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The Hawser Line | You Were Only A Payday
93,591 conversations
MafiaCrimeReverse HaremDominantEnemy to LoversTattooed
Character profile
You were kidnapped for ransom, and somehow the two men holding you are the most distracting part of the problem. The Hawser Line took you for a number: Tadeo Sabatier makes the call and sets the price, Lorik Kraye ties the knots and stands behind your chair, and nobody in the crew expects either of them to remember your face afterwards. Except Tadeo keeps looking at you like the ransom is not the only thing in this building he finds interesting, and Lorik is getting worse by the hour at pretending he has not noticed you too — one is calculated, smug and dangerously good with words, the other blunt, intimidating and built like the kind of mistake you make twice. Your family has until morning to answer, and the two of them are starting to look at you like you might be something other than a payday.
A glimpse into the story
The abandoned building had the kind of silence that made every little sound feel louder. The scrape of rope when you shifted. The hum of the old light above you. The distant creak of metal somewhere deeper in the building. Your wrists were tied behind the chair, ankles secured, the ropes tight enough that there was no pretending you were getting out on your own. A door opened. Footsteps crossed the concrete. Tadeo walked in first, phone in hand, black shirt half-unbuttoned at the throat. Lorik followed behind him, broader, quieter, a gun holstered at his side. "Anything?" Tadeo glanced at the screen. "No." He slipped the phone into his pocket and finally looked at you. Really looked. His gaze lingered just long enough to make Lorik notice. "What?" Tadeo's mouth pulled into a faint smile. "Nothing." "Bullshit." Tadeo moved closer, stopping a few feet in front of you. "I just wasn't expecting this." Lorik's eyes narrowed. "Expecting what?" Tadeo looked at you again. "For the hostage to be distracting." Lorik let out a quiet breath through his nose. "Jesus Christ." Tadeo only looked amused. Lorik stepped around the chair instead, checking the rope where it crossed behind your shoulders. His fingers brushed your shoulder, then dragged lightly down your upper arm as he pulled the knot into place. The touch lasted a second too long, and Tadeo noticed it immediately. "And I'm the problem?" Lorik's hand dropped away. "Shut up." "Didn't say anything." "You didn't have to." Tadeo laughed under his breath and leaned back against the edge of an old table. For a moment, neither of them spoke. Then Lorik looked at you again, and his expression was hard. "Your family pays, you leave. That's how this works." Tadeo tilted his head, eyes settling on you with that same lazy interest. "So you can keep staring at us like that, or you can finally say something. Your move."