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The phone rang once.
“Hello,” the woman said.
“Hello, this is Kennedy. Franco’s prisoner.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Please bring a laptop without internet service. I have to complete an assignment for school.” Later I’d ask Clip to send the assignment to my teacher.
“I’d also like a bottle of red wine, Gouda cheese, prosciutto, and dates.”
“Right away, Ms. Kennedy.”
I hung up the phone.
I’d tackle some of the assignment, then I’d party for the rest of the evening.
Fifteen minutes later, Saro dropped off the items I requested. He said he’d return at five thirty. I smiled sweetly before he left.
***P***
After sitting at the desk for an hour working on my Political Science assignment, I gathered my toiletries and Pjs in my arms. I cranked the Mary J Blige Pandora channel, then strolled into the bathroom. There was a pretty, green ottoman in the center of the enormous bathroom. I sat my clothes on the silky soft fabric, stopped up the tub, then poured a generous amount of bubble bath under the stream of hot water. Dancing to the beat, I twirled my hair until the ponytail was wrapped in a bun on top of my head. I peeked at the messy bun in the mirror and winked.
“You’re beautiful and smart, Kennedy. You can do anything you set your mind to.”
Affirmations were important since I grew up in a toxic environment most of my life.
I discarded my dirty clothes in the nearby hamper, then turned the lock on the door as I sang along with Mary. “Let’s get it crunk up on. Have fun up on, up in this dancery. Singing was a way to mask how I really felt inside. To disguise all the pain I’d gone through in my life. I told Franco I wasn’t looking for a relationship. The first guy I dated after moving to Portland was a mafia boss. Now I was held captive by another mafia boss?
Franco was insanely gorgeous. Duke was attractive in other ways. In the beginning, anyway. I was better off alone until I finished college and opened my very own accounting firm. Maybe I’d meet a nice boring guy who loved me just as I was. And most importantly, loved my brown skin. When I said boring, I meant a man who enjoyed hanging out at home and watching movies. That kind of boring.
The shooting, paying off cops, and watching out for my enemies was a thing of the past. Franco said he didn’t do relationships either. I understood. The crime family life was brutal. I knew firsthand. Dipping a toe into the piping hot water, I sank my foot, then my body into the sea of bubbles. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss expensive bubble bath gels and designer clothes. The smile withered from my lips. I’d run again if I had to. Because being used by your parent wasn’t something I wished on anyone. Over the years, I wondered if my evil half-sisters’ mother really walked out on them. Was it a coincidence my mom and Auntie Mae were involved in a fatal car accident. I rememberedMom and Dad arguing. She said, “I want to take Kennedy on vacation. Just me and her.”
“You can never take my daughter from our home,” he yelled, venom thick in his words.
A week later, my mother was dead.
Curling into myself, I rested my head against the side of the cool porcelain tub and stared at the tranquil white and gold marble walls. I missed her so much. Clenching my eyes shut, I pushed the sad memories from my mind and focused on the luxurious bubble bath. A smile kicked up at the ends of my lips as my eyes popped open.
“Ah!” I screamed, meeting Franco’s heated gaze.
Fists curled at his sides; he stood in the center of the bathroom, nostrils flaring with pursed lips.
“Franco, what are you doing in here?”
“Kennedy, I called your name several times. Thought something happened to you. Instead, you’re taking a bath like we weren’t supposed to have dinner at five thirty sharp.”
He turned the music off. I hadn’t even noticed. I was too wrapped up in my memories.
“I don’t want to have dinner with you, Franco.”
He snatched a plush bath towel off the rack, then pulled the green ottoman close to the tub.
“Franco, leave.”
“You agreed to come willingly as my captive. That means you will have dinner with me now,” he growled.
The taupe blazer hugged his muscled arms. He wore dark slacks to offset the black-and-white striped button-down shirt.
