I swallowed hard, my heart thumping wildly at the idea of being able to talk to her on a regular basis, hearing her soft, sexy voice all the time…
Bad idea, man. Very bad idea.
“You don’t know where to buy a cellphone?” How could a woman her age not know how to buy a phone? Had she never had a phone before?
You don’t know anything about her, and it’s probably best that you don’t know.
“Um, no. I’ve never had a phone before.”
Okay, then. Where had this girl been living? She’d said she’d escaped from the Black Dragons. Had she been their prisoner? Had they not allowed her access to a phone?
I rubbed a hand roughly over my face. If something happened to her, it would be my fault. I’d dumped her off. Left her alone to fend for herself.
You don’t know her. You can’t trust her.
I cleared my throat. “Well, you can pick a phone up at just about any store.”
“I can? Okay.” She paused. “How do I know which phone to buy? What features do I look for? Can you help me decide? Will you go with me? Would you be offended if I used some of the money you gave me to buy a phone?”
I let out a soft chuckle, my chest expanding at all her questions. She was certainly a talkative little thing, unlike any woman I’d ever met before. Refreshing.
“There won’t be any stores open this late in Eatonton,” I pointed out gently. “Except for the twenty-four-hour market, but they don’t sell phones there. You will have to wait until morning.”
“Oh.” She sounded disappointed. “Well...I’m in Room 220 in case you wanted to know. You can come visit if you want.”
I chuckled. This girl was something else. A rare mix of innocence and naivety and strength and courage and beauty. There was just something about Nishi that was special. Unique. I missed her already.
You don’t even know her. She could be playing you.
No. I didn’t want to believe that. I wanted to know more about her. Everything about her.
I reached the old plantation home and pulled into the garage. “I’m home now, Nishi,” I murmured. “I need to put my groceries away. So, I’ll talk to you later, okay?”
A pause. Then, “Wait. Don’t go. Can we talk a little longer, please? I’m so lonely,” she whispered, making my heart pinch. “I need a friend.”
“I’m your friend,” I assured her. A friend who’d just dumped her off at the hotel instead of taking her back here where she was safe. What the hell kind of friend did that?
“But you don’t trust me. You sent me away.”
Guilt stabbed through me. Dammit. She was right. But how could I trust her? She was associated with the Black Dragons.
“Well,” she said at last. “I guess I’ll let you go. We can’t have your groceries getting sour.” There was obvious reluctance in her words. “Can I call you tomorrow?”
“Yes. Definitely. How about tomorrow night? Say, midnight?”
“I would like that. Goodnight, Logan. Thank you for being my friend.”
“Goodnight, Nishi.” Thank you for being my friend. Was I her only friend? The thought made my chest squeeze. She was so vibrant. So beautiful. So alive. How could she not have many friends?
I stuffed my phone back in my pocket and slid out of my truck. A sudden lightness filled my chest. A grin split my face. I had a new friend. A sweet, gorgeous friend named Nishi. Damn. Something about that little wisp of a girl was getting to me. I should just forget about her. But I couldn’t. I had no doubt I would dream about her when I went to bed.
I gathered up the groceries from off the shelf, then headed the short distance across the forest and into the underground maze. About fifteen minutes later, I reached the corridor where we resided. Sounds from the workout room reached my ears. Someone was in there letting off steam.
My apartment was Room 5. I went in and put the groceries away, changed into workout shorts and a tank top, and headed to the gym.
Ryan and Luke were sparring in the ring. They nodded at me as I went to the treadmill and raised the incline before turning it up to medium speed. As I ran, I thought of Nishi. Her gorgeous dark eyes, her soft smile, her lovely, exotic features, her spunkiness, her boldness. She’d looked at me with obvious attraction in her eyes. She’d called me handsome. Warmth filled my chest. I couldn’t deny I was attracted to her, too. She was absolutely stunning. Why had I dropped her off at a hotel? Why hadn’t I just brought her back here with me?
I want to talk to her again. I want to hear her voice.
“Hey man, did you lose your hearing in your other ear?” Luke waved his hand in front of my face.
I jolted, coming out of my thoughts. Luke and Ryan both stood in front of the treadmill, staring at me.
I pulled out the safety key and the belt rolled to a halt. “Sorry. What?”
Luke snickered. “You were daydreaming, man. You had a faraway look in your eyes, like you were gazing at a hot chick.”
Heat flushed my cheeks. I had been daydreaming about a hot chick.
I shrugged, trying to act nonchalant. “So?”
Luke and Ryan exchanged a glance. “We were thinking about going to Riley’s to pick up a couple of chicks. Wanna come with us?” Riley’s was a bar in town owned by an Irishman of the same name. It was where Tony and Grace had met, and apparently where Ryan and Luke found girls to “hook up”.
They knew I never picked up women, though they didn’t know why. They’d teased me a couple of times about being gay. Only Noah knew why I stayed away from women. Nishi was the first woman in seven years who made me forget my vow to stay away from females.
“No, thanks. You know that’s not my thing.”
Ryan rolled his eyes. “What is your thing? You’re worse than Tony was. He finally took a chance and then he met Grace. You’ve seen how happy he is now. What are you so scared of?”
I snorted. “I’m not scared of anything. I just don’t have any desire to hook up with a stranger.” The last thing I wanted was another woman in my arms, especially when all I could think about now was Nishi.
I am not a seductress. If I ever make my way into your bed, it will be because you ask me to, and because I want to be there.
Her words came back to me, making longing curl in my loins. I already wanted her in my bed. Nishi, and no one else.
I shoved the safety key back in its slot, turning the treadmill back on. Then I reset my speed, and continued running.
Ryan and Luke shook their heads and walked away.
They were players. They didn’t know what it was like to have a woman in your head so strongly that she was all you could think about.
Nishi.
Damn. I’d just met her, and she was already getting under my skin.
I ran faster. Harder. Turning the speed up even more.
Nishi.
God help me, I couldn’t wait for her to call me tomorrow. I wanted to talk to her now.
I ran until sweat dripped from my pores and my legs shook from exhaustion. Finally, I pulled the safety key and hopped off the machine, breathing deeply. I spent another few hours working out—the weights, the punching bag, scrunches, sit-ups, squats, push-ups—trying to shove Nishi from my mind. But nothing worked.
A cold shower didn’t help, either.
She’d made me not only forget my vow to stay away from women, she made me eager to see her again. To hear her soft voice. Why couldn’t I stop thinking about her?
Then I reminded myself that the last time I’d cared about a woman, The General had killed her.
The General’s dead. He can’t hurt her.
I’m going to call the hotel, ask for Room 220.
I hurried to the surface, and fifteen minutes later, I was waiting for the front desk clerk to connect me to Nishi’s room.
“Hello?” she asked, her voice hesitant, as if she feared who was on the other end of the line.
“Hi, little one. Did I wake you?”
“Logan!” She let out a soft
laugh. “No, I wasn’t asleep. I was thinking about you.”
My chest warmed. “I was thinking about you, too.”
“I’m so glad you called, Logan.”
“Me, too.” I settled down on the boulder that lay just beyond the entrance to the maze. I didn’t stop to question what the hell I was doing. Though I knew I should. Nishi was associated with the Black Dragons. She could be dangerous.
Right now, I didn’t care. I just wanted to hear her voice.
She gasped suddenly over the line, then let out a soft scream, “No,” she said in Japanese. “No!”
I bolted up from the boulder. “Nishi?”
There was a loud clatter, as if she’d dropped the receiver.
Then a male voice, fainter, as if it came from a distance, also speaking in Japanese, “You have betrayed me, Nishi. Now you will suffer the consequences. Seize her!”
“No!” she screamed. “No!”
What the fuck?
“Nishi!” I shouted, my heart racing. “Nishi!”
Then the line went dead.
Shit. Fuck. Goddammit!
I stared at my phone. What had just happened?
You have betrayed me, Nishi. Now you will suffer the consequences.
Oh fuck. I raked a hand through my shaggy hair. I’d left her there. Dropped her off like a damn dog at the pound.
And the Black Dragons had just found her.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Nishi
“Hi, little one. Did I wake you?”
“Logan!” I let out a soft laugh, my heart warming. “No, I wasn’t asleep. I was thinking about you.” I’d been lying on the bed, trying to sleep, but my mind was alive with thoughts of Logan. I couldn’t stop thinking about him.
Logan. Thick, shaggy blond hair. Arresting hazel eyes. Tall, handsome, manly man. So sexy.
Logan.
I think I’m in love. Am I?
I was certainly infatuated. He was so beautiful. So perfect. So male. A true gentleman. He could have easily taken advantage of me earlier that night. But the first thing he’d done was lower his weapon so I wouldn’t feel threatened.
He made my heart race and my belly flutter with excitement and sexual awareness.
His deep, throaty voice came over the line again. “I was thinking about you, too.”
Happiness filled my chest. “I’m so glad you called, Logan.” So glad.
“Me, too.”
The door to my room crashed in, banging against the wall. I gasped and jerked back as Ling and Katsu barged into the room. How did they get a key to my room? Had they killed the desk clerk?
How had they even known I was here?
“No.” I reared back in terror as they stalked toward me, clinging to the phone like a starving person hanging onto the tiniest crumb of bread, afraid to let go of my connection to Logan. “No!” I wasn’t going back there without a fight. I wasn’t marrying Malik of the Rapsters. I was tired of being treated like a slave. I was a grown woman and it was time my father let me live my own life.
I yanked the throwing star from my sleeve and flung it at Ling, who was the closest. It whizzed past his neck, barely missing him as he jerked away.
“Nishi…” My father’s voice floated into the room from somewhere out in the hallway, making chills creep down my spine. “You know you won’t get away.” He sounded calm, controlled, but there was no mistaking the threat underneath. He was furious that I’d escaped. I had no doubt he would punish me severely.
I’m not going back there.
I next pulled the knife from the sheath at my thigh, holding it protectively in front of me.
Katsu sneered, moving at me swiftly. He knocked the phone from my hand and kicked over the end table. The phone crashed to the floor beside the table, the receiver flying out of my hand and clattering against the wall. The piece of paper with Logan’s number on it floated to the floor and landed next to the phone.
I thrust the knife out at Katsu, slicing along his lower abdomen. Katsu hissed and swung around, his hand coming down hard on my arm.
I tried to maintain my grip on the knife, but my fingers reflexively loosened their hold as pain zinged down my arm, and the knife slipped out of my grasp.
Then my father stepped into the room. “You have betrayed me, Nishi. Now you will suffer the consequences. Seize her!”
“No,” I whispered again. “No.” I wasn’t going back there. I wasn’t!
Ling and Katsu came after me, silent shadow warriors, stalking me around the bed.
My father reclined in the armchair across the room, a cold look on his face, watching as his warriors attacked me.
Though I would rather Ling or Katsu catch me than my father, the way my father just sat there, seemingly unconcerned, mocking me, made me wish he would get up and fight me himself. Show some emotion. Some caring. The sad truth was that this was the man who had fathered me. This cold, heartless monster. When I was a little girl, I used to imagine my father was a great man, kind and loving and gentle. Handsome. Dashing. Not this unfeeling beast. Sometimes, the truth hurt. Sometimes, fantasies were better than reality.
Though there was nowhere to go, no way to escape, I wasn’t about to give up. So I became a shadow warrior, centering myself and drawing strength from deep inside. The only weapon I had left was my fighting staff, but it was lying across the room, out of reach, having been knocked aside when Katsu kicked the table over. Which meant I would have to use my body.
Ling and Katsu crept closer, circling around me. Caging me in. While my father lounged back in the chair and watched.
If a fight was what they wanted, a fight was what they would get. I wasn’t going down easily. I would inflict as much damage on them as I could before they took me down.
Katsu reached me first. He was my least-favorite of my father’s men. An ugly brute with a crooked nose, he was a sadistic bastard who showed no mercy and enjoyed inflicting pain on others. Whether I was female or not, he would make me suffer. But I planned to make him suffer too. As much as possible.
I struck out at him, and we fought across the hotel room with thrusts and smacks and painful blows. Katsu was twice my size, and a skilled fighter. A killer. He landed strike after painful strike, and I hit back, fighting for my freedom. A freedom I knew I’d already lost.
Emotion clogged my throat. Tears stung my eyes. I just wanted to be free. Why couldn’t my father understand that? Why wouldn’t he just leave me alone? Why?
While Ling stepped closer, and my father smirked from the chair, Katsu finally took me down, brutally tackling me onto the floor.
I screamed obscenities in Japanese, willing him a painful death. Katsu roughly pinned me down, deliberately shoving my face into the carpet, giving me a painful rug burn across my cheek. I seethed inside, vowing I would kill them all. Even my father. Someday, they would all pay for what they’d done to me.
I don’t want to go back. Please. I don’t want to marry Malik.
Katsu yanked my arms behind my back. Ling came forward and bound my wrists. They searched me for weapons, but I had no more. Then they hauled me to my feet and spun me around to face my father, who slowly, deliberately rose from the chair.
I lifted my chin defiantly and met my father’s glare, doing my best to hold back tears.
“You thought you could escape me?” He shook his head in disgust. “You have a duty as my daughter, and that duty is to do what I say. Friday night, you will marry Malik of the Rapsters. Everything has already been arranged. He paid a large fortune to have you. You belong to him now.”
“No!” My father had sold me to a monster. And on Friday night, Malik would make me his.
“I will not marry Malik of the Rapsters!” Terror wrapped itself around my heart. No, please, no.
I didn’t want Malik of the Rapsters.
I wanted Logan of the shaggy blond hair and handsome, chiseled features. Logan, who was kind and generous. Logan, who reeked masculinity with his sexy, powerful build and his gracef
ul movements. Logan.
Ling snatched up my fighting staff and hooked it into the holder at his belt. Then he bent and lifted the piece of paper off the floor, perusing it.
Logan’s number.
I cringed inwardly. No. If they realized what it was, Logan would be in danger.
Ling showed the number to my father, who nodded. “It is just as we thought.”
What did that mean?
Luckily, I’d already memorized Logan’s number. I had planned on destroying the paper when I left the hotel so that no one would see it. But I’d never expected my father to barge into my hotel room like this. Logan had asked me not to give his number to anyone. But now my father had it.
I’m sorry, Logan. I should have torn your number up.
“Jiro has been taken care of,” my father continued. “The other guards know not to make the same mistake he did. To defy me means death.”
I met my father’s fierce gaze. “Then why am I not dead? I defied you. You should just kill me.” Death would be better than being Malik’s wife.
My father snorted and turned away, motioning for Katsu and Ling to bring me along. “You no longer belong to me, so I do not have the right to kill you. Malik already paid for you. I have an obligation to deliver you to him on Friday night.”
They hauled me roughly out of the room, steering me down the hallway past the stares of several guests who quickly turned away, too frightened to help me. I didn’t blame them. My father and his men were scary. If the other hotel guests tried to help me, they would most likely die.
Minutes later, Katsu hauled me up into the back of my father’s truck that was parked out in the lot. I scooted across the seat as Katsu climbed in after me, silently vowing to find another way to escape.
My father’s words came back to me: Friday night, you will marry Malik of the Rapsters. Everything has already been arranged.
You no longer belong to me. Malik already paid for you.
Fear clenched my gut as I pictured Malik’s mean black stare and his bulging muscles.
Hopelessness slammed into me.
The Trainer (military romantic suspense) (The Dregs Book 5) Page 5