Leon pushed the door wide and stepped all the way inside. He carried two pizza boxes balanced in one hand. The instant I smelled the pizza, my stomach grumbled.
The grumble must’ve been loud enough for him to hear because his grin widened. “Hungry?”
I shook my head “no.”
“You don’t need to lie to me about being hungry, Sofia.”
That was the first time he’d used my name. For some reason, it set my heart to beating faster. But it was fear, not anything else.
I glared at him and didn’t do anything else. I would silence him with my silence. Although, I should’ve known that wouldn’t work. Anyone who’d ever had anything to do with men would tell you that they were always a pain in the ass. They took pride in it.
Leon set the pizzas down on the scarred-up table and tossed his duffel bag, which had been slung over his shoulder, back onto the bed. I didn’t see the motel’s phone, though, so maybe he intended to keep it as a souvenir.
He crossed back to me and leaned in uncomfortably close. He carefully worked at the edge of the duct tape over my mouth.
I was very aware of the feeling of his fingertips on the soft skin of my cheek. I stared at him, but he was frowning a little, his total concentration on the tape sealing my mouth shut. He caught me flatfooted when his gaze suddenly shifted and he was looking back intently into my eyes. He smiled a little, but I couldn’t tell if it was understanding or apologetic. He was so hard to read. And that was frightening.
Leon slowly began to pull the tape off, removing it with a care that surprised me. I expected him to rip it off and take my lips with it. My skin pulled, but it wasn’t painful. I’d had hair removal sessions that hurt a lot more.
“This tape is stickier than real duct tape, so I have to do this slowly,” he explained as if reading my mind. “Pulling too fast will leave you raw. I don’t want to make it painful for you to eat.”
When the tape was finally off, my lower face tingled unpleasantly. I fixed him with a look full of daggers. “Why do you care?”
“I don’t.” He took a folding knife out of his pocket and clicked the blade open.
Immediately, adrenaline and fear raced through my veins. My breath caught, and I drew back.
“Keep still,” he commanded. “I don’t want to cut you by mistake.”
My heart was slamming so hard I could feel it in my head, but I did as he ordered. He cut my legs free first, cutting both the zip-ties securing my ankles to the chair legs. Then moved behind me and cut the plastic zip-tie binding my hands together.
I moved my hands to my lap and rubbed my wrists. My skin was red from being bound.
“Stand up and walk around,” Leon said. “Get the blood flowing again. A person gets stiff being tied in one position.”
“You’re so thoughtful,” I sniped. “Tie people up all the time, do you?”
“Why? Do you like being tied up, Princess? I didn’t take you as kinky, but hey, I never judge.”
I bared my teeth at him. “Why are you such a smug asshole?”
“I blame the public school system.” Those green eyes twinkled. He was getting off on getting me pissed. “Now go have something to eat. I ordered a vegetarian for you.”
I stood, still rubbing my wrists. I hadn’t been bound for all that long. Maybe forty-five minutes at most. It wasn’t going to kill me. And I wasn’t going to give him the pleasure of…of whatever pleasure he might be getting from this.
So I gathered my dignity and walked to the table with the pizzas. I opened the box, saw that it was a pizza loaded with meat toppings, and I took the biggest slice. I turned around so he could see me eating it. I stared right at him and took a big bite.
It was foolish and reckless, provoking him like this. Especially over something so stupid. But I wasn’t a vegetarian. This bastard didn’t know anything about me. He called me “Princess” and had nothing but contempt for me, so I was going to eat a piece of his pizza right in his face.
Leon stared at me.
I took another big bite and licked sauce off one of my fingers.
He burst out laughing. “I pity the man who marries you, Princess.”
It took all of my willpower not to throw the pizza slice at him. Instead, I took another bite and walked over to sit on my bed. It was best to ignore ignorant beasts like Leon when I could get away with it.
Still…this whole thing struck me as strange when I stopped to think about it. Leon was obviously dangerous. He was a killer. I’d seen Jimmy and Anthony, two of my father’s men, dead in my kitchen. I’d seen all the blood. Leon shot them in the head without remorse. Did pulling the trigger ever give him pause? It didn’t look as if it had tonight.
