Page 6 of Grimm

William nodded in agreement. “I’ll get her cleaned up and bandaged.”

“Your pops is coming over later,” Duncan reminded him.

“Fuck.” He looked up at Daniella. She’d have to stay out of the way while his father was over. If he saw Daniella, he’d have more questions than William had answers for at the moment. And until William knew what he was going to do with the feisty beauty, she would stay hidden. “That’s fine. I’ll be ready. He wants to go over the shit from last week. Get those numbers for me, will you?”

“Yeah. It’s on your desk already. I have to do a quick drop across town, but I’ll be back for him.” Duncan jerked a jaw toward Daniella. “What about her?”

William moved his gaze to meet Duncan’s. “She’s not going on the books,” he said. Nothing was certain, except he would be keeping her.

If Duncan found it surprising, he was smart enough to say nothing.

“Okay then. Unless you need something else, I’m heading out.”

“No, I’m good. Go on.” William turned off the water and went back to cleaning the wounds.

“What did that mean?” she asked after he applied antibiotic ointment to the cuts.

“What?” He raised his eyes to meet hers.

“That I’m not going on the books. What did that mean?”

He bandaged her heel the best he could, then put her leg straight on the counter. Once he maneuvered around her, he pulled out his pocketknife and worked it between the ropes binding her wrists.

Her body tensed as he cut through the rope, but once she was free, she relaxed. As she brought her arms forward, she grimaced.

“Your shoulders are going to burn for a while.” He picked up the modest bundle of clothes Duncan had found in Ashley’s abandoned room and laid them in her lap. “Get dressed.”

She grabbed hold of the clothes and brought them to her chest as she swung around on the counter to face him.

“What did that mean?” she asked, with more fire.

“It meant you’re not for sale.” He lifted a shoulder. A dash of hope returned to her eyes. Such a naïve girl. “It means you’re mine. Only mine.”

“I don’t want to be anyone’s.” Her shoulders dropped and her gaze fell to the floor.

He clenched his jaw. She wasn’t the first girl who’d pleaded for her freedom, to not want what was coming her way, and she wouldn’t be the last. It was the way of his world.

“You can stay up here in my room while I deal with shit downstairs. I’ll send some food up.” He slid his hands into his pockets. “When I come up later, we’ll talk about my expectations.”

Her eyes widened, she brought her attention back to him, and the color ran from her cheeks.

“I know you understand nothing about all of this, but you’ll just have to trust me when I tell you it’s better I bought you than let Marcus put you in his clubs. This is the better place to be.”

Tears filled her eyes for the first time since he’d set his sights on her at Ash’s. Reality had finally shown up.

“You’re all monsters,” she whispered, her voice ragged with emotion.

He let her words fall between them.

“Maybe so.” He cupped her chin and swept the tears from her cheek with his thumb. “But the only monster you need to focus on now is me.”

“I hate you.” she tugged away from his grip.

He grinned. “That’s fine.”

Chapter 3

Daniella limped across the room, making plans for Megan’s execution when she saw her again. If she saw her again.

---