“Now you know I don’t kiss and tell.” His feet move closer to her, bringing him within arm’s reach.
I need to know if this is her, and I’m not stumbling on something that I should ignore.
“That’s a sick joke,” she says, and I can hear the hurt in her voice. “Don’t touch me.”
“Come on, Iris. You know our parents are going to force us to be together no matter how hard you protest. Why not let me get a little sample? I’m going to have you either way.”
“Stop, no!” I hear feet shuffling as she cries out, and I can’t take it anymore.
I’m a man with low morals when it comes to criminals and breaking the law, but I’ve never hurt women and children, or allowed anyone I know to do it. I’m not starting today, even if that means I have to come back another time to take what I’m here for.
Without a word I slip from the shadows and come up behind the guy she called Brock. He’s got her pushed back on a cement wall with his hands up her dress. She’s fighting with all her might, but she’s too small to push him off.
One quick move and I’ve got one arm around his neck and the other holding the knife to his throat. He’s frozen in place when he feels the steel of the blade, and I’ve got his full attention. I realize from his size and seeing his face that he’s much younger than I originally thought.
When I look up I see the dark-haired beauty with wide eyes that are as gold as the cathedrals in Russia. I’ve never seen eyes so gold before, and for the first time ever I lose all thoughts. It’s only a flash, but it’s there and it goes all the way to the center of my bones.
It’s her.
“I’ll scream,” Brock says, and I want to laugh.
“Do you think that will save your life?” I ask, my accent thick while my eyes stay on the girl. I almost want to ask what she would have me do with him just to see what the answer would be. But even now, I can see that her heart is untouched by darkness. I can’t kill this boy in front of her eyes.
“Who are you?” she asks, looking around like I appeared out of some kind of box.
“Give me a moment and I’ll explain.”
I pull the knife away, and the boy tries to elbow me. I shake my head and then put my hand around his throat. One quick pinch to the right vein, and he crumples to the ground.
To my surprise, the girl screams and it’s so piercing that there’s no way the security at the perimeter didn’t hear it. And like clockwork an alarm sounds in the distance and I curse.
“We have to go.” I grab the beauty by the arm and start to walk toward the boat.
“No!” She pulls against my hold, and I sigh.
“We don’t have time for this.” Without waiting for her to comply, I toss her over my shoulder and run to the boathouse.
“Help!” she screams again.
“Fuck,” I hiss, realizing I should have taped her mouth shut. This didn’t go according to plan, but part of my job is to adjust the plan as we go.
Tossing her into the speedboat, I turn the key and hit the gas. Security in the distance is coming closer, and just as I pull out of the dock, they come busting through the door. Shots are fired, and I grab the girl, shoving her down as I take off.
It’s not far to the other side where I’ve got a car waiting, but the hard part will be convincing the girl that I’m here to save her.
Chapter Three
Iris
What the hell is happening? This has to be a bad dream or I’m hallucinating.
The giant man pushes me down to the floor of the boat as the sound of gunfire starts to fill the air. I scream when I hear some of the shots hitting the boat, and glass shatters around me. I know it’s my father’s stupid guards, so why the hell are they shooting in my direction? For all they know they could have shot me.
I stay down for now because I don’t really have much of a choice. I’m stuck for the moment because if I get up, I’m afraid I’ll become a target. I stare up at my captor and watch as he keeps one hand on the wheel and turns around to fire off a couple of shots. I close my eyes, praying to wake up from this nightmare.
The boat bounces hard on the choppy water, and my stomach drops every time. It feels like we’re going airborne on each bounce, and I come down hard on the floor. Water sprays all around us, but at least I don’t hear any more gunfire.
Slowly I try to sit up, but the man glares at me so I lie back down. For a second back there I thought he was my savior, but now it looks like he’s my kidnapper. I guess he didn’t want Brock to get to me first, and I swallow hard, wondering why he wants me at all.
He could have easily taken Brock, and he’s a freaking Rineheart. It makes me think this isn’t about money, because I’m not nearly as valuable as him. My mind starts to race, coming up with one crazy idea after another. I keep thinking this has to do with my father because nothing else makes sense.
Looking around the boat, I wonder how I’ll ever get away from this guy. I couldn’t even get away from Brock. My stomach tightens. In the rush of everything else I’d momentarily forgotten about that. What would have happened if this man didn’t come along? For all I know he might do worse.
He has to be one of the biggest men I’ve ever seen. My dad has a lot of security that comes and goes, and most of them are big, but this is a whole other level. Brock was nothing but a doll in his hand that he easily subdued.
When the boat starts to slow down, I know this might be my only chance to get away. I try and control my breathing, but my heart is already starting to race. His attention is straight ahead, and all I need is some time. I’m sure people are already on their way to save me, so all I need to do is stall.
I tell myself to move, to get up and jump off. We have to be close to the shore if he’s slowing down, but still my body is frozen. I'm losing precious seconds as the boat starts to slow even more. Closing my eyes, I tell myself I can do this. We’ve got to be close to the shore, so how hard could it be to make the short swim? I’ve got this.
Before I can change my mind, I bolt up.
He makes a grab for me and catches the back of my dress. As I try to run, I hear my dress rip, freeing his hold on me as I stumble over the side of the boat. The water comes faster than I’m prepared for, and it’s freezing cold.
I gasp underwater, sucking it into my lungs as I push myself back to the surface. I don’t see land anywhere around me, and I begin to panic. I'd been so sure we were on the other side. I fight to keep myself above water, still coughing up the water in my lungs. I’ve always been terrified of water and never learned how to swim. My parents had tried many times, but I couldn’t get over my fear.
A hand wraps around my arm and pulls me out of the water and back into the boat. “That’s the second time I’ve saved you today.”
He puts me down in the seat and the boat takes off again. As I cough a few more times and spit up the water, I’m finally able to catch a full breath. That’s when I look up and see my mistake. I was so disoriented from the chase, I’d jumped off the wrong side of the boat. That’s why I couldn’t see land nearby. I’d let my panic in the water take over and made a stupid mistake.