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25
Penny
Ryder is giving me whiplash with his mood swings and multiple personalities. One minute, he is swooping in to save me, and the next, he is keeping me locked in a room.
In one breath, he tells me,I like taking care of you.The next, he tells me,you owe me, I take payment in the form of fucking. That’s it.
Which one is it? Am I really that desperate I’m imagining there is something else between us?
There are these moments when I’m positive there is more. The way he kissed me back and held me to keep me warm. The way he washed me in the shower and then let me wash him in return.
It’s been three days, and I feel like I’m going crazy. Being locked in a windowless room doesn’t help. At least I have something to do now.
The first two days I spent going over the bookkeeping Maddox had given me. Tucker had been skimming money since he started running the numbers, but in the past, it was not a lot. Only recently, he has been getting greedy, taking more and more cash that didn’t belong to him.
Yesterday, Ryder made good on his words and brought me a laptop. I’ve been on it non-stop, using this time to fill out college and grant applications.
Ryder gets me breakfast each morning but leaves me here throughout the day. I wait for him to come back. Each day, I wait with anticipation for the door to open and for him to walk in. Today is no different.
Checking the time in the corner of the computer screen, I realize he’s been gone for a long time. It’s Saturday night, and the music from the bar is louder than usual. I try not to think about Ryder being there, drinking with his friends, and the naked women.
Jealousy wraps around my chest, making it feel tight and hard to breathe. I don’t want to imagine Ryder with another woman, but I’m not stupid. I have no claim on him.
When I hear the rattling of the key and the lock turn, I close my laptop and set it next to me on the bed. Expecting Ryder, I watch the door swing open, and a large body fills the frame. I suck in a sharp breath when I realize it’s not Ryder stepping in the room.
“Hello, Penny,” Maddox’s voice is clipped as he closes the door behind him.
I instinctively scoot back on the bed until my back is pressed firmly against the headboard. Maddox steps closer, a mischievous grin tucking on his lips.
“W-where is Ryder?” I ask, failing miserably to keep my voice even. His grin widens. He knows I’m scared of him, and he enjoys that thought. Men like him feed on it.
“Getting drunk. Having fun.” He sits down on the edge of the bed, and I pull my legs to my chest as much as I can.
“Why are you here?” I ask, knowing damn well that I won’t like the answer.
“Just wanted to ask you some questions. Ever since you walked into my bar, Ryder has been different. Distracted. You’re a weakness, and I can’t have that.”
“I’m sorry,” I say on autopilot. I’m not sure what I’m apologizing for exactly, but he clearly thinks this is my fault.
“You are the girl who got him sent to jail, aren’t you?”
I swallow hard, an enormous lump forming in my throat. “Y-yes.”
“I don’t know what game you are playing, but it’s going to stop now.”
“I’m not… I mean I don’t–”
“Shut up,” he growls, the raw anger in his voice making me flinch. “Let’s go. You’re coming with me.”
“Where are we going?”
Grabbing my arm, he gets to his feet and pulls me up with him. “You’re going to pay off your debt tonight, so you can be gone by the morning.”
“Please…” I beg, digging my heels into the floor as he drags me out of the room. “Please, don’t!” I say a little louder, but my pleading falls on deaf ears.
“You’re going to walk into that bar and give everyone a little show. Then you’re going to suck off whoever wants your lips wrapped around their dick, and when you’re done with that, you are going to walk out the front door and never come back. Are we clear?”
No, no, no!I shake my head profusely. Ryder said no one would touch me. He promised. My head tells me to believe him, to trust what he said, but my body isn’t convinced.
