I’ve never bought someone or owned someone like I’m going to own this woman. And that thought excites me more than I’m willing to admit.
I wouldn’t be that cruel to keep her chained up. Especially since I plan on keeping her long term, and in order to do that, trust is going to have to be built. I want her to want me the same way I want her, and that won’t happen if I keep her chained up like an animal.
I think a little while longer, considering my options. Julian has a few safe houses. One is a cabin up in the mountains, secluded and away from the rest of the world. If she escapes me, which I doubt she will, all that surrounds us is nature. There won’t be anyone coming to her rescue, not out there.
Choosing the cabin in the mountains, I put the car in drive and head out to the highway.
It will be perfect not only for its secluded location but especially since I know it has a cell in the basement.
“What’s your name?” I ask after we’ve been driving for a few minutes.
“Fallon,” she whispers, almost inaudible.
“I already know that. What’s your last name?”
I need to make sure she’s not related to Victoria before I let this go any further.
“Brice,” she says hesitantly.
Brice… I tap my fingers against the steering wheel. I’ve never heard of anyone by that last name before, but I’ll still have someone look into her when we get to the safe house. I have to be sure. I know just the person to do that.
Although, I’m sure my brother will not be happy that I’m contacting him for a favor.
I think further on questions I should ask her like this is a fucking date, and I didn’t just pay one million dollars for her body.
“Where are you from, Fallon?”
“Sun Valley.” She doesn’t offer any more than the bare minimum.
“Have you always lived there?”
“Yes.” A second passes, and then she asks the question that dooms both of us. “What are you going to do to me?”
Gripping the steering wheel a little tighter, I grit my teeth and answer her truthfully.
“I don’t know yet.”
I just don’t fucking know…3FallonFear zips through me and down my spine with the intensity of a lightning bolt.
“I don’t know yet.” That singular statement sets me off and straight into a full-blown panic attack.
He doesn’t know what he’s going to do to me? It doesn’t matter that he saved me from that man back there. He doomed me to a much worse fate when he bid on me and won.
With my eyes squeezed shut, I try to focus on my breathing. It’s much harder than one would think, though, given my circumstances.
As I lie here in the backseat, every bump we drive over pushes my face further into the seat. My arms throb, and my cheek hurts as it rubs against the leather.
I think about my situation. I don’t have to know this man to know he is bad. I can feel it. The darkness rushes off of him in waves, leaving everything in ruins when it’s gone. That’s the aura he gives off, and the way he looked at me before pulling me off the ground and away from that man. A man he killed with his bare hands without blinking or showing a shred of remorse, I shiver at the reminder. Sure, I would’ve wanted that sick bastard of a man to die anyway, but the way he did it without a care, like he was tying his shoes. It told me everything I needed to know about him.
I won’t lie. For a moment, I felt there might be some good in him. The way he looked at me when I was struggling to breathe. It was almost as if he had a heart, like he was more than what everyone around him saw.
There was a sliver of compassion in his gaze for me, concern… or so I thought.
Then he opened his mouth and voiced that his only concern was for his purchase not to be damaged. I realized quickly that I was his property, nothing more, and I needed to keep that fact in mind. He wasn’t saving me, and he didn’t buy me just to let me go. He was going to use me, hurt me, and there was nothing I could do about it.
After what seems like an eternity, we turn onto what has to be a dirt road. The car shakes as the tires move over the uneven gravel. The restraints dig into my skin, especially around my neck, and I can’t stifle a groan much longer.
When we finally come to a stop, I’m almost certain some of my skin must be bleeding, or at least it feels like it.
My captor gets out of the car and opens the back door, reaching inside to pull me out. He is not any gentler than he was when he put me in the car, and I have to bite the inside of my cheek to stop myself from crying out in pain.