Kept (Bound Book 1)

by Leona Keyoko Pink

  Autumn nodded but didn’t say anything as she touched her lips with her fingertips. Cage turned from her and Lane stepped up to greet him. She had a stack of paperwork in her hand and started off with the news he hadn’t heard yet as they walked to his office. Fredric rushed ahead of them to get the door.

  Autumn watched Cage until he was out of her sight and then she slowly walked to her bedroom. She was confused by how she was feeling and didn’t quite know what to think as Poppi rushed to greet her. It took her a few seconds to realize he was there as she was lost in a daze of her thoughts. She petted him on the head and took him in her arms as he licked her.

  She carried him over to her bed and attempted to get him to sit for several minutes. When he finally managed to, Autumn pulled out a bone from her bag. One of the many shops at the beach had been a pet store and she just knew he would love it. Poppi took the bone that was almost too big for his mouth and jumped down. He quickly scrambled under the bed to begin devouring it.

  Autumn sighed, sitting on her bed as Adel came into the room. She had a stern look on her face and Autumn expected her to start ordering her around. But she just said, “It's good to have you back. Dinner will be at six. You have the rest of the day off.”

  Autumn didn’t say anything to her and she left. Autumn sat there for a few minutes, happy to have an extended vacation. She slowly changed her clothes and went to the garden with Poppi. She wasn’t sure he’d come with her at first as he didn’t want to let go of his bone. He ended up carrying it with him as they went. When they got to the garden he dropped it, looking a bit exhausted. A few minutes later, as Autumn was pulling weeds, she watched him dig a hole in her grass so he could bury the bone. As soon as he buried it he seemed to forget where he’d put it. Autumn had to come over and help him unbury it as he looked around frantically.

  When he saw the bone again it was like he’d gotten it for the first time all over again. Autumn watched him happily chew on it and washed her hands. She watered the plants and then attempted to read a book under one of the cherry trees. However her mind kept drifting back to Cage. She felt something had changed, or was changing, and she didn’t know what to expect. Like most things in her life. Only this time she didn’t think it was going to be such a bad thing.

  Chapter Nine

  Over the next few weeks Cage slowly changed his schedule so they could spend more time together. At first, it was just having more meals together here and there. Cage would be waiting for her at breakfast with a flower or a small gift to start her day off. He would kiss her gently and tell her she looked stunning.

  At lunch they would either go out or stay in. After a while Autumn thought it might be nice to invite Cage into her garden. He was hesitant at first, not wanting to infringe on her space, but after a few days she convinced him to have lunch with her. After that they had lunch there once or twice a week.

  Every so often after they’d finished lunch he’d take a stroll and admire her flowers. They’d sit under a tree and talk about the weather and tell each other jokes. Mostly light conversation. Autumn would attempt to learn more about him and about what was going on. He was always cryptic. He’d tell her some things here or there, but when it came to his business he would not budge.

  Sometimes they’d go out to dinner and catch a movie afterwards, or go to the aquarium. One night they went to a planetarium and had a picnic basket dinner under the stars. A few times Cage actually cooked for her. She was pretty sure that if he wasn’t a criminal he could be a pretty decent chef.

  Their kisses lingered longer and longer. Autumn didn’t mind him touching her so much. She no longer just laid through sex, but embraced the pleasure he could make her feel. Cage told her he loved her a few more times, and not just during sex. One afternoon while she was reading in her garden he came up behind her and kissed her softly on the neck. Then he played with her hair and said, “I love you.”

  He paused, waiting for her to say something in return but she didn’t. She never did. Autumn still wasn’t sure just how she felt about him. She’d decided she didn’t hate him, and she knew enough now that she didn’t dislike him either. But she didn’t really feel anything for him.

  It baffled her how he had changed these last few weeks. For a moment Autumn wondered if it was him that had changed, or her. Maybe he’d always had a kinder side to him that she’d just been unwilling to see. Or maybe their date together had changed him. She couldn’t be sure.

  Things were different now, but they weren’t perfect of course. Things hadn’t magically gotten better. No, they still had their disagreements and arguments. Autumn would yell sometimes and Cage would yell louder, but somehow it all seemed lighter, less important.

  Autumn worked on not complaining as much. She held herself back. She also realized she didn’t want to always fight him. Sometimes she just wanted to let go. And she was grateful for what he’d done for Byron. Every so often Cage would show her what Byron was up to.

  Byron had been allowed to choose his own apartment and had a full time job at a hospital. To any of the other new doctors he was going through the same residency as they were. Of course, every now and then in the middle of the night he’d get a call or have to take a quick lunch break. He would fix up gunshot victims and the occasional bout of sickness one of the employees might get, but for the most part his life seemed to be back on track. Yet Autumn knew it would never be the same. Not with his sister dead. One day she would like to apologize to him directly and tell him about how much Penna loved him. Even thought he probably already knew.

  Autumn attempted to focus on her classes as she began to move on from her grief. She learned all sorts of new things and sometimes Cage would join her. He taught one of her cooking classes and they played ping pong together. Whenever there was something they might be able to do together, he’d join her.

  When she started learning logic and strategy games, the two would play against each other. Autumn would always take her time. Sometimes it would take several minutes for her to move a block or a piece about. Cage was patient with her and went easy on her but he still crushed her. Autumn wondered if she could ever get as good as him, and how long it would take to get there.

  After a month or two she made a real effort to go to him. Instead of him always joining her, she joined him in his office. It was weird at first. He was usually busy and she had to leave, but after a while he ordered Fredric to keep his doors open when he wasn’t busy.

  Autumn would wander into his office and explore it. She’d look at his books and check out his view as she ran her hands across his desk. He would look up at her every so often as he focused on his work. Autumn noticed she no longer saw scantily clad women waiting outside his office or coming out of his rooms. He seemed to have gotten rid of all of them. Autumn didn’t know why but it made her smile. She knew he had said there would be no more women, but it was one thing to say something and another to do it.

  Sometimes Autumn hung around Cage because she found she didn’t have to listen to Adel when he was around. Each day Cage was becoming less and less of a problem. Even Poppi was becoming manageable as he slowly grew closer to Autumn. He started answering to his name and would sit when she had a treat. But Adel was a big problem.

  She only seemed to be growing more strict and mean with every passing day. Autumn avoided her whenever possible. She seemed to take pleasure in bossing Autumn around as much as she could. She’d often watch the clock and whenever Autumn's time was up she’d pull her from whatever she was doing to move on to the next thing. Sometimes Autumn would still be in the middle of something. Instead of letting her finish and clean up, Adel would argue with her and threaten to report her to Cage. If Autumn was a little late coming out of her class, Adel would reprimand her teachers and threaten to have them removed.

  When they went out she only let her go to one or two places nearby, and for only so long. Adel insisted on wearing a bulletproof vest, and had Autumn wear one as well. It was heavy but Autumn cou
ld at least understand her reasoning considering all the attacks lately. Autumn did her best to attempt to like Adel and see things from her point of view, but the more she attempted to like her the more she ended up despising her.

  Sometimes Adel would pinch Autumn to get her moving or to get her attention and it would hurt. Autumn would glare at her but Adel would just glare right back. The last straw came when they had been out and Adel said it was time to go. Autumn was in a pet shop and Adel started pinching the back of her arm, and then grabbed it and tried to pull Autumn out of the store.

  Autumn pulled away from her and ignored her, continuing to shop. She only took maybe five minutes at the most to look for a toy to buy Poppi. She figured it wasn't a big deal since she was already in the store when it was time to go. She was just wrapping things up. But Adel glared at her and tapped her foot when she finally came out. She scolded Autumn for not listening to her. Adel said she was going to report Autumn to Cage and make sure she got her next outing taken away.

  Autumn couldn’t hold her tongue any longer and snapped at her. “You know your job is supposed to be assisting me, not hindering me, right?”

  Adel scoffed at her and said, “Don’t think for a minute I’m here to work for, or with, you. I work for Cage, and I go by the limits he’s insisted upon.”

  “Really? Then if that’s true you would know I’m allowed to go out as I please.”

  “The specifications are that you are allowed to go out once a week at a time chosen by Cage and a location chosen by you. He did not say you could go where you pleased. Once you are done with a specific location, I see no future need to stay there any longer.”

  “It’s my time and the location is a general place. I’m allowed to go to it and the things around it. I’m allowed to go out for several hours if I please. Penna and I were once out for four hours and Cage didn’t have a problem with it.”

  “Yes, well, look at where Penna is now.” said Adel, pursing her lips. She folded her hands in her lap and said, “The rules don't say how long you get to spend at any one place. I’m not going to just let you wander about. If you think for one minute I’m going to let you get me shot like Penna, then you’re mistaken.”

  Autumn didn’t know what to say after that. She was blown away. She was speechless. And Adel knew she had hit a sore spot. Adel let out a small smile as Autumn clenched her hands into fists. She was silent all the way back to the tower and through the rest of her classes. She refused to cry in front of Adel. She acted like she wasn’t upset.

  When she was finally away from Adel in her garden, she broke down crying. She blamed herself every day for Penna’s death. She knew it was her fault, but she also knew it had been an accident. For Adel to make it seem like she had done it on purpose was disgusting.

  Autumn knew she could no longer attempt to like Adel. She hated her too much for that. She wanted Adel gone. She wanted Cage to get rid of her at once, but she knew she had already asked him for so much. She knew this was something she was just going to have to get through on her own. But still, the thought of having to see that woman, having to listen to her every day, upset her. She didn’t know what she was going to do and the thought depressed her.

  At dinner Autumn attempted to pretend nothing was wrong, but Cage could tell. He seemed in a pretty good mood and when Autumn got a little too quiet he asked, “Is everything okay?”

  “It's fine.” said Autumn, eating her salad.

  Cage stared at her for a minute or two. He pulled back from the table, resting his head in his hands. “I don’t always want you to nag me about every little thing, but I told you that you can tell me if something is wrong. So tell me. What’s up?”

  “I don’t want to upset you.” said Autumn as she pushed her food around with her fork.

  Cage rolled his eyes and sighed before he said, “Your refusing to tell me what’s going on and being all gloomy is upsetting me, so you’ve already failed. Now tell me what’s going on.”

  “It’s Adel. I’m sorry. I know you just want me to deal with her, and I’ve been working on getting along with her, but... She is so strict and cruel. She messes with everything. If something takes a little longer then its supposed to, she yells at me. And she’s always rushing me when I’m out. She only lets me do one or two things for so long before she decides it's time to go. It makes it really hard to enjoy the freedom of going out and doing things when you have someone constantly pushing you to leave.”

  Cage didn’t say anything and Autumn sighed. She hadn’t planned on complaining. “I’m sorry, I’ll work on it. I don’t mean to complain. Maybe I just miss Penna so much that I’m not giving this woman a chance. It just seems like she doesn’t like me and she’s not ashamed to show it. But I’ll fix it…somehow.”

  Cage was silent for several minutes as he began to eat once more. Autumn wondered if he was going to say anything. Maybe he just wanted to make sure nothing major was going on, and now that he knew he could go on with his day.

  Autumn sighed and Cage took a sip of his wine. When she started to eat again he finally spoke. “I didn’t want to replace Penna. All I want is for you to do something. The only reason Penna was here in the first place was because you wouldn’t get out of bed. You wouldn’t do anything. If you can do something, if you can motivate yourself, then do so. Make your own schedule for all I care, but take care of yourself.”

  “I will. If you get rid of Adel, I’ll do it all myself. I just can’t stand her.”

  “Alright, she’s gone.” said Cage, picking up his cell phone. “You still have to obey your bodyguards though. If they tell you to do something, it really is for your benefit. So you have to listen to them.”

  “I will.” said Autumn as Cage began to dial.

  Autumn looked at him and her heart swelled for a few seconds knowing he was really going to get rid of her. Adel was really going to be gone from her life. Then Autumn paused for a second, wondering just what would become of her. Where would she go? Autumn thought she didn’t care as long it was away from her. But what had Cage meant by, 'she’s gone'? Did that mean he was going to let her go as in fire her, or kill her? Autumn quickly asked Cage, “You’re not going to kill her, are you?”

  Cage's phone connected and Autumn could hear Lane say, "Hello." as Cage looked at her. He hung up the phone and raised an eyebrow as he asked, "Do you want me to kill her?"

  Autumn paused then, realizing he wasn’t going to kill her. Then she realized she could probably have Adel killed if she wanted. Part of her was upset with how Adel had treated her and what she had said about Penna’s death, but Autumn didn’t think she could ever be upset enough to want to have a person killed. She shook her head and said, “No, don’t kill her. Just because I don’t like her doesn’t mean I want her dead. Give her some other job away from me, but don’t off her.”

  “You sure?” teased Cage.

  “Yes,” said Autumn, feeling silly that she thought Cage was going to kill her.

  “Fine.” said Cage with a sigh. “Is that all?”

  “Yes.”

  “Alright then.” said Cage, dialing once more. Autumn listened as Cage told Lane to relocate Adel at once. Autumn considered leaving dinner to say goodbye to her, or to watch her leave, but in the end she decided not to. The woman was no longer worth her time. Instead, Autumn smiled as she enjoyed her dinner.

  **********

  That night she went to bed when she wanted, and slept soundly knowing she could sleep as late as she wanted because she set her own schedule. When she woke up the next morning she found a tablet sitting on the end of her bed with a note from Cage. It read:

  Arrange your own schedule for the week. Your teachers will be notified. When it's time for your outing your tablet will beep. I’m trusting you to do something every day. Also, you have two days to pack. We’re going to the country for a week.

  Love Cage

  Autumn read the letter twice before she looked at the tablet. She spent nearly an hour messing with
it. All of her classes were listed, along with all of her teachers. There was an entry for her garden time, and spots where she could suggest classes. There were time slots she could slide any event into, along with buttons to text the chef her meal orders. She could also text her teachers. Autumn also found a button to text Cage. She texted him and thanked him for the tablet. He didn’t write back to her. She assumed he was busy.

  Autumn went to the chef's menus and saw her choices of food. She selected what she wanted for breakfast and then got dressed. As she got dressed she knew this wasn’t much getting to control her life. It had been something she’d done before Cage had taken her. But still, this was a step. All of these were steps, and instead of seeing herself just locked in a cage she actually saw the door to it opening more and more.

  **********

  Two days later they were off to the country. Autumn was in a much better mood. She had enjoyed her schedule over the last few days. She loved mixing and matching different things to fill her day up. Every so often, if Cage wanted them to have a meal together or to simply see her, he would also change the schedule. She would see an alert that said he wanted to see her, or where she was supposed to go.

  When it came time to go to the country Autumn had been in the middle of pottery class. She got an alert on her tablet that said she needed to be ready to go in half an hour. Autumn quickly cleaned up, changed her clothes, and even got Poppi ready to go with time to spare. When she got to the stairs that led to the roof Fredric and Cage were already there. They waited a few minutes for Lane to show up and then they all went to the roof.

  Poppi had to be put in a crate so he wouldn’t run around. Fredric also gave him a shot of something that made him fall asleep a few minutes later. Cage told her it would make travel easier on Poppi, and on them as well. Fredric piloted the helicopter as two bodyguards joined them. Autumn wondered how many this helicopter could seat. Lane sat next to Autumn. She texted on her phone as they took off. Autumn looked out the window and wondered if they were the only ones going to the country. She asked Cage and he told her some were already there, while others would be driving out.