Entranced (The ROGUES Billionaire #1) - Tracie Delaney Page 0,75
toward forgiveness, despite my declarations of love for his sister.
“I’ll call Oliver,” I said. “Get him onto the Addison’s deal.”
Elliot raked a hand through his hair. “Shit. I completely forgot.” And then he clapped a hand to his forehead. “Christ, I haven’t called Brie. She’ll wonder where the hell I am.” He snatched up his phone and disappeared.
I made the call to Oliver. He answered on the fourth ring, the sound of children playing in the background reaching me over the phone line.
“I need a favor.”
“Shoot,” Oliver said.
I updated him on the situation but refrained from telling him Elliot and I had fallen out. There was no point adding a needless distraction into the mix.
“Fuck. How’s Elliot holding up?”
“Barely,” I said.
“And you?” Oliver asked.
“One of us has to stay strong. She’s his sister.”
“And your lover,” Oliver added.
I grimaced. Should have known I couldn’t keep secrets from Oliver. He was one of the most astute men I knew.
“I can handle it.”
“Does he know?”
“Let’s talk tomorrow,” I said, purposely swerving the conversation. “If you can get your mom to watch Annie, come by Elliot’s place in the morning. In the meantime, if you run into any problems with Addison’s, call me. Sorry for ruining your New Year’s.”
“You’ve saved it,” he said quietly. “Annie and her friends will be going to bed soon. The silence would’ve given me too much time to think.”
Poor Oliver. Still unable to move on after his wife fucked off. He deserved to find someone, a woman to warm his bed if nothing else, but as long as he held a torch for Sara, it wouldn’t happen.
“Regardless, I appreciate it,” I said. “Especially as this deal has been Elliot’s baby. It’s difficult to pick it up right at the end.”
“I got this,” he said. “You and Elliot concentrate on bringing Athena home safely.”
I returned to the kitchen and paced, then sat, then paced some more. I couldn’t settle. I felt so impotent, so hopeless. All I could do was sit around and wait, hoping that when my girl returned, she was in one piece. I couldn’t bear to consider any other alternative.
Elliot returned looking bedraggled, his hair a mess where he’d been raking through it, dark circles of worry framing his eyes. He sank onto the chair beside mine.
“Brie okay?”
He nodded. “She wanted to come over, but I told her not to. There’s nothing she can do.”
At that instant, his phone rang. He fished it from his pocket and answered without checking the caller ID.
“Yeah.”
I watched his face morph from confusion, to anger, then abject fear. This was about Athena. I knew it.
“I’m listening,” he said, his face blanching.
“Put it on speaker,” I hissed.
He did as I asked.
A robotic voice, clearly distorted, came over the speaker. My brain only absorbed certain words, but I got the gist.
Fifty million dollars. Twenty-four hours. Offshore bank account. Details to follow.
Elliot madly scribbled details on a scrap of paper while my eyes locked on a picture of Athena chained to a pipe that appeared on Elliot’s screen, her expression one of confusion and disorientation, but behind her eyes, rage simmered.
I’m gonna kill this fucker.
25
Athena
I had to pee in a bucket. I hated the man who’d taken me with a passion, but being forced to suffer such indignities sent my antipathy to a whole new level. Thank Christ I wasn’t on my period.
Weird, right? The way your brain worked when put under levels of unimaginable stress. I thought I’d be one of those women who’d scream until their throat turned hoarse and raw. I’d pound my fists and beg for freedom.
Instead, I felt almost numb, and I kept having these weird thoughts. Like the timing of my period. I mean, whose mind went in that direction when being kept against your will, chained up in a basement, with the very real possibility of never seeing the sun again? Of being maimed and tortured, raped and killed?
Me. Athena Bancroft. I had those kinds of thoughts.
I could feel the anger building within me, like an inevitable bomb waiting to go off. How dare this man snatch me off the street, stick me with a needle that, for all I knew, could carry all manner of diseases. To chain me up like a fucking dog.
The lock rattled for the second time since I’d woken. This time, I didn’t cower against the wall with my knees protectively tucked up to my chest. No, I stood. Bring it, asshole. I’m ready.