“You’re whatever I want you to be, Braun.” Luke’s eyes darken, and Sofie is suddenly more than a little scared. “Especially with your financial situation, I would’ve thought you would do anything to keep a job that’s allowing you to chip away at some of that terrible debt you’ve been saddled with.” He shakes his head at the shame of it, but there’s no evidence of anything close to empathy in his expression.
“Are you threatening me? Besides, how do you know anything about that?” Sofie wishes that she had insisted on walking, the situation she’s in is worse than she could have imagined.
“Don’t think of it as a threat, that’s such an ugly word. Think of it more as encouragement.” Luke runs his hand along the inside of her bare leg, and Sofie squirms away from him. “There’s no need to play coy; you never were with Tyler.”
Sofie looks at him in fear. “What do you know about Tyler and I? My personal life is none of your business I’m your employee, nothing else. After today, I won’t even be that.”
At her words, Luke’s hand catches hold of her arm, keeping her still. “Don’t make empty threats, Sofie. I own you. As soon as you joined Shale, you agreed to that. You think you can just leave and I won’t do anything? You think anyone else in the industry would hire you after I tell them your dirty little secrets?”
“What are you talking about?” Sofie desperately tries to twist out of his grip, but he’s holding onto her hard. She bangs on the tinted window between them and the driver but nothing happens.
“Terence has ear-plugs in, as I requested.” Luke gives her a conceited smile as if expecting her to congratulate him on being so well prepared. “What I mean, Sofie, is that if you try to leave, I will make it my business that you’re next job will involve you asking ‘do you want fries with that?’—if you know what I mean. Once any reputable company hears about your drinking and problems with drugs along with your unhealthy obsession with me...” He leaves her to fill in the blanks, it doesn’t take much imagination.
“No one would believe you. You’re the one that follows me home, the one that tries to get me alone at any available opportunity. I have videos of you outside my apartment.” Sofie feels relaxed when she thinks about the cameras. It’s her proof, her passport out of Shale. Luke wouldn’t risk those videos going public.
“Oh, right, but what would happen if say those videos were to disappear?” Luke looks at her meaningfully. “It would be your word against mine, the daughter of a con-artist against a respected, successful, family man. Which one of us do you think people would put money on?” He settles back in the seat, looking eminently pleased with himself.
“You broke into my apartment?” It’s the only thing that Sofie can think to say, but it’s the ultimate invasion of her privacy. That’s her place, not his. It has nothing to do with him. “You have no right.”
“Broke in? Of course not! Do I look like a common criminal?” Luke pats her gently on the head as if she were a dog. “Let’s just say your super doesn’t exactly have the best healthcare plan and his son isn’t well. Those hospital bills can really mount up when you don’t have the right insurance.”
“You bastard.” Sofie shakes her head, trying to put her thoughts in some sort of order. How can this be happening? She felt trapped on all sides. If she stayed at Shale, then this would be her future—Luke treating her like his personal escort. If she tried to leave, then she’d be up to her eyes in debt and unemployable. What the hell kind of a choice is that?
“Don’t you ever call me that.” Luke tightens his hold on her wrist and pulls her towards him, so his face is inches away from hers. His eyes have a wild look about them, and the smell on his breath makes her wonder if this is his first whisky of the day. He takes a breath and tries to smooth over his reaction. “You just make me so crazy, Sofie. Don’t you have any idea what you do to me? I’ve wanted you since the first time I saw you, and I know, deep down, you feel the same way.” He pulls her tighter in towards him, using his free hand to open her legs, using his strength to maneuver himself on top of her.
“Luke, get off of me.” She squirms underneath him, managing to slap him across the cheek, trying to stop him from doing what she’s deathly afraid he’s planning on next. He brings one hand up to his cheek that’s burning pink and smiles at her like she’s even sexier than he had thought before.
He closes her mouth, pressuring her lips in a deep kiss that makes her stomach roll. Her mind flashes back to the last man she kissed, Ashton, wishing that he were here right now. She has to remind herself that he doesn’t want her, that she’s back to being on her own again. She has to look after herself. It’s clear that Luke isn’t going to respond to her brute force, she has to take a different tack. “Don’t do this,” she pleads with him when he gives her room to breathe. “This isn’t how you wanted it to be the first time, is it?” She tries to look at him in a way that is at least a little alluring. This is the only way she can think to get out of this situation. It’s far from perfect, but it’s better than the alternative.
Luke seems to think about her words for a few moments, and then he smiles, like she’s pleasantly surprised him. He plants a soft kiss on her lips, and Sofie has to stop herself from flinching away.
“You’re right, my beautiful Sofie. Of course, you’re right. The first time we’re together should be perfect.” He releases her, settling himself back in his seat.
Sofie takes a few deep breaths, trying to stop herself from feeling like she’s about to cry. She smooths down her hair and rearranges her clothes, so there’s no hint of what just happened to her in this car.
“I think I would really like to take that walk after all, if you don’t mind?” It takes all her strength to keep her voice sweet and small, like a little bird. Making him think that she wanted to please him was the only way she was getting out of that car.
Luke gives her a look like he’s trying to see behind the words that she’s saying. “I would rather you weren’t on your own.”
“I’ll be fine. I could really use the air after all the...excitement.” She bites her lip, hoping that she looks sincere.
“Of course, my dear. But only if you promise to be careful, we wouldn’t want anything to happen to you, would we?” Luke leans in and caresses her face. He seems to take her inward breath as a signal of desire rather than fear, and he looks pleased with himself. He presses a button concealed under one of the armrests and instructs Terence to pull over.
When the car comes to a halt, Sofie has to stop herself from leaping out of the limo like it were on fire. “Thank you, Luke.” She looks down demurely, so that he won’t see the contempt in her eyes.
“Be safe, Sofie. There are all kinds of bad people out there.” Luke gives her the warning without a trace of self-awareness, and she has to stop herself from laughing out loud. Instead, she nods quickly and starts to step out of the car. Luke places his hand on her ass, as she passes by him, and the way he looks at her makes it clear that he sees her as his property. He kisses her hand, like a gallant gentleman and looks at her meaningfully. “See you soon.” He doesn’t even wait for her to respond before he signals for the car to drive off, leaving Sofie by the roadside feeling like she’d just dodged a bullet, but it was one that was going to come back for her soon.
As she walks along the road, she wraps her arms around herself against the cold that comes upon her almost immediately. The sun is shining, and there’s hardly a cloud in the sky; but, she can’t seem to stop shivering. She can’t help but think about what happens next. Either she sleeps with Luke and loses her dignity, or she doesn’t and loses everything that she’s worked so hard for. How am I supposed to choose between those two options? It was an impossible decision.
Abruptly she hears a car behind her slow and, although she hasn’t prayed in years, she prays that it isn’t Luke coming back having thought twice about them waiting for a magical first time.
“Hey stranger, wanna lift?” The woman’s voice makes Sofie turn, and she is more rel
ieved than she can find words to say to find Lindsey in the driver’s seat.
“Lindsey, you have no idea how glad I am to see you.” She climbs in and feels the muscles in her body relax for the first time all day.
“What’s going on?” Lindsey looks at her, as she pulls away heading towards the town. She casts a worried look at Sofie, and Sofie could swear that she hears her sniff like she smelled something bad.
“Nothing, just felt a little sick is all, figured a walk would do me good.” Sofie does her best to stop her emotions from betraying her.
Lindsey brakes abruptly, looking over at her. “Bullshit.”
Sofie looks at her like she’s gone crazy. “What the hell is the matter with you?”
“With me, honey? Nothing at all, but there damn sure is something wrong with you. Your hands haven’t stopped shaking like a leaf since I stopped the car. Plus, you smell like cologne, and I’m guessing it ain’t yours.” Lindsey looks at her pointedly, folding her arms to make it clear she doesn’t intend on moving the car until Sofie gives her an explanation.
Sofie looks out of the window, trying to avoid Lindsey’s gaze, and she bites her lip to stop from crying. She hates looking weak. She’s been looking after herself for a long time, and she’s been doing just fine. Finn was the only one that she confided in, and he knew better than to ask too many questions.
Lindsey seems to sense her reticence and puts her hand over Sofie’s still-shaking ones. “I’m here. You can tell me. Whatever it is, you can tell me, doll.” Sofie looks over at the petite woman next to her, talking as if they were best friends.
Lindsey’s eyes are full of concern, and the sweetness with which she holds Lindsey’s hand makes it impossible to hold the tears back. Everything comes rushing to the surface, and she tells Lindsey everything about Luke, from how he’s behaved towards her since the first time they met since the moment he let her out of the limo. Lindsey remains silent throughout. When Sofie finishes, she keeps her eyes fixed on the floor. “God knows what you must think of me.” She suddenly feels ashamed for what happened, as if she somehow deserved what Luke was doing to her.
“I think that you’re a pretty tough cookie. A lot of women would just be going with the flow, let the big boss man get his rocks off and not think twice about it. But not you. You’ve got self-respect, I admire that.” Sofie steals a look at Lindsey to check that she’s not making fun of her.
“Yeah, well turns out self-respect just lands you in a whole lot of trouble.” Sofie shakes her head.
“None of this is your fault, you know that right? You know that you didn’t do anything to deserve this creep treating you like...like...” Lindsey casts around for a word.
“Like a whore?” Sofie supplies the phrase, her dark eyes sad.
“I was going to go with prostitute, but yours works, too.” Lindsey smiles at her, and it’s infectious. Sofie can’t help but return it.
“What the hell am I going to do?” Sofie puts her head in her hands, wishing that she could squeeze an answer out of her brain.
“We’re going to go see a mutual friend.” Lindsey winks at her, as she turns the engine over and does a U-turn, driving back in the direction they’ve just come.
It doesn’t take long for Sofie to figure out who she’s talking about. “Ashton? Uh-uh! No way, José. No. Let me out here. I’ll walk the rest of the way back.”
“Stop acting crazy! I thought you guys were getting to know each other pretty well?” Lindsey gives her a ‘you know what I’m talking about’ look that makes Sofie blush down to the roots of her hair.
“Yeah, well it turns out that once he got to know me, he wasn’t so interested anymore.” Sofie feels the rush of embarrassment again of being treated like a groupie that he couldn’t wait to get rid of.
“I doubt that.” Lindsey’s voice is flat. “But sometimes Ashton doesn’t get that doing the hard thing isn’t necessarily doing the right thing.”
“Why do I feel like everyone in this town speaks in riddles?” Sofie asks to no one in particular. “How do you think Ashton’s going to be able to help anyway? Think it’d be a little difficult to make Luke Calambor, owner of Shale disappear, don’t you?” Sofie looks pointedly at Lindsey who brakes the car hard again in the middle of the road. “Seriously, where did you learn to drive?” Sofie screeches at her, looking behind to make sure they weren’t about to get rammed into.
“What did you say? About making people disappear?” When Lindsey looks at her, it seems like all the color has drained from her face.
“I know about all the mysterious disappearances of people involved in unsolved crimes. I saw one of those ‘disappearances’ in the woods myself last night.” Sofie locks eyes with Lindsey, feeling more confident when she’s the one asking the questions. “You want to tell me what the hell is going on in this town and how you think Ashton can help me?”
Lindsey remains silent, starting the car again and, all of a sudden, she does something that Sofie hadn’t expected at all. She starts laughing, almost hysterically, so much so that Sofie casts worried sidelong glances at her as if she’s taken leave of her senses.
“What’s so funny? You’re starting to scare me a little now, Linds.” Sofie wonders if Beaumont is actually ‘Twin Peaks.’
“You, you’re hilarious! You’re exactly what he needs, Sofe—someone smart, tough, kind, someone that doesn’t take any bullshit. Bet Ash doesn’t know what hit him.” Lindsey shakes her head, as she wipes away tears from her eyes.
“How can you possibly know that I’m any of these things? This is the longest conversation we’ve ever had!” Sofie looks uneasily at the woman in the driver’s seat, asking herself if may actually be a little crazy.
“It doesn’t matter. There are some things that are as plain as the nose on your face. Just like I can see you’ve got legs up to your eyeballs and a face that makes men lose the ability to speak clearly, I can see who you are. You can think of it as my thing. Comes in handy when you own a bar, too.” Lindsey explains it so naturally that it’s hard for Sofie not to believe what she’s saying.
“Your thing? Like your feminine intuition?” she asks curiously.
“Yeah, something like that.” Lindsey smiles at her, like she’s desperate to tell her a secret but knows that she can’t.
Sofie resolves not to ask. She figures that she already knows who the person is that she needs to go to for answers and the idea of seeing him again fills her with excitement and nerves in equal parts. “What makes you think that Ashton even wants to see me? After this morning, I wouldn’t bet on that particular horse.” Sofie looks out of the window, starting to recognize the route that Ashton had driven her that morning.
“Trust me. He’s going to want to see you.” Lindsey’s seems so sure about what she’s saying that it’s hard to disagree.
“Why are you being so nice to me?” She tilts her head to analyze Lindsey’s reaction.
“I like you. Is that so hard to believe?” Lindsey shrugs, as if there isn’t anything more to it than that. “I’m guessing you don’t have a lot of friends.” There’s no judgment in her words, just an observation.
“I guess I’m kind of a private person,” she says, wishing that she didn’t sound so defensive.
“No kidding.” Lindsey rolls her eyes, as if Sofie has mastered the art of stating the obvious.
Sofie takes a deep breath, like she’s about to dive underwater. “I like you, too,” she says quickly, like she’s trying to get it over with.
“Glad to hear it. I don’t like to have to beat people into submission to be my friend, but I will if I have to.” A wicked smile passes over her lips, and Sofie wonders if that was just a figure of speech or not.
Before Sofie has a chance to respond, she sees that they’ve reached the end of the dirt track and in front of them is Ashton’s house. However, it’s not just the fact that it’s his house that makes her pause, it’s also the number of people outside.
Lindsey seems to se
nse her reticence and pats her on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, it’s just a little get-together.” She jumps out of the car before Sofie has time to say anything, forcing her to follow behind.
As they approach the party that looks to be in full swing, Sofie feels like everyone stops what they’re doing and stares at them.
“Right, a little get-together,” Sofie says under her breath, looking at Lindsey like she wants to kills her.
“Where’s Ash?” Lindsey doesn’t seem to pay any attention to the hostility that’s radiating off the men and some of the women in the group.
Gus, the man that Sofie had seen in the furniture store and the man that Ashton had told her had dealt with the guy in the woods the other night points towards the back of the house. “I hope you know what you’re doing, Lindsey.” His words seem like a warning, but Lindsey barely reacts.
“And when have I ever not known what I’m doing, Gus?” She looks pointedly at him until he makes way for her and Sofie to pass.
Before she can get in to the house, Sofie watches as an improbably tall man lift Lindsey off of the ground. “Hey baby, where you been?”
Downpour (Alpha Love - A Paranormal Werewolf Shifter Romance Book 1) Page 14
