Page 43 of Filthy Hot

Blinking, I try to hold back the tears, but now that I’m alone, I can’t. They roll freely down my cheeks. I allow it for the first time since I made the decision to run from Xavier. I allow it all. The tears fall, they flow, and I stare out the window.

Once I’ve felt sorry for myself long enough, I inhale deeply through my nose, hold my breath, then let it out slowly. It’s time to get myself together. A few tears, and now I need to attempt to devise a plan.

A plan that gets me the fuck out of here and back to Rider. I want everything from him. I want the life that I imagine with him. Or maybe it’s the life that I am imagining in general that I want.

Love, respect, kindness. I want all of it.

I want everything.

I know I don’t deserve it, but I want it. I want it all.

The door opens behind me. I don’t even flinch, let alone turn around to face whoever is walking through the doorway. When the person doesn’t say anything, I decide to speak up, mainly because it seems if I don’t, nobody will.

“What is it you want from me?” I keep my attention on the window.

I can't figure out where I’ve been taken. There are still pine trees surrounding me. I don’t know what that means, but hopefully, I’m still somewhere in Pineville. If I’ve been taken out of town, I have a feeling I’ll be lost forever.

“We want a lot, and we’re hoping we will get what we want by using you as trade.”

I spin around and lift my chin slightly. Looking down my nose at him, I watch him for a moment, then arch a brow. Watching him, waiting for an answer. This is someone new. I don’t know this man.

But I’m not surprised by the new face. He’s dressed much like Rider and his men in more casual wear, and it takes me by surprise. Whoever these men are, it’s clear they are going for that whole good cop/bad cop vibe. To me, they are all bad cops. I want nothing to do with any of them.

But I’m entertaining this one in an effort to stall. The longer I keep him, or any of them, from doing whatever it is they brought me here to do, the more of a chance I give Rider to find me before anything really bad happens.

I know he will find me.

I don’t know how I know, but I do.

CHAPTER

SEVENTEEN

KYLE

“It doesn’t matterwho I am,” the man states after staring at me for far too long. I arch a brow, watching him and wondering why he thinks he’s special. It’s clear that this man is completely full of himself.

Ahh, I understand it now. This is likely one of the top men in charge.

“Your man and his people, they’re very anxious to get you back. It has me wondering…” His words trail off.

As he watches me, I see his entire demeanor shift. This man is playing a game, and I don’t like any part of it. He appears to shift right in front of me. He’s no longer just a man who is watching me. Instead, he almost has a snakelike demeanor. I’ve never seen anything like it.

“Has you wondering?” I prod.

He shakes his head once, then takes a step toward me, but only one. He’s still across the room from me, but the way his attention stays connected to mine, I have to wonder exactly what is happening here, but I’m not about to ask.

Even if I wonder, I’m not sure I actually want to know. I would like for him to spin around, close the door, and flip the lock into place again. I want to be alone. I want him gone.

The whole thing terrifies the absolute shit out of me.

“It has me wondering,” he continues, “what is so special about you?” he asks. “This idiot Xavier is willing to do whatever it takes to have you, and the Dark Horse MC is willing to wage a war over you. Sure, they claim it has to do with us encroaching on Texas, but I know that the truth of the matter is you. So, please tell me, what makes you so fucking special?”

I’m not sure how to answer that. I’ve never thought of myself as desirable or even desired by anyone before. But if I had to describe the way Rider possibly feels about me, it would be an insta-lust/desire thing.

“Well?” he asks when I don’t respond immediately.

“I’m not special,” I confess.

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