He only realized while the guys were drilling him on the ride back that he didn't even know her name.
They took the long way, with a couple of extra loops and random detours, just in case. He didn't think she would be smart enough to count all of the turns and figure out where they were going. Even if she was, it likely wouldn't do her any good. But still, it couldn't hurt. The only downside was all the extra time spent listening to his guys give him shit.
"She's not a threat," he hissed for the hundredth time, wondering when he let them get the nerve to question him like this. "She's nobody. She's just a whore."
"With a kid!" Manny scoffed from the passenger seat. "If she's really nobody, why not just fuckin' kill her?"
"It's risky, Alex!" Georgie added.
"Risky is forgetting to lock the fucking door," Alex spat back at him. That shut him up for a few minutes. "She's not gonna do shit."
"She could be a spy," Manny said, like it was some genius realization. "What if she's one of Santo's girls?"
"You're a fuckin' idiot, Manny," Alex growled as they finally pulled up to the back entrance of the club that served as their home base. "Last I checked, I made the decisions around here. And I'm saying she's not a fucking threat. So shut the fuck up and go get her out."
"You're fuckin' losing it, Romero," Georgie muttered under his breath.
Alex spun so fast in his seat that he nearly gave himself whiplash, thrusting a finger in Georgie's face with infernos in his eyes. "I should kill your whole fucking family for leaving that goddamn door unlocked, Georgie. I don't wanna fucking hear it. You'll be lucky if I don't dump you out the fuckin' window in a body bag."
With that, he flung the car door open, marching around to the back of the car. By the time he got there, the girl was clawing, thrashing, and screaming as Manny tried to pull her out of the trunk by one arm, shouting expletives at her in Spanish and English.
Jesus, since when was he the only useful one around here?
"The fuck are you doing?!" Alex shouted, shoving the idiot out of the way to do it himself.
"She don't need to be carried like a baby," Manny scoffed and spit on the ground. "Make her walk."
"And when Benny's gotta cut her fuckin' foot off, I'll tell him to give her yours instead," he snapped, earning a soft squeak of terror from the girl in the trunk. Manny huffed, but didn't protest any more. Satisfied, Alex finally leaned down, sliding his arms underneath the girl's shivering body and pulling her to the edge of the trunk. "C'mere, little thing," he murmured, soft enough that Manny wouldn't hear and give him hell. "I got you."
He felt her relax ever-so-slightly when she realized it was him, and the action stirred something in him that he couldn't begin to understand. He wasn't sure where the urge to reassure her came from, nor the sudden protectiveness that took over him when he saw Manny grabbing her like that. Maybe the prospect of her being his the way she'd mentioned had actually started taking hold in his mind. Maybe he liked the idea of having her all to himself more than he realized.
She was crying, and probably had been the entire way. He could hear the soft, hiccuping sobs she let out under the hood, even though she tried to hide them. She had to be in a lot of pain, but she sounded more scared than anything.
When they entered the club, he found himself a little bit glad that it had taken them so long to find her. It had emptied out in regards to the nightlife crowd, at least, the music turned off and lights turned on at some point in the early hours of the morning. Now, it was back to just being their HQ, the only difference being floors a bit stickier than they were twelve hours ago.
He wasn't sure at all where all of this empathy had suddenly come from for this girl who had the potential to threaten his entire organization, but there was just something about her. How small she felt, frail and shaking in his arms, the sweet little sounds of her crying against his chest, the way she talked so openly to him about her son…
That was it. Her son.
She was in the shittiest of circumstances possible, and still, all she thought about was her son. The baby that she obviously didn't want, but still dedicated her life to. She was at that party for him, she ran out of that room for him, she agreed to effectively let Alex own her body, for him. That kind of selflessness demanded empathy, even from Alex Romero.
So, he tried not to feel like he was losing his mind when he thought it was a good thing the club was closed. She was terrified enough for his liking. Being carried into a room with pounding music and flashing lights and a thousand weird smells would only scare her more, especially not being able to see, and he didn't need to be dealing with her in hysterics.
Manny led the way up the stairs to the second-floor offices—if they could really be called that. They were actually more like apartments, with how massive they were, each one large and equipped enough that a person and their family could spend weeks, even months inside and still live comfortably. They were designed that way, just in case all hell broke loose and they needed to lock down for a while.
Alex's was the largest, of course, despite him having no family to share it with. It had three separate bedrooms and bathrooms, a full kitchen, dining room, and living room, and then, of course, the office itself. It was fitting, even if he hadn't been the very top rung of the ladder. He spent most of his time there, anyway, rarely ever spending more than one or two days a week in his actual house, no matter how luxurious it was.
She would spend most of her time there, too, he guessed. At least in the beginning, it would be easier to keep an eye on her at all times. With the amount of his people in the building day and night and the level of security, it was realistically the most secure place to keep a hostage. And, of course, she would be more…available. Not that there was any shortage of willing bodies just downstairs, but if she was serious about this monogamy thing…he would need her close by.
Benny was already waiting for them in the kitchen, as he had been instructed to be. Alex gave him a nod of acknowledgment as he passed, crossing into the living room and setting the girl down carefully on his couch.
"Get me a towel," he instructed quickly, holding her foot away from the expensive fabric. This room had seen far, far worse, but the couch was relatively new. He'd rather not have to replace it if he could avoid it.
Manny brought over a white towel from the kitchen, and Alex folded it over to make sure it wouldn't soak through before he propped her foot up on it. She wasn't bleeding as badly now, as the glass seemed to be holding the wound closed for the most part. Her entire foot was tinted maroon with blood, but it seemed mostly dry. Only a small trickle was coming from the worst part, where she must have driven the shard deeper when she stood on it.
"Don't move this," he instructed her firmly, and she gave a tentative nod under the hood. He took the switchblade from his belt and crossed over to her. "Give me your hands," he directed, waiting for her to produce her dirt-caked hands for him. He could easily have just grabbed them himself, but he wanted to instill an expectation of obedience in her from the beginning. She needed to learn quickly that anything he wanted from her was not a request.
She gasped softly as he sliced through the zip ties on her wrists. He wondered if everything would be a surprise to her or if she was just scared. He hoped the former was true. He had so many ideas for ways to make her gasp.
"I'm going to take the hood off now," he stated simply, though there was no real reason to warn her. He knew she would feel more at ease if she knew at least some of what was going on, though, and she was undoubtedly about to get a lot more confused. "The doctor is here to look at you."
When he pulled the hood off of her head, she looked even more of a mess than he'd expected. Her hair was still matted, but it looked even worse from all of her thrashing, and her cheeks had started to crack from the salt of her tears. She looked around disorientedly, then turned pleading blue eyes to him.
"P-Please, sir, my– my son," she mewled hurriedly. "There's no one watching him. I need to go home."
Alex did his best not to let his surprise show on his face. "You left your baby home alone?" He repeated exasperatedly.
More tears flooded her eyes, and he was shocked she even had any tears left. "I– I can't afford a babysitter. He was sleeping, I thought I'd be home in a few hours…" After that, she dissolved into sobs and half-formed sentences that he could barely decipher.
Alex didn't have the time or energy deal with her crying at him again. "Alright, alright," he conceded after a few seconds of her blubbering. He grabbed the notepad from the coffee table and passed it into her trembling, filthy hands. "Write down your address and whatever code you need to get in."
Her eyes turned panicked, her bottom lip quivering as she stared up at him. "W-Wh… But–"
"Do you want your kid or not?" He snapped. She sniffled and nodded, one tear dripping down over her cheek as she scribbled quickly on the paper. Alex took the notepad from her once she was done, ripping the page off and holding it silently out to Manny.
The girl turned wet, desperate eyes over to the other man. "Please don't hurt him," she begged. "He's a good boy. He's probably crying, but if you just pick him up and rock him a bit, he'll stop. He's a good boy, please– please, don't hurt him."
Alex wasn't sure why the sound of her begging made him so angry. Usually, he would like it, would revel in the power trip of her pleading and crying at his mercy. But that was the thing—she wasn't begging him. She was begging Manny, who was nothing compared to him. Of course, she likely didn't know that, but she should have known to beg him. She agreed she would belong to him, not Manny. She should have known that, at least.
"He'll do what I tell him to do," Alex hissed, both as a reprimand to her and a subtle warning for Manny.
She immediately turned to him with supplication in her eyes, clearly not realizing the threat in his tone. "Please, sir, tell him not to hurt him. He's just a baby. He's a good boy, please, I'll take care of him, he won't bother anybody."
Alex was proud of the control he exerted over himself to not let what hearing her call him sir did to him show on his face. But yes, she begged so pretty when she was begging the right person, and she deserved a bit of relief for that.
"Go get the kid," he ordered Manny firmly. "I want him back here in half an hour. Unharmed."
"Got it, boss," Manny nodded, marching from the room without another word.
The girl melted with relief on the couch, her hands grabbing fists of his shirt as she cried, "Oh, thank you! Thank you, thank you…my baby….oh, thank you…thank you…"
He was surprised by how much he liked seeing the gratitude in her eyes. Most of the time, he didn't care one way or the other. Once a girl got or didn't get what she wanted, the fun was over. Transaction completed. He lost all power over her. But this was different. He would always have power over this girl, because he let her live. She would belong to him, and only him, and everything that she had or didn't have would come from his hand.
Yes, he would definitely like this arrangement.
"Benny," he snapped his fingers and pointed to her foot, and the medic immediately sprang into action. The girl lifted her head from his chest to look worriedly down the couch, but Alex caught her chin between his fingers and forced her eyes back to him. "Don't look at him, babygirl. You're fine," he murmured.
She sniffled, her eyes impossibly big and impossibly blue as she looked up at him. "Is he really gonna cut it off?" She mewled.
Alex chuckled to himself. "No, he's not gonna cut off your foot. You just need some stitches."
"Oh," she nodded, looking mostly relieved, but the tiniest bit disappointed that her battle wound wasn't the mortal threat he'd made it out to be.
Alex plucked a leaf from her hair and tried to smooth it out a bit. "You want to tell me your name?" He prompted. The question earned him a surprised glance from Benny, but he at least knew better than to say anything about it. Yes, he should have known her name by now, but that didn't change the fact that he didn't.
She looked sheepish for a moment before she finally squeaked out, "Norma."
"Norma?" Alex nearly laughed. "That's not a hooker's name."
"Well, it's not like I got to choose it," she muttered down at her hands, and from the look on her face it was clear he'd hit a soft spot. He had no doubt that anyone else would've had the same reaction as he did, or even worse, and she was probably used to being bullied over it.
The thought made him unreasonably angry once again. He hadn't known her until a few hours ago, but something in him hated that other people had had the nerve to be mean to her. He was the only one who had the right to make her cry, not a bunch of dirty, washed-up hookers.
"No one calls me Norma," she admitted meekly, her cheeks tinted pink under all of the dirt. "They all call me Bambi. 'Cause I can't walk in heels."
Bambi. The little deer who was left all alone in the forest. How fitting.
He guessed that made him the hunter.
"Well, you sure could run in them," he cracked a tiny smile, earning a soft, breathy giggle from her. Her laugh was nice. Not artificial or obnoxious like some girls. Just quiet, feminine, but still genuine. "Norma's not a bad name," he assured her, with as much gentleness as he would allow in his voice while Benny was still listening.
"I hate it," she muttered and shrugged. "But I hate Bambi more, so–Ah!" She suddenly yelped and jerked on the couch, whipping her head around to look down at her foot.
"Cuidado!" Alex barked, earning a half-guilty look from Benny.
"It's lidocaine," the medic assured him in Spanish, carefully withdrawing a needle from her foot. "It's easier if she doesn't know it's coming."
"What is he saying?" Norma asked warily, still holding his shirt tightly.
Alex sighed, at least satisfied that his top medic wasn't committing malpractice on the trembling little deer in his arms. He went back to trying to detangle her hair with his fingers. "If you needed to know, ciervita, he would have said it in English," he told her softly.
She looked less than happy with that answer, but he didn't care. She could pout about it all she wanted—this was how his world worked. Business was done in Spanish only, and it always had been. He had spoken to Manny in English for her sake, but he wouldn't be making a habit of it.
"She won't feel any more?" Alex asked Benny, switching to Spanish once again.
"It'll take a few minutes to set in, then no," Benny answered. Alex nodded his approval, glancing at the clock on the wall briefly. Manny would be back in the next twenty minutes. He only hoped Benny could finish with her before the kid showed up and all hell broke loose.
"That was the worst of it," he translated for her. "It won't hurt anymore."
Norma nodded, looking like she was trying her best to believe him, but struggling. He'd had his share of lidocaine over the years, though, and he knew she would be fine.
"Is there anyone who will be worried about you?" Alex asked, more gently than he normally would speak to anyone. Benny knew this routine, though, so there was no need to be worried about him thinking he'd gone soft.
She seemed to think for a moment, then looked back up at him. "My brother, Caleb. He said he'd call me."
Alex smiled just slightly. She shouldn't have told him that. The fact that she didn't know better than to tell him that pleased him in a way he couldn't quite explain. If she lasted long enough, he would have to teach her how to be safe. How to count turns from the trunk of a car, and exactly what not to tell the man who kidnaps you.
"When was he going to call you?" He prodded, watching her face fall as she thought about it.
"Well…he- he said he would. He said we'd stay in touch. He's supposed to call me," she said quickly, sounding like she was trying to convince herself more than him.
Oh.
She really was all alone. Clinging to the promise that her brother would call her one day, a promise he apparently never kept.
"How long ago was this?" Alex asked her, the gentleness in his voice no longer artificial as tears slowly gathered in her eyes.
"Oh...I– I guess it was…almost two years ago," her voice broke as she seemed to come to the realization at that exact moment that her brother was never going to call her. "When I got pregnant…I had to leave…he- he said he'd call…"
Even Benny looked depressed by the sheer loneliness of this young girl, tears dripping down her face as she realized there would be no one to report her missing. Alex's guys would get things sorted out with whoever she worked for, and he doubted they would care enough to ask any questions. Her son truly was all she had.
"Damn…" he sighed to himself, letting her cling to him as she dissolved into sobs.
This wasn't what he did. He didn't hold people while they cried on him. But a part of him wanted her to trust him. When she'd relaxed in his arms as he took her from the car…he had liked being the one she wanted to carry her. The only one. He wanted her to trust him, to worship him, to need him. Only him.
Here was this beautiful young girl who'd fallen into his lap, vulnerable, afraid, and alone, offering him the opportunity to become her entire world.
Yes, he would like this arrangement very much.