Chapter Seven
Calvin
A month.
A whole fucking month of wearing this stupid security uniform. Thirty days of watching her from afar. Noticing how she lights up around the books, and the smiles she has for the elderly group of ladies that come in every Thursday for book club.
720 hours of seeing her and not being able to have her.
43,200 minutes of watching that jackass Malcolm stalking her, watching him put his plan together.Well, too bad he didn’t notice me.
In the shadows of the carpark library, I can see him. He’s getting everything ready to kidnap her. I shake my head at the attempt at his plan. It’s actually quite pathetic and predictable—even a blind person could fucking see through it. It’s a shame that I’m about to ruin it for him, because I’d actually love to see how it would turn out. But I just can’t have anyone taking her. Well, anyone except me, of course. And I’m pretty sure she will see that I’m in the right here, all that I’m doing to protect her from harm.
He hides behind his truck with a cloth in his hand that I can assume is doused in chloroform. A pathetic and predictable rookie mistake.
The doors to the library open and out she walks, looking as perfect as ever. Malcolm is sneaking up on her, whilst I sneak up behind him. I pull the syringe from my jacket pocket and wrap my arm around Malcolm”s throat, sinking the needle into his neck. He goes down like a lead balloon within the minute. Laying him down next to his truck, I slowly move to a crouching position to get eyes on Nixie.
To the side of me, I hear a sharp intake of breath and feet starting to run away.
“Shit! Fuck!” Running my hands through my hair, I run off in the same direction, catching up to her. Grabbing her by the shoulders, I look at her. “I’m really sorry you had to see that, Nixie, and I’m really sorry for what I’m about to do.”
“Wha-wha-what did you do to Malcolm? Who the hell are you? Why did you do that?” she rambles, avoiding eye contact with me.
Her eyes shoot to mine, and with a pleading look behind them, she says, “What? What do you mean by that?”
I pull her close to me and the smell of her shampoo takes over all my senses. It’s floral and light and makes me question what I’m about to do. I reach for the other syringe in my pocket, proving why it’s always good to have a backup, because you never know when shit is going to go south.
I inject the needle into her neck and she lifts her head to look at me. She sees what I’ve got in my hand, and her eyes plead with me again.
“Why?” she mutters to me as her eyes roll to the back of her head and her body sags against mine. I reach down and place an arm under her knees and the other under her arms and carry her back to my car, placing her as gently as I can across the back seat. I jump into the driver’s seat and the rage takes over; I start hitting the steering wheel whilst saying every single swear word I have in my vocabulary. This isn’t the way it was supposed to go.
I start my car up and dial the person I know is about to rip me a new one.
“Cal. What’s up? I was just heading to a meeting. Can this wait?” my brother says on the other end.
I let out a breath. “Reid, I—”
He cuts me off before I can even finish my sentence. “Shit, Calvin. What have you done this time?”
“I may or may not have messed up, just a teeny, tiny bit.”
“For fuck’s sake, Calvin. I’ll meet you at your house now. Try not to do anything else stupid before you get there.” The annoyance lingers in his voice as he hangs up.
I look back, checking on Nixie before I speed back down the roads. As I get to my gates, I push the button above my head to open them. The tires crunch over the gravel driveway as I make my way to the front door. Reid has beaten me home and is standing on the doorstep with a pissed off look on his face. I open the door and wait for his wrath.
“The fuck have you done, Cal? I thought we agreed no more fucking shit up. I thought we were on a winning streak!”
Oh, boy, he is angry.The little vein in his forehead is popping out, and that only happens when he is truly pissed.
“Well, for starters, brother, you need to calm down before that thing actually pops,” I say, poking the vein in his head, which of course only makes it worse. I chuckle as I go to open the back door of the car. “And in my defense, I was doing everything you told me to do. But I couldn’t just stand there and watch him take her from me, now, could I?” I open the door and move to the side so he can see what I’m talking about.
“Are you fucking kidding me? You drugged some girl, then shoved her in the back of your car and took her? What were you thinking?” he shouts at me whilst shaking me vigorously. I move away from him, giving him my “are you serious?” look.
“Drugging her was not part of my actual plan, brother! It just kind of happened, and also, she isn’t just ‘some girl’. This is Nixie.” I smile at him.
He stares at me like I have two heads. “The same Nixie that you have been obsessed with since opening night? And how on earth do you just ‘kind of’ drug someone?”
“Yes, the exact same one. And well, the thing is, I’ve kind of been working as a security guard at her job for the past month. I’ve been watching him around her, so I saw he was planning to kidnap her. Of course I had to step in and make sure she didn’t get kidnapped!” I ramble on.
Reid looks at me then at Nixie then back at me. “You kidnapped her!”
“I mean, you’re not wrong, but surely it makes a bit more sense for me to kidnap her than that fucking prick! God knows what he would have done to her, Reid. He’s obsessed with her, and not in a good way!” I shout back at him. “Now, are you going to continue to shout at me, or are you going to help me get her inside?”
Reid walks back towards the car, so I take that as him wanting to help me. Rolling my eyes, I move in front of him so I can pick her up. She’s so light and fits perfectly in my arms. I could actually keep her right here forever. Reid unlocks the house for me as I make my way through the door.
Heading up the stairs with her still in my arms, he follows closely behind me. Fuck, now I’m going to have to explain what he’s about to see in the room.
Walking down the hall, I stop at the last bedroom. Pulling the keys from my back pocket, I slide it into the lock. Once it clicks, I twist the handle and the door swings open. I flick the light on using my elbow, which brightens up the room, and move to put Nixie on the bed. Once I’m happy with how she’s lying, I turn to face my brother. He’s looking around the room, taking it all in. His eyes lock with mine as he shakes his head and storms out.
Running my hands through my hair, I take one more look toward the bed before walking away. I make sure that I lock the door again. We wouldn”t want her to wake up and run out on me before I have a chance to explain myself. Making my way downstairs, I find Reid in the kitchen, standing by the island in the middle and pouring two glasses of whiskey. He knocks one back, tops it up again and then hands one to me.
“Calvin, what the fuck? That room looks like it was literally set up for her company. Please tell me you weren’t planning on kidnapping her. Do you know how fucked up that is?”
Taking a sip of my drink, I look at him. “I wasn’t intentionally going to kidnap her…I think. I don’t know, Reid! She doesn’t even know who I am, yet she’s got this fucking hold over me! I can’t erase her from my fucking head. She’s everywhere. She haunts me in my dreams and in life. All I know is that I need her.”
Reid shakes his head. “You do know kidnapping a woman will not make her fall in love with you? Quite the opposite, actually.”
His words go round in my head. Love? Yeah, I think I could definitely make her fall in love with me. Especially if I explain why I drugged and kidnapped her. Then she will surely see that I’m not the bad guy here…right?
“You are completely right, Reid.” I smile and tap the palm of my hand on my forehead. “What was I thinking? Drugging and kidnapping some woman. Of course. When she comes round, I will explain myself and let her go.”
Reid shakes his head, narrowing those judgmental eyes at me. I keep my face as straight as possible to try and make it more believable.
“You’re forgetting, brother, that I know you better than yourself sometimes. And I know for a fact that what you just said is total bullshit. I’m not going to keep bailing you out of the fucked up situations you get yourself into!”
Trying to keep the smirk from showing on my face, I just nod back at him. He slowly shakes his head and starts to walk out, and I follow behind him. As he gets out of the door, Reid turns back and points his finger at me. “If you don’t sort this shit out, I will come and take care of it myself. And I will take her far away from your crazy ass before you can even begin to understand what is happening. Got it?”
“Loud and clear. But just remember: she is mine, not yours!” I exclaim, slamming the door on him so I don’t hear his reply.
Returning to the kitchen, I pour myself another glass of whiskey and slam it down, taking a seat on the stool at the breakfast island and listen for any noises coming from the back room to let me know that I didn’t kill Nixie and that she’s ready for me to tell her what happened.
Not even five minutes later, I hear a floorboard creak. I know exactly where it is, because I deliberately made it loose so I would know when she was awake and moving. Seems like she is already looking for a way out and is trying to flee out of the window. Too bad she can”t. I smirk and get up, making my way up the stairs taking two at a time.
Reaching the door at the end of the hallway, I pull the key from my pocket and take a deep breath before sliding the key in the lock and turning the handle. The door slowly opens and I see her standing at the window, trying to figure out how to get out of here.
I clear my throat, which makes her jump back from the window. “Sorry to disappoint, darlin, but you can’t get out that way.”
Slowly, she turns around to face me, and I see the shock and confusion rushing through her face at the sight of me. I step further into the room and lock the door behind me, just in case she decides to try and run past me.
Nixie backs herself into the corner of the room and I stay put in the opposite corner. I don’t want to send her into flight or fight mode right now.
The look in her eyes changes from shock and confusion to what I can only describe as pure anger. “You?”
Leaning back against the wall, I smirk at her. “Me, darlin.” I say.
“Why the hell am I here? What did you do to me? What have you done to Malcolm?” she spits at me.
Hearing his name leave her lips unleashes the anger side of me.
“Are you seriously worried about that pathetic excuse of a man, when all he’s done is harass you in and out of work?” I say, raising my voice at her.
She narrows her eyes at me, like she’s trying to figure out how I know such a thing about her. “Well, excuse me, but the last thing I saw before you fucking drugged and kidnapped me, was you doing the same to Malcolm!” she shouts as she bravely takes some steps toward me.
I calm myself before I walk over to her. “Let his name leave your lips one more time, and I will go back and make sure he is dead this time.” My voice is laced with venom at the sound of his name leaving her lips again.
Nixie opens her mouth, but the glare from my eyes is enough for her to snap that pretty little mouth shut again. Good, at least she’s learning a little. She retreats back to her corner and sags against the wall slightly. She lifts her head to meet mine once more and wills me to continue with her big doe eyes.
Jesus. Fuck. I will literally do anything she asks if she looks at me like that.
Clearing my throat I say, “I know you think I’m the villain here, darlin, but you have this whole thing wrong.” She scoffs at my words and rolls her eyes at me. I take small steps towards her as she begins to retreat into the wall as much as she possibly can. Once I get right in front of her, I let one of my arms make a cage around her so she can’t possibly run away from me. With the other, I grasp her chin, forcing her to look at me.
“You see, darlin, your poor little Malcolm was there to kidnap you himself. I’ve not only been watching you for months, but I’ve also been watching him and the way he is around you. I thought he would have learned his lesson when we spoke at the club that night. Clearly, I was wrong. I wasn’t going to let him kidnap you, though. God knows what that sicko would do to you.”
I let go of her chin and notice her cheeks are flushed and her breathing has picked up ever so slightly. I chuckle and step back.
She continues to stare at me as the penny finally drops and she connects all the dots together. “Oh my god, you’re not a security guard. You’re the club owner my friend was telling me about…”
Hmm. That’s all she picked up on? Not the part about me watching her for months? Okay, let”s go with that then.
Smirking at her, I shrug my shoulders. “Guilty.”
The fire in her eyes is sparking. “So, let me get this straight, instead of letting Malcolm kidnap me, you thought, oh I know, ‘I’ll just kidnap her for myself instead, like I’m not a creep or anything so it doesn’t count if I kidnap her’. You don’t see how fucked up that is?”
“Ermm, no? Like I said, God knows what he would have done to you if he had gotten to you. You know, you are sounding very ungrateful to me for rescuing you.”
The fire is burning brightly in her eyes now. The pure anger in them is quite the thing to see.
“Ungrateful…un-fucking-grateful? Are you fucking serious right now? How am I supposed to react when I’ve still been kidnapped? It doesn’t matter how you might see it, you fucking psychopath. I have still been taken by someone against my will!” she shouts at me.
I love that she has a little zing to her attitude—most wouldn’t dare speak to me like that, yet here she is, and all I can do is laugh. Which is clearly the wrong thing to do, as she narrows her eyes and looks at me like I might actually be a psychopath. I’m not. I mean, not much of one, anyway.
I can feel the anger radiating from them as she takes a slight step toward me, holding her shoulders high.
“Are you actually laughing at this situation? Are you seriously that messed up in the head?”
I take a step forward to match her own. In any normal circumstance, this would make the other person step back and shrink back into themselves, but not this spitfire. She holds herself steady and firm, as if she’s waiting for me to attack. Narrowing my eyes slightly at her stance, I realize that she has a lot of layers to her, and I honestly can’t wait to peel each one away.
“I would never laugh at damsel in distress,” I say, holding my hand to my heart. She narrows her eyes at me and I start walking toward her so she has no choice but to go back to the wall. Once she hits the wall, I place both hands behind her, making her look up at me again with those blue eyes, full of anger.
“You are no damsel. Outwardly, you may look so sweet and innocent, but I can see you—the real you—and I look forward to pulling that part of you out, darlin’.”
The way she is looking at me with those big, blue eyes and pink, plump lips. It takes all I have not to fucking claim her here and now. Smirking at her, I run my thumb across her lips and walk away from her and out the door, locking it behind me.
This is going to be fun.