Page 47 of Captured

When he stood, I felt tinier than I had in my entire life. He squared his broad shoulders then slipped his arm under my waist. This time as he climbed back up the last of the stairs, he carried me as he would some small infant, finding no difficulties in keeping me against his side.

As I’d expected, he dumped me back into the room on the bed, yanking the covers over me. He never released his hold, even taking the time to brush his hand over my shoulder and down my arm before lifting my wrist. “Bad girls aren’t allowed privileges.” When he snapped the handcuff around my wrist, I immediately reacted, trying to punch him with my other hand. But exactly as had occurred before, he was far too quick, slamming my free arm against the pillow, the pressure enough to make me cringe.

But I refused to cry out, instead hissing.

“While I value and even appreciate a woman with spunk, you will either stop fighting me every step of the way or I’ll destroy everything and everyone you consider precious to you.”

“How do I know you haven’t already killed them, like my father?”

His eyes flashed in an emotion I couldn’t read. When he let go of my arm, he took a single step away, yet kept peering down at me as if watching an animal in a cage at the zoo.

“Ask yourself this, Emily. With as reprehensible as your father has been, as demanding and insufferable and as violent to those around him, would you really care if I ended his miserable life?”

I was ready to spout off obscenities and words of love for my dad when I realized just how hypocritical that would be.

There was something even more vile about the smile crossing his face. “You and I are very much alike, baby girl. We were drawn together for a reason. Together, we will be unstoppable. Get some rest.”

Talon did nothing more than walk toward the door, grabbing his clothes in the process. Once inside the doorway, he shifted his heated gaze toward me one last time before flicking off the light.

And as he left me in utter darkness, closing the door behind him, I was even sicker inside, more repulsed than I’d ever been.

Because of how much I wanted him, and how much I hated my dad.

CHAPTER 14

Styx

“You rang, bossman?”

Rico knew how much I hated it when he called me that. I usually lashed out at him, although our sordid friendship was such that little I did fazed him. Tonight was no different, other than what my brother had called my Capo sucked in his breath, sniffing afterwards in an exaggerated fashion like some vile pig in the wild.

“You smell like a whorehouse.”

I threw him a nasty look and poured a drink, not bothering to offer one to him. This wasn’t a social visit.

“I need you to do something for me,” I told him as I turned around, leaning against the edge of the bar.

“Hence your text. ‘Get the fuck here immediately.’” He grinned, the man obviously having too much time on his hands. He was the single person in my life I’d almost consider a friend, although good old Dad had drilled into me that having friends was akin to having a loose but thickly woven rope around my neck.

Still, Rico had been there through thick or thin, someone who had no life other than what I told him to have. Granted, he was wealthy beyond his means, but I gave him little time to enjoy it. Other than when he traveled with me.

“What do you need?” he asked, obviously realizing I was not in a playing mood.

“Find out all the dirty little secrets you can about Gideon Martin including a list of his friends and colleagues he associates with on a regular basis. He was also seen with a fucking Arabian prince the other night. Find out who that was. I emailed you a picture of the two of them together.”

“Don’t you know who this prince is? You know everybody.”

“How the fuck would I know? Arabian princes are a dime a dozen these days.” I couldn’t help but snort.

He threw up his hands. “I thought you’d be in a better mood after collecting the object of your infatuation.”

“Yeah? Well, you thought wrong.”

Yes, her utter defiance right to the end had pissed me off more than I’d anticipated but it was more than that. It was the disgust she had in her eyes when looking at me, even though a portion of the time her gaze had been filled with lust. It was the sick feeling that my decision to keep her would haunt me in some fashion.

I wasn’t the kind of man who handled change easily. My usual response was terrible acts of violence to soothe my inner beast. Somehow, I doubted that would work any longer.

“O-kay. I’ll see what I can do. You do know Mr. Martin has as many powerful friends as your family does.”

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