Page 41 of The Alpha's Assistant & The Dom Next Door
He ducks down instead, and I see Roland’s lopsided smile. “Hi there,” he says cheerily. “Looks like you’ve got a problem with keeping lovedones.”
He grabs me by the arm and yanks me to my feet just as Shayla pulls up in her gold Mercedes. She smirks as she sees the fire. “Good work, my little errand boy,” she saysarchly.
Roland shoots her an annoyed look. “Don’t call me that,” he warns, but she just laughs and stalks past me into Carl’shouse.
“Bring her inside. I want to have somefun.”
I’m too numb to do anything as they half-drag me into the dining room. The next thing I know, I’m tied to one of the dining room chairs, but I don’t know how exactly I got there, my mind and body slowly having given up on me. Then Shayla leans into my face and smirks at me. “So, you’re gonna die. You should have given up that money when you had the chance, sweetie. Mama needs a new pair ofshoes.”
I just stare at her, barely comprehending what she’s saying. Carl’s gone. He was supposed to be the one to protect me, and instead ... I’ll be burying him too. And it’s all because ofShayla.
I feel a faint ember of anger and hate under all the weight of my despair, but it’s not enough yet to make me shake it off and do something. I hate this world. I can’t deal with any ofthis.
But then I think of Jenny, and how she’s going to be left alone after this—just like I was. And how Shayla and her ... friend ... have gotten away witheverything.
The ember grows into a spark. The gray fog starts to clear a little.I need to think. What do Ido?
I let them tie me to the chair, but I can hear, and I can speak. I hold off on the second, letting Shayla yammeron.
“You know, none of this would have happened if you hadn’t gone back for your phone that afternoon. Really, honey, you’re completely useless. Why couldn’t you have just died with Mom and Dad when Roland blew their car?” Her mocking croon scrapes against my ears ... and I feel my angergrow.
“You?” I ask, pretending it takes more effort than itdoes.
She laughs. “Yeah! Me! You think I’m waiting around until I have gray hair to get what’s coming to me? I want to be a billionaire now, while I’m young andhot!”
I stare at her as Roland moves back and forth in the room behind me. I hear sloshing and smell gasoline.Oh, shit. This man means to kill me, just like he did my parents. Only my death will be …slower.
Time for me to unleash my secret weapon. The one thing she can’t handle, which has grown stronger in me since Carl showed me what love and protection can be like. “You sure you don’t just owe your cokedealer?”
Her jaw drops, and Roland bursts into soft laughter. She shoots him a glare. “Shut up and keepworking!”
“I am a professional assassin, not your pet goon.” There’s an edge to his voice. “Lend a hand if you want the place in flamesfaster.”
“I don’t do manual labor! I’m the one paying you!” Shayla sniffs and turns back to me. “I’m going to untie one of your hands and put Dad’s straight razor in it. Then I’m going to set the room on fire. You’ve got two choices. Take your own life quickly, orburn.”
“Are we certain that we want to give her a weapon?” Roland doesn’t sound too impressed with her dastardlyplan.
“Shut up! This is my show. You’re just thehelp.”
“This is how she talks to everyone,” I pipe up. “I’m her blood sister and she wants to burn me to death. She had her own parents blown up for money. You think she’ll treat you withrespect?”
Roland snorts. “None ofyouwould kill her for disrespectingyou.”
Shayla backs off of me and stomps over to confront Roland. “Kill me? You’re gonna killme? Who the fuck is going to pay for your plane tickets and fancy hotels if you start gunning down yourclients?”
I look down at my wrists, which are still tied to the arms of the chair. I was so limp that they barely bothered to tie me securely.Carl’s tied me tighter than this.I start rocking my wrists back and forth, trying to get a little play in the rope so I can draw my handsout.
The two of them are bickering now instead of paying attention to me. “No one’s going to tie me to any of the deaths around here,” Roland sneers as I quietly struggle. “So watch yourstep.”
“You watch your step!” Shayla’s madness and ego have taken over, and she doesn’t see the way his eyes are narrowing as he stares at her. “I could buy you! I could buy ten ofyou!”
“Can you buy yourself a proper ass?” hesneers.
“Nope,” I add helpfully. This is actually a little bit fun—especially since I’m no longer all that scared of what will happen tome.
I just know one thing: I am not letting them burn down Carl’s house with Jenny’s puppy hiding somewhere in here. I will not let them take a single thing more away from anyone ... even if that means making them stop eachother.
Roland snickers again. “Honestly, I like her better than you. She’s not a psychotic twat who doesn’t know when to shut hermouth.”
