Page 56 of Out of Control

“I don’t know, Lombardi. I’ve always been more of an ass man, myself. And hers is just the perfect mix of shapely and jiggly.”

Athena made a noise, but quickly cut herself off. She was going to trust me.Thank god.

“This is true,” Leo said, like we were bros. I almost expected him to fist bump me. “I got a good look at the matching thong while you two were unconscious. I could definitely deal with it if I only got to fuck that.”

Athena stiffened. Time to move the topic to something else.

“How about just the hair! Women have magical hair. Look how curly it is right now, and just a couple hours ago it was straight as a ruler and in a tiny little bun. And so soft.”

I nuzzled her hair again, letting the curls fall around me to cover my face so I could grab the pin with my teeth. The metal scraped at my enamel, but that didn’t matter. If we lived through this I’d visit a dentist.

I used my tongue to pull the pin all the way into my mouth and against my cheek. I felt like a squirrel with an acorn, but at least I could speak clearly enough to avoid suspicion.

“See, it’s still so soft, even after being in the salty, dirty bay. You can’t imagine how soft this shit is!”

I could practically feel Athena rolling her eyes, but this was for the greater good and her hair was a better distraction than the other body parts he expressed an interest in.

Lombardi didn’t fight the temptation, putting a hand up to her head on the opposite side of me, attention on her long enough for me to tongue the pin back out to my lips. I had half a second to make a decision, and I tilted my head another inch before spitting out the pin over my shoulder, praying to anyone listening that my aim was true.

My outstretched fingers caught the bobby pin. Someone up there was paying attention.

“You’re right, so fucking soft,” Lombardisaid.

“I mean, how does that happen? It’s like witchcraft!” I needed to keep him talking to cover any noises I made as I worked the pin, first from one of Athena’s wrists, then one of mine. I straightened the pin and let myself ponder for half a second. Lombardi made sure the cuffs were tight on our wrists, so even if I tried using the pin as a shim I had no slack to push it through and free the cuff. Not a surprise. He was a professional. That meant he probably also knew to utilize the double-lock mechanism on the cuffs, so I had to release that first before I tried picking the lock the traditional way. I went to work.

“I bet she uses a special conditioner. All her badass criminal defense lawyer money can afford expensive hair shit,” I said conspiratorially. I saw black spots in the corner of my eyesight. Shit. The double lock was history, now I just needed to pick the regular one.

Lombardi rolled his eyes. “Women have fucked up priorities. Why waste money on that shit? She could spend the money on—”

“On a 92-inch LED TV?” I asked, remembering the ridiculously big screen from the surveillance footage. Talk about messed up priorities. Who needed a TV that big in an apartment that shitty? I grabbed Athena’s fingers, moving them to her cuff so she could catch it, then gave the pin one final twist, unlatching her wrist.

Athena was smart, keeping her hands behind her back as if nothing changed. Just because her hands were free didn’t mean the rest of her was, and we didn’t want to give anything away. I moved on to my own cuffs, knowing I only had a couple moreminutes before the pain of everything overwhelmed me and I lost consciousness again.

“Hell yeah! You need a big screen to watch good movies. Speed. The Matrix. John Wick.”

What was with him and Keanu Reeves? I got my own double locking mechanism free. Almost done…

“The Lake House?” I asked, just to fire him up a little.

“I don’t watch girly shit. I like action movies.”

“And you don't think Keanu got some action from filming that movie?”

Athena snorted.

“Nothing wrong with that. I’m gonna get some action of my own in a few minutes after I find out what you know.”

“Not if I can help it,” I said, all humor leaving my voice. I would not joke about that, no matter the circumstances.

“You’re in no position to stop me. Hell. Maybe I’ll even turn your chair around so you can watch the whole thing. Watching can be pretty hot. Watchinghercan be really fucking hot. Do you think she’ll make those same noises with me, too?”

Was he still there while I was at Athena’s house last night? How close did he get that he could see or hear what happened between us?

My first wrist was free. I didn’t need to free the second one, and I was done with this fucking conversation. I was done with all of this shit.

“No. I really don’t.” I tensed my body, pushing out my chest and shoulders, forcing as much pressure against the duct tape as possible without actually trying to break through yet.

“That’s okay. I’ll make her scream in a different way. It’ll sound close enough.”

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