The Deception series boxset: FaCade, Cadence, Beneath Innocence by Ker Dukey, D.H. Sidebottom Page A

him.

    I dug my nail into the flesh at the top of my thigh. The sharp sting wasn’t as startling anymore. This was the fourteenth indent on my thigh - to count the times the sun had risen while I had been in that room. The outside world was blocked by heavy wooden shutters on the window but the light bled through the cracks just enough to tell me it was day.
    My limbs were sore, a weird contradiction to the fact I hadn’t used the muscles in them for two weeks. I was on bed rest, a tube inserted to feed me for the first week because my mouth couldn’t open; medicine in a drip to make me drowsy and sleep nearly the entire time.
    Dante, Mr. Troy, would visit me in my sleepy state, staring at me, clenching his fists. It should have scared me but it didn’t, it helped take away the nightmares of that wretched little man touching me. Malik hadn’t been permitted to enter the room. I had seen no one and now the walls were closing in on me, cabin fever playing with my mind, my eyesight. I yearned to see and feel the sun. I wanted to feel the warmth cradle me in its embrace.
    I turned to the door when I heard footsteps approach. The handle gave way to Dante pushing through the door. He stopped his approach when he saw I was out of bed. He stood there staring at me, making me fidget. I looked down at the gown I was wearing to make sure I wasn’t showing any skin to warrant his eyes on me.
    “Hey,” I awkwardly said, raising a hand before quickly lowering it.
    “Do you know who I am?” What kind of question was that? Shit, was this a test, did he know I knew his first name now?
    “Mr. Troy,” I answered meekly. His eyes flashed with something I couldn’t decipher. My stomach began its usual nervous flutter. “Dante,” I whispered.
    He exhaled and rushed towards me, bundling me up in a bear hug. The restraint from his tight grip made breathing impossible. “You remember. Oh baby, you remember.”
    Dreaming, I had to be dreaming. Damn these vivid dreams.
    His grasp loosened, moving from my back to clasp my face. His lips kissed mine. “You remember.” It wasn’t a question and the hope in his voice left me completely confused.
    My stone posture must have given away the fact I was lost. He stopped his gentle kisses to search my eyes. The door opened again. A female entered. I was hallucinating or dreaming; there wasn’t another explanation.
    “She still doesn’t remember.” His words were choked.
    “Give her a few more days, Dante.”
    His posture emanated fury as he turned to her, his body rigid and almost vibrating. “It’s been two fucking weeks, Delia!”
    What was happening?
    “Hello, Star. Can you tell me if you recognize me?”
    I looked over the woman. She was attractive, in her thirties if I’d had to guess. She was shorter than me by a couple of inches but her high stilettos gave her extra height. Brown hair was pulled neatly back and placed in low bun. She wore a pencil skirt, and a white doctor’s coat open to reveal a satin blouse. She was completely foreign to me with no feeling of familiarity. “No,” I uttered.
    Her head dropped to a folder in her hands that I hadn’t noticed she was holding. “Okay, well my name is Delia; we are actually friends, Star.” She smiled like that was all it would take for me to be fine with her statement. “I’m going to have Malik bring you some clothes to pop on and then me and Dante will be back to talk to you.”
    What the hell?
    Moments later I was left on my own again to wonder if that all really took place. Malik entered with a knock to alert me to his presence. Why was everyone acting all civilized all of a sudden? He smiled over at me, placing some jeans and a tee on the bed without a word and then leaving again.
    I immediately went to the clothes and ran to the bathroom to put them on. It was such a small thing we all take for granted but to be in normal clothes made me feel human again. The fit was perfect although the items weren’t new. It was