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He took the steps to the balcony and I dutifully followed. It was only once we were inside and he took off the chain from around his neck that I realized what the key was actually for as he locked the balcony doors, then pressed a button that was barely discernible on the key. A beep sounded, the security system armed.
“I guess I’m not going anywhere,” I said tightly.
He shook his head. “I’m afraid not. The good news is you’ll be safely locked inside where no one can get to you.”
“You haven’t heard of rocket launches?” I asked scathingly.
He snorted. “Sean doesn’t know you’re here, but even if he did I doubt very much he’d use military weapons to get you back. He’d want to torture you for escaping him, not blow you to pieces.”
“Good to know,” I said sarcastically.
If he cared, he didn’t show it. Instead, he stalked into his study. I couldn’t help but trail along behind. I was at his office door when he inserted the same key into a tiny hole that was all but invisible in the wall. A safe door swung open and I peered inside the safe as he shoved in his hand to grab two revolvers and some bullets.
There were more guns and bullets in the safe, along with some bags of coke, dozens of stacks of money and a small black bag I’d bet was filled with diamonds. But none of that mattered, I was becoming consumed by his latest mission.
He pushed the safe door shut and it made a whirring sound, followed by a distinct click. I swallowed hard. “Where are you going?”
He chuckled darkly as he checked his guns. “Do you really think I’ll tell you?”
“What happens if you’re killed? I’ll be locked up here until I die.”
“You’re concern for your own welfare is touching, it really is, but don’t worry, I’ll be back. I don’t die easily and I have no intention of doing so anytime soon.”
Satisfied with both his firearms functionality, he holstered one at his chest and one at his hip, then pushed a small knife into a special pocket inside his right shoe. I shivered. Wherever he was going, there was killing involved. I only hoped he didn’t become one of the victims.
I imagined his ending me would be quick. I didn’t want to slowly starve to death. That a part of me also didn’t want him dead, despite what he planned for me, was all kinds of fucked-up.
Shrugging on a gray suit jacket, which had been slung over the back of his office chair, he stepped toward me. Then clasping my chin in one hand, he lifted my face up until my eyes grudgingly met his. His dark stare searched mine. “Don’t be stupid and try to escape,” he murmured. His voice deepened. “I’d hate to have to discipline you.”
My core throbbed in synch to my racing pulse. “So I guess that means you’re not planning on getting rid of me anytime soon?”
His eyes flashed, then his head swooped low before his mouth crashed against mine, consuming my breath, my sanity. When he finally stepped back, he said huskily, “I can’t promise you that.”
Then he stepped out of his study and stalked along the hallway. I heard his tread on the stairs before the engine to his jeep fired up. The roller door slid up with a faint whirr before he reversed the vehicle out of the garage. Only once the roller door descended did he accelerate away, until the noise of the jeep’s engine diminished and all I could hear was the faint crash of the waves against the shore and the palms rattling their fronds in the stiff breeze.
Chapter Twelve
Chantilly
I had no idea how long I stood there in my captor’s study, staring at the empty doorway like Valentino would suddenly reappear. This was madness! It was as if I wanted to be with him!
Stockholm syndrome?
I’d never once felt that way with Sean, I’d secretly despised him, every cell in my body shrinking away from him whenever he was near.
Yet Valentino had never made my eventual fate a secret, so why didn’t I truly hate him even more? I glanced around at the monitors that revealed most of the interior and exterior. Somehow he made me feel safe, his aptitude for violence making it seem like nothing bad could touch me, until he did.
Or until Sean found me.
Fury stirred then faded as weariness descended over me like a dark cloud, and as I walked out of the office, I realized I’d never felt so defeated. I stepped inside the bedroom I’d shared with Valentino, shivering at the rumpled cover and sheets, at the place where I’d lost myself to him while pleasure had swamped me.
I couldn’t take a nap here. His scent would only make me crave him more, and I needed to do everything in my power not to have his hooks sink deeper into me. I needed to distance myself from him.
Relief filled me as I opened the door to the guest bedroom. I thought he might have locked me out. I glanced around at the far less dominant bedroom, from its cream walls and furniture with its olive green curtains and bedding. An oil painting showcasing a dark green forest with glints of gold sunlight on the leaves hung on the wall above the bed.
I sighed even as I sank into the comfortable mattress and closed my eyes, sleep then coming to me quickly.
I was sixteen today, but I’d yet to find anything sweet about it. Not while trudging to school with my twin sisters, and especially not while a black sedan with tinted windows had slowed behind us.
