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“You’d be wrong,” she states, looking away. “Let me go. I’m gonna go take a shower.”
“After,” I correct, dip and put my shoulder to her belly, then straighten to standing.
“Don’t,” she mutters, annoyed, but she’s grabbed ahold of my shirt as she dangles over my shoulder, and I suspect it’s not just for stability. I’m sure she’s looking forward to the release she’s about to get. That she might not realize how much she needs. I sit on the bed and adjust her in my hold until she’s on my lap.
“Got ‘cha,” I say. “Now, what am I gonna do with you?”
“How about if you let go of me?” she suggests.
“Do you really want me to?”
“Yes!”
I tighten my grip. “Not a chance. I think you need a release. Some stress relief. I can help with that.”
“What if Alannah has left and is calling the cops right now?” she asks. “What if the cops show up here and arrest you for forcible confinement? Have you already thought of a way to spin it?”
“First, you haven’t tried to leave so you don’t actually know if I’d confine you. Right?”
She frowns.
“I don’t advise testing me,” I warn, then continue with, “Second, she’s not calling the cops.” I shake my head. “She wants this for you. She wants what I’m saying to be legit. She’s not entirely convinced, but she’s doing a watch ‘n see.”
“Because she’s afraid you’ll ruin her life,” she mutters.
“Hopefully I won’t have to do that,” I say.
She frowns. “Would you really?”
“Don’t call my bluff, Chloe,” I warn.
“Did your deceased brother’s wives get killed?” she asks.
I tip my head. “One, yes. Both? Maybe.”
She winces. “By your brother?”
I tip it the other way. “One of them, maybe.”
I feel her trembling in my arms, so I lean in and look straight into her eyes. “I’m not Thaddeus.”
“Maybe you’re worse.”
“I am worse. But not in the same way. Thad was impulsive. Sloppy. I’m much more calculated.”
“Your oldest brother is in the middle of an ugly divorce. It’s in the papers.”
“Eli’s wife isn’t going to go missing without a trace. She’s putting him through the ringer because she believes he was unfaithful to her.”
“Was he?” she asks, and I find that curious. Why would she care?
“Don’t know; don’t care. They won’t get divorced. Steele family members don’t get divorced. He’s just about ready to pull the plug on all that.”
“Meaning?”
“Again, don’t know; don’t care. I’m not my brothers. I’m not my father. I’m a whole other problem. And the solution… little bunny,” I flash a smile, “is to marry me, be my good girl, and let me make all your dreams come true like I wanna do. That’s what you can do. What you should do. Let me do what I want. That’ll make me happy and that’ll mean the fewest casualties.”
“So, you were kidnapped when you were a child?” she asks. “Did you get therapy for it?”
