Chapter 8

I endured for eight hours without pain medication, but I was ready to climb the walls. I almost thought when Ricky returned last night with my dinner, he might have been on to me. But if he was, he didn’t say a word. He brought me a burger with a massive side of fries, a strawberry milkshake, and more meds. A little creepy he knew my favorite flavor, but perhaps he could have guessed? This time I took half a dose just so I could sleep.

My brain is bouncing between working out how to escape and overthinking every tiny detail of the night I first laid eyes on the two of them. I’ve concluded that it wasn’t a home invasion gone wrong. These guys know too much. They’re putting in too much effort to keep me here when they could just kill me. And as much as I don’t get warm fuzzy feelings from Maddox, I get some kind of feeling. A wicked one that must come from some dark, depraved place in my soul. It’s also as crystal clear as Ricky’s blue eyes that he has a soft spot for me .

I know if guys like this wanted to, they could have done unimaginable things to the girl they have locked up, but they haven’t. They’re taking care of me. I have eaten better meals than I have in months, and this room is fancy as shit. They have money and a lot of it. More than my papa did, I would say.

I freeze when I hear muffled voices outside my room and try to listen in.

“This shit isn’t in my job description,” Maddox’s deep voice grumbles as I hear the key in the lock, then the door handle turns.

Ricky swaggers in first, carrying crutches and a bag, followed closely by Maddox, also carrying overstuffed paper bags.

Maddox’s dark gaze lands on me, his brow furrowing. “Alex wants you downstairs for dinner in half an hour,” he says, a no-shit tone to his voice.

I quickly look at Ricky in a panic. For the last three days, he’s brought my meals to me, given me pain meds, and made sure I was as comfortable as possible. Except for the dinner yesterday, when I had the pleasure of Maddox’s company. Who the hell knows how long it takes to recover from a bullet wound? Either way, I don’t think I’m up to having dinner with whoever Alex is.

Ricky’s kind smile reaches all the way to his mischievous dimples. “Harley, we have supplies for you. Change clothes, have a shower if you like?” he suggests, sitting on the edge of my bed. His voice is a calm change from Maddox’s.

I glance at the big guy leaning against the door frame with arms crossed. He throws Ricky a what-the-fuck look, and I get the impression he’s wondering why Ricky’s being so kind to his prisoner. “Not if she would like. She’s fucking doing it,” he grumbles under his breath. It’s clear having to help in my babysitting is a major fucking inconvenience for him. Well, good, asshole, you can just let me go .

Ricky ignores him, smiling at me. His fingers glide across my back in a gentle stroke as he massages my skin. “How about it, baby doll? Time to get up?” His expression is hopeful.

I stare back at him, feeling suddenly frail. A shower sounds nice, but I hardly have the energy to lift my hands, let alone make it to the bathroom and stand under the water long enough to clean myself. I’m shaky and woozy from not taking the meds, but Ricky seems to understand, smiling toward me with a warmth I appreciate. He’s so kind for a thug.

He pops two pills in my hand. “You’re going to want to take this dose,” he says with a wink.

I close my eyes and let out a pained groan. Okay, so he was obviously paying more attention than I thought. And he might be right. If they are really going to force me to see this guy tonight, I’ll need all the help I can get. He takes a glass of water and hands it to me.

As he watches me, I drink down the pills, hoping they don’t totally knock me out.

Maddox clears his throat, breaking my and Ricky’s eye contact. “Lana, get the fuck out of bed and in the shower now,” he threatens, his voice holding an angry edge I don’t like the sound of.

My irritated eyes land on him. How dare he call me Lana! For the past six months, I’ve been going by the name my brother used to call me, but this goon has no right to call me anything, much less talk to me like I’m the shit scraped off the bottom of his shoe. He’s about to learn he can’t tell me what to do.

“I’m good here, thanks,” I reply, my tone laced with bitterness toward the motherfucker. I pat the comforter down over my legs like I’m really comfortable in here and there is nothing he can do to get me to move .

His lips twitch at the side in annoyance. “Alex won’t be kept waiting for some spoiled little temptress who was dumb enough to get shot,” he growls out, losing his temper. “He’s waited long enough.”

An uneasiness washes over me. Clumsily, I pull myself up to sitting, my filthy glare not leaving my face for a second. If looks could kill, he would be a dead man. And when I’m back on my feet properly, he will regret ever thinking he can talk to me like that. “Who the fuck is Alex?” I spit back at him, demanding answers.

Ricky takes my hand, trying to calm me. “I’ll help you to the shower,” he offers, his eyes pleading with me to cooperate. But why should I do anything either of them say?

I pull out of his grip angrily. “You can’t expect me to shower with you two pervs in the same damn room as me. So, unless you plan on unlocking my shackles and leaving me to it, I’m staying in bed.” I direct most of my venom at Maddox. It’s easier to hate a man who’s not being so kind to me. Ricky, on the other hand, is my only chance of surviving until my wound has healed.

“Unlock her,” he tells Ricky. Thank God he listened to me.

Ricky takes the key and undoes the chain attached to my arm, massaging the spot where the metal digs in, the same way he does every time he removes it.

Maddox shoves past him. His shadow towers over me, his nostrils flaring in a raging-bull kind of way. As much as I hate to admit, it’s a sexy-as-hell look on him, even though it scares the shit out of me. I scurry back, but he’s too swift for me. His hands slip under my ass and around my back, scooping me up out of the bed, sheets and all. Then he’s striding toward the bathroom, a man on a mission.

“Put me down,” I yell, struggling against his tight hold. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” I shove him, trying to scratch at him with my long nails, but it’s like a tiny kitten playing with a tiger. My feral attempts to break free do nothing but feed his overindulged ego. By the sly smile now gracing his rugged face, I know he’s getting a kick out of this.

“Not a fucking chance. You’ve been told to have a shower. So, you’re having one.”

“Maddox,” Ricky calls his name, trying to reason with him.

He shoves me to my feet in the shower, and as I struggle to find my balance on my shaky legs, the asshole flicks on the cold tap. It blasts a spray of icy water over me, soaking through my pale threadbare T-shirt and panties in seconds. I grip hold of the tile wall, trying to balance on my uninjured leg, a fresh wave of pain digging into my side. My bitter gaze meets the smug motherfucker. “I hate you,” I seethe, my teeth chattering from the freezing cold already.

He shrugs like he could give a fuck what I think and walks away, his job done.

Pain radiates through my left side. I flick the warm on, praying it will heat quickly, before I’m frozen to the bone.

“Watch the dressing,” Ricky calls, passing Maddox on his way to check on me. Where was he when his brother was shoving me in here? He let him do it.

“I’m sure you can change it when the temptress is done cooling off,” Maddox calls back over his shoulder, no remorse at all. He thinks this is funny. It’s a fucking game to him.

I don’t miss the way Ricky smirks back at him before shaking his head. “Real tactful, asshole. Can you get the toiletries bag and a robe?” he tells his brother.

The sound of rustling paper tells me Maddox has done as he’s asked and dumped the bags they came in with near Ricky, but I don’t lift my head to look their way. This is too humiliating .

“Let me help you,” Ricky offers when he sees I’m still trembling from the cold. Making sure the water is warm and the temperature is adjusted, his eyes run over me, a flash of heat as he meets my gaze. And I know what he’s seeing—everything. There is no hiding my body in this soaked shirt. But that look felt like more than him just being a perv, because for some unknown reason, when his eyes eat me up, I want them to.

“Fuck off, Ricky,” I grumble. What the hell was that look? I’m a drowned rat, and he looks at me like he wants to jump in here with me and warm me up with his body.

“She’s one hostile little kitten. I thought the shower might have cooled her down.” Maddox chuckles at my expense.

Yep, as soon as I get the chance, he’s the one I’m going after first.

Ricky holds a bottle of shampoo in front of my face. “I’ll turn around, but you need to hand me your wet clothes and shower properly. There is shampoo, the kind you like,” he sing-songs, trying to sell the idea to me.

My skin prickles. “What the hell,” I mutter under my breath. This shit is getting creepier by the second. How do they know so much about me?

I take the bottles from him and place them on the tile shelf, waiting for him to turn around before I remove my soaked shirt and panties. I’m not comfortable stripping down to nothing with these thugs in the room with me, but thanks to Maddox, what other choice do I really have? And the truth is, I have been dying to take a shower since I spotted it. Now that the water is warming up, and I have a good leaning position on the wall, it’s bringing my half-dead body back to life.

As I wash my long, tangled mess of raven curls, the air in the bathroom fills with steam and the smell of coconut-scented shampoo. I inhale, letting a small piece of calm and normality slip over me. It’s creepy they know what I like, but it’s also comforting when I feel so fragile. I stay under the warm water longer than I probably should, but neither of them is making a move to stop me, so why not push it? I only decide to shut off the water when I can’t stand to have my leg upright any longer.

I’m handed a fluffy white robe, and I glance in the mirror, wondering if Ricky is copping a look, but he’s got his back to me, scrolling on his phone.

“Can you get her some clothes?” he asks when I come out in the robe, my wet hair dripping all over the place.

Maddox returns, handing me a scrap of fabric disguised as a dress. “Alex wants you to wear this.” He smirks smugly, and I wonder what the fucking joke is.

Form-fitting in a sage-green color, it looks luxurious. It’s been a long time since my skin has seen that kind of high-end fabric. I’ve been rocking pale pink polyester since all my clothes burnt up, along with my father’s house. I run the silky fabric through my fingers, enjoying the softness, but I already know it’s going to be way too tight over my tits and ass. I might be short, but I’m not small by any means, and my curves won’t be squashing into that thing. While I study the dress, I’m handed a pair of lace panties and a bralette. In my exact size. My eyes meet Ricky’s with a shiver down my spine. This is so disturbing.

“Get the fuck out of here, both of you. I’m doing what you wanted. I don’t need you watching me like fucking creepers.”

Ricky leaves, giving me one last lingering look, like he wants to help me get dressed. I’m sure he does, filthy fucker. But Maddox just turns in his place at the doorway, still standing guard like I’m going to try make a fucking run for it with a bullet wound to the thigh in nothing but my robe .

“For fuck’s sake,” I snap, irritation trembling through me.

“You’re behaving like a child, so I’m going to treat you like one,” he mutters, sounding way too happy.

Letting out a huff of irritation, I scan the dress again, wondering how the hell I’m going to get it on alone. I need Ricky’s help, even if I’m too stubborn to admit it. Leaning my hip against the counter as I slip on the bralette and hook it on, I let out a groan of frustration as I try to pull on the thong over my injury, but I do it. Clumsily and nearly smacking my head on the vanity in the process, but they’re on.

Maddox chuckles from his place in the doorway. “Need help there, Lana?”

“Fuck off,” I snap, staring at the back of his blond asymmetric mohawk, wishing I had dagger eyes that could shoot little, tiny knives right into the back of his skull.

Finding the zipper, I undo it and wonder if I should attempt to step in or go over my head. Since the underwear was already difficult enough, I go with the latter. Slipping it on, surprise fills me when the silky fabric falls over my hips without me forcing it. The zipper might not be so cooperative. I reach behind my back, trying to move the thing, but I only make it to my waist before it locks in place. I let out a frustrated sigh. As much as it kills me to admit it, I can’t do it alone, not when I can’t twist without my leg stinging like a bitch.

“Ricky. A little help, please.” I push the please through clenched teeth.

He’s back in the bathroom, quickly ready and eager to help me. He’s like a fucking Labrador, all bouncy, happy and shit. I half expect him to lick my face for the opportunity.

I close my eyes, inhaling a sharp breath. “The zipper,” I mutter.

When I open my eyes, I see the asshole smirk in the mirror. “I’m surprised you got this far alone. I would have been happy to help you into every item of clothing.” He zips me in, my breasts heaving with the formfitting low-cut V. Jesus, this dinner is going to be all sorts of fun, with me dressed up like a fucking doll.

I meet his gaze in the mirror. His eyes hold a playful edge, and I get the impression he’s trying to lighten the tension Maddox created by messing around with me. “You just proved how much of a perve you are,” I snap back, but I’ve lost the bitchy edge. It’s hard to keep it with him when he’s so happy all the fucking time.

“And here I was, just trying to be a good doctor taking care of my patient. It’s not my fault if she looks like a goddess in a dress.”

My heart kicks up a beat. I know he’s just trying to be nice, but man, a compliment like that can really make a girl feel special. Especially when I know the truth. “I look like death’s daughter who’s been forced into an expensive dress to hide the fact that you guys nearly killed me,” I snip back. I hear Maddox chuckle again.

Despite his compliment, I can tell Ricky agrees with me by the way he shrugs. “You pull off knocking on death’s door like no other, baby doll.” His hand cups my chin, and something passes between us.

I smile back without even meaning to. His happiness is just so contagious.