Chapter 1
As she stood at the window of their apartment looking out on the street below and the people passing by, Tara couldn’t help but think about how much her life had changed in the past six months.
After leaving London and Sergei behind, they’d managed to raise enough money in Switzerland from the sale of her jewelry to rent the small apartment where she now stood, and still be comfortable. The apartment, while not in one of the more expensive areas of L.A., was still in a good one. The street was nice, with trees lining the pavement on each side. The apartment itself was one of eight in a four-story block, each floor having two. It was a one bedroom, two bath unit with a large open plan living room and kitchen. The high ceilings and big windows let in plenty of light. They had rented it furnished and the furnishings, though not what she would have chosen, were nice enough in creams and browns. The kitchen was quite small but it turned out that neither of them were very good cooks, so take-out figured a lot on their menu.
At first it had been fine . She’d been happy to feel safe and protected inside the apartment and had enjoyed getting to know Kyle better. They had barely known each other a few weeks before ending up here and in that time they had had no time to truly explore and get to know each other. So, over the past six months they had spent hours talking, often sitting up all night and revelling in each other’s company, falling more deeply in love with each passing day. Once they’d been here a couple of months, and they’d felt a bit bolder, he had taken her out and given her the grand tour of L.A. Holding hands and giggling like teenagers, he’d shown her all the tourist sights before introducing her to some interesting places that didn’t appear on any tourist’s map.
It had been six months now , though, and Tara was starting to go a bit stir crazy. Much as she loved Kyle and his company, she was bored. She couldn’t work, was a UK citizen and she had no skills to speak of. It wasn’t that she needed to work. Money was not an issue at the moment as they had plenty to live on, but she felt isolated. A job would allow her to meet new people, get out of the apartment more.
It was different for Kyle. He had insisted that he had to work, for his pride’s sake, and he had soon got a job as security in a local supermarket. Tara was proud of him. It was only a temporary job but she knew it meant a lot to him to not be living entirely off her.
Though s he barely left the apartment alone, both of them still fearing that Sergei’s men were out there somewhere waiting to snatch her back, and so she spent most of her days cooped up indoors. She sometimes went shopping or headed down to the beach, but there was only so much sightseeing and shopping a girl could do. Now that all the sightseeing was done and the excitement of setting up their new home had passed, she had time on her hands. Time to dwell on thoughts of her daughter, not that she’d ever really stopped thinking about her. How could she? Her daughter was out there, somewhere. Alive.
Her immediate reaction after receiving Sergei’s message had been, unsurprisingly, to rush back to London, to take her daughter in her arms and never let her go. She’d been hysterical and would have acted without thinking if Kyle had not been there. He had kept a much more level head. She’d known, of course, that that was exactly what Sergei had wanted, and expected, her to do when he’d sent the message and she didn’t care.
Kyle knew , though, that if she went back, that would be the end. She would never again be free. So she’d allowed him to bring her here and she had, almost mechanically at first, settled down to her new life. Gradually, things had gotten easier and she now didn’t think about her daughter from the moment she woke to the moment she went to sleep. But she couldn’t forget and the longing never left her. It was one thing to move
As she stood at the window of their apartment looking out on the street below and the people passing by, Tara couldn’t help but think about how much her life had changed in the past six months.
After leaving London and Sergei behind, they’d managed to raise enough money in Switzerland from the sale of her jewelry to rent the small apartment where she now stood, and still be comfortable. The apartment, while not in one of the more expensive areas of L.A., was still in a good one. The street was nice, with trees lining the pavement on each side. The apartment itself was one of eight in a four-story block, each floor having two. It was a one bedroom, two bath unit with a large open plan living room and kitchen. The high ceilings and big windows let in plenty of light. They had rented it furnished and the furnishings, though not what she would have chosen, were nice enough in creams and browns. The kitchen was quite small but it turned out that neither of them were very good cooks, so take-out figured a lot on their menu.
At first it had been fine . She’d been happy to feel safe and protected inside the apartment and had enjoyed getting to know Kyle better. They had barely known each other a few weeks before ending up here and in that time they had had no time to truly explore and get to know each other. So, over the past six months they had spent hours talking, often sitting up all night and revelling in each other’s company, falling more deeply in love with each passing day. Once they’d been here a couple of months, and they’d felt a bit bolder, he had taken her out and given her the grand tour of L.A. Holding hands and giggling like teenagers, he’d shown her all the tourist sights before introducing her to some interesting places that didn’t appear on any tourist’s map.
It had been six months now , though, and Tara was starting to go a bit stir crazy. Much as she loved Kyle and his company, she was bored. She couldn’t work, was a UK citizen and she had no skills to speak of. It wasn’t that she needed to work. Money was not an issue at the moment as they had plenty to live on, but she felt isolated. A job would allow her to meet new people, get out of the apartment more.
It was different for Kyle. He had insisted that he had to work, for his pride’s sake, and he had soon got a job as security in a local supermarket. Tara was proud of him. It was only a temporary job but she knew it meant a lot to him to not be living entirely off her.
Though s he barely left the apartment alone, both of them still fearing that Sergei’s men were out there somewhere waiting to snatch her back, and so she spent most of her days cooped up indoors. She sometimes went shopping or headed down to the beach, but there was only so much sightseeing and shopping a girl could do. Now that all the sightseeing was done and the excitement of setting up their new home had passed, she had time on her hands. Time to dwell on thoughts of her daughter, not that she’d ever really stopped thinking about her. How could she? Her daughter was out there, somewhere. Alive.
Her immediate reaction after receiving Sergei’s message had been, unsurprisingly, to rush back to London, to take her daughter in her arms and never let her go. She’d been hysterical and would have acted without thinking if Kyle had not been there. He had kept a much more level head. She’d known, of course, that that was exactly what Sergei had wanted, and expected, her to do when he’d sent the message and she didn’t care.
Kyle knew , though, that if she went back, that would be the end. She would never again be free. So she’d allowed him to bring her here and she had, almost mechanically at first, settled down to her new life. Gradually, things had gotten easier and she now didn’t think about her daughter from the moment she woke to the moment she went to sleep. But she couldn’t forget and the longing never left her. It was one thing to move
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