With her legs wrapped around the man’s narrow waist, she brought the small chain connecting the metal bracelets against the base of his throat and pulled back.
Hard.
The man attempted to shout something but the pressure from the chain prevented much more than a few rough coughs to escape.
His hands flew to his throat, his trimmed nails digging to gain access between his skin and the metal links. At the same time, he began to spin them both around in circles.
His stance began to waver beneath her weight, and for a moment, Natalia was confident he’d lose consciousness any moment. One of his knees jerked, as if he was about to go down.
But the air in the room shifted as the man she still clung to started fighting back. When he did, the game swiftly changed, putting her on the defensive.
Beneath her tight grasp, the muscular man abruptly flung his upper body forward. The unexpected momentum caused Natalia to lose her grip, and she was forced up over his head.
For a moment, she was weightless. A beat later, she hit the ground with a hard, dull thud. Pain spread throughout her right shoulder, ribs, and hip.
With no time to waste, Natalia immediately rolled to her back as her attacker rushed angrily forward. Bringing her knees to her chest, she slammed the soles of her boots against the center of his chest. Her attacker stumbled backward, giving her the time she needed to push herself back to her feet.
He reached behind his back, and when his hand came back in sight, it was clutching a large, hunting-type knife. From the look in his crazed eyes, he was more than ready to use it.
They began circling each other as if they were combating wrestlers in a ring. It was the first time she’d been able to get a good look at his face.
Natalia felt a bit stunned when she saw nothing familiar. Not the grayish-blue color of his eyes or the man’s dirty blond hair. His bulbous nose or the crooked teeth showing from behind the man’s snarling lips.
There wasn’t a single thing that struck Natalia as a man she recognized in the slightest, which made her kidnapping all the more disheartening.
“Who are you?” she demanded harshly, watching the jerk’s every move with attentive, trained eyes. “Why am I here?”
“You’re here because the boss wants you to be.”
The boss.
“Let me guess,” she snapped back. “You work for Sanchez?”
“You ask a lot of questions for a woman who’s about to be dead.”
I’m not dying today, asshole.
At least not until she’d done everything in her power to prevent it.
Using moves she’d spent years perfecting, Natalia waited for the right moment to strike. When it came, she went at him like a linebacker charging down the field. Using her left hand to grab the wrist of the hand holding the deadly knife, she slammedher shoulder into him, center mass, jolting his solar plexus with perfect aim.
The ugly prick huffed out a loud breath as the air was forced from his lungs and the knife flew across the room. He lost his footing and they fell together, him on his back, and Natalia’s body on top of his.
She moved swiftly, straddling his waist tightly between her thighs while filling her fists with the thick, dark hair at his temples. Using it as leverage, she began pounding the back of his head to the concrete below.
Once. Twice. Natalia slammed the man’s skull against the concrete over and over again. Blood splattered from the point of contact onto the floor below.
Before long, his eyes were rolling back, and his lids slowly fell shut. She waited for the man’s entire body to grow limp to risk leaning forward and checking for a pulse.
Her shoulders fell with relief when no heartbeat was present. Whoever he was, the man was dead. But he’d mentioned a boss, which meant he hadn’t been working alone. Which meant she was still in danger.
Natalia pushed herself up and began searching the body for keys and hopefully a phone she could use to call for help. She didn’t find a phone, but there was a small pistol strapped to his ankle…and a set of keys.
Her lips curved into a smile when she saw the tiny, flat key on the ring with his others.
Bingo.
A few quick moves later, and the cuffs were on the ground next to the man’s lifeless form. With the pistol in one hand, she moved awkwardly to keep from tripping over her attacker’s body as she stood.
