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“Just let me go.” She tried her best to stay calm, but the act was failing miserably.
“No.”
“Are you going to kill me?”
“Don’t be silly. Why would I kill you?”
She snorted. “Why would youkidnapme?”
“Because you clearly can’t take care of yourself. Now I’ve got a place for you where you’ll be fed and safe instead of out on the streets like a crack addict.”
“Are you going to keep me tied up?”
“No. I told you, I have work for you. You’ll be doing work.”
“Like hell, you cretin. I’m not your slave.”
He glanced in the rear view and pulled onto the interstate. “Let me ask you something. Do you have any friends you can stay with?” He had to know the answer to that, given how he’d found her—assuming he hadn’t followed her the whole week. He was just tormenting her.
“No. I have, orhad, coworkers.”
“Why don’t you have friends? Could it be your charming personality?”
Veronica stared out the window into the night as it blurred by. So much for her lady or the tiger choice. She tried not to cry when she answered. “I worked long hours, so I didn’t have time for much of a social life. What time I did have was spent with coworkers, and I never let them get too close.”
“Why not?”
“I got into financial trouble and lost my penthouse. Status is a big deal in my circle. I couldn’t let them know I was living in such a bad apartment. They aren’t the kind of friends that would let you crash at their place, anyway.” The walls around her personal bubble had dissolved in light of being kidnapped. Now, talking—making him see her as human—felt like her only shot at survival. He hadn’t taken her to help her. He’d taken her because he wanted her. He’d come in like some barbarian and scooped her up as if she were the spoils of war.
“Are you still living in the apartment?”
She shot him a look. “No, I’ve been abducted.”
A small grin inched up his face. At least it didn’t look like a serial killer grin. She hoped.
“You know what I mean.”
“No, I was evicted about a month ago. The day I got fired I had three days left there.”
“So where were you living when I saw you tonight?”
“A hotel. Not a really nice one, but not seedy enough that I felt unsafe sleeping.”
“I see.”
They were quiet for several miles. Veronica decided not to waste her energy fighting him right now. Taking her across state lines was bad, but he’d have to stop for gas or a bathroom break at some point. If she just waited, she’d have her opportunity, assuming she could move like this or find something to cut through the ropes.
“Do you have family?” he asked.
“No.”
“Dead?”
“That’s rude.”
“I learned it from you.”
She sighed. “My mom is overseas. I don’t even have her phone number. My dad left.”
