Page 29 of Dangerous Pursuit

I’m shaking my head at the absurdity of my life as I walk up the front steps, open my front door, and freeze. The worst of my negative thoughts is in my living room.

“Well, look who made it home. We missed ya, darlin’,” Jay says as he sits back casually on our sofa like he owns the place while Frank stands beside him.

“Can you give me some sort of heads-up next time?” I ask as I close the door and set my purse and phone down. I’m not as scared as I was last time since I know they won’t kill me until they have their money.

“Now, what’d be the fun in that? Besides, we had a nice look around, familiarizin’ ourselves with yer humble abode and all the nooks and crannies. Yer not very good at hidin’ stuff, darlin’, but we appreciate ya makin’ it easy on us.” He holds up a wad of cash—mywad of cash. “This here is a nice chunk’a change to get ya started. Keep it up and you’ll be done in no time.”

Shit, I’m instantly panicking. Did they find it all? “How do I know you’re keeping track? And how will I have enough to enter the next game if you take it all?”

“Don’t worry, sweet cheeks. We’ll make sure not to miss a penny. You’ll figure out yer buy-in, I’m sure. Yer workin’ every damn day, aren’t ya? Seems like that should cover it.” He’s still sitting with his arm slung over the couch, legs spread, one bent at the knee and the other straight out. “Or maybe I’d be inclined to leave ya a bit if ya give me somethin’ in return, huh? Ya want to come here and work for it?” He grabs his crotch and squeezes while Frank stands there with a sneer on his face.

“Thanks, but I’ll figure something else out. How long until the next game?” As disgusted as they make me, I won’t let it show. I learned my lesson last time not to get worked up. They’re like dogs, feeding on my fear.

“You’ll just have to wait and see, darlin’.” He gets up and walks toward me, making me brace myself. I’m still standing inthe entryway and don’t want any more marks on my body for Jackson to question.

Stopping within inches, he grabs my chin firmly. “Now, if you’d like to play a little nicer, I’m sure we could be more accommodatin’.” He leans close and whispers in my ear as I freeze. “You might even like it.” He licks my ear, and I cringe, closing my eyes in disgust.

“I’m fine waiting” is all I manage, hoping he accepts it. If he decides to go further, there’s not much I can do to defend myself against two strong men. I’m silently praying he backs off.

He does, thank God. I inhale deeply as he lets go. Frank is right behind him and continues to stare at me like he’s visualizing me naked. It’s disgusting.

“Well, then, I guess we’ll leave ya to it. You’ll be hearin’ from us again soon, darlin’. Be sure to call if ya change yer mind about the workin’ arrangement.” He snickers before opening the door, and both men walk out.

My shoulders immediately cave, and I take a few deep breaths to steady my nerves when I suddenly remember he just walked out with all my cash. I bolt up the stairs and freeze in the doorway to my room. It’s trashed. Everything’s out of my drawers, the mattress is half on the floor, and all the shelves are empty. They left no stone unturned. Thank God it was enough to satisfy them, or they probably would have done this to the entire house.

Crap, there’s no way Walker can come over with this mess, and I’ll never get it cleaned up in time. Remembering my phone is still in the entryway, I shut the door and go back downstairs to grab it, dialing as I head into the kitchen to start dinner.

“Hey, girl, what’s up? Are you ready for some man shopping tonight?” Leave it to Walker to put a smile on my face at a time like this.

“Sadly, no. It’s been such a long day that I’m exhausted. I was actually looking forward to it, if you can believe it, but I’m barely going to make it through dinner. Can we meet tomorrow instead?”

“Yeah, I’m free tomorrow. You sound like you got hit by a Mack truck, so I know you’re not lying just to get out of it. Did something happen today with Jackson?” he asks suspiciously.

“Nothing out of the ordinary. Well, unless you put being nice in that category. He was trying to be all protective about me playing poker, which he has no business doing. I swear he acts like my dad at times.”

“Maybe hewantsto be your daddy.” He chuckles, and even though I’m naïve, I’m not that clueless.

“You’re gross. He does not. He wants to criticize me and treat me like a child. It’s annoying. He said he was worried about me, but come on—a few weeks ago, he couldn’t stand the sight of me, and now he expects me to believe he cares? Whatever.”

“I don’t know, but that sounds like a daddy to me.” He laughs. “Seriously, though, maybe he finally sees the awesome person you are and feels differently. You did say he stopped trying to get you to quit a few weeks ago, right?” Walker is constantly searching for the bright side of things.

“Tolerating and liking are two different things, and I don’t know that we’ve passed the tolerating stage. What I do know is that I don’t care. Anyway, thanks for switching to tomorrow. I won’t bail, I promise.”

“Sounds good. Get some sleep, and I’ll see you tomorrow night. Bye, babe.”

“Bye.” I hang up with a heavy dread settling over me. I need to make it through dinner before a long night of putting my room back together and figuring out what to do now that my nest egg is completely depleted.

PLANTING THE SEED

Jackson

I’m casually looking at today’s report from the security firm with no expectation of anything new. It’s been a week and a half since I put protection on Mia, and I’m no closer to the truth than I was then. But at least I know I’m not imagining things. The first day they were on duty, two shady-looking men were spotted coming out of the house after Mia had been home for twenty minutes but weren’t seen going in, which means they were already inside waiting.

For the briefest second, after initially reading the report, I wondered if Mia had been telling the truth about her special interests, but common sense wiped that notion out quickly. She’s too naïve for that to be the case, and twenty minutes wasn’t long enough for anything. Plus, the report from two other dates she went on proves she likes her boys vanilla, judging from the pictures. I instructed security to warn off the potential suitors after each date concluded. I’m an asshole for interfering, but forsome reason I’ve yet to name; I can’t stand the thought of her with anyone else.

I’ve backed off from trying to talk to her, returned to our simple boss-employee relationship, and given up prying for the truth. We’re doing better this way and are more cordial with each other. I hoped security would fill in the blanks, allowing me to take it from there, but that’s not happening. I’m starting to get impatient, and my restraint is waning. The question of who these guys are and why they’re showing up are answers I want now since the report I’m reviewing details another visit yesterday.

The only good news is the lack of more brutality. I’ve been watching closely for it unless it’s been in places I can’t see, and I don’t think that’s the case since she hasn’t been skittish again. But because I’ve been watching her, I’ve also noticed how tired she’s been. And since I’m not getting any answers, it might be time to attempt the nice-guy approach again. Not that it worked before, but with the past few weeks going smoothly, maybe she’s warmed up to me.

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