“You’ve got a fire in you.” He points squarely at me and leans back slightly, his eyes boring into mine. “I don’t think you even know it’s there, but you are strong beyond belief.”
I roll my eyes and avert my gaze. “You obviously don’t know me.”
“Not yet.”
Yet? He steals my attention again with that one solitary word, and I’m speechless. Though my mouth opens, nothing comes out. Not for the longest, most awkward few seconds of my life. “I’m sorry.”
His eyes peel sideways. “For what?”
I bury my face in my hands and tap my feet nervously on the floor. It’s not enough to contain the thoughts running through my head. I jump to my feet to take refuge against the hard surface of the dresser, solid ground if you will, and then turn back to him. “For thinking what I’m thinking.”
“Call me crazy, but I’m not a mind reader and I don’t know what you’re thinking.” He stands up in front of me and mashes his teeth against the corner of his lower lip. “So this is the part where you’re supposed to help me. What are you thinking in that head of yours that you need to apologize before?”
I chuckle nervously between flat lips and cock my head away from him. I’ve never been one to come down with a severe case of word vomit. In fact, I’ve always been the exact opposite. I’ve always been cool, calm, and collected, always in control of what comes out of my mouth.
But here in this room, in front of this man I hardly know, it’s almost like I have to say something. It’s like I don’t have a choice in the matter and that’s terrifying, the very idea of losing control in every aspect of my life right now.
Finally, I manage to barely eek out the first words, “I’m sorry… because…” I let out a loud, unhinged groan that sounds more like a feral growl. “This is stupid.” I shake my head and turn away, but when I feel his hand gripped tight around my wrist, I’m forced to look back at him. Not just at him, but right into him and then see right through him. “I’m not ashamed that I saw you naked or that you saw me naked.”
“Oh?”
“I’m ashamed because my sister is God knows where in God knows what terrible situation and here I am staring at you as if I could eat you alive.”
“Like a cannibal?”
“You know what I’m saying.” I shake my wrist and break away from him. I take a long step backwards because I need space between us. “I’m saying that I find you incredibly attractive and it’s sick that my mind would even go there right now.”
“Oh,” he says again, this time about as deadpan as possible. And it’s downright making my blood boil.
“That’s all you have to say?” I scoff and shake my head again. “You’re always so full of words and now you choose to just shut up?” I’ve really done it now. I’ve really made an ass out of myself. “You know what—let’s just forget that we had this conversation.” I reach backwards to rip the bedroom door open and gesture for him to leave me be. “I’ll let you know if I get another phone call or something like that.”
He nods, purses his lips and then begins to step towards the door. It’s almost like his pace is deliberately slow as he passes me, and just as his first foot steps outside the door, he twists back to me in a frenzy and pushes me hard against the door. He moves in a little closer and then another inch and his breath…
So hot against my skin. And his eyes…
So dark, stormy. Hunted. And his touch…
Holding me at the waist. And my heart…
It twists with agony and guilt because this is the last thing that should be on my mind. And he shouldn’t be touching me. And I shouldn’t be allowing him to.
He pushes a knee between my thighs and I can’t help but to let out a low, child-like yelp. He’s got me pinned between two extremes, the hardness of the door and the hardness of his body and I’m in desperate need of an escape route.
Ring. Ring. Ring.
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHASE
Shit. That phone has the worst damn timing. I exhale sharply and shuffle my knee between her legs. My eyes stare down into hers from above. It’s like I’ve got her hooked, her gaze and all of her attention. I’m not even sure she can hear the ringing of the phone.
I’m a guilty ass man. Guilty as charged. My mind should be anywhere else right now. It should be on finding her sister, but it’s not. It’s here and she’s all I can think about. I’ve been thinking about her all day and seeing her in the flesh? Well, I think that just about sent me over the edge. There’s no going back now.
But shit, that’s probably a phone call that should be answered.
“Are you going to answer that?” I question from above her, my voice shaken and ragged. “You should probably answer that.”
“Right.” She nods and shuffles her body free from mine. She lunges forward to swipe the phone off the nightstand and just before she slides her finger against the screen to accept the call, I try to stop her.
“Wait,” I yell, remembering that we needed to have the phone call patched through Marcus, but it’s too late.
“Hello?” she says, turns the speaker on and levels the phone in the air between us.
“Good evening again, Miss Smart,” the man says, white noise and distortions making it difficult to understand what he’s saying. “This phone call will only be brief enough to inform you that you have forty-eight hours, exact, from the time this phone call ends to meet us with the money. It should go without saying that it should only be in cash. Do you understand?”
“Yes.” She clears her throat nervously and then looks to me. I offer her a nod, trying to emphasize to keep the conversation going as long as possible to hopefully be able to get some clues. “Can I talk to her?”
“Visitation rights have yet to be scheduled, Miss Smart.” The man laughs manically, and then coughs violently into the phone. “We’ll be in touch with more details.”
“Wait!” Summer screams into the phone. “What about—?”
“Tsk tsk tsk,” the man taunts her. “Have you been a naughty girl, Summer?”
“I… I don’t know what you mean.”
“Is this call being traced?”
“No,” she says confidentially, making me proud. I mean, sure the phone call isn’t actually being monitored but the general gist of the question wasn’t so much about that specifically as it was about something else. “You said if I contacted anyone that you’d kill her. Do you think I’d risk my own sister’s life like that?”
“Only time will tell.”
Click.
Her eyes tangle with mine and not how they had done just prior to the phone call. It’s different now. Gone are the hints and signs pointing to lust. There’s a certain fire in her eyes now, burning hot and bright with fear and consolation.
“I have to do this alone,” she says, encompassing her hand into a fist.
“I’m not letting you do that,” I scoff, shake my head.
“You heard what he said.” She cocks her head slightly, sighs and presses her tongue against the inside of one cheek. “I think he knows.”
“Knows what? About my involvement? How could he?”
“They blew up that car,” she says with a sudden burst of energy.
She has a point, but I can’t budge in my convictions. I can’t allow her to do this on her own. It’s too dangerous. “It was probably rigged to go off anyway.”
“By petty thieves?”
“I don’t think they’re simple criminals.”
“Since when?” she huffs and drops down onto the bed.
“It’s a gut feeling.” I step to the bed and fall just short of taking a seat beside her. “Just trust me on this.”
“I’m sorry but that’s difficult.”
“Why?” I shake my head, more than a little confused. Just two minutes ago, she was confessing that she was feeling something for me, whatever those feelings were. And now, she can’t trust me? What the hell gives? I take a seat beside her. “You don’t really have a choice right
now.”
“Is that what this is?” She jumps back to her feet and twists to me. “You’ve got me trapped so my only option is to stick with you?”
“You can leave at anytime. You can do whatever you want to do. I can advise you and try to protect you, but at the end of the day, you’re the one who has the power to call the shots.”
“Consider the shots called then.” She reaches for her phone again and dials in a number before placing it to her ear. She waits patiently for whoever to pick up on the other end.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m calling someone.”
“Who are you calling?”
“I’m calling Taylor’s husband.”
“That’s a negative.” I rip the phone out of her hand and end the phone call before she can do something that stupid. “I know you think you’re doing the right thing, but you don’t know how he’s going to respond. He could force this entire thing to explode.”
“It’s already exploded!” she screams. “Just by the virtue of it happening. It’s exploded. We’ve done crossed that threshold.”
“I just want you to think about what you’re doing.”
“I’ve thought about it enough.” She nods in agreement with herself, like she has to say it out loud to believe it. “I’m giving them the money and Rick will agree.”
“And what if it’s not enough?” I reach up to her to grab at her wrist, but she spins away from me. “What if you give them all the money in the world and they still don’t agree to release her, then what?”
“Then you can gloat that you were right and I’ll hate myself.”
“I don’t want to gloat.”
“But you sure as hell enjoy standing in my way.” Her eyes bore into mine from above. “What happened to this being my choice?”
“You’re right.” I toss the phone back to her, which she narrowly catches in her small hands. “Do what you want and I’ll stand behind you.”
“I’m sorry.” She dials Rick’s number again and presses the phone against her ear. “I can’t lose my sister.”
I get it. I understand her completely and I would never do anything that I thought was going to endanger her or her sister, but I can’t help but feel like something about this is off. I can’t help feeling that despite Dom’s reservations these are men we’ve dealt with before and if that’s true, they’ve already seen my face and they probably already know.
I just stand there in front of Summer, stone-faced as I watch her waiting for Rick to answer the phone. And then finally, “Hey, Rick. It’s Summer…” She exhales a burst of hot air between pouted lips, her entire body shaking. “We need to talk.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
SUMMER
With my hands folded in-between my lap, I anxiously await Rick’s arrival. He should be here any minute, and in silence all I can here is the ticking of the clocks and the racing of my heart.
Chase stands beside the door, peeking through the yellow curtains. Though he’s the expert and fought for the alternative, I felt as if I had no choice but to trust my gut instinct. It’s brought me this far in life and I couldn’t bring myself to turn back now.
I’m filled with self-doubt now along with an unhealthy dosage of regret. Given the circumstances, I obviously knew Rick wouldn’t take the news well, but it never crossed my mind that he would be so furious with me.
On the phone, he had screamed many things, many expletives. He threatened to call the authorities himself, but it was only after Chase talked him down from the ledge that we were able to calm him enough so that he’d agree to meet us at my house in the morning.
It’s been twelve hours since that phone call and I’ve only received two texts from him. The first being that he was boarding his flight and the second that he was in a taxi on the way to my place.
He’ll be here any second and I’m not sure I’m ready to face him. If I was going to let him know, I should have told him immediately. I can’t imagine if I were married to someone who was kidnapped and nobody told me. I’d probably end up in prison after strangling them.
I can only hope that Rick doesn’t kill me. It’s not like that’s a likely scenario given his calm demeanor—especially for being a successful businessman in an industry that is known for being cutthroat.
“He’s here,” Chase says quietly and cocks his head to me. “I hope you’re ready for what comes next.”
“Could you stop that?”
“Stop what?” He shrugs and takes a measured step backwards to lean against the fireplace mantle. “I’m not trying to torture you, but you need to be realistic about your expectations. For all we know, he’s already called the authorities and hell, we might even be suspects by this point.”
“Okay, that is seriously not helping,” I scowl and bow my head to stare at the floor. I can barely find the strength to keep breathing, feeling as if my heart could give out at any second. And when the door clicks open, I just about faint.
“Somebody better tell me what the hell is going on!” Rick yells as he launches his duffel bag onto the floor. He’s normally clean-shaven but he’s wearing a day’s worth of scruff. “And you don’t have long to make sense of it because I’m two seconds away from calling the cops.”
“I’m sorry,” I plead with him lowly, but it’s not enough. It’s all I can say right now.
“Oh, you’re sorry.”
“Just listen to what she has to say,” Chase says with a tone of authority.
“I don’t know who the hell you are,” Rick points squarely at Chase, “but I’d recommend that you stay as silent as possible.” Then all attention is back on me. “He’s a friend of yours?”
“Not exactly.”
“A lover?”
“Nothing like that.”
“Then who the hell is he and why the hell is he here?”
“He’s helping us.”
“Really?” He scoffs. “You just pick some random up off the street and you trust him with your sister’s life?”
“He was there in the parking garage when this began. He tried saving us.” I turn to him, hoping that by having a conversation eye-to-eye he’ll be more able to understand what I’m trying to tell him.
“Interesting,” he groans and glances at Chase with a furious grin. “You managed to save her, but you couldn’t save Taylor?”
“That’s not fair.” Chase paces away from the mantle, folding his palm into a fist. “I understand you’re scared—”
“Scared?” Rick scoffs. “I’m beyond scared. I’m beyond tired. I’ve been up for thirty-six hours and I’m terrified that my wife is lying dead in a ditch somewhere.”
“It’s not his fault, Rick,” I seethe between gritted teeth.
“Are you in on this, Summer?” He cocks his head to me. “Is he?”
“How could you even ask me that?”
“Please,” he huffs, waves me off with his hand. “You’ve been jealous of her since day one and it certainly didn’t help matters when she married someone with money, leaving you out to dry.”
“You’re hurting so I’m going to let that slide.”
“I’m calling the police.”
“No,” I scream, jumping to my feet. “You can’t do that.”
“I’m doing what you should have done.” He digs his phone out of his pocket and clicks his finger against the screen three times—911. “You should be ashamed of yourself.”
“You don’t understand.” I rip the phone out of his hand and end the call. “They will kill her if you involve anyone else.”
“Oh.” He laughs furiously and throws a finger at Chase. “You mean like you involved him?”
“That’s different!”
“Why?!” he screams. “Because you’ve got the hots for him?”
I shake my head in disbelief, tears pooling at the corner of my eyes. Chase was right. I never should have called him, despite it seeming to be the right thing to do. But more and more, the differences between right and wrong are
becoming confused.
He rips the phone back out of my hand and I’m defenseless. I’ve got no more energy to fight with him or anyone else. He’s dead set on calling the police and there’s nothing in my power I can do to stop him.
Chase though…
He lunges forward to rip the phone out of his hand. Rick attempts to struggle, attempts to pivot on his feet so that he can break away from Chase. He’s not fast enough, not strong enough either. Chase pries the phone out of his hand and then launches it with all his might against the brick accent wall above the fireplace.
It lands with a loud crack before dropping to the ground. Rick drops to the ground in an attempt to recover the phone, but Chase once again beats him to the punch. This time smashing the phone into the wood floor with his boot.
Rick collapses onto the ground, staring at the remnants of the smashed phone. He’s wide eyed and lost for words, only able to force random sounds from his throat.
I force myself to look away, cupping my hand over my mouth. It’s come to this because I made the stupid decision to call Rick. No matter how right it may have seen, given the circumstances, it was the absolute wrong call to make. I glance over to Chase, who can’t bring himself to look at the broken man beneath him, crawling across the floor.
Rick tries in vain to get his phone to work, but it’s no use. That thing’s as good as dead. He tosses his phone against the wall as he forces himself to stand back up. His eyes tangle with mine and he shakes his head disapprovingly before rushing to the end table beside the couch to pick up the landline cordless phone.
I stare blankly at him as the realization that the phone doesn’t work crosses over his face. “I’m sorry,” I say softly. “I had the landline disconnected two weeks ago.”
In a fit of rage—or sadness, it’s hard to discern the difference anymore—he launches the phone against the nearest wall before racing backwards to palm one hand around the doorknob. Just when he’s about to escape outside, Chase slams one hand over Rick’s shoulder, and against the door to hold it shut.
Rick’s not strong enough, not compared to Chase. But he’s even weaker now than he’s ever been before. I understand his pain, and the exhaustion and the fear. While he’s not handling this well at all, I imagine he’s handling it a lot better than I would have if I were in his shoes.
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