Sempre (Forever Series #1)(3)

“She looks horrible!” the man yelled, all trace of kindness gone. “How could you let this happen, Antonelli?”

“I didn’t mean for it to,” Michael said. “I didn’t know she’d try to run!”

“This started before yesterday, and you know it! You should’ve been watching her!”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“You should be.” Haven started to slip away, but before sleep took her, the man spoke once more. “I’ll give you what you want for her, but I’m not happy about this. At all.”

* * *

Haven awoke later, still on the concrete floor. Every inch of her ached, and she grimaced as she struggled to sit up. A throat cleared nearby, the stranger once again standing in the basement with her. “How do you feel?”

She wrapped her arms protectively around herself as he moved toward her. “Okay.”

His voice was calm but firm. “The truth.”

“Sore,” she reluctantly admitted. “My head hurts.”

“I’m not surprised.” He knelt down and reached toward her, the movement making her flinch. “I’m not going to hit you, child.”

He felt her forehead and grasped her chin, surveying her face. “Do you know who I am?” She shook her head, although something about him struck her as familiar. She thought she might’ve seen him from a distance before, one of the visitors she’d been kept away from throughout the years. “I’m Dr. Vincent DeMarco.”

“Doctor?” They’d never gotten medical attention before, even for the severest of problems.

“Yes, I’m a doctor,” he said, “but I’m also an associate of the Antonellis. I arrived after you went missing. You suffered a minor concussion, and you’re dehydrated, but there’s no permanent damage that I can see. You’re lucky you were found. You could’ve died out there.”

A sinking feeling settled into the pit of Haven’s stomach, a small part of her wishing she would have. It had to be better than being killed at the hands of a monster.

Dr. DeMarco looked at his watch. “Do you think you can walk? We should leave soon.”

“We?”

“Yes, you’re going to be staying with me now.”

She shook her head, cringing as her pain intensified. “I can’t leave my mama. She needs me!”

“Maybe you should’ve thought about that before you ran away.”

She tried to explain, her words sluggish. “They were going to kill me. I didn’t have a choice.”

“You always have a choice, child,” he said. “In fact, you have one right now.”

“You’re giving me a choice?”

“Of course I am. You can come with me.”

“Or?”

He shrugged. “Or you stay here, and I’ll leave without you. But before you decide, tell me something. You ran away because you thought they were going to kill you. What do you think they’ll do to you now?”

She stared at her dirt-caked feet. “So I either go with you or I die? What kind of choice is that?”

“One I suppose you won’t like making,” he said, “but it is a choice, nonetheless.”

Tense silence brewed between them. Haven didn’t like this manipulating man. “What do you want me for?”

She was used to being punished for speaking out of turn, but she had nothing to lose. What would he do, kill her?

“I never said I wanted you, but I’m a busy man. I can use someone to cook and clean.”

“You can’t pay someone?” She regretted the question immediately and backtracked. “At least it would be legal. I think this is illegal. Isn’t it?”

Truthfully, she wasn’t sure.

“I suppose it technically is, but—”

Before he could finish, shouts rang out above them in the house. Haven flinched at the loud thump and startled cry, tears stinging her eyes when she realized Michael was hurting her mama.

Dr. DeMarco sighed. “Look, I’m not going to wait around all night waiting for you. If you don’t want my help, so be it. Stay here and die.”

The man stood to leave. Haven climbed to her feet, muttering, “Why me?” She wanted to believe there was a point to it all, but she wasn’t sure anymore.

He gave a slight shake of the head. “I wish I knew.”

* * *

The soles of Haven’s feet burned as Dr. DeMarco led her out of the basement. “I’m not chasing you if you run,” he said, laughing bitterly when her panicked eyes darted to his gun. “I’m not going to shoot you, either.”

“You’re not?”

“No,” he said. “I’ll shoot your mother instead.”

She gasped as he let go of her arm. “Please don’t hurt her!”

“Stay where you are and I won’t have to,” he said, walking away.

Although her legs were weak and she felt dizzy, Haven refused to move an inch as he disappeared inside the house. The sky glowed bright orange as the sun dipped below the horizon, casting distorted shadows along the ground in front of her. She didn’t know what day it was, had no clue how much time had passed. She scanned what she could see of the property, searching for some sign of her mama. She wanted to call out to her, to find her. She wanted to ask what she was supposed to do.