Chapter 10 #2
‘Of course. We don’t have to do anything but sit,’ Blake says, watching me very closely.
The other two are as well, and, all at once, I want to not be in the room with them.
‘Actually, I think I’ll take a nap,’ I say. ‘I haven’t been sleeping well, so I’m really tired.’
I chuckle a little to sell it, but I don’t think they buy it.
I turn to go into the bedroom, but swing back, a completely different fear taking hold.
‘You won’t…go anywhere while I’m asleep?’ I ask in a small voice. ‘You won’t leave?’
‘No, Tulip,’ Mav says quietly. ‘We won’t go anywhere.’
I nod a little and go back into the large bedroom, catching my reflection in the full-length mirror on the wall opposite.
I’m thin and my skin is pale. I look exhausted. At least I wasn’t really lying to the guys. I do need more sleep.
Letting out a sigh, I go to the bed and lie down fully clothed under the covers. It’s uncomfortable and I long to take everything off. But I don’t.
I close my eyes.
My dreams are filled with Nasty Nurse’s words and fish on platters. Joe and some other faceless thing chase me through corridors of the Novelle and Banderville estates culminating in the Stinger shocking me.
I wake with a start, my stomach rolling. I’m alone. The clock by the side of the bed says nine-fifteen am. I’ve slept through the night.
I hear voices in the living area outside my door. There’s harsh whispering and a voice I think I know from when I was kidnapped by Sauvage’s guys.
I get up, pee, and then crack the door open to investigate.
Two of Sauvage’s black-clothed guys are standing in the penthouse. One of them has his arms crossed, but they’re wearing matching expressions of what I think is annoyance. They’re not happy, that’s for sure.
‘She’s tired. She’s asleep. Sauvage can’t just send you guys up here and make her work,’ Shade is saying, pacing the room. ‘Where is he, anyway? I want to talk to him.’
‘He ain’t here,’ the other guy says.
‘Look!’ the bigger one snarls. ‘He told us your little girlfriend is making the drug. So, she makes the drug. We have rules here and she needs to be working. Either get her out here, or I’ll go in there and get her.’
‘The hell you will,’ Blake growls, stepping forward.
My eyes widen. If I don’t do something, these guys will tear the room apart.
I quickly open the door. ‘It’s okay. I’m awake.’
Shade’s eyes narrow at me. None of them look pleased. ‘You don’t need to go with these guys,’ Mav says, his voice reverberating through the room.
‘I made a deal,’ I say brightly. ‘I was going to go to the lab and start the next batch this morning anyway. I just overslept.’
I slip on my boots and, as I go by them, I give Shade, Mav, and Blake a kiss each.
‘I’m glad you’re here,’ I say quietly, hoping that I’m able to get the Stinger off before the next time I see them.
Already, my body seems to be responding to their proximities in a very Pavlovian way. Besides, if I never let them touch me again, they’re probably going to notice.
‘Sauvage said you need to be shown the underground system,’ the bigger guy says, tossing Blake, who’s closest, a keycard. ‘Come down to the basement in ten and someone will take you down there.’
I leave the penthouse with Sauvage’s guys. In the lift elevator down, I notice the bigger one watching me. He can’t be all that much older than me, I’m pretty sure.
‘What?’ I ask.
‘Which one of those guys are you with?’ he says.
‘All three,’ I answer plainly.
He blinks. ‘And they’re okay with that? With you being with all of them?’
I glance into his eyes and then away. ‘Only when it’s one of them.’ I say pointedly in case he’s getting ideas.
He puts his hands up and takes a step back, not speaking again.
The elevator opens in the basement and I leave it, turning left when I get my bearings and finding the hatch in the floor at the end of the hallway.
One of them lifts it for me.
‘You’ll be allowed out in ten hours.’
I frown at Sauvage’s guy, not taking one step toward the ladder.
‘Go on,’ he says impatiently.
‘No.’
‘Look, sweetheart. You work for Pierre Sauvage now. Either you get your little ass down there, or he’ll find someone else to do the job.’
I can’t help my chuckle even though my stomach is twisting unpleasantly. I wasn’t under the impression, from what Sauvage said to me yesterday, that I was a prisoner or that I’d be forced to work a set number of hours each day in the lab. But did I misread the situation?
Wouldn’t be the first time…
I square my shoulders though, and I look this guy in the eye for five seconds. I’m not going to let myself be treated like garbage. I’ve had just about enough of that.
‘If you believe that Sauvage can find just anyone to do what needs to be done down there, I think you’ve been misinformed by someone,’ I tell him, my hands on my hips. ‘You should probably call him.’
‘He ain’t here.’
I cross my arms and set my jaw, saying nothing but not moving an inch.
‘Call Thomas,’ the other one mutters.
He glances at his friend, who shrugs, and then he scowls at me as he pulls his phone out of his pocket.
‘This is bullshit,’ he mutters as he pushes a button and puts the cell to his ear.
‘The girl is refusing to work. What am I allowed to do to her?’
I hear talking on the other end, but I can’t make out the words. The big one smiles a little and hangs up.
‘Well?’ his friend asks.
‘He’s coming down,’ the big one says.
He smirks down at me.
‘You’re in trouble now, babe.’
I don’t show fear, but I wonder if I’m wrong about all of this. The guys warned me about Sauvage, but he didn’t seem that bad when I met him. Have I made a deal with the devil that’s going to blow up in my face?
We all stay where we are for a few minutes in our odd stand-off, and I hear the elevator ding. Footsteps echo through the hall and a figure comes around the corner. I recognize him as Mr. In-charge from when I first got here. Of course. Sauvage said his name was Thomas.
He raises a dark brow at me as he approaches. ‘Pierre told me you’d made a deal. Not following through already? He’s not going to like that, Miss Evans.’
‘She won’t go into the lab,’ the big guy gets in before I can say anything.
I narrow my eyes at the big guy in front of me and then blink at Thomas.
‘I don’t have any problem working in the lab. I just didn’t realize my deal with Sauvage meant that I’d be down there ten hours a day,’ I reply stiffly.
Thomas regards me impassively.
‘I asked,’ I continue, gesturing at the big guy, ‘him to call Sauvage to clarify.’
Thomas casts a look at his friend. ‘Carl, show me the message you got this morning.’
Carl takes out his phone and shows Thomas the screen.
Mr. In-charge pinches the bridge of his nose.
‘When Mr. Sauvage asked you to bring her to the lab and take ‘care of her,’ he meant actually take care of her. She can come and go as she pleases. I can see how there may have been a misunderstanding, but she doesn’t need to be watched and she one hundred percent is the only person who can do what Mr. Sauvage needs down there. Understand?’
Carl’s eyes widen and he nods quickly. ‘I understand, sir. Ma’am, I apologize. Usually, when Mr. Sauvage sends me a message like the one he sent this morning, it means something else.’
‘Okay,’ I say slowly. ‘So, if I go down there, I can come out?’
Thomas and Carl both nod.
‘Where is Sauvage?’ I ask, just in case I have any more problems.
‘He’s not here now, but he will be later. He asked for you and your friends to meet him for dinner in the hotel restaurant at eight.’
‘Oh,’ I murmur, ‘but I’m not supposed to be seen.’
‘He has a private room, Miss Evans. The public won’t know you’re there.’
I nod and turn around to go down the ladder, but then grin back at Thomas, belatedly remembering his little adventure with the green pills from my bag.
‘Feeling better?’ I ask him.
He snorts. ‘Those drugs of yours sure pack a punch, just not in the way I usually like.’
I chuckle as I step down into the sub-basement and I hear Carl asking him if the rumors he heard about me are true.
I don’t hear Thomas’ answer though because I’m already in the lab, starting the next batch and thinking of a plan to get rid of the Stinger.
SHADE
We sit in silence for a few minutes after Sauvage’s goons take Daisy downstairs.
‘She’s not herself,’ Mav says quietly from the armchair on the other side of the room.
‘Something happened to her,’ Blake says. ‘Something bad.’
‘You think that nurse mistreated her?’ Mav asks.
‘I don’t know. Would Daisy tell us if she had?’
I’m already shaking my head before Blake finishes talking. ‘No,’ I say. ‘She wouldn’t.’
Blake walks across the room to the fridge and opens it. His actions are casual and relaxed, but if he’s feeling anything like I am, it’s the last thing he is.
He takes out a candy bar and stares at it. ‘Was she always like this? Doing everything herself? A one-woman island? When you were kids, I mean?’
‘Not with me,’ I say.
I’m consciously trying not to make it about me, but the truth is, I’m hurt that she’s keeping things from us.
From me.
‘Then we need to get her to open up to us,’ Mav says.
He checks his watch. ‘Let’s find out where these tunnels lead so we can come and go without anyone being the wiser.
I’ll go get some of her stuff, so she can at least change clothes.
And I’ll grab the hair products and soap she likes, too.
Maybe if we can create a calm, familiar environment, she’ll relax enough to talk to us. ’
I let out a sigh. ‘We just got her back and it’s like she couldn't get out of here fast enough. I want her here with us. I want her close. I want to hold her.’
‘Me, too,’ Blake says. ‘I’m sort of afraid she’s going to disappear in a puff of smoke.’ He winces like it took it out of him to say that out loud.