There was a moment where Valentine wasn’t sure she’d agree, a hesitation in her despite the obvious need to submit. He waited it out, breathing out a sigh when Charlotte gave in.
“Alright.” Val gave a jerky nod. He could justify it all in his head later when he had the time. He could justify it now, even – making the scales of what’s owed between them even. The little slip of paper in his pocket had tipped them some and now he set them fair. He closed the door once the girl took her seat, and when he moved into his own Val went through the same procedure of pulling the belt over her. When the heater hummed to life, his fingers tingled with the numbness from the cold easing away.
“Close your eyes, I’ll tell you when we’re there,” Val assured her, leading the car into the pouring traffic. Half an hour later as dusk was starting to settle onto Verona, he finally reached the front of the girl’s building. “We’re here.” He touched a hand over Lottie’s shoulder, “Show me your apartment.”
Lottie’s stomach flipped as she slid into the seat, a huge part of her screaming loudly to stop whatever madness she was thinking of and get away from him but the simple actions of him closing the door, belting her in, the simple order already had her slipping under and she had to trust him These thoughts continued on the periphery of her consciousness as she felt the car stop and move off again, turn corners and speed up again. She didn’t cheat, it didn’t occur to her to peek as she followed his instruction.
It wasn’t until he told her to show him around that she opened her eyes and looked out the window at her own front door. A wave of panic ran through her at his request but she knew deep down that everything was well hidden behind a locked door, her father had drummed that into her from the first day he told her the truth about his work. With a quick nod Lottie undid her belt and climbed out of the car barely registering how late it had grown and how long ago she had left her house for class.
Opening the door she stepped in first and flicked the hall light switch. Stepping aside so he could come in she shut the door behind and locked it out of habit. “Do you really need the tour? You spent rather a long time here as I recall,” she asked as the question rose in her mind again, was this just an unofficial search. She could hear Spencer screaming at her not to be so stupid and send him away right now but still she didn’t. Lottie just watched him, waiting for his response.
Lottie's wild adventure 