Leighton Mia - Hero

He smirks. “Not at all.”

I look back at the table. When I bend over, my ass just brushes his crotch.

“You know,” he says, slightly pushing his hips into me, “for a beginner, your stance isn’t half bad.”

“You’re trying to distract me.”

“Is it working?” His body closes over my back, and I immediately tense. His hands cover each of mine, and he says, “Bend lower.”

“I can do it.”

“Lower.”

When I bow deeper into the table, his body comes with me until his mouth is by my ear. “Your chin should only be inches above the stick.” His right hand squeezes mine and pulls gently so the cue slides through our left hands. “Relax your grip. Lock your wrist.” He presses forward, and I can feel the graze of his penis against my backside. Together, we glide the stick back and forth slowly. “Keep your cue and head lined up with the shot. Envision a direct line of where you want the ball to go. Got it?”

I nod, breathless and unable to respond, but he doesn’t move.

“Are you sure? You’ve got a lot riding on this.”

“Yes,” I rasp and clear my throat.

He remains another moment before releasing me. My heart is hammering in my chest, and I barely remember what he just said, much less anything I’ve read or practiced. I miss the shot.

“You did that on purpose,” I say.

“Sorry to disappoint, Sparrow, but I don’t need to distract you. We both know I’m going to win this game.”

If anything can diffuse the haze he’s just inspired, it’s a challenge. I straighten up immediately and look him in the eye. “That may be, but I won’t go down easy.”

His lips roll into each other as his chest pulses with a suppressed laugh. “I have no doubt.”

I slam the base of my cue into the floor. “You knew all along you’d win. Did you even consider unlocking my window?”

“Let’s just play, Sparrow. Who knows, maybe you’ll have a bit of beginner’s luck.”

I don’t. I realize halfway through that he’s missing shots to extend the game, but he doesn’t let me win. I sigh as he collects my cue and replaces it on the wall rack.

“You did well,” he says. “Really, I’m impressed.”

For whatever reason, it eases my disappointment that he thinks so. Despite my attempt not to, or maybe because of it, my eyes drift as he walks back to me. In the flimsy pants, his growing erection is obvious. When he reaches me, he stands close enough that our bodies almost touch. A new kind of fear develops in me. I’ve never willingly had a man in my mouth, and I have no idea how to do it on my own. My jaw tingles, and I bend my knees to drop to the floor.

His hand catches my bicep. “I’ll collect later.”

My lips part. “Oh.”

He gives my arm a firm squeeze before leaving the room. My loneliness is immediate and crushing. So much so that I wish he’d let me pay my debt, just so I wouldn’t have to be alone again. And because I know well the anxiety of waiting until the moment he’ll return for his prize.

Tuesday afternoon can’t come soon enough. Obligations have kept me tied up in New Rhone when I have a pressing matter in Fenndale. I leave the office early to make the two-hour drive to the Andersons’ home. Since Sunday night, Cataline’s been dangerously on my mind. Her words, her scent, her touch all cloud my thoughts. I’ve both given and taken too much. What it will take to restore balance between us won’t be pleasant, but it must be done.

But before I can face her again, I must rectify the wrong done to her. My mistake, my failure to see that she wasn’t comfortable when I thought she was. Growing up poor before the accident, I knew her tendency toward frugality. I meant for her to have a choice, but that choice was never allowed her.

My fists curl hard around the steering wheel. In order to deflect questions, I’ve always been amiable and patient with the Andersons. If nothing else, I’ve stressed the importance of anonymity—Cataline was never to know of a third party. I realize now that they’ve used that against both of us. Cataline has made it clear that their role in her life is minimal at best, and knowing that, it’s tempting to make them pay for their greed. As I pull the car into the farm’s dirt driveway, Norman’s warning from earlier is fresh in my mind.

“Remember the code,” Norman says. “The punishment must fit the crime.”

“I know better than anyone. One exception will lead to another, and eventually, our system will fail.”

“Any kill must be warranted. Maintain control. I only feel compelled to remind you because this is a more personal matter than you normally deal with.”

“Personal, no,” I say. “It’s obligation, Norman. Lately, you seem to be confusing the two.”

I hear voices in the house before I even enter, which makes them easy to locate. When I stride through the kitchen doorway, Mrs. Anderson screams, raising her wooden spoon so spaghetti sauce flies across the cabinets.

Her husband jumps up from his spot at the dinner table. “What the fuck you doing, barging into my place like this?”

“We had a deal,” I say, slamming my fist on the wooden table. “What happened to the money?”

“I don’t know what you’re on about, Mr. Lawrence. Cataline’s got a check every month like we worked out.”

“And her savings?”

“Yup, she’s got that too. All, what was it, Lynne? Must’ve been twenty thousand or something close. She’s got it.”

“That so?” I ask. “I heard otherwise, Anderson.”

He picks something from his teeth as he studies me. Fear, something that I identify easily, is missing from his expression. His flannel is only half tucked, and I watch his eyes travel down my Armani suit. “Whatever you heard’s a lie, Mr. Lawrence. If it’s the girl telling you that, she’s a little liar. We raised her, we know. Something about growing up the way she did.”

If I were physically able to grow bigger, I would be right now. My muscles are tightening as adrenaline surges to all the dark corners of my body. “You’re saying she made it up?”

He raises an eyebrow at me. “You talk to her?”

“Like I said, I heard it from somewhere else.”

“Young girl called here last month, asking after Cat. Said she’s missing, but the police done think she ran away and won’t do nothing.”

“I don’t know anything about that. You’re my only contact with her, and she’s your responsibility.”

“Not no more, not apart from getting her that money.” He nods at his wife without removing his beady eyes from me. “Lynne and I been talking. Want to know what your interest is in the girl.”

“I’ve told you, I can’t disclose that.”

“Well, maybe we disclose it to Cataline, you don’t get the fuck out of our house. I don’t know what gets you off about giving some little brat money, but I don’t think I want a part of it anymore. Perverted, high-class asshole.”

His words hang in the silence for a moment. His wife’s slight, uneven breathing borders on whimpering. Before she can even scream, I have him by the throat slammed up against the wall. “You’re a piece-of-shit liar,” I say calmly as his fingers pry at my grip. “I want a check for every last dime I’ve given you. The money I paid you and the money you were supposed to give Cataline. Right now.”

“I don’t have it,” he pants. “I gave it to Cataline.”

My grip tightens, and he’s coughing, a rough, dying noise that is music to my ears. I turn my head to his wife. “Tell me the truth, or that’s the last sound he ever makes.”

“We didn’t give it to her,” she cries. “We don’t got it, though.”

I release her husband without a look and walk over to her. She cowers against the counter, crying and muttering nonsensically.

“What’d you do with it?”

“I don’t know. Nothing. Everything. We spent it on groceries, fixing the house, a new truck. I don’t know, sir. I’m sorry.”

“You’re worthless scum. Your only purpose on this planet was to give Cataline a safe, happy home and deliver my money to her. You failed on both accounts. Have that check in my hands by the end of the week, and maybe I’ll let you both live.”

“Is that—are you threatening us?” she asks. “You can’t kill me. I have children.”

“You think I give a fuck? I’d be doing them a favor. And if you run, I’ll find you. I’m always up for a good chase.”

The man’s voice comes from the floor, where he’s crumbled against the wall. “Who are you?”

“I’m someone with the money, the power, and now, the motive to hunt you down. Nobody can save you from me. Get me my money. Understand?”

I don’t wait for an answer before I leave, busting their front door off its hinges in the process. There are female cries nearby. I know they have daughters younger than Cataline, but I can’t muster any sympathy for them. Instead, I get in my car and start back for New Rhone, calming myself with the thought that they’ll spend the next few days in sheer terror.

* * *

“Gone?” Norman asks.

“All of it. I don’t think they ever intended to give her a dime. And the stipend I provided them every month she lived there, I’ve no idea. She probably never benefited from it. How could I have missed it?”

“You couldn’t be there all the time. You did what you could. They’re the ones in the wrong, not you.” He watches me pace the room a moment. “You did well to contain your rage.”

“You’re giving me too much credit. I want to kill them still. I’m not sure I can’t.”

“You can. You’ve come too far, learned too much control to let it slip. Think of what it makes you to kill a family.”