Chapter Thirteen
Arianna
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I SAT THERE, IN THE back of the car, and glanced between the two men who had become my captors.
Were either of them going to say anything? The inside of the car was quiet, so quiet it seemed as though it might swallow me whole. They had marched me out of the hotel and down to the car on the orders of Jacob – well, his real name, as it turned out, was something like Arnold. No wonder he had come up with something better than that.
He had recognized me and demanded they bring me to him. I didn’t have much of a choice. My face was still smarting from the strike I’d taken from one of them, and I was hardly in a good bargaining position to get what I wanted. Better to just keep my head down, stay focused, and hope for the best. I would be able to get out of this, I would. I had survived worse, and I was sure I would again.
My mind was racing as I tried to put all the pieces together. So, Jacob had lied to me about who he was – that made two of us. But his lie had been far greater than mine. He was involved in this crazy mess Dean was running from, and I’d had the terrifically bad fucking luck to put myself in the middle of it. I was starting to wonder just what the hell I had been thinking when I went after Dean at the airport, but then I remembered our night together, and it made a whole lot more sense. It wasn’t often I came across chemistry like that, and when I did, I needed to pursue it.
So what the hell did I do now? I was sure they were going to be pissed, whoever I was being taken to, because they really wanted Dean and they hadn’t been able to find him. They might think I was working with him still, or that I wanted to be – I hadn’t met him before he had come stumbling into that narrow space outside the hotel, but they wouldn’t believe that. It was far too convenient, and besides, what kind of woman would just jump into something so obviously and abjectly dangerous?
I could tell the men I was with were worried, which was something I could use. They had come looking for Dean, and they were going to have to go back to their boss without him. They were clearly concerned, and hoping I would be enough to keep the shit off their backs for the time being. I was basically their sacrificial lamb, a chance for them to get out of all of this smelling of roses.
If Jacob – Arnold – remembered me, I would be in a hell of a lot of trouble. I was already constructing a story in my head, something I could use to deflect his doubt from me. I wouldn’t deny we had been together, of course, there was no point in that; I was sure the hotel would be able to corroborate it, and I didn’t feel like arguing with CCTV or whatever one of his security guards had seen us together. But maybe I could assure him I had done nothing wrong, taken nothing from him. If he had been distracted by Dean, he might not have noticed how much I had taken from him, if any at all. As far as he knew, I could just be some unfortunate victim caught up in the middle of this by a string of coincidences; a girl who just wanted a nice date and got dragged from Chicago to who knows where in the middle of the night.
I kept trying to get a look out of the windows, but they were tinted and I could hardly see anything. I knew people in most major cities in the US, and I was sure I would be able to tap at least one of them to help me, but that would require me to find out where the hell I was first. I didn’t know if I could. They wanted me as disorganized and out of sorts as possible, probably so they could ease as much about Dean out of me as they could.
As though I had anything. That man had been in and out of my life and my bed faster than I could turn around. And for what? I had gotten myself into this ridiculous mess because of him, and I was starting to wonder just what the hell I had been thinking. I should have let him stay in his lane and kept to mine. I could have been in France by now, but instead, I was sitting in the back of a car staring off into space, swallowed up by the silence of the men around me.
I could make it out of here. That was what I needed to keep telling myself. I could make it out and I could survive, and nothing as going to get in the way of me doing just that. Dean might have left me with one hell of a mess to cope with, but that was on me. That was what I got for trusting someone I really didn’t know.
I knew better than to fall into traps like that, but it didn’t mean I was stuck in a mess I couldn’t get out of. I had dealt with worse than this. I just needed to sweet-talk the hell out of this Arnold guy, get him convinced he was mis-remembering the night and I had only left because of the flight I had mentioned I had early the next day, remember? One of the last things I ever wanted to have to do was talk to a mark after I had gotten what I wanted, but it wouldn’t be the first time. A couple had woken up before I was entirely done taking what I needed from them, and I’d needed to think on my feet then, too.
Eventually, the car slowed slightly and took a turn down a long avenue lined with trees. Glancing to the men in front of me to make sure I wouldn’t be caught in the act, I wound down the window just an inch or two so I could get a look outside.
It was a beautiful place, no doubt about that. It looked expensive. As the car continued down the driveway, I cursed myself for not having a better knowledge of native foliage or anything like that. Where the hell was I? I should have had some point of reference, but I couldn’t come up with anything. I felt phenomenally stupid, but I supposed that was how they wanted me.
The car drew to a halt outside a large mansion, and I peered up at it. Okay, now, talking of expensive – this place looked as though it had cost a downright fortune. Houses I knew a little better than nature, and I was able to glean at least a little out of the sight of this place.
It was enormous and gaudy; made to show off how much money the person who’d built it had to their name, rather than to act as a functional home. Old money houses were big because they’d once had to house a whole sprawling clan as well as the staff; new money houses were big because the people who made them wanted to show the hell off, and they often didn’t have any trouble doing so.
Okay. Arnold was in there somewhere, and I was sure he was ready to chew me out for what I had done. Maybe worse.
That was the thing about old money. Those people could respect a scam and a scheme; that was how most of them had made their cash, or at least, how their grandfathers had made it in years past. If they lost their money to you, well, that was on them, and they rarely bothered to blame anyone for that mistake. But new money? New money remembered all the struggle and toil they’d had to go through to get where they were, and they wanted nothing more than to take out that toll on whoever they could get their hands on.
New money killed. And I was starting to worry I might be in for the same fate if I didn’t start planning soon.
How was I going to play this? I needed to catch him off-guard, if he even gave me long enough to speak. They believed I had something to do with Dean, and I could use that to my advantage – convince them I could deliver some crucial information, if they just kept me alive long enough to hear me out. I had no idea if it would work, but it was something.
I closed my eyes for a moment as the car stopped, and I heard the men in front get out. They would take me to him soon, and I would be lucky to make it out alive. I had to rely on my skills, my know-how of this world, to ensure I didn’t wind up dead.
The door next to me opened, and one of the men peered inside. He looked furious, and he probably was. I had made him look like an idiot, letting Dean get away as he had, and I had no doubt he was basically chomping at the bit for a chance to get back at me. Let him try – he didn’t stand a damn chance. I could run over lackeys like him in my sleep. He wouldn’t know what was coming at him.
“Out,” he ordered me, and I paused for a moment longer. How much more time did I have before Arnold grabbed me by the hair and pulled me out himself? How much did he know about me? What was he going to say? Fear rushed through me, a sensation I wasn’t much used to – one I didn’t have much use for, to be honest. One I didn’t want a use for.
“I’m coming,” I muttered to him, irritated. I didn’t like being told what to do, and certainly not by some idiot muscle man. I brushed past him and rose to my feet, painting my face with the closest expression I could muster to outright disdain for the way I was being treated.
Arnold was standing there opposite me, his arms crossed over his chest. His face was difficult to read, as I’m sure he intended it to be. I took a deep breath; if I was going to pull this off, I was going to need to be convincing.
“Do you know how your idiot men have been treating me?” I demanded, storming towards him and stabbing my finger in the air as I went.
“What do you mean?” he asked, and I gestured to what I was sure was the emerging red mark on my cheek.
“I didn’t get this by myself, you know,” I muttered, shaking my head furiously. “One of them hit me. Do you know that? You’re letting your men go around slapping women?”
For a moment, I thought he was going to laugh me off. I thought he was going to tell me I was stupid for believing he would give a damn about my pain, that he was going to finish me off just for trying to talk him into believing that. I could feel the blood rushing in my ears, but I didn’t let it show on my face. I couldn’t. I needed to make sure I kept control of this situation, no matter how scared I was.
“Which one of them hit you?” he asked, and he raised his head to look beyond me and to the two men standing behind me. I let out a breath I didn’t even realize I had been holding. Thank fuck.
I brushed my hair back from my face dramatically, playing at the injured woman who just needed a man to help her. I had to convince him there was nothing to fear from me, and I was in desperate need of his help. I had no idea whether he would believe me or not, but this was the closest I had to a plan right now and I couldn’t let it slip through my fingers.
“I need something to drink,” I told him with a sigh. I was just playing for time, but as long as he would give it to me, I didn’t see any reason I shouldn’t lean in a little.
“Of course,” he murmured, and he stepped forward to put an arm around my shoulder and guide me into the house. I didn’t know how long I had before he decided to turn on me again, but I had to take anything I could get when it came to finding my freedom. I was walking on eggshells here, and with each footstep, I was getting closer and closer to the edge.
And I sure as hell wasn’t about to go tipping over it.