Little Doll (22 page)

“You have no idea,”
he sounded resigned. “Have you got the paperwork?” The friendly greetings were now over, it was back to business.

Danny waved the
mustard yellow letter-sized envelope in front of him. “First things first, why don’t you take Laila..,” – he turned and winked after saying my name and I couldn’t help a small smile – “…upstairs so she can clean herself up. My sister leaves some clothes here when she stays so there are some in the drawer in the bedroom, second door to the left after the bathroom.”

We moved to the stairs, Aiden’s hand nestled in the small of my back as he guided me.
Halfway up, Danny yelled to us.

“You’d better move the car a
s well. Dawn is about to break.”

Chapter Twenty-
Five

Aiden

Watching Laila’s
negligee reveal the bottom of her ass cheeks as she took each step, played its part in distracting me from the thoughts that plagued my mind. Even smeared in filth and her hair a wild mess, she looked amazing. Good enough to eat, dirt and all. Clearly I wasn’t the only man in the house who thought that way. I had seen the obvious look of approval written across Danny’s face. He fancied her and I didn’t blame him. She could fool anyone with just a smile.

The
second floor was dark, so I took the lead and found the bathroom. I lit the candles on top of the counter and turned to see Laila standing in the doorway, her arms wrapped protectively around her body.  She had been on her best behavior since we arrived and I was pleased the well-mannered girl had returned. I realized kissing her in the desert was not the most appropriate things to do given how she felt. She didn’t care for me in the slightest but I knew she was seeing things differently to how they really were. I couldn’t lie though, her words cut me deep. I was pissed that given everything that had happened between us, she still would rather be in Juan’s hands. Of course she preferred her freedom, away from both of us, but that could never happen.

Soon we would be on the move again and I wanted
Laila to know the truth before we set off. I had been right in not telling her before now though – knowing Juan would track us down, I simply couldn’t chance it.

In the dim hallway outside the bathroom
, she stood, a look of indifference and defeat marring her features. Kneading her tiny shoulders I felt her body tense under my touch.

“Laila,
I am sorry for hurting you earlier but you should know some things.”

I
watched her face for clues but she gave me none.

“
Some things that have transpired over the last few days have impacted on us all, but you should know I had no choice.”

If she was unresponsive before, I had certainly struck a nerve now. S
haking her head in denial, her teeth clamping down on her bottom lip – even mad, she was fucking beautiful. I wanted to be the one to bite that lip, I wanted to suck it in my mouth and have her melting into me.

“Are you saying that you had no ch
oice in drugging me in my sleep? In kidnapping me away from the place I was kidnapped to? Do you even realize how absurd that sounds? Then you chase me down in the middle of the desert after shooting at Juan. Or should I go back a little further in time when you had no choice but to kill my brother!”

“Hector
wasn’t going to stop searching for Ethan–”

“Stop!”
she spat. Tears glistened in the candlelight. I could see the hurt in her eyes and I could do nothing to stop it, not yet anyway. “Don’t even mention his name. You don’t have that right.”

With a
huff, she pushed me, two tiny hands shoving at my chest.

“I don’t
want your explanations or your guilt. You had a choice, Aiden! Or should I still call you Master?” Her tone dripped with scathing sarcasm. Doing my best to be unaffected by her hostility, the guilt came knocking. “Don’t pretend you didn’t have the choice because it only twists the knife more!” she cried.

“Remember what I told you
? That night we were together?” I tried to steer her in the right direction. I had told her to trust me. Two words! That was all she had to remember. Her refusal to acknowledge this was fucking infuriating. I knew I had to tell her everything that went down over the last few days, but I simply did not trust her enough to handle the information without getting us all killed.

“I
, for one, do not want to remember that night,” Laila said in a small voice.

She was
lying; I could see the flashbacks playing in her eyes. “I want to go home and forget everything about Hector, Juan and…” – she gestured around wildl
y
– “and, fucking Mexico if that’s even where I am now. And most of all I want to forget about you and all that you have done to me and my family.”

I wanted to take her in my arms and let her cry for all the damage that had been done to her
. She deserved to be given the chance to cry, and I wanted to be the one to comfort her, to hold her.

With an audible sigh, Laila attempted to pass me. Not yet done with the conversation
, I hooked my arm round her waist and pulled her around until she was standing in front of me again. She flinched away from me, her arms wrapping protectively around her body as she winced in pain.

I know I had been a bit rough but had I actually hurt her?

“What’s wrong?” I asked gently, indicating to where she was holding.

“Nothing.”

“Are you hurt?”

She recoiled when I reached toward her protective arm.

“Don’t touch me, please,” she was trying hard not cry and I noted that her breaths were short and shallow.

“Take it off,” I said
gesturing to the negligee.

She looked at me as if I had gone mad.

“Now, Laila.”

Squaring her shoulders, her jaw set firm, she seemed resigned to her fate. Grabbing the hem of the negligee she
awkwardly pulled it all the way off until she stood naked in front of me.

“What the fuck
?” The words were barely audible as shock set in. Did I do this to her? Could it have been when I tackled her to the ground in the desert?

Laila’s ribs
and right breast were covered in sickening blackish blue bruises. It looked as if an artist had painted a raging storm over her pale body.

“Did I do this to you?”

To my surprise, she shook her head ever so slightly.

Without thinking I stepped closer, my hands gently touching the markings that covered her pale skin. I looked to her face to see her eyes closed, a single tear gliding down her cheek.

I cupped her chin and pulled her toward me.

“Look at me.” I waited until her eyes opened.
“Who did this?”

“
Carlos!”

“When?”

“The other night. You didn’t help me.”

“Help you? I
… fuck! I didn’t even know…” I ran a frustrated hand through my hair.
Why the fuck hadn’t I known? What could I have been doing that was so important?

“Carlos attacked me on the stairs after
your
father told me about Ethan.” Her tone was accusatory. “Juan saved me from them.”

Then it dawned on me. Like a fucking bulldozer it smacked me right in the face. On the road, Laila had seemed so eager to go back
to Juan. Despite all that he had done to her, he had also been her rescuer at the same time I was the enemy.

“I’m sorry,
muñequita,” I said. When she didn’t respond I continued. “I am sorry this happened to you. I am sorry for everything. Perhaps one day when you understand my reasons as to why, you will find it in your heart to forgive me.”

She gently shook her head out of hand.

“If you don’t mind, I need to shower.” She dismissed me as her gaze dropped to the floor.

“Okay.”
I remained rooted to the spot.

“On my
own,” she insisted gruffly.

The door slammed closed
and, once I heard the shower turn on, I headed back down the stairs to find Danny waiting with the paperwork at the dinner table.

“Sounds like you fucked up, bro.
” Danny mocked.

“I
have. She’s angry and badly hurt,” I replied, still pissed off that I had once again let her down.

“Don’t beat yourself up. You had no choice but to sort Ethan out. That being said,
you could have handled the whole thing better.”

“
Doesn’t change things.”

“Give her time. I am sure s
he will come round soon enough.”

“I
’m not holding my breath.” I walked to the fridge and cracked open a Corona, knowing full well Laila was nothing like any other woman. “Got some lime?” I asked, searching the shelves.

“
Lime is for pussies. Where did you learn that filthy habit?” Danny asked, taking long swigs of his own beer.

“
From you, across the border if I remember correctly. Apparently you’re a man of split personality when it comes to his booze.” Closing the fridge door sans the lime, I spied the yellow envelope on the dining table. “You got all we need?”

“Passports, new IDs
, contact names and numbers, all here,” pinching the corner of the envelope Danny tipped the contents out, then reached into his back pocket and threw me a wad of cash. “Two K, don’t spend it all at once. You should be able to access the bank accounts soon, once everything is cleared.”

“Thanks
. Did anyone ask any questions?” I couldn’t help it; I had to double check every move. It was important.

“Not a peep,”
he reassured me.

“Speaking of peeping,”
I eyed him as if I saw right through his motives. “Keep your eyes to yourself. She’s had enough assholes in her life over the last month, she doesn’t need another one.”

Chapter Twenty-Si
x

Laila

Sinking down
to the blue tiled floor in the shower, I allowed the steady flow of water to mix in with my tears. The warmth felt sensational as it soothed my beaten body and allowed my mind to work through the mess of thoughts ravaging my sanity. Aiden had tried to reconcile with me, attempting to make amends for all he had done. I couldn’t help but find it insulting that, through this last month, he would think a simple explanation for his actions would be sufficient for me to even consider not just giving him understanding but also forgiveness.

It was better this way.
To remain indifferent to him. He would only continue to bring me a world of hurt.

When the
water began to run cold, I stood, steadying my weak body against the wall and scrubbed until my skin felt raw.

In front of the mirror
, I studied myself in the reflection that looked pitifully back at me. I had lost a lot of weight, at least eleven pounds. My face looked gaunt and my shoulders bonier than I remembered. I wrapped the towel around my body and opened the door just a crack to peer out. Once I assessed the coast was clear, I headed to the second door on the left.

Searching through the drawers
, I grew excited at the possibility of wearing proper clothes. I chose a sundress as that seemed to be my only choice. The weather here was too warm and dry for hoodies and sweatpants. Normally I would blatantly refuse to wear another person’s underwear, however, given the situation and still not feeling safe in my surroundings, I decided it was a necessity.

M
y stomach growled, hungry for something… anything. I couldn’t even remember when my last meal had been. Heading back down the stairs, I spotted Aiden and Danny rifling through some paperwork on the dining table, exchanging friendly banter. Danny was the first to see me since he sat facing into the lounge. Aiden followed Danny’s gaze, turning to me, his face softening.
Damn him!

“You must be
hungry,” Danny said. “By the looks of you, Aiden hasn’t been showing off the outstanding cooking skills he
supposedly
has. Don’t worry, I’m yet to see them myself.”

Aiden shook his head
slowly at his friend's joke.

Remaining
silent, I wrapped my arms around my body. I wasn’t sure whether Danny talking was just to continue his friendly ribbing with Aiden or whether he really wanted to know if I was hungry.

He walked over to the fridge and pulled out a
pizza box.

“I’ve got som
e slices left over if you want,” he offered, holding it out to me.

The thought of
it made me weak at the knees and my stomach threatened if I didn’t accept the food it would never forgive me. I nodded at the suggestion and watched Danny smile. He seemed to study me as if I was a strange little zoo animal he found interesting, but I didn’t mind.

He pointed behind me to the
sofa. “Take a seat, I'll bring it to you.” I did as I was told and sat down, the cushions engulfing me as he placed a plateful of delicious looking pizza in front of me along with a Corona.

“Sorry, no
lime,” he said, indicating the beer.

“I’ve never tried it with
lime,” I replied, confused by all the niceties.

“Hey Aiden, did you
hear that? She drinks it straight,” Danny said teasingly. I didn't understand. Perhaps it was a private joke.

“Ha ha, very fucking funny,” a clearly unimpressed Aiden
called from the kitchen.

Danny winked at me, pleased he
'd got the reaction he wanted.

“Thank you
,” I said, my voice small but full of gratitude, “for the food and the clothes.”

I liked
Danny; he was non-threatening and seemed genuine.

“Not a problem
," he smiled warmly. “Anyway, eat up.” He returned to the kitchen, leaving me to eat.

T
he pizza might have looked like cardboard but it tasted divine and I shamelessly wolfed down more than what I would normally consider lady-like, but at this stage I couldn’t care less. My stomach no longer growled, instead I felt satisfied and a little drowsy, probably from the beer. Aiden and Danny were chatting quietly at the table when I felt my eyelids begin to droop. I gave in to the sensations and stretched out on the sofa using the silk cushion as my pillow. I believe I fell asleep before my eyes even closed.