Wow, it's been awhile. Hope there are still people waiting to read. Just want to say thanks to those who reviewed! People are confused, as I was sure they would be, but I promise that things will start to make sense very soon lol. Just keep on reading. Until then, here's chapter 3…
Sonya didn't sleep well. Being in a foreign place with a strange man probably had a lot to do with that. She'd woken up numerous times throughout the night so when she woke for good the next morning, it felt like she hadn't slept at all.
Checking the time on her phone, she realized it was early, only a quarter after seven, and made no move to get out of bed. Instead, she lay there staring up at the ceiling in thought. She wondered why this happened to her, where she was, how she'd get home… 'Home…' she thought sadly. She couldn't imagine what her parents were going through right now. She missed them. She wasn't ready to leave them yet; she was still preparing herself, thinking that she had a few more months before she left them for when she went to college.
Then he had to come and disrupt her life.
A burst of anger erupted inside her, and she narrowed her eyes as she thought about Antonio. Last night had been one of the most frustrating she had ever experienced. After those two big lunts had escorted her from the room, she was forced to spend the rest the time with that creep of man. He never let her out of his sight and insisted on trying to hold conversations with her like they'd been friends for years. Dinner was worse. She had never wanted to hit someone so badly. She didn't dare eat anything, even though he had a cook, and he wouldn't shut up trying to convince her to even after she'd made it clear that she wasn't going to. He was completely calm and trying to be nurturing, which succeeded in both pissing her off and freaking her out. She wanted nothing more than to get away from him.
She felt some relief when it was time for bed, glad to be out of his presence. She was still being guarded by the two men, though. He had even gone as far as telling one of them to sit in the doorway until she fell asleep so she wouldn't make any more escape attempts. Her frustration had hit her again full force. Even when she woke up during the night, she saw the door was still open so they could see her even though they weren't sitting directly in the doorway any more. That was another reason she couldn't sleep comfortably.
Still, with all this, she was surprised. She never thought kidnappings were like this. She thought that the kidnapper would lock up their captive in a basement or some small windowless room, not let them stay in a large bedroom sleeping in a queen-sized bed alone (sort of). She thought that the captive would be forced to eat some crappy meal that the capture had just thrown together and left to eat in that room alone, not offered a place at a dinner table with a nice meal set out in front of them. She thought they would have to endure the capture in their face reminding them in a sneering voice that they were never going back home and that they planned on doing so much to them, not sit comfortably on a couch a safe distance away while the capture attempted to have pleasant conversations.
It was all throwing her for a loop. She didn't understand this man. He was too nice to be a kidnapper…but maybe that didn't matter if he was insane. She had decided that he was plenty crazy to have done this. He seemed to have taken offence when she had called him that the day before, but how could she look at him any other way? He'd said that he would explain why he did it all in due time, but she didn't want an explanation.
She wanted to go home.
A sudden knock on the door broke Sonya's train of thought and caused her to shoot upright in bed. She saw Antonio standing in the doorway, and instantly she was on edge. Her eyes narrowed, and she moved back against the headboard, bringing the blankets up to her chest.
Antonio smiled. "Good morning," he greeted, getting no reply in return. That didn't detour him. "I'm glad you're already awake. You look so peaceful when you sleep; I would've hated having to wake you."
At his words, Sonya's brow furrowed. "What?" she asked in confusion. How would he know what she looked like while she was sleeping? He wouldn't, unless he… "You came in here last night?" she demanded, anger rushing through her.
He merely shrugged as if it were no big deal. "I checked up on you once to see how you were faring. I'm glad you were comfortable."
She wasn't, and knowing that he had stopped in to take a peek at her made things worse. She doubted she'd ever be able to fall asleep now. "You are seriously creepy," she spoke frankly. She got a light chuckle in return.
"Yes, well, either way, I came to let you know that breakfast will be ready in an hour. This will give you time to freshen up a bit. There's a bathroom through that door," he explained, pointing to the door to her right, "if you don't already know. There's plenty in there for you to use. Also, there's no window so no need to try to escape."
She glared at him.
He chuckled a bit more. "After breakfast, I'll be taking you shopping."
Her glare vanished and she blinked in surprise at that. "Shopping?" How odd to hear that coming from your kidnapper.
He nodded. "You can't very well wear the same clothes every day. I'll be getting you plenty of clothes to fill your closet. I know you don't want to be stuck in here all day, so you'll be coming with me. I'm sure you'd like to pick out your own outfits anyway."
She hated how casually he was talking to her, making it seem like she was friend just moving in and this was her brand new room. The way he was talking clearly showed that he intended for her to stay here for a long time and that he was helping her get settled in. It unsettled her.
Still, there was a silver lining to all this. They were leaving the house and going out in public. She had a good chance of finding out where she was and a better chance of getting away than she did the day before. Shopping sounded very nice, indeed.
She kept her growing excitement bottled up; she didn't want to raise any suspicions. Instead, she just looked away. "Whatever," she said simply.
He smiled. "Alright, well, I'll leave you to it. See you at breakfast." With that, he left the room.
Sonya relaxed once he left, letting the excitement she was feeling finally seep out. She leaned her head back against the headboard and smiled lightly, relishing in the fact that she might be able to get away from this guy. She wanted to go home so badly.
With this on her mind, she finally made her way out of bed and to the bathroom. While showering, she couldn't help but think about what Antonio had told her. 'Getting me clothes to fill the closet? He has to have a lot of money, then.' She had a sneaking suspicion about that fact when she was escorted out of the room the day before. The inside of this house was very nice and a lot of the décor looked expensive. And just how was he paying her two guard dogs and a cook, if he was? She couldn't help but wonder what he did for a living to have the money for all this.
Of course, it really didn't matter either way. She didn't plan to be here long enough to talk to him about it. After breakfast, she was making a break for it.
When Sonya finally came out of the bathroom, showered and dressed, her two guard dogs were waiting to escort her down to the kitchen. She went with them without any protest. If she played nice now, it would be easier for her to get away later, or so she hoped. When they made it to the kitchen, Antonio was already waiting at the table and the food was already set out.
Antonio smiled once he saw her. "Ah, you finally made it."
Sonya simply took a seat at the table with no response. She eyed the food. 'God, that looks good, and I'm so hungry…' she thought, realizing that she hadn't eaten since lunch at school the day before. Still… 'I'll be damned if I eat anything they made.' She didn't know what they could've done to it.
Antonio watched her watch the food. He raised a brow. "Still not going to eat?" he questioned.
She glanced over at him. "Nothing you made," she said bluntly.
He smiled. "Well, if you must know, I didn't make this. My cook did."
She narrowed her eyes at him, knowing he was trying to be funny. "You know exactly what I mean."
He chuckled before shaking his head. "Yes, well, you can't keep this up, not eating. You'll get sick."
"If you let me go home, you wouldn't have to worry about it. I'd eat with no problem," she shot.
He sighed. "Why don't you make your own breakfast, then?" he suggested, ignoring her comment.
She blinked in surprise. "What?"
He shrugged. "If you don't trust my food, then make your own. I know you must be hungry. There are the pots in the drainer on the counter. Make whatever you want. There's food in the refrigerator and the cabinets."
Sonya was utterly surprised. This man was throwing her for so many loops, one after another. She didn't know what to make of it. She glanced over to the counter where the pots were and then back at him.
"Go on, then," he said, smiling lightly. "We're in no hurry."
Sonya stared at him for a moment before slowly moving to fix her own breakfast. It took a bit of time for her to find all the cooking supplies, but once she did, she made herself an omelet and a few strips of bacon. She even found fresh fruit in the refrigerator that she decided to have as breakfast as well. When she finally sat back down at the table, he was smiling at her. He did that a lot.
"What?" she snapped.
"I'm surprised," he said. "For you not to have eaten since yesterday afternoon, you didn't make that much of a breakfast."
She stared at him for a moment before turning to her breakfast. "I made enough for me," she replied simply.
"Well, enjoy. Like I said, we're in no rush, so take your time. I know you're not up for much conversation, but perhaps you can tell me what style of clothes you prefer. I might be able to guess somewhat, but you know what you really like."
She glanced at him as she thought about what he said. "You can guess?" she questioned.
He nodded. "A bit."
"How?"
"Well, that's something I'll explain when I tell you why you're here."
She narrowed her eyes. "Why not just tell me now?"
He smiled. "Because you have yet to eat anything," he teased.
She glared at him before turning to her breakfast. It didn't really matter why she was here, because she wasn't planning to be here for much longer. She was determined to find a way to get away from him as soon as she could.
Sometime later, Antonio, Sonya, and her two body guards were being driven through town where the clothing shops were located. Plenty of people were out and about shopping, much to Sonya's pleasure. The more people around, the easier it would be for her to slip away later, or so she hoped. As they traveled through town, she couldn't help but realize that she had absolutely no idea where she was. Nothing looked familiar at all. She also noticed that a lot of the signs were in Spanish, which made her nervous. Just how far away from home was she?
The driver soon parked the SUV, and Sonya was escorted out by her entourage and Antonio. She made no move to get away right then. She decided to wait until Antonio was wrapped up in shopping and the guards were bored out of their minds and not paying as much attention. Until then, she'd play like a good captive and go wherever Antonio wanted.
The first store they entered wasn't very crowded or very large. Sonya was a bit surprised as she thought he would've taken her to places that were popular. Then again, he was most likely just concerned about her having clothes, not so much that they were popular. He probably didn't plan on letting her out of the house after today anyway, so why would name brand clothes matter?
Antonio turned to her with that irritating smile of his. "Well, have fun," he said to her. "Pick out anything you want."
Sonya raised a brow. "Have fun? Do you come up with these jokes on the top of your head?"
He chuckled. "Go on, then."
She let out a breath before heading over to the closest rack that seemed to have clothes in her size. As she perused, she noticed that the selection wasn't bad in the least. She wondered why the place wasn't more popular. It might've been due to the fact that the selection wasn't very large, but it was still nice. She was actually considering picking out some items.
She looked up to see her bodyguards were standing nearby, but Antonio wasn't with them. She looked around a moment before spotting him talking with the cashier, who was writing down information. It was then that an idea hit her. If she did get a lot of things, just who was going to carry all the bags? If they're hands were full when she took off, all the bags would delay them from chasing after her right away. She bit her lip to hide her growing smile and looked back at the clothes, deciding that she was very much in the mood for shopping.
She began pulling multiple items that she liked off the rack and piling them on top of it. When she finished, she wasn't quite satisfied with her stack, and she moved to another rack, repeating the process. When she finished with that rack, she took the pile over to the first and added it to the top. That was much better. She looked up to see her bodyguards eying her clothes with disdain, and she just barely stopped herself from laughing. They didn't seem happy about the possibility of carrying them. She decided that she would add a little more.
She turned to go to another rack, but she stopped short when she saw Antonio approaching. She instantly put her tensed as she eyed him come toward her.
Antonio saw her pile of clothes on top of the rack and laughed. "And here I thought you wouldn't want to do very much shopping today," he said as he finally reached her.
She instinctively took a step back. "Couldn't help myself," she said simply.
He smiled. "I thought you might like this place," he said knowingly.
That made her frown as once again he made it seem like he knew details about her, such as her style of clothing, that he could only know if he'd been around her long enough. "How would you know that?" she asked.
"I'll explain later, remember?" he reminded her. "Now, are you done, or would you like to look around some more? There are some very nice dresses over there."
Definitely not. No way was she wearing a dress around him, considering she didn't get away today. "No, I'm good here."
He nodded. "Then let's pay for these so we can go on to another store." With that, he grabbed her pile of clothes and began heading to the cashier.
Sonya looked up to see her body guards coming toward her, and she rolled her eyes before following Antonio. They all made it to the counter, and she watched eagerly as the woman rung up and bagged her clothes. What she didn't expect was the woman to begin putting the bags behind the counter instead of handing them over. She couldn't hide her confusion. "Um…" she blurted out.
The cashier paused and looked up, but Antonio motioned her to continue before looking over at Sonya. "We'll be coming back for them once we're done for the day. It wouldn't be easy trying to carry around all the bags," he informed her.
Well, that completely spoiled Sonya's plan. She was completely disappointed by how smart this man was, but she didn't let it show. "Oh," was all she said.
Once the clothes were paid for, they were off to another store. As they walked, Sonya couldn't help but notice that they were passing all the stores that seemed to have a steady flow of people going in and coming out. She wondered why that was. Her questions were answered when they walked into the third store that wasn't the least bit crowded. He was doing this on purpose. He was taking her to nearly empty stores so it would be easier to keep an eye on her. He didn't want to risk losing her in a crowd of people. Damn it, this man was smart.
She had lost any enthusiasm to shop since she knew what he was up to. There were no bags to weigh them down or people to get in the way. It was just her and those three. She was completely frustrated.
The next store they went into was a shoe store. By then, Sonya was brooding and beyond ready to separate herself from them. She was done being a good captive. Of course, she knew she would have to get some space between her and her body guards if she wanted any chance of getting away, and she knew just how to get it.
She slowly walked up one aisle pretending to look for her size while casually gazing at the shoes. She saw her body guards following in her peripheral vision. Antonio had walked off to talk to the cashier once they had come in, so she knew he'd be slightly preoccupied for only a short while. She had to do this quickly. She noticed her body guards were following far enough away that they would lose sight of her for just a couple seconds once she rounded the corner. That was the break she needed.
She walked a little faster, trying hard not to make it obvious, as they approached the end of the aisle. A quick glance behind her told her that her guards didn't seem to notice as they chatted with each other. A few more steps and she rounded the corner. The moment she was out of their line of vision, she bolted down the next aisle toward the door. Three-quarters of the way, she knew the guards had finally made it to the aisle.
"Hey!" she heard behind her followed by the sound of pursuit. "Stop!"
Like hell.
Sonya barely registered Antonio's surprised look before she burst out of the store and took off down the sidewalk. She tried to avoid as many people as she could as she ran as fast as her legs would carry her. She could hear angry shouts of people a short distance behind her, and she knew that her followers weren't being as careful. She also knew that she needed an obstacle better than people between them. After silently praying that she didn't get herself killed by doing this, she veered off into the street.
Her heart raced as she narrowly avoided getting hit as soon as she ran out into traffic. Still, she continued on, ignoring the many horns and screeching tires. She made across two lanes okay, but the next two lanes weren't as easy. She stopped briefly as a large truck zoomed by before racing across one lane. She stopped abruptly, letting out a shocked cry as a car skidded to a halt directly in front of her, its horn blaring. She was scared for her life, but she didn't have a moment to spare. She simply ran around the car and continued across the final lane onto the sidewalk. She could hear horns still going behind her, and she knew that she'd be able to get some more distance between herself and her chasers.
Now that she had gained some ground, she kept a look out for any sign that would tell her where the hell she was. If she managed to lose her guards and Antonio, she wanted to know what to tell her parents when she found a place to call home. She continued to run, though becoming short of breath, looking at the signs of the stores to see if they would give her a clue. Finally, she saw one. A building displayed its address on the side in large letters, clearly showing her just where she was. The shock from what she saw nearly took the breath she had left right out of her.
By staring in horror at the address, she forgot to watch where she was going, and she suddenly collided with a body. Her momentum sent them both tumbling to the ground. She landed on the ground with a thud before rolling a couple times. Once she stopped, she couldn't find it in her to get back up. She could hear quick footsteps closing in, but she couldn't move. Finding out where she was successfully took the fight out of her.
Moments later, she was being lifted up off the ground, and she could hear the familiar voice of one of her body guards telling someone that they'd caught her. They began to escort her back in the direction they came, and she allowed it. They walked a little ways before waiting at the street corner. A few moments later, a black SUV pulled up in front of them. A guard opened the back door, and she got in without a fuss. She climbed in the back where she was seated originally, and simply waited for them to leave.
It wasn't until Antonio suddenly appeared climbing in the back with her with a tight expression on his face that she suddenly felt an emotion that wasn't shock. Anger bubbled up inside her and she glared at him as he sat across from her in his own seat and then turned his hard stare on her. She never once broke eye contact with him as she fought hard to keep herself from throwing her fist into his face. She hated that he had the nerve to be angry with her when he was the one who took her against her will and brought her here.
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
Anyone expecting that? For those still reading, let me know what you think.