That hope was dashed the moment I descended the staircase and rounded the corner to find the same two men from that car standing in the open kitchen instead. They were nursing cups of coffee, and I caught their attention right away.
“Mornin’, Lass,” one of them said to me, and I could clearly detect his European accent. Irish, if I had to guess.
I said nothing as I took in the place. The first thing I looked for was some sort of telephone, but in this day and age, not many used landlines anymore. I refused to let my newfound hope be dashed, so I moved over to the wall of floor-to-ceiling windows, then nearly sighed aloud at the familiar view.
I loved Boston and had lived in and around the city my entire life. I’d grown up with my adoptive parents in Weston and had frequently vacationed in their coastal cottage near Nantucket. I’d also attended school in Boston and stayed near the city aftergraduation. As familiar as this place looked, though, I felt like I was now worlds apart from it.
A shadow fell over me, and as I glanced at the thick glass, I saw Zarren’s reflection as he came up behind me. “It looks like Sleeping Beauty decided to wake up and grace us with her presence.”
“Sure looks like it, Boss,” said the other man who had previously been silent.
I had a biting retort, but I swallowed it down. Turning just as he closed the distance between us, I resisted the urge to knee him in the balls when he caged me between his biceps, which appeared much larger in the morning light. While showing restraint at that moment, I couldn’t promise to do so in the near future.
Especially when he smirked down at me. The man was lethally handsome, and even more so now that he had that “just woken up” look to him. His hair that was brushed in place last night now fell messily upon his forehead, and while those dark eyes still had a smoky intensity to them, they were more clouded than last night.
I stared at him even as he no doubt raked my face with his roving eyes, and I took in his jawline and prominent cheekbones. The main male characters from all the books I’d read would describe the man as having a face that looked to be sculpted from stone. I’d never known what that meant until now. While Drake’s face was a bit more rounded and relaxed, Zarren’s was the complete opposite.
Hard... Unyielding... Dangerous...
His eyes dropped from mine, and I immediately felt the heat from his gaze as it moved down my chest. To my own mortification, my nipples pebbled to hard peaks again, which he noticed if the slight tipping upward of his full lips was any indication.
I continued to stare at him, although I should’ve just pushed him away and demanded that he release me right away. I’d tried a similar method last night, and it had resulted in my almost being strangled to death. No, I would need to tread more carefully when it came to him today.
The slight smirk disappeared, and again I was greeted by his hard stare as his gaze moved back to snag mine. The tightening of his jaw made his skin seem even smaller as it stretched taut, revealing that angular bone structure of his once more.
As soon as I realized I was eating up the sight of him, maybe even more than he had me, a slight blush crept into my cheeks, and I reverted back to my usual self. Pressing my hands to what was now his bare chest, I ignored the feel of his warm, but still hard, flesh beneath my palms, and I pushed as hard as I could.
To my relief, he did take a step or two back, which allowed me to slip out of his grasp. From there, I had no idea where to go or what to do next, so I found myself standing in the center of the room.
And I was burning more beneath the heat from his gaze as it now moved much lower than it had just a few seconds ago. Of course, my shirt and pants would have to be form-fitting, and the hungry look in his eyes let me know how much he enjoyed what he was seeing.
“If you snap a picture, it’ll last longer,” I smarted off.
“A picture is worth a thousand words.”
“That’s nice to know, but I’m ready to leave now.”
He chuckled. “Should I remind you of the conversation we had a few hours ago?”
My eyes narrowed. “I don’t want to be here.”
“That makes two of us,” he said, before adding, “But it doesn’t change the fact that you’re now here with only one way of escape.”
My eyes darted to what had to be the front door, and I began to think of ways to distract him. If I could just get to it, I could flee. Of course, I would have to also evade his henchmen. No task was too difficult if one put their mind to it, though.
All I needed was an out. From there, surely someone in this building would come to my rescue. Not wanting to tip him off to my plan, I looked away from it and turned my attention back to him.
“I need to message a few people so they don’t worry about me,” I said, hoping I could get to Braelynn’s message.
We’d come up with code words back at BU to use if one of us were ever in trouble. If I could just get mine to her, she’d have my parents and Drake scouring the city for my whereabouts.
“People such as?”
“My parents, best friend?—”
“You’ve already told them you’d be away for a few days.”
How in the hell did he know that?
