She is made for me; she doesn’t realize it yet. I tended to her feet, bandaging them up securely for the second time this morning. I may have to restrain her legs until her feet heal. She keeps opening the cuts up every time she loses her shit.
I looked down at her for a few minutes, enjoying her rare beauty. She had the plumpest, most natural lips I have ever seen, almost a light cherry color. Her dark, sooty lashes, resting against her pale ivory skin, looked stunning. I bent over and placed a kiss on her forehead. Sleep well, my sweet Kitten. I will see you when I return.
I walked away from my sleeping beauty and exited the room, locking her in securely when I left. I headed to the kitchen and grabbed a glass of water. My throat feels dry this morning. I put Kits' smoothie in the refrigerator.
It didn’t look like she would drink it for breakfast after all. I heard an engine outside. I clenched myfists as I listened to the car door slam shut. My brother finally fucking showed up!
I met him at the door with a scowl on my face.
“What the fuck, Joe? What took you so long?”
He shrugged, grinning at me.
“I had to stop for my morning coffee, Atlas. I can’t function without it. You know that.”
If anyone else were talking to me this way, I would have knocked them out cold for dismissing my needs. I am used to getting what I want when I want it. I have people at my beck and call at all hours of the day.
Joey and Zach are the only two men who can get away with shit like this, and they know it. They were like my own kids, having brought them up after my mother and father died. The twisted snarl on my face was indicative of just how fucking pissed off I was. “Yeah, I understand you need your fucking coffee in the morning, but when I text you to get over here ASAP, I mean NOW, before coffee or anything else. Don’t push my buttons, kid!”
My brother ran his fingers through his hair, rolling his eyes at me. “Uggh. You need to get on something for that temper of yours, Atlas. I’m here, aren’t I?"
He set his coffee on the table. A smile spread across his lips as he took a seat. "I’m sure if you had a dead body that needed to be removed, you wouldn’t be calling me. You would leave that to your cleanup crew. You know I can’t handle that shit. I would puke all over your floor, and I know how anal you are about cleanliness. My sensitive self can’t handle that type of drama.”
I just shook my head and grabbed him by the arm.
“Come with me. I need to show you something.”
I brought him over to my sleeping beauty, gaining access with my print on the keypad. Joey's mouth slacked open.
“Umm, what’s going on here, Atlas? Why is this girl out cold on your bed? I told you I want nothing to do with any of your executions or interrogations. I am aware of your violent methods. You need Jacob or Yara for that.”
I let out a heavy sigh as I led him over to the chair. “Sit down. It isn’t anything like that. Have I ever involved you in any of that shit at any time in your whole life?”
He shook his head as he sat in the chair.
“Here’s the deal, Joey. I took this girl for myself, and I want you to watch her when I leave the house. So that means you need to get here when I text you immediately, or you can stay in the guest room instead.”
My brother just looked at me like I were insane. He rubbed his eyes as though what he was seeing was a mirage.
“Why would you just kidnap a random girl? I mean, are you having issues finding willing women? If that’s the problem, I can give you a list of twenty who would be happy to do whatever nasty shit it is you like to do. I have seen what some of those women looked like after you were finished with them.”
I scowled at him.
"I don’t care what the fuck you’ve seen, heard, or fantasized about in your handsome head. What I do with my women on my time is none of your business, so stay the fuck out of it. You will care for the girl while I am away from the house. We are taking off inthree months. Until then, she will stay here with me discreetly, so to speak.”
I ordered Joey to stand near the keypad.
“Put your hand inside, please. I need to program it for you to gain entry.” My brother rolled his eyes at me again, something he does often, and although I am used to his smart-alec behavior, I have no fucking patience for it today.
“Knock it the fuck off with the eye-rolling, Joey. Just put your fucking hand on the keypad."
My brother knew not to push me too far and did as he was told. I pressed a few buttons on the security device, and just like magic, Joey had access to my pet.
I looked at him, totally pissed off.
“Now, was that so fucking hard? I’ll be out for a brief time. You need to monitor her. This door needs to be locked atalltimes, Joey. Do you understand?”
He nodded.
