Laughter filtered up the hallway as Nate led me to the back of the house. It was there we found Alesha playing pool with Sam while Toby and Jasmine watched. They were hanging out and having fun like it was a normal Friday night and they were just friends instead of captive and captors. It was a surreal scene to walk in on, especially after the tension-filled altercation I’d just come from. To make things even more cozy, they all had beers in their hands and immediately offered one to Nate and me when we entered the room. I declined. I was never accepting another drink from a Cartwright again. Also, I tended to not feel like socialising when I was being held against my will.

“Ha! Suck on that!” Alesha hollered, shooting a fist in the air after she managed to sink three balls with one shot. Glad she’s having a good time. I wondered if she fully understood the mess we’d landed ourselves in.

“She’s good,” Sam said, jerking his thumb over his shoulder to a pleased-as-punch Alesha, who was draining her bottle of beer while fighting a grin. Maybe she’s drunk? That might be why she seems so happy right now. I couldn’t get over what I was witnessing. Not only was Alesha acting as though we were simply hanging out with a bunch of guys, but she was talking to them. There wasn’t any of that stammering messiness that normally jabbered out of her mouth. She actually appeared to be having fun.

“I am kicking your arse,” Alesha crowed, gladly accepting another bottle of beer from an amused Toby. He met my eyes, something unknown flickering across his expression as he transferred his attention back to the pool game. He unsettled me. It was like there were waves of anger coming off him, but only towards me. To everyone else, he seemed fine.

Jasmine cocked her head to the side and looked between Nate and me. “You two get everything straightened out?” she asked, her eyes watching the room with hawklike attention as the devil dog sat obediently at her feet, licking its chops every time it glanced my way.

Nate nodded once. “I just need to have a chat with the queen of the pool hall here. Then I think we’ll all know where we stand.”

“Oh, I know where we stand,” Alesha said, chalking her cue. “We found your hideout and your base of operations, and now we’re not allowed to leave. I’ve watched enough TV to know how these things work.”

“And you’re not afraid?” Toby asked, amusement in his tone as he watched her line up a shot.

“Why would I be afraid? I stand in a refrigerated room and put make-up on corpses for a living. This is the most excitement I’ve had in years. There’s hot guys and beer, and bonus, my dad can’t come and haul me off to confessional every chance he gets. This place is like a resort to me.” She grinned, then took a shot.

The family all exchanged silent conversation while I just stood there with my mouth open, wondering what the hell happened to my nervous best friend.

Jasmine placed her half-empty bottle of beer on the grey marble–topped bar that was built into the cream-coloured walls. “Can I see you in the office?” She directed her question to Nate, not waiting for a response before she walked across the terracotta tiles, her feet bare and Rogue the Boston terrier clicking along behind her.

Nate followed without a word, leaving me alone with his brothers and Alesha. Toby looked at me head to toe and then back up again. Was that disdain in his eyes? “You’re trouble,” he stated, sucking back on his beer.

“I’m trouble?” I pointed to myself. “I’ll have you know my life was nothing but simple up until the moment you lot came into my life with your five-finger discounts.”

“Insurance companies need us to stay in business,” he stated.

Before he could go on, I rolled my eyes and added, “People wouldn’t insure if people didn’t steal, keeps the economy going, yadda, yadda, yadda. I’ve already heard the spiel. You’re still a bunch of criminals.”

“Holland!” Alesha reprimanded me. “Don’t be so rude. We’re guests here.”

“They are keeping us here, Alesha. We aren’t allowed to leave. How are you OK with this?” There was a shrill sound to my voice.

She shrugged. “What do you want me to do? Cry? Scream? Shake and rock in the corner? They’re not going to hurt us.”

“What makes you so sure about that?”

“I think the fact that I’m standing here playing pool instead of being tied to chair with a gag in my mouth might be a pretty good tip-off. Plus they’ve had ample opportunity to hurt you, in particular, and so far you’ve just had sex—sex so good, I might add, that you went back for a second round, which is what landed us here in the first place.”

“So this is my fault?”

“Yes, Holland,” she asserted. “This is very much your fault. We might as well make the best of it.”

“But we can’t leave.”

“So? What are we going to go back to? Netflix and no chill? Your apartment is empty. Mine is filled with religious paraphernalia. I like it here.”

“B-but…,” I spluttered, trying to come up with a reason why she should be feeling as indignant as I was. “But they’re thieves.”

“The economy needs thieves,” she parroted. She’d obviously taken a really large gulp of the Kool-Aid.

Sam walked over and slung his arm over her shoulders, completely dwarfing her with his size. “She learns fast, this one. You might want to take a few pages out of her book, Holly.” His blue eyes landed on mine as he drank from his bottle in silent warning.

“Don’t call me that,” I growled.

“I think I’ll call you whatever I want.” He took a step forwards, but Alesha grabbed his forearm.

“Just not Holly, OK, babe?” Babe? “It’s the pet name her parents gave her. She hasn’t let anyone call her that since they died.”

One of his eyes twitched slightly and his lip curled in a sneer. “Then I’ll call her hole. Since that’s all she is to my brother anyway—a hole to fuck.”

My eyes locked with Alesha’s. There was compassion in hers, but I was surprised she hadn’t jumped to my defence. Ouch.

Toby chuckled. “By the expression on her face, she’ll likely become a black hole to destroy you, Sam.”

Sam growled and turned away, hooking his arm around Alesha’s waist and tugging her with him.

I pressed my lips together, my stomach twisting in discomfort. I’m living in the Twilight Zone. How could Alesha be so accepting? It was obvious they were dangerous. We were a threat to them; we had the power to bring the police right to their door. At what point would they decide it would be easier to drop us in a ditch than it would be to keep us quiet? The thought hurt my head.

Alesha returned to playing pool, innocuously joking around with Sam while my stomach grew tighter, my chest began to ache. I felt claustrophobic even though I was in an open space.

What have we gotten ourselves into? Why didn’t I call the cops when I had the chance?

As my eyes searched the room, analysing all points of entry and exit, I caught Toby staring at me, his eyes cool as steel. There was something unrestrained about him that set all my nerves on edge. If there was any real danger in this place, it would come from him.

“You might want to do something about that bite on your arse,” he said after a moment. “Dogs’ mouths aren’t the cleanest things.”

I twisted my hips and fingered the tear in my pants, noting the stickiness of the drying blood. “Am I allowed to use a bathroom?”

He nodded and pointed to a door off the games room. “There’s a bathroom in there. And don’t even think about climbing out the windows. They’re all alarmed.”

Walking cautiously towards the door, I turned the knob, pushing it open to reveal a bedroom with grey carpet, white walls and timber furniture. The bedspread was several shades of grey with silver thread and beading. Above it, a framed black-and-white picture of a silhouetted girl looking out at the setting sun. Besides a few decorative pieces, there weren’t any trinkets around, no signs that anyone occupied it. A guest bedroom, perhaps? I continued through and entered the en-suite bathroom, almost falling over when I caught my dishevelled appearance in the mirror. There was dirt on my cheek, grass in my hair, and my complexion looked bright red and patchy.

There’s no way Nate would want me. Not looking like this. I looked like a homeless person.

I stopped myself, frowning at the thought. Why would I want Nate to want me? After everything he’d done, how could I possibly be holding out any hope that he’d want me? I should hate him. I should want his head served to me on a platter, his balls delivered for my lunch.

Yet there I was, looking at the mess in the mirror and the first thought I had was ‘Does he still think I’m pretty?’ God, I was a sad and sorry excuse for a self-respecting woman.

Turning on the tap, I used the hand soap to wash my face before I finger-combed my hair and tied it back into a ponytail. Opening the cupboards, looking for any first aid supplies, I found cotton pads, Dettol and some Band-Aids. That would have to do.

Wetting a flannel, I pulled my pants down so they were just below my arse cheeks, then tried to angle myself so I could see the damage that little dog did. My skin argued against the coarse cloth as I cleaned the tacky blood away, and I winced a little from the pain. I was not looking forward to using the antiseptic.

Just as I was rinsing the blood from the flannel, a large semi-familiar figure filled the door frame, causing my insides to flip excitedly, nervously. He held a first aid kit.

“Looks sore,” Nate said, eyes on my bare arse.

“That little dog has a good set of jaws,” I replied, trying to keep my voice even as I continued to clean myself up.

“Let me help you.” He stepped closer, setting the first aid kit on the vanity. The moment he was in my space, I could feel the pull of his body calling to mine, stealing my breath. I wasn’t sure I could be trusted alone with this man.

“I can do it myself.”

He wrapped his hand around mine and pried the flannel from my grip. “I wasn’t asking permission.”

Placing a hand on the top of my arse, he pushed my T-shirt a little higher, then crouched so he was level with my injury. Gently, he wiped at the small puncture marks.

“I don’t think they’ll need stitches. The bleeding has already stopped.” He took the cotton pads and Dettol from where I’d placed them and saturated the pad, pressing it against my arse cheek.

“Fuck,” I hissed, the pain like needles in my brain.

“Almost done,” he said, his voice soft as he dabbed at the area.

I leaned forwards, gripping the edge of the basin as I tried to focus on anything but the sting from the wound. “Everything sorted with your mother?” I asked through gritted teeth, thinking that maybe conversation would keep my mind off it.

He blew gently on my skin. “She’s angry. Rightly so. I messed up.”

“Because of me?”

“Mm-hmm.” He opened the first aid kit and took out a large adhesive plaster. “I put my desires ahead of the job. And now we have two extra people to worry about.”

“You think we’ll go to the cops.” It was more of a statement than a question.

He laid the plaster over my wound and smoothed it with his hand. “Wouldn’t you?” He looked up and met my eyes.

“If you hadn’t caught us… probably.”

“So now we have to work out what we’re going to do about that. Do we keep you?” He grabbed the waist of my pants and pulled them down my legs. My insides tingled while at the same time I tried to hold them up.

“Don’t,” I argued.

He only tugged harder. “Do we let you go and hope for the best? Or do we make you disappear and our problems along with it?”

I closed my eyes. I didn’t want to disappear. “Nate,” I whispered, pleading in my voice.

He wrapped a hand around my ankle, lifting my leg as he pushed my shoe off and fully removed my pants leg, then did the same on the other side.

“Please, Nate,” I whispered. “Just let me go. I won’t talk.”

“She was leaning towards getting rid of you. There’s a lot of vacant land around. It’d be hard to find someone if we buried them deep enough….”

My eyes pricked with tears and my throat tightened. “Wh-what did you want?” I asked, breathing hard as his fingers danced over my skin, heading towards my apex. I shifted away, not wanting him to touch me while we were having this conversation.

“To keep you. My desire for you is, after all, the reason we got into this mess.”

“And you still desire me?” I already knew the answer to that. This thing between us was inexplicable. My brain said to hate him, but my body cried out with joy whenever he was near.

“Very much.” His fingers brushed lightly against my outer lips. “All I can think about is being inside you.”

My hands tightened on the basin in front of me and I gasped. “And she… she agreed to let you k-keep me?”

“She thinks I should be punished for putting the family in danger. Getting rid of you would serve that purpose.” He pushed a thick finger inside me, his breathing kicking up a notch as he pressed his lips against my arse, just below the sticking plaster. I wanted to cry out in fear but also surrender to the ecstasy.

“Oh God,” I gasped, overwhelmed by the opposite emotions. They swirled uncomfortably in my gut and made my body shake. “Don’t do this.”

“I talked her out of it.” He moved his other hand to the front of my thighs, sliding up until his fingers found my clit and gently teased. “I reminded her that we were thieves, not murderers. We’ve come to an… arrangement of sorts.”

“Arrangement?” I was shuddering over him, my mouth open as my need swelled and my objections melted away.

“Mm-hmm.” He added an extra finger, working me until I was on the brink. “I get to keep you, but….” He paused as I came undone, my insides tightening around his hand as I pulsed against his fingertips, my hips rocking. “My God, duchess, I love watching you come.” I felt the heat of his breath against my bare cheeks. “You’re so responsive to my touch. So warm. So wet.” He stood and unzipped his pants, leaning me forwards as he positioned himself at my entrance. “My cock is aching to be inside you.”

“What happens if you keep me?” I urged, my voice barely audible as I fought to remain standing and focused. It would be easy to get caught up in his dirty talk and let my worries fly further away with every orgasm he gave me. But it wasn’t just my possessions at stake this time—it was my entire existence. Still, my pussy pulsed in anticipation.

“I have to marry you.” With that, he pushed inside, filling me so swiftly that my eyes bugged out.

“What?” I gasped, freaked out by his words while his thick cock did magical things to my insides. “I don’t… I don’t want….” I could barely speak with him inside me. It felt too good and robbed me of my senses.

“You don’t want to marry me?”

I shook my head and he continued thrusting, his hand on my back, the other gripping my hip.

I don’t want to have this conversation while you’re fucking me.

“I’ll admit that I wasn’t too keen on the idea either,” he gasped. “Marriage wasn’t something I ever considered. But then”—he quickened his pace, thrusting deeper, harder—“I thought about having unlimited access to this.” He rammed his hips against me, grinding, sliding a hand under my shirt and cupping my breast, twisting my nipple until I cried out. “And I thought it might.” Thrust. “Just be.” Thrust. “Worth it.” He slammed into me, the strain evident in his last words as he came inside me, spilling his seed into my depths. “You feel so good, duchess. Even better when there’s nothing between us. So yeah, you get to be my wife. I get to fuck you whenever I want, and you can’t testify against me if I’m ever arrested. It protects us both.”

He pulled out and flipped me so I was facing him, cupping his hand between my legs and catching his cum as it spilled out. “Looks like we both get what we want, huh? You get to live, and I get to watch you come for the rest of our natural lives. You excited?” He grinned and then pressed his mouth to mine, forcing a kiss.

At first, I didn’t want to respond. I was shocked and angry, confused and raging. I’d given up on the idea of marriage when I hit my thirtieth birthday and had yet to have a serious boyfriend. Then suddenly, this guy comes along and tells me that I have to marry him or I die. It wasn’t exactly the romantic proposal I’d envisioned as a child. It wasn’t even the amicable agreement I’d thought might happen as I got older. This was plain-as-day caveman bullshit that gave me limited choice. Death or marriage, death or marriage… ummm, I suppose I’ll take marriage since I’m not too keen on the whole being dead part just yet.

“Come on, duchess.” He sucked on my lower lip. “You can’t honestly tell me there isn’t at least some part of you excited about this. You and me, fucking and fighting, fighting and fucking. It’ll be beautiful.” The moment I opened my mouth to respond, his tongue stole my words like the thief he was. As he twisted my head to the angle he wanted and deepened the kiss, I lost my fight. Releasing a tiny moan and wrapping my arms around his neck, I surrendered, so horribly weak where this man was concerned. All he had to do was touch me and I was his. It made me sick in a way. In another way, it made me a very satisfied woman.

“Wait. What happens if we get married and then you decide you don’t want me anymore?” The thought struck me the moment our locked lips parted.

He leaned over and turned the tap on, washing his hand and collecting a fresh flannel. “If my dick is as good a judge of character as I think he is, we’re gonna be fine.” He pressed the clean flannel between my thighs and cleaned me up. “He likes you a hell of a lot. The rest, as my grandmother used to say, will come out in the wash.” He dropped the flannel back into the sink. “You know, another thought crossed my mind as I was fucking you. Those hips look like they can carry big children. I wouldn’t mind an heir.”

What?

“An heir? You just informed me that we’re getting married and now you want me pregnant with your kid so you can what, teach him or her to steal like you do?”

“Every family has their particular skillset.”

I ran my hands over my face and shook my head. “This is the craziest fucking proposal I’ve ever heard.”

“Not a proposal, duchess, a certainty. This is your life now.”

“No, my life is teaching and singing. It’s being a friend and a niece, not an accessory to crime and raising children destined to populate the prison system.”

“Cartwrights don’t do time. We work smart and we stay safe.”

“Then why do I have to marry you?”

“So you can live. So I can keep an eye on you. So that on the off-chance I do ever get caught, you won’t be the person to put me there.”

“I could still be an informant.”

“Are you trying to blow holes in my argument? Do you want me to let Jasmine dispose of you and your friend?”

I sealed my lips shut and shook my head.

He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to the top of my head. “That’s what I thought. Now get dressed. I put some clothes on the bed for you. We have an engagement to celebrate.”

Never one to stay quiet for long, I opened my mouth to release the words that were bursting to get out.

“What about Alesha? What’s happening to her?”

He leaned against the doorway. “Same deal.”

“This is bullshit. You fuck me like that’s the solution to all our problems, but you’re taking away my choices and are completely unapologetic about it. Now my best friend is caught up in it too. You caused this, Nate. You preyed on me. You took everything I owned. Now you’re taking the only thing I have left. You’re taking my freedom.”

“You’re wrong, duchess. I’m giving you a life you never dreamed of. I’m saving you.”

With that, he left the room, leaving me with nothing but a confused mind and my reflection staring back at me.