Chapter 10 Lincoln
Iheaded downtown to the mayor’s office. I fucking hated this guy.
When I walked into the reception room, a cute little blonde nodded when she saw me. “I’ll let him know you’re here.” She knew who I was, but she didn’t know what I was.
I entered the office and sat on the navy blue couch across from his desk.
He looked flustered as he loosened his tie. “Lincoln,” he said as he paced the room. “I know you’re here about the ports. I have nothing to do with that. Customs randomly searched YOUR freight and found drugs. Now they are checking all the freight that comes in. It’s out of my hands.”
“Call it off Rolando, or we are going to have bigger problems.” I stood up and removed his family photo from his desk. “Cute kids.”
He grabbed the frame back from me. “Look Lincoln, I understand your frustrations I do but-”
“Oh, do you?” I lunged over the desk and grabbed him by his collar. “I don’t think you fucking do. Because of your men seizing that product, I ended up losing 2 million. If I find out you’re selling my product, I’ll make sure you never see the inside of a government building again.” I released his shirt. “I don’t care what the fuck you have to tell your people, but I’m not changing ports and I’m not losing product again. Unless you want to lose a few fingers. The decision is up to you.”
Sweat beads formed on his forehead as he tried to re-adjust his tie.
“Fix it. Now,” I said, yanking the door open to leave. The blonde receptionist jumped when I walked by.
I knew I had to make the next shipment small so that if they confiscated the freight container, I wouldn’t lose another 2 fucking million dollars. I tied up a few more loose ends before heading to the store. Unsure of her needs, I gathered everything I could think of. I tried to grab more comfortable clothes as I doubt she would even leave the apartment, but I got a couple pairs of jeans just in case.
* * *
When I returned to the apartment, it was quiet.
“Where is she?” I asked J.C. as I set the bags on the counter. She was sitting at the bar eating fruit loops typing on her screen.
“She went to take a nap. We bonded today, by the way. Oh, and we ate soup and bread at like 11:30, so she’s probably hungry again.”
I raised an eyebrow. My sister was everyone’s friend. She found the good in everyone and everything.
I walked to the door and lightly knocked, no response. I walked in and saw she was laying in the bed under the covers. “Laynie, are you awake?” I sat on the edge of the bed, touching her leg.
She turned to me, and I could see she had been crying. She wiped her eyes quickly and sat up.
I leaned towards her and touched her lip, pulling it down. “Let me see your tongue.”
She opened her mouth and stuck her tongue out just past her bottom lip. It still looked bad, but it wasn’t bleeding anymore.
I released her face. “What do you want to eat? I’ll get you whatever you want.”
She shrugged her shoulders and looked defeated, as if food was the last thing on her mind. She combed her hair with her fingers, avoiding my eye contact.
“What’s your favorite food?”
“Ice cream,” she whispered. I finally could hear that accent. The way she dragged out her syllables was adorable.
“Ice cream it is. What flavor?”
“Strawberry.”
“Well, I have mint chocolate chip in the freezer. Close enough?” I teased.
She smiled at me. “That’s almost the same thing.”
I fixed her a bowl and came back. She was sitting up, fiddling with her hands.
“Here.”
“Thank you.”
I nodded and watched her bring the spoon to her lips. It must have felt good against her tongue and cracked lips. I sat there while she ate the entire bowl. She said she didn’t want more, even though I think she did.
I went to the bathroom and got the brush off the bathroom sink.
“Here, you kind of look like a baby lion.”
I saw a small smile pull up on one side of her mouth.
“Let me tame my mane then.” She took the brush and ran it through her hair a few times. I could hear the knots pulling against the brush.
“Wow, I don’t even recognize you,” I said when she was done.
“Shut up,” she said and threw the brush at me, but missed.
I loved she was talking more, but I didn’t want to push my luck. I could also hear the lisp because of her pain.
“Here are some things for you, if you want to change out of those clothes.” I pointed to the bags at the end of the bed.
“Thank you.” She paused for a moment. “When am I leaving?”
They hadn’t told her anything. “One week,” I said.
Her eyes widened. “That’s a long time,” she whispered.
“Laynie, I’m not who you think I am. I don’t rape and torture women. I saw you in that apartment last week and I’ve been looking for you ever since. Getting out won’t be easy, but I want to help you. I don’t want you to think I am here to hurt you, or that I purchased you to rape you.”
“Why would you do that for me?” Tears welled behind those big brown eyes.
“Because I can.”
I moved closer to her on the bed, and she allowed me to pull her into my chest. “I’m going to get you out of there,” I whispered.