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CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Everything afterward felt like a blur. Gabriel owned nothing but the clothes on his back, his phone, and his wallet, so there wasn’t anything to pack and take with him. The art supplies Viktor had bought him weren’t his, so he knew it was best to just leave them all behind. It saddened him, but there wasn’t anything else he could do.

Sasha led him out of the bedroom, down the hall, and to the front porch of the house, where a black sedan was parked at the front.

Gabriel stood stock still on the steps and glanced back to see Viktor standing by the mouth of the door. They made eye contact and held it for a moment, and Gabriel found it hard to look away. He felt strange, like there was a pit of emptiness inside his stomach, getting bigger by the second and swallowing everything down into its darkness, including him. Gabriel almost felt like he didn’t want to leave, but he knew this was the end. Viktor didn’t want him, and Gabriel figured that was a good thing. He was going home, and he wasn’t going to see Viktor ever again after today.

So then why did he feel heavy? Viktor still didn’t say anything to him, he just watched him with those bright blue eyes and didn’t make anything obvious with his neutral expression. Didn’t Viktor feel the same way? Didn’t he also feel the creeping hollowness in his chest? Perhaps Viktor was just really good at hiding his emotions. But it hurt regardless, because it made Gabriel realize that he’d never been important to Viktor. He’d been used and now he was being tossed out, unwanted.

Gabriel’s vision darkened with the feeling of scratchy fabric against his eyes. Oh. So this was how it was going to be. He wasn’t going to know where “here” was, and he guessed it had a lot to do with preserving the privacy of Viktor’s home. The thought stung, but Gabriel couldn’t complain. He figured it was a good thing if he didn’t know where Viktor lived, because otherwise it might make him want to come back.

Gabriel stayed silent and still as Sasha finished tying the knot in the back of the blindfold, then he felt Sasha’s warm hand in his before he slowly turned him around and carefully lead him down the steps and into the waiting vehicle.

There was no movement at first, and being alone in the car made Gabriel realize how hard his heart was beating. He only sat there for a moment, but it felt a lot longer. He released a tense breath when he sensed people enter the car and shut the doors, and then the driver started the engine and the car began to move. He was still and quiet, breathing a little quicker in and out of his nose, and clenching his fists in his lap. Nerves sparked through his entire body, but he reminded himself that he was just going home and there was no reason for them to hurt him, especially when Viktor was letting him go.

The entire drive was silent, and after a while, Gabriel relaxed his shoulders. It felt like it had been an hour before the car stopped, but the engine continued running. He heard the door open and then shut. His side of the door opened, and someone gripped Gabriel’s arm as they helped him out of the back seat. The blindfold still covered his eyes, and Gabriel relied on the men’s hands to guide him. Gabriel walked for a short while, feeling like there was grass beneath his feet, and very soon they stopped.

“Sit,” one of the men told him.

Gabriel slowly sat on something hard, disoriented and completely unaware of where he was, and the man let go of him.

“Start counting to one hundred, then you can take off the blindfold.”

Gabriel couldn’t bring himself to respond with words, so he nodded instead. At first, he heard nothing but the rustling of trees and chirping in the distance. Then, he heard footsteps as the men who had brought him here started walking away.

Anxiety bubbled up from his stomach to his throat, and although he felt nervous about sitting there, not knowing or seeing where he was, he was too afraid to yank the blindfold off. He worried that they were watching him, and they’d do something bad to him for not doing what he was told.

So Gabriel started counting, and by the time he reached one hundred, he already knew he’d been alone for a while. But despite that, he couldn’t bring himself to stop, or to open his eyes until he was done. It felt surreal to be free, to no longer be in Viktor’s captivity. It almost felt like he was still in that house, in Viktor’s bed even, ready to be ravaged by him.

Gabriel shivered and slowly raised his hands to his face, removing the blindfold and opening his eyes. Clutching the fabric in his hand, Gabriel looked around himself. He almost expected to see someone he was familiar with, possibly Sasha, or maybe even one of Viktor’s other men. But he saw nothing of that sort. Instead, he observed green, manicured lawns, trees, and flowers all around him, and at a distance, sparse numbers of people going about their business—most walking, others jogging.

It didn’t take him long to realize he was in Central Park. Bold of them to drop him off here, but no one seemed to notice or even care about Gabriel. For all they knew, he was just another guy spending a day out in the park.

Gabriel looked down at himself and saw that he was sitting on a bench. He searched his pockets and found his wallet and phone were still with him and hadn’t fallen out while he was being guided over here.

Opening the brown leather flap, he saw that he still had his bank card and notes of money inside. He felt a sense of relief knowing that he still had everything, but at the same time, he knew Viktor wasn’t the type of man to have taken these from him.

Gabriel stood and walked through the neatly etched path, making his way out of the park and to the side of the road where he waited a few seconds until he saw a taxi. Flagging it down with a wave of his hand, it stopped before him, and Gabriel got into the back seat. He gave the address to his apartment, then settled into silence as he stared out the window.

His heart was beating rapidly inside his chest, and he felt like he might have a panic attack, but Gabriel reminded himself that this was it. He was free. No matter how scared he was, he wasn’t going to see Viktor or his men again.

Shutting his eyes tight, Gabriel convinced himself of it over and over again the entire drive. He should’ve been happy to be going back to his real home, but despite all he told himself, he didn’t feel free. Instead, he felt a strange sense of emptiness swelling up inside of him and swallowing him whole. Suddenly, he felt achingly alone, like a puppy that’d been abandoned by its owner. It made him feel pathetic and fucked up. He was convinced that Viktor had completely ruined him.

The cab slowed to a stop. “We’re here.” The driver’s gruff voice snapped Gabriel out of his mind and back to the present moment.

Wiping hot tears from his eyes and cheeks, Gabriel kept his head down and handed over the cash before getting out of the vehicle, which drove away quickly. After unlocking his apartment, Gabriel stepped inside, then shut and locked the door behind him. Suddenly, the sounds from outside ceased, and everything became silent.

Gabriel turned around and faced the empty space before him. Everything was exactly the same as he’d left it, like it had been stuck in time. Immediately to his left was an archway opening that led into the small living room with cream walls and old, dark brown wooden floors that had been scratched up in some places. The TV was on a stand in front of the closed window, and in front of it was a navy couch and three light brown cushions tossed on it.

He lingered in the doorway for a few moments, feeling like a stranger in his own home. Everything felt so familiar, yet oddly foreign to him. It was his home , but after being away from it for so long, he felt out of place here, almost like he was intruding.

Moving back into the short hallway, he walked ahead and into the kitchen. This area was also untouched. It was more than obvious to him that no one had entered the apartment while he was gone, and although he was relieved to see that he hadn’t been robbed during his time away, it didn’t stop him from feeling a little uneasy. He’d gotten used to living with Viktor, and now that he was alone again, he knew it’d take him a while to get used to it.

Making his way to the sink, he opened the cupboard above his head and took out a glass cup before filling it with water from the tap. After drinking from it, Gabriel set it on the countertop before he took out his phone from his pocket, switched it on, and stared as the screen flashed to life. It was fully charged, and while Gabriel waited for notifications to come up, nothing appeared. His stomach clenched when he realized that Viktor must have been dealing with them. He knew his best friend would have reached out to him, but when Gabriel checked the call log and message apps, he saw that all had been wiped clean. Other than that, everything else seemed to be the same, including the other apps he’d previously had on his phone, and he still had all of his contacts too.

He tapped on Enzo’s name and sent a simple message. Hey .

Sighing, Gabriel slipped his phone into his pocket before walking out of the kitchen, down the hall, and to the left where his bedroom was. He opened the door, stepped inside, and fell back first onto the mattress. Staring up at the ceiling, Gabriel felt the same wave of emptiness and loneliness emerge, except this time it felt stronger and harder to contain. He felt the muscles in his face strain, and before he could stop it, a sob ripped out of him. Covering his eyes with his hands, he let himself cry, feeling his body shake and jolt with every gasp.