probably worried she would try to incapacitate him, maybe stab into the wound with something to hurt him. It at least proved to her that he wasn’t entirely crazy, he was still being wary of her, but that didn’t make her happy at all.

  “I’ve never done something like this before,” she admitted. “I mean, I’ve cleaned some scrapes here and there, small accidents when I was out hiking, but I’ve never cleaned out a bullet wound before.”

  “It’s pretty much the same thing,” he said dismissively.

  Uh, it’s really not, she thought.

  “Just clean it up properly and wrap it, like I did before. It’ll be fine, eventually.”

  Camila didn’t argue with him. She wasn’t worried about him or anything, but if he hurt and he got irritable because of it and started taking it out on her… she was worried because she was like that, too. When she knocked her knee, or elbow, or toes or fingers somewhere, or got any sort of injury that made her feel pain without being too serious, she had little patience for dealing with others. In most cases, she broke out in colorful curses, even though they weren’t like her.

  So even though she didn’t want to, because seeing him in pain might help some of the anger she felt behind all the fear, she couldn’t try to deliberately hurt him.

  Leaning closer, Camila checked out the wound. It was a clean entry. He didn’t have any other bloody patches, and the wound didn’t look disturbing. She didn’t see an exit hole. He was probably still carrying the bullet.

  “Shouldn’t you have the bullet taken out first?” she asked, keeping her voice quiet. “I don’t think it’s something I can do. I don’t think there’s even the supplies here…”

  “I didn’t ask you to remove the bullet,” he said, sounding vaguely annoyed. “Just clean it up and bandage it. Sometimes, wounds close around bullets and it doesn’t kill you, you
know? It’ll be fine.”

  She was tempted to just take his word for it, but…

  “It will probably get infected if you don’t go to a hospital,” she warned. “First aid isn’t actually a replacement for seeing a real doctor or nurse, and neither of us have experience with this kind of thing.”

  “Just shut up and do it already,” he demanded, shooting her a glare. “I wanted you to talk, but don’t run your mouth, Camila, or you’ll annoy me.”

  She kept her mouth shut, still hesitating.

  He noticed and it only made him more annoyed. “If you think it’s a risk then just make sure it doesn’t happen,” he said. “You should know how to do that much, right?”

  Camila frowned, before smoothing her forehead again. If he wanted her to do something, then she was going to. Screw whatever she’d thought before, if he wasn’t going to listen to reason, then fine. She was only worried about him making it her business, but he was making her do this.

  In the bag, there was a silver flask. She knew what she was looking at wasn’t a proper first aid kit, it was something someone had thrown together, so there was a high chance the flask held alcohol, and not the medical kind. Sure enough, when she opened it, a strong smell came out of it. She wasn’t so familiar with alcohol to be able to tell what it was, it smelled way stronger than beet.

  Feeling a little vindictive, she brought the flask up to his shoulder, and poured the alcohol directly into the wound.

  “Argh! Fuck!” Adrien flinched away from her with a yell, his whole body spasming. Then, he turned to her with a glare that made her freeze and her eyes go wide as her heart beat double time. “You fucking bitch, what is wrong with you! You better fucking do this properly! You’re the reason it reopened to begin with.”

  Camila thought back to when she had wrenched away from his arm, and assumed that was what he meant. She didn’t feel sorry, though. Even behind the fear, seeing his face grimace in pain, she felt glad behind the fear that she could at least do this much to him. It wouldn’t be enough to pay him back for shocking her, though.