Duplicity Read Online Free Page A

there.” Maxx’s concern was evident in his tone. “How do you feel?” 
    Zowie turned her head toward his voice and winced as the sharp pain brought tears to her eyes. “I think I’ve been better. Where are we?”
    “One of my places. No one knows where it is, so we should be safe. Then again, no one knows we survived the fire.” Maxx smirked.
    “Fire? When was there a fire?” Zowie was having a hard time piecing together the events and could only remember Jerald setting her up with those two thugs and getting punched.
    “Oh my God….” She gasped and started to sit up but groaned as the movement was too much and lay back down. She lifted her arms, wondering why her wrists were so sore and saw they were bandaged. “What the fuck actually happened after he hit me?”
    “Who hit you? What happened, Zowie? I need to know.” Maxx watched her closely, and she didn’t necessarily like the look in his eyes. When she looked down at the end of the bed, she noticed her left ankle was actually handcuffed to the bed.
    “What exactly is going on here? Why the fuck am I handcuffed to a bed? What happened to my wrists?” Even to her own ears her voice didn’t sound right. She recognized the twinge of panic.
    Maxx’s expression was unreadable at this point. “I’m not sure if you’re pretending you don’t know or if you’re really innocent. I found you in the VIP room hanging by handcuffs from the sprinkler system. That was after someone lobbed two Molotov cocktails through the Belles’ windows. Then while getting you out of there in my car, someone conveniently shot through my passenger window and nailed me in the shoulder. Though I think they were aiming for my head. So what do you know about this? If you’re working for them unwillingly you can tell me. I can help.”
    She looked at his shoulder and realized for the first time he had no shirt on. There was a bandage around his shoulder that wrapped under his arm. She began shaking and suddenly everything was too much. She laughed. “Let me get this straight. You think I allowed myself to be choked almost out cold, then punched, then lord knows what else happened between then and when you found me.”
    Maxx frowned and looked in her eyes with a small flashlight he took from the bedside table. She winced reactively as it caused her headache to increase. “I think you might have been drugged as well as hit, but I have no idea. I couldn’t risk taking you to a hospital, so I had a doctor come here.”
    “Well, Magnum P.I., did I volunteer for being drugged too or was that ad libbing on their part?” Groaning, she rubbed her head.
    “I don’t fucking know, but if you could tell me what happened it might help me figure things out.” Maxx glared at her.
    “How do I know you aren’t masterminding this nonsense? I get attacked for the first two times in my life in your bar. I end up here handcuffed to your bed. I’d say your motives were more questionable from where I’m lying.” She would tell him what happened, but she wanted her pound of flesh for him questioning her honesty. Looking down again she realized she also was wearing an oversized t-shirt and nothing else. Her embarrassment of how that had to have happened only added fuel to her temper.
    Maxx let out a sound close to a growl and grabbed both sides of her face to hold her head still. Then he leaned down until they were nose to nose. “Enough. I get it. I believe you. I’m pissed off that anyone touched you. I will make sure that doesn’t happen again, but you need to stop baiting me. I’m not the most reasonable right now.”
    Unwittingly, she moaned at the feel of him half lying across her and his lips so close. Maxx mistook the moan as one of pain and leaned back quickly. “I’m only keeping you here until things are safe again, and this way no one can say you were involved.”
    “I don’t know what happened. Jerald was giving me shit and telling me I should just quit and save him the