“Kelly?”
Two hours earlier…
“You don’t talk much,” I announced from my bound position on the dining room chair.
Kelly had taken the liberty of having a nice hot shower for himself while I was trussed up like a Christmas turkey, unable to move and feeling tired and grimy. Now he was moving around in nothing but a pair of low slung sweats, showing off that mile-wide motherfucker of a chest and tanned, rippling muscle. It was obvious he’d chosen commando as this afternoon’s dress of choice, highlighting the fact that the man really was big everywhere. I made it a point not to stare.
“Yeah?” Kelly slammed the fridge door shut and cocked his brow at me in true Casey fashion. My breath hitched. I couldn’t deny it. The Daniels brothers were absolute sex on a stick—like what sweet, sticky cotton candy was to a poor, deprived child. It was a crying shame that this Daniels brother was completely whacked. “You talk too much, babe.”
“Argghhh! I’m not your babe,” I told him for the millionth time.
“Not yet.” He winked at me. “But you can be if you play your cards right.”
The gleam in his eye was downright predatory as he walked over and stood in front of me. Unfortunately, my gaze shifted downwards, suddenly eye level with the giant anaconda in his pants. Not knowing where the hell to look, my eyes began ping-ponging around the room, eventually settling on somewhere in the distance.
“There will be no card playing,” I declared in my primmest voice possible.
Kelly took hold of my chin, forcing me to meet his gaze. “Unlucky for you, I’m the one in charge and if I want card playing, there’ll be fuckin’ card playing.”
My eyes clouded over, suddenly apprehensive. “So we’re playing cards?”
He let go of my chin and straightened and there went my eyes again, fighting to find somewhere safe to land. “Why? You bored? Because I’m sure I can find something for you to do.” Kelly’s hand ran suggestively down his chest until it hit the waistband of his sweats. “It would have the added bonus of shutting you up.”
My nostrils flared and the subtle reaction made him laugh. “How dare you? If my mouth is going anywhere near a guy’s junk, it’ll be Casey’s and his alone. I’ll pass, thanks.”
For a second his eyes softened and I got a brief glimpse of the real man that lay beneath the cockiness coating his surface. “Why were you and Casey arguing?”
I blinked, wondering how he knew.
“The party, Grace,” he prompted, his tone exasperated because I couldn’t somehow read his mind. “You walked in, laughing and teasing him. I saw the light in his eyes and his hand slide under that sparkly dress of yours. You walked out, you’re yelling, he’s yelling, and that light in his eyes is gone.”
My heart squeezed because Kelly was right. I hated seeing that light disappear. I also shivered, because being watched like that was really creepy. “You were watching us.”
“You think I just magically stumbled upon you in that airport passageway?”
“No.”
Kelly folded his arms, the move making his biceps bulge even more. “So why the argument?”
I made a pointed effort of glancing at the tape binding me to the chair. It didn’t hurt, but it itched, and I was pretty sure I’d need to pee soon. “You want me to answer your questions, you can untie me from this chair.”
“I can make you answer any question I want without untying you, Grace,” he told me, his tone harsh.
“Threaten me all you like. It won’t work,” I replied, doing my best to suppress the fear. This guy might’ve been Casey’s brother, but I had no idea what he was capable of.
Kelly shrugged and I watched him walk to the kitchen. He opened up the cutlery draw and took out a paring knife. It looked extra pointy and gleamed under the light of the kitchen, forcing my pulse to ramp up a notch. He walked back to me, picking up his phone along the way. “Let’s test this little theory of yours.”
An unnatural calm took over the fear, impressing me. My mind tried to tell me it was simply adrenaline, but I was too busy being phenomenally calm to pay attention.
Test away, pal, I retorted silently. And coolly.
Kelly pulled out a dining table chair, setting it so it faced me. Sitting down, he carefully placed the knife in arms’ reach and then tapped at the screen of his phone. Then he held it up in front of me. I took one look and my calm expired on the spot. It was a photo of Henry in high megapixel glory. He was in the backyard of the duplex, Mitsy in his arms. He was laughing at someone but I wasn’t sure who because they were out of camera shot. The focus was solely on my brother.