“And who is this little darling,” Di cooed.

“Hi,” Kennedy greeted shyly. She then wrapped her arms around my leg and ducked her head. I was humbled by the knowledge that she trusted me to keep her safe.

“Are you going to be okay here?”

“Why wouldn’t I? I’m a big girl,” Di replied flippantly.

“Because I know what this place did to you.” I convinced her to let me use her father’s house where she lived for most of her life and where her father had pimped her out to his various business partners. It was also where we had found the safe full of money that had totaled up to about eight million. We split the money and never returned. “Can I trust you?”

“Do you have a choice?” she joked. The smile on her lips died at my unmoving expression.

“I’ll be back tonight and when I do, we need to talk.”

For a few heartbeats, she stared at me with confusion and then awareness. “He told you.” I didn’t reply and didn’t give her a chance to explain because I walked away.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

SHELDON

THE SOUND OF the lock and the door opening alerted me to Keenan’s presence. I had given up on trying to escape and had begrudgingly thrown myself on his bed where I stayed until he returned.

I was mourning the loss of Kennedy. I had only just gotten her back only to be taken from her in return.

“I need to get back to her,” I said after the silence had stretched for too long.

“She’s in good hands.”

“She’ll be better in mine.”

“You’ll get her back when I think you deserve her.”

“Excuse me?” I was out of his bed and in his face faster than I could breathe my next breath. “I am her mother. She needs me.”

“A fact you forgot when you chose to protect your boyfriend over our child.”

“Eric had nothing to do with her abduction.”

A cloud of hatred wafted around us. His eyes changed from impassive to furious as quickly as if someone had pushed a button. His hands were in my hair, tugging me down until I knelt at his feet, but I refused to cower before him. I glared up at him with equal hate.

I didn’t see the knife, but I felt it at my throat. “If you say his name in my fucking presence again, I will end you.”

“Then do it,” I challenged. “I will never give you what you want. I will never be yours.” Silence was all we had between us as I waited for the press of the knife, but it never came.

“Maybe not here,” he whispered as he trailed the knife from the throat to my chest where my heart beat underneath. “But you will in everything else.”

He lifted me into his arms and carried me out of the bedroom. I looked around as much as I could. Nervous anticipation built until I was shaking with it. He carried me into the kitchen and set me down gently on the tabletop. The coldness in his eyes remained so I scooted away, but his hand on my thigh stopped me. “Don’t move.”

My clothes were shed under his hands, and while I wanted to fight him, the warning in his eyes made me hesitate.

When I was completely naked, he nodded to the chair, and I quickly sat in it. I pushed forward and used the tabletop to shield as much of my body as I could. His smirk told me that he noticed.

He turned his back and quickly set about making breakfast. I watched him from the corner of my eye, but he never turned to acknowledge me. When he was done, he set a plate in front of me with the order to eat and then turned back to clean the dishes.

“Who said I was hungry?”

“It doesn’t matter if you are or not. You do what I say and that means eating when I say.”

“Or what?”

“Or I’ll punish you.”

“This isn’t punishment?”

“You aren’t suffering… yet. So don’t try my patience.”

The dangerous edge in his voice made the threat seem all the more real, so I silently picked up my fork and ate. I was surprised at how good it tasted.

When did he learn to cook?

Like me, he had barely been able to defrost a chicken without screwing it up somehow. An ugly thought formed, and I was disturbed by jealousy. “This is good. Did your girlfriend teach you how to cook?”

His bark of laughter surprised me. “I don’t have a girlfriend. I haven’t for four years.”

“Fine. Your slut buckets. I’m sure you have tons.”

He turned to face me, gripping a plate in his hand. “I don’t have tons… only one.” He took a seat and regarded me with lust in his eyes. “Come here,” he ordered. He pushed his untouched food away and patted the space on the table in front of him. Ever aware of my naked state, I climbed on the table to the spot he indicated. “Spread your legs for me. Let me see what’s mine.”