Page 55 of Maddox

He laughed. “You don’t think I know that? You really think I would be so foolish as to repeat in your presence something vital when I still hadn’t decided if you were to be sold or not?”

I watched his face, his bravado, and in that second, I knew he was lying. He’d never meant to say anything in front of me, and Rice had been forced to act on it. I couldn’t remember exactly what I’d heard him say. He’d just mentioned a name, and I was sure I’d heard Rice mention a price, and I hadn’t remembered that with Anna. Rice had never owned it.He wanted to buy it.But someone else had and this was revenge. When I’d been freed, Rice set it up to kill two birds with one stone. Distract the guys to take out a competitor and take me at the same time.

Blakeny leaned closer, his fetid breath hot against my face. "I've been three steps ahead the entire time."

Except he hadn’t. Rice, I could believe, but not Blakeny, and he didn’t even know it. The auction, the girls, the location—it had all been a setup to draw Maddox and his team away.

"Why?" I managed to ask. "Why me? Why not just disappear?"

Blakeny straightened, adjusting his expensive suit jacket. "You were mine, Clare. My most perfect creation. And then you were taken from me." His face hardened. "Nobody takes what belongs to me."

"I don't belong to you," I said, mustering all my courage. "I never did."

His hand struck my face again so quickly I didn't see it coming. My head snapped to the side, the taste of blood filling my mouth. Pain bloomed on my cheek, but I managed to hold in the gasp. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.

"You belong to whoever I say you belong to," he hissed, but I could see a tick work in his jaw. He was pissed and for the first time I didn’t think it was at me, or not just. Rice was pulling his strings. And I wondered if Rice was using Blakeny as much as he was using me. He sat back and grinned, then looked at his phone and laughed. “Apparently, they “rescued” all the unfortunate girls and they’ve just found out you’re missing.” He smiled a smile of such sick satisfaction that if I’d had a knife, I was sure I’d plunge it where his heart should have been.

"It's a shame your 'Daddy' will never see you again," Blakeny said, putting a mocking emphasis on the word. "But don't worry, you'll have a new owner soon enough."

I forced myself to stay calm, to think. Daddy would be looking for me. I just needed to survive until then. "Where are we?" I asked, trying to gather information.

Blakeny smirked. "Somewhere your rescuers will never find. A temporary stop before your final destination." He checked his watch. "Someone is eager to see you again."

My blood ran cold. Rice. So, I had been right.

"He was quite displeased when you were taken from us," Blakeny continued, eyeing me triumphantly. "But now he'll see how valuable I still am. Bringing you back will restore my position, but there’s time for me to have a little fun first."

Fun? How I didn’t immediately vomit I didn’t know, but at least the pieces clicked into place. Blakeny had fallen out of favor with Rice after my rescue. This wasn't just about recapturing me—it was about Blakeny proving himself to his boss.

"And you’ll be happy once he has me?" I said, watching his reaction carefully. I didn’t want another hit. "When I will be his good Little girl instead of yours?”

A flash of uncertainty crossed Blakeny's face before his mask of control returned. "You know nothing," he snapped, but I'd seen it—the insecurity, the fear. Then his phone rang, and he stepped away, but I didn’t have chance to even note my surroundings before I was back outside and in another car. I could tell Blakeny was pissed. He’d expected to have me all to himself for a few hours. So, I decided I had nothing to lose and to needle him.

“You know,” I continued the conversation. “Being the Little girl of a billionaire would be quite something. I don’t imagine he would keep me locked in a cage. I imagine he would want to show me off, and obviously I’d be very grateful.” I sighed as if breathless with excitement. “How soon until we get there?”

I heard the roar from Blakeny and was convinced I’d gone too far, but I would never put myself in any situation with him again. Daddy loved me. He was coming for me. I absolutely knew that, and this time I would go down fighting if I had to.

“Turn around,” Blakeny yelled, and banged on the partition.

“Sir,” the driver said uncertainly. “We have to make it to the airport. The flight plan.”

I absolutely knew, thanks to growing up as I did, that missing a flight plan was a bad thing. And in any airport it would mean a delay.

“I don’t care,” Blakeny thundered. “Turn this car around.”

But we were on a two-lane highway with a central barrier. He couldn’t just do a U-turn, so when he slowed to turn, I lunged forward through the still open partition and tried to grab the driver’s arm. Blakeny screamed at me and the driver swerved, pulling up on the side of the road.

Blakeny lost his cool and scrambled out, yanking me from the car, his fingers digging painfully into my arm. The night air was cool against my skin as he dragged me a few feet from the vehicle.

"You think you're clever?" he hissed, his face inches from mine. "You think you can manipulate me?"

I said nothing, my eyes scanning our surroundings. We were on what looked to be a rural stretch of highway, trees lining both sides of the road.

"I’ve changed my mind," Blakeny spat. " You're mine. I invested too much in you to just hand you over."

The driver approached cautiously. "Sir, we need to keep moving. We're exposed here."

“Open the trunk.” The driver hurried to do just that, then turned back. Blakeny lifted his arm, and it was only then that I saw the gun. But he’d shot the driver before I’d even so much as taken a breath.

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