“You were in shock after the shooting, you couldn't be reasoned with. But I had to get you to safety, so I helped you take a littlenap.”
“So, you knocked me out?! Couldn’t be reasoned with? I think not wanting to be taken anywhere with a psychopath”—who may or may not be the June Harbor Slayer—“is perfectlyreasonable.”
“See, this is what I’m talking about. You’re not seeing the big picture.” He sighs as if I’m acting like an idiot.
“Which is what, Cash? What is the bigger picture that I’m too stupid to see, huh?” I yell, my blood now thrumming with anger rather than fear.
“Because I chose to protectyouover family—the previous most important thing to me—the Bratva will now be after you. They think I took someone precious from them, and now they will try to take someone precious from me.”
“So, what now? I’m just going to be locked up in here with you like some princess in a tower.”
“No, baby. You’re a queen.”
I convinced Cash to give me some space to “process,” aka figure out how to get the hell out of here. I think if he wanted me dead, I would be dead already. But just because I’m still alive doesn’t mean he isn’t dangerous. He thinks he loves me, and people do crazy things for love. Normal people. And he’s far from normal. Crazy is his baseline. And if knocking me out and kidnapping me is his version of protecting the one you love, I am in for one hell of a ride if I don’t get out.
I obviously don’t have my phone. Cash may be crazy, but he’s not stupid. The bedroom door is unlocked and there are no bars on the windows, but we are six floors up, and without a fire escape, it’s a death sentence. But the lack of security makes me think he genuinely believes I will stay here of my own will, that I will somehow buy his twisted view of protection and just kick my feet up and relax.
So I wait until the moon is high in the sky and the apartment is silent. I hold my breath as I turn the bedroom doorknob painfully slowly. Cracking open the door, I pause and listen. No men with guns jumping out of the shadows. No alarm blaring. Not a sound.
Still hesitant, I tiptoe out of the room, gently letting the door close behind me. Cautiously, I creep down the hall until I can see a kitchen and living space up ahead. I spot a door with a peephole, and excitement zips down my spine. I was expecting Cash’s apartment to be huge and winding and that I’d be in a maze trying to find the front door.
My feet are barefoot, my shoes in my hands as I try to be as quiet as possible, slinking down the hardwood floors. There’s not a single light on in the entire place. Despite the cool temperature, my forehead beads with sweat. My eyes zero in on the door in front of me, scanning the wall next to it in case there’s an alarm pad. Surprisingly, there isn’t. I guess not many people are stupid enough to fuck with a man like Cash.
I bite my lip as my breathing quickens the closer I get. Giddiness blooms in my chest when I reach the door.
“Going somewhere?” Even if I weren’t in his apartment, I would recognize that cool drawl anywhere. My hand hovers above the handle, and I consider going for it and bolting. “You won’t get far, my men will stop you before you even make it to the elevator.”
Infuriated, I spin around. As I do, a light flicks on, illuminating Cash sitting in the corner. The lamp is like a halo above him. Funny, I didn’t know devils got halos.
“You can’t keep me here.” My voice shakes, and I hope he knows it’s from anger, not tears.
“You step outside and you’re dead. Maybe not right away. Maybe you’ll last an hour, a day. Hell, maybe a week. But they’ll find you and they’ll kill you. And if you’re hoping for a quick death, bullet to the head, don’t get your hopes up.” He pauses to take a sip of whiskey. “They’ll probably take their turns with you first. They will tear you in half, rip open every hole. And then once you’re covered in blood and cum, they’ll start the torture—” The wave of nausea building in my stomach crests, and I sprint to the kitchen sink behind me.
My skin grows cold and clammy as I wretch into the steel basin. Gentle hands gather my hair and rub my back in soft circles. “But don’t worry, baby. I won’t let that happen. As long as I’m with you, they can’t hurt you.”
I wipe at my mouth with the back of my hand, my esophagus still burning as I stand up straight. Gathering whatever dignity I have left, I turn to Cash. His face is ghoulishly handsome in the dark. He looks like a creature that belongs in the shadows. “If I’m going to stay here, I am going to need the bedroom key. And any copies. If you want me to feel safe, I need to have a safe space of my own.”
He looks at me, equal parts suspicious and delighted. “Done.”
“Really?” I can’t hide the shock in my voice that he so readily agreed to my demands.
“Of course. Anything you want, it’s yours.” He takes a step toward me, placing his hands on my hips, and I shiver at the contact.
“I want to leave.”
“Anything but that,” he says with a dark chuckle, pulling me into this chest. He presses a kiss to my forehead and it’s so strangely domestic and intimate that my natural response is to melt into him. His t-shirt is soft against my cheek, and his chest is warm and hard. His arms tighten around me as he sighs into my hair.
This should not be comforting. But it is.
I allow myself to indulge for a few more seconds, until I feel his growing cock against my stomach. Surprisingly, he’s the one to pull apart first.
“You should probably go to bed before I fuck you until sunrise on every inch of this counter.”
“Mhmm,” I mumble, turning away, grateful for the darkness so that he can’t see the flush burning on my cheeks.
“I’ll slip the keys under the door,” he says to my back as I head back down the hall. “And baby?”
I pause without turning around. “Yeah?”