I look around the apartment, trying to find something, anything, that can be used as a weapon. From what I can tell, my two choices are a letter opener and a beer bottle. I doubt I have the strength to break the beer bottle, so it’s going to have to be the letter opener. It’s to my right, on a table by the door. It’ll be a stretch, but if I can move fast enough, I might just be able to grab it and stab at least one of the men. I’ll probably aim for Mike.
He stands up and smirks at my attire. “Hospital scrubs? Really?”
I glare at him, trying to keep his attention so he doesn’t see the letter opener or my fingers inching toward it. Harris is standing behind me, I can’t tell what he’s focusing on, but if luck’s on my side, he’s not paying attention to my hand.
“Harris obviously thinks you’re much smarter than you are,” Mike says. “Why you’re not fifty miles away by now, I don’t know.” He reaches a hand out to touch my cheek. I steel myself so I don’t flinch. He’s pressing a bruise and it hurts like hell. “Of course, you’re not in the best shape to travel right now, are you?”
I keep my eyes on him, but don’t say anything. I probably won’t be able to stand much longer. I’m far too weak, but I can’t let them see that. And more than anything, I have to get that letter opener.
“Nothing to say?” Mike asks. “I’m not sure what to do with you. In all honesty, it would have been easier if you stayed away. But you’re here, so we have to deal with you.”
Don’t show fear. Don’t show fear. Don’t show fear.
I try to remember if he had anything in his hands when he first stood up. I’m too tired. I can’t recall. And I’m not about to drop my eyes to check. My fingers move another inch toward the letter opener.
“You’re not much use to me,” he continues. “You’ve been nothing but a bunch of bruises for the last week. I can’t put you to work looking like you are.”
There’s an uncanny silence in the room. It occurs to me: The letter opener is probably my only hope to get out of this apartment alive. I take a deep breath and will my heart to slow down.
“Theo was quite upset you left so quickly and without saying anything. You’ve probably guessed already, but I sent Vicki to take your place.” His lips curl up into an ugly grin. “He wasn’t very nice to her from what I heard. Think he probably took some of his anger at you on her.”
Guilt floods me, because not once since being pulled into her apartment have I actually wondered where Vicki is. Then an entirely new kind of guilt hits me: She’s being hurt because of me. She tried to warn me, and I didn’t listen. What if I’d listened to her that day instead of being so determined to get to Theo's? Maybe we’d both be safe.
But I tell myself I can’t dwell on the what ifs, I have to focus on staying upright and reaching the letter opener. There’ll be time for what ifs later. I think briefly about asking to take her place, but I’m not going to. Doing so would show emotion, and I never show emotion to Mike if I can help it.
“I could send you back to Theo,” Mike says in echo to my thoughts. “At least that would get you out of my hair. If I’m lucky, maybe he’ll keep you out of my hair forever.”
In my mind, I plan my next movements. It’s my one chance, and I’m going to take it.
“What do you think about that?” Mike asks.
I spit at him and lunge for the letter opener at the same time. If anyone other than Harris held me, I probably would have made it. Unfortunately, Harris is onto my plan and he takes my wrist.
“Drop it.”
I try to stab Harris with my makeshift weapon, but he’s too strong. Before me, Mike is wiping his eyes and my blood runs cold at the look in them.
“That was a mistake.” He plucks the letter opener from my hand with such ease I could cry. “A letter opener? Really, Athena?”
“It would have worked if this Neanderthal hadn’t been holding me.” I’ve just lost my one shot at getting away. They're probably going to kill me anyway. I don’t see any reason not to share everything on my mind.
Mike moves so fast, I’m not sure I blink before I realize he has a gun pointed at me. “Tell me why I shouldn’t shoot you now.”
I take a deep breath to scream, but Harris smacks his hand over my mouth. My skin breaks out in a cold sweat, and I can’t keep my eyes off the gun.
“Mike. Stop.” Harris’s voice is deep in my ear.
“Stay out of this,” Mike says, not moving his gaze from my face.
“You brought me here for a reason. I don’t think you want me to stay out of this.”
“What’s she to you?”
“Nothing. She’s nothing to me. But that doesn’t mean I want her dead.”
“You getting soft, Harris?”
“I think killing her is more work that we need right now.”
Mike slowly lowers the gun. “True, and if she’s alive, she’ll be thinking about what’s happening to Vicki.”
I’m not able to stop my flinch at his words. He sees, of course, and he obviously likes that.
“But I still don’t know what to do with her. She’s too much trouble to keep here.”
I’ve been standing too long and have had too many endorphins running through my body. My legs aren’t going to keep me upright much longer. The odd thought strikes me that I can’t remember when I last ate anything. No wonder I’m swaying and everything seems so surreal.
My body decides it’s taking too much energy to stay upright, and my knees buckle. Only Harris’s arms keep me from hitting the floor. My vision starts to fade.
“Worthless,” Mike says, a look of disgust on his face. “She’s no good to me in this shape, and she can't be out anymore. I need working girls, I’m not running a fucking hospital. Speaking of which,” he prods me with his foot, “If you think I’m paying that hospital bill, you’re sorely mistaken.”
I try to say something, but nothing comes out. The darkness is taking over.
“Let me have her,” Harris says.
Those are the last words I hear before the dark wins completely.
***
“Athena.” Mike has stopped by my apartment. It’s not common for him to do so these days. I’ve been with him eight years, and I typically do my best to stay away from him. It’s probably been a year since he last decided to grace my apartment with his presence.
And today he’s not alone.
I don’t picture the guy with him as a client or customer. After so many years, I’m usually able to pick those men out. Normally, something in their eyes give them away, or the lift of their mouth does. This guy, though, I don’t know what he’s doing with Mike.
“This is Harris,” Mike says, and the new guy nods.
He’s not unpleasant to look at. In fact, many would probably call him good-looking. Unfortunately, he’s obviously friends with Mike, so that makes him ugly as hell to me. I try to keep my eyes on Mike, but something about Harris makes that difficult.
It’s more than his looks; it’s the way he holds himself. His demeanor. He has a bold confidence that doesn’t seem to be intimidated by Mike. It’s nothing I’ve seen before, and I wish I had that confidence.
“Harris, this is Athena. She’s very special to me.”
I try not to roll my eyes at Mike’s statement.
“Hello, Harris,” I say and nod. I don’t touch men as a rule if I don’t have to.
“Goddess of wisdom?” Harris asks, his voice friendly.
“Ironic, right?” I reply. “If my parents only knew.”
I kick myself for being so flippant. I know better than to be sucked in by a friendly voice and a pleasant looking exterior. But Harris is grinning. Wisely, he doesn’t mention my parents.
“I wanted you to meet him,” Mike says as if we didn’t say anything. “He’s going to be working with me now. He’ll be my second in command.”
“Huh, that’s too bad,” I say, looking straight at Harris. “Now I can’t like you.”
Mike looks like he’s going to
hit me, but Harris laughs and slaps him on the shoulder. “I see why she’s so special to you.”
He’s laughing, but it’s true. Besides, he’s new. He won’t be laughing for very long.
***
When I wake up, I’m in a car. It catches me off guard, because I thought I’d already be dead or at least halfway there. I don’t open my eyes just yet. I want to gather as much information as possible without letting whoever’s around know I’m awake.
I’m reclining, which means I’m probably in the passenger seat. We’re moving rather fast, so I’m guessing we’re not in the city. We must be on a highway. I don’t feel anything around my arms or legs. Normally, I’d feel relieved that whoever I’m with didn’t feel the need to tie me up, but I’m in such bad shape, they probably knew they didn’t need to.
My left leg is asleep. I stretch it and, fuck, it hurts like hell.I gasp.
“Awake?”
It’s Harris.
I don’t answer him at first. I’m trying to decide how I feel that it’s him I’m in the car with. While it’s better than being in the car with Mike, it’s not that much better. He is Mike’s second in command, after all. Of course, having said that, Harris has never physically hurt me, and he did stop Mike from shooting me. I wonder why?
“Why am I here?” I ask.
“We’re going to my house.”
“Why?”
“Because Mike is letting me have you until he decides what to do with you.”
He’s letting Harris have me. It sickens me. Being away from my former occupation, even for a few days, has impacted me. I’m already getting addicted to the moments I’ve had of a normal lifestyle. One where I’m not giving myself away. I don’t think I can go back to it. Especially with Harris.
“Figures,” I say.
“What?” he asks.
I adjust my seat so I’m sitting upright, and I wince in pain.
“I’ll give you something to help the aches and pains when we get to my house. Now tell me what you meant by saying it figures.”
It’s easy to be myself around Harris and tell him exactly how I feel. I don’t like it, and I can’t explain it, but that’s how it is. I try to tell myself he’s a dangerous man, but it doesn’t work.
“It always seems to me that you try to separate yourself from Mike. That doesn’t make sense, because you work so closely with him, but that’s the impression I get.” I peek over at him, and his lips are pulled down in a frown. “Yet in the end, you’re just like everyone else.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means that when it all boils down, you’re really just biding your time until you can have a piece of me, too.”
His frown deepens, and he slows the car down. I look around franticly; we’re in the middle of nowhere. “Why are you slowing down?”
He’s silent as he pulls well off the road and comes to a stop. In that moment, I know I’ve pushed him too far.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. I’ll shut up. Please don’t.”
When the car comes to a stop and he turns to face me, it isn’t anger in his eyes, but shock. “Damn it, Athena. What the hell do you think I’m going to do?”
“You were pulling off the road because I said something rude and snarky. What do you think I believed was going to happen?”
“You thought I was going to hit you?”
“Or worse.”
He sighs. “I pulled off the road because I wanted to give you my full attention, and I can’t do that and drive at the same time.”
“Oh.” I should feel guilty for thinking Harris would treat me like that, but I don’t. When you’ve been around as many men as I have, you realize that even the nicest ones have secrets. And you should never underestimate the strength a man has, because some of the strongest men I’ve met are small. Although no one would ever call Harris small.
“To answer your question, Mike has assigned me as your keeper until he can find you a partner.”
“Partner?” I’ve know Mike for over ten years. There is no way he’s looking for a partner for me. “I don’t believe you.”
“You’ve said that a lot to me lately.” He almost smiles. “I wouldn’t know what to think if you actually did believe me.”
“No, I believe he assigned me to you, but I don't buy the line about a partner.” I raise an eyebrow. “When you say gave....”
For the first time since I woke up in his car, Harris isn't smiling. His face contorts into an expression of disgust. “His exact words were, ‘Do what you want with her, but try to keep her alive.’”
Try to keep her alive.
My stomach revolts even though it’s empty, and I dry heave. That one phrase echoes in my head. Try to keep her alive. Try to keep her alive.
“Athena.” Harris’s voice is faint. “You’re okay. Take deep breaths.”
But I’m not. I’m not okay. Mike took away my ability to be okay years ago, and no matter how hard I try, I never seem to be able to take it back.
“Let me leave,” I say in-between heaves. “Please.”
“I can’t do that.”
Right. Because even though he acts nice, he reports to Mike. I’ll do well to remember that.
“Don’t look at me like that,” he says. “Do you know how dangerous it’d be for me to let you go?”
I’m doing this for your own good. Fuck, it’s almost like Mike told him exactly what to say. My life is one horribly messed up glob of lies that someone tried to dust off and make look pretty, but the sad truth is, at the end of the day, it’s still a glob of lies. I’m so tired of lies.
Just this once.
It won’t matter.
You’ll love it.
I’m only looking out for you.
It’ll be okay.
“One day,” I tell Harris. “I’m getting out and I’m going somewhere where I get to decide what’s best for me.”
He’s nodding. “I understand your desire for that. Now’s not the time.”
For a minute, I get the impression there’s a hidden meaning behind his words. Almost as if he’s trying to tell me something. I tilt my head. He really does have pretty eyes. And right now they’re begging me to understand.
“Who are you, Harris?” I say.
He doesn’t flinch. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Let’s start with your last name.”
“My last name is Harris.”
“Your name’s Harris Harris?” I can’t help it; I laugh. “How did you manage to piss your mom off so badly before you were born?”
He starts the car again and pulls onto the highway. “I didn’t piss my mom off before I was born. Harris isn't my first name.”
“What’s your first name?”
“Caden.”
I wrinkle my nose. “Harris Harris is better.”
“I’ll tell my mom.”
We’re a few miles down the road before I realize I’m smiling.
You are so fucked up. You shouldn’t be comfortable with this man.
But my smile doesn’t go away.
He drives us to a house about fifteen minutes outside of Vegas. The home he pulls up to is larger than I would have imagined a bachelor living in. And though it’s not isolated, his neighbors aren’t so close he can see what they’re eating for dinner by looking out his window.
“Big place for a guy living by himself.” As soon as the words come out of my mouth I realize I have no way of being certain he actually lives by himself. For all I know, he could be married with five kids.
But he replies simply, “I like my space.”