Page 119 of Burning for You
Caro
The three guys who took me are now dragging me into a house. One has a gun wedged under my chin. The two who have their sleeves rolled up brandish identical tattoos on their forearms. Compared to Levi’s artwork, they look like pasted-on, malnourished giant worms.
“You know,” I say, “the men who hired you are broke. I mean, you guys probably have more money than them. However much they promised you, they’ll never pay up.”
But the men maintain their disdainful look and remain silent.
Two of them lower me into a trap door, while the other stays behind. They push me along a tunnel leading to what looks like an underground library. The men tie me onto a pillar, while in front of me, two sections of the bookshelves move, revealing Josh Bright and Rupert Teller.
“Two cowards,” I say when they make their entrance. “You couldn’t get me yourself, so you had to hire three gangland men to kidnap me?”
“Welcome to Wisdom House,” my ex-fiancé says, walking around the library. When Josh was CEO of Brilliance, that would’ve been how he’d present a new development to investors. “A Montana architect name Leslie McBride built it. A quirky guy, not even his wife understood him. They’ve left this house empty for years. It’s a perfect place to hide—or should I say, torture a hostage. Don’t you agree?”
Josh scrutinizes my bonds. “I want her legs wide,” he says, ordering the men to retie my ankles so my legs are spread to the width of the pillar.
I dart my gaze in Rupert’s direction, who’s been standing quietly in a corner. My former right-hand man has been holding grudge against me, and now it has come to this. “You! You failed to kill me once. I guarantee you’ll fail again this time.”
“Oh, I’m not planning to kill you. You’re too useful to be dead,” Rupert says, striding toward me. Josh gives way to him. “The last time we spoke, that night at Sass, I told you I knew your weakness. You haven’t changed. Do you know what your weakness is, Caro?”
“Trusting a prick like you!”
“Well, close,” he responds with a couple of nods. “Devotion. That’s your weakness. Devotion to Sass, to the city. Devotion to Josh.” Laughing, he glances at Josh, who puts on a stony expression, but I know my ex’s ego is dented. Rupert looks at me pitifully, saying, “You tried so hard to make it work, didn’t you?”
The Avatar stalks to the other side of the pillar. Mouth close to my ear, he continues, “And now, your devotion to that city farm boy has brought you here, and is about to bring you down. Your yearning to be with him has made our job a lot easier. Kidnapping you in New York would’ve been a bit of a challenge.”
While Rupert’s words pummel at my head, my eyes take the chance to scan my surroundings. I don’t think we’re that far underground. There is ventilation here, and sunlight seeps through.
Rupert gestures for the gangland men to leave us. Then he slaps me. “God! I’ve always wanted to do that. Now I can say I’m glad the accident didn’t kill you.”
I spit at him, wetting his chin. I’ve forgotten how tall this man is. In response, the Avatar hits me again—low on my jaw this time, scraping my mouth in the process.
“Is that all you can do?” I say and spit at him again, higher. This time his face is dotted with red spots.
And Rupert bangs my head against the pillar. That sends me into a spinning mess.
“I can torture you all day. I can even let your daddy hear your screams. Cell phones might not work down here, but there’s a phone over there,” Rupert says, mocking. “Or I can call your lover boy. Oh, wait, no. What did you call him? Love Bug?”
Both Josh and Rupert cackle.
I cut their enjoyment, saying “This is not your country. Those men who took me, they’re locals, I know. But you two? God, you’re just a couple of city boys who don’t even know how to light a campfire. Levi will find me.”
When Rupert is about to hit me again, Josh pulls him away.
The two men are face-to-face, apparently appraising each other’s dominance.
“Leave her to me,” Josh says.
Surprisingly Rupert, who is easily the bigger boss than Josh, relents and makes way for my ex to handle me.
Josh and I are now alone. He flashes his teeth smugly. After all this time, now I get why Bear said my ex looks like a Jack-O’-Lantern. Grabbing my chin, he says, “Did you feel that dust in your eyes, Caro? Did you trip over that bump on the way here?”
The man scans me from the waist down. He quips, “Baggy pants?” Then he opens his palm, placing it on my belly. “This certainly feels different. So the rumors are true?”
“Get your hands off me!”
“No one will be here. Not even your lovely ex-boyfriend. He thinks the baby is Anton’s. You don’t want to know what messages I sent to him. God, it was so fun coaching Mendez.”
“A lot of people know I flew to Bozeman this morning.”