In for a Penny Pt. 02

(Continuation of Part 1)

After a twisting, turning drive that gained significant elevation, Ko alone brought her to, she assumed, the terrifying blond man's home. No blindfold this time, she tried to take careful note of the few details she could glean during her brisk journey through the palatial home.

The large man's long, purposeful stride put him slightly ahead of her as they traversed the black-and-white checkered floor of a lavish kitchen. Resting on the grey marble countertop along their path, the metallic glint of a knife caught her eye. She carefully timed a lag to grab it with her off hand. And...

Bingo! She had the steak knife! Flipping the handle so the cool blade lay flat against her forearm was the best she could do to hide it, given her shirt-and-panties situation.

Their tour ended in a cavernous living room with expansive windows that looked out onto a shimmering pool and sparkling, distant city. Three puffy, cloth-covered couches formed a mustard yellow C around a substantial circular table. She caught a glimpse of at least two flat TVs mounted to the walls. Shoes were scattered where the lush, nearly-white carpet met the tile, and round wooden coasters littered the frosted glass top of the table.

A door just out of sight burst open with a loud kick. "Bennie! Don't be an asshole! These are *my* doors."

"Sorry." The familiar mutter.

The boss and Bennie came into view. Spreading his arms wide and bowing slightly, the smiling blue-eyed man chimed, "Welcome to my home." The little bald man still wore his purple satin jacket, but the other man had changed to reveal his athletic, if pale, physic, now sporting notched black lounging shorts and a flowing silk robe. Wide, slashing brushstrokes of red and yellow on white framed his bare chest.

His blue eyes assessed her from across the room, lingering at her hips. She tried to keep her arm with the knife held casually out of view. Nothing to see. Nothing to not see. Just standing here.

The flickering city lights in the background drew his gaze. "It's a nice view, don't you think? The windows provide a great perspective."

Disquieted by his clunky choice of words, she looked over her shoulder, nodding in suspicious agreement. "Sure."

"Nothing sharp to say that time?" He winked.

"Ko, make us all some drinks while we," he gestured invitingly to the couches with a convivial smile, "sit."

Trying to move casually, she took the center of the nearest couch, pretending to adjust herself while her right hand dipped between the plush cushions, safely stowing the weapon before it was detected.

Taking the opposite couch with Bennie, the spiky, bleach-blond man collected the drinks as Ko brought them out, sliding the small, heavy glasses of pale green liquid into a single row. "We're all going to drink one — Believe me. You could use it — But as a show of trust, you can pick which you drink. You aren't having anything we all aren't." A flash of white teeth. "Trust is important." The words lay heavily.

"Well, which one do you want?" He leaned back, outstretched arms preventing him from being pulled deeper into the voluminous couch as he appraised her.

On reflection, something numbing did, in fact, sound appealing. She considered the four placid surfaces for a moment. Looking up to meet his weighing eyes, "Can I have them all?"

His barking laugh was quickly followed by Bennie's sycophantic mimicry. "No," the blond man answered flatly, nodding toward the row of drinks once more for her selection.

Pressing her scuffed feet deep into the sumptuous carpet, she tipped forward to reach across the table. Mindful of the concealed knife at her side, she took the easiest to reach of the middle two vessels.

"No rhyme for guessing? No flipping a coin? No Princess Bride?"

"You said this was about trust," she said in growing exasperation. He seemed determined to unsettle her with inscrutable expectations, making her feel like an actor in a bad dream, called to the stage with no lines prepared.

Smirking, he took the remaining center glass. Icy blue eyes veiled in reverie with his first sip. Tipping his hand to the stern-faced man standing by the vacant couch, "My compliments."

Bennie downed his serving quickly, overt enjoyment culminating in a raucous "Whooo."

There was a scent of melon as she brought it to her lips, its green hue plainly from midori, followed by a peppery combination of indistinguishable counterparts. More than palatable, the concoction was depleted in two gulps. She stared at the last jade drops as they pooled at the bottom of the otherwise empty glass in her hands, tremble already beginning to calm.

"See?" He continued to sip gingerly at his nearly full beverage.

"Ko, get another for these two."

"Savor it this time," his intense eyes again boring into her, catching her breath. The refreshed drink appeared before her. A single spicy-sweet sip seemed to satisfy him. The pale man leaned back once more with a comfortable smile, silk robe spilling open across the deep yellow of the cushion, knees spread wide.

"Now," pivoted the boss, pointing his drinking hand at Ko, who was standing at casual ease back near his spent beverage on the bar. "Bennie and me were talking on the way over here. And I just can't figure out what your deal is today. Cause I've asked you do to some, let's be honest, awful things." The conversation wicking all moisture from her mouth, she took another sip nervously, eyes racing from one man to the other.

Ko's square face turned to her grumpily, then in a definitive tone "Is there something you need me to do?"

"Plenty," the blond man flashed her a cruel smile and brief wink. Barely able to swallow around her pounding heart, she tried to take another sip while putting her other hand down near the concealed knife. "And Bennie here seems, shall we say, enthusiastic about that." He cocked his head. "You don't."

"Are you in some sort of committed relationship I somehow didn't know about? If so, that's adorable!" His chummy tone openly mocking. "A meaningful anniversary coming up?"

Hoping to obscure the movement of her creeping right hand, she replaced the angular-bottomed glass on the vast circular table.

Ko glared silently at his employer.

"Unless you developed a chivalrous streak overnight, you don't have some 'problem' with hurting women." Pulling his head back in recollection, the blond man cavalierly added, "You've killed at least two for me."

"Yes," Ko affirmed curtly. Adrenaline rushed the alcohol through her system, quickening her breath and emboldening her right hand to drop between the cushions.

"So what's the hang up? Bennie said you didn't recognize her at the house. So I know we didn't, like, accidentally sweep up someone you happen to know."

His blue eyes becoming vacant in thought, he took another drink and shook his head. "There's no way you're a virgin at your age." He was piecing together a puzzle less than talking to anyone.

"We can drop this," Ko said stiffly.

The blond man leaned back more fully into his overstuffed seat. "Are you gay?" he asked with a half smile that fed on Ko's uncomfortable shifting.

Bennie jumped forward on his seat, face alight with puerile astonishment. "See?! That's what I said!"

Closing his eyes rather than look at Bennie while tilting his head in his direction, the boss corrected, "No, when you said it, you hurled it as a pejorative, while I posit it as a legitimate hypothesis." He let the flowery words soar above the excited man's shaved head.

Hidden, her fingers were wrapped satisfyingly around the smooth handle of the knife. For a singular moment, her tiny triumph felt meaningful, but the abrupt and devastating thought "Now what?" came with the realization that no one was close enough to reach. She cautiously withdrew her hand to wait for an opportunity.

"Is this going to be a problem?" Ko asked flatly.

A jovial laugh as if to put the room at ease, the blue-eyed man beamed out, "Of course not! As long as you do what I tell you, why would I care?"

The serious man's unsure nod answered the rhetorical question.

"Did you think I was going to fire you? Come on!" A wide gesture to the empty couch. "Relax. You know, this is why we should talk more."

"I hate this," the beefy man grumbled as he lowered himself dutifully onto the remaining couch, willing himself to relax, as directed. Bulky shoulders rose and fell with a deep breath, but his dark expression remained untouched.

"Just to make sure I know what I'm working with here. You," the boss pointed to Ko, grey mountain of sweatsuit filling much of the mustard couch, "aren't attracted to her." He swirled his finger dramatically in the air before landing it on her diminutive form.

With the sigh of someone who has had to explain a basic trait too many times, the large man said simply, "No."

Leaning forward, calculating again, the blond man said, "So you don't want to fuck her."

More forcefully, he repeated himself, "No."

"But you would. Right?" A pause just long enough for everyone else to catch up. "If I told you to."

Her wide brown eyes darted to Ko, who, worryingly, also looked disarmed. Bennie was holding his sides with impish giggling.

The soft rounding of Ko's steel eyes was short-lived, their commiseration ended. A new unsettling edge sharpened his expression as his shoulders inflated with tension. "Yes."

"Fantastic!" The boss exclaimed cheerily as he raised his green glass. "And good for you, breaking stereotypes. I really wouldn't have guessed," he continued, voice casually dancing through the discomfort he was sowing.

Heart racing, she jumped as he returned his laser-like attention to her. In a smooth, nearly charming tone, "Why don't we get to know each other a little better?"

He crossed, fluid and unstoppable, like a wave about to pull her under.

The jarring crystalline clink of glass impacting glass caused her nerves to visibly jerk again as he delicately placed his drink beside a wooden coaster on the frosted surface of the table. As his approaching body sank into the cushions, she fought her eyes' magnetic draw to the hidden knife.

In a clumsy dodge, she lunged at the table, seizing her drink with both hands, their tremble reawakened. Turning to face him in her seat, she pulled her knee up and across in a move that would, in a normal situation, create space. The hamfisted deflection merely earned her a condescending grin.

"Okay. Get to know me," she stammered. "What do you want to know?" awkwardly attempting to deflect.

The blond man scoffed, a brief flash of anger as he plucked the glass from her hands. "Well," playing along with the faux small talk, "What do *you* think I don't know?" As he angled toward her with menacing slowness, his hands sank into the cushion by her sides and the light silk robe slid to his elbows, exposing creamy round shoulders above his smooth chest, muscles bulging into view as they supported more and more of his weight. "About you." Every inch she retreated was filled by his approaching form until he hovered directly over her.

"I knew where to find you," he said, helpfully removing a wrong answer. Lowering his chest to pin hers, the blond man's hands wrapped around her wrists, sticky with bits of residual glue, and brought them up to her head. "When you would be alone."

Continuing to tick off intimate details with slow precision, he buried his face in her neck. "I know where you work. Your schedule, route, and coworkers," he plucked at her core with each deliberately stated item.

His body completely covered hers, pressing her hard into the pliant cushions. As he began kissing the delicate skin below her ear, her terrified silence was finally broken by a frightened whimper. Mouth to her ear, a single word, "Cry." She felt the rumble of the order through the thin t-shirt that separated their chests. The combination of delirious stress and alcohol, command and fatigue, overtook her at his direction. The welling desperation in her heart that she'd been holding back gushed out. The first heavy tear overflowed onto her face with a telltale sniffle. From her neck, he cooed, "There we go. That sets the mood better."

Pushing himself onto his elbows to look into her face, he smiled tenderly. More tears leaking from the corners of her fearful brown eyes. "You're a psychopath."

"Maybe," he said with a shrug and smug smile. "But I don't really like sitting with doctors. And I don't find labels too helpful."

Without turning his attention from her meandering tears, the boss called out, "Bennie? Our patient caller?" A moment later, she heard her name.

"Penny?!"

——————————

"Penny? Penny?! Is that you?" Blinking loosed enough tears to barely see her boyfriend's distraught face on the wall TV across from them. "Oh my god!"

As he paced frantically, the shifting background showed their home in shambles. The bookshelves lie broken atop their strewn contents, smashed TV topping the pile of debris. Glass from at least one shattered window added to the crunching under his feet as he walked back and forth in their tiny hallway, half a light fixture and bulb fragment sticking out of the ceiling like a broken tooth and its exposed root.

In the corner of the television screen, she saw herself locked in a rectangle with a horrible man staring down at her, colorful silk draped around them, legs mingled.

"Mike?" He felt impossibly distant as she called out his short name, the confusion and hurt in her voice clearly breaking the young man.

"Please! Don't hurt her!" he croaked desperately.

"I find her, unlike you, to be witty and charming and a *delight* to be around," the boss spoke to the man in the TV but at Penny beneath him.

Running his fingers through already disheveled hair, the young man, tips of his dark brown security uniform barely visible at the bottom of the screen, said, "She doesn't have anything to do with this, though!"

"Well, she does now," he callously retorted.

"I'm sorry. I don't — I can't give it to you. I don't have it anymore," Mike continued to implore.

The blue-eyed man released Penny, pushing himself up to sit facing the TV as she curled her knees to her chest protectively and pressed deep into the side of the plush couch.

"No," the blond man said categorically. "Because you never wanted it. You gave it to someone. And if you had been smart, told me who back when we first talked — or, fuck, even reached out to me, as I so generously suggested — we wouldn't need to be having *this* conversation. But no, you decided the buck stops with you for some reason." He shook his head in irritated disappointment.

The scared face in the TV looked at Penny, who was thoroughly dumbfounded by the evolution of the conversation. "I'm sorry! I panicked! I made a mistake but —"

"Mute him, Bennie."

"Yup," feet spread wide and with his own custom laser sound effect, Bennie pointed the remote at the TV with both hands. "Pew!" The animated face silently remained on the screen.

"Hey, hey," the boss waited a moment for the young security guard to realize what had happened. "Listen," pointing to his ears sarcastically. "It's not complicated." He shook his head condescendingly. "It's very simple." A patronizing nod. "You may not have it, but you know who does. Go get it. And until you return my property, she is my property."

Sneering, he corrected, "And to be clear, you made a *series* of mistakes."

Mike mimed wildly, but the blond man shook his head and repeated his gesture. "Can't hear you."

"I think I'm in the hills! Big house, two underground levels, three —" Ko's hand smacked over Penny's mouth as he pulled her backward, over the rounded edge of the couch.

The blond man, slightly taken aback by her unanticipated outburst, rose to face her. She didn't bother struggling this time against Ko's powerful grip as he pinned her arms to her sides and covered her entire lower jaw with his massive hand.

"Someone's been paying attention," the pale man quipped. "And might even be resourceful."

If you only knew, she thought bitterly as she glared into his cool eyes.

"Although you didn't really think it through." He paused, then took a deep breath, "Just like you didn't think this through." Turning, the boss retrieved the knife as easily as if he'd concealed it there himself. Muffled cries behind Ko's thick fingers as she suddenly found the motivation to struggle in vain against his insurmountable grip.

Tapping the blade in his hand, a reprimanding look for Ko over Penny's shoulder, the blond man's gaze dropped to the terrified young woman. His red and yellow splashed robe fell completely from his arms to the floor, leaving only his black shorts against his pasty skin, like a censor's bar that followed his movements.

Unable to move as he examined her neck, Penny watched with wide-eyed dread as the devilish blond man placed the tip of the knife under her ear, letting the blade lie across her pulsing carotid artery. It pressed just firmly enough for her to feel her own rushing blood move it up and down. Her breathing was short and quick, panic rising as he slowly drew it down to the center of her chest. Pausing briefly over her heart, his blue eyes shot her a warning look.

Reversing the knife's direction, the point snagged and pulled the cloth of her t-shirt. Tracing the line of her collarbone, the tip of the knife slid under the bunched fabric. Firmly gripping the shirt over her chest, he roughly yanked the knife sideways through the bursting fabric. A muffled scream from behind Ko's hand.

"Get your arms out of the way." Sighing audibly, Ko shifted, releasing her mouth to take her arms from behind at the elbows.

"Please —" her panicked pleading stopped by his slender pale finger over her trembling lips.

"Shhhh..." Collecting the remaining shirt with both hands, the pale man pulled violently in either direction, tearing the thin material apart. He closed his eyes to appreciate the simultaneous sounds of ripping cloth and her frightened squeal.

The rough edges of the torn shirt curled in on themselves as it hung open, putting her rounded breasts and full nipples on display. He pushed the tattered former-shirt back, off her shoulders, Ko allowing it to pass his hands on her elbows, to crumple to the ground around her.

Standing before her nearly naked body, considering, the blue-eyed man mused, "I wonder how long we'll have you."

Casting a glance over his shoulder at the TV, "I'm *shocked* that you're sitting there watching this and not out getting my drive." Blurred movement as the screen moved, then black.

Shaking his head and rolling his eyes, he turned back to Penny. Raising an eyebrow as he looked at the knife in his hand, he shrugged, then held it out for Bennie, who was staring at her freshly exposed breasts as they bounced slightly with her stiffening body. "Put this somewhere out of reach."

He turned to her and sighed, wagging his finger. "That was a bad idea. Terrible execution. Ideas like that will get you hurt." He rested his hand on her bare chest just above her breasts, thumb and forefinger on either side of her throat. "Don't be stupid." Her heart pounded against his palm. "Okay?"

A quick nervous nod. "Good." Withdrawing his hand slowly, his fingers trailed lightly down her chest, thumb grazing her nipple as it passed, eliciting a sharp intake of breath.

"Let her go." The icy gaze followed her carefully as Ko released her arms. Instinctively she covered her chest.

"Awwww," Bennie lamented immediately.

"No," the word soft and clear as the pale man's fingers wrapped around her wrists, returning her hands to her sides. His firm grip eased, then he released her. Standing uncertainly, she waited as he had positioned her, arms at her sides, passive, exposed.