Headhunter (With Me in Seattle Mafia #2) - Kristen Proby Page 0,5
it to me to send his head into the corner of a table just right.”
I try to stand and attempt to work my way around so I can untie my hands, but I only succeed in almost dislocating my shoulder.
That won’t help anything.
“Did he say his associates would be here soon? Oh, hell, I am going to die here. They’re going to kill me.”
I bite my lip. My heart starts to race. I haven’t had a panic attack in a long time, but I’m on the verge now.
I’m stuck with a corpse, and bad men are on their way to kill me.
I’m a sitting duck.
“I didn’t even get to tell Annika that I love her,” I wail, feeling horribly sorry for myself. “Or have sex with Shane. Or even just spend time with him! I’m halfway to falling in love with him already, and now I’ll never get to finish. I won’t get to see the sun or eat raspberries in ice cream or go to the ocean.”
Now, tears well up in my eyes. I thought I was safe. My cover was iron-clad. How did this asshole find me?
I hear rustling on the other side of the door and freeze.
This is it. This is how it ends.
But I won’t go down without a fight, damn it.
I hear the door open, and then everything happens so fast. I lash out, kicking and yelling.
“I won’t make this easy on you, motherfucker! You may kill me, but I’ll kick your ass first.”
“Hey, hey, hey.” The voice is soothing, and when I open the eyes I didn’t realize I’d closed, I see Shane standing in front of me, then kneeling to look me in the eyes. “It’s us.”
“Us?”
I glance around to see Shane’s brothers and Nadia, one of my very best friends in the world.
Carmine squats next to him, checking for a pulse. “Dead.”
“You killed him?” Nadia asks as Shane gently rubs his fingers through my hair, and Rafe works on the ropes.
“Yeah. My clumsiness paid off.” I tell them how it happened. “But we have to get out of here. He said he had associates on their way here. That’s who I thought you were.”
“In and out,” Shane says, seeming to remind them all of their mission. “We deal with the rest later.”
“What’s the rest?”
“Plane’s ready,” Rafe says with a nod. Suddenly, my hands are free, and Shane lifts me into his arms.
“We’re getting you out of here, little dove.”
I lay my head on his shoulder, suddenly so tired I can’t keep my eyes open. I feel weird. Dizzy.
And then I feel nothing at all.
“Wake up, sweet girl,” Shane croons in my ear. I feel like I must be in heaven. Surely, I’ve died, and heaven is a place where Shane’s voice wraps around me and makes me feel safe. “Come on, Ivie, I need you to open those gorgeous eyes for me.”
My eyes flutter open, and I see Shane leaning over me, smiling down at me softly.
“There you are,” he says. “You scared me for a minute there.”
“I’m in a bed.” I frown and glance around. “Are we flying?”
“Yes, we’re flying back to Denver.”
“Wait.” I sit up and press my hand to my head. “Weren’t we already in Denver?”
Shane sits next to me, takes my hand, and then kisses my fingers, making my stomach jump.
“What do you remember?”
“I remember being taken out of the clinic. I was drugged. Then I woke up in a shitty room and got beat up a bit. Ended up killing my captor on accident, and then you arrived.”
“I suppose that’s the CliffsNotes version,” he murmurs. “Honey, he took you to New York. We found you in a basement in Queens.”
I blink, completely baffled. “I was passed out that long? I wonder what he drugged me with?”
“As do I,” Shane says, examining me. “Does anything hurt?”
“I’m a little stiff and sore from having my hands tied behind me for so long, but other than that, I’ll live.”
“When I saw his handprint on your cheek, I wanted to kill him myself,” he admits. His voice is mild, but by the look in his eyes, I can see that he means every word.
“I kicked him,” I say, thinking it over. “He was up in my face, trying to intimidate me, and I just brought my feet up and kicked him in the gut, hard. He jerked back, tripped, and then fell against the table.”