Page 26 of Stripped

He adjusted the sleeves of his suit jacket and sat in the leather armchair across from me. “I don't think so. Get yourself a soda and get me a vodka tonic while you're up.”

My knee-jerk reaction was to tell him to go fudge himself, but I needed a strategy. I needed to play the wannabe player and do it better. I stretched and yawned. “Actually, I don't think I need the caffeine. If you could just show me where I'll be sleeping?”

He smiled like he'd expected my response. “Of course. Please follow me.”

He led me downstairs to a small, one-car garage. A garage that held a large dog kennel with a dog bed inside. He gestured toward it. “Your room.”

I spun and glared at him. “You've got to be kidding me. You want me to sleep in a dog kennel?”

“You've been sleeping with a dog. I thought it fitting.”

I glared at him, hating that I couldn't walk away, that he could treat me this way and I could do nothing.

His smile was slow molasses that made me skin crawl. “If I'd brought Alice and Carly home, they'd be sharing my bed. Would you rather sleep there?”

Straightening my shoulders, I did my best not to shudder at the thought. I was here only as long as it took me to get away from him. Only long enough to be sure Alice and Carly were far away from him and no longer under his compulsion. “Can I at least have a blanket?”

He ran his finger from my cheek to my lips, caressing me gently. I managed not to flinch, it was better he not know how much he was getting to me. “You can have a blanket when you start showing me the appropriate respect.”

I couldn't fight him, it would be a suicidal choice. I couldn't run away. So, I shrugged. “I've slept in worse.” I got down on my hands and knees, and I crawled into that dog kennel and curled up on the dog bed. Leopold used a padlock to close the cage.

“Sleep well,” he said, before he turned off the light and left the room. “I hope you're more amenable in the morning.”

I suspected Leopold didn't really care if I was more amenable or not. He'd love to break me, he'd love to own me, but he'd be happy if he just took from me everything that mattered and humiliated me.

The garage was dark, but there were small windows in the top of the door that let in the light from the street. Once my eyes adjusted, I went to work trying to disassemble my cage. Unfortunately, Leopold had sprung for a high-end kennel. I couldn't get the damn thing apart, no matter how hard I tried. And I tried again and again. While I worked, I planned my strategy for dealing with Leopold, what I would do to ensure he didn't break me before I got away.

Sunlight was filtering into the garage and I was still fiddling with the metal cage when the door between the house and the garage swung open with so much force, it bounced off the wall. “Would you like to explain to me why a police officer just showed up at my door asking questions about a missing woman?” Leopold asked.

Oh, crapola. Had the dancers not let their families know they'd be out of town for a while? “She stayed out too late drinking?”

He scowled and stomped over to the cage. “I remember the days when the police didn't have body cameras and humans didn't know about vampires.” He unlocked the padlock and glared at me. “You remember those days, Sissy? When a vampire who had a problem with a cop could make the cop and the problem disappear? Now I risk video evidence of me being able to compel a human and the fallout when humans realize we're the apex predators and they're the fucking prey.”

When Leopold stuck his hand into the kennel, I hesitated to take it, because the way he was talking, it sounded like he'd lost his freaking mind. “I'm good here,” I said.

He huffed, reached farther into the cage, grabbed my wrist and yanked me out. “I agree with you, Sissy, but I've got two cops here who say they need to see you. Apparently, your boyfriend called the police about you being missing, instead of facing me like a fucking man. I've got a call into the sheriff, but he's not answering so I've got to parade you in front of those cops like the happy bimbo you are.”

He spun me to face him, putting his hands on my shoulders. “You're going to tell them you're fine and you want to be here, or I'm going to think you've reneged on our deal and I'm going to go find Alice and Carly and teach them how an apex predator likes his dick sucked.”

Since I knew Alice and Carly were by now safe in the pack village, I almost smiled, but the reference to his dick quickly quashed any amusement I felt. Twisting my fingers together like I was nervous, I nodded. He was insane if he thought I wasn't going to use this visit by the cops to my advantage.

I followed Leopold up the stairs and to the living room where two cops, a man and a woman in uniform, stood, hands on hips. The woman stepped forward. “Miss Abigail White, we're going to need you to come with us.”

“What the fuck,” Leopold said, losing his cool way quicker than I'd anticipated. “You said she was missing. Here she is. At least give her the chance to explain she's right where she wants to be.”

“I'm afraid we can't do that,” the female officer said. “Miss White is under arrest for starting the fire in your club last night.”

My heart pounded. Uh-oh, this wasn't good.

“I'm not going to press charges,” Leopold said. “You can't arrest her if I don't press charges.” His teeth were clenched and the side-eye he was giving me made it clear he wasn't surprised I'd started the fire, and that I'd pay for it later.

“You don't have to press charges,” the male cop said, stepping up next to his partner and pulling cuffs off his belt. “Miss White caused a public disturbance that created a panic. People could have died. Rixton Ford nearly did. She is going to have to come with us.”

“Is Rixton okay?” I asked.

The male cop narrowed his eyes. “You didn't concern yourself with his wellbeing before, why bother to pretend now?”

“Please turn and put your hands behind your back,” the female cop said.

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