Hollow River

71.

River's POV

I stayed in Monaco while Lando flew to Belgium for the next race.
He obviously didn't like that I didn't come with him, but I had to fix things with Nate.

Or kill him. Either way, I had to confront him.

He texted me to meet him at his place, maybe not the best idea but I wasn't really afraid of him anymore.

To be honest, I never really was.

But I took two knives with me, just to be sure. I was keeping one in my purse and the other one was tied around my upper leg.
I was wearing a skirt, so I could easily grab it if things started to get out of hand.

I rang his doorbell and not much later he opened the door with a smile.

"There's my partner in crime" he sounded excited.
Did he really think I would ever team up with him?

He must be out of his mind.

He offered me something to drink, but I declined. I didn't trust him at all, that included taking drinks from him.

"So now we are partners, like Bonnie and Clyde, I think we need to get closer" he walked up closer to me, which immediately made me took a step back.

"That's not necessary" I chuckled. I wasn't gonna touch him. He must be crazy to think I would.

"You know, I think you're pretty fascinating" he smiled, but this wasn't a compliment.
He had something else on his mind, something completely different.

"It's tragic to lose your parents at such a young age" he looked at me, but he didn't look as if he felt bad for me at all. "And then you changed foster homes every other year, no one really wanted you"

What was he doing? Was he trying to get in my head?

"Until your last foster family, they really wanted you. The dad did at least" Nate was walking closer to me, my teeth were clenched against each other. "He really liked that body of yours, but I can't blame him"

He was standing in front of me, his fingers were trailing up my arm.

"He abused you, didn't he?" He whispered.

"Stop it Nate, leave me alone" I felt defeated. How did he know all this?

"And that's why you turned into the Black Cat, you wanted to get back at every rich dude" he put his hand on my cheek, his thumb was rubbing against my cheek in soft gestures.

I lifted my head a little.

Stay strong River. Don't let him notice that it's actually affecting you.

My back was pressed against the wall, his body was almost pressed against mine.

"And I completely understand, you want revenge, in one way or another" he moved his face closer to mine. "I wanna help you with that, together we will be unstoppable"

How much I wanted to push back the old River, he was bringing her back alive.
He knew how to push my buttons, he brought all these memories back to life.

Memories I desperately tried to forget.

They were all coming back to me. Every unwanted touch, every moan that escaped his fucking mouth, every night I couldn't sleep because I was afraid he would walk in my room and force me into things.

I even started to hate my parents for dying, for leaving me.

"The only thing that I don't understand is why you never took your revenge on him?" He shook me out of my thoughts.

"What do you mean?"

"You took your revenge on random rich dudes, lured them in your trap and stole their money but you never tried to take revenge on him"

He was right, because I didn't know what I would do if I saw him again.
I had so much anger for him, I absolutely despised him.

"I wanna help you with that River" he whispered. His voice was rough, as if he meant it.

And for some reason, he made his point. That asshole caused me so much pain and I never tried to take revenge on him. I didn't even know why.

"There she is" Nate looked in my eyes with a smirk on his face. "The Black cat has returned"