“You could wear it up here—if you behaved yourself.”
She snatched the dress and headed back to the bathroom.
“I don’t think so, lovely. You can get dressed in front of me.” I sat at the foot of the bed and leaned back on my elbows.
The look she gave me was full of even more hatred than ever before. She pulled on the panties underneath her towel and managed to get the bra on in the same way. Then she abandoned the towel altogether and pulled the dress over her head. Even without makeup or styling her hair, she pulled it off.
She still had an attitude, but at least she was obeying me. “What we do next is your call.” I was tempted to command her to ride my cock, but I didn’t think she would actually do it. She was scared of me, but not scared enough.
“How so?”
“Personally, I don’t want to keep you in a cell like a rat. It’s awfully cold and dark down there.”
She crossed her arms over her chest.
“But if you keep acting up, you won’t leave me much choice.”
She looked out the bedroom window but couldn’t see anything since it was pitch black outside. It was two in the morning, so dawn was hours away. “What do you want from me? If you aren’t putting me into sex trafficking.”
She’d finally started to ask questions. “It’s pretty simple. Your brother tried to rip me off during a business deal. He tried to steal four million dollars from me. With the business I run, that kind of betrayal can’t slide. So, I took something valuable from him—you.”
Her arms slowly moved to her sides, and she forgot about her situation—for a heartbeat. “What kind of business do you run?”
“I sell intelligence. And he bought it.”
“Intelligence for what?” she asked. “My brother is a retirement advisor. He travels the world and tries to get people to invest in IRAs and SEPs.”
The only reason why I didn’t laugh was because I actually pitied her. “Sorry, lovely. He lied to you.”
She lowered her gaze, her eyes shifting back and forth as her mind worked quickly.
“When I told him you were the price he was going to pay, he wasn’t happy. But that’s how it goes.”
She came back to the conversation. “And what are you going to do with me?”
“That remains to be seen. But I can assure you, it’ll be in whatever way I can cause him the most pain.” I left the bed and stood, towering over her with my height. “It’s nothing personal, London. You’re just a victim in this game we’re playing.”
The hatred was gone from her expression. Now she continued to think quietly to herself, trying to understand the madness she had been thrown into. She was a prisoner in a foreign land, having no rights whatsoever. Whatever fear she had was hidden deep below the surface. “It is personal,” she whispered. “When you take my life away, it’s very personal.”
4
London
I asked to be returned to the basement because it was the only environment I knew. But the longer I sat in the dark, even with new clothes and clean hair, the more the paranoia began to sink in. I’d put on a brave face for as long as I could, but my strength was fading away. The man keeping me here wasn’t like any other man I had ever met.
He was strong.
Smart.
Powerful.
When he laid his body on top of mine, that’s when the truth sank into my bones. He was an opponent I couldn’t defeat. I couldn’t use my size or my intelligence against him. When I was cornered like a rat, there was nowhere for me to hide.
It would be so easy for me to freak out right now.
But I’m not gonna break down.
I’m gonna stay calm and try to figure this out.
Crewe threatened to rape me, but he didn’t. He saw me naked, but he still didn’t force himself on me. He was difficult to read, but even though he granted me some mercy, I knew he was extremely dangerous.
He had a whole team kidnap me and transfer me to this freezing island. I knew we were somewhere up north, somewhere out of the country. It was so different than the swelling humidity of New York City. I missed the sun and heat so much—like never before.
My cot was uncomfortable, but the food was tolerable. I suspected if I ate it when it was fresh, it would actually be pretty good. I had a private toilet, so at least I didn’t have to use it in front of anyone. Crewe allowed me to keep some dignity.
The news about Joseph was terrifying. If he had any connection to a man like Crewe, I had to believe he wasn’t really a retirement salesman. He truly was mixed up with bad people, serious criminals like the man who currently had me trapped.
But one thing kept me calm.
Joseph knew Crewe had captured me.
Maybe I didn’t know my brother as well as I thought I did. But I knew he loved me fiercely, and he would do anything to protect me. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that he was working on a plan to get me out of here.
I just had to be patient.
Staying in this basement would make things more difficult. I had to get to the surface, to check out the rest of the house. If Joseph made his move, having me down here would just make my rescue more difficult.
So I would have to do something I strongly didn’t want to do.
I would have to obey Crewe.
Crewe brought me breakfast the following morning instead of sending his butler, Finley. Dressed in a midnight black suit, his broad shoulders looked utterly masculine. Without being able to see his skin, it was obvious he was packed with lean muscle. He had dark brown hair that nearly looked black, a five o’clock shadow on his chin even though he probably just shaved a few hours ago, and he had an arrogant smile on those full lips. He slid the tray of food under the bars then stood to his full height, something over six feet.
When I saw my captor for the first time, I was surprised by his appearance. I expected a monster, a disgusting middle aged man who had nothing better to do than kidnap young women. I expected him to be fat and flabby, a fiend who couldn’t get women on his own.
But Crewe could definitely get women on his own.
If I saw him on my morning walk to the coffee shop in Manhattan, I’d probably stop just to strike up a conversation with him, hoping it would lead to a date for the weekend. I didn’t have a problem being forward with men. Time was important to me, and I liked to get to the point as quickly as possible. If he wasn’t into me, that was just fine. I would find someone who was.
Crewe stood at the door of my cell, his hands sliding into the pockets of his slacks. “Morning.”
I bit my tongue just so I wouldn’t say anything. Something about his air of arrogance just made me want to defy him. It had nothing to do with the fact that he had kidnapped me from my bed and taken me to the other side of the world. Something about him immediately put me on edge and made me want to ignore his requests just to annoy him. He was the kind of man who got under my skin—but I had no idea why.
He stared at me with his handsome face, his chiseled features and pretty brown eyes. They were mocha, warm and radiant. They matched everything about him perfectly, hinting at a dark core. “Didn’t sleep well, lovely?”
I knew he called me that just to annoy me. “My day was going pretty well until you showed up.”