“We’ve got security cameras here. If you try anything the cops will find you and put you in back in jail,” I say.
He crooks an eyebrow at me as he turns me in his grip so he can get an even better look at me. “I just spent a year in a half in prison, you think a county jail scares me? That’s like a country club visit.”
“Prison?” I swallow hard.
“Yeah, a place pretty little girls like you can’t even fathom.”
That’s twice now that he’s referred to me like that. And it’s also the second time I’ve learned something about m
yself in the last few minutes, more than any psychology class in high school could have ever taught me. Fear is one hell of a turn on.
“You have no idea what I can fathom,” I counter.
“Because of that imagination of yours from reading all those books and watching those kid’s movies,” he knowingly replies.
“You think you know so much about me, well you don’t. My boyfriend’s going to be here any second and he’s the captain of the football team, the college football team, a linebacker and he’s bigger than you.”
The corner of his lips turn up and he smirks at me, completely calling my bluff. “I know enough to know you don’t have a boyfriend. Never had and never will.”
“Oh yeah. And how do you think you know that?”
“Because I ordered it so, demanded it be that way, and I’m not a boy…I’m a man.”
The words ricochet off my brain, not sure I’m understanding exactly what he’s saying.
“You’re not my boyfriend.”
“Exactly, because I’m a man.” He pauses, his gaze moving from me to my dad. “And she’s mine until you give me what’s due to me.”
“You can’t take her. She’s all I got,” dad pleads.
“I got her now,” he informs my dad. “And if you don’t get me my money in a week, she’s mine…forever.”
I should be scared beyond belief, but strangely a relief washes over me. It’s as if every responsibility I have, all those shifts I work, all the bills I pay at the house, have suddenly disappeared. All my dad’s nagging about when my next paycheck comes in, so he can spend it, of course, is gone.
I don’t know why my dad owes this guy money but I actually feel like I owe him a debt of gratitude, in some weird and twisted way.
And just like that, I feel my body twisting as he throws me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, marching right back toward the front door as he puts his hand on my back and he lowers his body down so I don’t scrape the threshold of the door.
Surprisingly considerate for a kidnapper.
And maybe that’s it right there…I never got to be a kid. I had to grow up fast and the thought of all the responsibilities I’ve carried with me for years suddenly go away, allowing me to be a kid for the first time in my life, sounds pretty doggone good.
“I’ll get the money, honey,” dad says.
I flex my back and look up, as the sight of my dad, and the apartment quickly become smaller and smaller due to my kidnappers’ long strides.
I open my mouth to tell my dad ‘hurry’ but the word never comes out. If anything I’m tempted to say ‘don’t.’
And I still don’t know what’s happening, what this guy’s name is, or literally anything.
But for the first time in my life, I feel there’s a real man here to protect me and keep me safe, which is a complete oxymoron considering the circumstances.
Suddenly some of the thoughts I’ve always had about being taken care of flood my brain and I feel like one of the heroines in the Lena Little books I’ve read on my Kindle countless times.
And for the first time, I have a pretty good idea who my first time is going to be with if my dad doesn’t come up with the money that is…or maybe even if he does.
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