Tales of Darkness & Sin - Pepper Winters Page 0,63
you going to do to me?” I ask, not bothering to mask the fear.
With his eyes glued to my nude body, he shrugs. “Nothing.” Slowly his gaze treks back up and meets mine. He leans down, crowding me, invading my space. I shrink against the mattress, trying to get away from him. “At least not yet,” he murmurs, and by the time I hear the clinking of metal, it’s too late. He attaches something to the collar around my throat and pushes himself off the bed, away from me. I choke on my breath, my chest rising and falling sharply, as I watch him tie the chain that’s connected to my collar onto a metal attachment on the bed.
“Just in case you get any ideas about jumping out of that window.” He smirks, enjoying this.
With methodical movements, he straightens out his suit before heading toward the door.
“Wait!” I call out, but he ignores me. “Where are you going?” I demand. He pauses near the thermostat and I frown at his broad back, wondering what he’s doing. He toys with the mechanism, but I don’t have a clear view, it doesn’t take me long to figure it out. The room suddenly blasts with cold air and goosebumps make themselves at home on my damp flesh. My gaze shoots to his. There’s no remorse there. There’s nothing at all, just a vacant vessel.
A shiver wracks my body and it hurts. Coupled with the pain in my backside and the cold shower I had to endure, now I’m being forced to sleep in this room with no clothes, no blankets and no heat.
“Why are you doing this?” I demand, my teeth already chattering, ice flooding my veins from the cold air that’s now blasting from the vents. Continuing to ignore me, he makes his way out of the room. When I least expect it, he stops just over the threshold.
“I’ve already told you why—because I can.”
Hysteria claws at my throat, at the idea of being left here, naked and cold and alone, for God knows how long. My nose is already running from the sudden drop in temperature. I’m not sure how much more of this I can ensure.
“Please don’t do this,” I plead, a warm tear trailing down my frozen cheek.
“Sleep well, Tesoro. You’re going to need it.”
Without glancing back, he leaves me, nude and damn near bound on this bed. Once his footsteps begin to fade on the other end of the door, I roll onto my side, but the collar around my neck tightens, only allowing me so much slack. With trembling limbs, I curl into a ball, trying to keep warm, and ignore the painful ache settling in my bones. My bottom lip quivers and the hold I thought I had on my emotions vanishes. A broken sob rips from my chest, echoing around me in the barren room.
CHAPTER FIVE
Saint
TWO WEEKS LATER…
“What do you mean he’s missing?” I demand to Thad over the phone, my entire body thrumming with rage.
“I think he’s been gone the entire time.” Thad sighs. “I’m sorry, Boss.”
Sorry doesn’t even begin to cut it. I’ve had Westwood’s daughter in my custody for two weeks while my men watch the house only to discover he’s not even fucking there. Where the hell is he?
“He thinks he has the upper hand,” I snarl. “There’s no reason for him to leave. Why the fuck would he leave?”
“Not sure, Boss. Rob is in the house now, and there doesn’t seem to be any signs of a struggle.”
Which means he left on his own free will. Probably the night we took Melody. Even if he was pissed I took her a day early, it doesn’t make sense for him to leave his big-ass house without a trace. I need to get to the bottom of this.
“Don’t call back unless you have answers,” I bark at Thad. “Your job depends on it.”
I hang up and scrub my palm over my face in frustration. My plan was to head into the city and do some sniffing around some of Westwood’s clients to see just how far his tentacles reached, but with Westwood missing in action, I need to rethink everything. He’s clearly playing an angle he thinks he can win. And though it pisses me off, it won’t deter me. I’ll figure him out eventually.
I wanted to make him pay. Use the trade of his daughter as a ruse while I inflict real damage on the motherfucker. It feels like I’ve allowed