Chapter 10
Damien
“So, what do you say?”
It’s surprisingly easy to block out Everest. I keep my eyes fixed on my cell phone, ignoring him as he stands by the door of my office, impatiently shifting his weight from one foot to the other.
I’m watching my pet. She’s been sitting rigid on the couch, her hands trapped between her thighs, her eyes staring at some point to the right of her, for the past three hours.
I wonder what she’s looking at. There’s no television over there, no artwork. She literally chose the one part of the room that’s blank. A stretch of plain, off-white wall, and her eyes are glued to it as if it’s the most interesting thing in the apartment.
She’s really a fascinating creature.
“I want to take her shopping,” insists Everest.
“Go fuck yourself.”
“Come on, man. She’s lonely. Dirt-poor all her life, and now locked away, probably bored to death—”
“I said, fuck off,” I growl.
What is he talking about? She’s mine. How dare he talk about buying things for her?
“Okay,” he mutters. “So, I guess you’re planning on taking her out occasionally?”
“No one is doing anything,” I scowl. “Leave her in that apartment. I don’t want anyone to talk to her, or see her, or buy her shit. Leave her alone.”
Everest grits his teeth. “Listen, man. I’ve gone along with you. I’ve gone along with everything. I let you abduct—”
I interrupt him with a loud snort. “Oh, I didn’t realize you were letting me do things now. How kind of you.”
“I mean—”
“You mean, shut up. I don’t want to hear you blather on about this. Case closed. Now go.”
He snaps his mouth shut and stalks off, fuming. I turn back to my computer, pulling up details on a tech company we’re acquiring. A step into Silicon Valley and a way to leave Oakley behind, for good.
It’s hard to focus, though, when that screen calls out to me. I glance at it, bemused to find my girl still staring at the wall.
What a weird little thing my possession is turning out to be.
I can’t wait to find out all there is to know about her. I wonder how long I can manage to stay away from her.
It’s been about four days since I kissed her, and I haven’t been back. No one else has been to the apartment to see her, either, apart from Lucy. But I told Lucy not to speak to her. I don’t even want her to look at her, and thankfully, she seems more than happy to follow my order.
No one looks or speaks to my pet but me.
I can tell that my absence drives her frantic.
She shifts on the couch, and I note once more her slim frame.
I knew she was skinny from the surveillance tapes, but it was something else to hold her in my arms. She’s tiny.
Her fear of me is certainly enticing, but I’m actually worried I might break her if I’m too rough.
And I don’t know how to be anything but rough.
Those tears, though. They did something to me.
I sigh as I think of her sweet little face turned splotchy, her full lower lip quivering, her violet eyes sparkling with sadness.
I made her cry. Tears don’t usually get to me, and heaven knows I’ve caused a lot of them.
You don’t become a Devil without fucking over a whole bunch of people.
I like tears. I thought I’d want to make her cry. And I do. But not like that. Not in a way that shows me how broken her time in Devil Tower has made her.
It bothers me more than I want to admit.
-
Everest doesn’t let up, though he insists in the politest way possible.
“Look, man. We’ll go in the limo and stick to private venues. I’ll only take her out on Mondays. No one will see her. It’ll be safe.”
“I’m sure it will be. This isn’t about safety.”
“Then what is it about?”
I stand up, clenching my teeth, and before I can stop myself, I blurt out, “She’s mine.”
He sniggers. “Does Vale know this?”
I sit right back down and turn back to my phone. “Fuck Vale.”
Today, the girl has found a stack of magazines, and she’s flipping the pages.
I frown, wishing she’d do something a little more…
intellectual with her time. Like read some Tolstoy or something.
I smirk at myself. I really have become a snob.
It’s a far cry from the Oakley school days, when Logan and I spent our time copying off each other.
Then my smirk widens as I realize she’s looking at the Astley Business Magazine. There’s a 90% chance she’s reading about me. That magazine is basically one big piece of publicity for Devil, and as its leader, I’m pretty omnipresent in its pages.
“Okay, so you don’t mind me repeating what you just told me? She’s ‘yours’?”
I turn to him, scowling, and he takes a step back politely.
“Obviously, I won’t do that,” he adds quickly.
“Good,” I grunt.
“But seriously, be careful. You know Vale would love nothing more than to call out your weaknesses. And refusing to kill someone who tried to take us down because you’re obsessed with her would do it.”
“She didn’t try to take us down, and I’m not obsessed.”
“I also think she’s innocent,” he agrees. “But as for your being obsessed…”
He leaves in a hurry, before my fist can make contact with his pretty boy face.
-
Everest holds off for a few days, but his stormy eyes, every time we meet, serve to remind me that he’s pissed off. Doesn’t matter.
On Monday morning, we meet as we always do to discuss the week’s business. Usually, we talk about acquisitions, but today, we’re focused on the Cole situation. It’s giving me a permanent migraine. It’ll blow over, we all know it. But it sure is taking its time.
“There’s a rat,” comments Logan, leaning back in his chair as casually as if he was discussing the weather. And he might as well be. Everyone knows Devil is untouchable. A rat isn’t anything we can’t conquer. Just a mild, temporary annoyance.
Made a little worse by the fact that the Feds are currently investigating the Cole fuckup, and the nanochip that would point them in our direction is still missing.
I keep an eye on my phone, watching my pet sleep.
She sleeps far too much. It’s already ten a.m., and I’ve been up for the past four hours.
I’m going to need to have her woken up earlier.
I know it’s silly, because what else can she do to pass time, other than stare at the walls?
But I want her to feel that she’s under my control.
Waking up, going to bed, eating, showering, reading.
Everything according to my rules. Because she’s mine, and she needs to know it.
I scribble instructions on a blank sheet of the notepad I’ve been writing on, shielding it carefully from them behind my laptop.
Tomorrow, wake up at 7 a.m. Wear the blue dress.
I hesitate a moment before adding: Or else.
Then I lift my eyes and jump imperceptibly as I see that Logan’s been watching me, a smirk on his face. I close the notepad quickly and clear my throat.
“So, find the rat, and kill it,” I order.
“That’s what we’ve been trying to do,” he says, “but not very successfully, so far.”
Vale runs a hand through his hair. “Are we sure there is a rat? What proof do we have?”
“No proof, not really. Just a gut feeling.”
He sniggers. “Right. I didn’t realize we were running Devil on gut feelings.”
“Well, more than a gut feeling,” says Logan defensively.
“This whole situation just stinks. Where’s the nanochip?
How did the pet manage to get to it at just the right time, the moment the cameras were turned off, right after Angel left it, and a minute before our men arrived? It was too perfectly timed.”
“She’s innocent,” I snarl, before I can help myself.
“Sure, sure,” he says loyally, as Vale turns a searching gaze toward me.
“I’m not saying she meant to do it,” he continues.
“I am saying, though, that someone had access to all the information about the handover, down to the precise timing. It’s just too much of a coincidence otherwise.
And she couldn’t have worked alone, anyway—”
“She didn’t work alone,” says Everest, “because she didn’t work at all. She’s not involved. Or, as you say, if she is, it’s in spite of herself. I can easily imagine someone else noticing that she’s a prolific shoplifter, and deciding she’d be the perfect fall guy. Or girl. Whatever.”
I feel a surge of gratitude toward him. Not only because his quick defense of her has covered mine, which I know risks coming off as weakness, but also because he’s just suggested the first plausible explanation to what happened.
“Exactly,” says Logan, his eyes still on me, and I nod slightly.
My gratitude to Logan is even greater, because I know he doesn’t quite believe her innocence.
But he’s backing me up, as always. “And that’s why,” he adds, “we know there’s a rat.
Someone who’s had access to the surveillance, and has spotted her. ”
“Or she’s just a particularly bad shoplifter, and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to spot her,” grumbles Vale.
“Okay. But someone knew about the nanochip being handed over at that exact time. Someone knew about her. Someone knows enough to be tipping off the Feds, because they are getting too close for comfort.”
I nod. “So, let’s kill the rat.”
“Yup. Let’s kill the rat.”
-
Everest corners me in the hallway, but he doesn’t need to look so nervous. After his show of support, I’ve already decided to relent… somewhat.
“Go ahead,” I mutter. “You can go see her.”
“Thanks,” he beams. Then his face falls. “See her? I can’t take her out?”
I turn a glare at him that makes him crumple in disappointment.
“I didn’t even know I wasn’t allowed to see her,” he protests.
“Now you are. For one hour on Mondays.”
“So you just downgraded things,” he says.
“Take it or leave it. I don’t know why you care so much anyway. You’re gay.”
“Asexual,” he corrects me. “And I don’t care that much about her. I care that she’s our captive.”
“My captive.”
“Yeah, yeah. I just want to make things a little easier for her. It’s the least we can do. She must be bored out of her mind.”
I smirk. “She’s not half as bored as you seem to think.”
“And you’re not half as discreet as you think,” he snaps. “You haven’t seen her in days.”
“I’ve been busy.” Busy making it clear to her that I call the shots. “She has Lucy for company.”
“And you forbade Lucy from talking to her. From looking at her, even.”
“Yeah,” I growl. “Because she’s mine.”
He hisses in frustration. “So you don’t even care that I stood up for you? My loyalty means nothing?”
He’s got me there. There’s nothing more important than loyalty, and I need to reward him. I hesitate, searching for a bone to throw him without ceding entirely.
“Fine, go ahead and spoil her. Bring over your coach, have her work out a bit. There’s a small workout space on the fourth floor with a connecting door to her apartment. It’s locked right now, but…”
I pause as I note his sarcastic expression.
“How generous,” he smirks, “to give her the means to keep up her appearance for you.”
I glare at him. “I don’t need her to keep up a thing. But I guess it’s not too healthy for her to sit around, long-term.”
“Long term,” he echoes. “How long are you planning to keep her?”
Forever. “That’s my final offer. Take it or leave it.”
“Fine,” he snaps, turning around. “Even though I don’t exactly call it spoiling her. But whatever.”
That’s right. No one is allowed to spoil her except me.
And I have no intention of doing that anyway. I’m more interested in… hurting her.
My cock hardens as I think of what’s in store for my little pet. I quickly make my way to my apartment so I can take care of my needs, my eyes still glued to the screen.
What a sick bastard I am.