Chapter 11 #2
I threw myself at him, pitching him backwards by a few feet. Enough that I managed to lunge for the door, making it all the way to the top of the stairs, hopeful of escaping the luxurious cage.
Yet the moment I did, I was stopped in my tracks by the sight of a huge man standing at the bottom.
With a fucking grin on his face.
Suddenly, Sinclair was right behind me. Not only was his hot breath cascading across the back of my neck, but the jolt of electricity skittered into every muscle and bone.
“You need help, boss?” the man called.
“I’ll handle it from here, Enzo.” His deep voice penetrated my eardrums, his tone of utter control more annoying than terrifying.
“Why don’t you call the police, Enzo,” I tossed out. “He did kidnap me. You can either be an accomplice or my hero.”
The man’s grin widened as Sinclair grabbed my wrist, dragging me back into the bedroom. After slamming the door, he pitched me onto the bed.
Even in my weakened state, I refused to allow him to have any control over me. I scrambled forward and onto the floor, throwing punch after punch. He deflected a few, but took the others, even swinging his head to the side after one particularly brutal blow.
The instant rush of adrenaline was fading, exhaustion threatening to take control.
While he acted as if the action had caused him pain, I knew better.
The man was made of steel. I recoiled, fearful of what he was going to do.
He was a powerful and dangerous man, his entire family holding the fate of New Orleans in the palms of their hands.
I was a fool to think anything I did would matter.
“That’s enough,” he growled, the sound creating a series of vibrations dancing through me.
“Like hell it is.” This time when I threw one last punch as if trying to make a point, he captured my fist with his massive hand, holding my arm in place.
“Stop fighting me, Josette. Jesus Christ.” When I dared act as if I was going to continue, he grabbed my arms, pulling them behind my back and holding my wrists together with one hand.
“What if I don’t?” Did I really want him to answer me?
He inched closer, lowering his head until our lips were almost touching. “Then I’ll need to punish you. Just calm down.”
Was the bastard kidding me? He’d taken me captive and he felt the need to punish me for acting out. “How about this? Fuck you.”
“That can be arranged just as we’ve done before. Which you seemed to enjoy, I might add.”
“Over my dead body.” The sly look on his face should increase my anger, but I suddenly envisioned him in his boxer shorts with a thick bulge and cringed. Why? Because my pussy throbbed.
Maybe he was surprised at my vehemence. It was hard to tell with him. He’d suddenly become a master of disguising his emotions. “I don’t want to hurt you. I’m going to back away and allow you one more chance to behave. You’re in a fragile state and you need to rest.”
“A fragile state? To behave? Or what? Let me guess. You’re going to tie me to the bed?” I wiggled in his hold, furious with both him and myself. How had I let my guard down? How? Why?
“Not a bad idea. I’ll save that for later. If you don’t calm down, you won’t like the punishment you receive. Don’t test or push me right now, Josette. I’m not your enemy and you don’t want me to be.”
He was more formidable than before, as if he was an entirely different person. Where there’d been fire to his eyes before, now they were liquid glaciers, pools of dry ice and nothing more.
He backed away, taking a deep breath. I could tell he was frustrated by me when he raked his hands through his hair.
I took a deep breath, not doing so to follow his orders, but for my benefit. “Where am I?”
“A safe location. That’s all you need to know.”
“Why am I here?”
“Because it was necessary to bring you here.” He kept his heated gaze pinned on me and I could swear he was undressing me with his eyes.
“For what reason?” I demanded, yet I heard a distinct quaver in my voice. Maybe because my head was killing me or even worse. The same attraction I’d felt for him remained.
“Your safety. You exposed the gunman. I assure you that in doing so, you placed your life in danger.”
“I didn’t see anything. He came in from behind me.”
He laughed, the dark and sultry tone skittering all the way down to my toes. There was something exciting about him, his aura more like a savage animal than a man. “Let’s try that again, since he was the same man you served coffee to minutes before.”
A wave of fear rushed into me. This was really happening.
I was being held prisoner by a man I barely knew, someone I’d thought had a shred of decency in him.
I’d been so wrong. His glare remained hard and cold.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I took several deep breaths.
“Fine, it was the same man, but I certainly don’t know him.
I really didn’t see anything of use. I mean he had soulless eyes and a tattoo on his neck. But…”
I moved backward until the back of my knees hit the bed. He took a long, heated gaze down to my bare feet, his nostrils flaring. Why was it that the sight of him was like a physical blow?
“That’s more than enough to make you worth killing. I assure you he wasn’t planning on leaving any witnesses. Plus, you did see his entire face, Josette. You’ve already admitted he was the customer you’d just served and if your actions were any indication, he’d been in your store before.”
“Do you know how many people come into my store on a daily basis? He was no one special and certainly not memorable.”
“As I said, you noticed enough. And you don’t have as many customers as you would like me to believe.
You’re bleeding money from your accounts, Josette, and don’t try and lie to me.
Let’s put that aside for now. Did you have a conversation with the man?
Did you recognize him from somewhere else? Do you know him personally?”
“What did I just tell you? No. I don’t know anything about him. What in the hell are you trying to insinuate, that I planned the attack?” Oh, my God. I could tell by the hard clench of his jaw that he was accusing me of planning for some crazed gunman to attack me.
“Well, you did make contact with him after I walked in.”
I glared at him, my mouth likely gaping open. “What? Are you fucking out of your mind? I just said I don’t know him.”
“Then what were you doing, Josette? What are you hiding?”
A flash of memories from the past crawled into my mind like cockroaches on a feeding frenzy.
Was there any chance I’d been found? No.
Impossible. I’d never seen the man before.
But the pictures. I’d only managed to see one and that was enough to know I’d been right about the feeling of being watched.
“You fucking asshole. You goddamn fucking asshole. Here you are some monster, a man who kills for a living and you’re accusing me of some horrible crime. You’re right. My business is failing and I’m working my butt off to try and keep that from happening. Damn you for insisting I’m the bad guy.”
He took a deep breath, walking closer. While I flinched, I didn’t move until he rubbed a single finger across my bandage. Then I snapped my hand around his wrist.
“Don’t touch me. Don’t you dare touch me.”
His look of annoyance was followed by a shake of his head. “You were very lucky the assailant only knocked you out instead of pulling the trigger. Fortunately, the doctor said it doesn’t appear you have a concussion.”
“Did you kill him?”
“No, he managed to get away because I was worried about you.”
Wait. A doctor had seen me. Maybe there was hope the cops would break in at any minute. Oh, who was I kidding? He likely owned a staff of doctors willing to look the other way. This was a total nightmare.
“Indiana.” A horrible sounding sob erupted from my throat.
“What?”
“Indiana is all alone. You can accuse me all you want and keep me here, but he’s alone all by himself. He needs to go potty. He’s hungry. Remember, some asshole ran into him with a car so he’s still recuperating. When you saw me with my phone, I was checking the doggy cam I have installed.”
He narrowed his eyes like he didn’t believe me. “A doggy cam?”
“Oh, my God. For an intelligent man you’re an idiot.
Yes, like a baby cam? I’m able to see him and even talk to him when I’m unable to take him with me.
We both have anxiety.” I couldn’t believe I’d just admitted the demons I lived with daily.
“He helps me. I rescued him. Don’t you get it?
I need him and he needs me.” God, I sounded so pathetic.
“If you give me my phone, I’ll show you. ”
And I would have a chance to see the photographs. What if Sinclair had sent them? No, that didn’t make any sense. Unless he’d had one of his men do so. To threaten me? For what reason? Oh, nothing made any sense.
He studied me as if determining if I was lying. I still couldn’t figure out what he was getting at. Why would I help some asshole determined to rob me? Obviously, he knew I had nothing of value.
“I’ll arrange to have Indiana brought to you.” His voice softened somewhat and for a few seconds, the connection was similar to what it had been before.
He caught me so off guard I wasn’t certain what to say. “Thank you.” I closed my eyes briefly. Why was I thanking him?
“Now that the situation with your dog is settled, we talk.”
“What are we supposed to talk about?”
“Why you set me up as well as who you’re working for.”
“What? Are you out of your mind?” What the hell was he talking about? “What about my business? Did you leave it wide open for anyone to steal from me?”
His exhale was heavy. “Your business was locked up and don’t worry, my man padlocked the building so no one can get in.”
“My employees will miss me. They’ll need to know if something is wrong. I need to call the assistant manager.” Maybe I could warn Tilly somehow. Some way.
God, I hated when his eyes flashed with amusement. “Nice try, but a sign was placed saying the business was temporarily closed due to a water leak.”
“You’ve thought of everything, haven’t you?” Hopefully, she would try to call and when she was unable to make contact she’d call the police. Maybe she could see an incident had occurred inside. Although what little I knew about this man indicated he had indeed thought of everything.
The bastard.
He chuckled, the sound dark and foreboding. “Tell me everything you know about the man who entered including the first time you saw him. Don’t leave out anything. Including about the tattoo.”
“I… I don’t know. I didn’t see much of the tattoo. Just the top edge. Besides, we’ve already been through this. He came into my shop last night around the same time. He ordered a black coffee and sat in a seat near the door. I had a couple customers, so I paid him little attention.”
“Then why were you scared of him yesterday?”
Damn this man. “I don’t know. Maybe because he didn’t utter two words. Or that he was dressed in fatigues. What do you want me to say to you?”
Sighing, he walked toward the window and you bet I debated whether I could try to escape again and be successful.
Not with a goon downstairs. “You’re lying to me, Josette.
I have a gift of knowing when someone is and I don’t appreciate liars.
In fact, I refuse to tolerate them. You need to tell the truth, or I’ll have no recourse but to provide a stern lesson. ”
My mind remained one big blur, my attempt at understanding what he was getting at failing. “It would seem your gift left you because I’m not lying to you, Mr. Prince. I was the victim, remember?”
He chuckled as he palmed the glass, planting his other hand on his hip. “All in a good game to carry out an act of vengeance. And my name is Sinclair, but if you’d prefer to use Sin, that’s fine by me. I may require you to call me something else later, but that will depend on your behavior.”
“My behavior? You mean calling you what you are, a murderer. I call a spade a spade.”
Turning abruptly, he took two long strides, pulling me into his arms. The heat resonating from his body was incredible, the same electricity I’d felt before prickling every inch of skin.
Why the hell was I attracted to this monster?
Even my nipples were aching from the thought of him touching me all over, driving me to new heights of pleasure.
I must have a concussion. That was the only way to describe my irrational thoughts.
“If you’re aware of the power my family carries in this city, then you also know what we’re capable of. I can either be your worst nightmare or your savior. Which is it, Josette? What kind of man would you like me to be? Sinner or saint?”