of the office building, my mind was razor focused on one thing: getting home to torment Frankie. When I stepped inside, the house had the kind of quiet that signaled no one was in residence. My house was large because I had bought it as a good investment, and when I’d first started dating Frankie, I could picture us raising a family inside these walls. That was simply a foolish man’s pipe dream. This house would be her prison.
She wasn’t in the kitchen or any of the other common areas, and once I admitted to myself that she wasn’t actually here, my anger from earlier returned with a vengeance.
I pulled out my cell phone and dialed her number.
No answer.
Had she backed out of our arrangement already? The woman had absolutely no honor, so I shouldn’t have expected otherwise. As I was stewing however, I heard the front door opening, and she walked in wearing a pair or yoga pants and a sports bra. Beads of sweat glistened all over her body giving her the appearance of glowing. It was clear that she’d left the house for some exercise, but I wasn’t in the mood to be reasonable.
“Where the fuck did you go.”
She rolled her eyes heavenward. “As you can see, I’m dressed to work out. I went for a run if that’s okay with you, Your Majesty.”
“Cut the attitude? What part of don’t leave the house is so hard to comprehend.”
“When you said that, I figured getting a little exercise on a nice day wouldn’t be a big deal. Don’t tell me I’m literally stuck in the house all day?”
“My words were don’t leave the house. Which means all activities outside of the house counts as leaving. You couldn’t wait one day before defying me, but I should have expected that from someone like you.”
“I honestly didn’t see the big deal.”
“The big deal is that I told you to do something, and you fucking disobeyed. That’s the big deal. Do you know what happens to people who can’t fucking follow instructions?”
Frankie placed her hands on her hips, which pushed her breasts out even more than they were. “I’m sure you’ll tell me.”
“10…”
“Ten what?”
“9…”
She cocked her head to the side. “What are you doing?”
“8…”
“Why are you counting, Nick?”
“7…”
“If you’re trying to intimidate me, it won’t work.”
“6…” I took a step forward.
She took a step back.
“5…”
“You’re being ridiculous Nick.”
“4…” I took two more steps.
Her eyes widen, and she begins to back up. “I just needed some air. You can’t expect me to stay cooped up inside all day; it’s inhumane.”
“3…” That she dared to utter something being inhumane only justified to me that she deserved everything coming to her. Inhumane was what she’d done to my brother.
She continued to step back as I advanced. “Stop this.”
“2…”
She held her hands out like a protective shield. It wouldn’t stop me.
“1….run!”
Frankie turned and took off faster than I expected. She made it halfway up the stairs by the time I caught up with her and gripped her ankle, making her trip. To my surprise, she turned over and shoved her sneaker-clad foot against my chest sending me flying backward.
She scrambled away as I hit the ground hard. With the wind temporarily knocked from my lungs, it gave her enough time to successfully get away. I lay in the same spot for a moment to make sure nothing was broken, and I thanked God I was in good enough shape to take a fall like this. Slowly, I stood up and headed up the stairs with menacing determination.
When I found myself in front of Frankie’s bedroom door, I discovered it was locked.
There was no point in knocking. I knew that without even trying. Perhaps she didn’t take this seriously and it was all a game to her, but by the end of the night I would be the winner.
Chapter Ten
Frankie
The man was insane.
I was more than willing to follow through with what he’d asked, no demanded of me; so when my alarm went off at an ungodly hour, I got up, showered and dressed to make his breakfast of a Greek omelette with a side of toast, and then I waited. And waited. After an hour passed at the time he said he usually ate his breakfast, stupid me thought I’d go check on him to make sure he was okay.
I knocked on his bedroom door, but there was no sound. I figured he might had slept past his alarm, so I poked my head in