Tasting Insanity

Chapter 26

Amaryllis~

"I-", I couldn't get the words out of my mouth. I was too stunned to speak. "I was kidnapped." He raised his eyebrows in amusement at my choice of words, before realization started to settle in. "You were taken by my father, weren't you?" His question made me nod, not being able to form any other words as I nervously played with the hem of my shirt. "That fucking bastard."

"What are you doing here?", It was a stupid question to ask considering it was his house we were in and I realized that only after he stated it. "It's my house."

"Yes it is." I took my lower lip between my teeth, definitely nervous at the proximity between us. We never stood this close before, never this close. We always had a table between us only this one time when he came to stand next to me, grabbed my hand and wrote an address. "So," I changed the subject, "You never told me you lived in a mansion."

He tilted his hand, looking at me as if he hadn't seen me in years when it had only been a couple of days. "You never asked."

Right. I never did ask where he lived but I never fathomed it would be in a mansion, either. I did not even know he was rich, that rich. He was basically a billionaire at this point. No wonder why I was so generously paid.

He walked past me, to a wall and pressed a button which literally opened the wall, revealing a walk-in closet which existence I was unaware of. He walked inside, turned to me as if waiting for me to enter. "I didn't realize I was actually in Bruce Wayne's room." He smirked at my sarcastic statement before saying, "Im not a fan of batman. His lifestyle, however..."

"Hmm." I hummed, nearly rolling my eyes as if his room wasn't already screaming that. "Yeah so, why don't you tell your father im out of here? Not that Im complaining about your house but, I have a life outside of these walls and I haven't seen my father in days." Who knew if he was still alive? Being on his own and taking care of himself weren't exactly his forte.

"Nope." He said, disappearing further behind the walls of his walk-in closet which I was tempted to look in. "What do you mean 'Nope'?", I asked, finding him to be unbelievably casual about this whole thing. As if Me being kidnapped by his father was just another day in his absolutely non-psychotic life.

"I mean, Nope, Amaryllis." I could only hear his voice at this point. I still stood in his room while he was doing god knows what behind those walls. "You can be useful to me right now." Confused by what he said, I walked in the closet and found him packing a bag which enhanced my confusion. "What are you doing packing?"

"I am not going to stay here." He looked at me momentarily before resuming throwing clothes in his bag. "My father doesn't know I am here. I sneaked in." My first guess.

"Im coming with you. You sneaked in, you will sneak out and I will sneak out with you." I said. That sounded like a plan. However, said plan apparently didn't sit well with Carter. "Nope. You are staying here."

"What do you mean I am staying here?", I refrained myself from yelling, aware that there were other people in this house. Carter stood up, walked to me and stared. Just stared without one word leaving his lips as if he was thinking. "Hello?"

A smirk slowly made its way onto his face as he looked at me, again. "You, Amaryllis, will stay here for me and be my eyes and ears. Seeing as father feels threatened by my existence, lord knows he will throw me in a cell given the opportunity. Hence, the whole I-can't-stay-here thing."

"You're scared of your father." A question which came out as a statement. His smirk instantly vanished at my statement as he took a daring step toward me, making me stumble backwards. "I am not scared of that bastard." His voice low, calm, yet dangerous. "You will help me destroy him from the inside. You will tell me his plans, who he is meeting with and who he is fucking." Harsh words left his mouth, taking one step towards me with each sentence. "You will not betray me. If you do, I will skin you alive." And that was it. That Carter I helped in prison, that Carter I had therapy sessions with, That Carter who asked for my permission before taking my hand, That Carter was gone. This one scared the shit out me and that was the moment I realized, the rumors- the maids' whispers weren't rumors. They were facts. "You will tell Emilia everything you see and hear regarding my father and she will report back to me. "Do you fucking understand?" , On instinct, I closed my eyes, flinching as he took yet another step toward me.

I felt nothing. I slowly opened my eyes, scared we've been caught when silence enveloped us. Carter stood in front of me, confusion written on his face, something I couldn't quite decipher visible in his eyes. Hurt. Sadness. Disappointment. Anger. All of these, combined. "You thought I was going to hit you."

All these emotions because of this stupid action of mine- stepping back, closing my eyes, flinching. What had I done? My body judged him. I knew it was time I stopped believing every men was like my father, that every men took pleasure in hurting women. I knew Carter had been abused, too. "Im sorry." I didn't know what else to say or do rather than apologize.

He stepped back, masked the emotions in his eyes and nodded in understanding. "Your father," he started, "He hurt you, didn't he?"

I looked away from his eyes, at the floor which looked really interesting in that moment. "Answer me, Amaryllis."

"He did." I said, not meeting his gaze. "He has hurt me my entire life." I wasn't going to deny it, It felt amazing to admit that out loud. I felt like I was carrying such a burden by keeping that to myself but, admitting it to Carter felt like a huge weight was relieved from my chest. Why did it feel like that? Like I could finally breathe as if I hadn't been breathing all these years?

"Do you love him?" I looked at him this time. His question caught me off guard. Did I love my father after everything he had done to me? After he practically just sold me to Christian Hale? No, I didn't. I loved him. But years of abuse changes a person. Even if your abuser is your own father. To me, He was just a monster, an alcoholic, a druggy, a man who never loved his daughter. A heartless, cruel and selfish man. "No. I don't love him."

"Good." He said and I didn't question him further. I didn't ask him why he asked that question. "I don't love mine either." A statement I was fully aware of. "Will you help me destroy my father from the inside?"

"Yes." Only because he asked nicely this time. He smirked, "Just a few more days."

"What if he finds out?"
"He won't."
"But what if he does?"
"I won't let anything happen to you."
"Okay." For some reason, I trusted his statement. He went to grab his back and left after saying, "Go back downstairs and close the door on your way out. Don't tell him I was here. See you in a few days, princess." And I did what he said. I went downstairs, back to the room I had been residing in since I had gotten here and pretended like I never went upstairs.