Chapter 12
Twelve
Knox
She hadn’t even flinched.
I stood at the mouth of the alley long after Hallie’s footsteps faded around the corner, the echo of her sandals clicking against concrete still ringing in my ears like a taunt.
I’d just admitted to her face that I’d dug into her ex’s life, found the filth he spewed online, printed it, and shoved it under her door like some anonymous guardian angel with a hard-on for control.
I’d told her I’d been watching her. And what had she done?
She looked up at me with those pretty brown eyes, whispered “You’re not a monster,” and meant it.
Jesus Christ.
Hallie Rutherford—Adrian’s little sister, the girl I’d known since she was an awkward preteen with pigtails and braces—was just as fucked in the head as I was.
I’d given her every reason to run screaming away from me, and she’d barely blinked.
She just looked back at me with that reckless trust that made my cock twitch and my stomach twist at the same time.
She trusted me.
After everything.
After I’d tied her wrists and overstimulated her until she sobbed and counted her own orgasms like a good girl. Even after I’d fucked her throat until tears streaked her mascara and she still swallowed like it was a privilege.
She wasn’t scared, and that was the problem.
If there wasn’t at least an illusion of danger, the fantasy collapsed.
I needed her to stop seeing me as Knox Ballard, the family friend, and instead fear me as someone who could break her until she begged for mercy.
I needed her afraid I’d take things too far, pushed right up to the edge of uttering that safe word.
Luckily, I’d already put things in motion.
Sitting in my car, I pulled my phone from my pocket and opened my tracking app.
There was Hallie’s car, not pointed toward home but instead drifting toward the Lower West Side.
The tracking device I’d hidden under her passenger seat worked exactly how it was supposed to, allowing me to watch her pull up next to a little restaurant on Ashland. God, didn’t she ever take a night off?
I drove home to my apartment and pulled out my phone to check her location again as I made my way to the mailboxes, watching her car approach a residential neighborhood farther south. I watched the little dot move slowly across the street, knowing she was mine to watch.
Mine to torture.
I inhaled, pulling out my keys to unlock my mailbox.
Inside sat a plain brown package, its discreet shipping label telling me exactly what it was.
A slow smile tugged at the corners of my mouth.
When I forced myself on Hallie the first time, I had to improvise with the curtain tiebacks—I had no way to restrain her feet.
Worst of all, Hallie’s big, brown eyes stayed open the whole fucking time, almost ruining me and threatening to undo every ounce of control I had left.
Well, she wouldn’t be able to do that next time.
Next time I had Hallie alone, she’d be fully restrained, disoriented, and completely at my mercy, with no way to fight me off, even if she dared to try. I’d make sure of it.
***
Two nights later, the perfect opportunity finally presented itself.
Hallie was making deliveries just west of the Loop, zipping all around like she was on a mission to beat some kind of record.
That made it a little difficult to keep up with her, but I maintained a distance of just a few blocks.
As she ducked into a McDonald’s, I pulled over a block and a half away to send her a text.
I didn’t bother to hide behind an unknown number this time.
Knox: Out looking for trouble?
Hallie: I think it just finds me, honestly.
My grin stretched wider. Fuck, she had no idea what kind of trouble was about to find her that night. I held my breath, deciding to send another text that would elevate her fear.
Knox: Is the McRib back, or is that more of a winter thing?
Hallie: Where are you???
I didn’t answer. I’d already said enough.
I kept my engine idling, watching the little dot on the screen until it started to move again.
I shifted into drive the second her car turned onto the street, speeding up to shorten the gap between us.
Her little black car came into view up ahead, and I watched her turn down Lake Street—and then a side street.
I followed, glancing back and forth from my phone to her taillights so I wouldn’t lose her.
I kept just enough distance between us so I wouldn’t be spotted, but kept close enough that I could act fast when she stopped.
After a few blocks, she turned again, slowing when she reached a row of townhouses. I cruised slowly behind her, leaving a few car lengths between us. And when she pulled up against the curb near the middle of the block, I slid into an open space near the corner.
I glanced upward, saying a silent prayer that nobody would be out walking and make the wrong assumption about what I was about to do.
Having to explain my behavior to the authorities wasn’t on my agenda for the night.
The second I saw Hallie’s car door open into the street, I opened my door.
“Here goes nothing,” I whispered to myself.
I walked slowly, creeping down the quiet, dark street in the shadows of the two-story townhouses.
There were a couple of dim streetlights, but in my dark t-shirt and jeans, I was barely visible as I slipped between the SUV parked behind Hallie’s car.
Through the windshield, I watched her approach one of the townhomes to leave a bag of food on the stoop, flipping her hair over her shoulder as she took a picture of it.
When she turned around, I crouched and listened. I heard her approaching footsteps, a breathy sigh, and her car door opening. My God, she’d left her car running the entire time. Didn’t she know how dangerous that was on a dark street like this? She could’ve been carjacked—or worse.
I’d have to reprimand her for that later.
I slowly rose to my feet when I heard the car door close again, and I knew I had just seconds to act.
With a few fast, long strides, I made it to the door of the driver’s side and curled my fingers around her door handle, my shadow covering her body.
She let out a scream, jerking and throwing her phone before she even looked up.
Without giving her a second to recognize me, I yanked open the door and gave her shoulder a shove. “Move to the passenger seat,” I said in a growl.
“What the fuck?” she cried out, her voice cracking in raw desperation. Her body trembled under my hand.
Fuck, the fear in her eyes was so satisfying, I had to grip her steering wheel just to ground myself for a second.
She was looking at me the same way she had when I pulled out my knife in her apartment, and it was damn near enough to make me want to take her right there in that front seat.
Instead, I gave her body another forceful push. “Move over. Now.”
Hallie obeyed, scrambling to climb over the center console in a panic.
By now, she’d been able to see that it was me—but the confusion was still written all over her face when I slid in next to her.
I slammed the door shut and adjusted the driver’s seat to allow enough room for my long legs, glancing over at the way she held a hand to her chest. Her breaths were quick and ragged, a soft, high-pitched whimper escaping her lips with every exhale.
Without a word, I leaned over her body to reach for her seatbelt, letting my hand graze her stomach before I buckled her in. She reached up to tuck her hair behind both ears, meeting my gaze. “How did you find me?”
“Don’t worry about that.” I leaned forward, my hand hovering over my back pocket.
I glanced all around, making sure no nosey neighbors had witnessed our encounter and got the wrong idea.
Because if anyone was already thinking about calling the authorities, my next move would have them dialing 911 in a heartbeat.
I pulled a black, satin blindfold out of my pocket and unfolded it slowly, giving Hallie a couple of seconds to wonder what was about to happen. “Is that a blindfold?”
Without moving my head, my eyes drifted up to meet hers, and a slow smile stretched across my face. “Very good,” I said, sliding the soft fabric between my fingers. “Are you going to let me put it on you like a good girl, or are you going to cause a scene?”
Hallie’s body stiffened. “Where are you taking me?”
“You’re asking too many questions,” I said, shifting closer to her. I held the blindfold in front of her eyes, expecting her to just accept it, but she lifted a hand to swat it away.
“I-I just accepted another order.”
Jesus, already? Was she fucking serious?
“Cancel it,” I ordered. Hallie didn’t budge—she just sat there blinking at me like an animal caught in a trap. So I cleared my throat and said the words again, gripping the back of her arm tight. “Cancel. It.”
With my free hand, I picked up Hallie’s phone from the floorboard, where she’d flung it before.
I handed it to her, and she shakily navigated to the DoorDash app and cancelled the order.
And as I returned the blindfold to her eyes and tied it behind the back of her head, I had to press my lips together tight to fight the laugh that wanted to slip out.
Here she was in the middle of being fucking kidnapped, and her only concern was ruining some stranger’s night with missing food.
“You’re fuckin’ ridiculous,” I muttered, adjusting my tone to hide the smile in my voice. I gave the blindfold another tug and turned her head with both hands, forcing her to face me. “Can you see me?”
Hallie audibly swallowed. “No.”
“Do I have to restrain your hands, or are you going to behave?” I asked, staring at her cherry-red lips. She wore a plain white tank top that night, stretched tight across her chest, with a sliver of her abdomen exposed above her jean shorts. She knew exactly how to get better tips, didn’t she?
“I’ll behave,” she promised.
I licked my lips, dropping my right hand to her leg. Hallie clenched her thighs together, just as she had at the restaurant. As much as I wanted to touch her now, I gave her one hard, lasting squeeze and let out a hungry, primal grunt.
“Fuck, Hallie,” I rasped, tugging away from her. I gripped the steering wheel with one hand and the gear-shifter with the other, shaking my head at myself as I glanced at the back-up camera display on her dash. “Torturing you tonight is going to be a treat. For me, at least.”
Beside me, Hallie’s lips parted slowly. She settled back against the leather seat, fidgeting with the frayed hem of her shorts. When I merged onto I-90 and sped in the direction of my apartment, she gripped the edges of her seat, biting down on her bottom lip.
But it was the way she kept fighting back a smile that sent a fire through my veins. Damn you, Hallie Rutherford. She still trusted me, after everything. There was no terror. No doubt. To her, this was just a game with a giant safety net.
And what was the fun in that?
She left me with no choice but to strip every ounce of trust away.