But she was breathing. Her lungs still worked.
Rachel kept her expression neutral, kept her breathing steady despite her heart slamming against her ribs. She'd been in bad situations before. Captured by militia groups in Syria. Detained by corrupt police in Afghanistan. Held at gunpoint by cartel enforcers in Juarez.
This was bad. But she'd survived worse.
The man stepped into her line of sight and Rachel's stomach lurched.
Victor Langley.
She'd seen his face in surveillance photos, in the files she'd spent weeks piecing together. But photographs didn't capture the way hemoved, like someone who'd never been told no in his entire life. His suit probably cost more than her car. Charcoal gray, perfectly tailored, not a wrinkle despite whatever he'd been doing before walking into this warehouse. His hair was styled with casual precision, the work of a stylist and expensive product. Pale eyes that tracked over her with clinical interest.
He wasn't the type to throw punches himself, he had people for that, but he had the resources and complete lack of conscience to make problems disappear. And right now, Rachel was a problem.
"Well, well." His voice was smooth. Educated. Pleasant, even. Like they were meeting at a dinner party instead of a black site where she was zip-tied to a chair. "Miss Parker."
Rachel stared at him and said nothing. Giving him words meant giving him ammunition. Better to stay silent. Make him work for every response.
He took a step closer, his gaze moving over her face with the same clinical assessment a doctor might give a patient. Or a butcher sizing up a cut of meat.
"Let's make this more comfortable, shall we?" Langley reached forward.
Rachel flinched, couldn't stop the reaction, but he was just grabbing the edge of the duct tape still covering her mouth.
He ripped it off in one smooth motion.
Pain shot across her face, stinging and immediate, running from her lips to her cheekbones. The adhesive took skin with it, she felt the raw patches immediately, felt the warm trickle that meant she was bleeding. Her bottom lip split where it had already been cracked, and blood filled her mouth. Copper. Salt. The taste coated her tongue.
Rachel bit down on the inside of her cheek to keep from making a sound. Wouldn't give him the satisfaction.
Langley examined the strip of tape in his hand like it was mildly interesting, then tossed it aside. "You're quieter than I expected." He smiled, but his eyes stayed flat. Cold. "Most people are screaming by now. Begging. Making promises they can't keep."
Rachel kept her jaw clenched and stared at a point just past his shoulder. Engaging meant playing his game. She wouldn't do that.
"That's all right." Langley's hand trailed along the back of her chair, fingers drumming a slow rhythm against the metal. "I don't need your words. I've got everything else."
He was trying to establish dominance. Control the space, control the conversation, control her reactions. The casual cruelty. The implied threats. Making the subject understand how powerless they were.
Rachel forced her shoulders back, forced her spine straight despite the rope cutting into her ribs. Posture was a choice. She could choose not to cower.
"I could have had you killed," Langley continued, his tone almost conversational. He was pacing now, slow circles around her chair. "Simple. Clean. A mugging gone wrong. Tragic accident. The city's full of ways a woman can disappear."
Rachel's pulse beat hard in her throat but she kept her breathing even. In through her nose, out through her mouth. Controlled.
"But that doesn't send the message I need." He stopped in front of her, close enough that she could smell his cologne, expensive and woody. The scent sat heavy in the back of her throat. "You understand messages, don't you, Miss Parker? Your entire career is built on sending them. Exposing uncomfortable truths. Making powerful people squirm."
He crouched down, bringing his face level with hers. This close, she could see the fine lines around his eyes, the way his pupils dilated slightly as he studied her.
"I've spent years building something magnificent," he said, his voice quieter now. Like he was sharing a secret. "Operations across three continents. Asset flows that keep entire governments stable. Strategic alliances that prevent wars before they start." Hissmile sharpened. "But you... you've become a liability. One I didn't authorize."
Good,Rachel thought viciously.I hope I'm a massive fucking liability.
But she didn't say it. Just held his gaze and waited.
Langley straightened, brushing invisible lint from his sleeve. "No? Nothing to say?"
Rachel kept her mouth shut.
He sighed, long and theatrical, like a parent disappointed with a misbehaving child. "You think someone's coming to save you?"
