Page 1 of Eye Candy

Then, Laina

The day my dad started getting into politics was the day my life changed. He went from single dad trying to make ends meet to a busy bee trying to scrub his past of any wrongdoings while smiling and saying everything right in front of the cameras. I went from being a happy daughter to someone forced to shut up and smile, to show the world we were a loving pair.

And we were. I loved my dad. I did. I did not, however, love politics. Ever since he’d gotten into it, I couldn’t go out with my friends. I couldn’t have fun and be a kid. No, I could only do approved things because if I happened to get caught doing something bad, his numbers would go down, and he was trying to be the new mayor.

Along the way, he found himself a beautiful woman so he’d have her on one side and me on the other. Last I heard, he was neck and neck with the incumbent mayor. The race was close.

I didn’t really care about the stupid race. Nor did I care about the big house we’d just moved into. It was smack dab in the middle of the wealthiest area in the town. All other housesnear it were just as grand and as impressive, their owners either higher-up businessmen or the opposite.

Criminals. Because we lived in a city full of crime.

I wasn’t dumb. I knew my dad was talking to people most outside this city would deem undesirables. But, as long as those undesirables helped my dad get the mayor’s seat, he’d stoop to their level. Offer favors. I-O-Us. All that fun stuff.

Honestly, I wished my dad and I could rewind time, go back to the days when he was a struggling businessman and I was a happy-go-lucky eight-year-old. I was seventeen now, so times had definitely changed.

Take tonight, for instance. I’d been alone in the house since four P.M. because he and his new girlfriend had been invited to some dinner with some higher-ups in the city. I couldn’t remember who; all I knew was, I wasn’t invited, so I had to stay here, in this big-ass house, all by myself for the night.

Which was fine. I was messaging my best friend, Kelly, and keeping myself occupied with a show on Netflix in my room. Sprawled upon my bed, I was bored beyond belief.

It was a big room, wide open, with grand, hand-carved furniture and actual paintings hanging on the wall—no mass-produced art here. Not anymore. Everything had to be the best. The thing was, I didn’t care about any of it. I didn’t need the latest phone model or paintings that cost a grand each. I didn’t need the money. I’d been happier without it.

But this wasn’t about me. This was about my dad and what he wanted, and because of that, I was trying.

When seven o’clock hit, I paused the show on the TV and wandered to my bathroom across the hall to take a shower. You’d be surprised at how slowly time passed when you were bored out of your wits. You’d think after all this time, I’d beused to it, but I wasn’t. In fact, I hated it more with each passing day.

This wasn’t the life I wanted to live. No, I wanted to go out there, see the city for myself, experience everything life had to offer.But no, I couldn’t. I had to stay here, at home, like a good daughter.

I’d tried sneaking out before, after we’d moved into this huge house, but my dad had installed cameras, so he’d caught me. His right-hand man had found me and dragged me back to the house, where my dad had proceeded to scold me.

Who was his right-hand man? His girlfriend’s brother.

Yeah, nepotism at its finest. He got himself a pretty girlfriend over ten years his junior and someone who did all of his dirty work for him.

It didn’t matter. After I graduated high school, I’d be out of here. I’d move somewhere else and never look back. That had been my plan for a few years now. I didn’t care how I got there, but I’d get there. Dad could keep his new life and his new girlfriend, have babies with her for all I cared, and let me go. Let me be free.

Only… in the end, it didn’t turn out like that.

I got out of the shower, rubbing my blond hair with a towel to dry it off some. I’d changed into my pajamas—a fuzzy pink set. Pink was my favorite color. I was seconds from running a brush through my hair when I heard someone talking.

What the…

I dropped the brush into the sink, racing across the hall to find the volume on my TV had turned all the way up… and the show I’d been watching had started to play. My fingers fumbled with the pause button, and then I turned the volume back down.

That was odd. That was—whatever else I’d started to think faded from my mind when I turned around and saw the closet on the far side of the room, in the corner. It was a walk-in closet, and I knew for a fact I always kept the door shut.

It wasn’t shut, though. It hung open a good three inches.

My heart thumped loudly in my chest as my feet took me closer to the door. I didn’t know why I didn’t go for my phone, why I didn’t go to grab something. What if someone was in there? As unlikely as it was, someone could’ve gotten inside the house—though it was pretty darn unlikely, given the alarm system and all the cameras. If someone broke in through a window or tried to come in through any of the doors, my dad would get notified.

It took me a minute to reach the closet, and when I did, my arm trembled as I reached for the knob to pull the door open. I couldn’t get my heartbeat under control. Something deep down was trying to tell me something wasn’t right here.

My fingers curled around the handle, finding its cold metal near searing, and I pulled open the door, seeing nothing but darkness inside the closet.

Huh. Okay, maybe I’d left it open without realizing it. Maybe—

Something shifted in the shadows, and before I knew what was happening, a black bag went over my face, shielding me from seeing who it was. The person spun me around, slamming me against their chest—alerting me to the fact that it was a man—and wrapped an arm around my neck while his other pinned my arms down so I couldn’t struggle. The arm around my neck tightened, squeezing hard enough I couldn’t breathe.

Was this it? Was I going to die? Would this be the end for me? I didn’t want to die. There were so many things in this lifeI’d yet to experience. Dying was the last thing on my agenda, but I was pretty damned helpless.

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