Page 67 of His Captive Pet

Jorge followed her gaze to the woman. “Go,” he yelled at her. “Be glad I don’t throw you out on the street. Who would take care of you and that girl then?” The woman didn’t respond, probably knowing better, as she picked up the little girl and skittered from the room. How many times had her mother done the same, protected her from her father’s wrath, only to endure it herself because she couldn’t take care of them on her own?

“So. You’re the bitch that’s been stealing my dogs.” Jorge walked up to Aubree. She could smell the cigar smoke on him and alcohol.

“Saving. Not stealing.” She raised her chin. It would be a lie to think she wasn’t scared. Her stomach shook, her entire body tensed, and she wanted to flee the room. But she would stand her ground. She wouldn’t give him the fear he wanted. It wasn’t for him. It wasn’t his to have.

He screwed up his lips and huffed. “You think taking them out of my hands will stop me? Dog fighting has been around forever, and will go on long after you’ve started to rot.”

“Where is Luis? He didn’t have anything to do with me. He didn’t know.”

Jorge laughed. “My cousin? Useless fuck that he is—he’s at home, snuggling his little girl, no doubt. Cried like a bitch when he took his beating.” His eyes wandered over her body, and his tongue ran over his teeth. “I bet he cried more than you would if I gave you the same.”

She took a step back, bumping into the mammoth that had pushed her into the room.

“Uncuff her.” He waved to the guard.

A few jangles of a key, some tugging, and her wrists were free. She rubbed the dark red rings around each hand; she’d bruise for sure.

“Where’s my dog?” Afraid, but needing to know, she asked.

“That pit? He’s safe.” Jorge walked across the room, picking a shot glass from the desk and filling it with tequila. “For now.” He threw back the liquid and scrunched up his face, growling at the burn of the liquor. She wanted it to burn his face.

“You have me, and it appears you already let your cousin go, so what do you want?”

“Want?” He leaned over his desk, hands flat on the desk. Once again, his gaze traveled over the length of her body. The T-shirt and yoga pants she wore didn’t exactly hide her figure from him, but at least she wasn’t wearing one of the flimsy dresses Blake liked so much.

“Tell me.” He walked around the desk, stopping when his booted toes pressed against her sandaled ones, pinching her feet. “Why do you wear this?” He flicked the ring of the collar. She’d forgotten about it. It had been on for so long it just felt like a part of her.

“It’s a necklace.” She tried to step away, but the asshole behind her wouldn’t let her budge. She was perfectly wedged between the two men.

Jorge looped a finger through the ring. “I don’t think so, but I don’t care enough to beat the answer out of you.” He dragged her face closer to him by the collar. “But I care enough about the money you stole to let you suffer before I kill you myself.”

Shoving her back, he said something to her escort in Spanish. Again, his large paw pinched her arm as he dragged her from the room.

“What did he say? Can’t he at least talk to me?” Aubree slapped at the man’s hand, but he only gripped harder. She’d have ugly bruises by the next day.

If she lived long enough to see it.

Aubree heard Samuel before she could see him. Her escort shoved her through another set of steel doors. She cursed and caught herself on a pillar.

“You could walk through the door like a normal human being.” She shot him a glare.

He laughed. “After you’re done here, we’ll see how human you look.”

Pushing her hair away from her face, she looked around the room. Everything was made of stone. The walls, the flooring, no carpeting or any sort of furnishings. Not a single chair sat in the room. The only objects, other than herself, were the eight kennels lining the far wall. Angry growls and barks bounced off the room, making her ears ring. But it was only Samuel’s that she clung to.

Finding him among the other dogs, she ran to his cage. He recognized her immediately, barking and scratching at the cage. He stuck his nose through the bars, pushing harder to get his tongue out and trying to lick her.

“Samuel.” She tried to find a way to open the crate, but found a locked door. “Open this. Let him out,” she yelled at the man standing by the door, his arms crossed over his chest and resting on his extended belly.

“Jorge will be here soon enough, then you’ll see your fucking dog.”

Her stomach soured.

The man disappeared, locking the door behind him. The sound of the bolt slipping into place echoed in the room.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

They weren’t going to come back, Aubree decided when the sun completely faded from the window, and she was left in darkness. They would just leave her locked in the room with the other animals until she died from dehydration or starvation.

---