Becoming His Pet

by Stone, Measha

  Knocking on the door interrupted her reading. She looked up and saw a guy standing outside the door waving at her. Looking at the door to the back room then back at the customer, she tapped her fingers on the counter. Teo didn’t look like he had been fucking around when he told her to stay at the counter. If the door was locked, it was because they’d locked it when they came in.

  She wasn’t entirely naive. She knew the brothers weren’t exactly Antonio’s biological cousins, and she had a pretty good idea why they brought those boxes in every time they stopped by. But she had enough sense to keep her mouth shut. She didn’t stick her nose in where it could get chopped off.

  The knocking continued. Not wanting the brothers to hear the racket, she hopped off the stool and went to the door.

  “Can I help you?” she asked, only opening the door enough to peer through.

  The guy wasn’t a guy at all. She couldn’t call him a guy, not when he looked so damn masculine. No, he was all man. From his neatly cut hair, to the square jaw covered in a five o’clock shadow, he looked like something stepping out of one of her fantasies.

  “I need to put in an order.” His voice. Fuck, his voice, deep and rough. She could really lose herself in that voice.

  “Uh—” Nora looked behind her. The door remained closed, and he was a customer. Her job was to make the shop money. “Sure.” She opened the door and gestured for him to come inside. After taking a quick look down the street to make sure no one else was headed their way, she shut and locked the door.

  When she turned around she found herself eyes to chest with him. Craning her neck, she found his face. His eyebrows were wrinkled.

  “Are you really not open?” he asked, pointing at the door.

  “Oh. Yeah, we’re open. Just not open open right now. It’s fine. I can take your order.” She stepped around him, finding his curious stare unsettling.

  Once safely tucked back behind the counter, she pulled out the order pad and grabbed a pen from the Mason jar. Silk flowers were wrapped around each pen, a DIY craft she’d found on Pinterest.

  “You’re not open open?” he asked with light amusement. “What does that mean exactly?” His forearms leaned against the counter, and she got a good look at all the tattoos running up his arms. It was already hard for her to keep her heartbeat at a normal pace with his rugged features, his navy-blue T-shirt stretched across his muscular chest, but now he had to go and show her all the ink on his arms.

  “Right. So, what can I order for you?” She poised the pen over the pad but was still scanning the pictures embedded in his skin. She stopped when she noticed the name peeking out from under the sleeve of his left arm.

  Bella

  She blew out a hard breath. Of course he had someone. Look at him, for shit’s sake! And Bella was probably some six-foot blonde bombshell. Unlike Nora’s five foot four, her dark shoulder-length hair that frizzed with the humidity of the city.

  His hand appeared in front of her face. “You okay?” His fingers wiggled before her eyes.

  Well, fuck.

  She cleared her throat and gave herself a mental shake.

  “So, flowers. What can I get you? A bouquet?” She fixated her eyes on his chin.

  “No. Actually I need like a bundle of flowers or something.” He pulled out a scrap of paper from the back pocket of his jeans. Flattening it on the counter, he turned it to her, so she could read the script.

  His girlfriend even had beautiful handwriting. Of course.

  “You need carnations. Okay, easy enough.” She scribbled on her pad, noting her chicken scratch didn’t compare to the script on the note. “It doesn’t say a color here. We currently have them in white, peach, pink, and yellow but we can spray the ends of the white petals if you’d like something different.”

  When he didn’t answer, she raised her eyes to meet his. But he wasn’t looking at her; his focus was trained on the back office door.

  Voices were raised back there, but she’d been so caught up in her own mind she hadn’t noticed.

  Putting her pen down, she took a step in the direction of the office. Antonio was yelling. Rambling in Italian, but she understood most of it. Her throat clenched.

  No!

  She ran to the door, flinging it open just as Teo raised a gun in Antonio’s direction.

  Even with the silencer screwed on the weapon she heard the pop of the gun, muffled, but it rang in her ears. Two shots. Antonio dropped to the floor. Blood spilled from his chest, soaking his neatly pressed shirt.

  A strong hand clamped down on her arm, and she realized she’d screamed.

  “Fuck.” Anthony shook her.

  Teo sighed and shook his head. “I told you to stay up front.”

  “I-I...” She couldn’t tear her eyes away from Antonio, at the vacant stare in his eyes.

  “Let her go.” That deep voice rattled her.

  “Who the fuck are you?” Teo demanded.

  “Let her go, or you’ll be joining your friend there,” the guy from the shop promised. Pure confidence threaded through his tone.

  Nora peeked over her shoulder at him. While her insides were rattling around, his composure was completely in check. Having a gun in his hands and pointed at Teo’s head might have helped his confidence along.

  Where had he gotten the gun?

  “Okay, fine.” Teo nodded to Anthony, and he shoved Nora away.

  “There,” Anthony said.

  “I don’t know who you are, but this ain’t none of your business,” Teo said, shifting his footing. He still held his gun, but it was pointed at the floor.

  “You’re right. I don’t care about that.” The customer nodded toward Antonio on the floor. Nora swallowed back a whimper. “Come here.” He reached out and snagged the back of her T-shirt, pulling her to him. She realized he wanted her behind him and scrambled to take cover behind his back.

  Real hero she was. #womanpower would not be included in any tweets regarding her.

  “We’re leaving and you two can finish whatever you came here to do.”

  Nora took a step back toward the door.

  “We have some business with Nora there, too,” Teo said, pointing a finger at the pair of them.

  “No. You don’t,” the customer said. “Whatever your business was with her is over now,” he said with authority.

  She stared at the back of his head. He didn’t know her. How could he say that? Maybe she did have business with the brothers. Maybe she was their partner. How the hell would he know?

  “No, not by a long shot.” Teo took a step toward them.

  “It is,” the customer said. “Nora, go up front.”

  Now he was giving orders to her in that burly voice.

  “Now.”

  She would school him later on his arrogance, she decided, and hightailed it to the front of the shop.

  “You don’t know who you’re fucking over, kid,” she heard Anthony warn, but she couldn’t hear the customer’s response.

  Unbolting the front door, she stepped out into the warm summer sun, looking both ways down the street. She’d taken the bus to work.

  “This way.” That same arrogant demand as he grabbed her arm and pulled her down the street.

  “Where are they?” she asked, looking over her shoulder as he dragged her along.

  He didn’t answer her, just kept tugging her along the sidewalk until he brought her to what she assumed was his car. He yanked open the passenger door. “Get in.” He waved at her.

  She looked at the car. Decent. Newish, but not brand new. She didn’t know cars well enough to know the make, but she could tell he took care of it. And he did just save her from having to deal with the brothers.

  “I-I don’t think so. I’m good. Just—where are they?” she asked, hearing the panic in her own voice. They still hadn’t come out of the shop. Had he shot them?

  “They aren’t coming out yet. Get in the damn car, Nora,” he ordered. His use of her name snapped her to attention.
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  “I don’t know you!” she argued.

  His jaw set firm.

  “Seriously? I just saved you from those goons, and you aren’t sure you should get in the car?” The crease in his forehead deepened as his eyebrows shot up.

  He had a good point. But still.

  “I don’t even know your name.” She continued to watch the entrance to the flower shop, unsure of how much time she had before they came for her. And they would come for her. “Where’s your gun?”

  “My name is Greg Turner and my gun is holstered beneath my shirt where it should be. Now get in the damn car before I toss your little ass in there.”

  She took half a step back from him, not doubting he would do that.

  When he sighed and started to reach for her, her decision was made. She took off in a sprint, heading for the alley.

  Chapter Three

  Greg slammed the passenger door of his Altima and stared down the alley. Nora had good running form, and her fucking ass looked great in those cut-offs as she moved.

  After admiring her petite form, he started after her. He shouldn’t get involved. It wasn’t his problem. She was in danger, he got her out of there, and now he should just let her run along. Literally.

  Except, those men weren’t going to just lie down and let her get away. They wanted something from her. And until he knew how deep her trouble went, and where she was in all of it, he would stick by her side.

  He caught up to her easily. He may have been out of the marines for six months, but he hadn’t stopped his daily physical routine. Besides, he took one stride for every two of hers.

  “Nora!” he called out to her when she was within arm’s reach. He could grab her, but he didn’t want to hurt her. He just wanted her to get in his fucking car, so he could get them away from there and figure out what to do next.

  The second she took to look over her shoulder was the second he needed to get one more stride in and grab hold of her. She stumbled, but he managed to catch her and keep himself on his own feet when she crashed into him.

  “Stop it!” He grabbed her flailing arms and pinned them to her sides. Several strands of her hair fell in front of her face.

  “Let me go,” she demanded, trying to blow the hair from her eyes. If he wasn’t trying to get his lungs and heart back in proper working order, he would have found the action adorable.

  “Not until you tell me why you ran.” She continued to struggle against him, but he held fast.

  “Just let me go.” She stomped her foot, then pulled it back and kicked his shin.

  He grunted with the pain shooting up his leg, but he didn’t let go.

  “Do that again, and I’ll pin you to that wall and make you regret it,” he promised. And he would. Fuck, getting kicked in the shin hurt like hell.

  “You’re going to hurt me, so I should definitely get in your car?” Her eyes narrowed with her accusation.

  “I’m not going to hurt you—”

  “You literally just said you were!” She yanked on her arms again, but his grip was too tight. He wasn’t letting her go until he knew she was safe.

  “I said if you kicked me again, I would—” He shook his head. They didn’t have time for this argument. “Are you going to come with me or am I dragging you?”

  Her body sagged in his grip, but he didn’t release her.

  “I don’t like either of those options,” she said, looking away from him. He wanted to smile over her sour tone. At least she could be honest. It was a start.

  “Well, those are the only two you have.”

  She blew out a hard breath. “Fine. I’ll go with you.” She tried to pull back, but he wasn’t an idiot.

  He slid his right hand down her arm and linked their hands together; dropping her other arm, he started walking back down the alley.

  He’d managed to subdue Moe and Curly in the back of the flower shop, but if they ran into them on the street it might not go as well. Lucky for them, the bus had just let off a group of people and Greg was able to get them through the crowd and to his car without any incident.

  “I live north of here, you’ll need to turn at the next street. It’s all one-ways around here,” Nora directed him as soon as he turned the ignition on.

  “I’m not taking you home.” He shook his head and pulled into traffic. He’d have to finish Blake’s honey-do list later.

  “The hell you aren’t.” She reached for the door, but he grabbed her arm again.

  “The car is moving, you can’t be so stupid as to jump from a moving car.”

  “No.” She pulled free of his light grip and folded her arms over her chest. “Where are you taking me if not home?”

  “We’ll go back to my apartment and once I’ve heard everything we’ll reassess what to do.” He spoke calmly, not wanting to freak her out again.

  “Won’t your girlfriend be upset?” she asked, fanning herself with her hand.

  Greg reached over to the AC and cranked it up.

  “No girlfriend.” He flipped the turn signal and merged to the right. Blake would be able to help; he had solid contacts with the CPD. At least he hoped Blake still did.

  She gave him a side glance and leaned her head against the window.

  “You don’t have to take me back to your apartment. You don’t need to be involved in this at all. Just drop me here and I’ll Uber home. It’s fine. The brothers won’t bother me.” She sounded softer, like the stress of the events had finally hit her and she was too tired to deal with it.

  “You need to make a statement with the police. My brother’s an ex-cop, he can help—”

  She turned on him with fire in her expression.

  “No! No cops! Are you crazy?” She laced her fingers into her hair. “You’re an idiot. You can’t call the cops on Anthony and Teo Santinelli.”

  Greg gripped the steering wheel harder. He knew that name. Santinelli.

  Greg kept his voice even. “The ones I saw in the paper this morning?” He couldn’t recall all of the details, something about extortion or money laundering.

  “Yeah.” She threw herself back in her seat. “So just let me go home.”

  “The brothers. You called them the brothers. Why?” He had a damn good idea, he’d read the articles. He didn’t know much, but enough to know any involvement with that family was a bad idea.

  “I’m not telling you anything. Just let me go.”

  He didn’t answer. They were a block away from The Bar, and it was early enough that only a few people might be milling around. He could slip in the back and get her upstairs without a scene. Unless she created one.

  When he pulled his car into the small lot behind the building, he grabbed hold of her hand. “Listen to me very carefully, Nora. My apartment is upstairs, there’s a set of stairs right when we get through the back door here. Be a good girl for me and go straight up there without a sound.”

  Her eyes narrowed again, but she couldn’t hide her pupils dilating.

  “And if I decide to go straight into the bar and announce you’ve kidnapped me?” she pushed.

  He couldn’t help but laugh over the image of her doing just that. “Well, most of the guys that will be in there are regulars. They would believe you—and they’d think it was part of a game. Hell, they might even cheer a little.” He might be overstating it a bit, but she didn’t know that.

  “You kidnap girls often?” she asked with a little gasp.

  “No. Usually, the girls are willing captives,” he assured her, but she didn’t look any more relieved by his statement. “But I’ll warn you, even if the guys would just laugh you off, I’ll do what I promised back in the alley once we get upstairs.”

  “Again, you threaten me, and want me to trust you?”

  She had a good point.

  But it didn’t really matter.

  “Yes.” He nodded. It’s exactly what he wanted. He also wanted to shove a ball gag between her teeth and watch those beautiful brown eyes widen and fill with unsh
ed tears.

  She rubbed her forehead and sighed. “Fine. I’ll come up, but you have to promise me that I can leave whenever I’m ready. You can’t hold me here.”

  “I don’t make promises I’m not positive I can keep.” He shook his head. “You’ll come up and stay until I’m ready for you to leave.” The instinct to protect bubbled in his chest. This girl was in trouble, and he needed to know how much.

  “I’m not going to agree to become your fucking captive! No way,” she said. He found her defiance refreshing; he liked a little push back.

  “You’re not my captive, Nora. I’m trying to help you, though I can’t understand why any more than you can, but there it is. And I can’t help you unless I know exactly what you’ve gotten yourself into.”

  “Into? Into?” The subtle flare of her nostrils matched the hard, angry tone she was taking. “I didn’t get myself into anything. I was just working the counter!” And there it was. The tiny hitch in her tone that gave her secret away. The girl wasn’t just the flower girl at the shop; there was more to her story. A lot more.

  “Either way, you’re not leaving my sight until I know it’s safe to do so. I’m not going to hurt you. We’re going to work together to fix this, okay?” He sensed the fear in her, but she fought it. She didn’t want him to see it.

  After several long moments passed, she let out an exasperated sigh.

  “Fine.” She pushed her door open and as she climbed out he heard her muttering to herself. “How I found you so fucking hot is beyond me. Controlling asshole.”

  He restrained his grin before getting out of the car and escorted her to the back door.

  Confident she wouldn’t cause a scene, he let her follow him up the stairs to the door to his apartment.

  “Hey, Greg. Is that you?” Aubree’s voice carried up the stairs. Greg turned to look down at her. Nora glanced at him before taking a step down.