Page 46 of The Assistant
When everyone is gone, I close the door and try to think. I’m going to kill Malik for this. I’m not going to sit back and let him hurt the woman I love. He should have known better than to take matters into his own hands like this.
I know where he lives, and the odds are he took her there. His mansion is big and isolated enough that he can do whatever the hell he wants beyond his gates without consequence. I just need to figure out a way to infiltrate them.
When the realization hits me of what I should do, I pull out my phone and dial Xander’s number. He answers after only a fewrings. I explain the entire situation, which he was already privy to in some regard.
“Xander, I need your help,” I say, feeling the desperation in my voice and doing nothing to hide it. “Whatever it takes. We have to stop him.”
“We’ll be on our way shortly,” Xander says without any hesitation.
We hang up the phone, and all I can do is wait. Xander’s words echo in my mind once again. If somebody is going to have to die because of this, I’m going to make sure it won’t be me. I’ll do anything to protect Harper. If I have to paint the streets with Malik’s blood, so be it.
Chapter 24
Harper
I haven’t leftthis room since being brought to the mansion God only knows how long ago. I haven’t been able to pee; I haven’t had any water, and nobody’s offered to bring me any food. The only time I’ve seen anybody since the exam was when the guards came in and dragged me to a chair at the end of the room to tie me to it with rope.
Without anybody watching me, I try to wiggle my way free. Maybe there’s a chance I can loosen the rope enough to slide out of it. But then what would I do? I have no idea where I am. I’m on Malik’s property, and I’m sure he has eyes everywhere. I might be able to break out a window and start running, but I would bet the little money I have they’re all faster than me. They’re sure as hell stronger.
It’s hard not to feel like I’ve lost all hope. There’s a part of me waiting for Dawson to break the door down and save me, and I feel pathetic for that. How the hell is he going to know where I am? I had a conversation with Malik, and I didn’t tell him all the details. I only told him that Malik asked me on a date.
Looking back, the end of that conversation was very cryptic, and I see now what Malik meant. But I didn’t know that at the time to tell Dawson. I just wish things could have been different.
The door to the room bursts open, and for the first time since the exam, I see Malik. He’s accompanied by two guards, all with deep frowns on their faces as they approach me.
“What’s going on? Where am I?” I ask again now that the duct tape has been ripped off my face. I can’t help the quivering in my voice, even though I wish I could. The corner of Malik’s mouth upturns when he hears how afraid I am. It makes my skin crawl.
“You’re where I thought you belonged,” Malik says as he approaches. He pulls up a stool and squats down to take a seat in front of me. He forces me to look him in the eye, even though I want to look away. I don’t know what I did to get myself here.
“Why am I here? Is it just because I rejected you?” I ask, hot tears streaming down my face as I think about it. Dawson’s words replay in my mind. Malik isn’t the kind of guy you say no to.
Maybe this is exactly what he meant.
“You are not the one who asks questions. I am,” Malik says as he stands up and walks around the chair I’m tied to. I feel his eyes on me the entire time as he takes in the scene and thinks about what he wants to do. He eventually stops in front of me again and puts an arm on the back of the chair to tilt it up and force me to look at him. I shake as the balance on the chair is messed with, and I worry about falling. “Tell me who took what belonged to me.”
I shake my head, not fully understanding what he means. When I don’t answer, he waits a moment, raising his eyebrows to silently urge me to continue.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say just before he lets go of the back of the chair, and it falls to the ground. I shriek as it crashes against the marble floor. My head slams against the back of the chair, and it’s immediately pounding.
Before I can even register what just happened, the two guards lift me and the chair up with ease. Malik is sitting on the stool in front of me again, manspreading as he rests his elbows on his knees.
“The more I have to ask, the more difficult your punishments will be,” Malik warns, his eyes dark and narrow as they stay glued to my face. “Consider that one a test. Now, I want you to tell me who took what belonged to me.”
I just shake my head again and try to search my aching brain for any semblance of an idea of what he’s talking about. Maybe this has something to do with one of the business dealings with Dawson? But I still don’t know what those are. All I know is that Malik is into some shady stuff, and I suppose that means Dawson is too. Did somebody steal from him, and he thinks I know about it?
“If you’ll explain more, maybe I can—” I begin before I’m interrupted by a harsh slap across my face. My head whips to the side, and the sting on my cheek is all I can focus on. It practically knocks me into a daze.
I feel my skin burning from the humiliation and anger, and I strain my muscles against the rope in an attempt to break free.If this is just the beginning, I don’t want to see whatever else he has planned.
“Who took what belonged to me?” Malik asks again, demanding an answer to a question I don’t understand. I’m about to tell him that again, but before I can say anything, his hand is in my hair as he grabs a fistful and forces me to look at him.
I let out a cry and try to look away from him. Seeing the blind fury in his eyes is enough to make every hair on my body stand on end. It’s horrifying.
“I don’t know what you mean!” I shout back. He tugs my hair hard enough that I worry he’ll rip it from the scalp. The chair leans in the direction he’s pulling, and he takes advantage of the opportunity to shove me to the ground again. This time, I land on my side and feel a radiating pain in my shoulder.
He backs away as the guards lift me up once again, and he paces the ground in front of me while a twisted smile grows on his face.
“You really don’t know what I’m talking about?” Malik asks, knowing what my answer is already. “You don’t know about the deal Henry made at all. How he promised you to me?”
