Chapter 14
Zoey
He didn’t want to hurtme, and he wanted to help with my headache. That was something. He was also trying to feed me, so he wasn’t trying to starve me either. Maybe it wouldn’t turn out badly?
Don’t be an idiot, Zoey,I silently chastised myself.The man has already kissed you twice, and you have seen their faces. When Uncle Matt doesn’t pay up, you are going to get eliminated. There will be no point in keeping you around.
I needed to play this smart and look for an opening to get away from him. Somehow. Krista would know something was up. She would definitely contact the police if I didn’t turn up at some point. My uncle wouldn’t care, neither would Riley, but Krista would care.
The home was older, but nice. Definitely not something I would have pictured the man from the restaurant in, nor the man that kidnapped me. It was obvious they didn't use the house often. There was dust covering everything, and sheets covering all the furniture.
“Where do you want her bags, boss?”
“In the master bedroom with mine.” I whipped my head around to see his eyes on mine. He was challenging me to say something to fight or to argue the point.
The big man who did whatever his boss said disappeared into the room off the living room, carrying my bags with him. My stress headache that eased up from the nap that I finally gave into in the car twinged again. Stress and I didn’t get along too well, probably part of the reason I avoided my uncle and my cousin as much as I did and bent to their will just as often. It was just easier and led to a lot less pain.
What kind of pain would they inflict on me? I closed my eyes and willed myself to calm down. I tried taking deep and even breaths to keep myself from thinking the worst, but those thoughts were there.
Firm hands grasped my shoulders, and I realized I had swayed. “Zoey. Whatever you are thinking, stop. You are working yourself up over nothing.”
I tried to suck in another deep gulp of stale air, but ended up coughing from inhaled dust. “Christ. What’s wrong with her?”
Coughing and hyperventilating, my mind spun out of control over his words. They kidnapped me. What the hell do you think is wrong with me? I wanted to scream at him, but couldn’t.
The man scooped me into his arms and sat on the sheet covered couch, pulling me onto his lap. He was gentle. His large hand spread over my back as he rubbed in counter-clockwise circles, trying to calm me down.
“She probably thinks I’m going to rape her, or worse,” he muttered. His voice filled with disgust at the thought.
It was bizarre and what was even more bizarre than the conversation and the whole situation was the fact that it was working. His gentleness and his obvious distaste at my wrong assumption were soothing and comforting. My thought in the car was correct. For whatever reason, I felt safe with him. I remember I even told him that before I let the darkness take me away to get some relief from the headache.
The other man sat on the other end of the couch, facing me in his boss’s lap. His eyes studied me in the low lighting of the room. “I consider him my brother,” he said matter-of-factly, nodding to the man holding me. “If he laid a hand against any woman against her will, I’d kill him myself. Does that make you feel better?”
A chuckle rumbled from under my shoulder, and I looked up into the amused face of my kidnapper before turning back to his friend—brother.
“No,” I finally answered him, then nodded. “And yes.”
“What does that mean? It can’t be both,” he grumbled with a frown.
“Yes, it can,” I countered and explained. “No, it doesn’t help because if he was your best friend and brother, then you would lie for him. Also, saying you would kill him yourself speaks to your willingness to kill someone. Is that really how you want me to feel better about all of this?” I questioned him.
“And why is it helping?” the guy holding me asked as I relaxed against his body heat and into his hold. His hand hadn’t stopped moving against my back and I swear to God there was something in him that just pulled to me. He calmed me in a way nobody else could.
“It’s helping because we are actually having this conversation. If you were going to do something, you wouldn’t try so hard to convince me you weren’t going to. You also would have already done it.”
A grin spread out on the other man’s face, and he looked over at his friend holding me. “I like her.”
“Remember the last time we fought,brother?”The way the question was asked, he put extra emphasis on the last word, reminding his friend exactly who came out the victor in that battle and I knew it was the man holding me.
“You’ve said you will not hurt me.” I changed the subject with the rising tension. “You said you needed my cooperation for whatever this is.”
My gaze went between the two men and they both gave firm nods. “Well, you both obviously know who I am and what all this is about. So, now it’s time for you to tell me who you are and what kind of mess I’m in and how do I get out of it?”
