AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Breathing with difficulty as my chest tightens, I manage to nod. “And this?” I turn the watch around on my wrist and study it closer. “A security device?” I ask, noting the chip inside the latch, and the tiny flashing light on the inside when I pull it away from my skin.
“Insurance.” My father sounds satisfied as he points at Kira. “Don’t move from that chair, until we’ve sorted our paperwork. You’ll get to go back to Daddy and sleep in your own bed tonight, but I’ll know where you are and what you’re up to, so don’t even think about finding an abortion clinic, or I’ll fuck another kid into you and hold you captive until it’s born. Got it?”
White as a sheet, Kira nods and shrinks into her chair.
Jack turns to me. “Ten feet.”
I look between him and Kira before shaking my head. “I don’t understand, sir.”
“It’ll be fun to dangle her under your nose from time to time at family gatherings, so I won’t forbid you from seeing her. I’m very leniently allowing you to get within ten feet of her.”
“Ten feet,” I repeat, judging the distance between us now. “What happens at nine?”
Jack smiles. “Let’s test it and find out.” He waves his hand toward Kira, telling me to take a step closer.
The moment I do, one of his paid hitmen barges into the office and points his gun at Kira.
She and I throw our hands in the air, and Jack chuckles to himself. “Perfect. That’ll be all, Arthur.”
Gun still raised, the guy backs out of the office and closes the door.
“Any questions?” My father looks so fucking pleased with himself, I can barely breathe.
“How long?” I ask. “How long do we have to wear these?”
“For as long as I say.” He gives me a pointed look. “I was thinking forever, but you’d probably lose hope and kill her, me, or yourself by then, so I’m going to leave it unspecified and give you an open promise that itwon’tbe forever. Sound good?”
I squint at him. “Absolutelynot. You’re threatening to kill someone if I accidentally stand too close to them. What the fuck is good about that?”
“Well, from my perspective, it means you’ll do what you’re told.”
“And if I don’t, she…?”
Jack sighs. “She dies. It’s pretty simple, and you’re not stupid, Quintus. I know you can keep up.”
I shake my head. Is there any line he won’t cross? “But she’s carrying your child.”
He shrugs, his level stare as cold as the chill rolling down my spine. “If it doesn’t make it out alive, I’ll have one fewer disappointment to deal with, I guess.”
I take a deep breath and shove my feelings for Kira and our baby down deep, hoping to keep them out of reach, so I don’t crumple in a heap on the floor and beg him for mercy. “What if it’s a girl?” I ask in a whisper.
My father considers that for a moment. “If I find out I was finally going to have a daughter, and you’re responsible for her death, you will be made to suffer,” he growls. “If you think you’ve got it bad now, I will teach you the true meaning of pain. You will wish yourself dead, but I’ll make sure to keep you alive. What I’m doing to you now will feel like a kindness.”
“So, you’d still kill Kira?” I glance at her and wish I didn’t. She looks so afraid, and I have no solace to give her.
It’s going to kill, me to keep looking when I can never have her. Never hold her in my arms. Never be with her and our baby.
My father looks between us and shakes his head. “You’ll be the one to cause her death, Quintus. The power is all yours. You have ten feet, so don’t fuck it up. Now get out. My wife and I have business to discuss.”
I turn toward Kira, wanting to say…something, but the door swings open, and a raised gun is pointed in her direction.
My father holds his hand up, to stop his assassin, and gives me a blank stare. “Ten feet. Not a toe closer.” He turns to Arthur and nods at the alert sounding from the man’s pocket. “Tell him how close he got.”
Arthur pulls his phone out and smiles. “Nine feet and eleven-and-three-quarter inches.”
Jack returns his steely gaze to me. “She’s mine now. Best you keep your distance. No going near her without prior arrangement — not because I can track you everywhere you go and take her out if you get too close, but more because I like the idea of you, needing to ask me for things and giving me the opportunity to sayno.”
He urges Kira to pull her seat closer, and waves a hand toward the door to dismiss me. “Go make yourself useful, finding the next company to exploit, Five. Little hint — the owner will be very successful, with a lot to lose if they don’t follow my direction. You’ll see Kira again, soon.”
