Diamond (Rare Gems #2)(29)
“The only thing saving your ass right now from joining Morton is the fact that Thad asked me not to harm you. Well, not really, but he didn’t give me the okay to kill you when I asked.” Ward glanced up at her and then dropped his head when he saw that now not only did she have fangs, but her eyes were red. Not bloodshot like his were most of the time, but a true red. Sweat ran down his spine, and he felt a chill in the air. When she snapped his head back by jerking his hair, Ward whimpered like a child. He knew the sound; he’d made plenty of children do it in his lifetime.
“Do you know how hungry you make me with your pounding heart and fear spiking your blood?” She licked along his pounding pulse and moaned. Ward felt his bladder let go, and he didn’t even care at this point.
“Are you going to kill me?” His voice sounded whiny and childlike. He hated it, but he was glad for the moment that she didn’t tear his throat out. But when she lowered her head and he felt a pinch at his throat, Ward knew he was a dead man. Jane lifted her head and licked her lips before she took a step back from him.
“Delicious.” She sat down in a chair as far from him as she could and still be in the same room before she continued. “I’ve drank from you. Not nearly as much as I’d like, mind you, but enough to know your every move, your every thought.”
Ward nodded and tried to think what the f*ck she was talking about. Thad, he thought, he was doing this to him. Making him fearful and terrified so he’d do what he wanted. When Jane spoke, he was no longer really listening. He was thinking of ways to get back at them both, Jane and his brother, for putting him through this. When he realized he was alone, he got up and looked down at himself. There was a dark stain on him, but he’d also ruined the chair, and the carpet would need to be cleaned as well. Deciding that he might as well mark the rest of the room, he was just unbuckling his belt when the door opened. A security guard was standing there with his gun pointed at him.
“You think to shoot me?” The man shrugged. “I wouldn’t advise that course of action if I were you. I know people. My brother owns this place, and he’ll be pissed if you harm me.”
“You think I give a good shit if your brother is a little upset about me messing up his office? Hell, I’d probably get a raise. You get yourself on out of here and I’ll make sure you get out of the building all nice and safely.” The man made it sound like his safety wasn’t all that much of a concern of his and proved it when he shoved Ward against the wall and then onto the elevator floor when it finally opened.
“I’m going to report you.” The man shrugged again. “You’ll see that you get into major trouble with Thad when he comes here for me.” Suddenly, Ward found himself against the elevator wall about three feet off the ground. He jerked and pulled on the hand at his throat, but the man was simply too strong.
As he walked him through the lobby like this, Ward was beginning to see stars. He was going to pass out long before he was let go, he just knew it. When he was free, the ground came up and slammed him hard, and he lay on the sidewalk looking up at the sky while he tried to wrap his mind around what the f*ck had just happened.
As Ward made his way to the car he’d taken from Morton’s garage, he started to replay the things that had happened in his mind. First and foremost was Jane. Did she really have fangs or did she have those fake ones he’d had as a kid at Halloween? Likely. She was just a plain Jane. He laughed at his own joke as he stopped at a light. And her biting him. Not f*cking true. How the hell did he even think that? She’s pinched him, just as he’d thought she’d done, that’s all.
And the security guard? Nobody could lift him that far off the ground. It was his mind, which had been full of coke, playing tricks on him. Smiling as he continued to go along the road back to his home, he realized that his brother was more than likely in the f*cking place too. His brother was in his office right now laughing it up with Jane on how she’d made him so afraid…no, not afraid, but nervous. She’d made him so nervous that he’d left without looking for Thad. Ward looked down at his pants and snorted. Somebody was going to pay for pouring some shit on him.
Ward had it all straight in his head now. Thad was in big trouble if he thought that he was going to get away with treating him this way. He was Ward Galloway, and no one, not even his own blood, was going to do this and get away with it.
There was a note stuck to the door when he got back. Morton either had to pay up on the electric bill or he was in danger of being cut off. He did remember Janey girl saying something about paying the bills. He wadded it up and tossed it on the floor. Going into the house, he headed straight for the kitchen and opened the refrigerator.
“Nothing.” Ward moved what appeared to be several hundred Chinese containers out of the way to unearth a bottle of cheap wine and a single can of ale. “You’re killing me here, Mortorie old man. When you have a guest coming, put in the good stuff.”
Taking out all the containers and setting them on the counter, he started sniffing them until he nearly made himself ill from it. These things were all bad, and he didn’t have anything to eat. Not even bothering with a glass, Ward started to go through the cabinets to find at least something to eat as he finished off the liquor. There were a few things he could cook and eat, but he’d never been one for doing for himself. He’d have to either hire a chick to cook for him, which right now was not a financial option, or he could simply find a job. Earning money to order in sounded good to a point, but then he’d have to go and do work, not anything he wanted to do.