Page 102 of All That Glitters

“Lies. Everything out of your mouth is a lie. I hate you. I hate you so fucking much,” I sob, frustrated tears springing to my eyes.

He soothes a hand across my face before tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. “I know. I hate me too.” He kisses my forehead before taking a step back. “I have a couple of things to do. I’ll be back.”

“What? No, don’t you leave me like this.”

“I’ll be quick.”

“Midas, no. Come back!” I yell as he leaves the bedroom, his shoulders bent as if he has the weight of the world on them.

He closes the door behind him, the quiet snick sounding like a bomb going off in the apartment’s quiet.

I don’t hear anything after that, and with him not here to judge me, I let my tears fall freely. It isn’t until I realize he’s really gone that I give in to the urge and scream my fucking lungs out.

I jolt awake, my heart racing, when I feel someone in the room next to me. I open my eyes, and everything comes rushing back: my apartment being ransacked, the police station, Midas.

And speaking of which, the man himself is sitting in the chair across from the bed, watching me.

“I need the bathroom.” My voice is rough and cracked from my screaming. He winces when he hears it but doesn’t comment. Instead, he walks over and unfastens the cuffs from the bed. Before I can even think about making a run for it, he snaps the other bracelet around his wrist.

I stare at him in shock before I pull back my free hand and slap him across the face as hard as I can. I cover my mouth with my hand in horror, unsure which of us is more surprised.

“I deserved that.”

“You deserve a lot of shit, but not for me to hit you. I hate who you’ve turned me into.”

He takes my cuffed hand in his and walks me into the bathroom. I let my eyes slip closed in defeat as he lowers my sweatpants and nudges me onto the toilet seat.

He’s already taken everything else. He might as well take my dignity. I pee, too mentally exhausted to let this be the hill I die on. Once I’m finished, he makes me gasp when he grabs some toilet paper and wipes me clean. I feel my face burn and know I’ll be cherry red if I look in the mirror. He flushes as I stand and helps pull my sweatpants back into place before walking us over to the faucet. I avoid looking at him in the mirror, even though I can feel his eyes on me while we wash our hands.

I dry them on the towel he hands to me without a word before passing it back. Once we’re done, he leads me out into the bedroom and then to the kitchen. He pulls a bag from the refrigerator that I recognize from the deli down the street. He puts it on the counter and waits for me to sit before he unpacks everything. There are a couple of subs, some chips, a bottle of water, an iced tea, and a couple of cupcakes.

I stare at the food as he slides one of the subs in front of me. I look from the food to Midas.

He must see the plea in my eyes because he sighs. “Just eat. And listen.”

I shake my head and pick up the sub, taking a small bite. I’m not surprised it’s my favorite. He grabbed the order for me often enough when I worked here.

“I had to check in with the club and let them know what was going on. Havoc has been in Ohio with most of the club, leaving me and Kruger in charge, but they arrived back at lunchtime.”

“Did you tell them you were holding me captive?” I ask snottily.

His lips twitch. “Havoc knows you’re staying with me even though you’re not happy about it.”

“Of course, you tell the one guy who thinks kidnapping is perfectly reasonable dating etiquette.” I sigh, remembering how Havoc semi-kidnapped Nevaeh. I say semi because she was a bit more willing than I am.

“He understands what’s at stake.”

“And what is at stake, Midas?”

“Your life.”

I snap my mouth closed, trying to get a read on him, but he might as well be a blank page.

“Lil told you about the issues she’s been having?”

I nod, wondering where he’s going with this.

“It’s been all quiet on that front, so we’d hoped that things had died down thanks to the MC actively protecting her.”