Page 13 of His Puppet

“Lorenzo might have a fondness for you, but you’re not his goddamn pet,” Blade growls. “All I’d need is a good reason, and your body would be in the ground by morning.” Blade throws Victor back, and he almost topples to the gravel but regains his balance. “Disrespect me one more time, you piece of shit. I fucking dare you.”

Victor faces me, his jaw tight and nostrils flaring. He brushes himself off, as if cleaning himself of Blade, then he walks toward me.

Ireallywant to appear strong, but it’s far easier to do with Blade than it is Victor. My hands shield my face, and I hunch as Victor approaches, but he breaks course and walks around the vehicle. The driver’s door creaks open a few seconds later. “Have someone else take the cunt to the bunker. I don’t work for you.”

The door slams, and the engine starts up. I jump away from the car just in time for it to peel off, sending white dust billowing. Some settles on my skin and leaves a chalky taste in my open mouth.

I spin around to face Blade, but he isn’t there anymore.

I’m alone.

I have about enough time to scan the area and figure out that there’s only one road out of here before an engine roars and a garage door opens. Blade pulls the car out of the garage and stops next to me. He rolls down the passenger window and leans over his seat.

“If you make me fight you, I’ll call him backright now. Trust me, I’m nicer.”

I look down the driveway where Victor’s taillights shine in the distance before turning back to Blade and bobbing my head. “I believe you.”

I open the door and hop in the passenger seat. The car door isn’t even all the way shut when Blade peels off as aggressively as Victor did.

We drive in silence for a minute, me shifting uncomfortably and Blade gripping the steering wheel so hard his knuckles are white. I have a feeling I’m far from his mind, and if I’m smart, I’ll keep quiet so it stays that way. But there’s something Victor said that I can’t let go.

“You know I’m not a prostitute … right?”

Blade says nothing in response. My heart gallops.

“Blade?”

“Would you shut the fuck up?” he snaps, never taking his eyes off the road.

I sit back in my seat and face forward, my lungs feeling baseball sized. My mind can’t seem to process what’s happening or what I should do, so I just sit still and let it spin.

I stole from the mafia.

The mafia.

I’m sitting next to who I can only guess is a capo.

Another man is fuckingdesperateto get his hands on me.

They don’t want to kill me.

They want to make me a whore.

I’m numb. Literally, I can’t feel my fingers. My hands. My arms. It all feels like dead tissue, and it’s taking my mind with it.

A whore.

I can’t be a fucking whore.

An older looking, two-story house comes into view, and I don’t see it until we’re right there because all the lights are off. Blade pulls in front of a barn to the right of the house and parks.

“Get out,” he says, throwing his door open and climbing out of the vehicle.

Somehow, I manage to open the door and get out of the car. I let him pull me into the barn and drag me by the arm across it. It’s dark, with only the moonlight shining in through the gaping entrance to guide us, but he must know his way around here well because he doesn’t miss a step.

We get to the edge of the barn, and he bends and pulls open a metal door that creaks like it could’ve used oil a decade ago.

“Go,” he says, moving out of the way.

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