Page 71 of Rebel

“You were my boss. I was absolutely not into you, not then and not now. I’m going to need you to leave now.”

“Playing hard to get? I love it. Look, this is how it’s gonna go, I want you to resign from this tiny hole in the wall and take over running my office.” He held up both hands in front of him, “Now don’t get me wrong. I’m going to sweeten the deal by offeringyou double what you were making before. You would be insane to turn down that kind of money—or me,” he said triumphantly.

I came to my feet and glared at him. “I’m turning down your generous offer. Please go and don’t come at me with more offers because I’m not looking to leave my family business behind.”

Before I knew what was happening, he reached out his hand and swiped it across my desk, flinging everything onto the floor. “I’m just about done with your stubbornness, girlie.”

My jaw almost hit the floor. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“We’re leaving here, grab your bag and pack what you need then we’ll be off.”

This was the part that clued me in that he was batshit crazy. Did he think I had a powder room with a full stock of clothing and accessories tucked away in my office?

“I’m not joking, Lacey. You’re wasting a big bunch of my time today. We need to hit the road immediately if we’re gonna avoid the rush hour traffic in LA. You’re doing this whether you want to or not,” he said.

“The hell I am. Get out of my office and don’t ever come back,” I reached for my phone so I could call Rebel.

Before I had a chance, his hand came out hard and fast around my arm and he started dragging me towards the back exit. I made another mad grab for my cell phone, but it clamored to the floor when I lost my grip on it. The next thing I knew he was dragging me out the back door and into his old panel van. He was an electrician, one with delusions of grandeur, but still an electrician and they all had panel vans. When he pulled theside door open, I knew real fear for the first time. Something told me that if he managed to get me into this van, my chances of making it back home unharmed would diminish greatly.

Needless to say, I fought him every step of the way, to no avail. This man was absolutely crazy.

Just as he was dragging me over the threshold, I twisted my arm away and made a run for it. It felt like freedom for a brief second, until he grabbed me by the hair and stuffed me right where I didn’t want to go. This asshole was seriously pissing me off.

When he handcuffed me to the bottom of one of the front seats and forced me to sit on the dirty floor, my fury spiked. “What do you hope to accomplish by abducting me? I’m never going to fall in love with you or run your office for you.”

“We’ll just see about that,” he sneered. You’re gonna be mine. I worked too hard to make a life for us to let you just throw it all away because you don’t understand what’s at stake.”

“What’s at stake is you ending up behind bars for doing something outrageously stupid. You can’t just kidnap someone and force them to work for you. You do know that, don’t you?”

“By the time I’m finished with you, you’ll be worshiping the ground I walk on and willing to do anything to please me.”

“Not a fucking chance. You can either let me go now or I will make taking me your worst fucking nightmare. I know you don’t believe me, but I’ll make your life a living hell.

This fucker actually laughed.

Alright, game on, I told myself. I waited for him to start the van and then took a deep breath and screamed at the top of my lungs, long and loud. Then I just kept screaming over and over again. I could tell he was startled because his head whipped back to pin me with a menacing stare before growing, “Shut the fuck up.”

I ignored him and just kept screaming. I thought I heard him say something about how no one was going to hear me on the interstate, and I’d be too hoarse to scream anymore by the time we got back to his place.

See? My plan was working already. He’d spilled the beans about where he was taking me. That’s information I wouldn’t have otherwise had if just sat here like a good little girl doing nothing to save myself. As I continued mindlessly screaming as close to his ear as possible, I tried to remember what I knew about his house. I’d been there once for a Christmas party he and his wife threw for their staff and clients. He lived in a big, two-story brick home in a nice neighborhood, much like my parents did. I remembered that he acted like I should be impressed, so I acted like I was—even though his house was pretty standard when it came to the houses me and my friends grew up in.

My throat was getting seriously sore after about forty minutes of screaming, so I upped my game to kicking his seat. Since my hands were cuffed to the bottom back of the passenger side seat, I leaned against the side of the van and just started kicking his seat at one-minute intervals. At first, he jolted forward and almost lost control of the steering wheel.

His foot hit the brakes and the van slowed, but didn’t stop. “What in the hell are you doing, you stupid bitch? I thought youwere smart. Kicking the driver’s seat while the car is in motion could cause a wreck or me to veer off the road and kill us both.”

I shrugged and replied hoarsely, “Either of those fates is preferable to living as your slave if I’m cooperative or tied up in your basement to be abused at your leisure if I’m not.” Then I gave his seat another hard kick to drive my point home.

“Look Lacey, I’m not a monster. I’m just a man who wants an opportunity to show you that things could be good between us. You wouldn’t let me, so I’m doing what I have to do in order for you to understand that we’re a good match.” He actually sounded hurt.

“Well, every villain is the hero of their own story I guess.” I told him before kicking his seat again.

His face twisted into a mask of fury. “Fine. I tried to play nice with you, but you’re too stubborn to see it for the kindness it was. From this moment on, every nasty thing you do to me will be revisited on you three times when we get to my place.”

“How very biblical of you,” I sneered, not giving two hoots in hell about all his manipulative bullshit.

He turned around again which was great because the ignorant asshole was still driving, albeit slower than normal. “I know you’re young and testing my resolve. I just want you to know that it’s gonna hurt me more than you, but I will teach you not to abuse my good will if the last thing I do. In the end you’ll see how stupid resisting me was.”

“Let me see if I’ve got this straight, you forcefully kidnapped me, tied me up on the floor of your filthy van and are threateningto harm me for objecting, all in order get me to fall in love with you but somehow I’m the stupid one?”

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