Chapter 7
7
A urelia sagged against a display of energy drinks, relief flooding in. “David, it’s me. Listen, I?—”
“Auri? Where are you?” He sounded frantic. “I’ve been worried sick.”
“I’m at—some gas station,” she said, eyes darting around. “I can’t talk long. I ran––” Her voice caught. Admitting she was with another man on the phone felt cheap and sleazy. She owed him more than that. So much more. “Are you still at the hotel? Can you come and get me?”
“Yes, of course! I told you before, I’m not leaving here without you. I can stay as long as it takes. You said this could take a few days, but I thought you’d a least call, Auri. I was worried about you, babe. Are you okay? Are you hurt?”
“I…I’m really sorry, David. Things are just…complicated right now.”
His voice softened. “I didn’t think this would be easy. Have you seen him yet? Was he at the fundraiser like we expected?” He laughed self-consciously. “No pressure. Just our future we’re talking about. Sorry. I’ll shut up now. Listen, I’m right here if you need me.”
Before she could stop it, a broken sob escaped. She slapped a trembling hand over her mouth to choke it back. David was such a sweetheart. The perfect boyfriend. He would have been the perfect husband, too.
“Hey, hey, hey,” he soothed. “It’s going to be okay. Tell me where you are. I can call the cops.”
“No!” she cut in, fear lancing through her. Michalis had power in law enforcement, or so she suspected. Plus, the last thing she needed was a public showdown. “No cops. I just need you to pick me up. I…I lost my purse, which had my cell phone in it. I’m sorry. I don’t have any money with me, or I could call for a ride back to the hotel.”
“No problem. I’m just glad you’re okay. I thought maybe you, uh, had trouble getting into the fundraiser and decided to bail on me.”
Sniffling, she gave a weak laugh. “No. It was nothing like that. Why would I do that? In fact, thanks again for the ticket. I never would have thought of serving him papers that way. I’ll pay you back, I promise.”
“No, you won’t. I told you; it was a gift. An investment in our future. Besides, I could afford it, and you couldn’t.” After a brief pause, he added softly, “You know how I feel about you, don’t you?”
Aurelia squeezed her eyes shut, guilt crushing down on her. “I…I know, David. I’m sorry. I––”
“ Sshh, it’s going to be okay. Give me the cross streets, and I’ll find you. The rest we can work out later.”
She glanced outside the glass doors. “It’s just off the highway, about two miles from?—”
Suddenly, headlights flared in the parking lot. She froze as a sleek black sedan pulled up, overshadowing the other customers’ vehicles. Her heart thundered. She recognized that model—Michalis’s men, or Michalis himself. How did he find me so fast?
Terror sent chills racing up her spine. “David, I gotta go?—”
Too late. The doors flew open, and Michalis strode in, flanked by two of the same guards that had been with him at the fundraiser.
His expression was murder incarnate. She gasped, the phone slipping from her fingers. Her mind screamed at her to run, but he seized her wrist before her legs had time to obey.
“Who are you talking to?” he snarled, eyes wild.
On the other side of the store, the young cashier backed away, clearly terrified by the confrontation.
“Let me go, Michalis!” she hissed, twisting to break free, but his grip was like iron.
“Auri? Hello?” She could hear David shout on the other end of the line. Oh god, what had she done?
Michalis bent down, picked up the phone, and looked at the call screen. He pressed the phone to his ear just as David’s worried voice crackled through: “Auri? Auri! Can you hear me?”
“Stay away from her… David . There will be no annulment. She made her choice clear when she screamed my name and begged me to fuck her. She’s mine. Try to come between us and I will kill you.”
Dead silence rang through the phone. Finally, voice as cold as ice, David replied, “You’re making a mistake, Giannopoulos. She’s been mine for a long time. Nothing you say or do is going to change that.”
Michalis ended the call abruptly. Turning toward the exit, he pulled Aurelia close, uncaring of how it looked, and growled in her ear, “You can walk out of here, or I can carry you out, it’s your choice.”
“Let me go!” she hissed. She tried to twist away, but his arms locked around her like a steel cage.
“Wrong choice.”
Before she had time to process the threat, he released his hold on her long enough to bend down, shoulder to her waist, arms locked around her thighs and lifted. Over his shoulder she went, like a bale of hay, stiff and unbending. She grabbed his hair and yanked. Hard.
“Put me down!”
“You’re only making this worse for yourself,” he growled.
He walked over to the cashier like he was taking a leisurely stroll. Unhurried. Controlled. He held up the phone. “This is mine now,” he snapped, tossing a wad of bills on the counter. Without further explanation, he carried Aurelia outside.
Her heart pounded so violently she feared she’d pass out. Behind the sedan, she spotted his limo, tinted windows making it impossible to see inside. The night air was suffocating as he dumped her into the back seat. She landed on the plush leather, her breath coming out in a loud “ whoosh ”.
Michalis slid in after her, slamming the door.
“We’re in,” he barked, voice cool. “Take us home.”
“Yes, sir. You want the divider up?”
The moment Michalis nodded, the partition came up, cutting off one more avenue of escape. No one was coming to her rescue. If she didn’t do something in the next two seconds, she would be trapped in the back with an angry predator. She could see it in every taut line of his hard frame. He was ready to pounce.
As the limo peeled away from the gas station, Aurelia lunged for the door. Michalis caught her around the waist, dragging her back, this time onto the seat, right between his legs.
Aurelia closed her eyes, dread mingling with a faint, traitorous ache between her legs. She’d managed a glimpse of freedom, but at what cost?
Tears of shame fell, unchecked, down her cheeks. She stared out the window, refusing to acknowledge her captor or the furious beating of her heart.
As the limo sped toward the house, the tension between them pulsed and grew like a living thing; a dark promise that neither of them could break.
“You think you can just run away again?” he growled, eyes burning with rage. “And call your precious boyfriend for help?”
Tears of shame morphed into rage. “You can’t keep me locked away! I have every right to go home!"
She started to pull away, but he grabbed the back of her hair and pulled her head back toward his chest, silencing her protest with a brutal, angry kiss. At that angle, she could offer no resistance. Off-balance, she threw her hands out to the side to steady herself. Immediately, she realized her mistake. His thighs were rock hard beneath her touch. She could feel every muscle flex at her touch.
She yanked her hands away like they’d been burned.
He chuckled, ending the kiss and abruptly releasing her.
She scrambled to the seat across from him, as far away as she could get. They sat for several minutes, their labored breathing the only sound in the car.
“You defy me at every turn,” he growled. “What did you think would happen if I caught you?”
Her pulse thudded painfully. “It doesn’t matter?—”
“I think it does,” he said, almost too quietly.
She pulled her gaze from the passing scenery to glare at him. “Think whatever you want, then.”
He smiled coldly. “You knew I would come after you. I told you if you ran, I would chase you, so what did you think was going to happen when I found you?”
She crossed her arms defensively. “Obviously, I didn’t think you were going to catch me. If I did, I wouldn’t have run, now, would I?”
He crossed his arms, mirroring her. “Consider the consequences now, then. What are you anticipating, now that I have, in fact, caught you red-handed, and not only running, but contacting another man?”
She shifted nervously in her seat. Why was he asking her a question like that? She shivered despite the temperature controlled interior of the car. Dread, and something she refused to name, shot down her spine. “I’m not a child, so spare me your punishments, Michalis. What did you expect me to do––put on an apron and set up house?”
That got a surprised chuckle out of him, the tension in his shoulders easing slightly, which, perversely, made her cream her freshly washed panties. She squirmed and crossed her ankles, her cheeks flaming with color. What the hell was wrong with her?!
Luckily, he didn’t seem to notice her lapse in judgment as he leaned toward her. “You’re avoiding my question, agápe mou .”
She blew out a breath. “No, I’m not avoiding anything . I’m simply choosing not to answer. There’s a difference. And I told you, don’t call me that.”
Michalis leaned slowly back against the seat, relaxing like he didn’t have a care in the world, and could let his guard down. She knew better, though. His eyes were still full of rage. He was playing some kind of game, and she wasn’t sure of the rules.
His arms moved casually up to rest on the back of the bench seat on either side of him, and he stretched his long legs out in front of him, adjusting his position slightly to get more comfortable, his feet settling a good distance apart.
Before she could stop herself, her eyes tracked their way down his chest, settling on his junk. Why did men do that all the time? Didn’t they know women were going to look at their junk if they did that?! Oh my god. Have a little respect. Stop ogling the man’s cock. It isn’t a toy, made just for you.
Face flaming, ashamed of her total lack of self-control, she tore her gaze away. Hopefully he hadn’t noticed her checking him out. Angling her body as far away from him as she could without falling off the seat, she pulled her long hair around to the side nearest him, obscuring her face. She couldn’t completely hide herself from him, but with the length of her hair, she came pretty damn close.
The long strands were tangled from the hour of walking outside, and without thinking, she began to comb through the knots with her fingers, quickly getting lost in her own thoughts. What was she going to do when they got back to the house? Should she run for her room, lock herself inside before he could get to her? That didn’t seem like a very good idea. What if he didn’t let her out? Then what? What if he followed her in there? Would he beat her for running away? Suddenly the reality of her situation began to sink in. He wouldn’t cross that line, would he? She didn’t really know anything about him, did she? That’s not true. I know he’s a killer. I know he shows no mercy to his enemies.
As covertly as possible, she looked back over her shoulder, just enough to peak at him under her lashes. He was still stretched out. God, could the man get any more comfortable? If she was an assassin, it would be the perfect time to strike; he was completely open, almost inviting her to do her worst.
She stiffened. Was that his game? Lull her into a false sense of safety? Right now, she was the enemy, wasn’t she? And she’d provoked him. What if he treated her like he did all his other enemies? He wouldn’t kill her, would he? Beat her to a pulp and then kill her?
Aurelia risked another peak under her lashes. This time, she got caught. A small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.
“You’re starting to look a little worried. Are you beginning to understand the danger you put yourself in?”
Nervously, she wet her lips with the tip of her tongue. “I don’t want to be your enemy, Michalis. I––I wasn’t trying to put myself in danger.”
“Every time you defy me,” he murmured, “you’re putting yourself in danger. I am not a nice man. Don’t push me. It won’t turn out well for you.”
Aurelia began to shake with fear. “What are you going to do?” The question came out on a whisper.
“What do you think I’m going to do?”
She shook her head, too distraught to answer right away. Michalis didn’t help her out. He just stared. Waited.
Her eyes glassed over with tears. “Are you going to kill me?”
“Maybe I should let you wonder, but no, I’m not going to kill you. Not now, not ever.”
Relief flooded her system. “Are you…are you going to beat me?”
His lips thinned with irritation. “I am only going to say this once, so pay attention. I do not beat women. The world I live in is full of violence. I do not want to come home to more violence.”
The tears she’d been holding back spilled over. He was a merciless killer, a criminal, yet he’d just given her a precious gift. He was admitting that no matter how hard she pushed him, no matter what she did or how many times she tried to run away, he wouldn’t kill her or beat her. The craziest part was that she believed him. The knowledge was powerful. Very, very powerful.
She wiped her nose with the sleeve of her shirt. It wasn’t very ladylike, but at the moment she didn’t care. “What are you going to do, then?”
“What scenarios were running through that beautiful head of yours? Should I lock you in your room? Spank you? Or maybe fuck you until you can’t walk straight? It would be a bit difficult to leave, then, wouldn’t it? How do you think I should punish you?”
They both knew her answer would have nothing to do with logic. Her cheeks flamed, tears stinging. Anger and twisted arousal coiled inside her, a reminder that no matter how much she hated him, her body still responded.
“You could let me go,” she tried, voice cracking.
“That is also never going to happen.” Michalis didn’t say anything the rest of the way home.
The trip didn’t take long by car, and they were home in under fifteen minutes. Aurelia thought the driver would pull up to the front to let them out, but he bypassed the circular driveway and headed around back. He pulled the car into the fully airconditioned garage, shut off the engine, exited, and locked the doors with the press of a button; all without saying a word.
What the hell? She reached for the door handle, confused. Why weren’t they getting out? She tried the door again. Locked. Windows––didn’t budge. Fear skittered down her spine. Michalis was just sitting there, not doing anything. “What are we doing in here, Michalis? I don’t like this. I want out. Right now.”
Instead of responding, as she expected, he went over to the wet bar area and opened the mini fridge. He pulled out a small blue cooler, then brought it over to where she was sitting and placed it at her feet.
“I don’t understand.” She stared at the cooler, dread tightening her chest. What was inside the cooler? Michalis was a ruthless killer. Anything could be in there. Please don’t be body parts. Please, please, please. With a forced laugh, she stared at the cooler. “Are we having a picnic?”
“No,” he said quietly. “We’re having a lesson.”