Page 29 of Lord of Debauchery

Tears finally formed in my eyes, several salty beads slipping past my lashes before I could blink them away. This was unlike anything I’d been through before, including the fact I had no choice in the matter.

I was about to become someone’s hostage.

As I lowered onto the edge of the bed, I couldn’t take my eyes off the dead man. Beckham had easily killed him, as if taking the man’s life meant nothing at all. I wanted to be disgusted by his actions but if he hadn’t acted quickly, I would likely be dead. I slowly dropped my head into my hands, my body convulsing.

This time I didn’t feel his presence until he’d placed his hand on one of mine. I jerked my head up, my initial reaction wanting to yank my hand away, but I didn’t.

Beckham was wearing an entirely different expression. Where he’d been amused the night before with my antics, all business when killing several people, now he had a slight softness about him that could almost be described as engaging.

He cocked his head, rubbing his thumb from one side of my right eye then the left, collecting my tears. “Where did you learn to fight and shoot like that?”

“Does it matter at this point? Besides, it’s none of your business.”

Sighing from exasperation, he looked away. “We don’t need to make this any more difficult than it already is, sunshine.”

“Stop calling me cutesy names. You know my name.”

“Fine, Kenya. I don’t how to be any clearer than what I’ve been. Now, it’s unfortunate you were dragged into this bloody mess, but at this point it can’t matter. This is business.”

“This is my life.”

“You can either come with me willingly or I’ll put you in chains and dump you into the trunk.”

“You wouldn’t dare.”

“You obviously haven’t figured out that I’m not a good guy.”

“I knew that the moment you showed up inside my house uninvited but as you can see, I can take care of myself.”

“Not against an army.”

I knew that. Of course I did. “Fine.”

“We can make this easy or it can be very difficult on you.”

“This is my world. This is very important to me.”

“And I’ve already dispatched a cleanup crew that will arrive later today and dispose of the bodies and remove every stain. I’ll have them cancel your guests if you’ll give me the contact information.”

“How nice of you. I’m curious. Does that mean I’ll be allowed to return home when the nightmare is concluded?” I sounded like some helpless girl at this point, which I certainly was not.

“That’s my hope. But only if you learn to follow the rules.”

His hope. His rules. Fuck him.

He stood, nodding toward the closet. “Get your things. I’m not going to tell you again. We cannot take any additional time.”

No choice. I’d never faced a situation quite like this, even though I’d had enough training to know when I’d been boxed in. I’d need to wait for an alternative way of escaping, but I made a promise to myself I would escape. Period.

I jerked up from the bed, grabbing the same duffle bag I’d brought with me so I could spend the weekend. He didn’t seem to understand or care that I had guests coming, orders that would be delivered, people that would worry about me when they realized I wasn’t here.

What was I supposed to do?

My stomach was in knots as I threw together everything that had been taken out, which wasn’t much. In being forced to step over the asshole, the sickeningly sweet stench of blood caught me off guard, filling my nostrils and I almost threw up. I fought it as I grabbed my makeup, finally returning to the closet and grabbing my hidden purse.

“Give me the keys.”

“You’re not driving.”

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