Chills run up and down my spine as I keep moving through the crowd, trying to ignore this feeling of someone chasing me. I shouldn’t even be thinking about this. I chose to leave, and it was my right to do so. Max explained it thoroughly; we could leave at any time with no obligation.
But then why is my stomach twisting in knots?
I quickly enter the nearest grocery store I can find and shake off the rain as well as my jitters.
The cashier eyes me like a fox as I search the racks until I find what I’m looking for. Batteries.
I place them on the counter and fish out my wallet. “I’ll take these, please.” The cashier furrows his brows at me like it’s odd I just came to buy batteries. “And a pack of cigarettes, please,” I add, to make it more plausible.
“Fifteen dollars, please.” His voice is toneless, just like his face, as he grabs the cigarettes and takes my five and ten dollar bill.
Right then, the little bell above the door goes off, almost making me jolt. My heart beats in my throat as a random guy starts sifting through the magazine rack.
Shaking my head, I close my eyes for a brief second and tell myself to calm down.
It’s all in your head.
Stop being a crazy bitch.
I shove the two items in my purse and say, “Thanks,” then I rush out the store again.
On the first street to my right, I find a black Chevrolet Equinox parked.
I stop in my tracks and gawk, but no one is in the vehicle. Strange.
Continuing my way back to my apartment, I clutch my purse even tighter and ignore anyone who crosses my path. I try to stay invisible, moving like a snake through the crowd of people walking along the same sidewalk, but when I hear the sound of tires in the distance, I can’t stop myself from glancing over my shoulder … and watch as the black Chevrolet Equinox drives in my direction once again.
I start to run, as fast as I can, with only one end in sight—my apartment. It’s so close; I can almost feel it, and when my hand reaches the door handle, I don’t stop even for a moment to look around. I just rush inside and slam the door shut behind me.
Out of air, I hurry up the stairs, not giving a shit that my legs are hurting and that I can barely breathe. I have to get back home. Home … where it’s safe.
When I get to my door, my hands tremble as I fish my keys from my purse and unlock the door, slamming it shut after I get inside.
Bent over, I take a moment to suck the oxygen back into my lungs. Sweat drips down my forehead, a drop falling to the floor. And at this moment, I wonder what kind of person have I become?
Paranoid? Schizophrenic? Delusional?
I don’t know anymore, but I do know that I am losing my mind.
Someone is stalking my every move. I just know it. That car wasn’t just there by accident. It’s always there when I go out onto the street. It’s not a coincidence. Who are they, and what do they want from me? Maybe they’re connected to Max. Or maybe the government was onto the brothers and is now onto me since I’m now affiliated with them. Because let’s face it … those contracts and what they’re doing inside that house is not legal.
Regardless, those men outside can’t follow me in here. I’m safe.
I take a deep breath and straighten my back.
Fetching the batteries from my purse, I take them out of the packaging. I flip over the clock and stuff two batteries in the container, turning the hands until the clock is reporting the right time again.
But as I lean in to hang the clock back on the wall, I notice a peculiar little thing. A small, round cap tucked away under the bottom corner of the clock. I carefully peel away the piece of tape that holds it there and then it pops right into my hand.
When I look at it closely, it’s not just a random cap, though.
It has a small antenna … and a lens.
Jesus fucking Christ.
Motherfucker.
***
Accompanying Song: “I Am A God” by Kanye West
Max
I sit behind my laptop with my hand on my crotch, casually sipping my whiskey on the rocks with the other. I care not about the other girls in the house. I never have. I only wanted to show them a lesson … and give my brothers something to play with while I focused on the important task.
Seducing and making Naomi mine.
But now that she’s no longer here, I’ve lost interest in even entertaining our guests.
During dinner, all I do is eat my food and leave the table. I don’t talk, I don’t visit them, and I don’t go out at night. I only eat with them because I must keep up appearances.
But I’d rather stay in bed all day and night to watch my laptop while I masturbate. Without knowing I’m watching her every move, I can get off on just the image of her strutting around in her apartment.
For days, I watched her cook, clean, dress, eat, and sleep. Anywhere and everywhere she went, I was there. Not physically. Not mentally. But I was there.
Like a god … influencing her every move.
Even now, when my people have followed her outside in the Chevrolet Equinox, they did so under my explicit instructions. It was all part of the plan.
She needed to find out.
She needs to know the truth.
And now, she has.
I’ve waited so long for this moment. This particular look on her face. The surprise. The realization and how I can literally see it take form. And then the betrayal.
It’s magnificent. Pure magic.
Just the gaze in her eyes as she stares back at the lens makes my cock hard.
I sit back and watch her scream at the camera with a grin on my face. I squeeze my crotch with one hand while shifting through each of the cameras, making sure they all record her image and voice.
“Max … I know you’re watching,” she growls at the camera.
I lick my lips as I watch her anger burst.
I love it. It’s exactly how I imagined it; rage bubbling to the surface and culminating in an explosion so magnificent, it could even beat an orgasm.
“I know this is a camera. Come out and face me instead of sitting behind your screen like a coward,” she yells.
My nose twitches, and I’m so goddamn inclined to take her up on that offer.
Maybe I will.
***
Accompanying Song: “Scream” by Grimes ft. Aristophanes
Thirty minutes later
I knock on her door three times. She doesn’t respond.
“It’s me,” I say with a low voice.
I know she can hear me. I can tell because I don’t hear her walk. She’s focused on the sound of my voice and trying not to make any move herself. She has some nerves, calling me out to come to her and then pretending she’s not even there.
“Open the door, Naomi,” I say.
When she still doesn’t reply, I shake the doorknob.
I can hear something screech. Probably a chair.
A faint smile appears on my lips. “I know you’re in there.”
“Why did you install those cameras?” she suddenly asks.
“Open the door, and I can tell you.”
“No. I’m not crazy.”
“Then why did you tell me to come here?” I ask.
“Because now, I can hear you too.”
I smile to myself. “Smart.”
“Tell me why.” She’s much closer to the door now.
“I will if you let me in.” I place my hand on the door, wondering if she’s doing the same.
“I can’t,” she says. “This is the only protection I have against you.”
“You don’t need protection against me,” I muse.
“When the only man I thought I could trust turns out to have planted cameras in my home? Yes, I do.”
I sigh. “Believe it or not, I’m still the only man who wants you safe.”
“Prove it.”
I frown and pull back. “Are you sure?”
She doesn’t answer, which ca
n mean only one thing. She doesn’t know what she wants. Well… I can make it much easier.
“Suit yourself,” I mumble.
Then I tuck my hand into my pocket, take out a key, and push it into the lock of her door, twisting it so it opens.
18.
Accompanying Song: “Scream” by Grimes ft. Aristophanes
Max
“What the—”
Her jaw’s practically on the floor.
“You wouldn’t choose, so I chose for you,” I say with a shrug, and I tuck the key back into my pocket.
“How did you? When?” She stumbles backward, clearly confused. So out of her element.
I’ve never seen her act like this. It’s like she saw a ghost.
“Don’t be scared,” I say, approaching her. “Wait, never mind.” I grin.
She almost knocks over a table but keeps it upright by grabbing it. “You have a key to my apartment. Why? Explain yourself,” she growls.
“I will, if you would only calm down,” I say, holding up my hands. “Stop moving so erratically. You’re going to tear up your apartment.”
“My apartment? Oh, right … this condo that you so conveniently just broke into.”
I shake my finger at her. “Correction. Walked. I didn’t break in. I have a key.”
“I never gave you permission to enter.”
“But you do want me to explain myself, so I kindly let myself in after pleading with you multiple times. Fair, no?” I nod at one of the chairs at the table. “Sit.”
“Like I’m that stupid.” She keeps circling her couch, avoiding me at all cost.
“We both know you’re not. I’m not your enemy.”
“Cameras everywhere and you’re telling me you’re not my enemy? Laughable,” she scoffs.
From a small cabinet to her left, she manages to grab a pair of scissors and holds it out like a sword. “Don’t come anywhere near me.”
I hold up my hands. “I’m not going to harm you.”
“You already have,” she says.
“Where?” My nose twitches again from that claim. “Because if my mind serves me well, my brother was the one who hurt you, not me. And I am not my brother. How many times do you want me to tell you before you’ll accept this fact?”
“You toy with my mind …” She taps her head.
Oh … that kind of hurt.
I can’t help that it makes me smirk when she says that.
“That’s because I like you,” I reply.
“Funny way to show someone you like them,” she sneers.
I make a face. “Naomi, please. Let’s not resort to fighting.”
“You give me no choice. When you wiretapped my apartment, you crossed a line,” she growls.
I try to step forward, but she keeps that pointy thing in my direction like it’s a weapon.
“I said back off.”
“I get it. You’re confused.”
“Why are there cameras?” she interrupts.
I slowly pull off my coat and let it drop to the floor. “So I can watch your every move and make sure you don’t do anything stupid … like call the police or hurt yourself.”
Her eyes narrow. “How long?”
“Long. Very … very long.” A wicked smile forms on my face at the sight of hers turning white.
“And the other girls? Are there cameras in their homes too?”
I nod.
“Been watching us like a perv?” she sneers, licking her lips. “Pathetic.”
My lips twitch, and I can barely contain myself as I march toward her. “Enough.” I grasp her wrists and push her against the wall, making her drop the scissors. “Yes, I’ve been watching you, Naomi.” I lean in and smell the fear on her skin. “I’ve watched you eat, sleep, dress. Shower.” I smile and gaze at her from underneath my lashes. “I’ve seen you with your hand in your panties as you masturbated on the couch.”
“Is this supposed to impress me?” she quips, and she tries to push back, but I shove her right back where she was against the wall.
“You told me to come; well, here I am, right where you want me. Just like I have you right where I want you.”
“Giving us a choice on whether or not to sign the contract was all a farce, wasn’t it?”
I nod as she slowly takes it all in.
“You had us all along.”
“I had you,” I murmur. “I still don’t care about the others.”
“Why make me sign it then?”
“To give you the illusion of control …” My pants tent against her hot body. “To give you the idea that you could escape, even when there’s no such thing as your life separate from mine.”
“So this has been going on since …”
“Since you were only a girl,” I say with a low voice.
Goose bumps scatter on my skin just from telling her that.
“What about the other girls? Did they know all this?”
“No,” I reply.
“But you still made them sign the contract.”
“Because we wanted them to give in to us willingly. It’s more fun that way.” I smirk.
She sucks in a breath. “We were groomed … to be your wives. Why even go through the trouble of pretending that we had a choice?”
“Choice, Naomi. I want you to choose me because you want me. I want you to beg.” With my feet, I spread her legs and step between them, making her feel my hard-on. “I want you to ache for my cock.” I rub myself against her, making myself even harder. “I could take it all from you whenever I want. Make you submit to me. But there’s no fun in that.” I lean back again and look into her eyes.
She visibly relaxes, and I release her wrists. “You wanted the chase,” she says.
“Exactly.” I lick my lips at the sight of her furious eyes.
“Why tell me all this? Why now?”
I raise my shoulders and lower them. “Because it was time. Simple as that.”
She squints. “Because I caught you.”
“Perhaps.” The left side of my lips quirk up into a smile.
“Those men outside … were they yours?”
“Yes. I’m surprised you noticed them earlier too,” I say.
“They didn’t hide it very well,” she quips.
“I didn’t want them to,” I whisper. “I like to see you all riled up.”
“You made me lose my job, didn’t you?” she hisses.
I close my eyes and nod. “I gave you that job … and then I took it away.”
She balls her fists. “And the rent? All those bills that stacked up and just kept increasing?”
I nod again.
“Even the refusal of the banks to loan me any money?”
With an unmoving face, I say, “All of it.”
Out of nowhere, she lifts her hand and smacks me across the face. Again.
My skin glows like hers, and I can still feel her handprint on my cheek when she’s lowered her hand again. I contemplate strangling her right there and then. But that would be such a fucking waste of a smart, beautiful girl who I want to fuck so badly.
I just go for it.
I smash my lips against hers, kissing her with no regret. I do it because I must. Because some part of me can’t hold back and needs to fix what was broken. Then again, I also do it because I’m a sadist fucker who just gets turned on by her rage.
A hot flash and a bloody lip follow. I touch my mouth again as she shows me her teeth, her lip pulled up, so sexy it hurts.
“That won’t stop me, Naomi,” I say. “Nothing will.”
I grasp her wrists, pin her to the wall, and kiss her again, pushing my body against hers to make her feel how much I want her. I won’t let her run away. I won’t let her escape. Not after I just told her the information she so desperately sought.
I’m not one for sharing, but if that’s what it takes to make her trust me, then so be it.
From the way she kisses me back, I can tell it’s hard for her to resist too. Our mouths
lock in a battle of lust and wits, neither of us able to quit the other.
Her lips are so tantalizing; I could lose myself in them. And as my tongue dips out to lick her lip, she pulls back and says, “I’m gonna smack your head against that wall so hard …”
I grin against her lips and reply, “I’d love to see you try.”
She growls, but I silence her with another kiss.
“You fucking watched me like a stalker …” she hisses between kisses, but she doesn’t fight back.
“I watched you because I’m obsessed with you. From the very beginning, I’ve wanted you. You’re the one.”
I grab her face and kiss her harder, but she responds by grabbing my nuts and twisting them. I groan. “I left your fucking home for a reason.”
“You left because you couldn’t handle the truth. Because you think I’m like my brothers. I’m not fucking asking you to marry them,” I growl, shoving her back to the wall while blocking her arms. “You’re gonna be my wife, and I don’t fucking share.”
“Your brother already touched me,” she hisses, trying to bite my arm.
Even if her teeth sink in, it won’t faze me. The pain only turns me on.
“Trust me when I say I’d like to rip his head off for that. Unfortunately, that’s the game we play. But as soon as you get pregnant, it’ll all be over, and you’ll … be … mine.” I flip her around and plant her face against the wall. Grabbing a fistful of her hair, I pull her head back and kiss her neck fervently.
Her fingernails scratch the wall, and she shudders as my lips roam her skin.
“I can’t even leave this game if I tried … can I?” she growls.
“Not a chance.” I grin and press my mouth against her shoulder, leaving my mark. “I’m not letting you out of my sight.”
“So I’m a prisoner in my own home …” she murmurs as my hand slips between her thighs and under her skirt.
“Is that such a bad thing when you’re with me?” I say.
Indecent Games Duet - Boxed Set Page 14
