Page 9

“You’re feeding me?”

Maybe the shock was because I was doing it by hand instead of untying her. Sure, it would have been easier to take her out of the ropes and let her feed herself, but…

That could have made it easier for her to get away or get the drop on me.

The memory of chasing a thief, who turned out to be Hailey’s best friend Clara, through our warehouse flitted through my mind. She’d been a fighter, and she’d nearly gotten away. She would have, if Gio and I hadn’t worked together to contain her.

Since it was just me here, I wasn’t going to underestimate Ivy just because she was a dame. Even a half-starved one. Maybe she’d been in Don Bianco’s cage for his own entertainment, or maybe there was another reason.

“Yes. Now, open.”

To my surprise and relief, she obediently opened her mouth to let me push the corner of the sandwich into it, and she bit down hard and fast, like she was worried I’d pull it away from her. Closing her eyes, she made a little moaning sound while she chewed. Letting her enjoy her moment with the food, I unwrapped my own sandwich and also took out the bottled soft drinks that I’d gotten.

Condensation clung to the cold glass of the bottles, and I grabbed a cloth napkin to put under them. I didn’t want the glass sliding all over the place. Ivy opened her eyes, watching me suspiciously, still chewing.

She swallowed hard.

“You got me something to drink too?” The suspicion in her voice kept getting heavier with every deed I did for her.

I couldn’t blame her, I guess.

Not when I’d tied her to the chair and was feeding her by hand, because I was equally suspicious.

“Yes.” I didn’t bother to explain. I wasn’t sure I could. I fed her, bite by bite, giving her sips of her drink in between, while feeding myself as well. It didn’t take long for the food to disappear.

Now I had to figure out what to do with her. Sleeping on the chair wouldn’t be comfortable, even if that would be the easiest way for me. I wasn’t sure that Hailey would approve. And if Hailey was unhappy, Jack would be unhappy, and then the don would likely be unhappy.

Life had been easier when the only dame I’d needed to worry about was the don’s wife. She was mostly reasonable. Hailey had a soft heart, despite being Don Bianco’s granddaughter. Sighing, I got to my feet.

“Don’t try anything,” I told her as I started to undo the ropes wrapped around her. She froze in place as I did so, and I could practically hear the thoughts running through her head.

As much as I didn’t want to hurt her, if she tried to attack me, I would do what was necessary. And if I had to kill her, so be it. It wasn’t like Hailey would know.

Which was why I whipped my gun out when she dropped to her knees the second the ropes loosened. They were still mostly wrapped around her as I pressed the barrel to the side of her head. My jaw clenched, finger tightening on the trigger. Her eyes were wide as she stared up at me, and her tongue flicked out over pink lips.

“I’m not doing anything bad, I promise,” she whispered, her voice husky. Her hands lifted to my belt.

Raising my eyebrows, I kept the gun pressed firmly against her temple as she undid the front of my pants. Despite myself, seeing her kneeling in front of me, the towels and ropes sagging to reveal her creamy breasts with their pert, pink tips, I started to get hard. She ran one hand over the rapidly forming bulge, licking her lips again, before undoing the front of my pants.

It could be a trick.

But I was also curious to see how far she would take this.

Slim fingers wrapped around my cock, pulling it free of the front of my pants.

“Don’t make me do anything you’ll regret,” I growled, rubbing the barrel of the gun in a small circle. It caught in some of her hair, the blonde locks wrapping around the black metal.

Instead of answering me, her tongue flicked out and she licked the underside of my cock, sending a shudder straight through me. My grip on my gun tightened, although I lifted my finger from the trigger.

Did she think this would distract me enough that she could escape?

Well, if she wanted to try, I was game.

Ivy

Having a gun pressed to my head while I performed a sexual act was nothing new. The fact that the gun wasn’t the reason I was performing it was very new, though.

I also had to wonder what I had gotten myself into, because Tomas was huge. Far larger than Don Bianco or any of his men.