“Isn’t it obvious by now? You have no say, in anything. Not anymore. You’ll wear this collar because I put it there. You’ll sleep in this bed, in the nude, because I fucking want you to. There will be no pleasantries, no comfort here.”
“You can’t keep me here,” I whisper coldly, glaring up at him. “This is against the law. This is kidnapping.”
He chuckles, his bright eyes glinting with pleasure. “You’re right, Tesoro, but do you really think I care? No one is going to come looking for you. No one is going to save you. You’re mine.”
Like too much gasoline poured on a fire, I explode in a fit of heat. “Stop saying that!” I bark, like a woman crazed.
“Or what?” he challenges.
I open my mouth, but I struggle to come up with anything.
Taking advantage of my silence, he corners me until the backs of my knees hit the edge of the bed and I fall back. His eyes shoot down my body, eating up the nude expanse, settling on my breasts. A shudder shoots down my spine, and goosebumps flare along my skin.
“What are you going to do to me?” I ask, not bothering to mask the fear.
With his eyes glued to my nude body, he shrugs. “Nothing.” Slowly his gaze treks back up and meets mine. He leans down, crowding me, invading my space. I shrink against the mattress, trying to get away from him. “At least not yet,” he murmurs, and by the time I hear the clinking of metal, it’s too late. He attaches something to the collar around my throat and pushes himself off the bed, away from me. I choke on my breath, my chest rising and falling sharply, as I watch him tie the chain that’s connected to my collar onto a metal attachment on the bed.
“Just in case you get any ideas about jumping out of that window.” He smirks, enjoying this.
With methodical movements, he straightens out his suit before heading toward the door.
“Wait!” I call out, but he ignores me. “Where are you going?” I demand. He pauses near the thermostat and I frown at his broad back, wondering what he’s doing. He toys with the mechanism, but I don’t have a clear view, it doesn’t take me long to figure it out. The room suddenly blasts with cold air and goosebumps make themselves at home on my damp flesh. My gaze shoots to his. There’s no remorse there. There’s nothing at all, just a vacant vessel.
A shiver wracks my body and it hurts. Coupled with the pain in my backside and the cold shower I had to endure, now I’m being forced to sleep in this room with no clothes, no blankets and no heat.
“Why are you doing this?” I demand, my teeth already chattering, ice flooding my veins from the cold air that’s now blasting from the vents. Continuing to ignore me, he makes his way out of the room. When I least expect it, he stops just over the threshold.
“I’ve already told you why—because I can.”
Hysteria claws at my throat, at the idea of being left here, naked and cold and alone, for God knows how long. My nose is already running from the sudden drop in temperature. I’m not sure how much more of this I can ensure.
“Please don’t do this,” I plead, a warm tear trailing down my frozen cheek.
“Sleep well, Tesoro. You’re going to need it.”
Without glancing back, he leaves me, nude and damn near bound on this bed. Once his footsteps begin to fade on the other end of the door, I roll onto my side, but the collar around my neck tightens, only allowing me so much slack. With trembling limbs, I curl into a ball, trying to keep warm, and ignore the painful ache settling in my bones. My bottom lip quivers and the hold I thought I had on my emotions vanishes. A broken sob rips from my chest, echoing around me in the barren room.
CHAPTER FIVE
Saint
TWO WEEKS LATER…
“What do you mean he’s missing?” I demand to Thad over the phone, my entire body thrumming with rage.
“I think he’s been gone the entire time.” Thad sighs. “I’m sorry, Boss.”
Sorry doesn’t even begin to cut it. I’ve had Westwood’s daughter in my custody for two weeks while my men watch the house only to discover he’s not even fucking there. Where the hell is he?
“He thinks he has the upper hand,” I snarl. “There’s no reason for him to leave. Why the fuck would he leave?”
“Not sure, Boss. Rob is in the house now, and there doesn’t seem to be any signs of a struggle.”
Which means he left on his own free will. Probably the night we took Melody. Even if he was pissed I took her a day early, it doesn’t make sense for him to leave his big-ass house without a trace. I need to get to the bottom of this.
“Don’t call back unless you have answers,” I bark at Thad. “Your job depends on it.”
I hang up and scrub my palm over my face in frustration. My plan was to head into the city and do some sniffing around some of Westwood’s clients to see just how far his tentacles reached, but with Westwood missing in action, I need to rethink everything. He’s clearly playing an angle he thinks he can win. And though it pisses me off, it won’t deter me. I’ll figure him out eventually.
I wanted to make him pay. Use the trade of his daughter as a ruse while I inflict real damage on the motherfucker. It feels like I’ve allowed him to slip out of my grip. This feels like fucking failure.
I’m going to have to see if the little girl has answers for me. She may be innocent, but she’s not stupid. I imagine with the right methods that I could coax information out of her she didn’t even know she had. For two weeks, I’ve treated her cruelly, like a worthless pet in hopes that when I’m ready to break her, she’ll snap in a satisfying way I feel all the way down to my soul. Each time I pay her a visit to feed her or take her to the bathroom, I make sure to remind her who owns her now, even if it means a belt to the ass. Her eyes might hate me, but her body craves my warmth and touch. It’s evident in the way her pert nipples harden in my presence or the way her pale flesh turns pink. Sometimes, I even scent a hint of her arousal. The girl doesn’t even realize how much she craves for me to own her body and soul. And when I’m inside her one day soon, her fragile mind will snap in half the moment she realizes she will never be able to hate me, but instead desires everything I have to offer her.
“Turn around,” I tell Roscoe. “We’re going back.”
He pulls a U-turn in the middle of the road to return home. My blood buzzes in my veins as I imagine how I’ll extract the information from Melody. She lost most of her spirit the night she tried to run two weeks ago, but I drained her of the rest of it, drip by drip, every day after.
“Call Bo and tell him we’re headed back,” I grumble to Roscoe.
Roscoe tries calling him, but he doesn’t answer. “On the shitter.”
He chuckles, but I’m not in a playful mood. When I get home, I’m going to drag her lethargic ass out of bed and whip the answers out of her if I have to. She’s his daughter, so it’s a possibility she might know the location of his hideouts. If not, I’ll enjoy interrogating her nonetheless. I’ll figure out what the fuck is going on with that bastard one way or another.
It takes forty minutes to get back home. I leave Roscoe to bring our bags into the house, since we will no longer be spending the weekend in the city. The house is quiet when I enter. Before I can call out to Bo, I hear a scream. Her scream.
Irritation spikes through me. If she’s having one of her crying fits of despair again, I’m going to lose my shit. I don’t have the patience today for these childish tantrums. I take the steps two at a time, already unbuckling my belt, so I can get right to my interrogation.
“Come on, baby, let me in.”
Icy fury splinters through me at hearing the voice on the other side of the door. With a calm I’m not sure I knew even existed, I twist the knob and open the door. Naked as the day he was born, Bo is trying to pin down Melody as she thrashes. His dick is in his grip, but he can’t seem to get it inside her. Her terrified eyes meet mine.
A plea shines in her green eyes.
Protect me.
With practiced ease and ze
ro hesitation, I pull my Glock from my shoulder holster under my suit jacket, aim, and squeeze the trigger.
Bang!
Her screams cease almost immediately. Bo fails at his attempt of rape since his brain matter paints the wall and headboard, making it impossible for him to perform. His body falls limp on top of hers, his arm curled around her as though they’re in a lover’s embrace.
“What the actual fuck?” Roscoe growls from behind me, his breathing labored from rushing up the stairs.
“I thought I made it clear the girl was not to be touched,” I say to him, as I replace my gun in my holster. “Seems he was confused.”
Green eyes remain locked on mine. Blood splatter coats her face and hair, making her look a bit unhinged. She doesn’t cry or whimper. Simply tracks my movement as I approach the bed.
“He’s warm,” she says, her lashes blinking slowly as though she’s in a daze. “So warm.”
I lift my leg and press my shoe against his shoulder before pushing him off her body. “Not for long, Tesoro. He’ll be ice cold soon.” I motion at Bo’s corpse that’s sprawled out on the bed in an obscene way beside her. “Deal with his body.”
Roscoe grunts that he will. While he leaves to, presumably, get something to wrap Bo up in, so he doesn’t drag blood through my house, I sit on the edge of the bed and fish the spare key from my pocket. After I unlock Melody from the chain keeping her imprisoned on the bed, I study her messy face.
Something’s different.
“Don’t mistake what just happened for heroism,” I say, smearing blood along her icy cold lip with my thumb. “He disobeyed me and you know how much I hate disobedience.”
She nods, leaning into my touch. “He said you’d never know.”
“I know everything,” I drawl out. “Don’t ever forget it.”
“I told him so,” she whispers. “But he didn’t listen.”
Fuck if I don’t feel the overwhelming urge to praise her. Of course, I don’t. But, it does make me rethink my intentions. The girl clearly craves affection and touch like it’s her next breath, gasping desperately for it. An ass whipping, while often an effective means of getting what you want, doesn’t seem as though it’ll yield the result I desire. This changes my original game plan but one I’m willing to try, even if it goes against everting I know.
“You need a bath,” I state, keeping my voice cold.
She flinches but then nods. “Okay…”
“Saint.”
“Saint,” she murmurs. “Thank you.”
I almost laugh at the strangeness. She’s wearing blood and bits of brain, stinks from sitting in her own piss, and is damn near hypothermic. Yet, she thanks me.
Rather than acknowledging her, I unhook her collar from her neck and scoop her frail body into my arms, before carrying her down the hallway to the master bathroom. She clings to my suit jacket, her face nuzzling my neck. I make my way into the walk-in shower and turn on the water. A whine escapes her as chilly water splatters her naked flesh.
“Do you want hot water?” I ask, setting her to her feet.
Her green eyes search mine as if she can find the answer there. “Y-Yes.”
“What if I want something in exchange for it?”
“I’ll give it.” Her words are spoken with such conviction. She’d let me fuck her, I’m certain, if I just give her a hot shower.
“You better,” I rumble, as I set her to her feet. “Clean yourself and when you’re done, wrap up in that towel. I’ll be in the bedroom waiting.”
Her brows furrow together as though she doesn’t believe me. I step out of the shower and close the door. Our eyes remain locked as I back out of the bathroom.
“Roscoe,” I call out, as I enter my bedroom. “I’m going to get answers from the girl. Make yourself scarce.”
“I’ll meet up with Thad. See what I can find out.” He peeks his head in my doorway. “I’ll clean up what I can first, so the blood doesn’t ruin the floors.”
After he pulls the door closed, I strip out of my wet suit that’s smeared with blood. I set my gun on the dresser, deposit the clothes into the hamper, and then throw on a pair of sweats.
And then I wait.
She takes a long shower. Thirty minutes pass before she finally turns off the water. I take a seat in my armchair beside the bed. Soon, she shakily makes her way into the bedroom, her green eyes wide and full of questions. Her blonde hair is darker as it drips with water. The blue hue I’d been accustomed to seeing on her lips has disappeared, and they’re back to being a juicy cherry red.
“Drop the towel.”
She lets it fall to the floor, revealing her nakedness to me. My dick stirs, appreciating her nice tits and pink nipples staring back at me.
“Are you cold?” I pat my thigh. “Come sit, Tesoro.”
I thought maybe she’d hesitate, but she rounds the bed, her eyes burning into mine. When she reaches me, her brow dips as she, no doubt, wonders how to seat herself.
“Straddle me,” I command, daring her to argue.
She tentatively reaches for my shoulder to steady herself. Then, like a good girl, she spreads her legs, settling on my lap. Sliding my palm to her ass, I grab a handful, drawing her closer. My dick thickens, eager to have this young thing’s pussy rubbing against it. Crimson floods her cheeks, and she chews on her bottom lip.
“I’m going to ask you some questions. Depending on your answers, I’ll reward you. Silence or stating you don’t know will be seen as refusal to help me. And I know you want to help me.” I stroke my fingers in circles at her hips. “Understand?”
“Yes,” she rasps out.
“Does your father ever go out of town?”
She nods, eager to answer. “Yes.”
I reward her by pulling her to my bare chest. She burrows against me, seeking my warmth. “Did he ever take you?”
“Sometimes.”
I rub my palm up and down her spine. “Where would you go?”
“Paris. London. Milan.” She shivers. “He went to New York a lot, but I wasn’t allowed to travel there.”
“What did he do in those cities you went to?”
“He went to meetings, but I had to stay in the suite.”
“Do you know what kind of business he did in New York?”
“No.”
“Do you want a blanket?”
“Y-Yes.”
“Then you need to think long and hard about anything that could be useful to me.”
She pulls away to study my face up close. A few freckles I hadn’t really noticed before dot her nose and cheeks. Her green eyes are rimmed in a darker green that makes them seem more intense when she bores her stare into you.
“I’ll try,” she assures me, though doubt shimmers in her gaze.
“I need more than a lousy attempt, little girl. I need answers.”
She squints her eyes as she thinks. “I know he sees a guy named Monroe in New York. Travis Monroe.”
“Stand up,” I bark out.
Her eyes well with tears. “I-I-I can f-figure this out. J-Just give m-me a s-second.”
“I said stand up.”
“Okay,” she chokes out, scrambling to her feet. A tear skates down her cheek, clinging to her jaw.
“Get into the bed.”
She swallows and nods. I shamelessly stare at her ass as she crawls onto my bed. Her eyes meet mine over her shoulder, questioning what to do next.
“Get under the covers. I’m going to look into this Travis Monroe. When I come back, I expect you to have thought about every trip and every overheard conversation. I’m looking for that sonofabitch, and you will help me if you enjoy feeling warm.”
I rise from the chair, motioning for her to get beneath the covers. She moans as she draws the blankets up to her chin, her teary green eyes searing into me. I make my way over to the dresser, lingering, so she can see that I’ve left my gun out. It’s a test. With one sharp look, I make sure she knows it’ll end badly for her if she fails
this test.
“Are you hungry?”
She shakes her head. “Bo, um, fed me before…”
Before he tried to stick his dick inside her.
“I want answers by the time I get back.”
Rather than waiting for a reply, I storm down the hall and down the stairs. Once in my office, I flip open my MacBook and start scouring through the data I’ve collected on Westwood.
Nothing on Monroe.
But, I do find a lot of travel receipts to New York. He always stays at the same hotel. The M House. If I had to guess, it’s owned by this Monroe guy. Now I need to figure out how and why Westwood slipped out, undetected and what his business is with Monroe.
I spend hours digging. While in New York, I’ve learned he spends a lot of money at a casino called Heist. Millions. All at this casino. From an outsider’s standpoint, it would appear to be that he’s gambling it away.
I’m not blind, though.
He’s using this casino as a way to funnel money away from his umbrella of assets. Westwood goes there at least monthly and drops a million or two each time. Because he’s loaded, it doesn’t seem that noticeable, but when you’re looking for it, it’s obvious as fuck. I want to keep digging but hours have passed, and my eyes are bleary.
Tomorrow, I’ll continue to dig.
I turn off the lights and head back upstairs. Slowly, I creep into my bedroom, unsure what to expect. A girl holding a gun or trying to escape or even passed the fuck out.
Instead, I find Melody sitting up, the blankets tucked under her armpits as she frowns at me.
“Still awake?” I skim my gaze over to the dresser where the gun remains untouched.
“Cayman Islands.”
I arch a brow as I saunter over to the bed. Her green eyes skim over my bare chest before she darts them back up.
“I heard him talking to someone on the phone once, and he mentioned the Cayman Islands.” She cocks her head to the side. “We only ever vacation in Fiji. One day, at breakfast, I asked if we were going to travel someplace new…like the Cayman Islands. He got angry and told me that place was trash. To never mention it again.”
Tales of Darkness & Sin: An Anthology Page 17