Capturing Victory (Driven Hearts Book 3)

by Nikita Slater

  Jaya carefully slid a piece of paper between the pages, a torn page from another book she used as a bookmark, and closed Wuthering Heights. She tilted her chin up and stared at Ivan. “Yes, I’ve reached that point. But I don’t see Cathy’s seeking the comfort and luxury of another home as betrayal. Heathcliff left her to the dubious and abusive care of her older brother. She couldn’t possibly stay where she was, waiting for him to come rescue her.”

  “He loved her, would have done anything for her,” Ivan said, staring back at her, searching her face for answers. Something was off. She was more relaxed, more confident than he’d seen her since he’d taken her from her home. As though she knew something. “She should have waited for him.”

  “Why?” Jaya snapped, her brows drawing together in annoyance. “She had no guarantee that he would come for her. She only knew that her situation was bad and going to stay that way unless she went with the best opportunity in the neighborhood. It’s the same story for women all over the world.”

  Ivan made an impatient sound and reached for her arm, dragging her off the bed. Haty hissed and leapt off Jaya’s lap, bounding off the edge of the bed and onto the floor. “We don’t have time for this. I need to know right now who’s coming to this island and what they’re planning. Don’t bother denying you had anything to do with it. We already know you sent a signal out when you knocked out our communications.”

  “I wasn’t going to deny anything,” she snapped, shoving against his chest. “Of course I did!”

  Ivan didn’t check his strength, he released her arm and as she tried to straighten, he slapped her. His open palm caught her hard on the side of the face spinning her halfway around and sending her back into the side of the bed. He dropped to his knee next to her and lifted his fist again but realized if he hit her like that with his full strength he really would cause damage. But fuck, she was tearing him apart. He wasn’t used to these emotions, wasn’t used to caring what another person did to him. If anyone near him got close enough to cause such harm, whether it was warranted or not, he would not hesitate to put that person down.

  Ivan pulled the gun from his holster and pressed it against her temple. He expected fear. Complete and utter terror, like he’d seen on her face the day he’d killed the waiter in front of her. Instead, when Jaya turned her face to him, her cheek burning bright from his slap, her eyes held a maniacal fury. As though she were inviting him with her eyes to go ahead and shoot her in the head, because she would get the last laugh. And she would. Because Ivan knew, no matter how many more years he lived, he would not find another woman like Jaya. Even if she’d spent half their time together acting, lulling him into complacency. It just proved she was an even worthier partner than he’d ever believed.

  “Tell me who you contacted and what the plan is,” Ivan demanded, pressing the gun harder against her.

  She didn’t flinch or speak. It became clear that she wouldn’t. Ivan knew he could get it out of her quickly, but the methods he would have to use would be brutal and she would be damaged beyond repair. He weighed his options while staring into the face of the beautiful, treacherous woman that had come to mean too much to him. Since he wanted her intact, he would have to get most of the information he needed later when he could use less invasive methods for extraction.

  For now, he would earn her hatred another way. He pointed his gun at Haty, who was busy cleaning her fur a few feet away from the bottom of the bed. “Speak now, tell me the attack plan, or I kill your cat.” Her mouth fell open and she lunged forward. Ivan slashed an arm around her middle, flinging her back and trapping her against the bed. “Speak!” he shouted in her face. “You have three seconds.”

  “Okay,” she relented, staring at Haty, who was still oblivious to their fight. “I don’t know the exact plan. He said he would come rescue me when I sent a message and try to capture you. I don’t know anything else. Honest!”

  “Who, Jaya?” Ivan demanded. “I want a name.”

  “I can’t tell you!” she cried desperately, staring at her cat with wide, teriffied eyes. “I don’t know his name.”

  Ivan shoved a frustrated hand through his hair. He believed her. He stood up, reholstered his gun and hauled her to her feet. She stumbled and then stood staring stonily past him. She sniffed and swiped at her eyes. “I always knew you were going to use her against me,” she whispered stiffly.

  “We’ll discuss this later, and Jaya.” He shook her until she looked at him. “You will tell me everything I want to know.”

  She stuck her chin out and gave him a coolly blank look. He didn’t like it. It reminded him too much of soldiers he’d worked with; people sent to do the work of men who had programmed them for certain jobs. Jobs that didn’t necessarily require their survival. He gritted his teeth and pushed her toward her cage where Haty had taken refuge. “You have thirty seconds to grab whatever items you want to keep, we’re leaving and we won’t be back.”

  She didn’t hesitate, she bent to grab her book, which had fallen to the floor when Ivan had hauled her off the bed and then she lunged toward Haty. She ran toward the bed, tipped one of the pillows upside down and shook the pillow out. Then she shoved her book and the protesting kitten inside. Ivan reached for her wrist and pulled her out of the room just as he heard the first plane approach the island.

  “Motherfucker!” he shouted.

  Jaya’s eyes went wide and she stared at Ivan, her mouth opening in shock. As if she couldn’t believe Armageddon was about to fall upon their heads while she was still in the compound. “Hang on to that pillowcase,” he snapped and scooped her up, tossing her over his shoulder.

  The first explosion hit the west wing, taking out his security rooms. The entire castle shook beneath his feet as he ran. Jaya clung to his back but thankfully didn’t struggle and didn’t make a sound. She just hung on as he hurtled through the deserted corridors. He hoped Keane and the rest of his team got out before the missile strike. He trusted his orders were being carried out swiftly and the men were waiting in the caverns with the submersible boats.

  Another explosion hit the servants’ quarters seconds later, rocking the building and sending a flash of heat over Ivan’s head. Jaya let out a yelp as fire licked their backs. Ivan growled and dropped to his knee cradling her against his chest while they waited for the heat to abate. She clung to him, her arms snaking around his neck. Her lips found his throat and she mumbled something over and over.

  Ivan dropped his head to listen. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know,” she whispered hoarsely. “I didn’t know. I killed them all.”

  Ivan shook his head, took her hair in his fist and tilted her head so he could see her face. “Shh, sweetheart,” he whispered against her. “No one’s hurt, they all got off the island. Don’t worry about them.” He didn’t know if everyone was safe and, at the moment, he didn’t care. He just needed Jaya to hold her shit together long enough for him to get her to safety.

  She shook her head, tears dripping down her cheeks and chin. “No, no, no!” she cried. “They’re all dead, all blown to pieces. I should’ve died too. I should die with them. It’s my fault.”

  Ivan realized then that she wasn’t there with him, that she was locked in the horrors of her past. That the confrontation with him in the bedroom and the subsequent explosions were throwing her into a panic or a PTSD episode. He gripped her face between his hands and kissed her forehead then held her close against his chest. He had to get her out of there while they were still in one piece. Whoever she had sent a message to either thought she’d managed to escape or didn’t give a fuck about her. If they survived the siege on his property Ivan was going to find out who the fucker was and dismember him. If it turned out the bastard knew Jaya was inside the castle when he started bombing, then Ivan was going to find new and creative ways to prolong his suffering.

  “Time to go,” he said gruffly and lifted her in his arms, making sure her wiggling suitcase was still cradled in her arms.

  “I’m s-
sorry,” she mumbled and turned her head into his neck as he began to run again.

  “I know, sweetheart.”

  The next explosion took out his guard station on the outside of the building. The percussive force rattled the castle and nearly knocked him off his feet, but he stayed upright and continued running. The next boom he heard came from the island and the one after that from over the island. He grinned and shouted, “Ground-to-air heat-seeking missiles!” as he approached Keane, who was standing at the end of the hallway, holding open the door to the underground tunnels.

  “Thanks to the Saudis, these motherfuckers won’t know what hit ‘em,” Keane said returning Ivan’s grin. “What a beautiful sight that was.” Keane nodded toward Jaya. “Get what you needed?”

  Ivan shook his head. “We’ll find out soon enough. Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

  Keane grunted and let the giant fire door slam shut behind them. He locked it and set a timer so no one could follow them through. Now that they’d knocked the enemy bird out of the sky, it was a fair bet the island would soon be overrun with foot soldiers. They ran for miles through the subterranean tunnels until they reached the caverns where Ivan kept several submersible boats. Keane used to tease him about how Bond villain-esque the keeping of such contraptions were. Now they were all breathing a little easier as they had a guaranteed escape route that was highly unlikely to be blown out of the water.

  Ivan climbed on board the nearest one with his package held firmly in his arms. She didn’t even try to struggle, just sat quietly with her bundle on her lap. As the boat sped away from the island he turned to watch his home go up in flames just before they submerged.

  “I’m sorry,” Jaya whispered again, her head under his chin. The pillowcase was held firmly in her arms. It had finally stopped struggling but was still shaking.

  Ivan nodded and kissed the top of her head breathing in her delicious scent. “You don’t need to be sorry, my love,” he said quietly, for her ears alone. “I’ll fix everything so this this doesn’t happen again.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  They arrived in Jakarta in a flurry of action. Jaya assumed that most of the activity was in securing Ivan’s non-island residence. She wondered how many homes he had around the world, island or non-island. She herself had nothing to do with all the chaos as she was too busy sitting in a corner handcuffed to a chair. There was a guard whose entire job was to stand nearby and watch over her. At first she thought it was to make sure she didn’t escape, but then she began to wonder if it was a safety thing as Ivan had stopped in to check on her welfare several times during the hours she was left sitting. He uncapped a water bottle and tilted it against her lips each time he came in for a visit. Once he gently touched the side of her face, his eyes lingering over the bruise on her cheekbone where he’d slapped her. He frowned, regret burning in his cool gaze for a just a moment before he turned away to leave her still chained to the chair.

  So weird considering she’d essentially betrayed him and caused his beautiful castle to get blown up. She tried to suppress a shudder at that last thought. She still couldn’t deal with the destruction caused by any type of bomb. Being so close to one was almost more than she could bear. She had to believe her adoptive father had no idea she was still on the island when he gave the order, that he believed she’d managed to escape as her message had implied. She didn’t want to believe that his desire for revenge outweighed his feelings for her.

  Ivan strode back into the room and nodded toward the guard, indicating the man could leave. He left without a word. She marvelled at how well Ivan’s people were trained. Like dogs. And the ones that didn’t fall into line quietly disappeared. Would she die? Would he finally kill her? She didn’t really get why he was being so nice to her. He had slapped her, but it had been a heat of the moment thing, right after she’d essentially confessed to bringing him down. Or trying to anyway. Now he was back to being her lover, as though she was precious to him.

  He pulled up a chair and sat opposite her. She straightened a little, though it didn’t do much good. Ivan was still a half-foot taller than she was, even sitting. And though not uncomfortable, her hands were cuffed behind her back. She was at a definite disadvantage.

  “I need you to give me some answers,” he said, speaking in a slow, clear voice.

  Again, it seemed strange. She had grown used to his coldness, his terrible, mechanical mind, his bleak intelligence. It was as if her escape attempt and near drowning had changed something in him. Something that not even finding out about her duplicity could shake. She didn’t want to call it love because that wasn’t an emotion she could associate with Ivan. She didn’t think it was an emotion he even knew how to identify. But something about his obsession with her was taking a weirdly tender turn. She didn’t like the way her body was reacting to his sudden caring, the way she softened around him. She needed to remember who he was and the things he’d done.

  She called upon all of her training and stared past him, her face blank and her emotionless. She did her best to clear her mind and make sure her face didn’t betray her. Ivan sighed and shifted slightly. “Okay, sweetheart,” he said quietly. “That’s what I thought. I was hoping you might be in more of a sharing mood since I’ve saved your life twice now.”

  She blinked at him skeptically. “Really? Because I’m pretty sure my life would never have been in danger if you hadn’t kidnapped me in the first place.”

  He growled and leaned closer, getting in her face. She leaned back, but he followed her. “And I’m pretty fucking sure you were always a plant, my love. Someone meant to get your ass kidnapped and placed within my organization.” Jaya had to swallow her gasp. It took everything she had to clamp her mouth shut and stare past him as though he hadn’t just guessed her every move. He grabbed her jaw and forced her face up so her eyes were level with his. “You play a hell of a game of chess my beautiful slave. And you almost won that round.”

  She kept her gaze blank and said in an even voice, “I don’t know what you mean.” But her lips were trembling in fear. Would he kill her now that he guessed? Would the fledgling emotions she’d brought out in him be crushed under the weight of her betrayal?

  Ivan pulled his lips back in a feral grin. She’d never seen him look at her that way, as though he were about to lose control but enjoying himself at the same time. The look terrified her almost more than the bombing. Maybe he was going to torture her. Maybe she had overestimated his regard for her. Maybe he’d only saved her from the castle and the bombing so he could torture her slower, more horribly later on, when he had the time.

  “Now it’s my move,” he said and reached into his pocket. When she looked down she saw he was holding a needle. She frowned and tried to jerk back. He shook his head and smoothed her hair back, then dropped his hand to her arm, holding her still. He pulled the cover of the needle off with his teeth. “I tried asking nicely. Now you’ll give me the answers I need.”

  He sank the needle into her arm.

  Jaya let out a scream of outrage and squirmed in his arms while he held her. He continued to run his hands over her hair and body. She knew she should fight whatever he gave her, but she found his touch soothing. Finally, anger gave way to tears and she asked, “Wh-what did you give me?”

  “Sodium pentothal,” he told her immediately.

  “You’ve drugged me,” she moaned, trying to twist away.

  “This is the best way I can think of to get the information without hurting you in the process,” he explained.

  She went limp against him. There was no point in fighting, he wasn’t letting her get away from him and he wasn’t going to let her hurt herself either. She turned her head to look at him with a frown. “Why are you even explaining this to me? In fact, why are you worried about hurting me at all?” she asked, confused. “A week ago you were all kinds of threatening. You even hurt me a few times. Now you can barely stand for me to bruise. What gives?”

  “A week ago I hadn�
��t watched you almost die in a situation I had a direct hand in creating,” he said quietly, his voice threaded with a steel determination to make her understand something. “I don’t care if you fell into my hands by my design, by yours or by someone else’s. I’ve decided that you belong to me and that I don’t want you harmed. It disturbs me greatly to see you suffer, so I will attempt to minimize the things that upset you.”

  Her mouth fell open and she stared at him. Unfortunately she realized that she was staring for far too long and his edges were growing fuzzy. Damn, the medication he gave her was taking effect. But their conversation was extremely important. It sounded like it might have a direct impact on her future.

  “B-but doesn’t that mean that you only do nice things for me so you don’t have to be uncomfortable yourself?” she asked blinking heavily. “That’s insane, like a psychopath or sociopath or something.”

  He shrugged and continued to hold her against his chest, mindful of her hands, still chained behind her back to the chair. “I’ve never adhered to a label before, never been diagnosed by a doctor. But yes, to some extent my feelings and reactions were largely stamped out and twisted when I was a teenager. I observe the feelings of others. Usually if someone makes me uncomfortable I eliminate the feeling. But you’re different, Jaya. You make me want to feel, want to pursue the comfort you can provide.”

  “How is this possible?” she whispered, desperately wishing she could touch the features that were now swimming in and out of her vision. “You’ve kidnapped me, taken my freedom. And you know I will betray you again, just as soon as I can.”

  He smiled down at her and smoothed his thumb over her mouth. She frowned and tried to move her head. When he wouldn’t let her she bared her teeth and snapped at him. “I think you’re ready to answer some questions, sweetheart.”