Jack sighed. “I suppose. If I’d been in your life all these years, I’m sure I’d have opened lots of things for you.” He twisted the top off, placed the bottle to my parched lips, and tilted it back slightly.
I gulped greedily before he pulled it back.
“You’ll puke if you don’t slow down.” He twisted the lid back on and sat the container next to me on the floor.
“Why did you leave?” My voice shook with my question. I’d dreamed of being able to confront him for years. Now he was right in front of me. “You left me with a drug addict. Do you know what happened to me as the years went by?” Anger swirled inside me.
“I don’t, but I can guess. You were probably raped, beaten, or pimped out. Maybe all of it. Or maybe an amazing family adopted you, and you turned out to be a well-adjusted young woman.”
I searched his face. There was no remorse, no sadness … no feeling at all. His expression was completely void of any compassion for what his daughter might have gone through.
My mind scrambled for any way to reach him, any way to connect with a small part of his humanity. If he had any.
Swallowing hard, I massaged my hands. “Tell me about yourself. What did you do after you left Mom?” If I could keep him talking about his favorite subject—Jack Flannery—it might buy me some time to figure out how to get the hell out of there.
“I worked and traveled for the most part. I was in sales, so it was pretty easy to scope out my victims, especially at conferences.”
I attempted to wiggle my toes in my tennis shoes. “What did you sell?”
“Anything they wanted, but most of the time, it was attention. Adoration. Wealthy women work a lot. They don’t have time for a husband since they’re married to their careers. First lesson, Vic … Tensley. Everyone has a weak spot. It’s my job to find it, then become exactly what they need to fill that hole inside themselves.”
“Teach me how to read people like that.” I swallowed hard, hoping he would think I was trying to work toward the loving father-daughter relationship most girls would long for.
The chain scraped the floor, and my eyes landed on the captive.
“Her.” I pointed. “Tell me about her.” I’d seen on some crime show that personalizing the victim might save her. It was worth a shot, although I wasn’t sure Jack had a soul to be reached.
He rubbed his hands together, an evil smirk twisting his expression. “It’s a shame she has to die. She was a lot of fun.” His laughter filled the room.
“Fun?” I tried to hide my feelings of horror and focused on maintaining a neutral expression. It had been a few years, but I was a master at hiding my emotions. It was time to tap into that skill again. It might save our lives. There was no way that Jack would allow me to walk out of there in one piece if I didn’t agree to become his student. My stomach twisted in knots at the mere thought of harming someone.
“Lola. Such a beautiful woman. You should see her when she’s going out for the night. We had amazing sex too. She loved it up the ass, and I was happy to oblige. Lola was even down with two guys at once. Who knew such a sophisticated, wealthy beauty would love being tied up and blindfolded while she was being fucked by one man and sucking off the other? She begged for it.”
“It is fun.” I leveled him with my gaze as it dawned on him what I’d said. “Two men touching you, fucking your tits, licking your pussy. I’ve done it all.” My heart was screaming at me to stop and not meet him on his level, but it was the best opportunity I had to live.
“Are you a whore, or was it for survival?” He tilted his chin up in the air, assessing me. “Think carefully. One response I’ll skin you alive for, and the other I’ll congratulate you over.”
“It’s funny. I used to pray every night I’d die, but God just sent me to voice mail. Now I have the chance to end it right now, but I want to live. I want to know how much alike you and I really are. And to answer your question, I did anything for survival I had to. You can’t rape the willing.”
Jack grinned and grabbed his crotch through his jeans. “All this talk has my cock hard.”
I winced. Fear ripped through me.
The sound of his zipper broke the silence. “Lola, let’s have one last fuck, shall we?”
I slammed my eyes closed and begged a nonexistent God that Jack wouldn’t touch me or make me watch.
Jack moaned. “That’s it. Suck it harder.”
Wet sucking noises filled the room, and I mentally tried to block out the images my mind was producing. I tried to focus on Layne.
Lola grunted, and from the slapping sound of skin on skin, Jack was fucking her doggie style. The chain scraped the floor again, and I flinched. I’d seen a lot of shit in foster homes, including full-on sex parties, but this … I couldn’t even imagine how Lola felt now that she knew what a monster Jack was. Or maybe, if she were lucky, she was too far gone to comprehend or care anymore.
A slap echoed through the room followed by Jack’s zipper. “Where were we?” he asked as if he hadn’t just raped a woman chained to the wall in front of his daughter.
I didn’t miss a beat. “You were telling me where you met her.”
“A cancer fundraiser. She’d just lost a friend to that dreadful disease.” He didn’t even try to disguise the sarcasm in his tone.
“So she was lonely and vulnerable.” I focused on not showing any emotion as I responded.
He snapped his fingers. “Exactly. Easiest job in the world to comfort a grieving woman and be a good friend. Just a friend. No touching, no kissing, no fucking. Before she realized what was happening, Lola asked me on a date … to France. She’d fallen in love with me.”
A quiet sob caught my ear, and I peered over at the trembling, crying woman. I wanted to throw a blanket around her and tell her it was going to be okay, but I couldn’t. I wasn’t even sure I could save myself.
My focus traveled back to my father. “Was France as spectacular as everyone says it is? I’ve never left the country.”
“What? Well, that’s just another trip we can take together. We can visit some of the most exquisite cafes and wineries while we scope out our next victim. I’ve found traveling often keeps me out of prison too.” He grinned. “Are you tired of sitting yet?”
“Yeah. My ass is numb.”
“All you had to do was ask.” He strolled over to me as though it was the most natural thing in the world to have your daughter tied up. I willed myself not to kick him in the face as he bent down and untied me. My legs were too numb to run, and I would only make things worse for myself. I needed a calculated plan. I needed to see Layne again … if he was still alive. My heart skipped a beat at the mere thought. There had to be a way back to him. There had to be a way to free Lola and take out this disgusting pig that called me his daughter.
“There.” Jack stood and extended his hand. “You’ll need some help. We can walk around outside for a few minutes, get your blood flowing again.”
I nodded, welcoming the idea of fresh air. It would also allow me to see if he’d lied to me about where we were. I took his hand, and he easily pulled me out of the chair. I staggered forward, trying to find my balance.