Descent (Black Heart Romance)

In the end, I choose four pictures and attach them in a text to Calvin.

Hollis gives me a minute to wait for a response, but when nothing comes through, he begins to get antsy. Another twenty seconds or so pass and then he says, “All right, hand it over.”

“He hasn’t texted back yet.”

“He might not. You’re not even supposed to have your phone. He probably expects I’ve taken it away by now. And now I’m going to,” he says, right as he snatches it.

“Hey!” I pout. “But how will I know if he likes them?”

He shoots me a look. “You know he’ll like them.”

“Do you like them?” I tease.

He points at me, dead-eyed. “Stop.”

My eyes narrow with suspicion. “Why are you being so weird?”

“I’m not being weird. You’re coming onto me, and I don’t know why. If you think I’ll help you, I won’t. If you’re trying to piss off Calvin, find another way.”

“Is it because you’re afraid he’ll shoot you?” I ask gravely.

He is not amused.

“If it helps, he promised not to do that again without warning me first so I can stop him.”

“I wouldn’t let that reassurance get you too comfortable. If you get yourself into a situation where he has to give you that warning, I imagine the cost to get out of it will be pretty damn high.”

“You know I’m not seriously hitting on you, right?” I ask seriously, despite my smile. “I just thought it was weird how you reacted to that compliment and now it’s kind of fun to mess with you. If Calvin doesn’t want me flirting with you to entertain myself, maybe he should give me my phone back so I can play my mobile game instead.”

Hollis shakes his head. “You’re going to get both of our asses beat, and I don’t like it nearly as much as you must to be provoking him like this.”

“He’s not here,” I point out.

But Hollis has been acting like he is, and that’s another reason I keep messing with him—one I won’t share.

Hollis knows much more about what Calvin is up to than I do, and while I wouldn’t normally expect such a thing, Calvin isn’t normal, and he surely isn’t clueless about technology since he owns a tech company. If Hollis is behaving like Calvin is watching over us, that might mean there’s a nanny cam or something in the apartment so Calvin can keep an eye on me while he’s at work.

He spoke freely in the master bathroom, so it probably isn’t in there. Calvin’s living room and kitchen are open floorplan and the office is right off the kitchen, so it stands to reason if there is one, it’s probably out here somewhere.

It reminds me of the time I had to go to a convention for work and I couldn’t take Marie, so I had to have her boarded for the weekend. The reason I went with the place I went with was because the room she would be kept in came equipped with a camera so I could check in on her whenever I wanted to see what she was up to.

He’s treating me like a pet.

I glance down at the pretty heels I’m still wearing.

A well-kept pet, granted.

But still a pet.

Chapter Thirty Two

Hallie

Hollis doesn’t stay all day. I get some work done after he leaves, but since I have to be ready to go by 4:30, I don’t get as much done as I would like to.

My hands are a bit achy by then anyway, so I do a few stretches and make a mental note to ask Calvin for my yoga mat so I can get back to my routine of regularly doing yoga in the mornings before work. Once I’m finished with that, I give Marie some cuddles and play with her a bit since I’ll be out all evening, then I go to get dressed and put my pretty new heels back on.

I love the way I look in this outfit and that makes me feel really good, too. Rationally, I know I shouldn’t be okay with going out with a man who wants a captive girlfriend and who had a man shot just the other night, but I guess knowing I have no other option makes it easier to swallow.

I can be miserable about going tonight, or I can make the best of it. I choose to make the best of it.

Hollis comes back when it’s time to get me. I wait upstairs for him instead of meeting him downstairs. When he asks why, I tell him, “I need my phone.”

Of course, he tells me I’m not allowed to have the phone, but after a couple of minutes of bickering about it, he grabs “the damn thing” and slides it in his jacket pocket.

“There, are you happy?” he asks as we finally step inside the elevator.