AllFreeNovel
Share Us
God, I need this. I just… I need this. If I can’t find anything, if Silus really is an open book, then… fuck, I’m so screwed. I’m screwed every which way. At the rate I’m going, I’m going to be popping out babies for him left and right.
What can I say? The man is drop-dead sexy. He’s gorgeous. All those tattoos and the muscles… he really gets me going. I didn’t even flip him off when he called me a good girl before he left. Obviously, he’s affecting me in ways I can’t begin to describe.
I sit in his high-backed leather chair. It’s comfier than it looks, but I’m not here to doze off in his office. I’m here to snoop and find some shit.
His desk drawers, his bookcases; I search it all. I find a laptop but I don’t have the password, so hacking isn’t a possibility. Records of various businesses—stupidly stereotypical ones, too—are all I can find: pizza shops, dry cleaners, etcetera.
Pizza shops? Really?
I try to put everything back the way I found it so it’s not obvious I snooped and totally invaded Silus’s privacy. I’m standing in front of a bookcase, debating whether or not I should go through each and every book I see when I hear someone come into the condo.
Shit. Is that Silus? Was this all a test? Fuckity fuck fuck. If it’s a test, I failed it.
I race out of his office so he doesn’t catch me in there; I can only imagine how upset he’ll be if he finds out I looked through everything I could. I hurry through the hall and emerge into the living room, my mouth open and an excuse ready on my tongue.
But the man who entered the condo isn’t Silus. He wears a ski mask. You know, the black kind with three little holes, two for the eyes and one for the mouth? One of those. The front door is still open, and two more men funnel inside after him.
I debate on running, but it’s too late. The first man’s head whips in my direction; I’m already noticed. So, I awkwardly wave at them and say, “Hey. Uh, I think you have the wrong condo. This condo belongs to Silus McLean, so you should probably—” I stop talking when the three men barrel toward me.
Literally, they run at me, like they didn’t come here to steal shit.
No… it’s like they came here to steal me.
“We know exactly who owns it,” the first man speaks, his voice muffled in the mask. His friends wear the same mask, and a part of me wants to insult them on their choice of mask—so cliché, you know? But I can’t say a word, because the moment the man reaches me, he pulls something out of his pocket and holds it over my face.
A semi-fruity smell is all that greets me before my head gets heavy and I pass out.
Chapter Twenty-One – Thea
My head pounding is the first thing I feel when I come to. My eyelids are heavy as shit and refuse to open right away, but based on the groan that comes from my lips, I’m definitely waking up and I’m not dead.
So, you know, a good thing.
The bad thing is I don’t remember how I got here or why I feel like shit. My stomach is in knots. I kind of want to throw up. Through the pain and the nausea I struggle to remember what happened.
It’s faint, fuzzy in my head, but the memory is there: people came into Silus’s place, not to steal shit, but for me. They must have kidnapped me, because I highly doubt I’d get drugged just to wake up in Silus’s condo.
I don’t know how long it is until my eyes open, but when they do, I see I’m in a bar of some kind. The smell of wood and alcohol fills the air, and I wrinkle my nose as I try to stand—but I can’t, due to the fact that I’m tied to a wooden chair.
It’s not one of those newer bars, either. It’s an old place, one that’s seen better days and whose lighting leaves a lot to be desired. I have no idea what time it is, but with no windows in the place, it feels late.
Obviously, the rest of the bar is empty. No patrons drowning themselves in booze. Just me, myself, and I. Oh, and the stupid chair I’m tied to.
“Hello?” I speak, but my voice is raspy and dry, and the word sounds funny. I need some water. “Is anyone there?” I try my wrists again; they’re tied behind my back, so I can’t see what type of knot I’m working with, but the rope sure feels thick and scratchy, the kind that’ll leave me with rope burns if I’m not careful.
Although, worrying about rope burns right now is silly. I could die here. I need to keep things in perspective.
Seconds pass, and those seconds feel more like hours until I hear the sound of footsteps approaching me from behind. I try to look over my shoulder to see who’s coming, but I can only turn my head so far—which is just as well, because the person whose footsteps it is grabs a chair and drags it along the floor, positioning it in front of me. Whoever it is spins it around so that the back of the chair faces me and he has to spread his legs wide to sit on it backwards like he’s some kind of cool badass or something.
Regardless, I am unimpressed.
The man is one I’ve never seen before. Tall, if I have to guess, and probably just as muscular as Silus. Near his thirties. Handsome. He wears black pants with an emerald green, long-sleeved shirt neatly tucked into his pants, its sleeves rolled up to his elbows. Bright green eyes study me, set in chiseled face that tells me he is a no-nonsense type of person. Short, thick red hair graces the top of his head, and when I notice that particular detail, it dawns on me who this might be.
“Sorry about the rough treatment,” he tells me, “but as you can see, this opportunity came out of the blue. When I was offered a chance to lure Silus to my side of the city, that all I’d have to do is kidnap his girl, well, how could I say no? I’ve been dying to get my hands on the man for years.” His green eyes twinkle. “You do know who I am, don’t cha?”
“Cormac O’Connor,” I mutter. To say I’m unhappy being caught in the middle of this thing, whatever it is, would be the year’s biggest understatement.
Cormac claps once, his lips curling into a grin I can only describe as maniacal. “Well done, Thea, is it? I’ll admit, when I heard rumors Silus had taken a woman, I expected…” He trails off, his amusement dimming somewhat. “More. You’re pretty, yes, but the opposite of impressive in our line of work.”
