Play With Me

by Piper Shelly

  Huh? And I thought he was my friend. My best you-evil-bastard scowl only coaxed out his lopsided grin before he tousled my hair.

  When Judge Abe cleared his throat, all eyes returned to him. “Miss Montiniere, I’ve followed your criminal progress for nearly a year now. As I was informed, you will be released from the Westminster Children’s Home in less than seven weeks.” He pulled his glasses off his nose and placed them carefully on the stack of papers. “This gives rise to serious concern. With a criminal past like yours, I doubt not a second that you’ll be out on a robbing tour of London as soon as your eighteenth birthday arrives.”

  Criminal past? Hello? I only nicked from the rich to give it to the poor. In this particular case, the poor was me. “Shouldn’t a person in your position exercise his office without prejudice?” I had hardly spoken the words when Quinn’s fingers dug painfully into my shoulder.

  The judge let my statement go by unnoticed. He only drew a deep, slow breath. “To prevent the worst, I should let you stay under house arrest in the orphanage and delay an official accusation for your latest theft until you turn eighteen. In that case, I would have full authority to send you to prison.”

  Holy shit.

  He paused to smile, and I wished the watchdog at my side would unshackle my hands so I could scratch the judge’s glassy eyes out. “But as it is, I’m pleased to welcome your mother in this room today. We had an unofficial meeting this morning, and I’m glad—”

  “You were the traitor who called her to this meeting!” I jumped from my seat, cutting his sentence short. A siren went off in my head, tuning out common sense.

  “Sit, Jona,” Quinn barked through clenched teeth. His palm on my shoulder pushed down hard. I whined, but gave in to his strength.

  “And I’m glad,” Abe continued as if no one had interrupted him in the first place. “She told me about a relative of yours in France who offered to give you a home and a place to stay for as long as you wish. Your aunt and her husband own vineyards there, and you will do charity hours on the grounds every day until you come of age.”

  The judge had gone nuts. This was the only reasonable explanation for such nonsense coming out of his mouth. “You’re going to ship me off to the continent? Like a slave? You can’t do that! It’s illegal.” It had to be. Right?

  Abe quirked one brow, not answering my assumption. “Since serious health issues made your mother dependent on other people’s help, she currently lives with her sister in France. We see this as a great opportunity for you to get to know your biological family and maybe tighten the bonds anew.”

  Tighten them anew? How could they be tightened if they didn’t exist in the first place? Nothing existed in this life that could form or tighten anything between me and my mother. Let alone a bond. No contact with that bitch and her pet, thanks. And where the hell did this said aunt come from? I’d never heard of any relatives in Britain, France, or elsewhere.

  If I jumped up in protest again, Quinn would only have pushed me back into my seat. Instead, I raised my right arm, like a good little girl, to draw the judge’s attention. Annoyingly, with the cuffs on, my left hand lifted, too.

  “Please, take me to prison instead.” My request came out dry and emotionless. Dead earnest.

  From above, Quinn glared daggers at me. I cut a glance at him, but then studied Abe’s old eyes again, awaiting his final adjudication with an empty pit in my stomach growing fast.

  “I do believe you graduated from high school last spring?”

  Not knowing what Abe’s question could have to do with my punishment, I nodded. My marks in math had been lousy, but at least I did it.

  “And currently you aren’t taking any summer classes in Miss Mulligan’s Children’s Home?”

  “No.”

  “Then you are going to live with your family.” The bang of his little wooden hammer slamming onto the small round plate sealed the matter. “Now get out of my courtroom and don’t come back.”

  I was so screwed.

  When they started making plans over my head, and voices mixed to a painful blur, Quinn let me wait outside the room. I had to promise not to run off or pick up a fight with an officer again before he opened the door for me. I restrained from giving him the finger and slipped out.

  Elbows propped on my bent knees, I sat on the floor in the hallway with my back resting against the windowed wall. The chain of the cuffs rattled mockingly. With them on, I wouldn’t get far on an escape for fresh air. I might as well surrender to my horrendous fate.

  Utterly miserable and confused about my new future, and no less annoyed by the glances of passing officials, my head dipped back, my gaze focusing on the blank ceiling. Out of habit when I was by myself—and stuck knee-deep in shit—I started humming a song I didn’t know the name of. It always had a strangely soothing effect on me. Odds were I had made up the melody myself over the years. But I’d hummed, whistled or tapped the rhythm with my fingers so often the tune wouldn’t get out of my head ever.

  The door to Abe’s room opening opposite me didn’t disrupt my low singing. But when my mother’s blond friend came out and leaned one shoulder casually against the column in the middle of the hallway, the hum died in my throat.

  “Hi,” he said with a compassionate look that made me wish the traitor, Quinn, had taken off those damn handcuffs so I wouldn’t look like a complete idiot.

  Lips pressed together, my fingers waggled in a feeble greeting. The mere sight of him sent a quiver of excitement to my stomach.

  “That was quite an interesting…situation in there.”

  With an evil grin, I hoped to send the message ‘Mind your own crap, buddy,’ but out loud, I said sweetly, “Glad you enjoyed the show.”

  “I didn’t really.” He wrinkled his nose. “Getting involved with Laurel and Hardy in there wasn’t your best idea. Even a smart girl like you might get hurt in a fight with those two.”

  Yeah, sure. My eyes narrowed to slits. But his words warmed my heart in an unfamiliar way.

  The young man nodded his chin at my tied hands. “They seem rather uncomfortable.”

  And they bloody well were, but I shrugged it off like it was nothing unusual. “The latest fashion. You heard the judge, I wear them quite often.”

  A teasing smile played around his lips that spiked my blood pressure. “Shall we take them off?” he said.

  He must be kidding. “Unless you’ve got teeth like a hacksaw, I don’t see how that would work.”

  Grin widening, he crossed the hall to me, pulling out a key-ring from his pocket. He squatted, leveled his eyes with mine, and shook the ring in front of my face. The friendly jingle of metal filled the high hallway.

  My mouth sagged open. “Where did you get these from?”

  “Chief Madison.”

  “You stole them from Quinn?” I pulled my hands reflexively out of his reach.

  “Of course not.” The blond god gave me a pointed look. “I asked for them.”

  Why would this guy ask my officer friend to release me? Frowning, I concentrated on the safety pin in my jeans. “Quinn wouldn’t unshackle me when I asked him to.”

  His intense blue eyes locked with mine. “I had to solemnly swear to keep an eye on you. Now hold still.” Cool fingers curled around my wrist to fix my hand while he unlocked the first cuff. Sparks tingled on my skin, my hand trembled slightly.

  Why would he give his word to an officer, to free me? Why even care? He’d do well to stay behind that door, holding my horrible mother’s hand instead of setting mine free. With a click, the other cuff came off. I flexed my hands and rubbed my burning wrists. The shackles had left bright red lines on my skin.

  “Better?” He tilted his head and arched one beautiful brow.

  My head bobbed, but I found no breath to answer.

  “Okay then.” He used my knees to push himself up and stretched to his full height.

  He probably expected a thanks following his selflessness. My gaze focused on the rippe
d hems of his jeans, my lips remained sealed.

  When he turned on his heel and marched off to the left, I glanced up. “And now you’re going where?” The words shot out before I could stop myself.

  “Bathroom break.” His arched brows dared me to object.

  My lower lip threatened to pop from between my teeth as I chewed on it. Don’t speak! “But you’re supposed to keep an eye on me.”

  After studying me for a couple of seconds, his expression softened even more. “You’re not going to get me into trouble.”

  A balloon of warmth exploded in my chest. I let him take another stride away from me. Two. Three. Four. “How can you be so sure?” Shut the hell up, Jona. “After everything you know about me, I’ll probably be gone when you get back.”

  A shrug of one shoulder and his beguiling smile struck me silent. “I trust you.” A moment later he disappeared around the corner.

  My chin rested on my chest with no intentions of snapping my mouth shut. Trust me, my arse! He must be nuts if he thought I could be trusted. With a snort, I rose from the linoleum floor and strode in the direction of the exit. But I bounced into a solid wall of bad conscience.

  “Dammit.” I kicked the wall to my right. The rubber-sole of my boot left a black mark on the white surface. I shouldn’t even have to think about it, so why in the world did I hesitate? And for a stranger?

  The exit had never looked better, and yet invisible shackles prevented any further step in its direction. Breathing became increasingly harder, and anger burned like a flame through me. I didn’t understand this stranger’s inexplicable hold over me. I shouldn’t waste another thought on him. After all, I didn’t ask him to remove the handcuffs.

  But he took them off anyway. And he trusted me.

  Argh. A growl rumbled out of my throat. I shot a pissed glance heavenward and raked clawed fingers through my hair. With a helpless sigh, I returned to the spot where he’d found me. Standing with my back against the middle column and arms crossed tightly over my chest, I awaited his return.

  Only seconds later, footfalls announced his approach in the hall behind my back. The steps slowed, and a hardly audible sigh of dismay drifted around the column to me. I grinned to myself, savoring this sweet, however short moment of victory. Then I shoved away from the post.

  Relief washed over his face at the sight of me, the corners of his mouth tilting up. “It’s good to see you again.”

  Blimey, and just how nice it is to look at your beautiful face. But I steeled my expression and ground my teeth. I spun on my heel, trudged back toward Abe’s office, intending to hire Quinn as my bodyguard to keep this goddamn Good Samaritan at arm’s length.

  “Damn you to hell,” I muttered as I went.

  He laughed behind me. “Oh joy.”

  * * *

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  A native Austrian, PIPER SHELLY always had an unexplainable passion for English. She doesn’t remember the last book she read in her native language, but she swears it must have been sometime before her graduation. Always a kid at heart, she loves to travel to enchanted places like Disneyland or romantic Paris in spring with her husband and son.

  Please visit her website at www.pipershelly.com or write to pipershelly@hotmail.com

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