“Nobody would dump me because of my father,” she muttered.
I perked up at the bitter note in her voice. “Too scared of the old man, I get it. But why do you sound like this pisses you off? Don’t you enjoy the perks of being feared because of your scary daddy?”
“I’d rather be feared or rather respected for who I am.”
Her words surprised me, but I couldn’t hold back a snide comment. “People generally don’t respect or fear people for their extraordinary shopping skills.”
She narrowed her eyes. “There’s more to me than shopping. You don’t know me.”
“Then enlighten me, Snow White.”
“My life’s not a fairy tale, so stop calling me that.”
My grin widened at her obvious anger. “Pity, I’m sure the big bad wolf would love to eat you.”
A blush traveled up her throat and her cheeks, making her look even more like the fairy tale princess.
“I study marketing and I’m among the best.”
I couldn’t stop smirking.
She glowered. “I suppose you see yourself as the big bad wolf, Mad Dog?”
I would definitely love to eat her.
She shook her head and became very quiet. “It’s been over a week. When’s this going to be over?”
I hadn’t asked Earl again. He’d punished Vitiello with silence, hoping the asshole would die from worry over his daughter. And I didn’t mind having a few more days with Marcella.
My smile died. “Soon. When your old man is dead.”
She closed her eyes. “What would it take for you to give up your plan?”
“Don’t waste your time looking for a way to convince me. I won’t lie, my dreams are filled with images of your naked body on top of mine, but even that won’t change my mind, so don’t try to manipulate me with sex.”
“Nobody said anything about sex,” she murmured. Then she tilted her head curiously. “So you’d prefer if I didn’t try to seduce you?”
“I’ve been waiting every fucking night for you to finally try, but don’t do it for any other reason than because you want to.”
“As if you’d care why I’d make a move on you.”
I smirked. “I wouldn’t, as long as I ended up between your thighs. But I want to spare you the disappointment if you don’t get anything out of it except for dirty, amazing sex.”
“If sex is all I wanted, I could have slept with more sexy guys than I can count. There are few men who wouldn’t say yes to a night with me.”
Without a doubt…
“Maybe you didn’t choose one of them because all of those men cowered before your father. I’m the first guy that isn’t scared of him, and that, admit it or not, turns you on.”
She didn’t deny it, only looked at me in a way that sent a rush of desire through me.
I perched on the windowsill, peering out. As so often I tried to find landmarks that would give me a clue where I was, but the forest around the clubhouse didn’t offer any hints. After ten days in the hands of the bikers, I was starting to give up hope that Dad and Matteo would find me. A floorboard creaked in the hallway, causing me to tense. Whenever Maddox wasn’t around, my nerves were frayed. No matter how insane it was, he protected me. I’d seen the looks the other men gave me, hungry and hateful. I couldn’t expect mercy from them, and even though I’d like to say I didn’t want their mercy, I was terrified of what they might do to me.
“Oh, Spoiled Princess, where are you hiding?” Cody called in a sing-song voice. It was his favorite hobby to lurk around in front of the door when Maddox was gone and torture me with comments of how he’d rape me. He made loud sniffing sounds. “I can smell that Italian pussy. Let a real man fill that dirty hole.”
I made sure not to make a sound. Maybe then he’d go away. Instead he rattled the door handle. Even though I knew he was trying to scare me on purpose, I couldn’t help but feel anxious. Only a door and the bikers’ respect for Maddox kept me safe. Both weren’t things I wanted to rely on.
The longer my captivity took, the higher the chances got that Earl White would eventually snap and hurt me to pressure Dad. I didn’t want to wait for that to happen but escape without Maddox’s help was futile.
He had made it clear that he wouldn’t help me no matter what I did, but at this point, I wondered if I shouldn’t test his theory. I’d heard him murmur my name in his dreams at night.
The roar of an engine turned my head toward the driveway and I couldn’t help but smile when I spotted Maddox on his Harley coming to a stop in front of the porch. He removed his helmet and ran a hand through his unruly hair. I had to admit that the sight of Maddox mounting his beast of a motorcycle was strangely attractive. Even his biker outfit with the cut looked good on him. He swung off his bike then looked up to his window. Our eyes met and my belly twitched in a way I didn’t even want to analyze. I turned away from the window as if I didn’t care that he was back, but the overwhelming relief in my body spoke a very different language.