Ariella hadn't said a word since my threat to do God knows what to her in the hospital. And even now in the car heading back, she remained silent, occasionally watching me skeptically. Her jet black hair kept falling slightly into her eyes when she peaked at me through it.
It'd been an impulsive, spur of the moment sentence, but the more the thought burned into my mind the more the temptation grew. The thought was depraved, considering that a say ago she might've been related to me. Fuck, the girl was traumatised and probably wouldn't even have willing sex again if she could anyway.
My search for Stella would have to continue without my father's aid. That made things a lot more difficult, and there was no telling whether or not Ariella would cooperate. That being said it was clear she would've rather been my whore than my sister. Still, she didn't exactly know that her life depended on her playing that role to perfection and convincing my father.
"I forgot to ask. The nurse wanted to know if you preferred shots or drugs?" My fists curled around the steering wheel, avoiding the cars speeding past mine across the roads.
Ariella shrunk back, pulling at the front passenger seatbelt wrapped around her. "I don't do that shit if I can avoid it. I don't have a preference, I'm not an addict."
Th offended tone in her voice was unmistakable, and realisation immediately replaced the confusion that had first set in. That was one of the few times Ariella had ever snapped at me.
"I didn't mean that. Fuck. I meant for your medicine, because of your injuries that were left unchecked." My fingers tightened around the wheel, digging into my palms.
"Oh...I still don't have a preference." The spark was gone, her voice going back to the timid whisper she'd used since we met. A part of me clawed to see that spark again. She wasn't Stella, but she definitely had me curious.
"That's OK." Th silence dragged, but curiously got the best of me. "Tell me about yourself. I never even asked, my head was too far up my ass."
She snorted, a hand flying to cover her mouth and stuffle the giggle.
"Did I say something funny?" A smirk invaded my face, drawing my lips up. Fuck, dozens of people had attempted to get a smile from me in so many ways, yet Ariella did it just by laughing.
"No. Not at all." She cleared her throat, her smile fading though her expression was much lighter. "There's not much about me to know."
"Then tell me what there is." Tell what it is about you that made my heart feel so light.
"Well, I don't really remember much of my childhood, and alot of what I do is pretty awful." She pursed her lips, raising her eyes from her laps to the view in front of us. "But there were times, when my owners took me to places, different countries sometimes. Those were the moments I felt most free. Seeing all those sites, new people and sometimes new food."
"When all this is over, is that what you'll do? Travel?" Her eyes flickered to mine for a second, before darting away.
"Will you let me do that? If I pretend to be your Stella till you find your real sister...Will you let me go?" The uncertainty in her voice might as well have been a knife buried in my chest.
"You're free to do as you like, Ariella. You're doing me a favour by helping me." Her fingers scraped over each other, not enough to harm herself, but enough for me to suspect she could.
"I can buy it." She turned to me, suddenly hopeful. "You can pay me to pretend to be your sister, and I'll give you the money back until I've paid back the amount you bought me for. I can buy my freedom since you don't want me."
The laugh came out of nowhere. Sure, my reaction made me an absolute dick, but she looked so fucking adorable negotiating. Standing in as a double ganger for a few months definitely couldn't pay back the millions she cost me. But fuck it, she was worth every cent.
"Um...Sir?" Her skeptical expression was gradually slipping to fear, and my amusement evapourated.
"Killian." My right hand uncurled from the steering wheel, extending to brush the stray hair strands away from her face. "Call me Killian. Tell me what you're thinking."
Her teeth sunk into her lower lip after she replied. "You're pretty strange. Not like the other men I've met anyway. I think you're going to give me a chance, to earn my freedom."
"You really think the world is worth seeing?"
She stopped the assault on her lip, before answering. "Yeah. I think it is."
"This world is cruel, more so to you than most people. What beauty could you possibly still see?" She really was an enigma. A puzzle that challenged me, daring me to solve it.
"The beauty is everywhere. Not everyone can be blamed for my misfortune. The trees, the light, the stars, the sun and moon. They're all so magnificent, but I never really got to admire them. Too busy surviving. But once we find your sister, I won't have to survive anymore." Her eyes trace the Chicago streets flying by as we drove towards the more elite side of the State.
"You don't have to survive now, you know? You can live. You don't have to force yourself to see the world as beautiful anymore. That nightmare is over. Even if you aren't Stella, I still have an obligation to you."
"It's not force. I've met alot of people like me. Living the kind of life you saved me from. Some of then went insane, unable to hold on to reality when it was all pain. The others simply took a single thing the world couldn't take from them and held it in their hearts." My head turned away from the road, she was already looking at me.
"And you chose to see to hold on to the beauty of the world." It didn't make much sense to me, the world had and always would be ugly. My only Ray of light had once been my family, and that was wretched from me along with Stella.
"Not always." Her lips curled up slightly, as she nudged at the road ahead, hinting at me to focus on driving.
"So what did you choose? What drove you to keep your sanity instead of giving up?" The puzzle was unraveling, but with every layer pulled back it was another ring. How someone so small and fragile survived that cruel life.
"Honestly? Rage." Her words were soft, but the spark of rage was woven into each one. And so the complexity of the girl next to me doubled.
The car tyres screeched as it turned into a parking lot. The Italian restaurant couldn't have had the best of ratings, considering the sky blue paint was faded to almost cream, but it would have to do.
Parking the car in the Il porcellino restaurant lot, was a bit tense with Ariella staring at me like she was trapped with a deranged serial killer.
"What are you doing?" Her hands clutched the seatbelt to her chest, eyes widened.
"Stopping for lunch." The engine stopped rumbling as the car keys detached. "You've have doctors poking at your brain all day, you must be exhausted."
And I was intrigued. All this time denial had clouded my vision, but now she wasn't Stella in my eyes. She was a complete stranger who made me feel curiosity, happiness and empathy all in one short drive.
And if it took an Italian meal in a middle class restaurant to figure out why, then so fucking be it.