"It's very simple. Daniel belongs to me and I want him back."
Oh right, I'd forgotten. Psychotic megalomaniac.
"Danny belongs to Danny, and no one else."
Maybe Abe, his fiancé, but definitely not this guy.
Atkins sighed. "I'm sorry you feel that way, Kaito. I had hoped this could go easier for you, but I see I was wrong." He patted my arm. "We'll talk again in the morning, see how you feel then."
When Atkins started to walk away, I thought I'd have a small reprieve.
How wrong I was.
So, so wrong.
"See that he's convinced to cooperate before you settle him in his room for the night," Atkins said. "Don't mark him if you can help it. I have a buyer interested in him, and he'll bring more money if he's unmarked."
No!
"Ian, he's going to sell me!"
"Atkins?" Ian asked. "Are you with Atkins?"
"Yes, and he said he has a buyer for me." I didn't mention the electrical shocks or the contraptions I seemed to be trussed up in. Ian and the others didn't need to know about them. They would only feel guilty. "You need to hurry."
I didn't think I had a lot of time left. I'd fight to the death before I allowed myself to be sold off as some slave. I was no one's pet.
"He's after Danny," I added. "You have to keep him safe."
"He's securely locked in his bunker with Abe."
At least that was a relief.
Danny was the sweetest of all of them, the most innocent. He had to be protected at all costs. I suspected that was one of the reasons Atkins wanted him so badly. Danny had a submissive personality, unless you pissed him off. He didn't resort to violence. He used his impressive computer skills to wipe you from existence.
He'd been working on finding Atkins for ages, but the man had proved to be slippery. Every time Danny thought he had Atkins pinned down, the guy disappeared again. He wouldn't give up until Atkins was behind bars or dead.
None of us would.
"Help me turn him over," one of the guards said as he unbuckled one of my wrists restraints. "I want a chance at that ass."
"Boss man said not to mark him," the other guard insisted. "We should just put him in his room."
I was with him.
"I brought lube," the first guard said. He was a big guy with dark brown hair and brown eyes. There wasn't anything remarkable about him except a half-moon scar under one eye.
He didn't put my wrist into the restraints when he flipped me over.
Idiot.
When he moved up behind me, I kicked out with my foot. There wasn't much power behind my kick as my limbs were still hard to move, but aimed in the right spot…the guy groaned and dropped to the floor, holding his nuts.
The other guard chuckled. "I warned you, dude."
When he came over to the table, I quickly moved around it, but I couldn't move far. Not only did I have to hold on to it to keep standing, but I still had one wrist cuffed to the table.
The guy held up his hands. "I just want to release you and take you to your room. I'm not going to do what he did."
