Cason
Her fists pounding against my back barely register as I walk out to my car. She’s sort of amusing with all this protesting and threatening me.
“You won’t get away with this! Let me down!”
I glance around the neighborhood to see if anyone is listening to all of her caterwauling. I see no one at first, but as my gaze drifts toward the blue house at the end of the street, I see someone peeking through their front window curtains.
Not that they’ll do anything. Harry lives on a typical American street, and in the middle of the day, the only people around are third shift workers fast asleep and nosy housewives who will gossip about what they’re seeing me doing with Lily right now but won’t call the cops.
Lily starts doing swimmer kicks with her legs, barely missing my head. I tighten my hold on her and snap, “I swear to God, you hit me once and I’m going to knock you out.”
My threat has no effect on her at all. She lets out a grunt and directs all her attention to pummeling my shoulder blades again in her futile attempt to get free.
I reach my car parked on the street in front of Harry’s house and fling open the back door. Tossing her into the back seat, I quickly look around as she sits stunned at how hard she landed. I hadn’t planned on kidnapping anyone today, so I didn’t come prepared.
My eyes scan the car floor, and I see a rope poking out from under the passenger front seat. That’ll do. I lean over her to grab it, and that’s when she takes her opportunity to kick me hard in the side. The point of her sneaker jabs directly into my skin.
Rage erupts inside me as stabbing pain spikes in my ribs. Fuck! On the same side as my sore shoulder too, damnit!
“Sit still!” I bark as I move to tie her wrists and ankles together.
“I thought you said you were going to knock me out.”
I look up at her just as I finish securing her ankles. Does this girl have a death wish or something? I’ve threatened grown men and watched while they pleaded for mercy, crying like babies. This girl doesn’t seem to understand how much I can fuck her up.
“You seem to want me to hurt you, little girl. Don’t test me. I’m not some gentle giant. I’m a vicious one, and I will knock you out if I have to.”
“Fuck you! You’re a monster and nothing more.”
I finish tying her wrists together and smile. If she thinks being called that will hurt me, she’s missing the mark.
“Try again, sweetheart. Being called a monster doesn’t bother me. I am monster, and now you’re my boss’s captive until your father pays his bill.”
She doesn’t answer this time, and I see in her eyes she’s frightened. Good. Maybe that means she won’t scream and beg all the way back to the estate. I move to close the door so we can get going and realize her feet are right behind my seat. Hell no. There’s no way I want her kicking my back for the entire drive.
Pushing her across the back seat to the passenger side, I fight her wriggling to get the seatbelt around her. She’s a fighter, but I’m bigger. As I’ve found with most things in life, size matters. In fact, it wins over nearly everything else.
“Now sit there and keep quiet.”
I climb into the front seat and start the car. Looking up toward the house, I see Harry standing in his front doorway. Fucking coward. What kind of man lets someone take his daughter away like I just did? I’m no honorable soul, but if anyone tried to do that with my kid, I’d break them in half first.
As if on cue, little miss thing in the backseat starts with the bravado as we drive away. “My father won’t let you get away with this.”
Glancing up at the rearview mirror, I see her courage hasn’t reached her eyes filled with fear at what’s about to happen next. “Your father just let me walk out of your house with you. He was more protective of those plates of his than he was with you. Harry’s not going to do anything other than pay back the money he owes.”
I give the car some gas as she asks in a terrified voice I know is truer than that brave one she just tried, “What if he can’t get the money?”
Once more I glance up at the rearview mirror, and our gazes meet. She deserves the truth, even if it frightens her. She clearly doesn’t know the truth about her father, who did worry more about those goddamned plates than about her. She likely thinks he’s just some sweet old guy and not someone who gets involved with the likes like Victor Varens.
“Then my boss will decide what to do with you. Now shut your mouth so I can have some peace and quiet.”
Lily obeys me for about two point five seconds before she returns to asking me questions I don’t want to answer. I don’t know what my father will do to her if her father doesn’t pay up. I suspect he’ll get rid of her. She wouldn’t serve any purpose to him. He already has a wife and women he keeps around for whatever he wants, and with how much this one talks, I can’t imagine he’ll like having her under foot for more than a few minutes.
She also wants to know where we’re going. I don’t bother to explain that either. She’ll figure that out when we get to the house. What does she want? A fucking address and zip code?
“Why won’t you tell me where you’re taking me? Don’t I have the right to know that?”
I jam on the brakes to stop at a red light and spin around to look at her in the back seat. “Don’t you know how to listen? I told you to keep quiet. What about those fucking words don’t you understand?”
My voice echoes off the sides of the car and the windows, and she shrinks down against the seat, finally frightened enough to shut up. For a moment, I watch her, expecting to see the tears welling in her eyes begin to spill out onto her cheeks. But she holds them back.
“I’m sorry. This is my first kidnapping. I guess I’m not very good at this.”
I sigh in frustration. Even her apology is full of sass.
“Just sit there and be quiet.”
The guy in the car behind me blows his horn, and I swear to God I want to march back there and rip his fucking head off. I throw him a death look and spin around to see the light has already turned green.
“What the fuck are you in such a hurry for, asshole?” I grumble before slamming my foot on the gas.
We take off like a bat out of hell, my body pushing back against the leather seat the speed hits so fast. I want to get away from that impatient jackass, but all of a sudden, I feel like I want to get away from this whole thing.
Harry. Lily. Jaxon. My father. All of it.
I don’t know where I’d go or what I’d do since I’ve never had any job but working for the family. This is the first time I’ve ever even thought of leaving this life behind, so it’s not like I’ve formulated a plan or anything like that. It’s just after dealing with Harry and his fucking stupid plates, Lily and her need to constantly talk, and everything else today, maybe it might be nice to go somewhere else and start over.
Daydreaming about that lasts for about a minute before Lily interrupts my thoughts with another goddamned question. I swear to God this woman has a death wish.
“What’s your name?”
The way she asks that sounds different than every other time she’s talked to me. Before, every word out of her mouth came with a razor sharp edge. Even her fucking apology. But now, she sounds gentle and sweet, like she truly cares to know the answer to her question.
I look up at the rearview mirror and see her staring at me, her eyes filled with curiosity. Something deep inside me says I should tell her since this is the first nice thing she’s said and maybe keeping her happy will make her stay quiet.
But then another part of me says don’t. She and I don’t need to share names or anything else. She’s nobody to me and never will be. She’s a hostage, a payment for her father’s loan that will be replaced by money in a week or less. Nothing more. In fact, I probably won’t see her after today since I imagine my father will take her and do something with her that suits him.
So, no, she won’t get kindness in return for hers.
“Shut your mouth and keep quiet.”
The frustration—or is it hurt?—that comes off her nearly fills all the space around us in the car. I quickly look up at the mirror and see her pouting back there. Returning my focus to the road, I can’t help but wonder when the hell the last time I saw someone pout. Christ, it has to be twenty years.
Then a flash of fear races through me. Is it possible she really is just a girl and not a grown woman like she said back at the house?
“How old are you?” I ask into the brief silence of the car without looking back at her.
“Oh, so now you want to chat? You won’t even answer me when I ask your name. Why the hell should I answer your question?” she answers in that razor sharp way once again.
Now I look back at her and see the pout is gone, replaced by a smug look like she’s caught me at my own game. Little girl, don’t test me. That’s not where you want to go.
“Because I want to know. Now answer. How old are you?” I ask in a more threatening tone than before.
“No.”
I suddenly feel like I know exactly how every father in the world has felt when they said to their kids, “I swear to God I’ll stop this car if you don’t behave.” She’s like a fucking child. If I have to pull this car over to get her to give me the answer to my question, then so be it.
With a sharp yank of the steering wheel, I pull off the road and slam my foot on the brake. Even I go flying forward it all happens so fast.
Spinning around in my seat, I look back at her and point my Glock at her head. She’s tugging on her seatbelt, which nearly choked her when I stopped so short.
“Look at me.”
For once, she obeys my order and stops everything else to look at me. Her expression fills with hurt and then utter fear, but I don’t care. I want an answer, and I want it now.
“Last time, and I swear to God if you don’t give me what I want to know, I’m going to hurt you. Now tell me, how old are you?”
I wait, expecting her to give me an answer full of her usual attitude, but an answer nonetheless. A few seconds pass, and all she does is stare at me. I can’t tell if she’s getting ready to tell me what I want to know or to continue playing this game that can’t end well for her.
In her eyes, I recognize the real fear she’s trying to hide. She can’t, though. I’ve hurt enough people in my life to know what true fear looks like.
Even though I don’t do it intentionally, I find myself holding my breath as I wait for her to tell me what I want to know. I’ve beaten and tortured enough people to understand that getting answers from people takes patience. Only rookies and psychotic assholes jump right to the end game.
Finally, she opens her mouth and sighs. “Fine. I’m eighteen. Happy now?”
As I turn around, I let myself enjoy a tiny smile she can’t see. Yes, I am happy, Lily. Kidnapping a child wasn’t in my game plan for today, so finding out you’re of age is great.
Neither of us say another word the rest of the way to the estate, and when I park the car, I’m thankful that I’ll be done dealing with her in just a few minutes. My father will take her off my hands, and I’ll return to my job that usually contains a lot less frustration.
I open the rear passenger side door and unhook her seat belt. I consider untying her but quickly decide against that as the memory of her fighting me when I first got her in the car flashes through my mind.
Nope. Keeping her tied up will be a hell of a lot less hassle.
“Time to go meet your new babysitter,” I say with a chuckle as I pull her out of the car and toss her over my shoulder.
After kicking the car door closed, I head to the office with her as she once again begins to ask more fucking questions. What is with this woman and her questions?
“Who? You mean you aren’t going to be the person taking care of me this whole time?” she asks in a strange way that makes her sound almost disappointed.
“My boss. Don’t worry. He’ll like you, as long as you learn to keep your mouth closed.”
“And if I don’t?”
Who the fuck asks this many questions?
“Then he won’t like you. Now shut up.”
My hands hold her tightly against me, and I can’t avoid feeling the swell of her very nice ass against my fingers. Turning my head, I see she’s got great legs too. Victor will probably be very happy to have her for the next week. She’s gorgeous and has a great body, and if she stays quiet, she’s practically perfect.
Maybe I’ll get a raise out of this. That is, if he stifles all her talk by gagging her.
The office door is open, so I rap my knuckles on the doorframe before walking in. “So the visit with Harry didn’t go as well as expected. He says he needs more time to get the money, and since I didn’t figure you’d want me to kill him before that time was up, I took his daughter.”
My father stares up at me, and his mouth drops open. “What the fuck are you talking about? Who the fuck is this?”
I lower her to the ground and steady her for a second so she doesn’t fall over since her ankles are still tied together. “This is Lily, Harry’s daughter,” I answer proudly as I watch his gaze roam over her very nice body, pausing on her tits.
“What the hell am I supposed to do with her?” he asks when he’s finished inspecting her finer points.
“Whatever your heart desires. I told Harry he has seven days, so for the next week, she’s all yours to do whatever you want.”
Lily inches a step closer to me and hides her head behind me, although I can’t imagine why she thinks that’s going to do anything for her. My father leans back in his chair and folds his arms across his chest before shaking his head.
“It looks like she isn’t mine to have, if you ask me. You take care of her for the next week, but keep her out of sight. I knew Harry would be a hassle. Why can’t he just pay like everyone else?”
While he wonders aloud about Harry’s poor performance as a borrower, his words about my having to be responsible for Lily echo in my brain. A whole week with this person? What the fuck am I going to do with her for seven days? She never shuts up, and every word that comes from her mouth is like poison.
“Don’t you think she’d be better off with you?” I ask as Lily manages to hide all of herself behind me.
Why the hell does she think I’m her savior now? I’ve threatened her half a dozen times since I met her less than an hour ago.
My father smiles and shakes his head again. “Not from where I’m sitting, no. There’s not a lot going on for the next couple days, so take some time off and enjoy yourself. It looks like you’re halfway there already.”
I look back to see Lily staring up at me with terror in her eyes and can’t imagine what the fuck my father is seeing. All I know is now I’m stuck babysitting an eighteen year old with too much sass for the next week.
“Fine. I need a few days of vacation anyway,” I mutter under my breath, hoping to hide how much this arrangement pisses me off.
Once more, I lift Lily over my shoulder and head back to my car. Furious about how all of this has turned out, I don’t even bother putting the seat belt around her after dumping her into the back seat.
If I’m lucky, she’ll give me a chance to knock her out and maybe she’ll stay unconscious for the next seven days.
