“Lie down.”
She moved to the bed and watched as he advanced. He tied the rope to the bed post. She waited as he made a test of the rope, pulling on the length to see if there was much give. He then locked her hands together and tied the robe in a loop behind her hands and back. The knot was not tight, but she couldn’t get away.
William tested the rope for give and to allow her movement. “Does it hurt?” he asked.
Daisy shook her head. Her mind was beginning to clear as she stared at him.
“I’ve got to go back to the club. I’m going to lock this door. You’re safe here, Daisy. No one will hurt you. I want you to close your eyes and sleep.”
“Will you come back here when you’re done?” she asked.
“To sleep?”
“Yes,” she said. Her eyes were already starting to droop.
He leaned down and brushed a kiss to her temple. “Pet, this is my house and my bedroom. I wouldn’t sleep anywhere else.” William kissed her one final time on the temple and then walked out of the room. Before the door closed and locked he stuck his head around the door. “Sleep, Daisy.”
She heard the door close and the bolt slide into place. Daisy waited for the fear and panic to assail her. She tested the rope. There was enough give for her to move but not enough for her to get away. She licked her lips, turned over onto her side and closed her eyes. Sleep couldn’t come fast enough. Daisy rested her bound hands next to her head and fell asleep.
Chapter Two
William waited for the last of his customers to leave. Peter was seeing them out of the door as he sat at the bar waiting. The phone rested on the counter next to his brandy. He hadn’t made the phone call or drunk his brandy. Peter walked back into the room twenty minutes later.
“I didn’t see Daisy,” Peter said.
“Don’t worry about her. I’m dealing with her.”
The younger man nodded his head. “She’s falling apart, isn’t she?”
He sighed. “Yes, she’s falling apart. I don’t think that girl has ever felt needed before in her life. I get the feeling she’s been rejected at every possible turn. It is heart-breaking to see.”
Peter nodded his head but didn’t say anything.
“I’ve got to talk to Paul and David Steer. I’m not looking forward to that conversation.”
“They’re going through a rough patch at the moment,” Peter said.
“I don’t give a shit. Their marriage is their own issue. Daisy is still their sister. Half or otherwise. She has a right to know about her fathers and their life. I don’t like this crap.”
He grabbed the brandy and swallowed it down in one gulp.
“Her mother is a bitch. I mean of the highest order. The little I know about Daisy is the fact her dates have taken her out on one date, but once they met the mother, that was it. Nothing.”
“This woman sounds seriously messed up.” William put the glass back on the counter.
“She is messed up. A bitter old woman is a better description.”
“And let me guess, Daisy ends up taking a lot of the blame for all the wrong in her mother’s life.”
“Pretty much,” Peter said.
“Figures.” William stared at the phone. The anger inside him was the only thing stopping him from calling the Steer brothers. He wanted to give them all a fucking hiding.
You’ve got feelings for Daisy. You want to protect her.
Shut up, you sick fuck. She’s twenty-five years old.
“I wanted to apologise for what happened earlier, William. I’m not used to dealing with this stuff every day.”