Tempted: The Numb MC

by Olivia Stephens

  “You are a monster,” Kristina hissed.

  Kovic laughed. He was about to speak when a lone car sped past them. They were hidden among a thicket of trees, but daylight had well and truly crept in and they were visible from the road. “We can continue this conversation later,” Kovic replied. “We need to get moving.”

  “Where are we going?”

  Kovic gave her a sideways stare and then slowly, another sadistic smile spread across his lips. It transformed his face and somehow made him look less human and more terrifying. His white blonde hair took on an artificial gleam as he turned onto the road and the sunlight slanted through the windshield and into the car. He was smiling, but his eyes were dead serious.

  “Somewhere no one can hear your screams,” he replied.

  Chapter Twenty Eight

  Keith

  “What are you doing here?” Marie demanded the moment she had opened the door.

  Keith pushed himself inside the dorm without an invitation.

  “Hey… what the hell?” Marie cried, but she was unable to keep him out.

  “Marie, I need your help,” Keith said without hesitation, hoping she would hear the urgency in his tone and pay attention. She seemed to notice just that because she fell into silence for a moment and stared at his face.

  “What’s happened?” she asked. “Where is Kristina?”

  “That’s what I’ve come to talk to you about,” Keith said. “And Marie… this is a matter of life and death.”

  She stared a moment longer, and then she sank onto her bed as though the effort of standing upright was too much for her at that moment. “Kristina’s in trouble, isn’t she?” Marie guessed at once.

  “Yes,” Keith replied without mincing his words. “She’s in a lot of danger, and I think you’re the only one who can help me.”

  “Me?” Marie asked incredulously. “What in the name of God makes you think that?”

  “Because you can get the police involved,” Keith said.

  “So can you…” Marie started, and she trailed off once realization hit. “The police are only going to see you as some low life criminal, aren’t they?” she asked.

  “Yes,” Keith nodded. “But you on the other hand—”

  “Wait,” Marie said loudly. “Stop and start from the beginning. What has happened to Kristina? And why is she in so much danger?”

  Keith took a deep, internal breath and plunged into his story. He didn’t take short cuts, and he didn’t try and paint himself as the innocent. He told the story exactly as he remembered it, no changes, no tweaks, and no painting over the details. He told Marie exactly whom Kovic was and exactly what he was capable of.

  She listened silently. She listened intently, but Keith could see her body tensing as he continued to speak. He could see the fear grow in her eyes. He didn’t stop or pause to allow her time to process what he was telling her. He motored on, focused only on taking action as fast as he could.

  “Kovic has Kristina now,” Keith finished. “And he is definitely going to hurt her… unless we get to her in time.”

  Marie nodded once. Then she nodded again. “Ok…” she said slowly as though it had just sunk in. “Ok… but why is he doing this?”

  “What?”

  “Why did he take Kristina?” Marie asked. “She’s new in your life compared with the families of your gang members. Why not go after one of them?”

  Keith swallowed and spat out the words. “He has a personal vendetta against me,” Keith replied.

  “Why?”

  “It’s a long story,” Keith replied. “And I can’t get into it now. Marie… I need your help. Kristina needs your help. Please…”

  Marie sighed deeply. “What do you want me to do?” she asked.

  “Go to the police and tell them that your friend is missing,” Keith told her. “You’ll have to tell them that she’s been missing for over twenty-four hours otherwise they won’t act immediately. Tell them that in the last few days she was being followed, and then you’ll need to describe Kovic to them in detail.”

  “I don’t know what he looks like.”

  “That’s ok,” Keith replied. “I will give you his description.”

  “Should I give them his name?” Marie asked.

  “That won’t be necessary,” Keith replied. “Once they have his description, they’ll figure out who it is… and then they’ll start looking.”

  “And you’re sure they’ll be able to find Kristina in time?” Marie asked desperately.

  “No, I’m not sure,” Keith replied. “Which is why I’ll be searching, too.”

  “I can come with you,” Marie said suddenly as she rose. “I’ll come with you.”

  “No,” Keith said immediately. “You can’t, Marie.”

  “Why not?” Marie demanded. “I want to help, I can’t just do nothing.”

  “You’re not,” Keith reminded her. “With the police searching for him, Kovic is going to have a hard time hiding. I’ll handle the rest.”

  Marie stared at him with wide eyes. She looked as though she was shocked to be having this conversation in the first place. “How dangerous is this man, Keith?” she asked, her voice was soft with a mixture of emotions that Keith recognized well.

  “Dangerous,” he replied, unwilling to lie to her.

  “She’ll be ok… won’t she?” Marie asked, as her voice shook slightly.

  “I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure that Kristina gets out of this unhurt,” Keith said, hoping against hope that he was right to make that promise. “You believe me… don’t you?”

  Marie stared at him for a long time without saying a word. For a moment, Keith actually believed she was going to shake her head no or slap him in the face. Either one of those actions he would have been deserved, but instead, Marie surprised him by nodding her head. “Yes,” she said at last. “I believe you.”

  Keith didn’t know why those words triggered something in him, but whatever it was, it spurred him to action and convinced him that he could get Kristina out of this if he simply focused and kept a clear head.

  “I’m going to get her back,” Keith said forcefully. “I’m going to get her back, and the only person who’s going to be sorry is Kovic.”

  Chapter Twenty Nine

  Kristina

  The cramp in her leg was what woke Kristina from her uneasy sleep. She blinked her eyes open and tried to focus on her surroundings. It took only a second for the memory to come screaming back to her, and when it did, she had a hard time believing it hadn’t been just a dream.

  She was holed in the back of Kovic’s car, and it smelt of smoke and alcohol. Her stomach growled with hunger and that somehow sent another wave of cramps through her leg. Kristina moaned and leaned back against the seat. Kovic had tied her hands together, and they were now well and truly bruised from the tight knot he had fastened around her wrists. She was feeling so many different kinds of uncomfortable that she could barely keep up with each new tinge of pain.

  The driver’s door was thrown open suddenly, and Kovic slid into the seat. He turned back to glance at Kristina and shot her a condescending smile. “Slept well?” he asked.

  “Fuck you,” Kristina spat.

  “I’ll say this much for you, at least you have spirit,” Kovic went on, uncaring of her discomfort. “Natalie was not quite as… vocal.”

  “You talk as though you knew her well,” Kristina asked.

  “Oh I did,” Kovic nodded. Then he dug his hand into the brown paper bag he had brought in with him and drew out a sandwich cocooned in glad wrap. He threw it back at her without warning, and Kristina barely managed to catch it in time.

  “Can you untie my wrists?” Kristina asked, trying to mimic politeness. “It’s going to be hard to eat this way.”

  “Try,” Kovic said uncaringly.

  “You are such an evil fuck,” Kristina spat.

  Kovic laughed. “I love it when you talk dirty to me.”

  Krist
ina thought about refusing the sandwich, but she was too desperately hungry to seriously consider doing it. She tore away the glad wrap and bit into the sandwich. The bread was stale, and the filling was chicken mayo that had a strange kick to it, but Kristina barely cared. It was food, and her stomach needed filling. Within a minute, she had finished her meal and she was licking her fingers greedily, her hunger far from satiated.

  “You can eat,” Kovic said, with his eyes fixed on her face.

  “Do you have another one?” Kristina asked.

  He threw her another sandwich, and she started on it immediately. She could probably have done with another one or two, but she decided not to push her luck. The edge had been taken off her hunger and that was enough to keep her going. Kovic was still staring at her.

  “What?” Kristina demanded.

  “Just trying to figure something out,” Kovic replied in a thoughtful voice.

  “Are you going to tell me what that is?” Kristina demanded. “Or are you just going to keep staring at me like some creepy fucking pervert?”

  “You and Natalie,” he said shortly.

  “What about me and Natalie?” Kristina asked impatiently.

  “You can’t accuse Keith of having a type.”

  Kristina wrinkled her brows together. “You’re saying that Natalie was different to me.”

  “Complete opposite actually,” Kovic said with interest. “She was more the shy type, ironic really, considering her line of work.”

  “What was her line of work?” Kristina asked immediately.

  “He really told you nothing?” Kovic asked in that condescending tone that made Kristina want to slap him across the face. “I seriously hope I’m not overestimating his affection for you.”

  “You probably are though,” Kristina said, trying to sound unconcerned.

  “And how would that make you feel?”

  Kristina shot him a dirty look. “That isn’t really your concern.”

  Kovic shrugged. “Just curious,” he said. “Still… I don’t think I’m wrong in this. I’ve seen that look in Keith’s eyes before. He cares about you… he may even love you.”

  Kristina felt that unpredictable surge of hope rush through her, and she immediately felt ridiculous. That was not what she should have been hoping for. “He doesn’t love me,” she said, and she was certain she was right. “He doesn’t.”

  “You sound sure.”

  “I am,” Kristina nodded. “Fucking a couple of times does not translate into love.”

  “Not usually,” Kovic agreed. “But Keith is different, and whatever he may think…I know him. I truly know him, and I can predict his next move.”

  “And what exactly are you predicting?”

  “He’s going to come for you,” Kovic said, licking his lips at the same time. “He’s going to play the knight in shining armor, and you will play his damsel in distress. Keith has always been fond of role-playing. He especially enjoys playing the hero.”

  “That’s preferable to playing the villain,” Kristina spat.

  Kovic chortled, as though he just couldn’t help but be amused by Kristina. He shook his head and looked her in the eye. “This is not a storybook, little girl,” he said threateningly, but the smile stayed on his face. “This doesn’t have a happily ever after. Keith learned that the hard way, and now you will too. This is real life and in real life… the villains win.”

  “Maybe they do,” Kristina nodded. “But not every time. The odds maybe against you in this round.”

  “Somehow I highly doubt that,” Kovic replied.

  “You’re assuming he’s going to know where to find me,” Kristina pointed out. “What if he doesn’t?"

  “Don’t worry,” Kovic assured her. “He’s a smart lad… he’ll figure it out.”

  “And if he doesn’t?”

  Kovic shrugged. “Doesn’t matter… I made him a promise, and I’m going to stick to it. Either he and I will face each other in the next two days or… he will receive a present from me.”

  “In the form of my tortured body?” Kristina said, trying to keep the fear from her voice.

  “It’s sort of poetic when you think about it,” Kovic said, looking off in another direction. “This story has come full circle.”

  “You are deranged.”

  Kovic smiled at her again. “You are much more interesting than Natalie ever was, I’ll say that much. She was so much tamer.”

  “Are you going to do to me what you did to her?” Kristina asked before she could stop herself.

  Kovic raised his eyebrows. He looked like some comic book caricature of a villain. His white blonde hair was shining so brightly it hurt Kristina’s eyes. “Ah yes,” Kovic nodded. “I forgot you don’t know the story. Well… this seems like the perfect time to enlighten you.”

  Chapter Thirty

  Keith

  Three years ago

  “Hey man, you can’t be back here.”

  The man who spoke was short and bald; he had a tattoo of a bird on the left hand side of his face and piercings lining both ears. The rooms were tiny and crowded in together. There was a sea of people, but none that Keith could recognize.

  “Sorry,” Keith replied. “I came here to meet someone.”

  “You and every other dude out there,” the guy replied. “Like I said, you can’t be back here.”

  “Her name is Nat—” Keith stopped short and corrected himself. “Her name is Roxy.”

  “She’s in one of the private rooms with a client,” the guy replied. “It’s four hundred dollars for fifteen minutes with her.”

  “I’m not here to see her dance,” Keith said through gritted teeth.

  “Then hit the road, buddy. If you’re not here to see the girls dance, you got no place here at all.”

  “Fine,” Keith said impatiently. “Here’s four hundred. Give me one of the private rooms and send Roxy in when she’s finished with her… client.”

  The guy winked at him as he took the money. “You got it, dude.” He looked back over his shoulder and whistled. “Hey Misty… show our friend here to one of the private rooms.”

  The woman who approached was tall and well endowed. She was completed naked—except for the green-sequined thong that she wore. Her hair was long and dirty blonde, and it ran over her shoulders, falling just above her large, rounded nipples. She had dark eyes and seductive features, and she flashed Keith a come-hither smile, as she led him back to the music and lights of the club.

  There were five large stages set up around the room, and each one exhibited a different woman in various stages of nudity. Keith barely registered more than their gyrating bodies before he was shown to one of the private rooms. It was a small, circular one with a large round table with a pole running down the middle.

  “Can I get you anything?” Misty asked him, leaning over unnecessarily. “A drink?”

  “No,” Keith said as he sat down. “I’ll just wait here for… Roxy.”

  She raised her eyebrows, and Keith realized she was looking him up and down. “You don’t want any company while you wait for her?” she asked seductively. “I could give you a lap dance?”

  “No thank you,” Keith replied in a clipped voice.

  “I could join Roxy and we could really put on a real good show for you,” she suggested. “Two bodies are always better than one.”

  “I’d rather have just Roxy,” Keith said with finality.

  Clearly disappointed, she moved out of the room and closed the curtain behind her. Keith could still hear the music pounding in the background, but now it didn’t hurt his ears as much. He had to wait nearly half an hour, but finally the curtain was drawn open and Natalie stepped in. She was wearing a red thong and a silver bra that barely contained her breasts. Her hair was unnaturally wavy as it fell to her middle back.

  She was wearing a smile when she walked in, but the moment she saw Keith, it slipped off her face and the mask she wore dropped instantly. “Keith,” she said.

/>   “Why don’t you sit down?” Keith suggested, as he moved over to give her some space.

  She looked uncomfortable. “I’m working.”

  “I know,” Keith nodded. “I paid for fifteen minutes of your time.”

  Natalie sat down gingerly; she looked distinctly uncomfortable, as though she had no idea what to do with her arms and legs.

  “Why won’t you look me in the eye?” Keith asked.