Christian stood at the kitchen stove with his back to Mimi. She was sitting on a chair and he could feel her eyes following him as he moved around the room and heated up some food he’d prepared the day before. He tried to dredge up some of his earlier anger, but it wouldn’t surface.

Seeing her bloodied arms had almost undone him. Yes, he’d metaphorically shattered some hearts, but he’d never physically injured a woman. Never. And the irony wasn’t lost on him that the first woman he’d hurt was Mimi. And she was right. It was a stupid move on his part to leave her handcuffed to that beam. If something had happened to him, she would’ve been in serious danger. He didn’t want to harm Mimi. So if he didn’t want to hurt her, what exactly did he want? Did he truly believe that he only came here for an explanation for why she’d never contacted him? He shook his head when he thought about how juvenile that sounded. He wanted to kick himself in the ass for mentioning it to her. But that was how he rolled. Spur of the moment, hotheaded, and off the rails.

He smiled when he thought about the punch to his face and the head-butt that had bloodied his nose. Mimi was a spunky thing and he wasn’t used to that. Women usually made sappy fools of themselves to get his attention. He never remembered one challenging him. Some had done their best to aggravate him, but challenge him? Never. And he could definitely say that a woman had never struck him. But she came at him a few times and as much as he wanted to use the punch and headbutt as an excuse to resurrect his ire, he couldn’t. As a matter of fact, it had the opposite effect. It not only showed her as a strong woman worthy of respect, but it also made him see himself as she’d seen him. As a monster.

I am a monster, and to try and be something else to save face with Mimi isn’t who I am, he told himself. With his back still to her, he gruffly announced, “Like I said earlier, you’ll be staying with me a few days.” He spun around and gave her a serious look. “Don’t fight me on this. I don’t want to use the handcuffs again, but I will.”

She stood up from the chair, her hands clenched at her sides. “This is ridiculous, Christian. It’s obvious you think I somehow betrayed you and you planned this. You had someone investigating me. I don’t understand why you would go to such lengths. I thought we were friends, but you’ve taken this to a whole new level. You remind me of—”

“My parents? Your parents?” he cut in.

He could tell that his answer caught her by surprise. She was going to say something else, but he nailed it. And she knew it.

“Look, Mimi,” he said as he leaned back against the counter and hooked both thumbs in his belt loops. “I was at a friend’s house and he was messing around on the computer. I guess it was a one-in-a-million shot, but your picture popped up on Facebook with a bunch of kids from your college. Apparently, my friend and one of your friends had some connection. I knew the school where the picture was taken and tracked you down.”

She cocked her head and frowned.

“I don't believe you," Mimi said through slitted eyes. "And even if I did, I don’t see what any of this has to do with you methodically planning my abduction!” With her hands on her hips she moved toward him.

“I guess it doesn’t have anything to do with it,” Christian countered. “I wanted to see you and like I said earlier, I don’t ask.”

“Well, you’ve seen me, Christian.” She held her hand out. “My phone and car keys, please. I can make it ho—back to college before it gets too late.”

“No," he replied immediately. "And don't try to leave on your own. I hid the keys to my truck and your car outside before I came in. And if you think you can make it to your car and use a key you might have hidden, it'll be fruitless. I messed with your engine."

He watched her take a deep breath as she carefully measured her words. "You know what? I'll play along with whatever this is." She swept her hand through the air. "However, contrary to what you might think, other than averting a nuclear disaster of some sort or a life-and-death situation, I can't come up with one plausible explanation for what you've done."

Before he could reply they both heard her stomach grumble. In an attempt to avoid answering her question, he barked, "We'll eat first. Talk later."

Instead of being embarrassed, she tried to peek around him to see what was on the stove. Mimi realized then that the only thing she'd consumed in the past twelve hours was a few bites of a honey biscuit at the gas station. "Whatever it is, it smells good. I guess your mother taught you to cook." She eyeballed the food when he stepped to the side.

"My mother can't boil water," came his dry reply.

"If memory serves me correctly, your mother made the most delicious going-away dinner for my family the night we left Florida."

He scoffed. "My father made that dinner."

Mimi couldn't contain her surprise, and he gave her a crooked grin. "It's a family secret," he admitted. "Now sit down and I'll bring a plate over."

He watched her as she shook her head and went to sit at the table.

"Stupid jerk thinks he can order me around. Reminds me of someone else with testosterone overload," she mumbled as she took a seat and scooted the chair up to the table.

Christian set a dish full of food in front of Mimi and took the seat opposite her. After a few bites, Mimi prodded, “Any other family secrets I should know about?”

When he didn’t answer, she continued, “How are your parents? What’s new with your little sister? She’s almost a teenager now, right?”

“Yeah, she’ll be thirteen next year,” he replied.

“What about your brother?” Mimi asked. “Did he end up becoming an attorney? I remember he mentioned that once.”

She knew she must’ve hit a raw nerve when Christian set the glass down he’d lifted to his mouth seconds before without taking a drink.

“Slade’s a prosecutor with the district attorney’s office,” he grunted, unable to hide his scowl of disapproval.

“By the look on your face I guess you’re not very close with him?” she probed.

“I live with him,” Christian snapped.

“You live with him?” She leaned forward. Setting her fork aside, she continued, “I guess he knows about all of this and gave his blessing?”

Christian leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. “Slade doesn’t know anything, nor would I tell him. He’s too much of a goody two-shoes. He has enough criminals to chase without being involved with my shit. Why do you want to know so much about Slade?”

“I don’t,” she shot back. “I was asking about your family in general. He is part of the family, right?”

Christian didn’t answer her, concentrating on his food instead.

They didn't speak during the rest of the meal, giving them both time to contemplate their current situation.

Mimi tried to draw on memories of Christian as a child. The few happy times she could remember helped her tamp down the anger she felt when she let herself think about the extremes he’d gone to in order to get her alone.

Christian was trying to reconcile his earlier thoughts about treating Mimi like every other woman he'd ever met and having her in his bed before morning. Recognizing that she wasn't like every other woman made the need to possess her even stronger. He wanted Mimi and he wouldn't let her leave this place until she wanted him too.