"Stock up."
I realized then—they didn’t have a timeline in mind. They were just going to keep me locked up in that house until I went insane.
I thought about my father and the way it would destabilize him. He’d kept such tight control of me my entire life; heprobably didn’t know how to live without exerting his total power over someone.
A chilling thrill ran through me at the thought of him having tocope.
"Has my father called me?" I plopped a few magazines into the pile of supplies my caveman was about to pay for. Instead of a wallet, he withdrew a wad of cash stuffed into a golden money clip. It had an engraving:A. M.
"I don’t know. I turned your phone off,"A.M.answered, smiling with that wide grin again. I wanted to kick him in the balls every time he smiled. Here stood a man who imprisoned me for his own benefit, and he kept smiling at me.
"Don't smile. It's repulsive and it makes me want to vomit." I threw out an insult, but it didn’t land—he didn’t even look my way.
"Where to now?" A. M. soundedexhaustedonce we were back in his car. "Actually, don't say anything. I'm not going to indulge you in your wishes anyway. I'm taking you to a random mall and you can get whatever you want. You're not going anywhere; you don't need a lot of clothes."
What a lovely man.
My energy to argue with the Neanderthal was running out, and for the first time, I followed his request and kept my mouth shut.
He switched to drive with a rough jerk, like the car had personally pissed him off. In fact, he did everything like that. A. M. seemed on edge and irritated, the way guys get when they’re too full of bullshit and testosterone. Maybe he needed a good fuck to drain his balls and get it under control. The thought of what his balls and dick looked like burst into my mind like fireworks. Was he…well hung? Solid and large like the rest of him? Was he a grower or a shower?
I turned away from him, hiding my giggle. I definitely had fucking issues.
"What's so funny?" he asked without interest, but just then, Gianna called one more time. Damn, this girl really wanted him. The thought alone made me short-circuit. Whichinsane bitchwould want this man?
Just like before, he ignored the call.
"Wow. Gianna really wants to talk to you,” I spoke up with renewed energy. "What did you do to make her so addicted?"
But I had a few answers to my own question. Either this was an extremely toxic relationship where he ignored her, and she got off on that. It could have been a bad breakup. Maybe they had the best sex life on the planet, and she couldn’t let it go? Maybe he wasso goodat eating pussy that she couldn’t live without him? All the possibilities were there.
"Can you shut up? Do you have the discipline to keep your big mouth closed? I don’t need your fucking insanity in my life.”
I had no intention of following that request. “I’m not insane. I’m not the one committing a crime here. I’m just a regular girl living my life.” I wished that were true about myself, though.
“The only crime here is your never-ending commentary.”
“Well…you’d be well versed in crimes, kidnapper, wouldn’t you?” I countered, sinking back into the soft leather of his Aston Martin.
“Biggest mistake I ever made—taking that gag out of your mouth. I’ll make sure—”
“Yeah, yeah. I know. You’ll shove it back in my mouth the next chance you get.”
His gaze jumped to me for a second, but he didn’t retort, choosing to let me have the win.
In total silence, we continued our little dysfunctional journey, and I caught myself right before I dozed off. The smell of cigarettes, his cologne, and something else equally pleasant relaxed me.
We arrived at some forgotten department store, dusty and sad. The beige colors and overflowing racks of outdated clothes were all weighing on me. I didn’t want to be here, and at the same time…Where did I want to be? Certainly not back at home.
Certainly not back at work. Certainly not in my own reality.
"You know I don't have all day to babysit you, right?" the caveman spoke behind me, lighting me up like a sparkler.
"You don't?!" I whirled around, my fake disbelief echoing all around us. "What kind of possible plans do you have on a Sunday afternoon? Kidnapping another woman since you can't keep Gianna satisfied?!"
The second the words left my mouth, I knew I’d crossed a line.
The change in him overpowered the air around us. His expression darkened, those black brows pulling together as he stepped in, crowding my space. Before I could even blink, his fingers wrapped around my wrist, cutting off my circulation and reminding me that I had nowhere to run.
