Page 5 of Captured Pawn
Turning to face off with him, I had to deliver a smack to Sophie’s ass to get her to stop struggling.
“Since when do you bring your women to the main house?” Nathan asked, the rocks glass of amber liquid in his hand betraying that he was having a rough day too.
I shouldn’t need to explain myself to Nathan. We each had our roles to play in the family business and this… well, it was none of his fucking business.
“This is different and trust me. You don’t want to know.”
“Oh, but I think I need to know, don’t you? Considering who she is?”
Shit. This complicated things.
Nathan didn’t wait for an explanation. He already knew all he needed to know. “Do you think I’m stupid? That I didn’t know you’d get us saddled with the Locke kid if something ever happened to Matty?”
“I’m not a kid! Now put me down!” Her voice was muffled against my back.
Nathan took a leisurely sip of his beverage as I struggled to keep Sophie from falling off my shoulder. Was that a smile playing at the bastard’s lips? To be honest, if it were happening to anyone else but me, I’d probably think it was funny too.
“Let me get her settled upstairs. Pour me one of those and I’ll meet you in the library in ten,” I barked, trying to sound like I was in control when we both knew it was the scratching kitten over my shoulder who presently seemed to be holding the upper hand.
“Uh-huh. Ten minutes, you say?”
I knew he was goading me. Implying that I wasn’t going to be able to keep my dick in my pants, which only made me that much more determined to maintain control.
I turned and started taking the steps up two at a time, shouting back to confirm, “Ten minutes!”
Margaret had set up the guest room at the very end of the hall. I was glad it was as far away from my suite in the main house as possible, even though I usually spent most of my time living in the cottage house down by the beach. The privacy of the cottage was my refuge, and I couldn’t wait to get there, peel off this damn suit, and decompress after a really shitty day.
But first, I had to deal with the kitten and my brother.
The door was open so I beelined it to the king-sized bed, dumping the load from my shoulder into the middle of the mattress. Sophie bounced and then lifted her foot up and kicked against my chest with all her might. The little minx was stronger than she looked and I stumbled back a step to keep from falling.
Fury coursed through me. Didn’t she know I could make her life a living hell?
No, asshole, she doesn’t know.
The thought was in my head, but it had been in Matty’s fucking voice saying it. I pushed back the wave of guilt I felt at his loss long enough to rein in my anger.
It was too easy to capture her ankles to keep her from kicking me again. I yanked her down the bed until her feet hung off the end. I jumped on top of her, trapping her waist between my open legs as I leaned forward to snatch her wrists and shove them above her head.
As much fun as it had been in the SUV to ogle her fine ass, this position gave me a front row seat to the fire in her watery eyes as she stared up at me—fearless.
The girl had balls, I’d give her that.
If she were paying attention at all, she had to feel the length of my shaft pressing into her stomach. I didn’t bother to hide it from her. Why should I? And if it helped to remind her of what was at stake here, all the better.
“Here is how this is gonna go. Are you listening?” I prodded.
When she met my question with silence, I repeated it, making sure she knew she would not want to ignore me.
“I asked you a question. I suggest you answer.”
Silence.
“If that little sample in the car didn’t get your attention, I’ll be happy to give you your next lesson in obedience. Do I need to take my belt off?”
“Barbarian. I can’t wait until I get free and call the police. They put people in jail for kidnapping, you know.”
“Oh, baby, you wish you’d been kidnapped. That would imply I’d let you go if I get something in return. Who the hell says I have any intention of ever letting you go?”
