Chapter Four
Rhett
Maybe I am a psychopath. I told myself a thousand times I couldn’t fall for Pepper, that I wouldn’t let my dick get hard. Two minutes in and I’m calling myself daddy, ready to murder anyone and everyone who’s ever caused her pain.
Why the fuck did he have to put his hands on her?
I’m going to kill the man. I’m going to tie him up by his fucking ankles and drag him through the rocky fucking lake shore until he’s no longer breathing, then I’m going to leave him there for the gulls to feed on like some piece of trash no one ever fucking cared about anyway.
I pace out onto the front porch and pick up the VHF radio since Pepper is using my phone to call her mother.
I shouldn’t let her call anyone, but she’s been through it today and I need to keep her calm.
A call to her mom will do just that. Then again, I’m letting my feelings get involved, which isn’t ideal given my current circumstances.
Jesus, fuck, I need to get my shit together.
Charlie rubs up against my leg, slobber dripping from his heavy jowls as he plops down on my foot.
He’s seven this year, and I’ve definitely noticed the slowdown, but he’ll still come running when he sees someone who’ll give him some pets.
Despite my introverted tendencies, this old dog loves people.
My buddy Reed picks up on the first call out.
We own a small construction company together with our friend Clint.
We started it up after we got back from the military.
Nothing big, just small jobs here and there.
Something to keep us busy and bring in a decent income.
Right now, we’re renovating these lake houses Clint bought from an ex.
If I ever get the paint done, I’ll be good to go on mine.
I could’ve probably have done the painting myself, but I’m not sure anyone would’ve wanted the house afterward.
Give me a hammer and some nails, and I’ll build you the Taj Mahal. Give me paint and a brush, and I’m a blind raccoon let loose in art class.
“Dude, you’re fucked?” Reed drawls as a gull caws.
I click the PTT button and wait for the static to clear before I speak.
I didn’t call for a lecture. I called for our daily check-in.
It’s something the guys and I have done religiously since we got back from overseas, plus I need to cool myself down.
I don’t need Pepper seeing me all angry and frustrated.
She’s got enough going on, given the fact that she was taken against her will today. “You stalking me?”
“Good someone is,” he laughs. “You took her from the wedding, didn’t you? This isn’t the way to win, man.”
I glance out toward the floating cabin he lives in half the year. It’s a flat, rectangular hull with sliding glass doors that lead to an enormous wrap-around deck. He keeps it mobile so there’s no property tax, which I’m pretty sure gets him off.
“Win? There is no winning at this point. The man stole from us. Our business is half of what it used to be because of his bullshit. You know as well as anyone that money is hard to come by, and that asshole took our livelihood and made a fortune off it.”
Reed’s voice scratches in as he says, “And we hired quality lawyers who couldn’t beat him. It’s over, man. Give her back before this gets worse.”
“See, that’s the problem. We were fighting him fair.” I glance down at the radio to make sure we’re on the private channel. “I’m done with that shit.”
Static crackles for a long moment before he answers. “And what’s your plan exactly? I’m guessing it’s a ransom, right? You’re going to make him pay to get her back?”
His words land on my chest like a heavy lead weight. “I’m not giving her back.”
He laughs harder now. “Then what’s the fucking point, man?”
I pause, thinking over his question carefully. The point… was exactly as he described it. I thought I’d take her, and he’d offer up cash to have her back. Cash that asshole may as well have stolen from us. But now… I need to protect her. Now, I can’t give her back.
“Look, I’ve got it covered.”
“Fuck. You’re into her, aren’t you?” Reed’s tone is flat and reserved, though I hear the judgment as he continues, “You’ve lost it.
I’m sure Nathan has guys packed and on their way to the lake house right now.
There’s no way he doesn’t put two and two together after that post you made online, claiming to ‘promote’ her painting hustle.
” There’s a shrug in his voice as he says, “Why’s the girl working anyway if she’s got a fiancé with that much cash? ”
I scrub my hand down over my beard as I stare toward the houseboat parked on the other side of the aquamarine lake. “Don’t know, man, but I can’t let her go now.”
Laughter hits too close to the mic, sending a screeching sound echoing in the air. “Dude? Long term, this is going to fuck that girl up. If you care about her, stop hurting her.”
“Hurting her?” I growl. “I’m doing her a favor.
The asshole’s been abusive for months. She didn’t know how to leave.
” My fists tighten at the thought of Nathan’s bitch boy hands on my girl.
She’s been hurt, used, and fucked in the head!
She needs someone who’ll protect her from the world, guard her gentle spirit.
“Damn,” Reed groans, “you’re in deep. Way I see it, you’ve got two choices.
Take her back or go through with the ransom.
” He pauses. “Neither of those choices involve falling in love with her. Do you hear me? It’s a mistake.
This guy has so much fucking money. Give him a reason, and we’ll be starting over again. ”
There’s a mixture of frustration and anxiety in Reed’s voice, and it’s warranted. Money is power.
“This is on me, so I’ll take care of it,” I grunt, the signal wobbling for a moment before I hear faint chatter and wonder how private this channel really is.
“You’ll take care of it,” Reed repeats with a tinge of sarcasm in his voice. “You better, ‘cause you fucking caused it. I don’t have the energy for this shit anymore.”
I’ve been to war and back with this man, and he hates doing things that require extra steps. Get in, do what you need, get out, and don’t make it complicated. Clint, though, he’s who I should have called. Clint would already be loading up the shotgun.
“Promise me you’re not going to fall for this girl,” Reed says as though it’s a command. “You took her and you ruined the asshole’s day. You proved your point. If he finds out you’re fucking her,” Reed laughs, “it was good fucking knowing ya. You know the magic his attorneys can do.”
A hiss of static rolls through the speaker as the sound of a woman crying echoes. I turn back and listen closer.
Pepper!
“Over and out,” I mutter, dropping the mic back into the cradle before stalking through the house toward my girl.
My girl. I really need to get my shit together. Reed is right about one thing. As much as I want her to be my girl, she’s not. She can’t be. She’s supposed to be a pawn. The only tool I have to take back what should’ve belonged to the guys and I.
I figure the call is over, and she’s processing through something, except the closer I get to the back room, I realize she’s still on the phone. Nathan’s voice is so loud that I can hear him clearly, as though he’s right there next to her.
My chest tightens and my face heats. I thought she was calling her mother. She said she was calling her mother.
I want to storm in there, rip this fuck through the phone, and make him pay for hurting my girl, but I have to stay calm. I have to stay composed. I can’t blow this cover before I know what I’m dealing with. I have to reformulate the plan.
“I’m sorry,” she says, tears falling down her sweet, innocent, little cheeks.
“You’re going to pay for this. You know that, right?
” he yells into the line, and I take an instinctive step forward, my jaw tight as I wrestle with the urge to threaten his life.
“The engagement was a contract. Your name was signed right next to mine with every vendor.” He laughs as though her heart is a joke.
“I should tell everyone what a little fucking prude you are. I’ve heard you lie and tell all your friends we’ve had sex so they wouldn’t judge you.
Well, I know for certain you won’t find a date again after every man in town finds out you don’t spread your legs until marriage.
You really think anyone else would put up with that shit? ”
She’s a virgin.
This sweet, little angel I’ve taken is an innocent, tight, little virgin.
What the fuck is wrong with this guy?
What the fuck is wrong with me?
Why is my cock growing at the thought of how tight her little pussy must be? At how much I could teach her? At how safe I could hold her?
I push the door open hard enough that it bumps the wall, and she startles, eyes wide as she turns toward me. She’s still holding the phone to her ear.
Why the hell am I burning hot? Why do I want to take her, make her mine? The room is quiet as Nathan’s irritating voice echoes in from the line, “Hello? Hello? Hello?”
Pulse hammering, I take the phone from her tiny hand, and end the call, my gaze locked on hers. “Did you tell him it was over?”
She nods, wiping away a quick succession of tears.
“Good girl,” I growl, staring at her like a salivating animal who’s gotten the scent of fresh blood. “Then take off the ring.”
Her soft gaze drops to the massive diamond ring weighing her finger down. “I’m going to be so poor.” She leans forward, her breath drawing in and out quickly.
I want to hold her, wipe her tears, and take my time, but something that feels like possession bubbles up from inside of me. It’s sharp and territorial. Instinctive and magnetic.
My jaw clenches, my breath goes shallow, and I grit my teeth uncontrollably. “Ring off.”
“What?”
“I want that ring off your finger,” I growl.
She stares up at me, her eyes red, her mascara running in long streaks down her face. “Is this what you wanted? You want the ring? You could’ve just taken it. You didn’t have to kidnap me too.”
“I don’t want the fucking ring,” I chide, the words grinding their way through my teeth. “Take it off.”
“Why?”
“Because you don’t belong to him anymore.”
Silence ensues for a long second as she stares at me in the dimming light of the room.
I’ve never been good at mind reading like my grandma was.
She could tell what you were feeling from two rooms away.
Me, I’ve gotta have it explained to me four times, and even then, I’m not going to know what to do with what you’ve told me.
All I know right now for sure is that this woman is mine.
Mine. Mine. Mine.
“I’m taking it off because I want to,” she says, sliding the gaudy rock off her tiny finger and tucking it into a little pocket sewn into her skirt. If it were up to me, we’d sink the thing to the bottom of the lake, but I’ll put it away for now.
“Good girl,” I sigh, my body still vibrating with some kind of primal instinct I need to hold at bay. “You’re okay now. Daddy’s got you.”
“Look,” she cries harder, “I don’t know you! This whole thing is insane! You took me from my wedding! You kidnapped me! You—”
“Stop,” I growl, brushing my hand down over the side of her soft cheek in an attempt to soothe her.
Why am I trying to soothe her? I should spank her little ass.
She said she was calling her mother. Instead, she called the asshole.
He could’ve been tracking the calls. I’m sure with the money and technology available to him, he could easily figure out where the call was coming from. I’m not ready for that yet.
The plan has changed. I need time to come up with a new path. Something that’ll give me time to get to him before he gets to me. Time to tell Pepper what the plan was before she hears it from someone else.
She stares up at me in a corset tied too tight, her dark hair falling in soft curls around her face. “Unless you’re richer than you look, I don’t think Daddy’s got this. That wedding cost Nathan so much money. If I owe half of it, I’ll be living in a cardboard box the rest of my life.”
“You’re not going to owe him any money.”
“Oh yeah,” she tilts her head to the side, her tone more annoyed now than it was before, “and how’s that math work?”
My jaw tightens as I stare down into her big, hazel eyes, that innocent chest rising and falling as her long lashes blink up at me. God, she’s beautiful. Beautiful and sweet, and the mere thought that anyone ever laid hands on her innocent little frame sets my blood to a full fucking boil.
“Don’t question Daddy, baby girl. That’s not how this works.”
She exhales softly and shakes her head, her arms now crossed over her chest, pushing her full tits upward.
“Of course it’s not. Why would Daddy have to answer any questions?
You know… I was sort of believing you were a nice guy.
I was wrong. You might be the craziest one of all.
” Her eyes roll to the side then back again. “I really suck at picking men.”
“You didn’t pick me,” I growl, my hand on her throat, my thumb against her nervous pulse. “I took you.”
“Yeah, but that conversation we had the other night, it got into my head. I let your fake kindness twist me around and convince me that nice men actually exist.”
Fuck. I don’t know how to fix this.
A tear streaks down her cheek. “I’m so dumb! I really believed you cared, but you just wanted that ring, didn’t you? Take it. Take the ridiculous ring and let me go.”
Anger surges hot and fast, tightening my jaw until it aches. “I don’t give a fuck about this stupid ring. I told you that. I want that thing off your finger because you don’t belong to him. You belong to me.”
She wipes away a tear and laughs under her breath.
“I belong to Daddy?” She’s saying it facetiously, but I still like the way it sounds.
So much so that my cock presses hard and fast at my zipper, landing against her belly.
She must feel the pressure because her pulse quickens beneath my thumb and I swear I can smell her arousal.
“Do you want to belong to Daddy, baby girl?”
Her gaze trails down toward our bodies now pressing together. “You really are a psycho.”
I grin and lean into her neck, breathing in the soft scent of berries on her skin. I’m losing control. I feel it in my bones, in the buzz beneath my skin, in the erratic beating of my heart. I’m not thinking straight. Something has taken over.
Something primal.
Something wild.
Something I’ve never felt before… and I don’t know how to stop it.