“You,” I say viciously, leaning forward in my seat like a tiger ready to pounce. This is the guy that not only ripped me off, he hurt my girl. Her ex-husband who actually caused her physical pain. Jealousy and anger rage in my stomach and I am totally ready to hurdle this desk in front of me and nail him to the wall.
He holds his hands up in front of him and stutters, “I just need five minutes of your time, then you can do what you want with me.”
“You’ve got two minutes to tell me what’s so important that I shouldn’t beat you into the ground right now,” I growl, barely controlling my temper. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I know it wouldn’t be right to unleash such frustration on him but I can’t help but think how good it would feel. My hands ball into fists at my side and clench tightly.
“I know where she is and I need your help.”
“What?”
“Natalie…I-I mean, Arianna. She’s with James Ellis.”
“You wanna tell me something I don’t know?” I say, huffing in frustration. I’m giving him thirty seconds to convince me not to hammer his head into my desk.
“He’s dangerous.”
“No, they’re a pair of fucking twisted hyenas.”
“He’s hurt her, bad.”
My skin prickles and I feel like he’s just taken the breath from my lungs.
“Are you shitting me?”
He answers quickly, shaking his head frantically. “No. No. I promise.”
“Cause if you’re messing with me, I’ll put a fucking bullet through that thick head of yours…and god help me, I will do it.”
“Look. I know you have no reason to believe me, and I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t. I owe him. So, he had me deliver flowers to her, here and at her work. He had me drop your sister off here the other morning. Then after the night of the ball, he called and told me the debt was paid. Sir, I think he…”
“He, what? For fuck’s sake!”
“I think he was responsible for your brother’s accident, sir.”
“You’re treading on lethal territory here.”
“Look, you don’t have to believe me; I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t. But something didn’t sit right with me, so I watched his condo. No one had gone in or out until tonight…something happened and…”
“And?” I bark impatiently.
“Two hours ago, he carried her out, unconscious. They’ve gone to the private hospital just outside of Boulder City.”
“Let me just get this straight, you work for him? How do I know you’re not playing me?” I ask. I don’t want to believe this is true, because if it is, and Arianna is hurt somewhere, then I want to know about it. But if he’s playing me, this could be really fucking nasty, for him.
He sighs and hesitates before he answers. “I fucked around on her. Just before we got married, I cheated on her, and he had photographic evidence. He blackmailed me. I never wanted to rip you off, Mr. King, but I had no choice, I was trying to protect the girl I eventually fell in love with. After he had found her, he threatened the safety of her, and my family, if I didn’t work for him. I couldn’t risk that. So…”
“You fucking idiot. All this because you couldn’t keep your dick in your pants?”
I knew it. I fucking knew something wasn’t right and I sat on that feeling while the evil fucker was hurting my girl.
“Jack,” I bark. “Get the SUV up front. You,” I point at Aaron, “You’re coming with us.”
He nods solemnly.
“I’m sorry … about all of this …”
“You will be if we don’t get my girl back in one piece.”
I click open the safe and do something I never thought I would have to do. I load my father’s gun and tuck it into the waistband of my jeans. Aaron waits at the door with his head hung low in a defeated stance. I don’t want to, but I feel sorry for him. We have half an hour, maybe less, in the time it will take us to get to Boulder, so I’ll get everything out of him along the way.
