Chapter 7: Fight Me, Daddy: Chapter 7

“You’re the ones who created this fucking mess, so don’t dictate to me how I clean it up. It wasn’t my idea to help Chad escape prison only to lose track of him. The girl is your only option, and I won’t be questioned in how I deal with her. You’ll have your package in a few days.”

Chloe sat up in bed. Logan must be talking to whoever had made her a target. His client.

She wrapped her arms around her middle. The cozy, warmth of the bed faded away as cold reality crept in. She had only a hazy memory of being put to bed. Having some food in her stomach and the strange impression of feeling safe in Logan’s arms, had chased away the early horrors of the day and lulled her into a restful sleep. She remembered the sensation of being lifted in his arms and carried, then the soft comfort of a blanket. Chloe looked to her right. There was an unmistakable dent in the other pillow. He must have slept next to her. The thought made her blush.

“You send more men and I’ll fucking offer the package out to the highest bidder.” His deep voice penetrated through the heavy oak bedroom door.

Her cheeks burned hotter at her momentary folly. He was her captor. She was a job to him, a paycheck. Any affection he showed her was probably all a part of his game. There was still no guarantee he wouldn’t kill her once he found what his client wanted. Her only chance was to find it first.

Chloe crept from the bed. Hiding herself in her closet, she quickly changed out of the fuzzy, pink novelty pajamas and into some yoga pants and a hoodie. Slipping on a pair of pink converse sneakers, she silently walked across the bedroom to the sliding door which led to the back porch. Grimacing at the scraping sound as the door eased open, she cast a furtive glance at the closed bedroom door…and waited. After the span of several heartbeats, she heard his voice again.

“I’m through talking with you. Put Michaels on the phone. Then go find him.”

The anger in his voice was evident. Good. The louder he yelled, the less likely he would hear her movements.

Leaving the door ajar, she carefully made her way over the still damp boards of the back porch, not sparing a glance for her favorite view of the lake. Its ducks and geese would do nothing to calm her nerves now. She came upon the second glass sliding door. This one led to the living room which had a view to the kitchen.

If he walked into the living room, he would see her pass.

She could either run past and hope he wasn’t in the room, or risk peeking. Chloe was breathing so hard she felt lightheaded. Fisting her shaking hands to her sides, she leaned over and hazarded a quick glance through the glass.

The room was empty.

Not wasting any more time, she scurried past and made her way down the rickety steps and across the leaf strewn yard towards the garage.

Once inside, she ran past the neat rows of white cabinets, to the tall gun safe in the corner. Punching in the code, she wrenched open the heavy door. Inside was her own S&W Ladysmith .38 special. Checking to make sure it was loaded, she tucked the gun into her front hoodie pocket. Its heavy weight was both comforting and disturbing.

The boxes. Those damn boxes. Where had she put them?

Turning in harried circles, she tried to think. It would only be a matter of minutes before Logan discovered her gone. She needed to figure out what the package was and hide it before then.

It was her only chance at leverage.

Remembering the empty cabinet in the far left corner, Chloe ran over and pulled on the plastic handle. There were the two small boxes she had brought with her from Louisiana. Pulling them out, she tore at the old shipping tape. Opening the first, she rummaged through the contents. A few old CDs, a tiny canvas depicting Jackson Square which she had gotten from a local artist in happier times and an ugly doll Chad had given her. It was a wretched, pathetic looking thing, with glued on hair and a head that looked like it had been ripped off the body of another doll. He had said something about it belonging to a dead relative, so she felt guilty about just throwing it away. She was intent on opening the second box when someone cleared their throat.

Taking a shocked step backwards, she stared into Logan’s shuttered blue eyes. His feet were bare. Faded jeans hung low on his hips, the top button undone. His chest was also bare, displaying the ink she found so fascinating and the scars which made her wonder what kind of life he’d led. The cheeks of his unshaven jaw were curled up with a smirk lingering on his full lips. He lounged against the doorjamb. The dark smell of coffee filled the small room from the mug in his hand.

“I’m beginning to think you don’t like me,” he quipped.

Chloe was silent.

She watched as his eyes fell on the open boxes at her feet.

“I knew you would lead me to the package eventually.”

Chloe pulled the gun from her hoodie pocket. “Stay back,” she warned.

Logan didn’t move. He stood there and smiled. The bastard smiled!

“That’s my girl. Always full of fight and fire.”

“I’m not your girl. You’re…you’re too late anyway. I already found it and destroyed it.”

“You forget, babygirl. I know when you are lying to me.” Logan straightened and took a step toward her.

“I mean it. I’ll shoot.”

He placed his mug down on a nearby workbench and crossed his arms over his chest. “No, baby, you won’t. You may have killed, but you’re not a killer.”

Chloe’s outstretched arm faltered. “You only think you know me.”

“I know you are alone and in way over your head. I know you won’t survive this mess without me.”

Chloe bit her lip in indecision.

He took another step closer. “I know you did everything in your power to stop Chad from hurting that boy and his father. I know you are punishing yourself with guilt.”

No longer questioning how he knew such details about her past…about her…Chloe blurted out, “He just started beating on him. I don’t know why. I…I always justified what he did before because they were thugs and gang members, but this was just an ordinary, innocent family.” Chloe sniffed as tears formed in her eyes. Her guilt over her past loosened her tongue. “After that…I just couldn’t take it anymore. I had to escape.”

“The father wasn’t innocent. He laundered money for a powerful Columbian gang. The fucker got greedy. Over the course of a year, he slowly moved around fifteen million out of their accounts into new unknown ones. The new account numbers and passwords were stored on a small flash drive. The gang sent Chad to retrieve it, thinking the guy would fold when he saw the cop uniform. He didn’t.”

“Then Chad stole the flash drive?”

“Even that piece of shit wasn’t that stupid. After he killed the father and son, he went on a drug rampage. He claimed he was too high to remember where he hid it. That’s what kept him alive these past two years in prison. The gang continued to protect him with the understanding he would find the drive when he got out.”

“Why…why didn’t they just come after me earlier?”

“They didn’t know about you. Until now.”

Chloe pulled the hammer back on her gun. Leveling it at his chest, she said, “You mean until you.”

His features hardened as he took a threatening step forward. Forgetting she had the gun for protection, Chloe stumbled backward.

“I mean until now. Face it, baby, I’m your only protection.”

Chloe tried to read his expression as if the tilt of his head or a glint in his eye would give away the truth or lie in his words. “So I’m just supposed to believe you? Believe that you were not sent by this gang to kill me?”

“If I were here to kill you, you never would have heard me coming.”

The hard arrogance in his tone held an unmistakable ring of truth.

“What about the rest?”

Logan raised an eyebrow. “The rest?”

“The…the…things you made me do and say.” Chloe tried and failed not to look at the distinctive bulge in his jeans. The memory of him forcing her to her knees, the taste of his cock as he’d pushed it between her lips, the satisfying sting as he’d fisted her hair came rushing to the fore.

“You mean the punishments? The feel of my belt on that plump ass of yours? How I made you call me Daddy?” he teased, his voice dropping to a low growl on the word daddy.

Chloe swallowed. She could feel heat creep up her cheeks and a familiar twist in her stomach. Even now his dominant stance, the swagger in his tone, how he seemed to command the situation even though she was the one with the gun, seemed to fuck with her thoughts, confusing her about how she should be feeling towards him. Her only response was a jerky nod.

“Because you are a beautiful fucked up mess. You have a sweet, candy coating that hides all your dark and twisted thoughts. I’m the best at what I do because I know people, and, baby, you may not like it, but you need the punishment, the fear, the lack of control. You need to feel the pain of punishment in order to earn the pleasure of the reward. You need a daddy in your life. Someone to both punish and protect you.”

“Who says you’re the man for the job? Maybe I have someone else in my life.” Chloe didn’t know why she felt the need to taunt the beast. The truth of his words cut a little too close to the bone. She needed to distance herself from him.

Like a fierce animal, he bared his teeth and actually growled at her. “If there was, he would be dead by now.”

Unsure how to respond to such an overwhelmingly possessive statement, she asked, “So what happens now?”

Logan smiled, the expression failing to reach his eyes. “Now. You have a choice. If you don’t want this, you had better pull that trigger, otherwise I am through with talking.”

Holy fuck! He was right. She must be dark and twisty if that did it for her. The thought of this powerful man turning all his intense energy on her made her melt. She wanted the feel of his hand on her ass. She wanted to be pushed against a wall and fucked. She wanted to taste each and every one of his tattoos and kiss each scar. She wanted the danger, the pain.

Logan scared her to death, but she had never felt more alive. If trusting him was a mistake…well, she had made far worse in her life.

Chloe pulled her finger off the trigger…but her movements were too slow.

Logan lunged.

Pulling the gun from her now limp grasp, he plowed forward till the force of his body crushed her against the garage’s brick wall. She could feel the threatening press of his erect cock as it pushed against her stomach. His breath smelled of coffee as he moved his lips along her jaw to rasp against her open mouth. “You’re mine now.”