Sinners & Gin Read online

  I shrugged.

  “We need to get some sleep,” he said, followed by a yawn. “We’ll leave as soon as we wake up.”

  “Leave?” I glanced around the small cabin having assumed we would remain here until this was all over.

  “This was just a quick stop to rest up. The drive is still a couple hours from here, but the roads are windy and not driven often. I didn’t want to try to traverse them in the pitch dark while tired.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “I have a house in the mountains,” he answered.

  “We are in a house in the mountains.” Why swap one prison for another?

  He chuckled as he lay down and pulled me down with him. “Yeah well this cabin could fit inside a closet in my house. I think you’ll be far more comfortable in my home rather than this hunter’s pit stop.”

  I remained quiet, taking in the fact that I was about to go to his house. His comfortable house.

  “I hope it won’t be for long,” he said. “Your father and I have some business to handle, and if all goes well, and you behave and follow all my rules, you will walk out of this with every hair on your head. It will just be like waking up from a bad dream.” With another huge yawn, he turned me away before pulling me close again.

  With my sore ass nestled against him, I watched the fire flicker in front of me as Matthew’s breathing grew heavy. I couldn’t process. I couldn’t come to terms with what just occurred. I had no choice but to close my eyes and hope that when I woke up, this entire ordeal would be over.

  It was just a bad dream.

  The boogie monster wasn’t under the bed.

  No… the boogie monster was asleep behind me, holding me tight.

  10

  Matthew

  The trip to the house wasn’t exactly easy. The roads were much worse than I anticipated, so I was glad that we had stopped at the hunter’s cabin for the night. Trying to traverse the windy and rocky roads was difficult enough in the daylight. Aria sat in silence, staring out the window as we bounced our way up the mountain. I was grateful for the quiet since I really didn’t know what to say.

  Guilt.

  Yes, I had guilt which wasn’t something I had planned for in all this. And I couldn’t just blame the sex for the guilt either. I’d had sex with many women before and not allowed a connection or the need to feel I should provide more than just a really good orgasm. Stealing glances at Aria, I struggled to figure out why I almost felt sorry for the woman and why I doubted taking her up to my house and considered calling off my entire plan altogether.

  “We’re almost there,” I said.

  “By the looks of how often this road is driven, it doesn’t look like you come here often,” she said.

  “Not often enough. But I visit the house another way when I do.” I opened my fists that both held the stirring wheel tightly to get some blood flow moving into them again. “I don’t take vacations often, but when I do, this house is my getaway from everything.”

  “So, you’re taking me on vacation?” she mumbled as she continued to stare out the window at the passing pine and cedar trees.

  “I’ve made all the proper arrangements to make sure you are as comfortable as possible.” I glanced at her still sitting in her robe and grimaced at her dirty bare feet. “There’s clothes and shoes at the house. I guessed your size, so there is a variety of clothing and shoes in the closet, but I’m sure there will be something you can make do with. I also have stocked the bathroom with all the shampoos and female products that you should need. I’ll be leaving the house to conduct some business shortly, so if you do need anything else, you can provide me with a list.”

  “Fantastic,” she mumbled again as she crossed her arms against her chest. “Sounds delightful.”

  I didn’t know what else to say. I was pissed at myself for not thinking everything through. This spontaneous act of kidnapping my foe’s daughter could go down as the most idiotic move I had ever made simply because I didn’t figure in every factor. All I’d seen was red.

  Now what?

  I’d fucked her, which I had planned. But now the ache in the pit of my stomach made me question doing it again. She was mine now, in a place her father would never be able to find her, but now I didn’t know how long I truly wanted to keep her with me. I expected to be more of an asshole about this, and here I was telling her about clothes and bath products. It would have been a hell of a lot easier if this woman fought me the entire way and I had to have her tied up and gagged. Then I could just be the fucking monster that I wanted to be.

  But no. She just sat there. Compliant.

  “How do you know I won’t try to run away when you leave me to conduct business?” she finally said as we drove another slow, agonizing mile of bumps and dips that had my spine rattling with every jarring move.

  “Run where?” I said. “Have you not been paying attention to this road? It would take you days to try to get to the nearest town by foot. There won’t be any phones or computers at the house. So, you might as well try to get escape ideas out of your head right now.”

  “Or what? You’ll chain me to a chair in the basement?”

  “Or you’ll die,” I snapped. “You’ll either freeze to death trying to hike off the mountain, or some animal will eat you.” I glared at her for a split second before I had to focus back on the road. “I told you. If you do everything right, you’ll be returned to your father.”

  “You mean if my father does everything right?” she corrected. “And what if he doesn’t? Have you considered that? You’re assuming he actually cares about me enough to follow your orders and pay whatever ransom it is you want.”

  “He will.”

  “You don’t know my father. You don’t know how he feels about me. Do you really think he’s crying and distraught over the fact that you’ve kidnapped me?”

  “Any father would do what it takes to get his daughter back.”

  She huffed. “You’ll see. And exactly what is it that he has to do? Money? Is it money you want?”

  “I have plenty of money. More than your father.”

  “Then what?”

  The house came into view. Finally. My ass and back couldn’t take any more driving. A stream of smoke coming out of the chimney told me that Tennessee had arrived as planned, and knowing him, would have the house staged like it belonged in some magazine or home reality show. Oddly, it made me happy and proud to know that Aria would be safe and comfortable within the walls of my home.

  She shook her head and smirked. “Yeah, I would say this house is a step up from the shack we were just in.”

  The five-bedroom, 3500 square foot cabin, made out of heavy cedar logs wasn’t nearly as large as some of my properties, but it had a level of rustic charm about it that made it one of my favorites. The wrap around porch with the rocking chairs, wind chimes, and large carved bear with a welcome sign in its paws always made me smile as I approached. I didn’t really have a home per se. I had many of them. But this one always filled me with a sense of comfort. The twenty acres of land that surrounded it also fed into my need to own property. Since most of my businesses were in New Orleans, New York, Los Angeles and other metropolitan cities, this cabin in the woods gave me a sense of truly having a homestead rather than just several skyrise penthouses or expensive mansions in the suburbs—all of which I owned as well.

  Pulling up to the house, I took a deep breath to try to release all the tension in my shoulders from the drive.

  “It’s pretty,” she said. “Only the best cages for me, I suppose.”

  I opened the door of the truck, eager to get out. “I suppose.”

  There wasn’t any snow on the ground, but the ground would no doubt be freezing cold since a storm was clearly brewing on the horizon. Whether or not Aria wanted me to or not, I walked around to her side of the truck, opened the door, and lifted her into my arms as we were making a habit of doing. Her eyes darted around, no doubt taking in her surroundings. I wouldn�
�t blame her one bit if she were seeing if there were any opportunities for escape. There weren’t of course, but she wouldn’t be human if she didn’t at least consider the option.

  Walking up the porch, I took my own assessment of the surroundings. I had arranged for a property manager to come and take care of the house monthly, and I was pleased that he had done a good job with the exterior and no doubt the interior as well. The house was just as I had left it.

  As we crossed the threshold of the house and entered, a wave of warmth from the roaring fire in the center of the great room and the fragrant smell of something baking in the kitchen overwhelmed the senses.

  Home.

  Welcome home.

  I placed Aria gently down on the ground and slammed the door intentionally to announce to Tennessee that we had arrived.

  The fire roared, and the stacked wood beside the hearth proved that Tennessee had already made himself at home and had found the woodshed out back. He was resilient, and I’d figured he would adjust just fine when he arrived. I looked at my favorite leather chair that sat next to the fire and tried not to answer its call to me. A strong cognac, a good thriller novel, and no noise but the crackle of the fire was a strong pull right now. I could see Aria cuddled under the throw quilt on the leather couch directly in front of the fire with her own novel as it snowed softly outside the floor to ceiling windows to the right and left of the room.

  “I was wondering when you would get here,” Tennessee said as he walked out of the kitchen with a towel in his hands. He froze midstep as he locked his eyes on Aria. “I uh, didn’t realize you were bringing a guest.” He went from taking in Aria’s disheveled appearance in nothing but a dirty robe and bare feet to me still in my fancy suit—though wrinkled—with a look of confusion in his eyes. I knew the man well enough to know that he wouldn’t question me in front of a stranger, and that he would wait until we were in private to get the answer that no doubt he was wanting. I also knew that Tennessee would keep his mouth shut and do as I asked when it came to Aria. He may not exactly like the fact that I didn’t tell him I would be kidnapping a mob boss’s daughter and keeping her here for Tennessee to watch over while I was gone, but he would still do what was needed. There wasn’t anything Tennessee wouldn’t do for me or for any of my business partners. This wouldn’t be the first time we asked him to break a law, and it most certainly wouldn’t be the last. It was our world. And since Tennessee lived in our world and worked for the seven of us, he knew exactly what that meant.

  “I’m going to show her to her room and get cleaned up,” I said as I took Aria by the hand.

  “I have dinner cooking,” Tennessee said. “Plenty for all.”

  I nodded as my stomach growled in anticipation. Cheese and salami had long been digested. “Good. We’ll be down soon.”

  I tugged Aria forward when she didn’t immediately follow me. She twisted her body and snapped her hand away from mine. “I can walk,” she said, making it very obvious to Tennessee that my guest was anything but.

  Tennessee quirked an eyebrow at me as we made eye contact, but he didn’t say a single word. Good man. Good man indeed.

  “Come on. I’ll show you your room,” I said to Aria. I started for the stairs and luckily Aria followed. I wasn’t in the mood for confrontation. At least not until I filled Tennessee in on all the details.

  “I took the room next to the bathroom on the right,” Tennessee said.

  “Good,” I said. “I planned on putting her in the room across from yours.”

  “One hour and dinner is served,” Tennessee called out as Aria and I climbed the stairs. “Don’t make me hunt you both down. Dinner won’t taste good cold. So, make quick work of getting beautified.”

  When we got to the landing, I pointed at the bathroom. “There’s towels and everything you should need in there.” I then pointed to her room. “I’m sure you can find something to wear. Make yourself at home.”

  “Home?” she scoffed. “You’re a real sick bastard you know that? You are just acting like there’s nothing wrong in what is happening right now.” She pointed downstairs. “Is he in on it? Does he know you stole me from my bedroom?”

  “He will,” I answered. “Tennessee has worked for me for a long time. We go way back.”

  “Great,” she rolled her eyes, “so he’s just as fucked up as you.”

  “Aren’t we all fucked up to some degree?” I smiled, knowing I was taunting her. I could see she was reaching her boiling point, but I rather enjoyed seeing the fire light up in her eyes. It was quite the contrast to the quiet woman who’d just seemed sad as she stared out the truck window the entire trip.

  “Is that how you justify this?” Her lip quivered, but I felt it was out of anger rather than sadness. “Are you just going to tell that man downstairs that you kidnapped me, and he’s not going to care at all because we’re all just a little fucked up?”

  “I don’t have to justify myself to Tennessee, you, or anyone else. I stopped answering to anyone a long time ago.”

  “It shows,” she snapped. “If you weren’t surrounded by yes men your entire adult life, you actually would be able to see how absolutely insane this entire situation is. And that man downstairs allowing this is just as insane as you.”

  I reached for the handle to her room and opened the door. “Well, there is one thing I better warn you about Tennessee. And you better take this warning fucking seriously if you know what is good for you.” I leaned in so I could whisper the words into her ear. “You better not be late for supper or he’ll tan your hide.” I then leaned back and gave her a wink and half smile.

  Yes, I was a fucking bastard.

  11

  Aria

  I needed a shower. Bad. I also couldn’t wait to put on clothes and then burn the robe I was wearing. I could smell Matthew on me. A spicy, rich aroma that was not only intoxicating but infuriating. I wasn’t about to be one of those martyr captives and refuse to shower, eat, or sleep. I was stuck here, and until I could figure out what to do next, I might as well make the best of the situation.

  The room—my room—was warm and inviting. A queen-sized bed sat in the middle of the room covered in a quilt with deer and bears on it. There were pillows stacked in an orderly fashion that read Welcome to the Cabin, and Home Cabin Home. The rustic chic of the furniture and room accessories belonged in a ski lodge somewhere. I was pretty sure that Matthew didn’t decorate the place himself but rather hired some expensive interior designer, but regardless, it was done well. It was how I had always wished our home in Aspen was. The antler chandelier cast a warm light that wasn’t too bright, but strong enough that I could curl up in the fluffy flannel sheets and read a good book.

  Comfortable.

  Inviting.

  Not the dungeon or miserable surroundings one would expect when being kidnapped and held for ransom.

  Opening the closet door, I was surprised to see that not only had Matthew bought clothes and shoes for me as he said he had done, but the large walk-in closet was stacked full with sweaters, dresses, boots, flats, jeans, sweats, and whatever you could imagine one would need to live in the mountains.

  Jesus Christ. How long was he planning on keeping me here?

  If this were at my father’s house, I would be expected to wear a dress and heels to dinner, but something told me that I wouldn’t be expected to be as formal here. I tried to remember what Tennessee was wearing and could only remember that he was in some sort of smoking jacket and a cravat around his neck. Although he did give off a sense of comfort. Enough so that I was comfortable grabbing a sweater that screamed mountain cabin and a pair of gray slacks. I also chose a pair of black ballet slippers so I wouldn’t have to hunt down socks at the moment.

  On my way to the bathroom, I decided to stop at the window and look out, no doubt the view would be just as beautiful as the house. I needed to get all my oohs and ahhs out of the way before seeing Matthew again. No way would I admit that any part of this place was
nice. I wouldn’t ever give him the satisfaction of letting him know that this bedroom I had just been assigned was far better than the sterile and cold one I had back at home in Aspen.

  Staring out the window, I was surprised to see a large landing pad and a helicopter parked on it. But was I really surprised? No. Of course he had a helicopter, and considering how awful the road was to get here, I couldn’t say I exactly blamed him. There were tall trees all around, except for a wide-open field with just enough room for the helicopter to land safely. Actually, there seemed enough room for one if not two others to land as well. Hell, he could have a helicopter party.

  Rolling my eyes, I walked toward the bathroom. I wasn’t sure why I was annoyed by the man’s show of wealth. It wasn’t like I lived in poverty. Far from it. Maybe that was why. Wealth, opulence, and ridiculous displays of money had surrounded me my entire life. I never worked a day in my life—not that my father would have allowed it—and I had always been ashamed of that fact.

  Clenching my jaw as I turned on the water of the shower to heat up, I realized why I hated when Matthew called me princess. Because he was right. I was, and that was all I would be. My father mapped out my life until I was handed off to some other overbearing man to continue mapping the rest of it. Nothing more than being pretty arm candy was in my future, and the worst part of it was it wasn’t like any real dreams were being crushed by that fact. I had no real hobbies or passions. I didn’t have any dreams of being a doctor or a lawyer. Career was never a path I even considered because I knew better. Mafia princess was my destiny. Matthew was right. Simply calling it as it was. Princess. Fucking princess.

  I was in an even more sour mood when I got out of the shower than when I first got in it even though I was clean and felt somewhat human again. And as I did my hair, and even my makeup, I found myself getting more and more annoyed. Why was I even bothering with my appearance? Who did I have to impress? Had I been so groomed to always be perfect for a dinner, that I couldn’t even stop to remind myself that these were my captors I was dining with? They were enemies of my father and, therefore, should be enemies of mine.