“Safe and sound,” he rushed to assure the billionaire. “And we have her in solitary confinement, just as you requested.”
Alyx And Nathan
Either it was really a slow night at the police station, or there was something about their case that had all the officers coming to a standstill the moment they were pulled inside. Willa was still screeching, of course. A 911 call had sent the authorities to La Maison de Petit Gateau, and before Alyx could understand what was happening, she was already being cuffed and escorted to the back of the police car.
How had her life come to this?
The question had pounded her mind the entire ride, and in the end she had come to a single important conclusion. She was being punished for choosing to masturbate over showing up on time at work.
I will never masturbate in the daytime again, Alyx vowed to herself while placing her thumb marks on the documents forwarded to her by the officer.
“Sign here, please.”
After skimming the document, she affixed her signature on several pages, all the while feeling herself shrink.
How had her life come to this?
Kidding aside, Alyx knew it had nothing to do with the fact that she knew what to do with her fingers when she was feeling lonely. No, the real reason behind the current state of her life was---
“Alright, Ms. Marshall. Come with me now.” The police officer led her away from where Willa was being taken.
“Are you keeping us apart because she’s likely to kill me if we’re in one cell?” Alyx couldn’t help asking.
“Something like that.”
Oh. Okay. Alyx did her best to remain calm as she followed the officer, but when she realized where the other woman was taking her, Alyx’s anxiety levels shot up, and she gasped, “Are you putting me in solitary confinement?”
“Yes, ma’am.” The officer unlocked the first door to her left.
“But---”
The lady officer said very gently, “Please remember that resisting is considered a criminal offense.”
“But---”
“Step inside the cell, ma’am.”
Swallowing hard, Alyx reluctantly stepped inside, and the sound of the heavy metal door shutting behind her made Alyx flinch. Whirling around, she cried out, “Aren’t you even going to take my cuffs off?”
But the police officer had already walked away, leaving Alyx’s words echoing pointlessly around her tinier-than-tiny cell.
Alyx slowly looked around her. The bed was nothing but a concrete slab, minus any blanket, pillow, or anything that could make it shamefully comfortable. The walls were a glaring shade of white, marred frequently by streaks and flecks of things she didn’t even want to think about.
The urinal in the corner was lidless, and it…smelled. She daren’t think of anything more beyond it, daren’t even look at the source of the odor because if she did, Alyx knew she wouldn’t stop throwing up.
This is the time you can really do with some stupid made-up love quote, Alyx Marshall.
But nothing came.
Nothing.
Except for one question that she knew but couldn’t make herself answer.
How had her life come to this?
Across the concrete bed was a plastic chair, the only thing that looked less than ten years old. Forcing herself to move, she sat on the edge of the chair.
“I can do this,” she told herself.
She was wrong.
Less than one minute had passed before Alyx started yelling. “Let me out of here!” Jumping to her feet, she began to pace, the silence in her cell driving her crazy. “Is anyone there? Anyone?” Surely she wasn’t alone? Surely there’d be a mysterious, interesting but harmless individual occupying one of the other cells, like in the movies.
“Hello?”
But no one answered, and her heart began to thunder inside her chest. I need to be calm. I need to think. There had to be a reason she would get thrown in solitary confinement while Willa Ingress – whom the police knew had thrown the first punch – wasn’t.
What had she done that Willa hadn’t?
Alyx paced faster as she racked her brains for dissimilarities and retraced her actions.
Had she shouted at any of the police officers, maybe disrespected them in some way? No.
Had she pissed off anyone else that could have told the police she was more harmful than Willa? No.
So what could she have done? What could she have said---
Oh.
Oh.
Oh!
When the police had arrived, there had been a bit of chaos, and she had made a call.
To Nathan Callis, of all people.
As soon as the name of the former model popped up in Alyx’s mind, she knew right away that he was behind this.
Oh God, that asshole!
Alyx plopped back on the seat, glared at the door, and waited.
An indefinite amount of time passed before she heard a buzzing sound outside her cell. A moment later, her door opened, and in came the devil.
A devil that also happened to look like the most beautiful angel sent here on earth, with his silky black hair, ash-colored eyes, and a hard, powerful body that made any and all kinds of clothes appear sinfully sexy.