The Beguiler

Chapter One

Melody

I tremble. How could that be? To have your breath shaky. Shit!

Rough hands shove me, causing me to fall to my knees. My tied hands reach out to grab me before I hit the ground. I am worried that they might bleed if it is rough.

Is that really what you are worried about, Melody?

I hear someone laughing, and I shake my mind away. I am unsure if I should sit up straight or stay bent over-I'm wearing a skirt that's way too short to stay this way-but if they wanted to do something to me, my guess is they would have by now. And so far, all they have done is tie me up, put a beanie on my head that covers my eyes, and throw me in a car.

"This is her!" A deep voice grumbles, which makes me sit up straight as it rumbles through my chest. I glance up to see this man, but then realize there's absolutely no reason at all to do so, considering I cannot see with the black beanie over my head effectively blocking my vision.

My hands are still tied in front of me, but they're no longer touching the ground, which is a hard surface. Cement maybe? I can't really tell.

"Yes, her." I'm kicked forward again, this time I'm not fast enough to stop the impact of my face meeting the floor. My forehead cracks as it makes contact, and my eyes squeeze shut as a burst of pain shoots through me.

"Gentle," that gruff voice states. "I don't want to break her..." I swallow as he pauses, "... yet."

Hands push me back, making me sit on my doubled back legs while one hand wraps around my throat and tightens.

This is the part where I should be screaming. I should be doing something, anything to fight this man. Except my body doesn't want to. Instead, it locks and freezes at his touch.

I've heard stories of this happening, how your body locks up, even though you should be running, screaming, anything to get yourself free. I didn't believe it was possible until this very second. How can your fight or flight response not kick in?

I'm a good girl, having never done anything bad in my life.

"Boss, we can dispose of her easily enough."

Something snaps in me. "No." It's croaky, but I manage to squeak out the word.

The hands around my throat don't move, but his breath I can feel and smell through the beanie has a minty scent as he leans in closer to me.

"No," he says. "Do you even know why you are here, Melody ?" This man says my name as if he knows me. I don't know him-that voice, I would remember it. Trying to analyze him will do me no good. I can't see his reactions, so I go with gut instinct about what I want to say.

"No," I say because I have absolutely no idea why I am here. Which makes this situation even worse because I can be clumsy and forgetful. But for me to have done something to put me in this situation where they are talking of physically harming me? No. That's not something I've done.

"Maybe you should ask Helen."

I pull back at his words, finally trying to free myself from his grasp. He holds me in place, the pressure hardening at my movement. "So, you know now, don't you?" I hear him take a deep breath, breathing me in.

"Where is she?" I ask with more venom than I thought I could muster. I feel the tears welling in my eyes, which I can't reach to wipe away, so they fall helplessly down my cheek and soak into my beanie.

"So, that got your attention." He pulls back. Well, I think he does, as I can no longer smell his breath near my face, and his hand on my throat loosens until it drops away completely. "Melody ! You don't mind if I call you that now, do you?"

I try to keep my smart-ass mouth shut at his words.

"Look, you're learning, much faster than Helen did."

A small, shaky cry leaves me as heavy footsteps surround me. Hands reach under my arms and pull me up roughly, so I am standing on my own two feet.

"Where is she?" I ask the one who is doing all the talking. I can't tell where he is now that his hands aren't touching my throat, but my guess is he's in charge, so I direct my voice to where I assume he's standing

"Helen stole over a million dollars from me, Melody . You will help me get that back. Or else Helen will forget to breathe."

My mouth opens wide in shock at his words.

A million dollars? Fuck.

How?

Why?

So many questions.

And the last but most important one.

How the fuck am I meant to get that much money?

I'm smart. I earn good money managing one of the busiest clothing companies in the world, but I don't come near to earning that. And my savings is next to nothing, since I just bought my first home.

"Do you understand me, Melody ?"

My brain is too busy trying to figure out how to pull together that much money. Selling my house won't even give me half, and Helen has no assets or money. Our parents died a long time ago, so it's just Helen and me.

"How long do I have?" I ask.

The beanie is ripped from my face, my blonde hair, which was being held back, now sticks to my lips and I push it away with my tongue. My eyes are blurry, and I can hardly make anything out as he starts talking again, so I close my eyes and listen to his voice.

"You have one month, Melody ."

My heart drops, and I open my eyes, zoning in on that voice.

The man standing in front of me is not what I expected. Actually, he is anything but. If I saw him walking down the street I would stop to stare. If he were one of my company models, I would have stayed the whole shoot instead of instructing what I want, then leaving like I normally would.

No. This man? He is an attractive bad man, nothing more.

But despite his eyes that seem to stare straight through me, his hair is best described as scorched chestnut in color and appears tangled. He also has a nose ring and a slight beard.

Who is this man?

He looks like a grungy, hot supermodel. Not someone who just had his hands around my neck telling me I had one month to pay him back for something I haven't even done.

One of his hands, which is free of tattoos, reaches into his pocket. He pulls out his cell phone, snaps a picture of me, and places it back where it was.

His amber, almond-shaped eyes stare at me as he glances me up and down before speaking, "You look different to Helen."

My blonde hair doesn't match her black hair. My wide hips don't match her narrow little waist either. If you put us side by side, the only part we got from our mother was her lips, there's not a single thing else. We both look like our fathers-different fathers.

"Do you plan to hurt me?" I ask, managing to look straight into his amber eyes.

"I told you, not yet." His hands stay at his sides, but when I look down, one twitches. I quickly look away and behind me where there is no one.

"They are outside that door." His dark voice rocks through me as I look at the red door that would provide freedom. But what's the use when he knows who I am? He takes a few steps, his lips right at my ear. "You could run. You could definitely make this more fun..."

I turn around fast, and he doesn't step back as he inhales me. My body freezes when a knock on the red door makes him step back just a fraction so he isn't near my neck anymore. A shiver I was holding in wracks through my body.

"One month," he repeats.

"I don't have that kind of money," I reply, looking at him.

"Would you like to make a deal?"

Goddamn! My head tells me no, run, and try to find a way to make the money. You should never make a deal with a devil. Yet, here I am, nodding my head because my voice is lost.

"I need to hear you say it, Melody . Would you like to make a deal so you can work off your sister's indiscretions?"

"Yes," I squeak.

He steps forward, his hand reaches up, and when it does, I catch a glimpse of a tattoo from under his black sleeve. Another peeks out from under his collar on his neck. Are they all over his body?

He pulls on a piece of my blonde hair, and then lets it slide between his fingertips.

"I'll own you until her debt is paid. You do understand this?"

Nodding, it seems to be what I am good at right at this moment.

"Your life will not be the same. Any jobs you do for me will be confidential. Do you understand?"

My eyes search around the empty room frantically.

"Melody , this will not work if you go mute. It will do nothing to assist you, but it will piss me off."

"Yes..." I hiccup. "I understand."

He walks over to a fold-up chair, which is the only thing in the room, and reaches for a watch, then places it on his wrist.

Why was that off in the first place? is all I can think.

What was he planning to do with me?

"My sister."

"Alive," he says, easing my mind. "For now." Then he walks past, brushing against my arm as he goes to leave me standing in the cold, empty, cement room. He reaches for the red door and pulls it open, letting light in. It's then I see the two guys standing there waiting. Both look at me, then him as he speaks to them before they walk off.

He turns back, those eyes that I'm sure will haunt me tonight stare right at me.

"Goodnight, Melody Coleof TrenchLane."

My eyes go wide at his words-he knows my street address-before he smirks and turns, letting the red door slam behind him on his way out.

The minute the door shuts I fall to the cold floor, and the tears I have been holding back fall, leaving my soul heavy.

Helen.

What have you done

Chapter Two

Danny

Ocean blue eyes-that's the only reason I didn't kill her, those ocean fucking blue eyes. A woman has never stopped me from doing what I'm meant to be doing. It's how I got to where I am. It's why I am so good at what I do. No one walks over me, and my business thrives on everything I have a hand in.

We sit out front of my building as we wait. The tint on the car windows makes it almost impossible for anyone to see in, and even if she did, Melody has no idea what car she was put into anyway.

The sun has set when she comes out. The sky now dark and ominous, which I find fitting. When she emerges with her hands wrapped around her, the skirt she's wearing-which is way too short-seems to be a little higher than it was before. Her lips quiver with the cold, and what fucking beautiful lips they are. She looks down and reaches for her cell; one of my guys left it there for her so she could get home. I can't have anything happen to her when I have such plans for her.

The minute she stands clutching at her cell, she looks around. It's not a busy area, but there are a number of cars parked along the curb and in a few surrounding lots. I watch as her eyes zoom in on the one we are in. It's as if she can sense me, and it makes me smile. She doesn't move for a moment, simply stares at the car before she looks down at her cell, more than likely getting an Uber.

"Do we wait, sir?" Derick asks.

"Yes," I say without hesitation. "Then follow her."

After she finishes with her cell, she looks back up at our car, her hands skimming at her skirt and her head dropping to the side, assessing where I am. She puts one foot in front of the other toward the car. Is she going to come this way? Maybe even tap on the window? She takes another step in our direction, but she seems to stop herself and puts the cell to her ear. Whoever it is on the other end has distracted her.

"Is she fucking anyone?" I ask Derick, who's been watching her for the last few weeks.

"No sign of any men in her life, sir."

Her eyes look down at her feet as a car pulls around the corner. An Uber must have been close for it to be that fast. Melody doesn't pull the cell phone away from her ear as she climbs in, but she does look my way one more time.

A smirk I didn't know could form, pushes my lips up.

Those ocean blue eyes are going to be fun to break.

Helen sits on her bed with her eyes filled with tears.

"Don't tell her. Please, don't tell her."

"She knows, Helen." My back hits the wall as I watch for her reaction. She doesn't disappoint, taking a deep breath and screaming at me from the bed, but doesn't make a move toward me.

"How could you," Helen says between hiccups. "How could you?"

"Helen," I say her name, but she doesn't answer. I take a step toward her, lifting her chin so she has to look at me. There was a time I thought she was beautiful, but now I see the ugly inside her, and that's the way it will be. "I could still kill you. Would you prefer I do that instead?"

Helen is overdramatic, this I have come to realize as we have spent time together. She throws herself back on the bed with her hands above her head as she continues to cry. Her theatrics do nothing for me.

"She's perfect. Thea is perfect. She already thought I was a bad egg, now you just confirmed it," she says, the tears not leaving.

"Tell me more about Melody," I ask. Actually, no, it's a command.

Helen stops the tears straight away and sits upright. Her head drops to the side as she looks at me. "You like her, don't you?"

Helen doesn't deserve my answers, so I don't say anything.

"She's pretty, but I'm exotic. You can have me! Don't you want me instead?" Helen's hand touches my arm, and I look down at it.

My tone is aggressive when I speak to her. "Remove your hand, Helen. Now."

She drops it fast and pulls away from me.

"Tell me about your sister, Helen. Now."

Her dark eyes, which are the opposite of her sister's, look at me before she starts talking. And believe me, Helen likes to talk.

"She manages some shops," she says with an eye roll. "Been working with them since straight out of school." Helen lies back on her bed and starts to play with her hair, twirling it with her fingers. "She hasn't dated anyone seriously since high school." She pushes up on her arms and looks at me. "Is this what you want to know? Who she's fucking?"

"Who is she fucking?"

"No one. She's a prude with a vicious mouth." She scrunches her nose up. "Thea can be mean with her words." Helen lies back down and continues to talk while looking at the ceiling. When I get sick of her droning voice, I walk out with ocean blue eyes stuck in my head.

A prude? In that skirt she had on? I don't see that at all.

No, I see her bent over with that skirt around her waist and my hands in her hair as I fuck her from behind.

Shit.

Shaking my shoulders, I get back to work.

Chapter Three

Melody

Even though they took me there, I did not return to work that evening to pick up my car. I can not seem to find the strength to return there. Not yet. I spend the entire night in my tiny home, and the next day I have a hard time getting out of bed in the afternoon.

Was it a dream? If it was, it was an unbelievably bad dream.

I call Helen more than once, five times to be precise, and not once does she call me back.

Does he have her? Is she okay?

We may not be the best of friends, but she is my baby sister. And that has to count for something, right? I mean, I agreed to do whatever it was that man wanted from me to protect her.

For fuck's sake, what has she gotten herself into?

Throwing off the covers, I get out of bed and quickly pull on whatever I can find, which consists of gray tracksuit pants that have seen better days and a hoodie that's ten times my size. Putting on my old sneakers and placing my cell in my pocket, I start the trek to Helen's place. She's living with a friend, and it's not too far from where I live, but we still hardly see each other. Running my hand through my messed-up ponytail, I start to run. She has to be there. If she isn't, then what happened wasn't a dream. Which, right now, I am really hoping it is.

But what about my car?

You left it, so you will have to run. But it doesn't matter, I like running because, for some reason, it calms me.

I slow down when I reach the building where Helen lives with a roommate. Hers are more open apartments, this one is a block, and Helen lives on the third floor. There's an elevator that is always broken, so I know I will have to take the stairs.

Kids are out the front kicking a football as I make my way into her building complex. Glancing at the elevator, the closed sign taped to the front confirms my previous thoughts. Taking the stairs two at a time until I reach the third floor, I walk to her door and notice it's open. Knocking anyway, Alex ducks her head around and offers me a smile as she stands there with weed in one hand, a lighter in the other.

"Sis." Alex says with a wave.

I hate when Helen calls me that-you can guarantee it comes with her wanting something.

"Helen with you?" Alex looks past me, then starts to roll the joint in her hand.

"You haven't seen her?"

The joint goes to her lips, and her hair, almost every color of the rainbow, covers her face as she goes to light it. I wonder how often she's set herself on fire, then shakes my head at the thought.

Alex looks up at me, taking a long drag. "Nope, but when you do, tell her rent is overdue. She can't keep expecting me to cover for her."

"You shouldn't cover for her to begin with, Alex," I say.

Alex shrugs. "Helen doesn't have much help. I'm it, you know?"

What a load of shit! Helen can get anyone to do anything for her. She has that type of charm. She can weave me around her little finger, and I know it. And now look where the fuck that has gotten me. It's also the reason why I'm here. This little visit isn't to see my sister. No, it's to work off her damn debt.

Fucking hell, Helen! I want to scream the words so loudly, but I hold myself back. Will this sister of mine ever grow the fuck up? She has to. Helen's twenty-three, and it's time for her to work out what she's going to do with her life.

I'm not her mother.

I'm not even her guardian.

Even if that hurts to say.

I have looked after her for way too long. I cut the strings with her when she reached twenty-one, when she showed me she wasn't planning to do anything but drugs and party for as long as she could.

I won't be an enabler.

I can't because my mother enabled my alcoholic father, and in the end, it's what killed them both.

I will not be the same.

"How long has it been since you've seen her, Alex?"

Alex, who's clearly forgotten I'm standing at her front door, looks up and smiles. "Ummm..." She scratches her head, and I can see the nicotine marks all over her fingers. "About two weeks or so."

"It's been ten days, to be precise." That dark, menacing voice comes from behind me, and my heart takes a leap in my chest. My hands, which were by my side, reach up to grab the door frame.

"Alex, do you know this man?"

Alex, who's way too busy getting high, doesn't even look up, nor does she care by the looks of her.

"No, she doesn't," he answers. "I'd prefer to keep it that way. How about you take a walk with me, Melody, since you're clearly dressed for one."

Removing my hands from the door frame, I manage to turn around to face him. It's slow and awkward, but I need to turn around to make sure he's real.

My eyes stay downcast as his shoes come into focus-black boots. His jeans are rolled up at the bottom-they are ripped and hugging his legs. And as my eyes move farther up, he's wearing a long, white T-shirt.

"Are you working up the nerve to look me in the eye, Melody?" he teases.

"Yes," I answered truthfully, my eyes sitting at his neckline.

He doesn't move closer, simply reaches his hand up and goes to touch me. I freeze on the spot as he caresses my cheek ever so softly, and pushes up so I have to look at him. When my eyes meet his, his hand drops, and he wipes his fingers on his jeans, as if touching me was somehow dirty. I don't have any makeup on, so I'm not sure why he felt the need to do that.

"How about we take a walk?" He turns then and starts down the stairs.

Contemplating if I should follow, I wait, just watching him. Looking back over at Alex, she's now lying on the floor, face toward the ceiling with her eyes closed.

"Melody." My name comes impatiently from his lips.

"Do you have her? Answer me, and I will follow. Do you have Helen with you?" I yell. I can't see him anymore, so it means he's already down the first flight of stairs.

"Yes, I have her. You know this."

Something inside of me deflates as I close my eyes. I put one foot in front of the other and walk to the stairs. Touching the railing, I feel its cold metal between my fingertips and look down. He's there, standing halfway down the next flight of stairs, looking up, watching me with his hands at his sides, his mouth in a straight line, and those eyes locked onto me. Does he know what emotion is?

Stepping down the stairs quickly, I come up behind him, stopping until he starts to move again. I can smell him. The scent is of smoked wood and the ocean, and I think, How is that even possible?

When we reach the bottom, he holds the door open for me, letting me walk out first. The sun hits my face as it starts to set. Turning back to look at him, he's watching me, eyeing me up and down, which makes me feel like I shouldn't have left the house in what I'm wearing in the first place.

"You dress like this normally?"

Ignoring his words, because he does not need an answer as to how I dress, I walk past him until I am on the side of the road to head back toward my place. I pause, thinking if that's a smart idea, then realize he has been there before. He knows where I live, and probably a whole lot more than he's letting me believe.

"You're wondering if you should go toward your house, but then you realize I know exactly where you live."

My head flicks back to him, fast.

"Am I wrong? I am hardly ever wrong." His mouth moves, but there's hardly any real movement. There's no emotion; everything he says is dry and lifeless. He steps in front of me until he reaches a car that is similar to the one my boss owns. I know it's expensive because when she purchased it, the first thing she did was bring it out and show it off. Then she told us the price tag; it was more than what I could make in years of working.

He opens the passenger door, then looks at me, his eyes on my baggy clothes before he waves to his door. "Let me take you to get your car, which I know you haven't collected from your work."

"What is your name?" I ask, realizing he's never given it to me.

Oh, Thea, when was he meant to give it to you? When he kidnapped you?

I shake my head at his open door and his non-answer of my question.

So, he can know everything about me, but I am not allowed to know anything about him?

"Get in the car, Melody, we have things to discuss."

"You won't hurt me?" I touch my forehead where a bruise is still forming from when he took me.

His gaze skims over the spot, then focuses back on my eyes. "No. I will not touch you at all."

I believe him. I don't know why, but for some reason, I do.

Walking over to his car, where he's already standing, I climb inside, and he shuts the door behind me. Looking forward, I see the car is even flashier inside than my boss's and think that maybe this is an upgraded model.

"You don't plan to kidnap me again?" I ask while buckling my seatbelt.

"Not today," he says, pushing the button to start it. He heads off in the direction of where I work. At first, no other words are spoken, and my leg starts to involuntarily bounce as I wait. He can't seriously offer me a lift and demand I get in the car with him if he doesn't plan to speak to me. What's the point?

"You seem agitated. Do you get agitated a lot?" he asks with his hands firmly on the wheel, staring ahead.

"Just when I'm in a car with a kidnapper," I retort while scrunching up my nose, but with a smile.

He huffs as if he finds my words amusing. "Maybe you should take better care of your family."

Oh no, he didn't just say that! He has some cheek, I will give him that. Take better care of my family? Who the fuck does he think he is? All I have ever done is take care of Helen. In the end it got tiring, and I couldn't keep doing it. The fact it was bringing me down as well meant I needed to allow her to stand on her own two feet. She is an adult, and it was time for her to grow up.

"You know fuck all. Keep your damn words to yourself, unless you plan to use them in a way you know is true." My hands clutch together, and I sit there waiting for him to tell me off, to tell me he's planning to punish me for the way I've just spoken to him. Anything. But he does nothing but drive in silence until my blue car comes into view parked exactly where I left it.

Guess he didn't want to talk after all.

When he comes to a stop, he clicks the doors unlocked and stares straight ahead. "You'll accompany me tomorrow night to a function. Your payments start then," he growls with his fists clenched and eyebrows firmly pinched together in a scowl.

I know there's no room for me to argue. I am to go to whatever function he wants me to and do as he asks, it's part of the deal.

"Dress?" I ask, in a voice that I hope isn't shaky. I don't want to give him anything.

"Cocktail. Something will be sent to your house in the morning."

"I have work."

"It will be there before you leave." He dismisses me.

I slide out of his car and head to mine, and when I turn back, he's watching me. But I can't make out his expression.

And that?

That's what scares me