Chapter 11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Maisie
I had to get out of there. I was suffocating from the information they were telling me. There was no way my brother—my sweet and caring big brother—could do what they were insinuating.
Do I think he would do anything to protect me?
Absolutely.
Do I think he had a mean or malicious bone in his body?
Absolutely not.
I, on the other hand, would do what was necessary to survive. As evidenced by the blood on my hands from not one but two individuals.
Matty had begged me not to do it, had told me countless times he would find another way, but I hadn't listened. Atlas needed to be stopped and I wanted to be the one to do it.
I would even go as far as saying Atlas's murder was premeditated. Even if I hadn’t gone to his house that night with the intention of stabbing him in the neck.
I was still forming a plan when it happened, but like everything else in my life at the time, I did things without thinking. My parents used to call me a hothead. My brother joked that I was “spirited” and not afraid to express myself. The night of Atlas's murder, I was sure my parents had been correct because I let my anger dictate my actions before I had a plan in place.
Matty never judged me. He took control and helped me leave so I wouldn't do any jail time. And now Nolen and Hendrix wanted to make him out to be the bad guy?
Fuck no. Over my dead body.
I slipped in through the back door of the bakery and headed straight for the fridge to grab one of the many doughs I had chilling. Most of my cookie recipes required the dough to chill in the fridge for twenty-four hours so I always had extra batches prepared and waiting to be used.
I was glad for that forethought at the moment because I needed to do something before I made a decision that got me in trouble. Baking calmed me. Prepping for my customers helped me focus. It gave me purpose, something I desperately needed at the moment.
"Oh . . . I didn't realize you came back." Janie came to an abrupt halt after stepping through the swinging door. "I figured you were taking the rest of the day off."
I rolled out the sugar cookie dough much harder than I normally would. I was going to ruin it if I didn't ease up a bit. "I needed to keep busy. One day off was enough. Anything more and I would be bored out of my mind." I didn't look up from the dough I was mutilating.
"Everything okay? I'm not sure what that sugar cookie did to you, but if you press any harder, it's going to become one with the table."
I let go of the rolling pin and placed my palms flat against the cool stainless steel. Janie was right. The dough was so thin, it was practically see-through.
"Hendrix got on my nerves," I huffed.
Not a complete lie. I was aggravated with him for his contribution in the Matty discussion.
"I should've known." Janie walked over and set both of her elbows on the table. With her fingers laced together like a tabletop, she set her chin down on them and continued to talk. "I only ever see you like this when he comes around."
My first reaction was to deny, deny, deny.
"That's not true."
Janie giggled. Yes, giggled because a preppy woman like her had a very girlie laugh. Unlike my strange one that sometimes ended in a snort.
"Oh, come on. That man has had you in knots for months. He has only to walk into the shop and you get flustered."
I crossed my arms over my chest. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"If you say so," Janie singsonged.
Thankfully, the bell letting us know there was a customer in the shop rang and got me out of whatever else Janie was about to say.
"I better go do my job before my boss finds an excuse not to leave me alone again. Oh, and try not to ruin any more cookies. Those knife-shaped sugar cookies have been selling like hot cakes since you stabbed a man."
I dropped my chin to my chest with a groan. The knife cutouts were a staple because of my logo. Now they were getting recognition for a completely different reason and I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.
Damn small towns.
Everyone was nosy and wanted in on the action. Thankfully it meant higher sales, but I would be happy when things slowed down and the heat was off me. I didn't need anyone—like say, the mysterious town journalist—finding out about my past. That would really screw things up for me.
I spent the rest of the afternoon stocking the cases and prepping dough for the next few days. After my talk with Janie, I was able to calm myself down enough to be of use. I only had to throw one small portion of the dough away since I over-rolled it; a small reminder that I couldn't let my anger rule my life. I had a good thing going with Wickedly Delicious and I would be damned if I let anyone screw that up by messing with my head.
By the time Janie said goodbye, I was mentally done for the day. I was ready to take a shower and crawl into my bed. Hendrix could go pound sand. He wasn't in charge of me, and now that I knew I wasn't going to be arrested, I could go back to life as I knew it, in my own apartment far away from the man who made me feel things I didn't want to feel.
I locked up the bakery and stepped outside to head up the stairs. My apartment was above the bakery but there was no way to access the apartment from inside the shop. There were only the steps on the side of the building and an emergency fire escape on the back of the building that had seen better days. I wasn't sure if there was ever a fire, I would risk going out that way. With my luck I would plummet to my death before safely making it down the rusty metal.
I had just gotten the door locked and my shoes off when the banging started.
"Maisie, open up!"
Seriously? What, had he been waiting outside for me? I mean, thankfully he allowed me to get inside and lock up before harassing me.
"Go away, Hendrix. I just want one night to myself." Not true. I was torn between wanting many nights to myself and wanting him to hold me. Right now, with the door between us, I could fortify my walls and keep him at bay. The same couldn't be said if he was standing in front of me.
"I told you I would see you later, Mais. This is me keeping that promise."
"Well, I'm relieving you of that promise!" I shouted louder as I walked into the bathroom to turn on the shower.
In hindsight, I should've waited to take a shower. I should've known trying to drown out Hendrix was a bad idea because it only gave him time to break into my apartment without me hearing him.
"Not a chance, sweetheart." Hendrix's boom filled the small room as quickly as the steam from the shower.
I whipped around with a scowl on my face. Thank goodness I hadn’t even had time to get undressed otherwise my words wouldn’t have the desired effect. "What the hell are you doing?" I would have asked him how he got in if I didn't already know the answer.
"Taking you home, where you belong." He pushed past me and shut off the shower.
Since I wasn't about to let him best me that easily, I returned the favor with my own shove and turned the water back on.
This caused Hendrix to growl, a sexy sound that shot straight to my nether regions. For that reason alone, I hated him. "This is my home and you broke in. AGAIN, mind you. So how about you show yourself back out the door so I can get on with my evening?”
I was hot and sticky from baking most of the afternoon. I desperately needed out of these clothes and into something fresh, so a shower right now would make a world of difference.
Not that Hendrix cared because he once again shut mine off, but before I could say anything, he was bending down. At first I was confused as to what the hell he was doing, but then everything made sense when he tossed me over his shoulder so I was left to look at his ass. His mighty fine ass.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing? Put me down!"
I tried to kick at him but both of his arms were wrapped around my legs keeping me from getting any force behind the movement of my feet. My only other defense was to pull myself up so it made it harder for him to control me.
"I already told you, I'm taking you home where you belong. We could've done this the easy way but you had to be stubborn. Oh, and you might want to duck your head before you bang it on the door."
For the sake of my skull, I dropped back down. I also stayed down while Hendrix maneuvered down the outside steps. I was stubborn but I didn't have a death wish. One shift of unbalance and we would both be tumbling to our deaths.
Okay, maybe not death, but it would sure hurt and I didn't want to spend the night in the emergency room.
Once I was sure we were back on flat ground, I resumed my efforts to get away. "This is kidnapping, you know."
"Well aware. Just don't really care."
Huh. Well, alrighty then.
I heard a car door open right before Hendrix warned, "Watch your head." Then without any grace whatsoever, I was unceremoniously plopped into the backseat.
Because apparently Hendrix knew I would attempt to make a run for it, I tried to open the car door.
" Child locks? Are you for friggin’ real right now?" I screamed at him as he slid into the driver's seat.
"Don't underestimate the lengths I will go to for you."
I threw myself back into the seat like a petulant child with my arms crossed and a deep frown on my face.
I used the short ride to his house to come up with a plan to escape. Unfortunately, my brain wasn't being cooperative and the best I could do was kick at him when he opened the door for me. Hendrix proved that despite his age, he was much faster than me and had one arm looped around my legs before I could connect with his chest.
"You're making this very difficult, you know."
"You're kidnapping me! It wouldn't be difficult at all if you just listened to me and left me alone."
"No can do, sweetheart. Your place is officially with me from here on out."
Wait, was he serious? I never agreed to that.
"I'm starting to think you've taken one too many blows to the head because there's no way you can be this dense right now. I only stayed with you because I thought I was going to jail. That's it."
I was still in the backseat with my legs trapped in Hendrix's arms but now he was squatted down, putting us at eye level.
"Do you remember me telling you that you were mine when I filled you with my cock?" I barely nodded my head in agreement before he spoke again. "I sure as hell meant it."
No, he didn't. Men said crazy things all the time when lust took over. It didn't mean anything.
Right?
"I can see you doubt me. I guess I'll just have to prove it."
That was the only warning I got before he dragged me until my ass was on the edge of the seat. Then once again I was upside down. Except this time, I didn't put up a fight because I was too busy being turned on by the brute of a man.