I chewed and swallowed before practically lunging my neck out toward the food. Bite by bite, he fed me. And bite by bite, my stomach stopped waging war against my body. If he thought I was stupid enough to tell him my name, though, he had another thing coming.
No amount of food would ever get me to trust that man.
“So,” he said, placing the fork down, “why won’t you give me your name? I’m sure it’s just as beautiful as you are.”
I cased him with my eyes. “Because you’re convinced that I’m someone I’m not. What does it matter if you’re going to kill me anyway?”
He nodded before he reached his hand out. “Thirsty?”
Suddenly, my mouth felt like cotton. “Yeah.”
He pulled a bottle of water back toward him and cracked it open. “Axton can be rough around the edges, but it’s for a good reason.” He plunged a straw into the bottle before holding it up to my lips. “Drink.”
I didn’t hesitate. “You first.”
He rolled his eyes before taking a gulp and I watched intently. I watched to make sure it didn’t do shit to him before I chugged it back.
“There, happy?” he asked, holding the straw back up to my lips. “Now, will you drink? You can’t go for much longer without water.”
“Axton?” I asked before I wrapped my lips around that straw.
I chugged the ice-cold goodness as Maverick held the bottle firm. “That’s the man that’s been interrogating you. The big one.”
I stopped chugging. “With the shoulders.”
He snickered. “Yeah, with the shoulders.”
I took one last pull before I sat back. “You guys call being smacked around and starved ‘interrogation?’”
“Our form of it, sure.”
My gaze held his. “Thank you for the water.”
“Thank you for your time.”
I wanted to give him my name. For some reason, my body felt drawn to him. Like a moth to a light. But I’d grown up with one of those bug zappers on my porch as a child, and I knew what happened when those little fuckers got too close to the light.
“You feel comfortable enough telling me your name now?” he asked.
I had to admit, I had to force my lips to not move. But those fateful, lumbering footsteps started down the stairs, and all at once, my stomach threatened to eject my entire meal.
“He’s coming,” I hissed as I tried scooting my chair back.
“No, no. It’s okay,” Maverick said, standing to his feet. “Don’t panic; he’s just coming to find me.”
My eyes darted around. “He’s coming. Please. Turn off the light. You have to turn it off. He’s going to get mad.”
“Beautiful, it’s okay,” he said as he placed his hand on my arm.
“Get off me!” I shrieked.
He stumbled back as if I had slapped him with my words. My heart leapt into my throat. It grew hard to see through my watery gaze. My legs locked out and my muscles tightened. Fucking hell, I couldn’t breathe.
“The hell did you feed her down here?” the brutal voice asked.
“Axton, stop,” Maverick said.
And much to my shock, the man shielded me with his body. He stepped in front of me, blocking my view of the behemoth man that had rumbled down the stairs.
