Page 130 of Delicious Surrender
Dimitri gave him the suitcase and turned to her. “Where are your car keys?”
“Why?”
He grabbed her by the throat and growled close to her face. “Because Vlad is going to drive your car away. How else will they know you left?”
Her mind was spinning. Gage might never look for her if the MG was gone. “I don’t have the keys. The mechanic has them—he takes it out for a run every week.”
The Russian squeezed her throat until tears came to her eyes. He smiled in a way that made her nauseous. “You take me for a fool. My people saw you drive the car up from your little cottage yesterday. Lie to me again and you will regret it.”
“I’m sorry.” She tried to squeak the words out, but his hand still gripped her throat. A hand so powerful it could easily snap her neck.
He finally heeded her panicked sounds and let her breathe. “Now, get your keys, your phone, and a piece of paper. You are going to write a convincing goodbye note.”
His harsh grip on her arm made her gasp as they marched to the kitchen. She handed him the keys and cell phone, and he passed them off to his henchman.
“Make it quick. I have to get back to London.”
“We’re going to London?”
“Not you, my pet. You will wait for me on my yacht until I get my money from the club. Then we will be together.”
God help her. How would she escape if she was on a boat? She ripped a sheet of paper out of her notebook. Her heart was pounding in her chest. How could she let Gage know she wasn’t leaving of her own free will? She dug out a pen from her bag. A quick glance confirmed her abductor looked capable of anything, including murder.
“Tell him you are leaving him. That you don’t love him.Whatever. He needs to know you don’t want him.”
Dear Magnus,
I can’t do this anymore. It’s better for both of us if I go away.
Your investigator will eventually confirm I didn’t write that article, but it will be too late for us. I don’t love you anymore.
RED
Dimitri impatiently grabbed the paper and read the note. He seemed satisfied and walked her to the foyer. “Where is your computer? You have a backpack, don’t you?”
Fuck. She hoped he would forget that. If she left it, Gage would know something was wrong. “It’s over there.” She pointed to the sitting area. “I’ll pack it up.”
“Hurry the fuck up.”
She stuffed the laptop into the bag and put it over her shoulder. He had retrieved her overcoat from the front closet.
“Come here.” He pulled handcuffs out of his leather jacket pocket and snapped a cuff on one wrist. “I will take your bag. Give me your other hand.”
She tried to pull back. “You don’t have to do this. I will come quietly.”
He attached the other cuff. “Be grateful I did not drug you. I expect you to walk normally to the helipad. Act up and you will be very sorry.”
He put the coat over her shoulders and led her out the frontdoor to the waiting helicopter. Vlad was already there, stowing her luggage. Once they were inside the cabin, the ugly man shut the door and saluted.
Dimitri turned to her with a wicked grin. “He will make sure you didn’t forget anything or leave any clues.”
Dimitri buckled her in and gave the signal to the pilot. The hum of the engine increased, and the blades started turning. Brynne prayed to God that someone would see them.
Her stomach dropped as the helicopter lifted high above the house. It rose higher and higher until her little cottage was the size of a dollhouse. They flew north past the Cuillin Hills and stayed close to the coastline until they passed Dunvegan and left Skye behind. When they started their descent, Brynne couldn’t see any place to touch down. Then she spotted a sleek black yacht a few hundred feet below. It was miles from shore, making it an inescapable prison. She closed her eyes, feeling an overwhelming sense of dread.
The machine landed with a thud on the deck of the yacht, and she choked back tears. Dimitri unclipped the seatbelt and waited for his crew to open the cabin door. He handed her stuff to the first uniformed man, then yanked her out of the compartment by her cuffed wrists. Once they were clear of the rotors spinning slowly above their heads, he picked her up and carried her toward the sliding glass doors of the salon. “My kitten has put on some weight. I may need to ration your food to get you down to the size I like.”
She stiffened in shock at the remark. It was everything she could do to keep her mouth shut.