“I would like to take my purse with me,” I complain before I realize we’re in the living room where a fat man in a dark suit sits on what can only be described as a throne.
“Jetta! I’m so glad you could join me tonight,” he says with a big smile. Spreading his arms, he says, “Welcome to my home.”
“Ah, thank you. And, um, happy birthday,” I reply as I turn around and watch the giant escape with my purse, my phone, my lifeline to the world outside of this bizarre residence.
“Birthday?” Mr. Cox repeats with his bushy eyebrows bunched. “It’s not my birthday.”
“It’s not? I thought…Sean said…I’m sorry I must have misheard him.”
“You must have,” he agrees as he stands up and comes waddling toward me. “Come. Let’s see if dinner is ready.”
“Okay,” I agree even though every cell in my body is telling me something isn’t right with this man and this house or his guards or whatever they are.
I wish I would’ve listened to Devlin and cancelled. He wasn’t just acting like a jealous boyfriend; he was worried about me. I get that now.
The closer we get to the dining room, the more the smell of a delicious roasted meat grows, which is the first good thing I can say about this date. Although, I have completely lost my appetite.
A long wooden table with at least ten chairs is set for just two, the seat at the end and the one to the right.
“Have a seat and tell me a little about yourself,” Mr. Cox urges, pulling out my chair for me.
As soon as we’re both seated, he yells, “We’re ready to be served!” and a young, pretty woman with thick, frizzy, red hair comes rushing out with two silver platters, one in each hand. There’s only one way to describe her — she looks frazzled.
“I hope the meal is to your liking, sir,” she tells Mr. Cox when she places his dish in front of him and then mine in front of me.
“You better hope it is to my liking as well,” he mutters, which sounds ominous while the woman wrings her hands in front of her nervously. “Now leave us.”
“Yes, sir,” she replies with one last nervous glance at me before she disappears into the kitchen or whatever is beyond the dining room.
Mr. Cox lifts the lid of his platter and inhales deeply. “Ah, if it’s as good as it smells, we’re in for a real treat.” He grabs a fork and shoves a bite in before looking at me. “Eat up, Jetta. Cora Walsh is supposedly the best chef around. You’re going to need your energy for later.”
“What’s…what’s later?” I ask since I thought we would have dinner, talk for a little while and then I could go home.
“A game,” Mr. Cox informs me with his mouth full of food. “You’ve heard of hide and seek I’m sure.”
“Yes, when I was a child,” I respond in confusion.
“Well, this is the grown-up version,” he explains. “You’ll try to hide somewhere in the house, and I will find you eventually.”
“I’m not sure I understand…”
“The real fun begins when I find you. And I will find you before the night is over,” he says placing his forearm on the table to lean toward me with a vicious grin. He winks at me before he goes back to eating with his mouth full. “And I must warn you, Jetta. I’ve been told I’m somewhat of a sadist. Nothing is more titillating to me than inflicting pain on beautiful women until they break.”
Oh. My. God.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Devlin
* * *
As soon as a Mercedes sedan pulled up at Jetta’s place, I wanted to throw up. But then the driver, some big ass fucker, who looked vaguely familiar, got out and went to the door to get Jetta; then insisted she sit in the backseat. This shit keeps getting stranger.
Of course I followed them out of the city, hoping I was wrong about their destination the closer they got to the private beaches and a residence I know all too well – Harold fucking Cox.
It doesn’t make sense. Jetta had no idea who her brother had set her up with tonight. If she had, I’m certain she would’ve turned him down.
Which has me wondering what the hell Sean was thinking when he made some sort of fucked up deal with Harry in exchange for a date with her. That’s when I finally remember him trying to make the same deal with me and Fiasco. He told us he had a “hot sister” and could hook us up with her if we gave him a break on his debt.
I quickly pull over onto a sandy shoulder before I get too close to the house to call Jetta’s son of a bitch brother.
“What do you want, Dev? I paid in full,” Sean says when he answers.
“No, you didn’t pay in full. Jetta did. Now tell me what the fuck she’s doing in a car on her way to Harry Cox’s house right fucking now!”
“How did you…have you been screwing her?”
“I’m in love with her, you idiot! I’ve been sneaking out of the apartment for weeks, and you didn’t even notice!”
“Stay away from Jetta!” he exclaims. “She’s too good for you!”
He’s right. She is too good for me. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to stop seeing her.
“I would love to see you try and keep me from her. Now start talking fast before I find you and beat the words out of your sorry mouth!”
“It’s none of your fucking business –”
“Talk and talk fast, you stupid motherfucker, or I will end you!” I roar at him through the phone so loudly it echoes around the night sky.
“Fine!” he huffs. “It’s no big deal. I owe Harry.”
“You’re in debt to him you mean,” I grumble as I squeeze my eyes shut, preparing myself for the rest of his explanation. “What’s Jetta have to do with that?”
“Harry’s men must have saw her coming or going from my place and followed her. They saw her working at the waterpark and told Harry. He thought she was my girlfriend at first, someone to use to hurt me, so I told him she was my sister.”
“And?” I snap at him.
“And he made me a deal. He wanted a date with her, or-or he was going to kill me.”
“Jesus fucking Christ! I have no fucking idea why you would ever agree to send your sister to Harry’s house for a date in the first place, but do you have any idea how much danger she could be in? He’s a goddamn human trafficker, for fuck’s sake!”
“It’s just one night. He promised to let her go.”
“One night?” I repeat. “One. Night?” I have to pull the phone away from my ear to try and take a few deep breaths to try calm myself down before I break the device or hyperventilate. “He’s going to fuck her up!” I inform the idiot on the phone.
“He liked her a lot. He won’t hurt her!”
“You have no way of knowing that! And now Jetta’s there, in his place, surrounded by all of his guards for the whole goddamn night, if not longer!”
“I didn’t know what else to do!” Sean whines.
“You man the fuck up and do whatever you have to without dragging Jetta into your bullshit again!” I yell at him. “Fuck it. Fuck you. I’m going to get her, and then I’ll deal with your sorry ass. You better pray Harry doesn’t lay a finger on her or I will gut you!” I warn him before I end our call and then quickly try to reach Malcolm.