What if I caught him touching himself? Would he be mad? What would he do to me if I did? I still haven't been punished for sneaking out or stealing the necklace. He gave it back to me. I grab a pair of shorts and pull them on along with my sports bra. I fix my hair into a high ponytail before slipping from my room. I’m on a new mission. One to find out what Cesar is hiding from me.
I’m not going to steal anything this time. I plan on doing a little stalking, though. Where did Cesar go? When I get to the main floor, I head toward his office first. It’s where he spends most of his time. When I reach it, I turn and find Anderson standing near the entryway.
“Can I help you with something, Miss Cruz?”
“Nope,” I chirp and keep on moving toward the kitchen where Martha is working.
“Are you hungry again? I don’t know where you put it all.” Martha smiles at me.
“I was looking for Cesar. Did you see where he went?” I ask. No way would I ask Anderson. He’d snitch on me in a second to Cesar.
“He stormed out right before you came back down.” She shrugs.
“Why was he mad?” I step closer, wondering what she might know. Martha has been here since before I came.
“I don’t know.” She pushes a lot of cookies my way. I’m still full from breakfast, but they have sprinkles on them. One of my many weaknesses. It won’t hurt to fuel up before I go on my mission. Stalking and stealing take a ton of energy. Since I intend to do both today, I should slip a few of these into my pocket for later. Seems wise.
“Does Cesar have a girlfriend?” I take a bite of the cookie and try to play it cool.
She laughs at my question. Jeez. I didn't want him to have one, but I didn't want the question to be laughable.
“Thanks.” I snag another cookie as I head out of the kitchen. Not before I hear Martha say girlfriend and start laughing harder.
My phone buzzes, and I pull it out.
Jewels: Where you at? We doing anything tonight?
Me: Can’t. Too much going on here.
Jewels: You said nothing ever happens in that big ol house.
Me: Things are … changing.
Jewels: OK, hit me up if you change your mind.
Me: Thanks.
Are things really changing, though? Cesar kissed me, but he’s not going farther, not doing what I need him to do.
Before I know what I’m doing, I find myself on Caesar's side of the house. Then in front of his bedroom door. I turn the knob like I have so many times before and slip inside. His bed is made perfectly, with everything in its place as always. This time I don’t go for the safe in his closet. I enter the little office to the side of his bedroom and go straight for the computer. I hit the mouse, making the screen come alive.
A password screen stops me from getting any further. I know nothing about in-depth technology. There’s no way I could ever hack it. I let out a long sigh and go back into his bedroom. I guess I could rummage through his drawers to pass some time. There must be something I’ve missed in the past. My intention wasn’t really to steal, just to browse. But the sight of his big bed has me crawling on top of it.
I let myself fall back onto it, thinking that it’s softer than mine. I should add this bed to my list of things I need. The fact that I said need makes excitement bubble up in my chest. Yes, I have needs. Ones that I am over handling myself. I am twenty years old and have now been kissed only twice in my life.
I couldn't bring myself to say it to him. As badly as I wanted to. He gets to leave to take care of his needs. I grit my teeth wondering if that is where he stormed off to. I’m stuck here, locked away while he gets to go out and live his life. To do whatever it is he wants. I don’t even get to have a kitten!
I pick up his pillow to throw it but the smell of him distracts me. I bring it to my nose, breathing him in. As mad as I am at him, the smell of him does something to me. I bite my lip as desire lights up my body again.
My hand slips into my shorts. I know I should stop. That I should go back to my own room but the thrill of getting caught pushes me to continue. I take what I want, making myself come again, this time in his bed. But just like the little treasures I take, I can’t stop at one. My shorts get in the way, so I shuck them off and spread wide, then make myself come over and over again with his name on my lips until sleep takes me.
7
Cesar
“Tomorrow.” I drive along the south side of downtown, the sun glinting off the skyscrapers in the distance. “I expect you at my estate at nine to go over the particulars of the Cruz matter.”
“Yes sir, Mr. Saldana. I can arrange that. Is there any chance you intend to claim the Cruz fortune for yourself? It would be entirely understandable.” My lawyer sounds cold and calculating, which is the reason I hired him.
“No. I want her to come into her inheritance and have the power to do as she sees fit.”
“Is she ready?” he asks.
I consider the question. “No. I’ve coddled her too much, kept her locked away for far too long. But she will either sink or swim. It’s up to her. She will, of course, have her mother by her side. And she’ll always have …” I was going to say ‘me.’ But is that true?
When she finds out the realities of our situation, will she decide that I’m unwelcome in her life? The thought sends a blast of cold through me, chilling my soul. Not only because losing her is like a shard of ice through my heart, but the things I would do to get her back--those actions would condemn me into an even darker pit of hell than my current reservation. Even so, I will happily kill for her, as the pile of bodies in my wake can attest.
“Mr. Saldana?” my lawyer prompts.
I’d forgotten about him. “Yes.”
“I was saying I’ll be there on time with the documents. Is there anything else you need from me?”
“No.” I end the call and turn into the parking lot of a wide gray building with a large patch of lawn along the back. With a resigned sigh, I step from my car.
Paw prints are pressed into the bricks that line the sidewalk as I stride to the front door, and when I walk in, I’m greeted with barking, birds squawking, and a kitten running for the door as a staff member chases it down.
The door closes before it can escape, and the black fluffball turns and hisses at its captor, its green eyes narrowed and its white claws extended.
“She’s a wild one.” The staffer tries to approach the ball of fangs and claws. “This is the fifth time she’s gotten out and made a run for it.”
I turn to the angry fluff and drop to my haunches.
She hisses at the worker again, but turns her gaze to me, sizing me up. Not friendly, exactly, but there seems to be a mutual respect between us.
“How did I become so soft?” I ask her. But I already know the answer. My sweet little mouse, the one that’s taken bits and pieces of me and now owns all the parts that matter.
I stand and wave the worker away. “I’ll take her.”
“You don’t want her, mister.” He frowns at the kitten. “She’s a handful.”
“I’m quite adept with handfuls.” I gesture toward the desk deeper inside the shelter. “I have cash. But I’ll need an animal carrier and supplies.”