RANSOM Read Free Page B

but some escapes anyway.
       He catches me watching and clears his throat. “What were you doing really? Did you think I left you alone?”
       “It was worth a shot,” I tell him.
       “I’m not an idiot,” he says.
       “Could have fooled me. I mean you did kidnap one of the most powerful men in the south’s daughter,” I explain.
       He walks to the foot of the bed with purpose. “He deserves to feel what it is like to have something precious ripped from you.”
       “What did my father do to you that was so awful?” I question.
       “He flushed my life down the toilet.” He shakes his head and continues, “You wouldn’t understand.”
       “And why is that?”
       “Because you haven’t had to work for a thing in your life,” he states.
       I drop my arms to the bed and lean forward, “Who says I haven’t?”
       “Daddy’s wallet.”
       “Just because we have money doesn’t mean I am incapable of working,” I bite out.
       He takes two strides to stand directly in front of me his brown eyes looking almost black. “Really? Tell me something you have had to work for in your life.”
       Huh. I stand there and ponder it over in my head for several minutes. What have I worked for? Well, shit. “Maybe I haven’t worked to earn money or material things before, but I have worked for things you can’t buy. I have been in a great relationship with my fiancé Richard for almost two years.”
       He moves in that last inch separating us and towers over my five foot five frame by almost a foot. He bends his head closer to me and says, “Exactly.”
      I angle my head so that I can look him in the eyes. “What’s that supposed to mean? It may not be physical work, but it is something. You probably don’t even have anyone in your life that cares enough to fight for you. So I’m sure you couldn’t understand that,” I throw his own words back at him. We stand there staring down each other for several tense minutes, neither willing to give in and say something first. When the tension almost gets to be too much I open my mouth, but not faster than him.
       “You don’t know the first thing about my life or the people in it so don’t pretend like you do.” He speaks with so much venom that I flinch with every word.
       I can tell I have hurt him somehow and almost go to apologize, when I remember that this son of a bitch has taken me away from my life so that he can get some freaking payback against my father. What I don’t get is why someone with a lifestyle like my nameless assailant would have any ties to a man like my father. I can’t stop myself before I ask, “What’s your name?”
       He seems caught off guard for a second but he recovers quickly. “Billy Bob,” he replies, and then turns and walks toward the bathroom door.
       “You’re full of shit if you think I am going to believe your real name is Billy Bob,” I shout at his back.
       He doesn’t bother to reply, just walks into the bathroom and turns on the water to the tub. When he comes into view again, he is pulling his shirt over his head. It doesn’t surprise me to find him covered in tattoos. What does surprise me is the fact I can’t take my eyes off of them. I have never thought tattoos were attractive on anyone, but hot damn! He is all around lean and ripped. Thick arms and chest that lead down to a tiny waist, and follows the ever loving ‘V’ that disappears into his jeans that are low and unfastened on his hips.
       The top of his underwear peak out of the top where his button is undone and I suddenly find myself wondering what is hidden underneath the rest. I don’t even register that he is walking over to me while I roam his body with my greedy eyes until he pushes me to the bed and leans over me. I don’t even put up a fight when he grabs my arms and pulls them above my head. Nope, I just soak up that body being so close to mine. When I feel a pinch to both my