Willing Captive (13 page)

I’m not quite sure
what the problem is here. “What’s wrong with what I’ve got on?”

Walking up to me, he
pinches the bottom of the tank between his forefinger and thumb and
announces, “This is not appropriate for down there.”

Ha! I know what this
is about now. I chuckle while shaking my head slowly, “Is this
because of this morning’s side-boob?”

His face turns confused. “Side- side-” Lifting his hands to
his head, he rubs his temples slowly as if he’s getting a headache
and mutters, “I’m not sure I wanna know, but what the fuck
is
side-boob
?”

Rolling my eyes, I
respond, “So you saw the side of my boob. It’s all good. I’ve seen
you’re your ass, so we’re even. C’mon.”

Walking toward the
door, Nox says firmly, “I’m serious, Lily. You’re not goin’ out
like that. It’s just askin’ for trouble. Put on a damn bra.”

Who knew Nox was a
prude?

I shoot back, “I
don’t have a damn bra! If you remember, I didn’t exactly pack for
this trip!”

Visibly calming
himself, he breathes deeply and replies on an exhale, “Fine. That’s
fine. Then you’ll just have to wear another tee or somethin’,
because I can see- see- your- uh- side-boob.”

Score one: Lily.

Smiling angelically,
I take the tee from his outstretched hand. My fingers brush his and
I ask sweetly, “Why didn’t you just say so then?”

My brain claps and
pulls an impressed face.

Did I just flirt
with Nox?

***

Another big
breakfast this morning goes down well. This time, I order the
tomato and cheese omelet and it’s moist and fluffy. Just heavenly.
Chasing that with Nox’s pancakes once again, and a glass of OJ, I
watch while he orders yet another platter of sandwiches and flirts
with the sweet waitress from the day before.

Why doesn’t he flirt
with me like that?

I fight the urge to
pout and let him drag me along. My belly’s getting the better of me
again, half way there, he has to piggyback me. He says, “Maybe I
should just buy you a wheelchair.”

I can’t help but
laugh and laugh right in his ear.

It
seems that food, mixed with copious amounts of horny, equals
drunk.

Which brings us to
now. Third day in our little love shack. Minus the love.

I’m secretly looking
forward to going to bed tonight, just so I can feel those arms
around me again. My mood has improved three-hundred percent. Nox’s
by about thirty-seven percent.

That’s a fact. Don’t
question my calculations.

A little joking over
breakfast has set the speed for the day, and my heart skips a beat
when I see him grabbing things from around the place. He puts some
bills in his pocket and says, “Don’t go anywhere. Be right
back.”

But... but…
what?

“
Where are you going?” I don’t even try to mask my fallen
face.

“
Out. Be right back.”

I’m suddenly fuming.
“And what, Nox? I’m just meant to play the willing captive while
you’re gone?”

Confusion mars his
face and he mutters, “What the f-” Shaking his head, he places a
hand on his hip and utters, “Let me put this in a way you’ll
understand.”

Putting on his best
bimbo, he bounces on his heel and says, “Like, tryna keep you safe
here!”

Biting my lip to stop myself from laughing, his eyes darken as
he strides over to me, trapping me between the door and his chest.
He mutters, “Maybe you want that. Maybe you like the idea of being
a captive. Being helpless.” Leaning forward, the tip of his nose
brushes my earlobe and he whispers, “Does that turn you on,
princess?”

I’m not sure what’s
happening here. My hormones have gone haywire and my brain is
drooling again. I manage to whisper back, “Now you’re just being a
jerk.”

His body turns rock
solid before he sighs, reaches for the handle, and leaves me in our
honeymoon suite.

Alone and
lonely.

Chapter Ten
Absence makes the heart grow fonder

Lily

Three days have passed and I’m back in the safe house
slash
safe mansion
slash
pentagon.

Not long after our
close and extremely awkward encounter, Nox came back into our room
and advised me to pack my shit. I told him I had no shit to
pack.

He responded with,
“Great. Then you’re ready to go.”

I asked, “Go
where?”

Holding my eyes, he
replied softly, “Home.”

And somehow, I just
knew he meant my home away from home.

In saying that, nine
hours later, we were back. And it’s good to be home.

Is
it weird that I feel like this
is
home?

No. I don’t think
so. Not when we arrived back and Boo ran over to me, hugging the
life out of me for a solid minute, stroking my hair like long lost
sisters being reunited. Not when a seriously relieved looking Rock
picked me up and swung me around, telling me, “Great to have you
back, babe.”

Nox spoke to them
both for a moment in whispers and riddles, and I knew better to ask
about what happened the day the alarms went off.

Which brings us to
now.

Three days later and
completely Nox free. Again.

I have a feeling
he’s avoiding me. Again. But I’ve been spending most of my time
with Boo, and that makes me happy.

“
Oh, you bitc- Motherfu- Shitballs!”

Boo chuckles, “Oh relax. It isn’t
that
bad.”

I scoff, “Yeah,
right, you freakin’ harlot.”

Boo laughs. I cringe
and whimper, “Oh God. You’re actually enjoying this.”

When she stops, she
asks, “Your sister never tried this?”

Fisting the sheets,
I reply through gritted teeth, “Oh, she tried. I karate chopped her
ass.”

She says, “I don’t
get it.” I open my eyes to find her looking down at me, “The whole
you don’t have friends thing. You’re pretty cool, Deedee.”

Taking a deep breath and closing my eyes, I explain, “Well,
Dad was always overprotective. Then it got worse. We weren’t
allowed to go anywhere without him or Mom. I never really
understood it.”
Till now
, I
think.

“
I
mean, what’s the worst that could happen from me going to a
sleepover?” I sigh, “Eventually, the little friends I had stopped
asking me to come over and drifted away from me. My sister was
always there for me, though. She had this way about her. I guess
she still does. She’s always been popular, so no one questioned why
she wasn’t coming out to parties and stuff. She’d just pass it off
with ‘I’ve got a better offer’ or ‘Nah, it’s not really my thing’.
Well, Terah got sick of Dad’s rules and started sneaking out and I-
I didn’t. I’d stay at home with my book boyfriends and that was
fine by me. Ow! Stop that!”

Plucking another
stray hair, she pulls back and says, “Done.”

Standing, I walk
over to the mirror and check my newly shaped eyebrows.

Not bad. Not bad at
all.

I
look back at her through the mirror and state, “So much pain
for
this
? It
doesn’t even look like you plucked anything.”

Lying back on the bed, she says, “Oh, it’s noticeable,
alright. You’re lucky. You’ve been blessed with a great shape. You
should see mine when I don’t pluck.” She lifts her head and looks
at my reflection in the mirror. “Scary. I’d have a unibrow in the
shape of the McDonald’s
m
.”

Turning around, I
lean back on the dresser and ask, “Why do you even bother? You work
with men, and I’m sure they don’t care that you pluck.”

She smiles slyly and bats her lashes, “Oh, but my man
would
.”

Eeek! Her man!
Swoon.

Bouncing over to the
bed wearing an annoyingly cheeky smile, I ask in a sing-song voice,
“Oh, yeah? Who is he?”

Her answer shocks me
so much my mouth gapes. “Rock.”

Leaning forward, I
whisper-hiss, “No way!”

Chuckling, she
replies, “Way, baby.”

My mouth hangs open
and she laughs. I sputter, “B- b- but you guys act like you don’t
even like each other.”

Nodding, she smiles
sadly, “Technically, we aren’t allowed to see each other. It’s...”
She actually lifts her hands and does slow quotation mark actions
with her fingers, “…fraternizing. Nox knows, but he said he can’t
really do anything about it unless it affects our work, which I
would never let happen anyways. And what with Rock and Nox being
best friends, I think Nox is actually happy to see that Rock’s got
something good in this life.”

Confused by that last statement, I ask quietly, “What do you
mean
in this
life
?

Boo searches my face
a while. She looks unsure before answering me quietly, “Babe, we
don’t exist.”

Confused even more
now, my brow furrows as I ask, “Come again?”

She lies back down with her arms resting behind her head.
Looking up at the ceiling, she explains, “This thing - what we do -
protection and elimination. We don’t work for anyone. We work for
ourselves. I guess you could call it a made-up business. We all
have titles within our sector, but the sector doesn’t actually
exist. We’re all privately employed and we get paid a
lot
to do what we do. The condition of
being employed this way is to be unseen, and our circle to be
impenetrable. So everyone you’ve met here, they don’t have any form
of real identification. Every document, ID card, and bank account
we have is under a false name.” Turning her head to face me, she
finishes with, “We don’t exist.”

Holy shit, that’s
insane.

Staring right back
at her, I surmise, “So everyone I’ve met here is going under a fake
name?”

She nods and I ask,
“What happened to who you were? You know, who you used to be?”

Smiling a sad smile,
she responds quietly, “She died, babe. We all did.”

My heart squeezes as
I whisper, “Well, that sucks.”

Boo turns to her
side and we look at each other for a moment. We’re having a silent
conversation.

My
mouth droops and I frown slightly.
I’m sorry, boo. That really does
suck
.

She shrugs slightly and winks.
It’s okay. I’m okay with it.

Playing with my fingertips, I blurt out, “Constance?
You
chose
the name
Constance?”

She bursts into
laughter and I do, too. We laugh together a short while before her
face softens and she replies quietly, “It was my mom’s name. My way
of never forgetting her. She was a Connie so it never felt right
calling myself that. One day, Rock told me I was quiet as a ghost
so he nicknamed me Boo, and I’ve been Boo ever since.” Suddenly
sobering, she asks, “Do you have a boyfriend?”

Shaking my head, I
tell her, “Not unless he’s the fictional kind. It’s just me and my
books.”

Her face turns
thoughtful, her eyes sad. She murmurs, “Must get lonely.”

Smiling, I say just
as quietly, “I could say the same for you.”

She smiles back.
“Touché.”

We both lay back
down on the bed with a sigh. I guess my life isn’t so bad.

At least I’m not
dead.

***

Excusing myself to
get something to eat for me and Boo, I run into the kitchen and my
sock-covered feet, and slide to a stop only an inch away from
Nox.

His blue eyes flash.
“Where you goin’ so quick, princess?”

Today is one of the
rare days he doesn’t have on a shirt.

My eyes strain as I
beg them to remain fixed on his face and not his broad and solid
chest, which is deliciously damp with perspiration.

Yum.

“
Just getting something to eat.”

Nodding, he says
genuinely, “Glad your appetite’s back.”

Nodding in return, I
respond sincerely, “Me, too.”

And then
nothing.

Awkward silence.

A loooong awkward
silence.

Moving around him to
the pantry, my brain reminds me that we have something to discuss
with him. Just as he moves to leave the huge kitchen, which
suddenly feels about as big as a mailbox, I call out, “Actually,
I’ve been meaning to ask if you spoke to Mitch about me talking to
my sister.”

Face void of
emotion, he leans his hip on the counter. “No. Not yet.” Reaching
over the counter, he picks up an apple and plays with it.

I’m a little pissed
at this. He said he would try. My face turns to steel. I walk
around the kitchen slamming the pantry shut, and open and close the
drawers far too quickly, wanting the noise to convey my mood right
now.

Nox sees right
through me. “Why’re you pissed, now?”

Bombs away!

Losing my patience, I shout, “Know what would make me happy,
Nox? Knowing my sister is
okay
! I like Boo, no, I
love
Boo, but she isn’t my sister, and you think I don’t know what
you’re doing, and that makes you so much more of a dick! Know what
would make me better than happy? Actually speaking to her and
hearing for myself that she’s alive and well. Not shoving a
substitute under my nose.”

A silence passes
over both of us. Nox breaks it by crunching into his apple. His
detachment breaks my heart.

I whisper hoarsely,
“I miss her, okay? She was my only friend and- and I miss her.” I
don’t dare look up at him. If I see sympathy in those deep blue
eyes of his, I may just attempt to claw them out.