“I sure as fuck hope so,” I said, while something foreign and unpleasant rose up inside of me like bile. The very thought was like a dull blade twisting inside of me. It was also a lie, and one I kept to myself.
“The girls are on their way over, and we’ll leave right after,” Cillian said.
“There have to be consequences and repercussions for Barganella’s actions. We’ll see them through personally,” Kingston added, and I arched a brow.
“Wow! You’re actually going to dirty those now-clean hands of yours. I thought you delegated tasks like that to others now,” I responded.
He leveled me with a glare. “He dared to attack my nephew, so someone will die for that mistake,” he vowed. He then looked at Cillian before turning toward me and grinning. “And, I sometimes miss the thrill of the kill. Humor an old man and go get dressed.”
Iwas still nearly boneless, my body aching in places I didn’t even know it could, when Zarren jostled me awake. As I tried to grab the cover and bring it over my head, he yanked it from my hand. The cold breeze from the overhead air vent made me shiver.
Or was it Zarren’s presence? Overpowering... All-encompassing... Undeniable...
“I’m cold,” I said to him, and he arched a brow.
“I’d prove that to be a lie if I had more time. Unfortunately, I do not, and neither do you.”
“Time? Are you getting rid of me?” The very thought filled me with fear, especially after seeing what kind of men my biological father had sent to get me. I’d seen their violence up close and personal, and another tremble wracked me, but out of terror. “Don’t make me go.”
He sat down beside me, the mattress dipping slightly beneath his weight. One of his large hands cupped the side of my face, and I turned my head into it. Although he was my captor, I felt oddly secure when with him. Maybe it had to do with himnearly giving his own life to save mine, or the closeness I now felt with him after we’d done what we had together.
I’d obviously not been a virgin, but Drake had been my only lover. I wasn’t promiscuous, and I had never even really desired sex. I had it because it was expected of me, but I’d never been able to shake the irrational fear that I was lacking when it came to it. Knowing Drake had been cheating on me with anyone willing only confirmed it.
At least until this morning. Zarren had fucked me to sleep, literally, and he’d not expressed any complaints about my performance. Granted, I’d been shocked that I’d even let him touch me in that way. Once he started, however, I had no willpower or strength to deny him. And no desire, either. He’d made my body come alive in ways I never thought possible, and just the remembrance reignited the ache inside my core.
“You’re not going anywhere right now. The day will come when you’ll have to leave, but that day isn’t today.”
“I don’t understand,” I murmured softly.
“You need to get dressed because some company is coming to see you.”
“Me?” I asked, then hope bloomed inside me that maybe it was the parents I knew and loved, or even a friend who was no backstabber like Brae. “Who?”
“My aunts are coming over while my uncles and I take care of something.”
“I don’t need a babysitter,” I pouted, not sure if my annoyance was due to the fact that I’d just gotten my hopes up over nothing again. In the time I was here, I was made to reach out to those who loved me so they wouldn’t worry.
“The last thing I need is your face plastered all over the news,”he’d told me.“Make it believable.”
And I had. My parents thought I was taking a much-needed vacation away from Boston, when the truth was that I was notfar away at all. I’d even put in a sudden leave of absence at work. My mother had been diagnosed with cancer, and while it was in remission now, they must’ve automatically assumed it had returned because they granted my request and wished my family and me well.
It was after those messages that I’d realized I was truly in captivity. The scariest thing was that everyone who’d worry about me would no longer worry after my convincing act. Zarren could do anything he wanted to me, and no one would be the wiser.
When his warm lips came down on my forehead, I sighed softly. Zarren had done whatever he’d wanted to do with me, and I had begged him for more. A groan slipped from my lips. If I rubbed my legs together the right way, I’d be able to recreate the friction of our limbs tangling together as he’d pounded me to an explosive orgasm.
“You need to stop that before you make me tell my uncles to fuck off,” he warned.
I smiled as I glanced up at him. “Would that be the worst thing?”
Oh God!I was practically throwing myself at a man who’d won me in some bullshit card game, then kidnapped and held me against my will all of this time. Of course, he was the man who’d literally stepped into danger to protect me from someone I suspected was worse than he could ever be.
“Fine,” I muttered at his deadpan expression. “I’ll get up, but don’t expect me to be Miss Congeniality with them.”
He chuckled. “I’d expect nothing less from you, Bellezza. I’ll see you downstairs.”
Zarren rose to his feet and disappeared into his closet. I grabbed his T-shirt that’d been hanging over the chair, and quickly drew it over my head and down my body. He was taller,and much more broad, so it hung off me and looked more like an oversized dress.
It smelled like him, and I waited until I got into my own room to inhale this scent. I’d gone to sleep with the combination of his shampoo and cologne on the pillows. And also with his large arms wrapped around me. Sleep had been very fleeting since arriving here, but I’d fallen asleep and had what was likely the most rest I’d had in forever, at least until he came and ruined it.
