Page 44 of Unlocked Desire: Vol One
“Yes, Michael, you’ve already covered that.” I smile at him as I move the blade faster between his fingers. I sing as I pick up speed, watching genuine fear grip him. He knows he’s staring at a monster. He has nowhere to go and no one to help him. “Engine, engine number nine, going down the Chicago line. If the train goes off the track, do you want your money back?”
“Fuck!” Michael screams as he pulls his hand back. Blood squirts from the wound that was his index finger a second ago.
I examine his severed finger. “We’re now even.”
“Even? You cut my fuckin’ finger off!”
I bend, my eyes level with his, and shove the finger in his face. His eyes look frozen, mesmerized by the amputated digit. “You touched my woman. This finger touched what belongs to me, so I took it, making us even.”
“You’re fuckin’ certifiable. I’m going to the cops.”
I scrape the knife along his face, watching the blood bead and spill from the wound. “You won’t be doing any such thing. Taking your finger is nothing compared to what I could do to you, your ignorant little wife, and your boys. I was trying to be merciful, but if you want me to unleash the full force of the monster I keep chained up inside me, I will happily oblige. Just try me.”
CHAPTER SIX
CLARISSA
Maybe I’ve made a mistake. I sit in the lushly decorated office. Vance’s office. A man’s office. I look at the leather furniture and mahogany desk as I adjust my dress. I should have worn something else. All I wanted was to thank him for some fucking groceries. I could have come here in jeans and a sweater. I didn’t need to get dolled up. I hate my stupid vagina. It was her idea to look pretty for Vance.
I pace the room, wondering if I’m the dumbest girl on the face of the planet. I’m attracted to a control freak. What if he’s a murderer? Even as the thought enters my mind, I push it aside. The man is unhinged, but he’s also protective and kind, at least to me. But he needs to understand that I won’t do what he wants just because he wants it.
I bang on the door for fifteen minutes, to no avail.“How long am I supposed to stay here?” I demand, my fist hurting from constantly pounding on the steel door.
After Vance left me, his goons told me to come with them after some guy asked to dance with me. I’m starting to think Vance has a thing about dancing.He goes off the deep end whenever someone wants to dance with me.
“You can’t keep me here against my will. It’s fuckin’ illegal.”
“Hello, Clarissa.”
I jump at the deep voice behind me and turn to see Vance. He’s no longer wearing his suit jacket, and his black shirt is unbuttoned at the top to reveal a glimpse of dark chest hair. His shirt sleeves are rolled up to his elbows, exposing intricate tattoos in black ink, no color.
I storm toward him, and his expression lightens as he flashes me a smile. I slap him hard, leaving an angry red welt on his cheek. I do it again, but he grabs my hand, stalling me. He’s still smiling, but now it’s dangerous. Scared as I am, I find myself drawn to it.
“You don’t want to mess with me, sweetheart. I’m not one of the little college boys you’re used to.”
“Who the hell do you think you are?”
He shrugs, bringing my hand to his lips and kissing my pulse point gently, making my entire body shiver. His eyes glint with mischief as his lips turn up, forming an arrogant smile. “Yours.”
“You’re fuckin’ crazy!” I shout, trying to pull my arm back, but his hold is too strong. If Vance wanted to, he could overpower me with no problem. “I’m not scared of you,” I say, knowing it’s a lie.
Vance steps toward me, my wrist still engulfed in his large hand. His other hand brushes my hair back, and his touch floods my body with heat, want, and need. “You should fear me, Little Bird.” He drops my hand abruptly and gestures to the brown leather chair. “Take a seat.”
“Fuck, no. I’m leaving,” I say, backing up to the door.
Vance doesn’t say a word. He rips off his black leather belt in one swift movement. Panic takes control, and I can barely swallow the bile rising in my throat. The genuine fear that he’s going to rape me crawls into my mind and holds me tight. He steps closer with the belt in his hand. My back is now to the door, and his frame is all I see in front of me. I flinch.
He tilts his head. “Did you just flinch, Little Bird?”
I don’t respond. I just want whatever he’s going to do to me to be over.
Vance bends his head, his breath warm against my skin, when he whispers, “Tell me, Clarissa, who do I have to kill?”
Somehow, I find my voice. “Yourself?”
Vance chuckles as he steps back and molds the belt into handcuffs. He slides it over my wrists and tightens the loops, making my hands useless. “This should keep you put for the time being.”
He lifts me by my waist and moves me toward his desk before he opens the door. He whispers to the men outside. I don’t know what they’re saying. From my peripheral vision, I see that the door Vance entered at the back of the room is ajar. This is the moment, my only moment. I run.