Lace and Bullets(13)

Her arms flew behind her back. Damien tied her wrists together and looped the rope around the back of the chair. Then he did the same with her ankles before scooting her and the chair over to the radiator. With a chain he’d found in the carport, he hooked Mia and the chair to the metal.

No more toppling chairs for her. He walked around to face her. “I’m going to get some dinner. Do I need to gag you?”

She sneered. “Afraid I’ll wake the neighbors?”

He reached for her still damp tank top. “This should do.” He spun it until it formed a twisted-up rope.

“You don’t need to gag me. I was just yanking your chain.”

“Too bad. You should have cooperated instead.” Damien shoved the moist lace into her mouth and tied it behind her head. He crouched to catch her eye. “Any allergies?”

Mia cocked her head.

“To food. I don’t want you going into shock before I can hand you over.”

She rolled her eyes and shook her head no.

“Don’t do anything foolish while I’m gone.”





6





DAMIEN




This is impossible. Mia slumped in the chair and blinked back a wave of tears.

When her kidnapper left, she had counted to sixty before trying to escape. No matter how hard she yanked or how much she rocked back and forth in the chair, she couldn’t get free. Not a hand or a foot, not even a finger.

The damn radiator was as solid as a jail cell. At least she’d managed to spit the damn shirt out of her mouth. That was something. Mia fluffed a lock of hair off her face with a hard exhale.

She needed to get free and call the cops before he came back. Otherwise, she might never get the chance. Visions of the gun going off while he leaned over the dying man played through her mind. He was a killer. A murderer.

But something else lurked beneath the surface. Something…good. She saw it in the way he looked at her. If he’d been evil, she would either already be screaming at the hands of Anthony Marcelo, or she would be dead.

No way would a man without a soul let her shower and give her spare clothes or treat her wounds. Mia chewed on her lip. An evil man would never have kissed her like she mattered.

If she couldn’t get out via force, she needed to come up with a plan. A way to trick him into letting her go. She closed her eyes and thought back to the murder.

Her father had been gloating. Throwing around his weight and his name like they meant something to a thug with a gun. He’d always been an egotistical asshole. Mia just hadn’t realized how big his head had swelled.

The guy who died…the one who shot her father…what had he said? She scrunched up her face and tried to think. Marcelo was angry. He wanted her father to rein in the cops. Mia’s eyes popped open.

The cops. If Marcelo had his hands not just in the DA’s office, but in the local cops as well, would they even help her? Was that what her kidnapper was after? Info on dirty cops?

It didn’t seem like it. She shook her head. Whatever he was trying to find, he had come up empty. If she could get him to talk, maybe she could help. If she could give him answers, maybe he would let her go.

Before Mia could come up with a plan, the door opened. Her kidnapper slipped in with a sack full of food and couple of sodas.

“A little tougher this time?” He smirked at her and she rolled her eyes.

“Maybe I wanted to stay.”

“Right. And I’m a billionaire.” He pulled paper-wrapped burgers out of the bag and a mountain of fries.

He spread everything out on the table between them and slid over a chair.

“Isn’t this the part where you untie my hands so I can eat?”

The man ran his tongue over his lower lip and Mia’s muscles clenched. It was so simple, but so dirty. She thought of his lips on hers. That tongue in her mouth. She swallowed.

He held out a French fry. “Sorry. Can’t risk it. Open up.”

She opened her mouth and he popped the French fry in. Mmm. Grease and salt and fried potato goodness. Mia was starving. She swallowed and opened her mouth again. This time, he put a giant burger dripping in ketchup and mustard near enough for her to bite.

Oh, wow. Could you be in heaven and hell at the same time? Mia wasn’t sure. Any other day, she’d probably turn her nose up at dinner like this. But it wasn’t any other day. She had watched her father be murdered, been kidnapped, almost escaped and now…She was eating dinner with a man who wanted to trade her off to the most dangerous criminals in town.

So much for her appetite. Mia shook her head when he offered another bite.

“You need to eat.”

“What’s your name?”

He raised an eyebrow. “What do you care?”