Page 126 of Made for Wilde

Baby girl starts to flutter inside me, as if sensing my distress.

I place a hand on my bump and sink slowly down into the chair.

Adrian’s eyes follow the movement with an expression I can’t read. For a moment, something almost like tenderness crosses his features.

“Hands behind your back.”

The zip tie bites into my wrists as he pulls it tight. Not tight enough to cut off circulation, he’s being careful about that. Butsecure enough that I’m not getting out of it without help. He moves efficiently, like he’s rehearsed this.

“I’m pregnant, Adrian.” The words tumble out desperately. “You know I’m pregnant. This stress isn’t good for the baby.”

He pauses in his movements with the duct tape half-unrolled in his hands.

For a moment, hope flickers in my chest. Maybe mentioning the baby will snap him back to reality.

Then his expression hardens again.

“I know exactly what you are, Charlotte.” He tears off a strip of tape. “And what you’re not.”

I try to turn my head away, but he grabs my chin with his free hand and forces me to look at him. His fingers are surprisingly strong and press into my jaw with enough force to bruise.

“This will go easier if you don’t fight me.”

The tape covers my mouth and seals away my voice. It pulls at my lips and the adhesive burns against my skin. Adrian steps back to admire his work and tilts his head like he’s looking at a particularly interesting art project.

I test the restraints carefully and try not to let him see. The zip tie around my wrists has no give, and the angle makes it impossible to reach with my teeth. My legs are free, but in this tiny space, with Adrian blocking the only exit, there’s nowhere to run.

“Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for this moment?” Adrian starts pacing the small space with an unhinged expression on his face. “How long I’ve been watching you throw yourself away on men who don’t deserve you?”

I strain against the zip ties, but they don’t budge. The plastic cuts into my skin when I pull too hard.

“From the first day you walked into my parents’ school, I knew we were meant to be together.”

Adrian’s voice rises with each word and takes on a dreamy quality that makes my stomach turn.

“I used to watch you between classes,” He continues as his pacing becomes more erratic. “The way you’d tuck your hair behind your ear when you were concentrating. The way you’d bite your lip when you were nervous. I memorized everything about you.”

The casual admission of stalking makes me feel sick. How many times had I felt eyes on me and dismissed it as paranoia?

“And then there was that job of yours.” Adrian’s voice turns bitter. “The Summit. Serving drinks to all those disgusting old perverts who looked at you like a piece of meat.”

He stops pacing to look at me directly and his eyes are bright with indignation.

“Do you know how it felt to watch you waste yourself on men like that? To see you smile and flirt with them for tips when you should have been with someone who actually cared about you?”

Adrians eyes are wild now.

“I wanted to save you from that place,” he continues. “I kept asking you out. Kept trying to show you what a real relationship could be like. But you kept turning me down and kept insisting we were just friends.”

Because we were just friends. Or so I thought.

Now I can see how every rejection must have felt like a challenge to him and every friendly smile a promise he was sure I’d eventually fulfill.

“And then I found out you quit your job. And I thought maybe you’d finally realized you deserved better. I thought maybe you were finally ready to let someone take care of you.”

He resumes his pacing.

“But instead, you found an even worse one. That old bastard who’s been using you like his personal plaything.”