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“Should I be afraid?”
“Not afraid. No. I don’t want you to fear me. Something tells me I want you to love me.”
Something tells me loving Caine will be hard to avoid.
He pulls in front of my building. I can see by the frown on his face that where I live troubles him. “Stay here,” I say. “I’ll be right down.”
“No way, sweetheart.” He’s out of the car and on my side to open the door in seconds. “I’m protecting what’s mine.”
“Yours?” Even Jake The Snake never claimed me like that.
“Yep, get used to it.” He snakes his arm around my waist in possession and walks me into the building.
We step past a grocery cart filled with plastic bags and over the body of a drunk to get to the stairs. “I don’t want you to see where I live.”
He looks back at the prone body at the bottom of the steps. “My imagination can’t be worse than your reality.”
“Don’t bet on it.” I slide the key into the lock and walk into my mostly empty apartment. I have a blowup chair, a card table, and a lamp in the corner. In the kitchen is a single place setting of dishes. “You can have a seat, I’ll be right back.” I rush into the tiny bedroom that holds a blowup mattress.
Caine follows me in. “I like what you’ve done with the place.”
I look around at the little I have and shrug. “It’s a work in progress.”
He walks to the corner and picks up my duffel bag. In minutes, he’s throwing everything he can find in it.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m kidnapping you. You don’t belong here. You belong with me. Grab whatever else you want sweetheart because you’re not coming back.”
“You can’t be serious. I just met you.”
He drops the bag onto the mattress and wraps his arms around me. “But I feel like I’ve known you all my life. Let’s go home.” He walks into the bathroom and swipes all my toiletries into a plastic grocery bag. “You can replace anything we forgot. Let’s go before we end up dead.”
He throws my bag over his shoulder, grasps my hand and all but drags me down the stairs. At the bottom of the steps is my landlord.
“Rents due tomorrow,” He growls.
Caine stops just past the old drunk who is stirring to life. “She’s vacated the apartment.”
“She didn’t give notice,” he swipes his tobacco stained fingers through his sweaty hair.
“I just did,” I said, feeling more empowered than ever before.
“That’s my girl,” Caine says, as he leads me out of the building and to his car. Thankfully, it is still intact. All tires accounted for as we take off back toward the financial district.
He pulls in front of a high-rise and hops out to hand his keys to the valet. A doorman opens my door and helps me out while Caine grabs my bag from the backseat.
“Janey,” he wraps his arm around my shoulders, “this is Todd.” He looks at the balding man in the black suit. “Todd, this is Janey, she’ll be staying here indefinitely.”
Todd nods his head. “Yes, sir. Welcome to the Tower, Janey. Please let us know if we can get you anything.”
Caine ushers me inside the elevator and slides his key into the top slot. “The penthouse?”
“It was all they had left.” The mirrored elevator rises quickly and opens up into a loft. A wall of windows greets us with a perfect view of the Transamerica Pyramid.
I walk to the window and take in the sights. “Wow, the view is amazing.”
Caine drops my bag on the floor. I look over my shoulder and see the hunger in his eyes. “It sure is.” He’s on me like a wasp to water. “You’re beautiful.” His hands skim my body like he’s memorizing each curve. “I want to lick and taste every inch of you.” He turns me around and presses my back up against the cool, smooth glass, and I’m grateful for it. The man makes me hot enough to burst into flames.
