Page 30 of My Grumpy Billionaire Protector

I blink. “I’d prefer not to be here. I’m sure you can understand why I don’t appreciate being kidnapped and brought here against my will.”

Silence stretches between us.

“I don’t even have any clothes,” I add, looking between the two of them. “Everything in there isn’t in my size.”

“I’ll take care of that,” the man answers in a quiet voice.

“You’ll talk to your boss then, right? The serious-looking guy with the glasses? The one who said I look like my mom?”

Another minute passes, and my heart begins to pound against my ears.

“It’s not like I’m going to do anything with that information anyway,” I continue, twisting my hands behind my back. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m stuck in here, and I don’t think I’ll be getting out anytime soon.”

The woman stares at me, and her eyebrows furrow together. “Was there something important you wanted?”

“Besides my freedom?”

The woman presses her mouth into a thin white line. “I would tell you to save your breath but something tells me it wouldn’t make a difference.”

“It wouldn’t.”

After another quick look, the two of them take a step back and spin on their heels. I lunge at the woman and climb onto her back. As soon as I do, I wrap both legs around her waist and fumble for the weapon she has strapped across her shoulders. She frowns and throws her weight back, causing my grip to slip.

Then, a pair of muscular arms come up around my waist, and I am being removed like I weigh nothing. Before I know what’s happening, I am being lowered onto the bed with a little more force than necessary.

“It’ll be easier for you if you don’t waste your energy trying to escape,” the woman says without looking back at me. She steps out of the room and motions for the man to follow her. He gives me a stern look and a slight shake of his head before leaving.

Once the door clicks shut, I scramble off the bed and fall face-first onto the floor. Pain blossoms behind my eyes and spreads throughout my body.

Gingerly, I push myself up to my feet and hobble to the door. Again and again, I pound, this time adding my voice and ramming my body against the wood. By the time I stop, everything hurts and I am no closer to getting out of there. I sink to the carpeted floor and bring my back to a rest against the cold wall next to the door.

After stretching my legs out in front of me, I let my arms fall to my sides and go still. In a short while, someone else is going to come in, and I am going to be dragged off to a remote part of the house where I’m going to be tortured. Already, I picture a damp and dark room with metal bars, no windows, and the smell of sweat and dirt.

Sometime later, when the door clicks open, I pull myself up and glare. Shane O’Connor walks in, wearing a pair of dark jeans and a black sweater. He sets a tray down in the middle of the table at the foot of my bed and spins around to face me. Shane raises an eyebrow and stares at me.

He doesn’t look at all like the scrawny kid I remember in high school. Instead, he’s filled out quite a bit, and his eyes look darker. There’s a glint in them I’ve never seen before. Once upon a time, he and I had to begrudgingly accept each other, particularly while he dated a good friend of mine. However, I never let my guard down. Granted, we barely spent any time in each other’s presence, but I was still wary of him.

I am thankful I haven’t fallen under his spell.

Hanging out with the biker crowd is one thing since many guys are trying to give themselves a bad reputation in order to appear tough. Aligning himself with a sadistic, power-hungry businessman, on the other hand, is a whole other playing field though. I wonder how he chose this path. Last I heard, he disappeared shortly before graduation, leaving his parents frantic and beside themselves with worry. I heard the rumors of him resurfacing but had thought nothing of it.

It isn’t like it affected me either way.

“You should eat something.” Shane makes a sweeping hand gesture to indicate the bowl of steaming soup and the plate of pasta next to it.

My stomach grumbles in protest, but I hold myself still.

Shane rolls his eyes. “Fine. If you want to make this difficult for yourself, go ahead. I was just trying to be nice. I didn’t have to offer to bring your food by the way.”

“Nice? Locking me up in a fucking room is what passes for nice around here? You need a reality check.”

Shane frowns. “Look, it could be worse. You’ve got a room full of clothes, a TV, and a large bathroom. You should see what our room looks like.”

I cover the distance between us, throw my head back, and give him the dirtiest look I can muster. “Here’s a crazy idea. How about you let me go?”

Shane folds his arms over his chest. “I already told you that it’s not up to me.”

“Why? Because you want money? Because that’s so original.”

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