Page 25 of Cursed Fox (Willow Creek Security #4)

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Jessie

"Who are you?" I asked when the bag was pulled off my head.

I tried to move my arms and legs, but quickly realized they were tied down to a chair.

I felt like I was in a bad B movie with a very low budget, and the actor playing the kidnapper really couldn't act.

The guy didn't even have the sense to cover his face.

That could only mean one of two things. He was either an amateur who didn't know the first thing about kidnapping. Or he planned to kill me.

Time to lay off the crime scene documentaries.

"I'm hurt." The man chuckled and put his hand to his chest. "You don't even recognize your own father?"

I looked at the greasy, semi-short man in front of me and couldn't fathom how he could be the same man I knew as a little girl.

"My father walked out on me when I was a kid. Why would I bother to remember him?"

My mother always said my attitude was going to get me in trouble one day. And when my so-called father's face got beet red like he was seconds away from stroking out, I realized today just might be that day.

"You always did have a mouth on you," he snarled. "I told your mother she should've just swallowed you."

Lovely visual. And I meant that in regards to my mother ever touching the man in front of me, with his shaggy gray hair and splotchy white beard.

His beer belly and slouchy posture did nothing to help his cause.

He was a train wreck with saggy skin. Nothing at all like the silver foxes I saw on book covers every time I went to the bookstore.

"Then why am I here? It's obvious you didn't want me or Jimmy, so why bring me here. I was doing just fine without you in my life."

Better than fine actually. I could've gone the rest of my life without ever seeing my father again and been happy as a clam.

"Exactly," he snapped. "I left your mother destitute. She was supposed to fail. To live on the streets and know that everything was her fault. Not raise a son who went to the NFL and a daughter about to go to medical school."

So he was pissed that Mom made something of our lives after he left us with absolutely nothing? What a piece of shit.

"Sorry Mom didn't suffer like you wanted, but I assure you our childhood wasn't all sunshine and roses. There were times when things were hard and she had to tell us no, but we got through it together. As a family. Something you don't seem to understand or know a thing about."

"You weren't supposed to get through it," he seethed.

Talk about egotistical. I didn't know what my mother ever saw in him, but there were no redeeming qualities I could find. Maybe he was different when we were kids, but somehow I didn't think so. I barely remembered him, so obviously there weren't any happy memories.

"So what do you plan to do with me? You have to know who Mom works for. There's no way they aren't out looking for me already. And they're going to find me. They always do. And when they do, they're going to kill you."

"Oh yes, the precious Westley," he mocked. "The whole reason your mother has everything she does today. I wonder if she spread her legs for him like she's doing for the current man in her life. She always did need a man to hold her hand and tell her how to act."

Okay, now I was pissed. Before I was just slightly annoyed, but for this asshat to speak about my mother like that?

Hell fucking no. After this asshole left, she did everything on her own.

Wes got her started, but she’d paid every cent back to him and made sure she worked hard to prove she was worth the risk he took on her.

"You don't have the right to say shit about my mother. And there are some men in this world who are nice without expecting anything in return. Wes is one of those guys. Maybe you should take a few pointers from him."

I didn't see the slap coming, but I sure felt the sting on my cheek as my head whipped to the side, my body straining under the pressure of the rope keeping me anchored to the chair.

I guess my mother was correct and my mouth finally did get me in trouble one day.

"Is that the best you got?" I couldn't help but taunt. I was letting my anger get the better of me, and apparently when I was angry, my mouth had a mind of its own. Who knew? Obviously not me. Until now.

"You little bitch. So much like your mother. You don't know when to keep your mouth shut."

"I'll take that as a compliment," I said before I could think better of it, and unfortunately it earned me another slap—this one much harder than the last. Hard enough that the chair wobbled and almost tipped over to the side. Thankfully I was saved from crashing to the dirty floor.

If I had any hopes of surviving this ordeal, I needed to learn to hold my tongue.

"You never answered my question. What are you going to do with me?"

"You really want to know?" He paused for dramatic effect until I nodded my head yes, because if I were asking, then clearly I wanted the answer. "I'm going to ruin your brother's and your life like you ruined mine, and then I'm going to kill your mother for ever bringing you into this world."