Page 13 of Forever

“Only if you want it to be spit in your face.”

He smiled. “I like the feisty side of you better.” He let go of my ankles and stood up. He folded his arms as he stared down at me.

I tried to twist my wrists again but it was no use. I couldn’t get out of these restraints. Even if I had incapacitated him for a few seconds, I only would have been able to hop around the room completely useless. The angles of the desk and other furniture were sharp, but not razor sharp. I needed him to feel comfortable enough to unclasp my wrists and ankles. I needed him to like me.

I stopped fidgeting and stared at him. “My husband worked for my father.”

“I know.”

“He was a bodyguard. Are you one too?”

“No.” He didn’t offer any more information.

“So do you just do the company’s annual kidnappings?”

“Annual?” He smiled. “No.” The way he said it made it seem like it was a lot more frequent than annually.

“Do you like your job?”

“It has its perks.” His eyes fell to my chest.

I looked down. The towel he’d put around my shoulders had fallen. “Can you please untie me so I can put something on?”

“So you can try to kick me in the nuts again? I don’t think so.” But he lifted the towel back around me, this time tucking it beneath my arms to keep it in place. It was also probably so that I wouldn’t be tempted to sucker punch him. If I did, my towel would fall.

“What’s your name?” I asked.

“King. Magnus King.”

Right. He’d mentioned something about being a king but not my prom king. I’d had no idea what he was talking about. “Magnus King. Huh.”

“What?”

“It’s just…that’s the kind of name that belongs to a boss. Not a second-in-command.”

“Trust me, I know.”

I stared at him. “So you know you can do more than the semi-annual kidnappings?”

“Semi-annual?” he smiled. “Sure.”

How many kidnappings a year did he do?! I tried to shake away the thought. “So maybe you should be in charge. Locatelli no longer has an heir. He’s focused on revenge instead of running his business. You said my father lost focus. Locatelli has too. Maybe this is your chance to take over.”

“So when Locatelli walks in this room to kill you, I should kill him instead? That’s your plan?”

“Yes?”

“Hmm.”

I lifted my shoulders to try to look more confident. “It’s a good plan. You don’t want to be working for someone else. You can run this whole town.”

“There’s only one problem. As soon as he steps down, I’m taking over anyway. There doesn’t have to be any bloodshed.”

“Except for mine? And my family?”

He pressed his lips together. “Did you want something to eat? Anything you want. It’s on me.”

“A last meal? Really?”

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