by Helen Cooper
“Leave, Evie. Grab your clothes and leave.” I muttered to myself as I stood there. I couldn’t seem to move my feet and I knew that a part of me didn’t want to leave. A part of me wanted to find out what had happened to Eugenie. I was an investigative reporter. At least that’s what I wanted to be. How could I leave now that there was a real mystery right in front of me? I know, I know. I’m dumb. I should have fled right away. But I was also intrigued by Tyler. And I hated myself for it. It made me feel cheap. I walked to my phone and quickly called Hailey, she’d know what I should do.
“Hey, it’s me.” I whispered as soon as she answered.
“Where the fuck are you, Evie?” Hailey sounded upset.
“I already told you that...” I started and she cut me off.
“I can’t believe that you hung up on me last night.” She was fuming. “Where are you?”
“I’m still at Grant’s house.”
“Who the fuck is Grant?” She screeched.
“The guy I met last night.” I said softly. “Look, I don’t think I should leave right now.”
“Oh my God, do not tell me you had a one night stand and now you think it’s going somewhere?” Hailey was shouting. “I knew this was a mistake. Please Evie, just come home.”
“Hailey.” I walked towards the bathroom so that the two men couldn’t hear me. “I don’t think a one night stand is going anywhere.”
“So you had sex with him?” She screamed.
“Hailey, stop it!”
“Was it good?” She said softly. “I hope it was the best sex of your life because I am going to kill you when I see you.”
“It was good, but that’s not what I’m calling about.”
“What are you calling about?” She sounded suspicious. “Oh God, do not tell me you’re pregnant.”
“Hailey,” I giggled. “I had sex last night, I’m not going to wake up knowing I’m pregnant.”
“Evie, I can’t believe I’m having this conversation with you.” She screeched again. “Tell me about this Grant.”
“Well the reason I’m calling has to do with another guy.”
“You did not have a threesome.” She screeched again.
“Hailey, get a grip.” I sighed, though my face warmed at the thought. “You know I didn’t have a threesome. You know I don’t do threesomes.”
“Well, you never did one night stands’ either.”
“Hailey, non-judgment zone please.” I sighed. “I was doing you a favor remember.”
“I know, I know. So what’s going on with Grant and this other guy?”
“So this other guy was telling me about this girl that died and I think Grant did something to her. I think something fishy is going on.”
“Oh God, Evie, get the fuck out of there.”
“I think I should stay and try and figure out what’s going on.”
“Are you out of your bloody mind?”
“I was out of my mind when I agreed to do this job for you.” I sighed. “I didn’t even get my five grand.”
“I’ll give you five hundred if you come now.” Hailey pleaded. “Please do not go playing Nancy Drew, Evie. You’re not Nancy or Veronica Mars.”
“What about Stephanie Plum?”
“Evie.” She groaned. “Just come home please.”
“Grant doesn’t want me to leave.” I whispered. “At first I thought it was a joke, but I think he might be a bit of—”
“Why aren’t you in the shower?” Tyler walked into the room with a frown on his face. I quickly closed the phone and gave him a weak smile.
“I was just calling my friend.”
“For?”
“To let her know I was alright.”
“So you’re alright?” He shook his head. “You’re stuck in a house you want to leave, yet you call your friend to tell her you’re alright? Are you crazy?”
“No, are you?” I licked my lips nervously. “I’m about to go in the shower now.”
“Can I come in with you?”
“No.” My fingers trembled and I dropped the phone. Tyler walked over to me and we both bent down to pick it up. As we both grabbed it, our fingers touched and we stopped and stared into each other’s eyes. Tyler’s expression looked sad as he stared at me and I could see him studying me intently. He reached up and brushed a piece of hair away from my eyes.
“You have beautiful green eyes. They remind me of the night time forest near the house I grew up in.”
“Oh?”
“They have a dark green, almost brown hue to them. They’re inviting me in, yet I feel something treacherous lurking beyond their beauty.”
“You think I’m the treacherous one?” I gasped and he nodded.
“There’s more to you than meets the eye, Evie.”
“There’s really not. I promise.” I stood up and tried to grab my phone away from him. “I’d like it back now please.”
“Maybe not now. Maybe later.”
“What?” I frowned. “Give me my phone back.” I grabbed his hand and tried to remove my phone from his grip. My heart was beating erratically and I could feel my face growing cold.
“Sorry.” He shrugged.
“Give it back.” I squeezed his hand as hard as I could.
“What are you doing, Evie?” Grant walked into the room and stared at us, his expression blank.
“Tyler took my phone and I want it back.”
“You took her phone?” He stared at Tyler for a second.
“Wasn’t that your order, Sir?” Tyler responded quietly and I saw Grant’s eyes narrowing before he looked back at me.
“Come with me, Evie.” He held his hand out. “Let’s go and talk.”
“Talk about what? I want my phone.”
“Don’t you want to—”
“I don’t want anything, but my phone.” I pulled away from him.
“What’s going on with you?” He frowned, his blue eyes eyeing me warily.
“I want to go home now.”
“I told you, that’s not a possibility right now.”
“Why not?”
“Let her go, Grant.” Tyler’s voice was soft as he spoke up. “Just let her go.”
“No.” Grant shook her head. “I’m, I mean, we’re not done.”
“Done with what?” I swallowed hard.
“Stop asking questions.” Grant turned away. “Take her to the room, Tyler. Let her sit there and think for a while.” He looked at me for a second and then left the room again. I stood there feeling scared and annoyed at myself. Why hadn’t I tried to find an escape when they had both left the room.
“What room?” I shouted nervously and looked at Tyler’s blank face. “What room is he talking about?”
“The playroom.” Tyler said his expression cool.
“What playroom?” I asked again, desperately wanting to be out of this situation. “Please just let me go home.”
“That won’t be possible.” Tyler shook his head. “Not right now.” He grabbed my arm and pulled me towards the door.
“At least let me shower and put some clothes on first. Please.” I begged him and he paused. “Please. I don’t want to go into another room with just this cover on. I don’t want to be naked underneath.”
“Fine.” He pulled me to the bathroom and opened the door. I walked in eagerly, hoping that I could climb out of the window and escape, but he followed behind me.
“What are you doing?” I froze as he locked the door.
“Letting you shower.”
“With you here?” I shook my head, my face red. “I can’t shower with you in the room with me.”
“It’s the only way you’re going to be able to shower.” He shrugged and leaned against the door. “It’s your choice.”
“Will you close your eyes?” I asked him softly, my body tense as I stared at him.
“Would you believe me if I said yes?” He grinned and reached forward and grabbed my bathrobe.
“What are you doing?”
“Helping you get ready for your bath.” He loosened the belt and paused as the robe fell open. His hand dropped and he stepped back and looked at me, my breasts barely covered by the thin material. “You should shower quickly.” He turned away sounding mad at himself. “I’ll give you five minutes.”
“Five minutes to shower? What?” I blinked at him. “That’s not long enough.”
“Four minutes and fifty-five seconds left.” He looked at his watch.
“Whatever.” I reached in and turned the shower on and put my hand out to feel the temperature of the water. “Will you at least turn around please?” I sighed as I felt the water turning warmer. “Please?”
“Fine.” He rolled his eyes and turned around. I pulled the robe off quickly and entered the shower, letting the hot water cascade down my body. I wasn’t sure why I didn’t feel more panicked. I think it was because it hadn’t really hit me. The whole situation felt surreal. And if I was honest, a part of me felt safe when Tyler was around. I knew that Grant was his boss and he would follow Grant’s orders, but I was also pretty sure he wouldn’t let anything bad happen to me. He wouldn’t physically harm me. I wasn’t sure why I was so confident of that fact, but somehow, inherently I just knew.
“Why are you doing this?” I said as I reached for some shampoo and rubbed it through my hair quickly. My body was on high alert and I felt uncomfortable showering with him in the room, even though I knew he wasn’t facing me.
“Why am I doing this?” He repeated. “So you don’t try and escape through the window.”
“No, I mean, why won’t you just let me go. Why won’t Grant let me go?” I grabbed the body wash and started soaping my body up quickly, rubbing myself hard.
“What do you want me to say, Evie?” His voice was angry. “I’m just following orders. You should have thought about what you were doing when you got in the car with Grant last night. You should have thought twice before you went to a bachelors’ party to strip naked for men. You should have thought twice before you decided to sleep with a strange man. Maybe you should have been asking questions before you made those decisions.”
“I know I was stupid.” I sighed. “But I was attracted to him and he was nice and it was just going to be one dance.”
“Really?” He laughed, an angry sarcastic sound. “You thought you were coming back for one dance?”
“He seemed nice.” I bit my lip and turned the water on hotter. “Yes, I was attracted to him. Yes, a part of me thought that it would be fun to hook up. I don’t know what I was thinking. I guess I wasn’t thinking. I mean no-one expects their first one night stand to be with a psycho.”
“Grant’s not a psycho.”
“Oh okay, sure. He just won’t let me leave his house. He’s not a psycho at all.” I exclaimed angrily and he laughed. “It’s not funny.”
“I’m not laughing.” He said softly and turned around slowly. “I’m not laughing.” He said again as his eyes looked at me seriously and I gasped and placed my right hand and arm across my breasts and my left hand in front of my pussy.
“What are you doing?” I glared at him. “You said you wouldn’t look.”
“No I didn’t.” He raised his eyebrows and I saw a glint in his eyes as he stared at me. “You asked me to turn around and I did. I didn’t say how long I’d turn around for.”
“If you were a gentleman, you’d turn back around.”
“If I was a gentleman?” He burst out laughing and his eyes crinkled as tears fell down his cheeks. “Oh Evie, what makes you think I’m a gentleman?”
“You’re not.” I shook my head and then I felt shampoo running into my eyes “Shit.” I mumbled. I didn’t know which hand to use to brush the shampoo out of my eyes. Either hand being moved would reveal something I didn’t want him to see.
“Oh Evie.” He sighed and I gasped as he stepped into the shower with me and rubbed the shampoo out of my eyes. “Put your head back.” He said bossily and I felt his fingers rubbing my head and rinsing the shampoo out.
“Your clothes are getting wet.” I muttered as I blinked at him, standing so close to my naked body.
“I don’t care.” He muttered and stared at me with a grim smile, his blue eyes dark as he continued to rub my scalp.
“You didn’t need to do that.” I shook my head and bit my lower lip. He was so close to me. If he moved one inch closer, my naked body would be next to his.
“I didn’t want you to have to move your hands and expose yourself.” He said with a laugh in his hands.
“Oh.” I gasped as his hands fell to my shoulders. “If you had turned back around, that wouldn’t have been a concern.”
“But what fun would that have been?”
“Why are you flirting with me?” I gasped as his hands rubbed my back, his fingertips massaging my muscles.
“Because there’s something about you that I like.”
“I slept with your boss last night.” I spat out, as much for him as myself. I needed to ignore the heat that was rising up through my stomach. I needed to ignore the sexual tension I felt for him.
“You made a mistake. It happens.” His hands ran down to my lower back and stopped just above my ass. “You didn’t know then what you know now.”
“Tyler.” I moved my right hand to push him back.
“Yes?” He grinned and it was then I realized my mistake. He took another step forward and I felt my breasts pushed up against his chest. He looked at me with glittering eyes, his eyelashes filled with water drops. His arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me towards him. I felt his erection pushing up against me through his pants and I held my breath, as his fingers made their way up my body.
“Your clothes are going to get wet.” I whispered against his lips.
“As wet as you are right now?” He grinned and my body crumpled against his. I had no resistance towards this man. His fingers made their way to my stomach and we both stood still waiting to see what was going to happen next. I stood there with my body on fire and I had no idea what I was going to do next. He kissed my neck then and I reached out and grabbed his shoulders so I didn’t fall. I felt his teeth biting into my skin and my legs trembled at his touch. And then he stepped back and out of the shower. I gazed at him in surprise and disappointment.
“I’m not going to hurt you, Evie.” His eyes pierced mine as his fingers ran over the top of his head. “You can trust me.”
“I can’t do anything with you.” I shook my head and closed my eyes, trying to ignore my body’s cries. “I don’t know why I’m even here and you’re not exactly my savior.” I tried to remind myself of the situation I was in. “I can’t—”
“It’s okay.” His voice was soft. “I know you’re confused. It’s okay.”
“I’m not confused.” I opened my eyes. “I just want to leave.”
“You can’t leave until the boss says you can.”
“What’s he going to do to me?”
“I won’t let him do anything to you, Evie.” His voice was rough. “In every wolf pack, there is an alpha. And in this case I’m the King.”
I stood there staring at him and rubbing the soap softly off of my body, imagining it was his fingers touching me. I shivered as he stood there staring at me with a closed off expression. What was Tyler talking about? What was he going to do? And if he was going to help me, would he expect something from me? And if he did, would that be something I’d be willing to give?
Chapter Three
“Don’t leave me in here.” I said softly as Tyler walked to the door of the room he’d brought me to. “Please.”
“You’ll be safe.” He stood by the door and frowned. “He won’t come in and do anything. I’ll make sure of that.”
“How long am I going to be in here?” I looked around the small bedroom and sighed. “And have I been kidnapped?”
“You came here of your own volition, did you not?”
“Yeah, but I—”
“So I’m prett
y sure you weren’t kidnapped.” He opened the door. “Just relax.”
“How am I supposed to relax?” I ran over to him. “Let me leave.”
“No.” He shook his head. “Not yet.”
“When?”
“When it’s the right time.”
“What happened to Eugenie? I know you know.” I asked him again, hoping to break through to him. I knew this was his job, but if his boss was a psycho, he had to know what he was capable of. I refused to believe that he would just leave me here.
“I don’t even know who Eugenie really was.” He shrugged. “Stay in the room and be quiet. I’ll see what I can do.”
“Why won’t Grant let me leave?”
“I can’t tell you that.” He shook his head. “Please stay in here and be quiet. If you make a lot of noise I’ll have to handcuff you.”
“What?” My voice rose and he pursed his lips.
“Evie.”
“This is crazy.” I shouted. “I feel like I’m in the twilight zone. What’s going on here?” I tried to grab his arm, but he walked away from me and out of the door. He pulled the door closed behind him and I heard a key turning. I tried to turn the handle, but the door wouldn’t open. Why me? I banged on the door for a few seconds and then stepped back. I didn’t want Tyler to come back and handcuff me. Then I’d really start to panic. How had I not seen that Grant was a psycho? I was so confused by everything. I just didn’t understand what was going on. Why oh why had I let Hailey talk me into this? Why had I thought it would be a good idea to spend the night with Grant? What dance did I think was five grand? Especially a dance from someone like me. I went and sat on the bed and tried to think. What was I going to do now? I tried not to feel bad for myself. I knew that wasn’t going to get me out of this predicament. Then I thought about what I would tell someone else to do in this situation. I wasn’t an investigative reporter for nothing. I needed to find out why Grant wouldn’t let me leave and what had happened to Eugenie. I decided to look around the room to see if I could find any clues. It was the only thing I could think to do that wouldn’t make me feel like I was about to lose it. I knew I needed to keep my mind occupied. I looked around the room and saw a large closet and decided to explore in there first.
