His Queen (18+)

Chapter XVII

The Phone Call

I lay in bed in tears all night,
Alone, without you by my side.

***

CHAPTER XVII

*****

I COULD GUESS a million places Daniel could've wanted to take me to after he had taken the small bag from me, filled mostly with Mateo's clothes, and put it in the trunk of his black car.

My most hopefully guess was my apartment back in New York, but the second he turned a corner off the main road that led to the airport, I knew it was unlikely. The drive was quiet, the only sound being that of the rain pattering against the roof of the car as Teo drifted in and out of sleep in my arms.

Daniel didn't have any sort of car seat for him so it was the best we could do.

We had two other cars with us; one in front of us and another one behind us. Both of them were at max capacity, every seat occupied by Daniel's men who were there for protection and nothing else.

A part of me wanted to ask why we needed so much protection. The last time I had gone out with him, it was just the both of us, but I decided to keep my mouth shut. I was angry at a lot of people in that moment and Daniel was at the top of the list.

My ringtone filled the silent car, making both Daniel and Mateo look at me. I smiled down at Teo before reaching into the pocket of my sweatpants and pulling it out my phone.

The smile dropped once I realised who was calling. I wasn't ready to speak with him yet but with shaky fingers, I answered.

“Um. Hi.”

“You're not at the safe house.” Derek's voice lacked all hints of humour, only further adding to the anxiety I felt at answering the call.

Instead of addressing his statement, I decided to redirect the conversation, hoping he would forget. “How's the honeymoon going?”

“I'm being serious with you, Araceli.”

I let out a sigh, finally giving up the facade. “How did you find out?”

“Do I look stupid to you?” he almost hissed, making it difficult to keep a neutral face. I brought my nails to my mouth and began gnawing down on them, looking the other way so neither Teo nor Daniel noticed my nervousness. “You were supposed to be there by yesterday. The guards tell me you didn't show up. I say 'fine, it could just be the traffic'. Still, I call you to make sure, but do you know what happens?” he said nothing and I said nothing, leaving us both in silence until he let out a dark chuckle. “You know what happens. Tell me what happens.”

“My phone was dead so I didn't answer.”

“And you didn't even think to call me. Charge it maybe? Even send a text telling me that you're okay. You instead leave me here searching for you like a madman.”

“Stop yelling at me. I'm not a child,” I said into the phone, trying to steady my breathing. I couldn't stand when people yelled at me. It made me feel scared and vulnerable and I hated that.

“Then why are you acting like one?” he sighed, finally lowering his tone. “Just tell me where you are.”

I pressed my nails into my arm, trying to find something worth telling him but nothing came to mind. Instead, there was silence which definitely ticked him off.

“Am I talking to you?”

“I can't say,” I finally said in a low voice, staring hard at the trees as if they were the cause of all my problems.