Page 47 of Kinknapped

To everyone else, we looked like two survivors who bonded during our torture together, but I knew he meant with my father and stepmom because I told him I hated her. "Um, yeah. They brought a camera to stick into my face. I guess the world wants a close-up of the rich girl who got kidnapped, but they don't know my dad's act of caring will drop when the camera does. I'm just a publicity moment. He doesn't actually care that I was violated and in the process of being suffocated and strangled when the police showed up. Hell, he won't even care that I bit the cheek of the hired killer to have a chunk of his DNA in my stomach if they did find my dead body! Oh god, I actually ate part of a man! I just learned what I’d do when in danger, and I literally bit his face off like a cannibal. Then you come in to pretend to care? After what I’ve suffered?"

"Victoria, you've been through a lot, but don't talk to your father like that!" Cecilia tried to mother me, her eyes skirting to Talon.

"Cecilia, maybe you should take your own advice," Talon growled, sitting up closer.

"Talon," her tone disgusted as she tried to pretend she didn't already see him. She thought she could snub her nose and pretend he didn't exist, but he saw her right away. She hissed her next words full of the loathing she felt for him. "What the hell are you doing here?"

The words fromhis room that day clued in. The wife he was with didn't think he was enough for her. She wanted someone rich, and she went higher in the company to achieve it. She went to my fucking dad. So much rage began to vibrate through me. "You're the woman who thought he wasn't worth enough? You fucking cheated on Talon with my dad to keep your pocket lined? Oh my god! I knew you were a snake, but now the world knows too."

She turned around because she knew what my finger now pointed at. Cecilia Combs looked embarrassed, and the camera was still rolling, still streaming. My father wasn't much help to defend her, his eyes stuck on where I'd been nearly killed.

I shoved my finger into her chest with my own repugnance geared toward her. "He's been nothing but a gentleman! Hell, he tried to save my fucking life! That man—who should hate our family and could've left me to die—tried to save me! He took a bullet for a stranger, and you walked away from that to have an expensive handbag hanging off your arm!"

She wanted to cry. Good. I did my part. Before I could say anything else on the subject, someone called for all our attention at the door.

"Vic!" Lucindacame barreling into the room in her full theatrics. She did it to catch the eyes of the officers in the room and hall, but I didn't mind because I knew she'd been part of my extraction. I bet her and Leopold knew we were okay before Kage called him to verify it. Though, when she hugged me as hard as possible, that was real. "You're not allowed to leave my side again."

Leopold had to come in like he didn't know me, heading to Kage to check in. Talon wanted to fall asleep but kept fighting it now that he dealt with his ex-wife. Our evil was the same entity, and it made my heart hurt. I knew her ruthless side, so I knew how she treated him to fuck him up so much, he couldn't think about being in a relationship. Today, our fling ended, and that only made me want to cry for a new reason.

"You were absolutely brilliant," I whispered where the sergeant couldn't hear, watching the back of my father's head leave with his bitch of a wife. He chose to leave me again, and the fucking cameraman captured my rejected look by spinning the camera one last time. I flipped him the bird.

"Um, duh! I was the lead in our high school's theater at every audition. No one can role play better than me." Her typical dialogue made me feel like this could all be normal, but I knew what came when I left this room. I knew what detachment I'd have to grieve the moment I left. "When can I spring you from this joint?"

She must've felt my heart, bleeding down my sleeve.

"The nurse said to call for her when I was ready. They just wanted to get some fluids into me, and they took some scans of my brain to make sure the oxygen deprivation didn't cause harm. I'll hear back on those when the doctor reads them, and they call."

"So now? You're saying now?" She lifted a brow.

"Yeah, we can go now. I think I'm ready to be in my bed."

"You sure because we can get a hotel for the night?"

"No, I need to go see the current state of my things." I pressed the call button, waiting for a nurse to pick up. When she did, she remained sweet over the radio. "Hi, I was wondering if someone could get my discharge paperwork and unhook my IV? I'm ready to leave."

"We'll send someone right in." She hung up her end.

"You're leaving?" Leopold's eyes widened in sorrow. We didn't get our last night together, even if his junk was casted right now. The cop gave us a funny look, wondering how we knew each other, and he picked up on that. "But I haven't given you a proper thanks."

"Thanks?" I chuckled. "They were the ones who saved me! Well, kind of."

"We attempted to save you," Kage corrected.

"Hey, Sergeant, would you mind giving us a moment? I'd rather not have extra eyes for this goodbye," Talon murmured. We bonded, and even though the cop thought it came for the hostage thing, he understood we needed a minute alone.

"Sure thing. I need to go check in with my team anyway. You guys just keep your phones on, and you let me know if you change your mind about having a detail watch your house. This might raise a ruckus from his other two sons."

"Thank you," Leopold used his kinder mannerisms to speak for the group. When he left, Leopold asked me the same thing. "You're leaving?"

"Yeah. I don't want to keep delaying the inevitable." I bit my lip. "I'm holding up my end of the bargain. You gave me a week of endless orgasms, so I need to leave like I promised now that you got the ransom."

"You're not going anywhere besides to your home to gather your real shit to bring to the house," Talon commanded. "That'sthe only thing I'm allowing, and that's only because I'm stuck here for a few days. Or else I'd force you to stay at my side to go get your shit."

"W-what?" I shook my head. "But you don't do relationships?"

"I thought I didn't," he agreed. "But the moment your life was on the line, for real, my mind couldn't calm down. Your voice kept me fighting to stay. The thought of you getting hurt, or I couldn't save you..."

His gaze dropped. It made my heart pick up an extra few beats while also skipping one.

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