The icon for the Internet produced nothing, and she almost cried trying to remember where to find WiFi settings, since she’d gotten rid of her iPad months ago in favor of a different tablet. At last she found the settings, but all the available networks showed the locked symbol meaning they were protected. Her heart sank. She sat on her heels and laid the tablet on the floor, staring at it. At her place, every device with WiFi ability included saved settings for accessing her home network. Did that mean Anthony had deleted them from the iPad? No, something told her he didn’t know the tablet was on that shelf, even though he could have reached it with ease. His concern had been in destroying the phone, and since her purse wasn’t in the room, she assumed he’d taken that as well. More likely, he’d probably unplugged the modem somewhere in the apartment.
No way would she be able to go out to the living room and look for it with Anthony out there and with so little time before they moved again. There had to be another solution. She picked up the iPad and walked over to the window. On impulse, she pressed the button to refresh the search for networks, and her breath caught in her chest when one new one appeared, unprotected. The bars were low, but she just might be able to access it.
Thank you for this chance!
She attempted to connect and waited with butterflies killing each other in her stomach. The connection went through and held, so she rushed to get over to the browser. Twice she misspelled the domain name for her email and then forgot her password. At last, she brought up a new email and typed in a short message, including the information from the business card, even though it was unlikely the location where she was now. “I’m in Greensboro, in a penthouse apartment.” She peered out the window and stretched to see a landmark. Two big chain restaurants greeted her gaze, and she smiled then added that info as well. “Come soon, please! We’re leaving in twenty-five minutes.”
She shot off the message to Kian’s work email because she had never forgotten it. He might not be able to get there in time because Charlotte to Greensboro took a good hour and a half, but maybe he could coordinate with the local police and someone could slow Anthony down.
“What are you doing with this?”
She barely heard the words before the back of Anthony’s hand found her face, and she tumbled backward. The iPad hit the wall and he stomped toward her. She backpedaled on her hands and ass toward the closet. “I was just trying to play a game, Anthony, to pass the time.”
“Oh, really? I don’t believe you.”
As he charged, she felt around behind her and found the box of shoes and threw it at his head. With clothes all around her, he must not have expected anything heavy because he didn’t duck. One shoe smacked him square in the face, and Evie jumped to her feet and ran. She hit the door, pushed off of it, and kept moving. In the hall on the far side of the living room, she found the elevator and made for it, all the while searching for something else to use as a weapon.
Through a window opening into the kitchen, she spotted a knife on the counter where Anthony had been slicing tomatoes. She grabbed it just when he tangled fingers in her hair. He jerked her backward and reached for the knife in her left hand, but she switched it to her right and swiped around behind her. The sharp point connected with his slacks and sliced straight through. His howl of pain next to her ear disoriented her, and he sent her flying forward to land flat on the floor.
“You ungrateful little—”
She flipped over to her butt and found him bent, pressing a hand to his leg. The knife had dropped from her hand and lay several feet away, covered with blood. Her stomach stirred, but she swallowed hard. Anthony limped over to it and stepped on it. His hard gaze locked with hers. She’d never known such fear. “That’s the second time I took a knife. I’m not taking anymore.” She’d seen the bandage sticking out above his shirt line on his shoulder and remembered Kian telling her he’d been stabbed as a plot to escape prison.
He stalked toward her. She scooted back. When he stood above her, she didn’t think twice, but jammed her foot between his legs and connected with his balls. The shouted curse bounced off every wall, and he dropped to his knees. Evie flipped back around and tried to stand, but he grabbed her shirt and dragged her to him. She fought with everything she had, punching, scratching, and wriggling. He raised a fist, ready to hit her, and she cowered.
A ringing phone made him pause. At first, he ignored it, and then he appeared to change his mind. He stood up, pulling her with him, and shuffled to the living room. The phone lay on the coffee table, and he snatched it up.
“Yeah,” he barked. A few seconds later, he cursed. “Thanks for the heads up, man. I’ll meet up with you at the place we agreed on. Yeah, I have your money. Don’t sweat it.”
Evie’s spirits sagged. If they were leaving earlier and meeting with someone, there was no telling where she’d end up next. She might never see Kian again. The prospect weighed heavy, and when Anthony all but threw her into the elevator and tossed a bag in after, she didn’t put up a fight. She crouched in the corner, sick to her stomach, muscles aching as if she’d just run a marathon.
Anthony stepped into the elevator after her and stood in the middle, his legs planted apart, anger transforming a face she’d once thought handsome to demonic. She figured that was her fear, but it didn’t matter. Her cousin went beyond anything she’d ever thought him capable of, and she didn’t recognize the person who stood before her.
“You keep your mouth shut when we get downstairs,” he ordered, “or you’re going to be sorry. I killed a federal agent. Don’t think I won’t forget we’re related and do the same to you.”
She began to shake uncontrollably, and her teeth chattered. Sure, she could beg the bellman if there was one to help her and to call the police, but chances were Anthony would kill them both before the police arrived. Scenarios ran through her head of how to get away, but then her cousin drew aside the jacket he’d slung on before entering the elevator. He gave her a pointed look, and she let her gaze slide from his terrifying face to the scarier weapon tucked into the front of his jeans.
“You said you wouldn’t kill me.” Her voice came out hoarse.
“I changed my mind. You’re becoming more trouble than you’re worth. If I didn’t have to move fast, I’d have done you in the apartment.”
“I—I don’t believe you.”
His eyes glittered. “Want to try me?”
Evie clamped her teeth together. When the elevator reached the first floor, Anthony leaned over and grabbed her arm to haul her to her feet. They moved through the lobby at a clipped pace. She glanced around to see that a bellman did indeed work there, but the man never looked up from the desk. She squinted at him, and the tension in his shoulders gave the impression he knew something wasn’t right, but he refused to get involved. She had a feeling Anthony or his friend had paid the man off. The last shred of hope died, and she gave no resistance at being pulled toward the exit.
As soon as they hit the door, she picked up on the sirens. She looked at her cousin, whose brows crashed low over his eyes. “Damn it. Too late. Come on. We’re going out the back.”
They retraced their steps and ran down a couple of hallways. Anthony’s grip on her arm tightened until she winced in pain. In his other hand, he held the gun at the ready. She had visions of a police shootout and herself winding up dead. Miraculously, when they reached the rear exit, the police hadn’t reached that location. Anthony bolted toward a parked car. She recognized it as the one outside the grocery store.
Last chance, Evie. If you don’t do something, you’re dead.
She sucked in a deep breath and prepared to dig in her heels to slow him down. He anticipated the resistance as if he’d read her mind and hauled her off her feet and threw her over his shoulder. His grunt of pain let her know he’d aggravated his injury. The charge toward the car ended in her thrown unceremoniously into the driver side and Anthony jamming in after her. Tire wheels screeched as he jetted from the back lot.
“Anthony, please just let me go. If you care about me even a little…”
“Buckle up!”
She ignored the command and took in the state of his leg. Blood stained his jeans, spreading downward. “You should go to the hospital for your leg. It probably needs stitches.”
He reached across and grabbed her seat belt to hold out to her. “Put it on.”
She gritted her teeth in frustration. “You were just talking about killing me. Now you want me to buckle up in case you have an accident?”
He grinned at her, and she shrank against the door. “I lied.”
“What?”
A big, rough hand stroked down her hair. “I can’t kill you, Evie.”
A sense of real hate rose up inside her, but she bit off the sarcastic comment. Provoking him had gotten her smacked until she’d passed out. She didn’t want a repeat of that, but to keep her from trying to escape, this bastard had threatened to kill her, and she had believed him.
When they were a couple miles from the apartment, Anthony slowed down. He seemed to be searching for something, and she followed his line of vision. The streets of downtown Greensboro had given way to a suburban area, and she figured out what he intended. The apartment building or even the grocery store might have had surveillance cameras. If either did, the car’s license plate and its make and model could have been caught, and the police would be on the lookout for the car. Anthony planned to steal another vehicle. With darkness upon them, they had less of a chance of being caught.
Anthony glanced at her and then sped up. Her hope that he’d stop faded away. The suburban area gave way to a back road. He took curves in the road at a dangerous speed, and Evie tried seeing into the darkness, but all she made out were fields of grass and lights at the other end of them. She guessed the lights were people’s homes, but there was no way they could identify the fast-moving car or even consider alerting the police.
Anthony’s cell phone rang. He answered. “Yeah, I’m close. I’ll be there.”
This was Evie’s last chance. She watched her cousin switch the phone from his left year to his right, and realized it produced a sort of blind spot to what she did. As quietly as possible and with little movement, she undid the seatbelt, praying the call wouldn’t end too soon. When the belt lay half way across her body, she decided to go with her plan. At the same time she released the seatbelt to let it snap into place, she grabbed for the lock on the door, yanked it back, and threw the door open.
Tuck and roll, tuck and roll, she chanted in her head. That command was easier thought than performed. She pushed off using her foot against the frame of the car and flew through the air to land flat on her chest. Her forehead smacked down hard, and pain exploded through her mind. Dizzy and sick, she managed to get her feet under her and started running. Somewhere behind, tire wheels squealed, but she kept moving, head over shoulders, shoulders over hips. In high school, she had been on the track team and done well. She knew the importance of proper form for maximum speed. Of course, tell that to her aching muscles, which decided she’d been out of practice too long.
“Evie, come back here,” Anthony called, and she heard his heavy steps pounding the ground behind her. She gave another burst of speed, refusing to look over her shoulders and compromise her head start or the courage it had taken to do this in the first place. Her face ached, and her head felt like it would pop at any second. The lights she’d seen loomed closer, and Anthony’s voice faded in the distance.
I’m going to make it.
The ground dipped without warning, and she tumbled over a small hill and rolled to the bottom. She tried to break her fall with one hand and landed wrong. Something cracked, and she howled in pain. The moon and clouds spun out of control. She blinked over and over, trying to right them and not throw up at the same time. At last, when they settled, she tried rising and failed. To her left, she noticed the house with the lights on. Just a few more steps. She tried again to get up and fell back down with pains shooting up her arm and into her shoulder. Nausea brought blackness, but she fought giving in to it.
She had broken her arm, and combined with whatever injuries she’d suffered in jumping from the car, she would not rise. She looked to the right, toward the low hilltop and stared. Any second Anthony would come over it and drag her back to the car. Minutes passed. The night stretched quiet. Her cousin’s footsteps no longer sounded nearby. Then a new noise pierced the night, and tears spilled down her cheeks. Blue and red lights lit the horizon with sirens wailing. A door opened, and she picked up voices.
“I’m going out there to see,” a man said.
“No, dear. You don’t know who that was. The police are on the way. Wait for them.” An old lady’s voice. Evie cried harder. They’d seen her running toward their house and called the police. Maybe they’d heard Anthony too. Help was on the way. She sighed and let the shadows swallow her.
Chapter Seven
Three weeks later
Kian leaned over the bed in Evie’s room and watched her sleep. He brushed the hair from her face and leaned closer. The swelling had gone down, and the bruise disappeared. Now all that remained of her ordeal was the cast on her right arm. Whenever he looked at her, he first experienced rage and a new determination to find Paine, but then Evie peered up at him, and every other thought left his head except to note how beautiful she was and how he’d give his life to protect her.
She opened her eyes now and sighed. “You’re always here.”
“I’m supposed to be.”
When she moved to sit up, he attempted to help her, but she swatted his hands away. “I’m hopped up on pain pills most of the time, and it’s only a broken arm now. I can handle it.”
“You never let me help you.”
She laughed. The musical sound pleased him. For a couple weeks, she didn’t smile, and no matter how he’d tried to talk to her, she refused. She’d given her statement to other agents, the ones now leading the case to find Paine. He’d been yanked off of it. The director had accused him of taking it too personally, and why wouldn’t he? That bastard had almost killed Evie. If he hadn’t bullied Taggert, he wouldn’t know all the details of how Paine had terrorized her for the hours she’d been with him. He had vowed after that to not let her out of his sight until he buried Paine. I guess that’s why the boss says I’ve taken it too personally.
“I know you’re assigned to watch over me, but I mean you’re always in my room when I wake up.”
“I want to be sure you’re okay.” He reached for her again, but she moved away like she always did. They hadn’t discussed his seeing Meghan, and each time she turned from him, guilt held him in its grip. He’d grow angry, but then let it go. Sure, he’d been right to see whomever he wanted after they divorced, but of all people… He’d known Meghan hated Evie, and he’d learned back then that Meghan was the one who’d told Brad’s wife about Paine being Evie’s cousin and that Evie hadn’t informed him of the man’s illegal activities. He couldn’t fully blame Meghan for Evie’s humiliation because in his own pain, he’d done nothing to shield her from it. Meghan had gone out of her way to be sure everyone knew the details, yet he’d still let his cock lead him when she offered him comfort in bed.
Evie stood up. “I’m fine, Kian. I’m going to take a shower then get online. I think I found a school I’d like to go to.”
“I’m proud of you, changing career directions.”
She shrugged, and he tried not to note how the material of her nightie shifted over her nipples, defining them, or the long, creamy-brown legs below it. How many cold showers could he take in the morning or jerk off in there at night? Nothing helped living under the same roof with his ex-wife, the woman he wanted more than anyone and couldn’t have.<
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“Evie.”
She stopped at the door and looked back at him. Sunlight from the window across from the stairs made her nightie transparent. His cock twitched and swelled, and he gritted his teeth.
“About Meghan.”
“That’s not open for discussion, Kian. It’s in the past.”
“It’s not in the past, dammit.” At her widened eyes, he pushed a hand through his hair and willed himself to calm down. “Look, I broke it off with her just before you and I were together. I know it looked bad that she had a key. It was for convenience sake. She did not live here, and I most certainly didn’t tell her to pick you up that day. I have more sense than that.”
She forced a smile, and he figured it was an attempt to look like none of his points made any difference to her. He knew different. Her hand, braced on the doorway, trembled. He’d seen it from his position by the bed. “You didn’t get the key back from her.”
“I meant to.”
She held up two fingers, but didn’t say a word, then swung away to walk out of the room. Kian guessed what the fingers meant. He’d left her to be humiliated twice. Anger and frustration tingled in the roots of his hair.
“Another shower,” he muttered, and headed to his room.
Kian stepped under the spray and let the chilly water fall over his head. He should be used to it by now, but goose bumps rose on his skin, and he curled a fist, just keeping himself from slamming it into the wall. He’d already done that to the sheet rock in the study the day he first came home from the hospital after seeing Evie’s face and hearing from her doctor about the slight concussion, the break, and the cuts and bruises. He’d wanted Paine’s throat to crush, but the only thing he had at the time was the wall.
“Evie,” he moaned.
“Kian?”
He spun in the shower and yanked the door open. She stood there with her arm wrapped in plastic, naked and sexy. His cock bobbed. She took a step toward him, but he held up his hand. Hurt filled her eyes.
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