Clenching my jaw as I turned on the water of the shower to heat up, I realized why I hated when Matthew called me princess. Because he was right. I was, and that was all I would be. My father mapped out my life until I was handed off to some other overbearing man to continue mapping the rest of it. Nothing more than being pretty arm candy was in my future, and the worst part of it was it wasn’t like any real dreams were being crushed by that fact. I had no real hobbies or passions. I didn’t have any dreams of being a doctor or a lawyer. Career was never a path I even considered because I knew better. Mafia princess was my destiny. Matthew was right. Simply calling it as it was. Princess. Fucking princess.
I was in an even more sour mood when I got out of the shower than when I first got in it even though I was clean and felt somewhat human again. And as I did my hair, and even my makeup, I found myself getting more and more annoyed. Why was I even bothering with my appearance? Who did I have to impress? Had I been so groomed to always be perfect for a dinner, that I couldn’t even stop to remind myself that these were my captors I was dining with? They were enemies of my father and, therefore, should be enemies of mine.
There was a knock on the bathroom door. “I’m heading downstairs,” Matthew said from the other side. “Remember my warning about Tennessee.”
“I’ll be down there in a second,” I called, again wondering why I should make this so easy for them.
I could lock myself in the bathroom.
I could scream and try to claw their eyes out when they’d try to get me out.
I could… hurt them. Hell… I had my father’s blood in me. Maybe I should do more than hurt them. I could kill them both and then make a run for it. They wouldn’t be expecting it from me.
I actually laughed out loud as I stared at my reflection in the mirror. Like I could ever do anything like that.
Sighing, I ran a comb through my blow-dried hair one last time and decided I was starving enough to not put up any resistance at this time. I needed time to regroup anyway. I was never one to be rash in anything I did, and this wasn’t a time to start. Look what happened when I’d decided to act on impulse and go back to my room with a strange man.
As I walked downstairs, I could overhear Tennessee and Matthew speaking.
“You’ve lost your damn mind, but I won’t judge,” Tennessee said.
“Yes, you will and are right now,” Matthew said.
“Fine. Fuck yes, I’m judging,” Tennessee said, “but whatever. You better hope that little girl up there doesn’t drive me crazy. I agreed to babysit you. Not some spoiled little diva.”
“She seems different than what you would expect,” Matthew said. “I expected a high maintenance little brat whom I would have to tame.”
“And what about her daddy? Is this house going to become a blood bath like a scene from The Godfather? You don’t pay my ass enough to deal with that.”
“No one knows where we are. Only you, the pilot who flew you here, and I know. I didn’t even tell my partners where I took Aria, but even if they knew, we know they will keep their mouths shut. Plus, Daddy Dearest doesn’t even know it was me who took her. I haven’t made contact yet and given my demands. But you both will be safe when I’m gone. I can assure that.”
“And you don’t think little diva is going to try to escape?” Tennessee asked.
“And go where? She’s smart enough not to make rash decisions and just go running off into the woods. But I have cameras and alarms set up if she tries. Actually, I have a feeling that our house guest isn’t going to give us that many problems. At least not problems that I can’t handle. We’ve already had some power struggles, and no doubt will have some more. But escaping? No. I’m not concerned as long as we stay on this mountain.”
I hated that they were talking about me, so I decided to walk into the kitchen to make it stop. They both turned and looked me over. Each of them had a drink in their hand as they sat at the large granite island in the center of the room.
“Well hot damn you clean up good,” Tennessee said. “That robe you wore did you no favors.”
Ignoring the bold compliment from the very loud man with a thick southern accent, I remained quiet and in place hoping that there would be some guidance as to where to go or what to do.