Page 20 of Pure Silence

Day held up his pinkie where Goldie’s teeth had left dents but hadn’t quite broken skin.

“What? Yes! I bit you!” Goldie scowled furiously. “You drugged me and tied me to my fucking bed. How about you finish robbing me and get the fuck out of here?”

Day’s brow furrowed, and he mouthed something, maybe “Robbing?”

Something like that.

Day shook his head and rolled his eyes.

Goldie tried to buck up and knock Day off of him, but he couldn’t arch his back high enough off the bed. The attempt hurt like hell, and he winced as pain shot down his hip and his leg. He didn’t manage to accomplish anything except to give Day a little shake and conclude he had to have been passed out for at least twelve hours because his meds had definitely worn off.

Day arched his brow, clearly not impressed.

“Come on.” Goldie tried again, ignoring the pain and pushing up as hard as he could.

Day lurched forward and caught himself on the bed frame. He slid down so he was sitting on Goldie’s stomach, and then he slammed down with his full weight.

“Asshole!” Goldie wheezed, the air knocked right out of him.

Day smirked smugly.

Goldie twisted his hips, and Day just scooted farther down so Goldie couldn’t move. He ignored how pleasant Day’s ass felt right fuckingthere, and he glared at the beautiful and very infuriating would-be thief. His back was throbbing now, and a small fire had broken out in his hip and lower back.

Oh, if this was ten years ago, he would have flipped Day right off onto the damn floor.

Yes, Goldie still would have been handcuffed, but at least Day would be eating carpet.

“Help! Dana! Hey! Kids! Anybody!” Goldie shook the headboard, shouting at the top of his lungs. “Help!”

Day gritted his teeth and grabbed one of Goldie’s pillows. He shoved it on top of Goldie’s face.

Goldie didn’t panic. He’d been held in many chokeholds and strangled and smothered with props for years. He knew how to hold his breath and really sell it.

Then again, that was always inside a ring with safety measures like hand signals and a referee and…

Shit.

Day didn’t seem to be letting go anytime soon, so Goldie went still.

He could breathe a little if he turned his head to the side, and his thoughts ran together as he tried to figure out what to do. The situation wasn’t great. He had no idea if Dana or her kids or anyone else could have heard him. It was possible they heard the noise and assumed the noises were from normal nocturnal bedroom activity.

Shit, shit,shit.

No phone, no way to call for help, and he couldn’t break out of the handcuffs.

Think, Goldie, fuckin’ think!

Maybe the best thing he could do was wait for Day to take whatever he wanted and then scream his head off after he was gone. As long as Day was here, he was going to stop Goldie from getting help, and one of these attempts to silence him could turn lethal.

Goldie waited for Day to finally remove the pillow, and he tried to gauge his reaction.

Day appeared cautious, but he didn’t seem surprised Goldie was breathing.

That was good. It hopefully meant he hadn’t intended to kill Goldie, just quiet him.

“Look,” Goldie said, a bit breathless, “just take what you want, okay? The belt, the figures, the stupid Goldie-O’s toy, whatever. I don’t care. Just take it all and go.”

Day’s eyes widened, and he was visibly stung.