His Favorite Toy Page 14

  1

  Harper ran her fingers through her short hair as she gelled some style and texture into it. She wore black mascara and gold eye liner that accentuated her brown eyes and made her freckles stand out more. She coated her lips with pink gloss to puckered them to make an even coat. She examined her make-up in the mirror, making sure her face and hair were perfect before heading to her bed to get dressed. She had picked out a medium pink pencil skirt, a white short-sleeve blouse, a black and gold belt, and a pair of black high heel shoes. She wanted to make sure her appearance came off as well put together as she wanted a serious relationship, not a fling. She was going on a date with a man she matched with on some dating site. Over a year ago, when she found out Caleb would be having a child with Ruby her dreams were shattered. She was being dramatic about it, but she was somewhat crushed that she no longer had a chance with him.

  Aurora: [Good luck on your date tonight!]

  Harper smiled at the text. She had visited her best friend the other day and told her all about the guy she was meeting. Or at least everything she did know, which wasn’t really a whole lot. She had also met Olivia, the chubby 6-month-old that she couldn’t help but adore despite the child meaning the end to her Caleb fantasy. Aurora seemed happy and was even talking about possibly wanting a baby of her own sometime soon.

  In a way, it had made Harper jealous. She wanted what Aurora had. A beautiful place to live, a man who adorned her with love and affection, and a life that seemed to be heading in the direction Harper secretly wanted. She tried to continue the party life with Tristan but was tired of it. Tired of being used by guys. Of wasting all her money on getting drunk or dressing differently every night. And most of all she was done with feeling like shit because she had either drank too much or the guy she brought home was gone with no note or phone number.

  Harper: [Thank you!]

  Aurora: [Be safe!]

  She laughed at the simple text. Had it been Tristan, he would have told her to wear some skimpy dress and get laid. Then again, that was how he was. Always a man-whore. She didn’t want that kind of life anymore, she wanted what Aurora and Ruby had. A man who would stay by her side and build a life together. To one day have kids and own their own house. She wasn’t foolish, she doubted the man she was meeting tonight would be that man but she needed to get out there and meet people before it was too late.

  With one last glance over, she approved her look and left her apartment. She made sure to lock her door then made her way to an Italian place two blocks away. A clutch in her hand held her money and she wore a light jean jacket over her otherwise thin shirt. The walk took her 15 minutes and as she feared, the guy was late. Or worse, maybe he was standing her up. As panic took hold, she was tapped on her shoulder. She turned to face the person and found it was the man she had been talking to online for about a month now. Her fear turned into disappointment. Paul, while dressed somewhat nice, was not nearly as tall as he claimed to be and that had been a major part of Harper’s choice in him. He also was not as young or fit as he said but she decided to give him a chance anyway. Maybe he had a gold star personality that she had yet to uncover.

  “Sorry I was late. My mom was taking forever to drive me here.” He rolled his eyes, assuming she would understand.

  “It’s okay.” She gave him an awkward, but friendly smile.

  Harper could feel a tight knot forming in her stomach. She was losing hope he would have a good personality and already she could tell her didn’t have his life together nor the drive which was a huge turn-off.

  “I didn’t make the reservation but we should be okay.”

  Paul walked ahead over her and completely missed the expression Harper had on her face. Lied about himself, doesn’t have a car, lives with mommy, and he didn’t make the reservations like he said he did. She took a deep breath and told herself to at least enjoy the meal but of course she was out of luck yet again. He attempted, and failed, to speak in Italian. He didn’t know what he had ordered until it arrived and had to send it back due to a shell fish allergy. Not to mention the five glasses of wine he slurped down and was now slurring his words as he spoke to her.

  An hour later, the waiter brought the check and that was the final F-you to this whole date. The idiot claimed he didn’t have his wallet on him and that mommy dearest hadn’t given him money when he was dropped off. The original deal had been that they each pay for their own food and drinks in case things done work out and neither of them feel cheated or used. She gave him a tight smile and pulled out her credit card. She didn’t even want to look at the amount, worried by how sick she’d feel at how in debt he put her in with all the wine now swimming in his over-sized stomach. He walked out with her, brushing off his food stained hands on his pants and turned to her with a grin on his face.

  “That was really good. When’s the next date?”

  Harper’s face twisted in disgust. She couldn’t believe this man actual thought he had a chance with her. She didn’t think of herself as a stuck-up person, but there were way too many faults in him to even consider giving him another date.

  “I don’t think there will be another.”

  “Is it because I couldn’t pay?” The smile falling off his face.

  “Among other things.” She mumbled. “I don’t think you’re what I’m looking for. I’m sorry.”

  She began to walk off when his grubby fingers curled around her arm.

  “You greedy bitch! I came all this way and this is what I get?”

  “Excuse me?” She gasped out angrily. “You’re a liar who obviously doesn’t have their shit together.” She bit out and ripped her arm from him.

  She stomped off but that didn’t stop Paul from following her and throwing slanders at her. Her teeth clenched together and she continued to ignore him. She passed her apartment complex and headed toward a bar she knew Tristan would be at. She didn’t want this weirdo knowing where she lived. She was almost there when they ran into two men who popped out of an alley. One had a knife and the other had his arms crossed over his chest in an intimidating manor. They wore baggy blue jeans and white t-shirts, the tell-tale sign of ‘I’m a gangster’ around here.

  “Hand over your wallets.” The one with the knife spoke.

  “He-Here!” Paul whimpered, reaching into his pocket and yanking out a black Velcro wallet.

  “Why you little snake!” She hissed at him.

  “Lady has some fire.” The other man spoke, licking his lips.

  “Yo-You can have her, too!” Paul pushed her toward the two, then ran off in a clumsy sprint that almost had her laughing.

  Almost. She would have if she weren’t now in a far worse situation. The man without a knife wrapped his arms around her shoulders and the other brought his knife closer to her.

  “Here. My wallet is in this.” She extended her arm as much as she could to hand him her clutch.

  “I think you have more to offer than money, princess.” The man with the knife grinned.

  “No, I don’t. Just take my money and leave. You have his, too.”

  The man standing in front of her bent down and picked up the discarded wallet. He opened it up to find a single ten-dollar bill. Yet another kick to her gut. That bastard had money but not nearly enough to even pay for a McDonald’s date. Her teeth ground together and shot pain through her jaw.

  “Why don’t you spread those pretty legs of yours?” The man holding her spoke into her ear.

  “Let me go!” She screamed.

  Both men snickered and brought her down the alley they had popped out of with such ease you would think she hadn’t been struggling. At the end, they threw her to the ground roughly, her knees and palms scrapping against the asphalt.

  “Now that’s a sexy pose.” One of them grunted.

  Harper scrambled to her feet, her back pressed against the brick wall behind her. She kept her face stern, but inside she was trembling as her heart raced at an accelerated spee
d. She had no idea how she could fight off one bulky man let along two.

  “Get away from me!”

  “How cute. I like when they fight back.” The other replied, moving closer and bringing the knife to her throat. “Be good and I won’t have to damage you too much.”

  “How do you want to do this, princess? One at a time or both of us at once?”

  Her eyes widened, causing them to laugh at how frightened she was. The man with the knife grabbed her left wrist and pinned her against the bricks in a grip that instantly slowed the blood circulation to her hand. The other reached for her top and ripped it open, the buttons scattering across the ground. She squeezed her eyes shut, took a deep breath and in a jerking motion brought her knee up between the legs of the man with the knife. He went down like a rock but she didn’t have time to get to the other man as a fist connected with her face. His arm kept her from falling but it couldn’t stop the scream that erupted from her mouth. She could feel her face already swelling and for a moment wondered why she even fought them.

  “You stupid cunt.” Knife-man stood up, a hand grasping at his groan and massaging his sore area.

  He lunged forward, the knife slipping into her side and causing a fire explosion of pain to flare through her stomach. This time she didn’t scream, the pain too much of a shock for her system to bear. Her thoughts jumbled and only a slight squeak came from her as she lost the strength in her legs.

  “The fuck is going on over here?” A new voice bloomed from far away.

  Or maybe it wasn’t a voice at all but a hallucination. Harper found herself closing her eyes to block out everything that was going on. She wanted this night to end, one way or another.

  “Mind your own- Oh, uh-”

  The attackers voice was cut off, but she could no longer concentrate. She felt her body fall to the hard surface of the alley. Her hand moved to her side and her stomach rolled when it came into contact with the warm, thick liquid leaking from her. She allowed her head to rest on the ground, no longer worried about the voices and noises around her.

  2

  Harper’s eyes cracked open and immediately was hit with pain. Her head felt like it was going to implode and the side of her face throbbed with pain. She tried to sit up but collapsed back down. The muscles in her stomach aching and unable to work the way she wanted them to. She laid there for a moment, thinking back to her last memory. She had gone on a date, one she hadn’t been happy with. He had followed her, had he attacked her? No. It had been someone else. In a rush, everything flooded back to her and she forced herself to sit up. It was then she realized she was seeing out of only one eye. Where was she?

  She glanced down at herself, she now wore a simple white shirt and a pair of black shorts. She lifted the shirt and there was a neatly done bandage around her midriff that was slowly being stained red. She tentatively reached for her face and winched at not only the pain but the size of her cheek. She did her best to survey the room. It was obvious she wasn’t in a hospital but she wasn’t chained to a bed or locked in a basement, that she knew for sure. It was a beautiful, clean room with large windows and a sitting area. It didn’t look like Aurora’s house and it surely wasn’t Tristan’s dinky apartment. Or hers for that matter.

  A door to her right opened and she instinctively flinched, which irritated her wound and caused her to cry out.

  “Fuck.” A man growled out and stomped over to her. “What the fuck are you doing?”

  “I-I’m sorry!” She cowered from the man, her good eye watering and releasing a tear. “Plea-Please don’t hurt me.”

  “Hurt you?” The man’s voice completely dropped its edge. “I’m not- I didn’t mean- Look, you need to lay down.”

  He sounded flustered. She did as he said, sitting up was getting far to uncomfortable anyway.

  “Where am I?”

  “Can’t really tell you that, doll. But you are safe. Those bastard’s have been taken care of.”

  “Did, did they- um-”

  “No.” He cut her off, his voice harsh again.

  She swallowed hard. The man seemed more temperamental than the two who attacked her.

  “Are they in jail?”

  “No.” His voice lower this time. “But they won’t ever bother you again.”

  “How can you be sure?” She whimpered.

  “They can’t, trust me.”

  “How can I trust you?” She gasped out. “I don’t even know who you are.”

  “Actually, you do.”

  He moved closer to her, his movements slow and cautious. She tried focusing on his appearance. Short, light brown hair. Tall, broad shoulders, and muscled body. His face a blur but as he came closer she could see more details. Even with the menacing brown eyes and squared jaw it took her a moment to recognize him as the man who had once kidnapped Aurora.

  “Luca.” She whispered out.

  Aurora had told her everything that had happened with this man and she was now sure she was in an even worse predicament. She attempted to move away from him but was stopped yet again by pain that had her crying out.

  “Would you stop moving.” He scolded. “Your body needs to heal.”

  “And then what? You’re going to sell me to make money?”

  “What?” He was so thrown off he couldn’t hide his confusion.

  “Look, I don’t have a rich boyfriend nor am I rich. I’m assuming you saved me for money or something and-”

  “Stop.” He groaned, his palm gently pressing over her lips to stop her. “I didn’t have any motive for saving you other than you needed it. I honestly didn’t recognize you at first.”

  Luca removed his hand to reveal Harper’s mouth in a shape of an O. She peered down at her hands in embarrassment.

  “I’m sorry.” She spoke softly.

  “Sorry?”

  “For jumping to conclusions. It’s been a hell of a night.”

  “Try two days.”

  “Two days!” She gasped, turning her attention back to him.

  “You’ve been in and out of consciousness. I’ve had my personal doctor here working on you.”

  “Thank you.” She whispered, half lost in how things went south so fast. “Wait! Where is my phone?”

  “I have it.” He spoke with a straight face, no motion to get it for her.

  “Can I have it?”

  “No.”

  “Why not?” Annoyance in her voice. “You said I wasn’t here for one of your reasons.”

  “No, not at first.”

  “What the hell does that mean!” She shouted.

  “It means you need to heal.” He turned his back to her and was half way across the room before she could speak.

  “Wait! Please.” She begged. “Does Aurora know where I am?”

  Luca continued to walk until his hand was on the knob of the door, his back still to her as he spoke.

  “No. But she knows you’re safe.”

  He twisted his hand quickly to open the door and was gone from her sight as she thought over his words. He saved her for no reason but refused to let her leave or have her phone. She didn’t like how that sounded. It reminded her of cheesy romance novels where the woman is forced to pay for something with her body. She shivered. Like hell she was going to do that.

  3

  In 4 days her face had made a complete recovery and 2 more after that for her stomach to almost completely sealed up. The doctor Luca had mentioned was very adamant with his care to prevent a nasty scar. Of course, she would have one, but it wouldn’t be a puffy, gnarly mess. She hadn’t seen Luca during the past 4 days and assumed he would be sending her home soon. She asked the doctor if she would be able to leave and was given an inadequate answer; a shrug. She bit her tongue, not wanting to curse out the man who had helped her recovery but was frustrated by the lack of knowledge she was being given and how she was told she wasn’t a prisoner yet couldn’t leave the room or call anyone. She politely as po
ssible asked the man to send Luca to her room after her check-up was finished.

  The man wrapped up his equipment, reassured her that he would pass along her request to Luca and told her she might like taking a shower in the attached bathroom. She flushed softly, completely forgetting that she hadn’t showered since the night she went out. Eight days ago. She was told a nurse had wiped her down the night she was brought in but Harper could only imagine what she looked and smelled like. She nodded her head and went right to the bathroom as soon as the man left.

  Harper was surprised to find the elegant, marbled room to be stocked with everything she would need and that they were very similar to what she would have at home. It struck her has odd but with a man like Luca, she was sure he had plenty of woman around him. Woman with long hair, big boobs, and easily spread legs. Basically, the opposite of her.