Page 53 of Capture
“Freddie,” I called as I approached the bar.
“Yeah,” he startled and turned around.
“The chef who hadn’t turned up today was named Carrianne?” I pressed.
Confusion washed across his face. “Yeah. Why?”
I turned my back and walked as an elation came over me. It was a great feeling to rid the club of all the filth that had contaminated it. “Hire a new chef. She won’t be back,” I ordered him.
24
Why do you like to hand-feed me?” I asked as he placed a French fry against my lips, and I bit down on it.
“I like watching your mouth move,” he answered with a devious look on his handsome face. “I’m imagining your lips wrapped around my cock.”
I narrowed my eyes, feigning fury. “You filthy man.”
“I am now,” he replied.
“You should offer me a job,” I reminded him.
“You had a job here,” he argued.
“Offer me back my job as Annika,” I pleaded.
“You’re not twenty-one yet,” he stressed.
“I won’t go near the alcohol or casino, or,” pointed to the door, “these rooms. I’ll do the dishes. Give me a chance.”
“What makes you think that I’ll let you out ever? I might keep you here as my slave. Tie you to the bed. With your legs spread,” he threatened, tapping another French fry against my lips.
“Don’t threaten me with a good time. Besides, you’ll grow bored with that and so will I,” I told him. “I’m not a hole, or three holes. I’m a living, breathing human that deserves respect. Even if I had to earn that respect from you.”
He resigned, nodding slightly in agreement. “I do see you as a human,” he said slowly as if he was choosing his words carefully.
“Then give me a chance in the club. Please,” I begged, pressing my palms together in a prayer.
He sighed and stabbed me with a little sharp scowl, yet his mouth was smiling. Not a big smile, like Ronan’s, but a Kaiser smile, rare and fleeting, but it felt rewarding when they decided it was you they chose to smile at.
“I’ll think about it.” he was simmering in his smugness, being in this position where I was begging, and it took only a flick of a finger for him to grant me my wish. It must’ve felt good to have such immense power and my life in his hands.
“You still believe that I will escape and you’ll never see me again, aren’t you?” I rationalized, reading his mind.
“Naturally,” he replied flatly. Then he stumbled, and I saw a flint of something behind his eyes. Then he surprised me by asking, “Where would you go? If I let you go now, where would you go?”
I swallowed, thinking it over for a few seconds. “If I had my freedom, I would go back to the hall and back to my class, as Annika, not Riley Laws.”
“So, you would flee the state?” He cut a piece of cheeseburger and held it near my mouth and bit into it, humming at the taste.
“No. That’s good,” I said, dabbing my mouth with the ivory-colored fabric napkin.
“You’d go back to Gotland?” he said, surprised.
“Yes. I have nowhere to go,” I stressed. “And I love marine biology, but I still think you could use me here. As I said, I have a good eye for color harmony.”
“Color harmony? That’s a new one,” he chuckled as he glanced at the wallpaper and frowned, perhaps noticing that it was dated and fading.
I pointed my finger skyward. “Fly poop.”
