My fingernails bite into my palms as I ball my hands into fists.
“Why are you obsessed with me? Why? Why? Why?” I shout.
“The idea of you and me together reminds me of the happy marriage my parents had in the beginning. My mom was pure like you before she turned into—”
“There’s no such thing as together or us.”
“There will be. I’ll show you.”
Calm the hell down, Tia.I need to stall him.
“How can there be ‘us’ when you don’t even know me?”
I take a step back.
“I know you very well, Firefly. You star in all of my sex fantasies. And I’ve had a lot of them about you. Every day. For over three months now. You’re naked in my dreams.” Charlie pauses to lick his lips and I gulp. “You’re compassionate and kind and beautiful.”
Charlie is delusional.
He takes one step forward and stops. His eyes are sweeping my body. Charlie is taunting me.
I’m not going to show him my fear. I’ll fight.
“You could have acted on your fantasies a long time ago. The first time I ran away and you found me. You had lots of opportunities to hurt me. Why did you wait until the deadline?”
He raises his eyebrows in anI can’t believe you just asked me thatway. “Isn’t it obvious?”
I shake my head. “You’re unpredictable. Nothing is obvious with you.”
He extends his arms toward me, silently asking me to hug me. But I don’t budge from my spot. I push away the nauseated feeling in my stomach. Once he realizes I’m not doing what he wants me to do, Charlie narrows his eyes at me.
“If you were going to run away from your brother’s apartment, I was going to kidnap you. It would have been so easy to snatch you from the street. But you decided to stay. It was as if you challenged me, and I loved your challenge. I admired you for wanting to find the money.”
Challenge. I vaguely recall Charlie’s henchman saying similar words to me the day Alek knocked him out. I am a challenge for Charlie?
“Do you have the money?” His eye contact is firm, a slow smile building on his lips.
“I don’t. You made sure of that.” I want to curse and shout and throw something at him. “You always knew that I wouldn’t be able to pay, didn’t you?”
“Yes and no. You got me scared for a moment when I learned that jerk was going to fight. I quickly figured out your plan. And I really enjoyed beating his ass before his big fight.”
I grind my teeth.
“He’s not going to want you once I’m done with you.” Charlie smiles.
I shiver.
Charlie’s eyes have turned into small slits radiating pure evil, and his gaze is roaming my body up and down.
Stall him, Tia.
“Isn’t today your birthday?”
He jerks his head back. “You remembered. That makes me want you even more.”
Shit.
With determination, he strides my way.
