Rock Hard: A Stepbrother Romance Page 0,81

face was deadly serious, almost pleading, and there was something in her look that said I should run.

“What’s going on?” I asked instead.

“It had to be you,” she said, putting her head in her hands. “They won’t hurt you if you tell them the truth.”

I took a step back, my mouth hanging open, and turned half away from her.

Terror filled my stomach. Two men in suits, men I recognized from the party the other night, were walking up the path toward me. I turned back toward Lindsey.

“What did you do?” I asked.

“I’m so sorry.” She didn’t look at me. “I didn’t have any other choice.”

“What did you fucking do?” I asked again, frantic, but it didn’t matter. The two men stopped a few feet from me, and then I saw him. He stepped out from behind a large tree a few feet away and grinned at me.

“Hello, Rebecca,” Jay said.

He sauntered over, still smiling, and stopped next to Lindsey.

“What’s going on?” I asked him, trying to play dumb.

I had to make them believe I had nothing to do with what happened. They obviously suspected me, which was stupid. Lindsey saw me going into that office and knew my connection to Reid. They must have put two and two together.

“Lindsey here tells me you’ve been a bad girl.”

I looked at her, but she avoided my eyes.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“My office was robbed. But you knew that already.”

He took a step closer.

“Get away or I’ll scream.”

He laughed. “Go ahead, scream. I don’t mind one bit.”

I opened my mouth but someone grabbed me from behind, his arms wrapped around my body and his one hand over my mouth.

Something took over inside me. I bit his finger and stomped on his foot as hard as I could. He said something in French and let me go, and I began to run.

I didn’t look back. I ran as fast as I could, heading for the trees, and began to scream my head off.

Three seconds of glorious freedom. Part of me thought I might get away, until Jay grabbed me by the arm, yanking me back and down, throwing me to the ground.

I hit the dirt and rolled. He was on me in a second, dragging me back up by my hair.

“Run again and things get worse,” he said angrily into my ear.

“Let me go, you psycho,” I screamed.

He nodded at the other goon, who came over with a bandana. Jay yanked my hair back and pinned my arms as the men shoved the bandana into my mouth and tied it, forming a gag. The other man, the one I had bit, wrapped my hands in duct tape behind my back.

My heart filled my skull with its thick pounding. I tried to scream and struggle, but they had me. I watched as Lindsey threw herself at Jay, burying her face in his massive chest. He stroked her hair, all the while grinning at me.

They led me through the trees, across a stream, and into a clearing. Two black SUVs were parked there. I was put into the backseat of one, along with Jay and the goon I bit. The other took Lindsey in the other car.

Jay sat close to me as we began to drive away from the park.

“Your friend told us she caught you sneaking into the office.” He smiled and put a hand on my leg. “But I know you’re not a bad girl. I know you wouldn’t do something so stupid, like steal from me.”

I wanted to retch and gag and throw his hand away, but I couldn’t. My mind kept running over the course of events, shocked that Lindsey would betray me, but even more shocked that I hadn’t really seen it coming. I knew it was a possibility, but I never considered she would throw me under the bus without even talking to me first.

And Reid was so far away, trying to sell them out. I was in danger, kidnapped by the men he was trying to destroy, and he had no clue.

Reid, I screamed mentally, please come help me.

“I know you are close with our smuggler,” Jay continued. “You two are family, yes? Well, I know how it is with family. Maybe you did something for him, something very stupid. You tell me the truth and I’ll let you go, no harm done.”

I looked him in the eyes, his disgusting piggish eyes. He reached forward and pulled down my gag.

I spit right in his face. “Fuck y—”