Havok: A Bad Boy Mafia Romance by Riley Rollins Page A

from the caves of Morocco. One of my more prized pieces. I watch Penny as she wolfs down a double order of cheese enchiladas. Sauce spills over the edge of the white Styrofoam container, dotting the crystal surface.
    I take small, controlled bites of my tostada, using the side of the fork to cut my food.
    "We need to talk," she says, pausing her consumption to dab a napkin at the corner of her mouth.
    "Is that right?" I say.
    "You can't keep handcuffing me."
    "Wrong," I say. "I can do whatever I like."
    She frowns. "It's not fair." Her lips are puffy and pouty, and I ignore an urge to run my fingers over them.
    I glare at her. "What's not fair is the complaining you do in spite of my generosity. I am keeping you here at great risk. I could've simply killed you."
    She throws down the corn chip in her hand, and rises from her chair. "I never asked to be brought here. I don't even know who you really are. Or what you do when you leave at night."
    "Sit down."
    She shakes her head no and crosses her arms. Sighing, I stand. My height dwarfs hers. I'm probably a good foot taller than she is. "I said, sit."
    "You can't order me around. I'm not your slave."
    You would have been someone else's, though.
    She makes a disgusted sound and points at me with her index finger, poking me in the chest hard. Right in the solar plexus.
    "I want to know something else," she says.
    "Oh?"
    "You know anything about missing girls at Fascinations ?"
    Fuck. Does she see right through me?
    I try to look shocked. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
    "Kenzie said lots of girls are disappearing. Are you the one making them disappear? Like you did to me?"
    "That's insanity. I don't know anything about it," I say.
    She pauses for a moment, and finally replies, "Fine. But don't tie me up anymore."
    "I'm sorry," I say, shaking my head. "I just can't agree to that."
    "What if," she says, hesitating, "You don't cuff me the nights you're home. Under one condition."
    "Go on," I say, waiting to hear her suggestion.
    "I'll sleep in your bed. So you know I'm not going anywhere."
    Her words hit me like a fucking Mack truck. Holy shit. She wants me, I know it. And I want her. I want to say yes, with every fiber of my body.
    But I can't. I won't. This is a dangerous game I'm playing, and it's fucking with me. If I don't get my head sorted soon, get this distraction out of my head, I'm going to slip up and get myself killed.
    I shake my head, trying to remain poised. "No. Finish your food and then I'm putting you to bed."

21

Penny
    A fter Havok puts me to bed, I curl up into a ball. I'm wearing a big, fluffy oversized sweater that I pull over my knees to keep myself warm, like I used to do when I was a little girl.
    I see the way he looks at me, and I thought for sure he'd let me into his bed when I asked plain as day.
    But he didn't. And it confuses the hell out of me.
    Maybe he's confused about what he wants. I know I am. Half the time, I want him. To fill me, up, to fuck me hard. The other half of the time, I want to escape from here.
    But I figure, getting out of these handcuffs and into his bed, that's a first step toward either goal.
    Well, I tried.
    I'm getting to know the sounds of the house better. I recognize when the garage door opens, when the front door opens, and when he walks down the hall toward my room.
    Right now, I hear nothing, but I still watch the clock and wait a full twenty minutes after he leaves, to make sure he's not coming back.
    Finally, when I'm convinced he's gone to bed, I reach out with my free hand and snag my purse. I pull it onto the bed, and its contents spill onto my lap. But I'm not looking for a hair tie or a tampon. I'm looking for something else. An even more precious resource that's rapidly running out.
    My pills.
    I fish around in my purse until I feel the hidden zipper. I tug at it, trying to unzip it one-handed. Finally it opens far enough to stick my finger in, and I fish out a single, small round blue pill. I threw