Twisted Desire (2 page)

I heard him set the bowl on the floor, then cried out when his strong arms wrapped around me and lifted me off the floor. “What are you doing?”
I shrieked, alarm shooting through me like ice.

“Seriously, relax, I’m taking you to where you’ll be sleeping. You need a bed, not this god-awful tile floor.”

I decided not to protest, the sound of an actual bed too much to resist. I stayed stiff in his arms, though, not trusting him at all. He still hadn’t told me anything about why I was there, or even his name.
 

We left the room and he walked, holding me for what seemed like hours. Each turn he took was making me dizzy and sicker to my stomach. Moaning against his chest, I kept my eyes shut tight, trying to keep my head from swimming. Every few seconds he’d tell me to relax, which only frustrated me more. How the hell could I relax? I wanted to punch him in his solid wall of a chest, but decided against it as I didn’t have the strength or the guts.

He suddenly stopped and lowered his arm to open a door, kicking it open with his foot and making it slam against the wall behind it. He walked in and deposited me on a small, lumpy bed. I instantly pressed myself against the wall, not knowing what he had in store for me, Looking up, I realized I was seeing him for the first time, and for one brief moment I forgot everything.

He was tall and had the broadest chest I’d ever seen. The grey T-shirt he was wearing molded to it perfectly, showing every defined muscle through it. His head was shaved, but from the little growth coming in, I could see his hair was dark. His jaw was sculpted and hadn’t been shaved for days, and for some reason appeared to be clenched. His eyes were a striking golden hazel, which looked like they were made of steel by the way he was looking at me. He was a beautiful man, I couldn’t deny it, but before I could think any further, he pulled a rickety old wooden chair from the corner and sat down next to me, startling me back to reality.

“Penelope,”
he started, making my eyes dart to his at the sound of my name crossing his lips.

“How do you know my name?”
I asked, my eyes going wide.

He ignored that. “Listen to me,”
he continued. “You will learn information on our time frame, not yours. All you need to know right now is that you are safe on this yacht, and I am in charge of you. I know that sounds barbaric, but it’s how it has to be. I’ve been told to keep you safe and to make sure you don’t try anything foolish, like escaping.”
He raised a brow at that, as if to make his point hit even closer to home. “My name is Tag. You are not allowed to leave this cabin without me.”
He held up his hand when I started to protest. “It’s for your own safety, Penelope. Trust me. I’m all you have right now.”

Those words were like a knife in my heart. My face crumpled, making me fall over onto my stomach. It may have been a childish move but I didn’t care; my life was turned upside down, and I still had no idea why. I kept my face downward on my folded arms, wanting him to leave.

“I’m not going to sugarcoat things,”
he said. “There’s a lot you don’t know, and it’s better that way. You were drugged, which is a part of the reason your stomach is acting up I’m sure, plus the movement of the water. I’m going to get you some Sprite and an anti-nausea pill. You might as well get comfortable. You’re going to be here a while.”

He stood up and left, locking the door behind him. I turned my head to look at the empty room, confusion ripping through me. How was I going to get myself out of this?
 

My head jerked when I heard the door open and saw him walk back in. He carried a can of Sprite and set it on the table beside the bed, along with two small, round, white pills. He sat back down on the chair with a thump and leaned back with his sculpted arms folded over his chest, nodding his head toward the drink.

“Take a few sips and swallow the pills,”
he told me.
 

I didn’t move, even though I’d clearly heard him. I may have come from a sheltered background, but I wasn’t stupid enough to just do what this guy told me. For all I knew, those pills were poison.

He ran a hand over his head and let out a huge sigh. “Penelope, they’re stomach relaxers, for seasickness. I’m not here to harm you. Take them.”

His face looked sincere, but for all I knew, he’d mastered that look right before he killed his victims. At another lurch of the boat, my stomach recoiled, making me grab the pills and down them in two large gulps. At this point, death was preferred over the situation I was in.

His face relaxed as I put the soda back down. “I didn’t do that for you,”
I told him in a surge of defiance. “I figured death would be better than this.”
 

His eyes blazed for a minute, then went back to stone-cold nothing. A few seconds later, a smile appeared on his face, not reaching his eyes. I wasn’t sure what to think and began to regret my outburst.

“Seems there’s some attitude in there after all,”
he said, staying still. I grabbed the pillow and placed it in front of me. I wrapped my arms around it and pulled it close, trying to somehow protect myself from him.

“I’m going to remind you again—as long as you behave and do as you’re told, nothing will happen to you.”
He looked at me intently as if trying to drive his point home.

“Why won’t you tell me what’s going on?”
I blurted, then put a fist to my mouth, scared at what I’d just done.

He leaned over on that ugly chair and rested his elbows on his knees, massaging his temples with his fingers. He seemed conflicted, but why would he be? I hugged the pillow tighter to my chest, waiting to see what he’d do.

He raised his head and looked at me. The gold in his hazel eyes seemed to be burning, making me more nervous.
 

“I just want to go home,”
I said softy, not able to take it anymore. I burrowed my head into the pillow and felt my hair fall all around me. As I rocked back and forth on the bed, the drowsiness from the pills began to take effect.

I heard him shift in his chair and then sigh again. I refused to look over at him, partly out of defiance and partly because my eyes were getting heavier and heavier with the effects of the pills. I moved so I could lie down, turning away from him, and closed my eyes. I’d ask him more about what was going on later after I woke up, unless this was all a horrible nightmare.

Suddenly he lifted my waist and legs up, making me cry out. “Settle down,”
he said. “I’m just putting you under the covers. Get some rest, Penelope,”
he told me, sounding annoyed.

I went still and put my hand under my cheek. I couldn’t open my eyes to see him as I felt the covers pulled over me. The last thing I heard before sleep overtook me was his heavy footsteps walking away and the sound of him shutting and locking the door.

Chapter 2

I started out as a Falcon, the eyes and ears of the streets. I was the low man on the totem pole , but whatever. It was something. I did it for three years, reporting the actions of the police and military, and oh yeah— our rival groups. That part was my favorite because it never failed to give me pleasure at taking one of them down. When Roman’s eyes lit up as I gave him that one piece of information to take them out, it was like nothing in this world. And honestly, I was amazed at how stupid the police departments were and how many crooked asshole cops they employed. You could offer them your girl for the night, and I swear they’d cave—every time. Idiots.

Now I was a hitman, hoping to move up to Lieutenant sooner than later. It was damn difficult to prove your loyalty in a cartel. Trust me, I’ve tried. It felt like I finally had, though, until this latest shit assignment. I’d carried out more kidnappings, thefts, extortions, et cetera than I could count. How much more did I have to do? Oh right. I guess I now had to watch over Penelope Santoro. That was a huge kick to my balls, not knowing they were going to kidnap her when I’d been the one in charge of so many abductions in the past. What was the point of leaving me in the dark? I’d go along with it like always and put all of my damn effort into it. I refused to give Roman a reason to doubt me. I knew what I wanted, and I’d make sure to get it.

I’d locked Penelope’s door and started to walk to my room when footsteps alerted me someone was coming. I wasn’t surprised to see stupid-ass Rico round the corner. His ugly smile came over his acne-scarred face when he saw me. The guy was scum. He had no conscience. Yeah, most didn’t in my line of work, but this asshole wasn’t born with one. His dark, oily hair was slicked back off of his forehead, and his eyes turned into slits every time he gave that creepy smile.

“Tag. Just the guy I was looking for,”
he called out in his squeaky, high-pitched voice as he clapped me on the shoulder. I plastered a fake smile on my face and returned the gesture, hating every minute of it.
 

“What’s up, Rico?”
I asked, knowing exactly what he wanted.

“How’s the girl?”
 

Bingo.

I watched him as he looked at me and then at her door, than at me again. Part of me knew I’d probably have to protect Penelope from him as well. He was slime, and he didn’t even try to hide it.
 

“She’s pissed, dude. She has no idea where she is or why she was taken. I haven’t told her shit, so don’t worry about that.”
Rico was Roman’s right-hand man. I hated him more than anyone else, but my mama didn’t raise an idiot. I’d play his game and continue to let him think we were good.

He looked at me strangely, his beady eyes hollow, and then smiled wider. “I wasn’t concerned about that, dill hole. Roman just wanted you to know it’s now okay to give her pieces of info, but nothing detailed, got me? She can know a few things, but that’s it. We don’t need her finding out anything that can hurt our operation. She’s just a pawn in our game, nothing more.”

He ran his hand through his greasy hair and then let out a high-pitched chuckle, loving every second of this. How he ever made it to be Roman’s right-hand man was beyond me. He was way too cocky, and more than a little crazy. I was biding my time waiting for him to screw up and get kicked out or killed.

For the moment, though, I pretended to think he was hilarious and laughed as well. “Got it, man. I’ve got this all under control,”
I replied.

He nodded and clapped me on the back again as he walked off. I resisted the urge to go after him and tackle him to the ground, pounding the shit out of him. I had to keep cool if I wanted Roman to trust me.

I shook my head and walked to my new cabin next door to hers. Shutting the door closed with the heel of my boot, I bent over and pulled my weights out from under my bed. Stripping off my shirt, I picked up my barbells and got to work.
 

I’d been on this yacht for months, trying to show Roman and the rest they could trust me. I’d done things that made even me cringe, just to prove my loyalty. The fact that I’d had no idea they were taking the girl infuriated me, because it was the wrong move in my opinion. Seeing as they hadn’t asked me, I’d go along with this new plan for now, plus be her watchdog. I always did what was expected of me.

I lifted the weights faster as my thoughts drifted toward her. She had no idea why she was here, which had to be aggravating. They told me she was an easy capture and that she hadn’t seen it coming. She’d walked out of the restaurant with one of Roman’s men and another grabbed her from behind, covering her nose with chloroform. Her car was put in one of our secret storage facilities. Not a trace of her was left to find; Roman made sure of that. She hadn’t put up much of a fight so far, but something was telling me that wouldn’t last, that I would need to be alert around her at all times.

I set the weights down and moved on to push-ups. One, two, three…I kept picturing Rico’s ugly-ass sneer as I went up and down, up and down. Sixty, sixty-one, sixty-two…she popped into my head again, the memory of her crying when I walked into that cold as shit room.

Ninety-eight, ninety-nine, one hundred.

I grabbed the towel on the chair, wiping my forehead. Shedding off the rest of my clothing, I walked into the tiny bathroom and turned on the shower. Dinner was soon, and Roman didn’t tolerate anyone being late. I knew I’d have to update him as well on how Penelope was doing, and I didn’t have much to say, other than she was beyond scared and drugged so she would sleep.