“Whoa, whoa,” he chastised, pulling it away. “Slow down. I don't want you to get sick.”
Laura whimpered. She wanted that water. She would have done just about anything to get more.
“Please,” she begged. “I'm just so thirsty.”
“That's to be expected,” Craig replied. “It'll pass. You can have more water as long as you promise to go slow.”
She nodded, ignoring the pain that it caused to move her head. “I promise.”
He put the water bottle back to her lips. She had to focus and use all her willpower not to chug the bottle. Instead, she took slow, careful sips.
“Good,” Craig praised her when she had finished. “That's much better.”
He put the lid back on the empty bottle and then frowned. He leaned over and carefully wiped a drop of water from her chin like she was a child.
“Thank you,” she said, unsure of what else she could say to that. “Craig, what am I doing here?”
“You're here because Ethan needs to realize how much he needs me,” Craig replied. He set the half-empty bottle down next to her chair and checked the ties on her ankles. He frowned at her. “You need to not hurt yourself.”
“I'm sorry,” she said quickly. He patted her leg as he stood back up. “But what do you mean, Ethan needs to know? I don't understand.”
Craig sighed. “Did you know that he fired me?” he asked, hurt on his voice. “After everything I've done for him?”
“He fired you?” Laura could hardly believe. Up until a little while ago, she thought Craig was a model employee. “Why?”
“They said I had too much overtime,” Craig replied. “He didn't even have the balls to do it himself. He had Bruce do it. He claimed I had too much overtime and needed to take some time off.”
“Ethan told you to take some time off? Isn't that a good thing?” Laura asked, not quite understanding how that meant he was fired.
“No, it's not a good thing,” Craig yelled at her. He took a breath and quieted himself. “He needs me to keep him safe.”
“Oh.” Laura nodded. “Even if you were working overtime, right?”
Craig smiled at her. “You get it,” he said. “Do you know how many hours I didn't bill? I watched him sleep to make sure he was safe. I never billed for that.”
“You watched him sleep?” Laura asked. She hoped he didn't notice the surprise in her voice.
“I'm his security,” Craig explained. “I have to make sure he's safe. Even when he's sleeping.”
“Well, that makes perfect sense,” Laura replied, playing along. There was no way she was going to tell him anything otherwise. She needed him to want to help her, and the only way to do that was for him to like her. “But why did you kidnap me?”
“Because his current securi
ty team is a bunch of fucking idiots,” Craig informed her. He knelt down so he could look her in the eye. He had beautiful eyes. “Do you know how easy it was for me to get you?”
She shook her head.
“I didn't even have to try,” he told her. “I followed you for one night and was able to spike your drink and get you out here without a single one of Ethan's security team even noticing. It's like they weren't even paying attention. They're all too busy chasing stupid leads.”
Laura bit down that they had broken up. If Craig hadn't brought it up, she wasn't about to. Her survival right now depended on Craig believing she was important to Ethan.
“I think you've made your point,” Laura told him. “Can you let me go now?”
He smiled sadly and shook his head. “No, Laura, I can't. He has to see. He has to understand how much he needs me. I can't let you go.”
It was a long shot anyway, she told herself. “What are you going to do with me?”
Craig rose back to standing and looked around the warehouse. “He's coming here so I can show him,” he explained. “I told him to come alone. I'll know if he does.”