Page 9 of Becoming His Pet

He couldn’t help but laugh over the image of her doing just that. “Well, most of the guys that will be in there are regulars. They would believe you—and they’d think it was part of a game. Hell, they might even cheer a little.” He might be overstating it a bit, but she didn’t know that.

“You kidnap girls often?” she asked with a little gasp.

“No. Usually, the girls are willing captives,” he assured her, but she didn’t look any more relieved by his statement. “But I’ll warn you, even if the guys would just laugh you off, I’ll do what I promised back in the alley once we get upstairs.”

“Again, you threaten me, and want me to trust you?”

She had a good point.

But it didn’t really matter.

“Yes.” He nodded. It’s exactly what he wanted. He also wanted to shove a ball gag between her teeth and watch those beautiful brown eyes widen and fill with unshed tears.

She rubbed her forehead and sighed. “Fine. I’ll come up, but you have to promise me that I can leave whenever I’m ready. You can’t hold me here.”

“I don’t make promises I’m not positive I can keep.” He shook his head. “You’ll come up and stay until I’m ready for you to leave.” The instinct to protect bubbled in his chest. This girl was in trouble, and he needed to know how much.

“I’m not going to agree to become your fucking captive! No way,” she said. He found her defiance refreshing; he liked a little push back.

“You’re not my captive, Nora. I’m trying to help you, though I can’t understand why any more than you can, but there it is. And I can’t help you unless I know exactly what you’ve gotten yourself into.”

“Into? Into?” The subtle flare of her nostrils matched the hard, angry tone she was taking. “I didn’t get myselfintoanything. I was just working the counter!” And there it was. The tiny hitch in her tone that gave her secret away. The girl wasn’t just the flower girl at the shop; there was more to her story. A lot more.

“Either way, you’re not leaving my sight until I know it’s safe to do so. I’m not going to hurt you. We’re going to work together to fix this, okay?” He sensed the fear in her, but she fought it. She didn’t want him to see it.

After several long moments passed, she let out an exasperated sigh.

“Fine.” She pushed her door open and as she climbed out he heard her muttering to herself. “How I found you so fucking hot is beyond me. Controlling asshole.”

He restrained his grin before getting out of the car and escorted her to the back door.

Confident she wouldn’t cause a scene, he let her follow him up the stairs to the door to his apartment.

“Hey, Greg. Is that you?” Aubree’s voice carried up the stairs. Greg turned to look down at her. Nora glanced at him before taking a step down.

“Stay.” He touched her shoulder. Her eyes narrowed, but she didn’t move.

“Yeah, Aubree. What’s up?” he asked, wiggling his key in and pushing the door open. He tugged on Nora’s shirt to get her to understand what he wanted. She pretended not to notice.

“Uh, just a quick question.” Aubree’s eyes moved back and forth between Nora and him.

“Nora. Inside,” he said with a snap of his fingers.

If she narrowed her gaze anymore, she wouldn’t be able to see.

“Fuck you,” she whispered as she passed him on the stairs, headed inside the apartment, and slammed the door behind her.

He started making his way down the steps when he heard the bolt on the door slide into place.

Aubree didn’t even try to hide her giggle.

“New girlfriend?” she asked, pointing at the now locked door.

“No.” He shook his head. “Definitely not, but I do need your husband, is he around yet?”

“Yeah, in his office trying to get glue out of his hair. He fell asleep reading a book with Bella on the couch, and she got into her arts and craft stuff. She tried to bedazzle her daddy.” Aubree laughed.

Greg shook his head. The little girl had all of them wrapped around her little fingers.

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