Ms. Calloway (Book 2 in the For Better Or Worse Trilogy)

Chapter 5

     Waking felt like waking up for the first time in a week from a horrible nightmare, only to wake up in another nightmare. An endless cycle of nightmare after nightmare with no way out. Instead of waking in the safety of my loft, I wake to find myself in the same room I shared my first kiss with Roman Berkshire. It's his childhood bedroom. Again, I'm reminded that I'm taken against my will, forced to depend on a violent stranger for survival. The second I find myself in a sitting position, the door opens to reveal Roman with a crepe, whip cream, and strawberries on a plate. Immediately, my eyes wander, looking for anything else in the room to distract myself with. Admittedly, this room is a lot better than the 'room' in the bottom of the warehouse, but the company isn't any better.

    "Good morning." He says, walking across the room to where I sit. His voice is a lot chipper than usual, hopeful even. There's a hint of delusion in there, especially if he thinks everything will be okay now because he got me out of that closet. "Sawyer." He reaches for my wrist, but I instantly flinch, bringing my hand to my chest. Time after time, I've been used as a pawn in a game that I don't know how to play. This entire time, Roman Berkshire fooled me into thinking he was some kind of knight in shining armor, while I was only goldilocks in a home full of bears. "I would never hurt you." I'm ashamed of the way my stomach twists with regret when I hear the pain straining his voice. He should feel pain. The same physical and emotional pain I have had to endure since the day I met him.

     For the first time since he entered the room, I met his eyes with a look that I hope resonantes as hatred, instead of fear. "Is that the same thing you told your wife?" The words roll off my tongue like venom off a snake's fangs. They strike hard and fast by the looks of it, because Roman's face contorts into something like pure agony. As soon as the words leave my lips, vomit rises to my throat and only a single gulp keeps it down. He needs to know that I'm never going to forgive him.

     "I understand that you're upset. You were taken against your well, placed in a position where your life was on the line. I can only imagine what they did to you. And once I get my hands on James and his puppets, i'll fucking make them regret every putting their hands on you." He looks like he wants to reach out for me again, but decides against it. Smart. "I need you to trust me."

     There was that word again, 'trust'. These people threw that word around as if they were talking about their grocery list. They demanded to be trusted, yet, proved time after time that they weren't worthy of my trust. "You need me to trust you?" A laugh that even surprises me, explodes from me. "Aren't you the same man who made it seem like I was a complete idiot for trusting you in the first place? The same man that told me he was a monster?" With each accusation, my voice rises another notch. "The very same man who murdered his wife and child? Oh yeah, I'm gonna trust that guy. He hasn't given me a single reason not to." Snorting, I shake my head and turn my attention to the window across the room. Once upon a time, this room had been a place of my dreams. A place that I could always remember as the place that I shared my first kiss with the man of my dreams. What a joke.

     "I know you don't mean that. You're scared and you have every reason to be."

     "Thank you for allowing me to be afraid, Roman. I don't know what I would do without you." I can't look at him. Not anymore. Every time I meet his gaze I want to cry. I will never let him see me so vulnerable again.

     "Sawyer, I'm seriously trying here. I know you want to go home and never see me again, but you being here is for your own safety. Everything I've done is for your safety. This is the closest you'll get to safety until I get that fucking worm, Harris." He's sounding desperate now. So desperate to make me believe him. Bend me to his will. If only he knew that that girl, the one who would have done exactly what he wanted, died in that warehouse.

     After seeing that I wouldn't be budging any time soon, he stands. "You'll be staying here for a while. Might as well make yourself comfortable." He walks out without another word, leaving me with my own devices. I'll admit, this room is a lot nicer than the 'room' I was left with in the warehouse. This one actually comes with a bathroom and entertainment. But, why do I still feel like a prisoner? 

This chapter is a little short, but I hope you enjoy it!

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