New Title 7 Read Free

let me go? You got what you wanted, didn't you?"
    "Of course I did, baby. But I want more. Is that so bad?"
    "You're not going to kill me, are you?"
    "Not unless you try to get away."
    "And you're not going to give me a choice about this?"
    "Afraid not, sweetie." He winked.
    "What are you going to do, keep me locked up in a cage like some pathetic pet?"
    "Whatever works."
    "You're sick."
    "You're right. I am sick," he said, mood darkening.
    "What do you mean by that?"
    He chuckled, but it sounded more bitter than jovial. He shifted and lay supine, his arms folded behind his head as he eyed the stars.
    "Like I said, I'm sick." Brief silence. "I have a defective heart."
    "It's defective but not in the physical sense. You sound like you're trying to manipulate me or something. You just want me to feel sorry for you."
    "Believe what you want. It's true. My condition is a congenital heart defect, something the doctors couldn't entirely fix through surgery. I need a heart transplant, which isn't likely to happen in time. Even if I could get a transplant, the new heart wouldn't last longer than fifteen years. I'd still be living under a death sentence."
    The scar. That's why he has the scar on his chest.
    "What does being sick have to do with raping me? What does it have to do with keeping me?"
    "If someone said you only had so many months to live, what would you do?"
    "I'd spend every second doing the things I've always wanted."
    "Exactly. And my father—even though I hate his guts—taught me that the most important thing you'll ever do is get married, bring children into this world. Someone to carry on your name. Continue family traditions just like daddy dearest and me. He's a doctor too."
    "I don't get what you're saying."
    "Being in med school gave me no time to find a lover, let alone someone to spend the rest of my days with. I left school but I still don't have time to search for the perfect girl. Time's running out for me."
    Took a while for me to comprehend his sickening proposition. It was all so fucking insane; so insane that my emotions simply shut down to where I felt nothing.
    "Yes. I've found the perfect girl and I plan to keep her, and I plan to fuck her as much as I want," he said. "You never know, Mia. You might come to really enjoy it. But this is the way it has to be. I have to do this before I die."
    * * *
    O nce we sat inside Brandon's sports car, he took the phone out of my purse and tapped in a number. He placed the device to my ear and told me to speak to a towing service rep.
    "Don't try to be cute. Just tell them to tow your car to your house. Tell them you won't be home, and for them to mail you the towing fee." He hovered close to ensure I did everything as he wanted.
    Afterward he made me call the café to tell them I'd quit.
    He started the engine and tore out of the wooded area, speeding through the vast gloom until we reached the highway. Double headlight beams cast a dim glow.
    He kept an eye on the road while reaching and fumbling for my phone. He found it, lowered his window and tossed the device.
    An empty, grassy field swallowed it.
    I watched the moon as it followed along our journey, playing hide-and-seek with the clouds.
    Numbness snared me. Better than being afraid. Nevertheless I clung to the bottom side of my seat as if heading straight for a head-on collision.
    Maybe death would be better than this.
    I dreaded the moment when numbness would disappear and give way to panic.
    A matter of time.
    Two hours later, Brandon pulled his car into the stone driveway of a ranch-style home. Tall shrubs crossed a lawn overlooked by weeping willows, an oak gazebo in front.
    Nice home for a guy in his twenties. His parents were rich because 'Daddy' raked in a hefty physician's salary and 'Daddy' probably paid the bills like he paid for college.
    It didn't take a genius to guess Brandon was spoiled and used to getting his way.
    His life was a privileged paradox of mine. I'd grown up in a household where