Free HEAT Vol. 2 (Master Chefs: HEAT Series #2) by Kailin Gow

see, the thing is, when we looked at
his contacts in the phone, guess what we found.”
    Again,
I shrugged.
    “The
number of the convent.  Now, why would he have the convent’s phone number in
his contacts if he never called you?”
    “Maybe
he just spoke to the Reverend Mother to make sure I was okay,” I offered.  In
the back of my mind I still refused to believe my father was alive, but a part
of me began to wonder.
    “Nice
try.  You really have an answer for everything, don’t you? You know, I was
really hoping I wouldn’t have to have you slapped around a bit.  These guys can
be a little heavy handed sometimes.  You’re so pretty.  It would be a shame to
ruin it, don’t you think?”  He stepped back.
    I
cringed in anticipation of a blow, but none came.  Instead I was released and
the men walked again, once again closing the door behind them.
    Hours
passed and when the door opened again, I was cold, tired and dizzy with
hunger.  I wanted to go home. I wanted to put an end to this.
    “Lucky
girl,” Rial said, seemingly in a good mood.  “We’ve had a change of plans.”
    His
goons came in and pulled me to my knees while Rial came to stand in front of
me.
    “We
were fortunate enough to get a call from a… let’s say, an associate of your
father’s.”
    “Good,
so now you have him.  Now you can let me go.”
    “Not
so fast.  His associate wasn’t very talkative and refused to give your father’s
location, but…”  He nodded at his men who brought me to my feet.  “I did tell
this associate that I had Anthony Cooke’s lovely daughter.”
    “So
what are you going to do with me now?”
    “Well,
I guess we just have to sit and wait it out, don’t we?”  He turned to his men. 
“Bring her to the Bonne Nuit hotel.  Make her comfortable… secure, but
comfortable.”
    “Wait,
you can’t hold onto me indefinitely.  People are waiting for me to come home. 
They’ll be looking for me.”
    “Relax. 
You’ll be home soon enough… if your father comes through.”
    After
being blindfolded and shoved into the back seat of a car, I was taken to a
nearby motel.  With the blindfold off, I looked around at the room.  While it
was better than the storage room at the warehouse, it was still dingy and
smelled of unspeakable things.  It was disgusting and I just wanted to leave,
but Rial’s men were parked right outside the door.
    Sitting
on the bed, one wrist handcuffed to the bedpost, I watched television.  The
news was on, and I hoped there would be mention of my missing, but there was
nothing.  Was Bobby worried about me?  Was he looking for me?
    The
door opened and Rial came in.  Had I met him under different circumstances, I
might have been attracted to him.  There was something so mysterious about him
and he exuded the kind of sensuality that probably drove all the women wild.
    He
closed the door and came to sit on the edge of the bed.  Despite my fear of
him, my body had a strange and unexpected reaction to him.
    “Are
you coming to release me?” I said, hoping beyond hope that he would put an end
to my ordeal.
    “Not
yet.”
    “What
are you going to do with me once you find my father?”
    “I’ll
let you go.”
    “Just
like that?  You’ll let me go?”
    “Yeah. 
Once I get a hold of your father, I don’t need you anymore.”  He set his hand
on my thigh.  “Unless you want to just hang around.”
    I
jerked my leg away and he laughed.
    “Oh,
right.  The good little Catholic girl.  Tell me, are you still a virgin,
Lilly?”
    “That’s
none of your business,” I spat.
    He
grinned and his eyes narrowed.  “Fiery.  I like that.”
    “You
know, if what you say is true, and my father is alive, and he finds you, I hope
he shoots your head off.”
    He
exploded with laughter and when he brought his eyes back to me, there was a
strange, almost hypnotic gleam in his eye.  “Funny, you never would have said
that all those years ago.”
    Intrigued,
I wanted to