I clasped my hands on my head that screamed in agony with every step I took. I went downstairs, heading straight for the front door. I was going to fucking kill whoever was pounding on my front door. It was going to be painful and they were going to bleed a whole lot before they died.

  It was a rare occasion when someone came knocking on my door. Probably because you had to get past the gate, then take your ass down my mile long driveway to get to the front door. I was sure if they made it that far they sure as fuck wouldn't be banging on the front door like some sort of uncivilized beast.

  For fuck's sake, it was six o'clock in the morning. On a damn Sunday.

  What in the actual hell was going on here?

  I ripped open the door and snarled.

  "Yeah, yeah," the big man standing on my doorstep said, as he rolled his eyes. He lowered his meaty fist that he'd been using to abuse my poor door. "You're all kinds of scary, princess. I'm so sure."

  "Who the fuck are you?" I snapped, not caring that I was being all kinds of rude. He'd started it first.

  "I'm Talin," he responded calmly. "No need to tell me your name, I know who in the fuck you are. Now, are we done with introductions and are you going to let me in or what? I'm ready to get this out of the way so I can get to the important part of my day, and that doesn't have shit to do with holding hands and making nice with the likes of you."

  I lowered my hands from my aching head and stared at him. I feared my mouth even dropped open. Just a little bit.

  Did he really just say that to me?

  And who the fuck was this guy?

  I shut my door right in his surprised and hostile face.

  Princess my ass.

  I locked the door and turned on the security system my dumbass should have already had engaged before this dude took a wrong turn and found himself knocking on my door before the sun even started rising in the damn sky.

  Because I didn't like people in my business, I didn't press the panic button that would have the alarm company calling and the police eventually showing up. That doesn't mean I didn't think about it, because I certainly did.

  He was a really big dude and acting aggressive toward me. I think most people alone and in my shoes would have hit the damn panic button, that's what the thing was for. And this giant dude somehow made it over my gate, which was more like a freaking wall that was there for privacy and protection.

  This was worrisome.

  Still, I did not hit that button.

  I moved down the hallway to the kitchen and dug through my handbag I had left on the island when I'd gotten in last night.

  I dug out my phone first and scrolled through the contacts until I came to River's name.

  It was early, too early to be around knocking on doors and making phone calls on the weekend, and he likely would not appreciate his phone ringing at this hour, especially with my name showing up on the screen.

  But I had a feeling that the jacked up giant at my door could have only come from one place, and that was more than likely the investigation firm with the rest of the jacked up giants.

  I hit speaker and the sound of it ringing sounded around my kitchen. I set my phone on the counter and went back to digging through my bag.

  "Nova?" he said, answering on the fourth ring. "What's going on?"

  He sounded wide awake and alert and not at all like I'd just woken him up.

  These people were just not right.

  "Who answers their phone like that? Not even a hello or a good morning. Some people have no manners these days."

  I hummed appreciatively when my fingers wrapped around my stun gun and I pulled it out of my bag. I would have gotten my gun, but he hadn't really been that threatening. Just rude. And insulting. And a wee bit abrasive.

  "You're calling me at six o'clock on a Sunday and you're worried about my lack of manners? Really?"

  There was amusement there, but he also sounded harassed. It was probably a lot like I sounded, because I felt that. For real.

  "Are you missing something?" I asked conversationally. "Tall, dark, and beefy,with a side of a really bad attitude and worse manners than yourself?"

  "Are you fucking kidding me with this shit?" he growled. All traces of amusement were now completely gone from his voice. "What the hell is he thinking showing up at your house like this?"

  So I'd been right to call him. My instincts were usually on point.

  "Who is he?" I demanded, wanting his name confirmed just to be safe.

  Ignoring me, he made a demand of his own. "What did he say to you and where is he now?"

  He had no right to demand anything from me at this point.

  I answered anyway. Because I was stupid like that.

  "He insulted me and then I shut the door in his face. Now, I'm about to take some Tylenol because this hangover is something serious and it's got to go. Then I'm going to invite that big man in my house and we're going to have a conversation about what is and isn't okay to call me to my face. And I'll tell you right now that princess is never okay. You might want to come and get him, because I don't think this is going to be a conversation he enjoys. After that, who knows, maybe I'll go back to my bed and finish my beauty sleep that was so rudely interrupted when this motherfucker started banging on my front door."

  I disconnected the call to the sound of him cursing loudly. That was the end of that for me. Even though the phone did start ringing almost immediately after hanging up on him.

  The banging on my door started up as soon as the phone started ringing. This, too, was accompanied by loud cursing.

  The nerve of these fucking people.

  The Tylenol was located and I popped three of those babies and washed them down with a glass of water. All the while that fucking guy banged away on my front door, yelling out obscenities like he didn't have a care in the whole world, and like he knew the cops weren't coming to cuff his ass.

  I put the empty glass in the sink and grabbed my stun gun off the counter. The banging on the door had stopped when I made it back to the door. Maybe I'd get lucky and open the door to find out he'd gotten bored. Then I'd call River no last name back and fire his ass because this was some serious bullshit and I was over it.

  I opened the door and no such luck. There he was in all his giant, muscled out glory. His hands were on his hips and his head was tipped down with his eyes aimed at his combat boots.

  He never even saw me coming with my stun gun.

  I had it turned on and ready to go before I opened the door. I touched it to his bare arm and he jerked. His head came up and his lips parted in a silent O.

  I touched it to his arm again and the big man dropped. He twitched while groaning in agony. I bent down and tagged him in the neck, this time actually holding it to him, chasing his body around with it while he twitched and jerked around on the ground.

  I kept touching him with the business end of the little machine that crackled with electricity, and when he stopped moving, I stood back and stared down at his prone body.

  I should have been concerned with his lack of movement, but I wasn't. I was too busy checking him out to care that he wasn't moving. He was hot, I had to give him that much. Especially now that he didn't look angry and his mouth wasn't moving with stupid shit pouring out of it.

  I snapped myself out of it, there wasn't time to be wasting. Who knew when River was going to show, but I definitely didn't want him to walk up on this situation. Though, he'd have to wait at the gate to be buzzed in like a normal person, because if he came in any other way like his buddy here then we were going to have serious problems.

  I was having a very bad day. Already.

  After turning off the stun gun and tucking it into the waistband of my sleep shorts, I grabbed the man whose name may or may not have been Talin by the ankles, and dragged him into my home. I felt a little bit bad for him when his head made contact with the corner of the door, but I kept on muscling him through.

  So, he'd probably wake up with a shiner maybe. This was not my problem. Maybe a little bit of karma was coming his way. He probably deserved it.

  I dropped his legs and went back to the door. I closed it and locked things up tight and turned on the alarm again.

  Once I had that all sorted the big man started groaning again, and that would just not do for me.

  I pulled out my little electric buddy and turned it on again. I gave him another zap. Hopefully that was the last one I'd have to administer, because I didn't want to fuck him up permanently. River didn't seem like someone you wanted to make an enemy out of, and damaging one of his men, no matter if they deserved it or not, on a permanent level would likely earn me an enemy out of him.

  I tucked my buddy away again and dragged him through to the dining room that I never used, but the flower arrangements in there sure did always look nice. Then again, they should because I paid people to take care of that shit for me and I paid them well.

  I dropped his leg again, this time by the head of the table, letting it fall to the floor.

  Now, this is where my house got interesting, and I remembered the first time my father showed this to me and being amazed I had no idea it existed before he showed me.

  The mirror on the wall was huge, over six feet tall, starting at the floor and wide enough for two people to walk through.

  The frame around the whole thing was thick, wide, and gold. It actually worked with all the dark, over large furniture in here and you'd never guess as to what it hid.

  I pulled on the edge of the frame and the mirror swung open, revealing a door with a key pad and a scanner. I punched in the code with my right hand, while I placed my palm of my left hand against the scanner.

  The lights on the scanner flashed green and the door cracked open. I pushed it open the remainder of the way and turned back to my unwanted guest, ready to drag his ass inside.

  I got him inside and didn't bother closing the door behind me.

  The room was barren and entirely empty except for the chair in the center of the room that was bolted down to the floor.

  On the wall by the door was another panel with a scanner and key pad. This one was slightly different, because it also accessed and controlled the two-way window on the other side of the room.

  There wouldn't be any need for that today. Unless, of course, I wanted to make things into an interesting, fun game for River when he gets here. It all depended on how I felt after this giant woke his ass up.

  Unceremoniously, I dragged his prone body into the room my father had used to torture people in when I was a little girl and, admittedly, sadly, it took a lot out of me to heft his heavy ass up into that metal chair. It had me grunting and straining with the effort. He was seriously heavy.

  Jesus, how did I find myself in these outrageous situations? I was going to blame this one solely on River, because this dude belonged to him, so essentially this was his fault.

  I fastened the bindings to his wrists and ankles while he started to come to.

  When I had him all settled in and comfortable, I left him sitting there, blinking in confusion like a baby animal.

  I went back to my kitchen and hit up the coffee pot. I set it up to brew and stood by impatiently while it took its sweet ass time to fill up with the magical brew that made mornings all the better.

  The silence coming from the safe room was oddly terrifying, and for the first time in weeks it felt good to feel something outside of numbness and the weird fucking sorrow I'd found myself in.

  I waited until the coffee pot filled all the way before taking down a mug from the cupboard and filling it three fourths of the way full with coffee. I had to save enough room to make it sweet.

  The silence could only mean one thing to me—he was in there plotting and scheming for my return, and that could be dangerous to me.

  I dumped creamer, sugar, and an ice cube into my coffee. I sipped at it while doing some plotting of my own.

  Obviously, I hadn't planned on having company anytime soon, and I'd never actually used the room beyond the mirror before. Every time I'd tried to set foot in there before this morning, I'd been viciously sucked into the past when my father would bring me in there with him so I could watch him "work" and learn from him how to handle his business.

  It was safe to say I'd had a rather unconventional upbringing. One I was very much coming to resent the more years that passed. I still found myself very alone in the world and I felt a big part of that was the result of my upbringing. Especially the lessons I'd been taught by my father.

  "Motherfucking fucker," a deep voice growled from the direction of the dining room, and my lips twitched in amusement.

  I drained the rest of my coffee and left the empty mug on the counter beside the coffee pot. What I didn't do was turn it off, because I more stupid company coming and everyone enjoyed coffee in the morning.

  Then I made my way into the hidden room with my unwanted giant to wait for the private investigator I hired to find the fucking ghost of Olliver.

  Chapter Six

  Talin

  She Was A Scary Bitch

  I flexed my arms, testing the bindings on my wrists that were behind my back and therefore out of my sight.

  That goddamned woman had really done a number on me.

  Both my ankles and wrists were tied down to what appeared to be a metal chair. My wrists were bound behind my back and separated. My ankles were bound to the chair legs and the freaking chair looked to be bolted to the floor.

  Getting out of this was going to be tricky, and all I could really hope for was that the crazy lady would come to her senses and let me go, or River showing up to save my dumbass from this situation I'd stupidly placed myself in by barging in on this bitch.

  Thinking she was just some normal, rich lady with too much time on her hands and a need to find some long-lost childhood friend, there'd been no need to do any digging into her background or do any kind of surveillance on her place. We'd stupidly underestimated her because she could afford to pay her bill, and that'd been as far as we'd looked into her.

  River was going to be so pissed when he found out I'd showed up at this crazy lady's house and barged in on her just to find myself taken down by the tiny woman and trussed up in some secret room she had in her house.

  I took in the room and my surrounds, while muttering curse words under my breath and flexing against the bindings at my wrists. The bindings had no give and the room didn't have much besides a window that I couldn't see through, but I imagined if there were people on the other side of it they could likely see me.

  A creak drew my attention to the side and I found myself staring into cold, dark eyes that lacked any depth of emotion to them. They were so empty they were fucking vacant. She hadn't looked like that when she'd first opened up the front door for me. Then, she'd looked angry, and her eyes had been squinty and would have been shooting fire out of them if it were physically possible.

  Despite the situation I found myself in, my dick twitched to life at the memory of those beautiful dark eyes in that pretty fucking face of hers filled with so much raw emotion it was a wonder I didn't burn up right on the spot.

  In that moment, I'd got it. Why the other two morons had been so twisted up inside and out over the woman. She brought something out in you, just dragged it on out. It was something I wasn't used to feeling, and had my dick twitching to life in awareness. I was used to being out of control, but this shit was a whole new ballgame I'd never played in before, and so far I was losing. Big time.

  "Comfortable?" she asked in a surprisingly sultry voice.

  My lips pulled up in a snarl as I jerked forward in my chair, going absolutely nowhere.

  "I'll take that as a yes," she chirped happily, as she slunk into the room. "Not that your answer really matters much to me."

  She shrugged a slender shoulder, and the strap on her tank top slipped off her shoulder and down her arm. The lack of a bra strap had me closing my eyes so I didn't look at her tits to see if her nipples were hard. It was cold in here and they likely would be. I didn't think she'd take kindly to me doing that, most women wouldn't want men they had tied up in their houses ogling their tits unless they were tied to their beds for an entirely different reason than I was tied to this chair. They were usually better acquainted with each other than we were as well.

  "Your answer won't change your current circumstance," she shared, as she began walking a wide circle around me. "You're still going to find yourself seated in your chair, waiting for your buddy River to come and get you like a good boy."

  As much as I wanted to snap at her, I refused to go there with her. I invaded her space and got up in her shit when I scaled the enormous gate she had outside her house, and then hiked the mile that took me to her front door. We were complete strangers and she hadn't expected me. I'd caught her off guard and clearly the psycho in her came out to play.

  Good to know what happened when she found herself backed into a corner.

  Scary shit, that's what.

  I cocked my head to the side, listening to her bare feet as they walked on the concrete while she circled around me from behind. "River knows I'm here?" I asked her in a subdued voice, attempting to be as nonthreatening as possible.

  "He sure does," she answered, as she came to a stop in front of me. "I called him and asked him to come and get you."

  Well, wasn't that a relief. That meant I'd be getting out of here soon, because River wouldn't fuck around with coming to get my ass. He'd be here as soon as possible, and Vega would be right behind him.

  "You wanna untie me and maybe you can get me some coffee before he gets here?" I asked in a hopeful voice.

  She arched an eyebrow in arrogance and crossed her arms over her chest, covering up her breasts that were not entrapped in a bra, taking away the spectacular view. Probably for the best, because my dick was starting to get hard and I was finding it harder and harder to keep from staring. Definitely inappropriate timing on my part.

  "I'm sure you can convince River to stop and pick you up some coffee on your way somewhere far away from me."

 

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