Page 113 of Locked in Wonderland

“No,” he said at last. “I’ve made up my mind. My contract states that I can resign without notice.”

Queenie looked to Henry with a frown.

He shrugged. “I didn’t think it would matter. Nico’s one of us. The idea of him resigning never seemed realistic.”

“Yet, you let him put it in there?” Queenie’s tone had turned accusatory now.

“Lawyers drew it up,” Henry said, waving a dismissive hand. “It’s not as though I wrote it myself.”

“It also states,” Nico said, “that I’m entitled to a severance gift. Something of my choosing. A thank you for my years of service.”

Henry strode over to a bureau at the side of the room. He had a checkbook and a pen in his hand when he returned. Flipping it open, he poised the pen over the page. “How much?”

While everyone’s attention remained fixed on Nico, it occurred to me I should probably try to escape.

I glanced at the door, only a few feet away.

But where would I go once I got through it?

It wasn’t as though I could ask for help when I couldn’t even speak. I could maybe persuade someone to remove the gag, but I’d learned the hard way that even those like Donovan, who I’d thought might be friends, weren’t really. Everyone answered to the Harts.

“I don’t want your money,” Nico said. His voice was cool and precise, not a trace of emotion escaping.

“Then what do you want?” Queenie asked.

Nico turned toward me, his eyes finding mine for the first time. “I want him.”

A stunned silence met his announcement, during which I had to make a conscious effort to breathe.

Queenie was the first to break it. “Him?” In another time and another place, the disbelief in her voice would have caused grave offense. “Why would you want him? He’s a nobody.”

“Then accepting my terms shouldn’t be a problem,” Nico said.

“He’s mine.” Kellan practically growled the words. “He’s my pet. You can’t have him. Tell him, Mother.”

Henry gave the checkbook a little shake. “Under the circumstances, perhaps we can agree on a monetary amount instead. Ask for enough and it’ll buy you a whore every night for the rest of your life.”

The comparison wasn’t lost on me. For a fleeting moment, I considered launching myself at him. I might not be able to bite him—where had that thought come from?—but I still had my hands. Common sense quickly overruled the impulse. Security was just outside the door, and getting myself dragged out of the room would undo everything Nico was trying to accomplish.

“No.” Nico didn’t even glance at the checkbook. “That’s my demand.”

Queenie sighed. “Perhaps in the morning we can—”

“No,” Nico repeated. “Not in the morning.”

Kellan’s eyes narrowed. “You only want him because he’s mine.”

“He was mine first.” The words were delivered pleasantly enough, but I could see the strain beneath them in the rigid line of Nico’s jaw and the muscle ticking in his cheek. “You took him from my apartment.”

“You’re not supposed to take a flamingo for yourself,” Henry pointed out.

“No?” Nico laughed. It was brief and entirely humorless. “But Kellan can take a guest whenever the whim strikes him. Todd was a guest, remember?”

Queenie frowned. “Todd?”

“His last pet.”

Recognition dawned. “Right.” She took a measured sip of her drink before turning toward her son. “We can get you another pet tomorrow, sweetheart.” Her gaze traveled over me. Nothing complimentary lived in it. “A better one.”