Chapter 13 #2
Rarely did her brother keep her locked up for more than a handful of days at the most. He needed her to do the chores, and he wanted to believe she could be trained and molded into the perfect protégé. Someone who would work with him and carry on their parents’ legacy.
If Rose hadn't faked being bad at biology and chemistry, she doubted she would have escaped him.
But she had, and in the end, she’d wound up a prisoner anyway.
And now she was dying with boredom as she paced around her room getting more irritated with each step.
She could handle the pain. It was annoying, and it made her want to curl up in a ball and hide from the world, but it was familiar and that made it bearable.
Some dizziness lingered, but she wasn't sure if it was the head injury or the fact that no one had brought her any food since she was locked in there last night.
Maybe they weren't really going to work with her. Maybe they’d just wanted to lull her into a false sense of security, but were really planning on leaving her to slowly starve to death.
Rose was just contemplating throwing herself at the first person to step through the door, assuming someone would—and if they didn't, she’d break the glass in the window and jump and pray for the best—when the doorknob jiggled.
A moment later, it swung open, and Steel stepped in, a stack of bags and boxes in his arms.
She might have gone with her plan, attacking the only way she could, even though she knew it wouldn’t have the desired effect, wouldn't even if she wasn't covered head to foot in bruises, if nothing else, it would have made her feel better.
But Steel didn't close the door behind him, and he shot her a smile as he walked to the bed and began setting things down.
He knew he’d left the door open, there was no way he couldn’t. Maybe he just wasn't worried about her trying to escape again because he knew he and his team could take her, or maybe he was trying to build trust.
Part of her hoped it was the latter, but that was a thought she ruthlessly squashed. The only chance Steel and the others had at breaking her was if she allowed herself to fall for the mind games. They were working with her to get what they wanted, not to be nice to her.
“Didn't know what you like so I got some of everything,” Steel said. There was a note to his voice that hadn't been there before, only she didn't know what to make of it.
“Some of what?” she asked, eyeing the bags with a hint of curiosity.
“Everything,” he repeated, looking over his shoulder and shooting her a wide smile.
When he did that … damn, he was one good-looking man. Terrifying sure, but so handsome it almost hurt to look at him.
“We didn't look through your closet when we—”
“Kidnapped me,” she helpfully supplied, giving him her sweetest smile, which made him chuckle.
“Not going to let me live that one down, are you, little ladybug?”
“Would you if you were me?”
“No.” The smile slid off his face, and Rose regretted making the comment, true though it was.
They might be making nice with her because they had found a new use for her, but the facts were, they were still holding her prisoner, even if her cell was nicer now, with a huge comfortable bed, a bathroom, and a big picture window.
If the door was kept permanently locked, it was a prison cell, and she needed to make sure she remembered that.
Still, Steel appeared to be making an effort, so she should, too.
Stepping up to the bed, she poked one of the bags a little to glance inside. “Clothes?”
“Pretty sure I guessed your size right, but I don’t know if you're a dresses and boots, or jeans and sweater kind of girl.”
“I can be either,” she admitted the small truth, not to try to make Steel see her as a real person and be more willing to let her go, she knew he wasn't going to change his mind, but because she couldn’t figure out how she felt about this man.
She hated him, yes, absolutely, for everything he’d done to her. But he set her body alight in ways she hadn't experienced, had never wanted to experience, and there was some strange sense of security in his obsession.
“Then you have something to wear no matter how you're feeling.”
“I'm sure my bedroom will be pleased to see me dressed up with nowhere to go,” she shot back with an eye roll.
Something that might have been as close to guilt as this man was capable of feeling flickered in his dark eyes. “Rose—”
“It’s fine,” she quickly cut him off. She was already having trouble keeping him squarely in the captor role, she didn't need him to say anything to make it even harder. “What else did you get?”
“Snacks. Again, I didn't know what you liked, so I got some of everything.”
Rifling through the bags he indicated, she found potato chips, popcorn, and a whole array of different types of candy. Locating some M&Ms, Rose pulled them out, finding they were the peanut ones she loved and quickly ripped open the packet.
“Mmm,” she moaned as the sweet taste exploded on her tongue. “These are my favorite.” Her stomach growled loudly, and she might have been embarrassed, only it was Steel’s fault she was starving so she saw no reason to hide it.
“Uh, yeah, about that, sorry, I should have brought you lunch earlier, only I had an important phone call to make, and you were still asleep when I brought up breakfast.”
It helped a tiny bit to know he’d brought her breakfast, and she hadn't woken up until at least lunch time. Much as she’d love to ask about the phone call, Rose merely shrugged. “Would have been nice if the room came with food, but at least I have a bed and a toilet.”
“The room does come with food,” he growled.
“If you say so.”
“I do say so.” Reaching over for one of the bags, he picked it up, stuck his hand inside, and brought it out with two freshly wrapped sandwiches. “I made us lunch.”
“You made them?” she asked dubiously, not bothering to reach for one. “Last time you said you made me something, you also mentioned adding drugs to it to knock me out. I think I’ll pass.” Her stomach grumbled loudly again as she said it, and the huge man standing before her growled again.
“Do you have to be stubborn all the time?”
“Yes.”
“I said I added the sedatives to the food because I was intending to take you home.”
“Yet I'm still here,” she reminded him.
“To keep you safe. Would you just eat the sandwich?” Unwrapping it, he took a big bite, then handed it over to her. “There. See? No sedatives.”
Since she really was pretty hungry, Rose reached out a trembling hand and took the sandwich he offered, hoping he wasn't going to point out the way her hand shook.
Thankfully, he didn't, just strolled across the room and sat down on the chaise lounge, opening up his own sandwich and beginning to eat it.
Because she wasn't ready to believe Steel when he said the room came with meals, Rose nibbled slowly at her lunch, making the most of it, just in case it was days before she was given more to eat.
Even though they didn't know one another, he’d managed to make it pretty much the way she would for herself.
A slice of turkey, tomato, cheese, and lettuce.
Simple yet delicious, and perfect for her stomach when she hadn't eaten much these last several days.
“There are toiletries there too,” Steel told her. “Shampoo, conditioner, body wash, girly stuff.”
“Girly stuff?” For some reason, the idea of him knowing about girly stuff because he had a girlfriend or wife made her irrationally jealous. Which was crazy. Steel wasn't hers, and despite him constantly claiming her, she wasn't his either.
It was fine if he had a girlfriend.
Fine if he had a wife.
Totally a-okay if he had a daughter.
“Had a sister.” He grunted. “Before.”
“Before my brother?” Now she felt bad about her attitude. Honestly, she had no idea what came over her when it came to this man.
“She was a lot older than me, helped raise me when our mom got sick. She died in a car accident about six months before I signed up for your brother’s program. I was always glad she never saw what happened to me. She’d have been so disappointed to see the monster I’ve become.”
“You're not a monster,” Rose told him, taking a tentative step toward the lounge where he was sitting. She could hate him for what he’d done to her, but she could also understand what had driven him to do it.
He’d also given her gentle touches last night, protected her against Dragon, who wanted her dead, and obviously spent a lot of time buying her clothes, toiletries, and snacks. Whatever else Steel was, he wasn't a monster, of that she was sure.
“You're the second person to tell me that today,” Steel mused.
“But you don’t believe it.”
“I'm not sure,” he said slowly, and it felt like the most honest thing he’d ever said to her.
Dropping down to sit beside him, they ate in silence, and it wasn't uncomfortable. In fact, maybe it was actually comfortable, and she had no idea how to feel about that.