CHAPTER NINE

NATALIE

My dreams that night didn't stop in tormenting my already overdriven mind. 

Dad, looking devastated at Mom's funeral and even more so with each passing day that I never came home. I was all he had left. I had to reach out to him soon.

Intermixed were highly sexual dreams about Sol, which only frustrated me on waking up. In my dreams I traced his tattoos with my tongue, he handled me roughly and I arched under every fiery touch from him.

So when I came downstairs to see him shirtless and barefoot, cooking breakfast in the kitchen, my feet stopped in their tracks and my breath hitched in my chest.

Wearing nothing but a pair of gym shorts, his tattoos and Adonis physique were on full display. My dreams did him no justice. The reality was more mouthwatering than my brain could ever imagine. 

Ari with the TV turned on to cartoons was a welcome distraction. 

"Morning, Natalie!" she chirped.

"Morning, Ari," I said. "No school today?" 

"Last I checked, there was still no school on Saturdays." 

The sarcastic answer came from Sol, who turned his back to me and faced the stove as he flipped pancakes. His wide, muscular back displayed some kind of battle scene between dragons in a Japanese art style. I wanted to study every intricate detail with my eyes, my lips and my fingers. 

"Bad kids get school on Saturday," Ari corrected her father. "It's called detention."

"Good thing you're not one of the bad ones, baby." 

Sol turned and winked at me as he did. I tried not to stare at his washboard stomach and sculpted shoulders, keeping my face neutral. I was still mad at him for essentially insulting me last night and blowing off my plea for help for my friends. 

If I could just keep from being distracted from his perfect, ripped body, I'd stay for as long as I needed before going home to my dad. I could find my own way to rescue Leah if he didn't give a shit about it. 

"Ari, go wash up for breakfast," he instructed. 

She jumped up from the couch without protest and headed to the bathroom to wash her hands. 

Sol immediately came around the island to stand directly in front of me. My pulse quickened as he came near, overwhelming my senses when he lightly touched my chin to ensure I was looking at him. 

And oh, I was. Lost in those golden brown eyes. 

"Hey, I'm sorry about last night," he said quickly in a low voice so Ari wouldn't hear. "My stupid monolog came out totally wrong. I don't think you're damaged goods at all. You're an incredibly brave, strong person. And a beautiful one." 

What? 

I must have heard him wrong. 

My mouth dropped open a little in surprise and I swore his thumb brushed ever so slightly against my lower lip. In the next moment, his hand was gone from my face. 

"I can't promise anything but I'll do what I can to help the other girls that are still there." 

This sudden change of heart both moved me and knocked the breath out of me with confusion. Why would he suddenly care? And why did I need his hand on me again so badly after he took it away? Why did I want to be enveloped in his strong arms the moment he invaded my personal space?

So many feelings and emotions coursed throughout my body, I didn't know what else to say but, "Thank you."

"All washed!" Ari emerged from the bathroom holding up her proudly washed hands. 

"Good girl!" Sol was suddenly too many feet away from me, scooping small pancakes onto a dish with a spatula. "Good girls get blueberry pancakes."

"Yay!" Ari upturned the bottle of maple syrup and dumped it all over her pancakes until I stopped it from overflowing her plate. 

"What are your plans for today, Ari?" I asked.

"Netta's taking me to the park to play on the playground!" she exclaimed. "Come with us, Natalie!"

"Sure, if it's okay with Netta." 

"Natalie can't go to the park, baby. She has to stay here."

Ari and I both looked at her father with disbelief. 

"I do?"

"Yes," he said through gritted teeth and narrowed eyes. "I need you here." 

I got the hint to not ask any more questions and the three of us ate through a long, uncomfortable pancake breakfast until Netta stopped by to take Ari to the park. The moment she was gone, Sol headed up the stairs.

"I have some work to do. Gonna shower and be back in a few hours."

"Okay wait, what the fuck?" I threw my hands up in the air. "I'm just supposed to stay here and do what, exactly? Be your maid?" 

"Natalie," he sighed, sounding genuinely apologetic. "I can't let you leave the house. I'm sorry. It's safer for Ari, you, everyone. Antigua likely has someone watching me and if they see you coming and going from my house, we're completely fucked."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" I cried. "So I'm basically still a prisoner, just to a different boss in a nicer cell."

"Call it whatever you want. I'm not risking my daughter getting kidnapped or murdered." 

"Since you're going, what's stopping me from just walking out after you're gone, huh?" I demanded, spit flying from my mouth but I didn’t give a fuck.

His perspective made sense and I wasn't entirely sure why I fought against him so much. I just hated having so little control over my own life. 

But Sol didn't seem worried. He merely shrugged as he continued up the stairs and said, "If you want to risk getting captured again, that's your call."