I look around at the plain walls and the single door behind me that must lead to the outside.
But I can’t move. My hands are not tied to the chair, they’re tethered to the floor, the rope through a metal ring. So it’s not even like I can scooch my way over to the door and make noise.
I’m stuck.
I knew I was going to die in this room. Even if I’d told him what he wanted to know, even if I could, he would have killed me as soon as I did. I knew I wasn’t leaving here alive.
But now I have to die by starvation and without water? I would have rather he put a bullet in my head.
I sigh and stare at the man. I don’t know him. I have no idea what his name is, or how he knew my father. Obviously, my father double-crossed him on some deal. He mentioned his colleagues.
Who are they?
I don’t even know how long my father’s been dead. When this guy told me that he couldn’t make my dad pay before he died, it was the first I’d heard of his demise.
I’m not surprised. He would have only been in his mid-to-late fifties, but he’d lived a hard, dangerous life.
For me, he died when I was fifteen, and I ran out of that horrible place in New York.
“I’m going to have to sit here and watch him decompose,” I whisper in horror. “He’s going to smell and get disgusting. Jesus, why do I have to be so clumsy? Leave it to me to send his head into the corner of a table just right.”
I try to stand and attempt to work my way around so I can untie my hands, but I only succeed in almost dislocating my shoulder.
That won’t help anything.
“Did he say his associates would be here soon? Oh, hell, I am going to die here. They’re going to kill me.”
I bite my lip. My heart starts to race. I haven’t had a panic attack in a long time, but I’m on the verge now.
I’m stuck with a corpse, and bad men are on their way to kill me.
I’m a sitting duck.
“I didn’t even get to tell Annika that I love her,” I wail, feeling horribly sorry for myself. “Or have sex with Shane. Or even just spend time with him! I’m halfway to falling in love with him already, and now I’ll never get to finish. I won’t get to see the sun or eat raspberries in ice cream or go to the ocean.”
Now, tears well up in my eyes. I thought I was safe. My cover was iron-clad. How did this asshole find me?
I hear rustling on the other side of the door and freeze.
This is it. This is how it ends.
But I won’t go down without a fight, damn it.
I hear the door open, and then everything happens so fast. I lash out, kicking and yelling.
“I won’t make this easy on you, motherfucker! You may kill me, but I’ll kick your ass first.”
“Hey, hey, hey.” The voice is soothing, and when I open the eyes I didn’t realize I’d closed, I see Shane standing in front of me, then kneeling to look me in the eyes. “It’s us.”
“Us?”
I glance around to see Shane’s brothers and Nadia, one of my very best friends in the world.
Carmine squats next to him, checking for a pulse. “Dead.”
“You killed him?” Nadia asks as Shane gently rubs his fingers through my hair, and Rafe works on the ropes.
“Yeah. My clumsiness paid off.” I tell them how it happened. “But we have to get out of here. He said he had associates on their way here. That’s who I thought you were.”
“In and out,” Shane says, seeming to remind them all of their mission. “We deal with the rest later.”
“What’s the rest?”
“Plane’s ready,” Rafe says with a nod. Suddenly, my hands are free, and Shane lifts me into his arms.
“We’re getting you out of here, little dove.”
I lay my head on his shoulder, suddenly so tired I can’t keep my eyes open. I feel weird. Dizzy.
And then I feel nothing at all.
“Wake up, sweet girl,” Shane croons in my ear. I feel like I must be in heaven. Surely, I’ve died, and heaven is a place where Shane’s voice wraps around me and makes me feel safe. “Come on, Ivie, I need you to open those gorgeous eyes for me.”
My eyes flutter open, and I see Shane leaning over me, smiling down at me softly.
“There you are,” he says. “You scared me for a minute there.”
“I’m in a bed.” I frown and glance around. “Are we flying?”
“Yes, we’re flying back to Denver.”
“Wait.” I sit up and press my hand to my head. “Weren’t we already in Denver?”
Shane sits next to me, takes my hand, and then kisses my fingers, making my stomach jump.
“What do you remember?”
“I remember being taken out of the clinic. I was drugged. Then I woke up in a shitty room and got beat up a bit. Ended up killing my captor on accident, and then you arrived.”
“I suppose that’s the CliffsNotes version,” he murmurs. “Honey, he took you to New York. We found you in a basement in Queens.”
I blink, completely baffled. “I was passed out that long? I wonder what he drugged me with?”
“As do I,” Shane says, examining me. “Does anything hurt?”
“I’m a little stiff and sore from having my hands tied behind me for so long, but other than that, I’ll live.”
“When I saw his handprint on your cheek, I wanted to kill him myself,” he admits. His voice is mild, but by the look in his eyes, I can see that he means every word.
“I kicked him,” I say, thinking it over. “He was up in my face, trying to intimidate me, and I just brought my feet up and kicked him in the gut, hard. He jerked back, tripped, and then fell against the table.”
“That was too good of a death for him.”
I blow out a sigh. “Yeah, well, it was fast. I don’t know who the hell he was.”
“I do,” Shane says. “We’ll talk about it all when we get to my place.”
“Your place?”
He just looks at me with those gorgeous brown eyes that always seem to hypnotize me.
“Shane, I have to work. Annika needs me. Oh my God, Annika!”
“We’ve already told her that we found you safe and sound,” he assures me. “We’ll stop and see her before we go to my place in the mountains.”
“Shane, I can’t go with you to the mountains.”
“And I can’t let you go home,” he says. “Not until we have a full picture of what’s going on here. I’m going to keep you safe, no matter what. A little time away from work won’t hurt anyone.”
“I don’t—”
“I’m not asking,” he says, his voice sharp, and I gape up at him.
“I was just kidnapped once. I won’t do it again, Shane. I care about you, and I enjoy being with you, but I’ll live my life under my terms.”
He rubs his hand over his lips in agitation. “I’m just trying to keep you safe.”
My head is throbbing. “I don’t want to have our first fight on this plane.”
His expression softens, and then he chuckles. “Fair enough. Have you eaten?”
“My captor didn’t offer me room service.”