Page 9 of A Linton Scandal

I felt an ominous sense of worry as I stared at the man who still hadn’t released my hand, despite my attempts to shake it off. “I, what does that have to do with you?”

He smirked, his eyes squinting slightly. With his free hand he reached into his pocket and pulled out a picture and raised it up so I could see it. “Shouldn’t you already know Ms. Juliette.”

The picture was of me holding a man’s tie, as I kissed him. I fluttered my lashes as I looked from the photo to his stone-faced expression. He dropped the photo, and yanked on my hand causing me to stagger forward which resulted in me standing between his legs. “Surely, you didn’t forget the man you accosted in the hallway and dragged into your room?”

I jerked my hand out of his, but something told me that he let me go. “Accosted? I only kissed you, you could have gotten away if you wanted to.”

The only reason I didn’t shout was because the idea of me accosting him made me nearly speechless. He could bench press me if he wanted to, even sitting his seemed taller than me.

“That may have been the case if I hadn’t been drugged. But that’s not important, what’s important is that you have something that belongs to me, and I don’t have the kind nature to let you keep it,” he said as he stood up. I found myself looking up, and up. Damn, the man was big. He was definitely taller than Noah. I glanced over my shoulder at his men, and they too were good sized.

Immediately I thought of the charm that sat on my kitchen counter, “Oh, it’s at home I can bring it to you, if you don’t mind getting rid of your posse.” I sent his men a pointed look. “Once I bring it back, you don’t have to worry I won’t tell anyone about this.”

He stared at me for a minute before he laughed. “You’re funny. The last I checked, a baby doesn’t come out after only two months,” he said as he leaned down, making me take a step back.

My blood froze as it occurred to me how dangerous my current situation was. It wasn’t like I could fight the four men who surrounded me, and the park wasn’t packed with people who were willing and able to help. In fact, the few people who’d bothered to look over my way had quickly turned their gazes away when the men surrounding me sent them a look.

He placed a light hand on my arm. “Let me give you a ride back to your apartment and we can continue this conversation there. But let me warn you Juliette, that there’s no escaping me.”

With that he removed his hand and took a step back. “You, first.”

Swallowing the ball of nerves in my throat, I followed the men who’d been surrounding me out of the park as he flanked me. I stuffed my hands in my pockets feeling the smooth surface of my cell phone debating on whether I should call the police or not.

“I wouldn’t do that, they would come, but would leave as soon as they arrived,” he said as he tapped my pocket, he then reached into my pocket and took out my phone and wallet. “In fact, let me take these to keep you from doing something reckless and endangering more people than necessary.”

Dammit, if only I’d taken a few self-defense classes and watched more ‘what if’ shows about people being dragged into ridiculous situations that were staged. But what cook thought they’d get kidnapped by their child’s father one day, really this day was shaping up to be a pretty shitty one. And to think I woke up looking forward to it, why couldn’t I catch a break or at the very least not get screwed over. I much rather stub my toe than be escorted back to my apartment by someone I was sure was in the mafia.

And to think I’d felt some form of nostalgia about the sex that night.

I was an idiot.

Mihai

I watched her from behind, she resembled one of those deathly sweet bon bon’s my mother enjoyed. Her face was slightly round, and her eyes were wide and while her expression didn’t change much, her eyes showed me everything.

When I spotted her figure in the park, I had debated for all of a second on whether or not to confront her there or somewhere else. However, oddly, I’d felt almost desperate to see her in real life. I decided to blame my impatience on not wanting to waste time.

Then as I’d been making my way toward her, I spotted the tears on her cheeks. Something about it made me disgruntled, she didn’t have a face meant for crying. She looked the best when she was smiling, even when her smiles always seemed small.

Surely, if she knew what I was thinking right now she’d probably take a chance to run. Her cell was warm in my hand, as I debated on how much freedom I would give her during her pregnancy.

I still wasn’t sure if I would introduce her to my circle, was there even a need to do so? If I followed my original plan, she’d be nothing more than the baby’s carrier, and if she insisted on something more, I’d lay a few pennies in her hands and brush her off.

“Thank you.” Her soft voice drew me out of my thoughts as she placed a hand in Callin’s as he helped her into the car. I squinted at where her hand met his. Something about it irritated me. Sensing my stare, he looked at me in inquiry.

“Sir?”

I shook my head, moving around the car I got in and didn’t bother looking at the woman beside me. We’d work out everything in a few minutes, was there any reason for me to overthink it? It wasn’t like she had much of a choice either way.

Soon we were heading to Juliette’s apartment.

Invasion

Juliette

After arriving home, I’d not only found that someone had already entered my apartment but that they’d settled themselves as if they were at home. I could smell my favorite tea steeping, as the arrogant jerk followed me inside.

One of the invaders wore glasses and stood in my kitchen. I frowned and looked at the other person who leaned against the wall, his eyes focused on something outside my window.

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