How the fuck am I going to get out of this!? The men who pushed me in this revolting van tied my wrists behind my back

Where the fuck are they taking me?

We've been driving for the past hours and I'm getting really tired.

The van stops and I hear some doors open behind me, but it's still dark. No one seems to care about me in the back. And I'm glad.

I try to pull my arms apart, but it's no use. There's no way I'm breaking free now.

I almost jump up when I hear the door open wide

I try to break free from the chains wrapping around my wrists, but it's no use.

'So you think you can kidnap me and throw me into a van!?' I sneer, watching their every move.

One of the men hops in the van and moves over to me. It's dark and cold outside, the open door allows the night air to flow into the van.

The smell of salty air fills the little space I'm in, making me wonder where the fuck they took me.

'Take another step and I'll kick you in your-'

'Calm down gorgeous, I'm just admiring your beauty.' He grins, touching my face gently.

Gorgeous? The way he said it sounds so familiar. And then it clicks.

I haven't seen him in months, almost forgot about his existence. Thomas?

I move my head to the other side and keep my eyes on him, trying to move as far away as possible. He chuckles and steps back, staring at me in total silence again.

His gaze lowers until they stop at my breasts. Since my shirt is almost falling off my body, he can almost see my boobs.

'Stop looking at me like that, you creep.'

'I'm a killer, not a rapist.' He grins, moving closer to me again, 'And even if I wanted you, I would've had you by now.' Asshole!

'You're going to die.' The man nods and starts pacing through the little space.

'Rafael will try getting you back. But he has to find you first.' I grin, knowing that it won't be hard since Rio forced Celine to chip us.

Thomas raises an eyebrow at me and smiles. 'You're empty, so he won't find you.' Empty?

He nods at my questioning gaze and leans closer, 'You have nothing to track him here.'

'You're lying.' I sneer, trying to break free again. The chains cut through my wrist and I feel the blood dripping down my hands, but I don't care.

If Thomas is telling the truth, if I was able to run all this time, I'm screwed. If all of it was a lie, I'm fucked.

'I'm going to untie you now.' He moves to my back, out of my vision, and I feel his hands on my arms. 'If you want to make it out of here, I suggest you behave.'

He unties me and waits for me to respond. The last time I tried to run away from my captor while he was behind me, it only got me into more trouble.

So running away now is not a good option.

I don't even know where the fuck I am.

'Now get up and start walking.'

I do as I'm told, trying to stop myself from shouting at him. They don't seem friendly at all.

It's as if they're ready to kill me. All of them. 'Don't you dare-' 'Run away, I get it.'

I jump out of the van and look around, trying to see where the hell we are.

It's dark and cold, surrounded by the smell of stinking fish and the sound of waves crashing against a bunch of rocks.

This place is guarded by at least twenty armed men.

'Move.' Thomas sneers, pushing me towards the stairs. I stumble back and try to keep him in my eyesight.

That way he won't be able to surprise me again.

In the distance, down the stairs leading to some boats, I see a group of men holding guns. Great.

'Boss told us not to touch you, but you're really getting on my nerves gorgeous. Start. Moving.'

I roll my eyes and slowly head towards the stairs, not wanting to go down them just yet.

I glance around one more time, trying to see if there's any way of me getting out of here. And there is.

Behind the van, there's a huge forest. I'll probably get lost, but it's better than going with these monsters willingly.

So I look at the men surrounding me and try to find a way past them.

Two of the men aren't really watching as well as they could, and I don't ponder about taking my chance.

I rush past them and head to the woods.

'You idiots! Go get her!' I hear Thomas shout from behind me, but I block it all out.

I need to get the fuck away from them.

The sound of branches crunching underneath me, and leaves rustling around me, makes me only want to run faster.

And then the worse thing happens. They start shooting at me.

I fall onto the ground and crawl towards a cut-down tree, hiding behind it to catch my breath.

They continue shooting, despite the lies they just told me. They weren't allowed to touch me...

'Come out gorgeous, we're not going to hurt you!' Yeah right...

They're fucking shooting at me, but oh well. Guess they won't hurt me when I come out?!

Another round of bullets is being shot my way and I can hear them getting closer and closer.

If I don't get out of here right now, I'm going to be dead anyway.

So I crawl to the left and make a run for it, trying to keep myself moving so that I'll be a harder target to hit.

One of them has a good aim and shoots just into my right leg, allowing the bullet to cut me open. It burns like crazy, but I'm not going to let it stop me.

If I stop now, I'm dead. If I stop now, I'll be locked up for life. If I stop now and Rafael really didn't put that chip in me as he said he did, I'll be locked up for god knows how long.

So I can't stop.

I keep running, even if my legs hurt like crazy, even if they keep shooting at me, even if the world starts spinning around me. I'm not going to give up.

And just as I'm about to turn the other way, someone grabs me from behind and I freeze.

I want to scream, but that would only attract the people who I'm trying to run from.

'Shut it.' It's Thomas. I don't know how he caught up with me, but he did.

He pulls me down and covers my mouth with his big hand, as he keeps his eyes on mine.

The footsteps of the other men come closer and he keeps his eyes on mine. What is he doing?

He's not alarming them, he's not telling them that he has me. He's not notifying them where I am. Right fucking here.

'Where did they go?!' I hear a new voice groan as their footsteps slowly fade into the distance.

Thomas slowly lifts his hand from my mouth and sighs deeply.

'They said you would be a difficult one.' What?

He jumps onto his feet and holds out his hand, ready to help me up.

If it wasn't for my leg that was hurting like crazy, I would've declined. But I don't see myself getting up without his support.

'What are you doing?' I ask, still trying to catch my breath.

He's too focused on my wound and mutters something under his breath, before looking around.

'I asked you something.' 'Shut up before I kill you.' He sneers, making me step back a little.

I knew it was too good to be true, I knew he wasn't going to save me.

'I'm going to take you to Nadora and you're going to be his.' Nadora?

I've never heard that name before. But by the sounds of it, I don't even want to know who Nadora is.

'I'm not going anywhere with you!' I shout, making him turn to me again.

Within seconds, he's holding a knife to my throat, pressing the blade just hard enough to make my skin burst underneath it.

It burns, but my leg hurts worse, and I try to move away from him, but he's quicker and pulls me back.

'Keep your voice down.' He sneers as he tries to keep himself from killing me.

I hear new rustles from behind me and want to turn to the sound, but I can't move away from Thomas.

He swiftly pulls me against his chest and keeps the knife against my throat.

A group of men, four to be exact, is standing on top of a hill. They're looking down on us, with guns at the ready. All except for one.

Hunter fucking Steel.

'I knew I couldn't trust you.' He smirks, slowly stepping closer.

He's a lot taller than I remember, but the last time I saw him was months ago and I barely remember anything from that night, apart from the fact that Neveah got shot and that Rio and I had our first kiss.

That was a long time ago...

His glowing blue eyes trail down my body. When he reaches my leg he takes a deep breath.

'Now what did I tell you about touching her.' His voice is darker than I remember, way darker.

'That was one of your men, not me!' Thomas shouts fear clear in his tone. 'Who was it?'

Thomas keeps his mouth shut and loosens his grip around me, still keeping the knife at my throat.

'Who was it?'

I hear Thomas gulp loudly and keep my eyes on Hunter.

The men behind him have their guns pointed in our direction, ready to pull the trigger any second now.

'Tell them to lower their guns and I'll tell you.'

Hunter sighs deeply and raises his hand in the air, making the men lower their guns.

'Jonathan Wells is the one that shot her.' Thomas stutters as he takes a step back, pulling me with him.

Hunter is getting awfully close and he knows it too.

'Is that a cut on her throat?' Hunter asks, already knowing the answer.

'She kept moving and I-' 'I told you, no one touches her.' He pulls his gun, pointing it straight at Thomas's head.

'Yet you hurt her.'

Thomas lets go of me and drops his knife onto the ground.

'I didn't-' Hunter's eyes darken and he smiles for a second. 'Pity.'

Hunter pulls the trigger and watches as the bullet flies straight through the person behind me. Thomas's body tumbles onto mine and I step forward, not allowing him to drag me down with him.

The right side of my face is covered in blood, but I don't care. All I care about is that I have to get the fuck out of here.

I've seen death more than once now, I kind of got used to it. I think.

Let's just say right now I don't care about death. Especially not Thomas's death.

'Dispose of the body.' He commands and the men behind him instantly rush to the dead body behind me.

'Hello gorgeous, long time no see.' He chimes as if nothing happened.

'Sorry you had to see that, but he deserved it.'

'I thought he worked with you?' I ask as I try to stay as far away from him as possible.

'That's what I thought too until I heard that he was working with Nadora, behind my back.' Oh...

He went against his boss, betrayed him for whatever reason.

'It was treason and treason is punished with death.'

He lowers his gaze to my leg, which's still bleeding like crazy by the way, and looks back up at me.

'My apologies for the heartless incident, but I couldn't let him harm you like that now, could I?'

I shrug, not knowing what to do. The last thing I need to do right now is angering him. He didn't hesitate to shoot Thomas, someone who worked for him, so he certainly wouldn't hesitate to shoot me.

'Now come on, let's get you stitched up.'

He holds his hand in the air, waiting for me to grab him by the hand before he leads me into a new cage.

'I won't hurt you, I promise.' He whispers as his men carry away Thomas's body.

I watch as they leave and turn back to Hunter.

'Promises don't mean shit.' I sigh as I try to come up with a plan.

If I run now, I'll be able to hide in the forest. But then what?

I won't be able to survive with no food or medical help with this wound.

But if I go with Hunter, I don't know what might happen.

So either way, I might die.

'Curzio's promises don't mean shit. Mine do.'

I look into his blue eyes and freeze for a second. Why did he have to pull them into this?

'You expect me to trust you? After you kidnapped me?'

He chuckles and steps away from me, lifting his hands in the air before taking another step away from me.

'The choice is yours, but if I'm being honest, I don't think you'll last long without medical aid for that wound sweetheart.' He points at my leg and takes another step.

'A wound I have because of your men!'

'And I'll kill the person responsible.' He states, his voice loud and clear. 'It's a promise.'

There's no way I'll survive in the woods. He's willing to let me go, he's not like Rio. Not in that regard at least.

'Only medical care, then I'm gone.'

'We'll be moving, but as soon as your healed, I'll let you go.'

I tilt my head a little as I try to read his mind.

'Promise?'

'If you still want to leave, then yes. I promise to let you go.'

God, please help me!

'Fine.' I stumble over to him and lean on him for support, which feels stupid and weak. But I need him to keep walking, otherwise, I might as well die right now.

He helps me to the stairs and stops to look at me. 'What?'

'Hold on tight.' 'What are you-' Hunter swiftly picks me up and carries me down the steps, towards the biggest boat there is. 'Put me down you piece of shit!'

He chuckles and doesn't put me down until we get on deck. 'I'm just trying to help you.'

I roll my eyes and try to step away from him, without wincing because I don't want him to know how much pain I'm in. 'I wouldn't need your help if no one shot me.'

He takes a deep breath and looks at the little steps leading to the docks. The three men that took care of Thomas's body are stepping onto the boat as well and nod at Hunter.

'We're ready to go.' Hunter turns to a little cabinet and hands me a glass of water and a white pill. I stare at it for a second and look back up at him. 'It'll help with the pain.'

'The water is fine, just-' I start feeling a bit dizzy and the pain starts kicking in way more than before. 'Just take the pill. It'll help, I promise.'

I drop onto the little seat on the side of the deck and make sure that all four men are in my sight. 'What is it with you and promises?' I ask, trying to focus on Hunter since I'm talking to him. But he's becoming blurrier by the second.

'He likes to earn people's trust with those.' A cheeky brown-haired man chimes. He's one of the three that got on land with him. 'Please, just take the pill.' He hands me the glass of water and the pill.

I place the pill beside me and gulp down the water, wishing that I had more. 'Cataleya.' Hunter says warningly, making me look up at him. 'Just take the pill.'

It's the fact that the wound feels like it's literally burning, that I'm debating to take the pill, not the fact that Hunter looks like he's about to shove it down my throat, at all. No.

Because I'm not afraid of him. I think.

But I'm not caving in that quickly. So I do the exact opposite. I throw the pill back, straight into the ocean, and look at the empty glass. 'Refill?'

Hunter's eyes turn dark again and I can tell that he's already annoyed with me. The other three, well two, don't seem pleased at all. They seem to feel the same annoyance as their boss, towards me.

But the other one, the brown-haired one, starts laughing and needs to sit down to keep himself from falling. 'I love her already!'

'Shut it, Noah.' Noah. I should probably remember his name since he likes me already. Maybe.

I look at Hunter and watch as he grabs another pill, fills up the glass and walks back to me. 'Take the pill.'

'Or what?' He said he wouldn't hurt me. He promised he wouldn't hurt me. Let's see how far his promises go. 'You'll bleed to death.'

I stare at the pill and sigh deeply. He's not going to help me if I don't take that stupid pill, and the pain is getting worse and worse by the second.

So instead of being a bitch, I take the pill and gulp down on the water. 'Good.'

As soon as I hand him the glass for another refill, everything starts to turn. Not because of the pain. But because of the pill.

He's drugging me.

'You piece-' 'Go tell Emmet we'll be able to leave.' No. I try walking back to the docks, but my body feels like stone. Heavy and unmovable. I drop to the ground and feel someone pick me up.

But before I manage to see who it is, everything goes dark.

I wake up with a light headache and glance around the room.

It's dark, almost fully made out of wood, and has a few windows that are barely big enough for my arm to fit through.

There's a chair in the corner of the room and I notice someone sitting there, reading a book.

I move a little, feeling a tingle in my leg and I wince because it hurts. I pull the covers down and see stitches.

The wound is stitched up. They took care of it, just like he said he would.

'You're finally up.' Hunter chimes, turning in the chair. He places the book on a little table on his right and walks over to the bed. 'How are you feeling?'

'You motherfucker! I should kill you for-' He rolls his eyes and strides over to me, pressing the back of his hand against my forehead and neck. 'Don't touch me you asshole!' He nods and steps back before I can shove him away.

'You can stay in bed, we'll have lunch later and then we'll talk.' This motherfucker- 'I'm not eating anything.'

'I promise you it's not poisoned.' He playfully says, weirdly moving his hands. 'Go to hell.'

He sighs and turns back to me, instead of walking out like he planned to. We stare at each other for a while, neither of us saying a thing.

I need to find a way to get out of here. If there's even a way out. I climb out of bed and try standing on my leg, which doesn't hurt at all. It just... tingles?

'How do I know you're not going to hurt me?'

He slowly turns back to me, tilting his head a little.

'I told you I wouldn't, didn't I?'

I scoff at his answer and walk closer to the window in the room, so I can peek outside. 'You drugged me.'

We're on a boat. If I wanted to I could jump out and make it to shore, if that's not too far. But first I need to know where the fuck it is we are exactly.

'That was to help with your wound, no one touched you besides Jones.' Jones?

I don't think we're in France anymore. 'Jones is my medic by the way.' I stare at him for another second, before glancing around the room again.

'You're going to beat me up, just like you did to Neveah.'

'I didn't touch Neveah.' He states, making sure I know by stepping closer. Bullshit... I saw the video. That was him. He pressed on her wound.

If he gets too close I'm fucked, even though he said he wouldn't hurt me. I don't trust it one second.

'Maybe you didn't, but your men did. You must've ordered them to beat her up.'

He shakes his head and smiles at me as if I'm telling him a happy story or something.

'I simply told them to keep her in check. You and I both know how hard-headed miss North can be. My men simply did it their own way.'

The wrong way...

'Now, if you'll excuse me. I'll be in my office if you need me. Lunch will be around twelve, so you can rest for a while.' He turns towards the door, ready to leave. 'I'm not lunching with you.'

He quickly turns around, making me flinch at the sudden movement, and I step back towards the bed.

'Why did you flinch?' He asks, stepping back a little. As if he wants me to have my space to recollect myself.

'Did Rafael hit you?' What?

I don't get what any of this has to do with him wanting to have lunch with me, but-

'Did he ever hurt you?'

Rafael pushed me and it hurt, but I hit him so it's fine. He broke my heart and that hurt. But that was on me for falling for him.

'Why do you care?' I sneer, folding my arms across my chest.

'You shouldn't be flinching...' I can see the look in his eyes.

He's... concerned?

Abuse. He thinks Rafael abused me.

I wouldn't call what he did to us abuse, it's nothing like that. Right?

'I knew they were raised by animals.' He grunts, turning back to the door. 'I flinched because you moved so suddenly.'

I want to tell him to shut up about their childhood, but that's exactly what he wants.

He wants a reaction. Something that will show him how I feel about the Curzio's.

'We're having lunch together, so I suggest you get some rest.' He turns to the door again and almost leaves.

Almost.

'Hunter.' I say, waiting for him to turn around. And he does, smirking like crazy. 'Yes, Cataleya?'

'I'm way worse than Neveah.'

His smirk only seems to grow, before he turns back to the door. 'I doubt that.'

Asshole...

I look around the room and sigh as I take a seat on the soft bed.

How did this happen? How did I end up on a boat with the enemy of the guy I love... Fucking hell.

Rio won't look for me. I know he won't. He'll be too angry, too childish to save me.

I stare at the stitched-up wound on my leg and sigh deeply. I got shot. And it hurt like shit, but way less than I thought it would. Maybe it was because of the adrenaline.

The room I'm in is dark, and if I go completely silent, I can hear the waves crashing against the sides.

If I would be here under different circumstances, I would've loved it here. But that's not the case.

I walk around the room, which is bigger than I expected, and search for cameras and other secret stuff, but there's nothing suspicious about this room.

Which makes it more suspicious if you ask me.

I take one more look around the room and drop on the bed. My stomach starts rumbling and I groan. Shit.

It was going to happen at some point, but I didn't think it would be that quick.

Idiot.

No phone, no clock, and I certainly won't be able to tell the time by looking at the sun.

How the fuck am I supposed to know when lunch is?

Wait.

Why do I even want to go and lunch with him?

No.

It's not because I want to lunch with him, but it's because I'm hungry and he offered me lunch.

I still don't think it's a smart idea to go have lunch with him, maybe I could find something else to eat and-

Someone knocks on the door and I almost fall off the bed. I keep my eyes on the door and try to see if it's Hunter.

But the person knocks again, a little impatient this time. 'Stay away from me!'

'Boss wants you to shower and dress up, there are clothes in the closet and there's a bath ready for you.' A bath? That sounds perfect. Too good to be true.

But I'm not going to shower in his water. I'm not going to wear his clothes.

'No thanks!' I shout back to the mystery person.

It's not Noah, so it must be one of the other guys, or someone I haven't met yet.

The guy groans out of annoyance and walks away again, leaving me to myself.

A shower.

He wanted me to fucking shower so he could catch me naked. Idiot.

I'm surprised I'm still wearing the same clothes from when I left, but I must admit. I feel disgusting.

I could really use a shower, but I don't trust it.

Why isn't he torturing me? Why isn't he locking me up? Why is he promising me shit, like is he really going to let me go? Just like that?

I guess I could ask him? But who says he's not just going to lie?

And what does he want from me? Like why did he go through all this shit just to set me free? It doesn't make any sense.

All these questions are making my head hurt.

But I need answers.

And the only way I'll get answers, is if I go to that stupid lunch. I think.

I could at least change since these clothes are all muddy and disgusting.

The closet in the corner of the room is filled with flowy summer dresses in different shades of red, green, and blue. Jeez...

He really went all out with this one, making me wonder how many times he has done this before.

I grab a simple blue one, not too revealing, and head to the little bathroom.

Well... Little.

Just like the bedroom, it's bigger than I expected. As if we're suddenly not on a boat anymore.

I take a quick shower, not wetting the stitches because Celine would kill me- oh wait. Celine.

It just slipped my mind. I'm not with the Curzio's, even if it feels like I am, I'm with Hunter Steel.

Shit.

I put on the dress and walk back to the bedroom, just in time for someone to knock on the door again. 'I told you to leave me alone, didn't I?'

'No reason to shout at me, darling.' Noah chimes from the other side of the door. Noah! I rush to the door and open it, making him turn back since he was already leaving.

'You look good.' His eyes roam over my body and I roll my eyes when they stop at my breasts. 'Eyes up here, idiot.'

He nods and smiles widely, showcasing his perfect teeth and making those pink lips even more beautiful. 'Ready for lunch?' Food... My stomach starts rumbling immediately and he chuckles softly, 'I guess you are.'

'I'll be fine.' I lie, uncertain if I should go with him or not. I mean, I'm actually very hungry, but I don't trust it. 'Suit yourself, Hunter will probably come to drag you out there anyways.' Shit.

He turns around, ready to leave, but I follow him into the hall. 'Noah!'

Noah slowly turns around and tilts his head a little. 'You know my name.'

'Your boss said it before, but that's not the point.' I walk back to the room I was just in and wait for him to step in as well.

Thank god he gets the point.

I don't want to risk people hearing what I'm about to ask, even though he'll probably tell Hunter anyways.

'What is it?' He asks, jumping in the chair Hunter was sitting in. 'What's the plan?'

He frowns and has a weird look on his face, as if he doesn't know what I'm talking about. 'What game is Hunter playing?'

'I honestly don't know. I don't understand why he says he's going to let you go if we just risked our asses to get you in the first place.' So he's really going to let me go? 'Like, Marcello already knew where we were somehow, so it could've ended a lot differently than it did.' Oh...

Marcello knew... Did Rio know too?

'But I do know that he's a man of his word, so if he said he's going to let you go, he will. Trust me.' He chimes, jumping back on his feet.

Trust me.

I watch as he steps towards the door and stops before turning around the corner. 'So, are you going to come down to eat, or are you going to wait for Hunter to get up here?'

Hunter would be worse. I think?

'Fine.' I mumble before walking after him.

As we make our way to the dining room, I realize we're not on a boat.

This place is way too big to be a boat. It's more like a floating mansion or something, because holy shit.

I follow Noah through a long hall, towards the lower deck. We end up at the end of the boat, which is a lot more open and bright than the other parts of the boat.

There's a big glass table with white chairs around it, at least ten, but there's only one chair occupied.

Just one.

Hunter is sitting in the chair at the end of the table, reading something on an Ipad, with a lot of different food in front of him.

'I brought her in.' Noah chimes, before stepping to the side. Hunter looks up and stares at Noah, before turning his gaze to me.

Just like Noah, he shamelessly looks at the dress I'm wearing and the way it wraps around my body.

I bet he picked those dresses himself, so he could look at me the way he's doing right now. He picked the most revealing dresses, and I picked the least out of the bunch. But still.

He's looking at me like he could devour me in a second.

'I have questions.' I state, wanting to get this over with. He blinks once, turning his gaze to Noah, who leaves, before turning back to me. 'Take a seat, please.'

I ball my fists, but head over to the table. There's another plate, notably for me. But it's right by his side. And that's not where I want to be.

So I grab the plate, glass, everything else I need and fill my plate with food, before I head to the other side of the table, as far away from him as possible.

He chuckles and places the Ipad on the table, before looking up at me again. 'Ask away.'

'Why are you doing this?' I ask, keeping my eyes on him. 'I honestly have no idea.' He shrugs, before cutting his bread.

'Don't bullshit me.' He almost takes a bite, but slowly lowers his bread and looks at me again. 'I'm not.'

'Are you really going to let me go?' I need to know. If he's going to let me go, why the fuck- 'I promised I would if you still wanted to, so that's up to you.'

'I want to leave.' He takes a deep breath and nods. 'Okay.' It doesn't seem to bother him that much. And if he really is willing to let me go, then I'll be free to go.

'But first, you have to heal. So you have to stay at least three more days, let Jones watch over you for a couple of days to see if everything will be okay with your wound, okay?' I knew it.

I knew that he wasn't going to let me go that easily. 'How do I know that it's not just a trick?'

'Because I promised to let you go, remember?' He did.

But so far that doesn't mean shit.

'So when you're healed, you can go. Do you want me to drop you off at home or somewhere else?' What?

I look at him, straight into his blue eyes, to see if I heard him right.

'You're letting me go?' I ask curiously.

Hunter nods and smiles at me, 'I always keep my promises, Cataleya.'

I turn my gaze to the plate in front of me, contemplating if I should believe a word coming out of his mouth.

So far he hasn't lied to me yet. So far he hasn't hurt me yet. All he did was help me. He told his doctor friend to take care of my wound, but now that that's stitched up, I'm free to go.

And he's going to let me go.

'So I can leave today?' He shakes his head and chuckles, slowly taking a sip of his glass of water.

He drinks water, not wine. Now that I think about it, I think Rio only drank wine at lunch.

'You're not fully healed yet.' I move back a little, look at my leg and look back at Hunter. 'It's fine.'

'Three days, that's all I ask.' He mumbles, moving his plate to the corner of the table. Apparently he already finished his food. 'One hour.'

The least I can do is negotiate.

'Three days.' He repeats, leaning on the table with his arms. He's enjoying this a bit too much. 'Two hours.'

'Two days.' I sigh and roll my eyes tilting my head as if I can keep this going until he caves in. But I really want to get the fuck out of here. 'Two and a half hours.'

'I can keep doing this all day, Cataleya. Two days.' So can I, you prick. 'Four hours.'

He chuckles and stares at me again, basically drilling his eyes through my fucking soul.

'A day, take it or leave it.' Oh my god. 'Sure. Since you're being a pain in my ass.' I smile victoriously and lean back in my chair.

Hunter smiles with me as if he didn't just lose our compromise.

I'm the boss here.

Or at least it feels like that now.

'You can drop me back in Montpellier with a phone, I'll take care of the rest.' Hunter's smile disappears and turns into a frown. 'Curzio will kill me if I ever get back to Europe.' Wait, so we're not in Europe anymore?

'So where would you like me to drop you off, Cataleya?' I could call Neveah whenever I get a phone. So-

'Home, I live in-' 'St. George Street 29, Florida. I know.' He chimes, cutting some fruit before lifting his fork to his mouth.

To be honest, I'm not even shocked that he knows. He probably did a background check as soon as he saw the pictures.

'Why are you letting me go?' I ask curiously.

I'm not going to complain about him letting me go, not at all. It's just weird.

He went through all of that, kidnapping Neveah, threatening to kill her, almost getting himself killed because he wanted me. Yet he's letting me go already?

'Like I said, Cataleya. I'm a man of my word.'

I'll hold him on that one...

'Okay, eat up. Because I have a feeling you'll lock yourself in your room for the next twenty-four hours.' He says laughing a little.

I was thinking about shoving the bed in front of the door so that they couldn't get in, but now he'll stay on the other side of the door because he knows I'll stay in there all day. So I might as well look around?

But he's right. I'll stay as far away from him as I can. So I take a bite and watch as he gets up from his seat and walks over to the door.

'Hunter.' He turns back to me and nods. I swallow the delicious bite and look into his eyes.

'Rafael isn't going to kill you.' A burst of confidence flows through me and I get up and grab my plate, before stepping closer to him. 'I will.'

And with those words hanging in the air, I almost run to the room they put me in and lock the door.

That should work. For now.

----

A/N: She should be careful... Or maybe Hunter is too soft towards her and will let her do her thing?

So what do we think about Hunter 2.0? Is he really different or is this just a fake thing towards Leya?

Don't forget to vote and comment, and let me know what you thought about this chapter!!

Hope to see you in the next chapter, have a nice day!!!