It pushes me to seek him out among the guests and watch his every move in the hope that the next one will bring him closer to me. Whenever he sends m... one of those barely-there smiles, I feel like agreeing to anything he suggests regardless of how much it might hurt my friend. The thought of him actually following through on his promise leaves me feeling on edge and unable to focus. I need to snap out of it or people are going to start wondering what’s wrong with me. “Ellie?” “Hmm?” I shift. ”“That’s good, Arnie. That’s really good.” I stuck my tongue out at the man who’d stopped eating ramen. I doubted Arnie would be swayed by money. He sounded very loyal, dog loyal. “Which one is your cot, Arnie?”“It’s that one.” He pointed.I stood up and held out my hand. “Terry wants me to reward you. Is Carl coming back soon?”“Nah, he needs a poke. He don’t come back for a day after he gets his poke.” He looked up with worried eyes. “He hits me when I go for a whore.”“I’m not a whore, right. And I was rewarded with That Smile. Times ten.She babbled the whole ride home about how great it was. Another convert for BossMania. I walked her to her porch, and, instead of running in the door, she grabbed me. And kissed me, long and deep. I was breathless-and I know she was, too.Bruce Pixie Dust? I hoped not. This time I was going to test the theory. Well, first, I had to make sure the convert was taken care of, so I went out the next day, headed to the record store, and bought Alex a. She almost gave up hope until she saw his foot twitch and his hand clench into a fist."Zach!" Desperation spurred her to call out to him. He had to get up before her abductor got away. "Help! Zach!" Shut it," Sean growled and punched her hard on the thigh, making the muscles there ball in a cramp."You'll never get away with this!" Her panic drove the ridiculous words out, but she had to say something.He chuckled as they reached the top of the stairs. "The worst that can happen is that I'll die..