Stepbrother (Sequel to Stockholm Syndrome)

60

I don't wanna hear any more of that shit," Luke said, coming as close to anger as I'd seen him in a long time. "Madeline, you need to stop defending Travis and... for God's sake quit blaming yourself!"

We were in a cab on the way to search for the hotel Luke had booked on his phone while we were still inside of the hospital. We'd been discussing the whole situation in hushed tones in the back seat and I guess I had made one too many self-loathing comments.

"I'm sorry," I croaked, "I'm not trying to throw a pity party."

Luke's features softened, though I could still see a disturbed look in his eyes.

"Hey, I'm sorry, I'm not saying that's what you're doing. I just don't want you thinking that you're to blame for this at all, and I don't want you thinking that you could have picked up on his plans before this. Don't go down that road," he told me firmly.

I shook my head, staring out of my window.

Silently, Luke put his hand over my own that was resting on the seat in between us. I acknowledged it with a twitch of my finger but continued watching out my window while he looked out the front.

The drive to the hotel was a forty-five-minute commute, and my stomach started doing flips as soon as I recognized the scenery. Luke noticed quickly,

"What's wrong?" he asked as we stepped onto the sidewalk and he handed a tip to the driver through the window.

I swallowed back emotions and pointed across the street to where my old community college stood. Three blocks away was where my former apartment was.

"Shoot, Madeline, I'm so sorry I completely forgot this was where I took you from! I wasn't even thinking. I just chose this hotel instinctively because I know it's good because I stayed here a lot when..." he trailed off, looking around for anything that could be a distraction from the end of his sentence.

"When you were watching me," I finished for him.

Luke's hand ran nervously through his hair.

"Yeah," he nodded, "that's right... I can find a different place."

"No, let's just go in."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," I tried to be convincing. It wasn't like I had any memories tied specifically to the hotel, although it did creep me out that he had previously been so close without my knowledge.

"You're positive?"

"Only if you quit asking," I snapped back, decisively leading the way through the front doors before hiding behind Luke while he went through the necessary paperwork and discussion to get our room.