Authors: Mia Hoddell
“Kirby, if you don’t get out of this room this second, I swear you will regret it. Remember last time you ignored me?”
Cora saw Kirby flinch slightly, obviously remembering something. He tried to cover it but wasn’t successful so in the end, he gave up on what he was doing. His posture hunched as he made his way to the door, he made sure to keep scowling in Cora’s direction.
Rogan waited and watched, making sure he shut the door behind him before turning back to Cora finally.
“All right, Misty goes free but if you do not read people correctly, then she will be the one who will suffer.”
It wasn’t a brilliant deal but Cora could see it was all she was going to get. Anyway, he didn’t say if she tried to escape, only if she read people wrong. As long as it went down in the contract like that, she believed Misty would be okay. She had to be, or Cora was giving up for nothing.
Lifting the contract off her lap, she handed it back to Rogan for him to add the necessary details. As he moved over to his desk, she followed, watching him load up the computer and start tapping away on his keyboard.
“Your son seems like a great guy,” Cora said sarcastically, breaking the silence while also getting a final jab in before she signed on the dotted line.
“Ignore him. Everyone else does. He’s useless,” Rogan muttered as he added the final few clauses to the contract before pressing print.
“How old is he?” Cora asked, trying to figure out how something that big could have escaped her notice.
“Twenty-one.”
The answer flowed easily from Rogan. He was more concerned about getting the wording right than personal information. However, she still couldn’t believe he had been able to hide a son for her whole life. She had been in the house often when her mum was alive and three times after, so she thought it was something she would have at least heard about.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the printer whirling and her heart sank at the sound.
This is it.
Picking up the piece of paper, still warm from the device, he slid it across the desk towards Cora. Holding out a pen in the other hand, she read over the terms he had added, making sure she was as happy as she could be with the wording.
Satisfied that the clause concerning Misty was written to give her some leeway, Cora leaned over the desk and before she could doubt herself, signed the contract quickly. She saw Rogan’s eyes light up with victory as she pulled her hand back.
She couldn’t believe she had done it. Well, she could but it was not something she ever imagined herself doing. After years of freedom and successful running, escaping, and hiding, Rogan had finally got what he wanted; he had her signature on one of his contracts. Sure, she had been able to negotiate slightly, gained more than anyone else had, and exploited Rogan’s need for her for all it was worth. However, there was still an air of defeat in the room as she lifted the fountain pen from the paper, her name scribbled neatly on the line.
Cora was not one to let her disappointment show. She would stay strong in front of him and break down in private. There was no way she would give Rogan that satisfaction after all the years he had tried to break her. Instead, she raised her head high and kept her face free from any emotions that would reveal her true state of mind.
“Good girl,” Rogan said, his tone full of patronising glee as he pulled the contract back. It was like his words were patting her on the head as if she were an obedient dog and Cora could feel her body tense at the insinuation. Oblivious to Cora’s thoughts, Rogan turned and filed the contract away in a safe. Obviously it was more valuable than those of his normal employees.
“Don’t bloody ‘good girl’ me, I’m not your pet. Just let Misty go in front of me and then show me to my room. I also expect your men to collect my stuff and bring it to me as I doubt you’re going to let me do that myself. I want a few clothes,” she spat, her frustration coming out no matter how badly she tried to conceal it.
“I’ll arrange for all of that later. As for Misty, I’ll give the orders to release her now.”
“No, you will go down there now with me and I will watch you let her go. You will give her a car and let her get her own way back.” Cora folded her arms and stood there stubbornly, daring him to challenge her with her eyes.
“You should have stipulated that in the agreement if that was what you wanted.” Rogan grinned smugly as he messed with her.
“Don’t you dare go back on your word, Rogan—” Cora started but he held up one hand, silencing her swiftly.
“I have no intention of going back on my word. Misty will go free and you will see her leave,” he said picking up his phone and dialling a number. He wasn’t going to listen to Cora about releasing her himself as he gave the order, but by that point Cora was just happy she had succeeded.
Turning her back on Rogan, she walked over to the door to find Misty’s head appearing just over the lip of the stairs. She made a move to start running towards her when Rogan’s annoyingly strong and possessive grip clamped down on her shoulder, pulling her back to his side.
Cora’s head whipped round, her eyes narrowing into slits as she glared at him while trying to silently ask what his problem was.
Rogan, however, just looked down at her, his hand tightening as Misty walked down the hall. There was no reason she couldn’t see her friend, but Rogan wanted to make his position clear. She was under his authority and that meant she would have to learn to listen to him. Although, he did have his doubts about how successfully it would all turn out. If Cora had really wanted to break out, she would have tried her hardest to succeed already.
Waiting in the door to Rogan’s office, Cora tapped her foot impatiently. Every second that went by only made her more aware of the hand upon her shoulder but there was nothing she could do. Cora wasn’t stupid and she knew better than to get into a physical fight with Rogan within minutes of signing for him. Exchanging words was one thing, they had always sparred like that, and she was surprised he had let her get away with it really. However, Cora knew a fight would be a whole new level and one Rogan would not accept. There was only so much luck she had to spare and she figured there had to be a better use of it. Cora decided she would remain pleasant—at least by her standard—until she was settled and had a better grasp of the situation.
Misty’s eyes fell as she noticed Rogan’s hand on Cora’s shoulder. Even though her head was telling her there was nothing she could do, and that it wasn’t her fault, her heart said differently. There was a feeling of guilt, pressing down on her shoulders. If she hadn’t been caught then Cora wouldn’t have been forced to choose.
Their eyes met when Misty was about a metre away and shrugging off Rogan’s grip, Cora ignored the piercing stare she could feel burning into her back and kept walking towards her. Reaching out her arms, she wrapped them around Misty’s neck, drawing her in close so her mouth was right against Misty’s ear.
Returning the hug tightly, Misty flinched when Cora started to speak.
“When you get out of here you run, all right? You go straight back to the flat, pack your stuff and leave. Don’t look back. Use the emergency funds I have in the flat to find another place to live and forget everything,” she murmured intensely but her voice was low so only Misty could hear. Cora desperately needed her to understand the severity of the issue.
“What about you?” Misty whispered, her throat choking up a bit as she tried to hold back her tears.
“Forget me, Misty. I’ll be fine and I’ll get out.”
Misty was shaking her head before she had even finished.
“Don’t argue with me. The best way to help me is to follow everything I just told you. If you don’t, you put us both in more danger.”
Cora pulled back, trailing her arms over Misty’s so she could clasp her shoulders tightly while staring at her friend sternly. Misty nodded slowly and Cora let out a heavy sigh of relief in response. As long as Rogan couldn’t find Misty then Cora might have a chance of escaping.
“Oh and don’t tell Sam or anyone, yeah? In fact I’d ignore them totally, unless you want to warn them that I’ll be coming back for them soon that is,” Cora said as an afterthought. She spoke loud enough for everyone around to hear this time, seeing as it was nothing that could be used against Misty. It also warned Rogan that she would be doing things her own way—something he didn’t appreciate.
A subtle smile formed on the corner of Misty’s lips as one of the guards responded to Rogan’s signal to get her out of the building. Putting a hand on her back, the man guided her towards the exit. Cora didn’t need to watch though as she believed Rogan honoured his contracts enough to fulfil his side of the deal.
“If you want to sleep somewhere other than the basement, I suggest you follow me,” Rogan called, already a few steps ahead of her.
Breaking free of her thoughts, Cora jogged up behind him obediently, much to her annoyance. When her brain failed her for a quick retort, she remained silent, trying to resist the urge to land a kick to the back of his knee and send him sprawling on to the floor in front of his men. A smile tugged at her lips with the mental image of Rogan, his face crumpled against the shiny granite floor. Letting out a little laugh, Cora allowed the thought to amuse her for a while but as she ran through different ways she could get Rogan to hit the floor, her leg was itching to follow through.
Gritting her teeth, she bit back the urge and followed Rogan to the top of the stairs that appeared too average for a house of its grandeur. Rogan thought so too. However he preferred the understated look, wanting to keep extra room for other, more important things that may be needed at short notice: weapons, prisoners, meetings were top priority. It wasn’t like he needed a grand staircase anyway as who was ever going to walk down it?
At the top Rogan waited for Cora to catch up, and as she paused in front of a single, metal door it didn’t look like a normal bedroom to her.
“What do you think I’m going to do? Set a bomb off in my room to escape? If you hadn’t noticed I don’t happen to carry around C4 with me just in case of events like this,” she exclaimed, her face screwing up in confusion.
“This door leads to the family quarters. You will be staying here as I don’t trust you not to try and escape. The staff quarters are all full in the main house and there is no way I’m letting you go to the outhouse.”
“Well aren’t I lucky! I feel privileged,” Cora cheered over-enthusiastically with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. She was not impressed by the arrangement. Everyone knew that Rogan’s fortified family quarters were almost impenetrable and there she was being led right into them. Cora had assumed she would be staying with the other employees and that would give her a better chance of escape. However, it didn’t surprise her that he had thought of that.
Rogan cast a sidelong glance at her in warning, but Cora ignored him and continued to smirk—a silent challenge. He wasn’t looking. Instead he was pulling out a card that was attached to his key chain on a coiled lead. Running it through the card reader, Cora watched as the lights flashed from red to green and a bleep rang out, signalling it had been unlocked.
Pushing the door open, he gestured for Cora to walk in ahead of him before he shut the door behind them both.
“Aren’t you going to give me one of those?” Cora asked irritated at his lack of reaction.
“Of course, and then I’ll also give you two guns, a map of the house and a key to the front door.” Rogan laughed at the moment of hope that flashed through Cora’s eyes before it flickered out of existence as she realised he wasn’t being serious.
“A simple yes or no would have sufficed,” she muttered under her breath but Rogan caught the words.
“Unless you’re needed, you won’t be leaving this section of the building; at least until you prove your worth that is.”
Cora frowned, not liking the sound of the idea one bit but as Rogan paused in front of another door, her eyes were focused on the pocket he had placed the keys back into. She glanced at the two guards who were stood either side of the door, wondering what they would do if she tried to take the key card without Rogan noticing.
“This is where you’ll be staying for now. Don’t bother complaining either because I couldn’t care less about your opinion.”
Her eyes flew from his pocket and up to meet his gaze. She hoped he hadn’t noticed what she was doing or at least figured out what she was after but of course he had, it wasn’t that hard to figure out.
“The cards get changed every three days so don’t even bother trying to steal one, it would be a waste of time seeing as I would just get a new code generated. Also the people with access to this floor are limited and movement is monitored closely. I’ll know if something is out of place.”
Damn
, Cora thought as Rogan threw her plan back to square one without even realising it. Shrugging off his comment though Cora moved to step past him and into the room where she almost had a heart attack at its vastness.
She had been expecting a crappy room that was like something you would find in a roadside motel. She was expecting a leaky sink and a single bed with scratchy covers. There was no reason to why she had assumed that, maybe because she didn’t think Rogan thought much of her. However what he had given her exceeded anything her imagination could have come up with on its own.
The room was at least three times the size of her old flat, with a king-sized bed in the centre of the right wall, a sofa up against the left wall and a door leading off to somewhere. The walls were painted a deep, rich blue with clean silver finishes. The rest of the décor, such as the soft furnishing was tailored to match the silver or was white, giving the room an elegant and expensive feeling.
In front of her was a big glass panelled window that led on to a balcony and overlooked the estate. Cora’s mind was already whirling as she spotted it, but once again Rogan was able to sense what she was thinking easily.
“The windows have been sealed and just in case you manage to get around that without alerting the men who will be stood on the other side of that door,” he said pointing to the door, “Then there will be guards just below the balcony twenty-four seven to foil any escape attempts, of which I’m assuming there will be many.”
Cora had no reply. She knew already what she wanted and she wasn’t going to correct Rogan. If she was to try and escape there would be only one plan and it would work. There was no way she was sticking around or getting caught again so she could face the consequences of her actions.
“Cora,” he called, dragging her back into the present and out of her mind. “It would be advisable not to try anything. I’ve offered you the best here, not only because of the need to keep a close guard on you, but because you are valuable. However, I only need you coherent to perform your duty so if you mess up, you will be seeing the worst I can offer.”
Seeing he wasn’t going to get a response, he walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him and giving orders for the men to not let her leave the floor—not that she would be able to without a key card. He knew she would be curious, so he would let her explore at least for a day. It wasn’t like there was anywhere for to go. And he had more pressing matters to attend to.
Rogan had made his way back to his office where he sat at his desk for the scheduled conference call with the leaders of the other cartels. It was one of the things he hated most and after having to deal with Cora, the last thing he wanted to do. But, loading up the software on his computer, he linked it to the TV that was still in view, and entered the conversation where all five leaders were waiting for him.