Page 52 of The Leader

She lowered the car window when he knocked on it. “What’s going on, Hector?”

“You can’t leave.”

“What do you mean, I can’t leave?”

“Gio’s orders,” he said, giving her a scrutinizing look. “Something about keeping you inside while he was on a monster hunt. I really hope he doesn’t mean some role play by that, ‘cause my men get paid by the hour and they ain’t cheap.”

Unbelievable!

She drove her car back into the garage, and then stomped into the house, all the while dialing Gio.

“Yes,bella?”

“Don’t you ‘bella’me. I want you to call off your henchmen.”

“Henchmen? All of Hector’s men are highly trained ex-military. I don’t think they would appreciate the word you use for them.”

“I don’t care what they would or would not appreciate. How about you consider things thatIdon’t appreciate? Let me give you a hint. Being locked up is at the top of my list!”

“Since we’re discussing things we don’t appreciate,” he said, his voice suddenly sounding dead serious, “my number one is not appreciating it when my wife is keeping things from me. Especially when that thing concerns her safety.”

She hung up on him, fuming from the inside. The rest of the day, she spent cursing her husband and holding a conference call with Tommie. Since it was too embarrassing to admit that she had been grounded like a child, she told him she had the flu. By the time the sun had set, she was still spitting mad, but at least had some sort of idea how she was going to handle Mr. I’m-king-of-your-world.

She waited for him, draped over their bed, wearing her sexiest lingerie. It was a red, completely see-through, negligee. When he walked inside their bedroom, his eyes flamed up.

Good.

She gave him a sweet smile. “Take a good look. Because that’s all you’ll be doing until you let me out of this house. Looking, but no touching. You want to keep me a prisoner in my own home?”

“So you admit this is your home?”

She ignored that comment. “IfIhave to suffer, so will you. These knees are staying closed.”

He walked up to the bed, while taking off his dress jacket. “Who do you think to punish with this attempted dry spell,bella?”

She didn’t deign that with an answer.

He stalked toward her, his eyes on her breasts, and literally pounced on her. She tried to roll over but didn’t make it before he came down on top of her.

“Get off me, I’m pissed at you.”

“Tell me who this monster is.”

“Get off me,” she repeated.

He let go of her with a sigh.

They didn’t make love that night, or the following night. Nor did she speak a word to him, giving him the classic silent treatment. Unfortunately, he only seemed to find that amusing. She was beginning to suspect that her silence was more of a reward than a punishment.

She’d hung Mike’s painting in her home office. It felt too personal to hang it out in the open for everyone to see. Looking at it, she knew what her friend had tried to do. Much like Mary, he had insisted on her getting help to deal with her issues concerning the past. She had always refused. The phoenix, and what it represented, was his final plea for her to face her demons. Sadly, she couldn’t do that. Some things were just better left buried.

On the third day of her imprisonment, Jazzy was ready to climb the walls. Of course, she wouldn’t give Gio the satisfaction of showing him what he did to her mental state of mind. So, she’d kept to herself, only leaving the house for a run. Luckily, their estate was huge, so she had enough room to cover. Unfortunately, it was also extremely well-guarded, which she discovered when she went looking for weak spots while casually strolling around. Something that had Hector actually smirking.

Today, she also received the news that her grandfather was admitted to a hospital. She spoke to him on the phone, and although he reassured her that he was fine and already back home, she wanted to go see him for herself.

She waited all day for Gio to return home. She even had Thea prepare his favorite meal to get him in a good mood.

He gave her a curious look from over the dining room table, when she asked if he wanted more wine. When he said he did, she poured him another glass and sat back across from him.

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