I narrow my gaze and take a slow breath, turning and looking up and down the hall to find it completely empty. “Marcus?” I question, my tone dropping with suspicion. I’ve had this strange feeling once before, and it came just moments before the three DeAngelis asshats stalked me through the castle with the murder puppies. It was one of the most terrifying experiences of my life, but the assholes won’t be getting the best of me like that again.
Marcus doesn’t step out of the shadows, and I let out a frustrated groan before turning back and continuing down the hall. “I know you’re there, Marc,” I mutter, knowing damn well he hears me. I keep moving but guilt slams through me, and I find myself pausing to look back at the shadows. “I know I told you that Roman and I were just going to talk, and well, I think the neighbors even know how that turned out, but I swear, this doesn’t change the way I feel about you.”
Silence. Complete fucking silence.
I roll my eyes and turn back. I guess tonight we’re playing games. Marcus has been possessive since the very start of our twisted little relationship, so I’m really not surprised. Though, it would be a shitload easier on everybody if we just sat down and talked it through like normal people do.
I pick up my pace and grin to myself as I feel him keeping up with me. He can be an asshole at the best of times, but sometimes, his assholery is just the right kind of twisted that sends the best kind of thrill soaring through my veins. Now, if he wants to stalk me right through the property and into a dark room, I’d be down for that.
The dirty little thought pulls my grin wider and I pick up my pace, seeing just how ready he is to play, and as I glance back over my shoulder, I see the slightest glimpse of his black hoodie disappearing into an open doorway, I laugh.
“Well, well,” I tease, stopping and turning back. “Isn’t it funny how the tables have turned?”
I start heading back toward the room, ready to catch him in the act in the most twisted game of hide and seek, and just as I reach the open doorway that looks into the darkened room, Roman’s voice comes trailing up from the kitchen. “Dinner, fuckwits.”
The soft thumping of the drums stops before Levi’s deep tone bounces through the mansion. “Yeah, yeah,” he grumbles, irritated about having to stop. “Coming.”
I take a step into the dark room just as another voice cuts through the silence. “Only fuckwit around here is you,” Marcus calls through the house, his deep tone coming from downstairs.
My eyes widen with fear as my heart leaps out of my fucking chest.
Oh, fuck.
A petrified scream rises in my throat but before the sound can come tearing from between my lips, a dark figure comes bounding out of the shadow, his dark eyes locked right on mine. His hand slams over my mouth as his tight grip curls around my waist.
My heart’s rapid beat is almost painful, and I struggle to catch a breath, my pulse deafening in my ears. The stranger pushes me back against the wall, shining just a ray of light on his face, and proving once and for all just how wrong I’d been.
The man is all versions of tall, dark, and handsome with one hell of a strong grip, but one thing is for sure, I have no fucking idea who he is. Short, black dreadlocks frame his sculptured face as black eyes stare back at me. “We can do this the easy way, or the hard way,” he warns me. “Scream, and I’ll kill your little fuck toys downstairs, is that clear?”
Panic surges through my chest as I try to figure out a game plan. The man is far too strong for me to try and get away, but there’s no way in hell he’ll be able to take out the guys. There’s one of him and three of them.
I slowly nod, and the man hesitantly releases his hand from my mouth, allowing me to suck in a deep breath. “What do you want?” I spit, fixing him with a lethal stare.
“Tell them you need a minute,” he demands, his tone fierce and full of authority, yet there’s something there that tells me he’s not about to pull a knife and slaughter me, so there’s that. But then, can I really trust that?
I swallow hard, not sure what to do, but he’s not exactly giving me a choice. If I scream, I’ll most likely be dead before the boys can even get up here, but if I don’t, I’ll have to find out the hard way what he wants.
Sucking in a breath, I prepare to scream for my fucking life when he leans into me, his wide chest pressing against mine like a lead weight. “Don’t even fucking think about it,” he warns. “I have six men downstairs with three bombs set and ready. The DeAngelis brothers are surrounded and they have no fucking idea. Now, I warned you that we could do this the easy way or the hard way. What’s it going to be?”
Fuck.
There’s no way in hell I’m about to risk their lives like that, and with no sane choice left, I let out a sigh and glare at the asshole in front of me as I call out to the boys below. “Just need a minute.”
“Smart move,” the guy warns. “Now, you’re going to come with me, and you’re going to do it without making a goddamn sound.”
31
Twigs and low-lying branches dig into my skin as the too confident for his own damn good dread wearing psychopath leads me through the woods behind the DeAngelis mansion with two of his men following behind. His grip on my arm is tight, but he doesn’t hold me with the same crippling fist like others have in the past, and I have to wonder if maybe he’s not as bad as I think he is. Stupid, but maybe not all bad.
“They’re going to kill you,” I warn him as we break through the opposite side of the woods and out to an empty street. Two black SUVs sit up on the curb and we storm toward them, my feet barely able to keep up with their ridiculous pace.
“Let them try,” the man grumbles. “If they know what’s good for them, they’ll keep the fuck away.”
An unladylike snort comes tearing out of me as I glare up at the man. “You have no idea who you’re dealing with, do you?”
He glares right back. “And apparently, neither do you,” he says as we reach the first SUV. He stops by the back door and reaches around me to pull it open before making a point of staring inside the cab. “Get in.”
Everything screams at me not to get in the car, but I won’t get even a foot away before they’re on me, and I don’t want to see what happens if I try something they won’t appreciate. Besides, I have the GPS tracker in my arm now, and while I never actually checked with the boys that it’s working, I have to trust that they know what they’re doing. They’ll come for me, the only question is, how long will it take for them to realize I’m gone?