Page 26 of Queen Of WildCards

Inodded slowly, trying hard not to appear too eager at the idea of having my hands free again.Justas he pulled my knife out of his pocket and slipped it under my restraint, a chuckle came from the other side of the room.

Afamiliar chuckle.

"Iwouldn't do that,Spade.She'llprobably give you a matching stab wound on the other side of your chest."

TheoneI'ddealt with on the phone smiled as he strolled into the commons area, his eyes onSpadeandIin the cage.Ifiled away the crazy one's name for future use—Cass,Joker, whatever.IfIstarted calling them by their names, maybe they'd be less likely to hurt me.

Agirl could hope.

Spadegrumbled and pocketed the knife again. "Ihate it when you're right, fuck face."Herose and released me from his grip, moving to the door of the cage. "Sorry, sugar tits, you heard the man."

Iwhimpered pleadingly at him, but he shrugged and locked the cage with a frown, like a kid whose favorite toy had been taken away.Theblonde man patted him on the shoulder like a pet and handed him a beer.

"Here, man," he muttered absently, watching me overSpade'sshoulder. "Gorelax and unwind for the night.Thisis my mess;I'llwatch her."

Itwas thenInoticed he was no longer wearing the black clothes he'd kidnapped me in, but had swapped them out for some basic sweatpants and a hoodie, a pair of socks the only thing encasing his feet.

Helooked almost human.Which, okay, it sounded stupid, but when a man is capable of kidnapping you, jerking off to your voice in an alley, and killing people, you start to view him less and less as human and more as a monster.

Theimprint at the front of his sweats indeed alluded to the monster vibe.

Spadehesitated for a moment, his eyes cast back over his shoulder at me. "Youtry anything,Joker, andI'llcut off your dick, you dig?"

Mynew babysitter shrugged noncommittally. "Idig."

Spadewandered out of the room without another backward glance, andIwatched my chances of release go with him.Jokerwas an unknown, a wildcardIcouldn't pin down.AllIknew about him was that he had issues—chief among them, alcohol abuse.

Andthat was enough, really, whenIthought about it.

Peoplewho abused alcohol turned into a person they weren't; some would even say they turnmoreinto themselves when intoxicated.Myexperience with alcohol was limited to my father's abusive tendencies toward it and a few ex-boyfriends that emulated his whole aesthetic far too much.

Theydo say women with daddy issues are attracted to the same type of men that their father is.Andboy, didIhave those in spades.

Theman before me flopped noisily on the couch nearby, cracked the lid of his water bottle, and downed it in one go, his eyes cast lazily over the plastic, locked in on me.

CHAPTERTWELVE

JOKER

Shewas quiet for most of the night.Andby quiet,Imeant deadly silent.Youcould have heard a pin drop in that room.Whenshe finally slipped into unconsciousness, that's when things got not-so-quiet.

Seemedour little therapist was prone to nightmares.

Mywhole body protested asIleaned forward with my hands on my knees, moving for the first time in hours, muscles screaming at the injustice.Shelay on her side now, skirt hiked dangerously high on her thighs, breathing rapid and broken as she mumbled and twitched.Nothingthat came out of her mouth was intelligible, butIhad no doubt whatever she was dreaming about was doing a number on dream-her.

Mylips parted with a sigh. "Whatare you afraid of, sweetheart?Whatfills your head with fear and your dreams with panic?"

Wasit us?Wasshe reliving the kidnapping in her slumber?

Possibly.Weweren't gentle, and she'd put up a hell of a fight, which meant all the more traumatizing when she was finally caught.Anyonewho'd been through the night she had was justified in sleeping a tad tumultuously.

Hermumbles and sobs turned into a frantic gasp for air, and with a scream, she jolted awake and scrambled upright, her legs kicking out in front of her until shoulder blades met the back of the bars.Shescanned the room, eyes wild until her gaze fell on me, and she gagged.

Well,I'dnever had that effect on a woman before.

Shetook a deep breath through her nose and closed those gorgeous eyes, hiding their depths from view.Icounted to ten and hoisted myself off the couch, realizing this was going nowhere unless one of us took the initiative and made the first move.

Mymovement must have caught her off-guard because she winced and tried to make herself even smaller inside that damned cage.AsIclosed in, those stunning eyes widened, swallowing me whole in their depths.Theyfollowed me avidly asIslipped the key in the cage's lock, swung the door wide, then stepped back.

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