Entranced (The ROGUES Billionaire #1) - Tracie Delaney Page 0,72

escape. Defeated, I hugged it to my chest as if it was a comfort blanket, or my old teddy bear, Barnstable, from my childhood. He’d only had one eye, and Mom had to sew up a tear in his arm at least once a week, but I’d refused to part with him.

I hadn’t thought about Barnstable in years. I must be losing it, the fear of dying in this underground room sending a swirl of memories rushing through my mind. I pictured my mom’s face, her kind eyes and loving smile. Dad’s salt-and-pepper hair that he hated, but every time he mentioned coloring it, Mom threatened divorce. Elliot’s handsome features, and how they softened every time he laid eyes on Brie. He’d marry that girl—of that I was certain. And if he didn’t, then he was a fool.

But mostly I thought about Ryker. I squeezed my eyes closed and pictured his face. The crinkles around his eyes when he smiled, the feel of his hair beneath my fingers, how he clenched his jaw when he climaxed. The way he’d put his emotions on the line in a hotel in Mexico when he asked me to marry him.

Seven years I’d waited and hoped and prayed he’d wake one morning and realize he couldn’t live without me. And then it happened. We’d had a few blissful weeks, and no matter what happened to me, I wouldn’t swap them for anything. If my choices were to spend that time with Ryker and end up here, or to have lived my life without feeling his touch but spent my years safe at home, I’d choose the former. A life without Ryker wasn’t worth living. He was my life.

Don’t give in. They will be looking for you. Ryker wouldn’t leave you here to rot. If it’s within his power, he’ll find you.

The rattle of a key in the lock sent my pulse rocketing. I swallowed past a dry, thick throat and pressed my back against the damp wall, drawing my knees up to my chest protectively. I was terrified of being raped. What woman wouldn’t, although all my clothes were still in place and untouched.

A masked man entered. He closed the door quietly behind him, a bottle of water and a sandwich in his hands. He crossed over to me and crouched, setting the food and drink at my feet. Fear filled my mouth, its taste bitter.

“Who are you?” I whispered. “What do you want with me?”

He rose to his feet and pointed a camera in my direction. The flash went off, almost blinding me. I squeezed my eyes closed, and when I next opened them, he’d gone.

“Please!” I yelled. “Don’t leave me here.” I scrambled to my feet and yanked on the chains, the metal grinding against the pipe. “Goddammit. You cowardly bastard!”

I tugged and tugged on my restraints until, drained of energy, and with a raw, chafed wrist, I sank to the floor. Despite trepidation that the food or water might be drugged, I drank the entire bottle and wolfed down the sandwich. If I was to stand a chance of surviving this ordeal, I needed to keep up my strength.

Soon, my kidnapper would return. Maybe then I’d find out why I’d been targeted. Regardless, I needed to be strong and prepared in case a chance of escape presented itself. And if that meant only one of us left this room alive…

So be it.

24

Ryker

“Mom!”

I followed Elliot as he stormed through the house, stopping by every room to check whether his mother and father were present. We found them sitting in the kitchen, the place they considered to be the hub of the house, sipping coffee and eating pasta.

“God, there you are,” Elliot said, skidding to a halt. “Shit, Mom, Dad, try not to freak out, okay?”

Elliot had practiced this speech a hundred times on the journey from our offices to his parents’ house while I remained quiet, silently praying that a horrifying twist of fate didn’t snatch Athena from me just as we’d found each other. I couldn’t bear to think about what she was going through, how terrified and alone she must feel.

We’re coming, baby. I promise.

I wouldn’t rest until we found her. The commissioner had come through for me, sending the two detectives to gather as much information as we could provide—which wasn’t very much—and we now had scores of police combing the streets searching for witnesses and any clues as to Athena’s whereabouts. I had to maintain hope. I refused