Page 134 of Delicious Surrender
Gage’s heart sank. Jared obviously thought she was going to leave him. Could he still try to win her back? He would explain why he hired the investigator. And why he found it so hard to trust. If he wasn’t too late.
32
Dire Straits
Brynne pretended to be asleep when a member of the crew entered the cabin with a bottle of water and a sandwich. She was starving, but she waited until he left to reach for the food.
It was dark outside when the same guy returned. He leaned down and leered at her, snaking a hand through the bars toward her leg. She scooted back as far as possible, and he laughed like a serial killer toying with his prey. He was creepy, and she was grateful for the safety of the cage. He spat some words at her before shutting off the lights and slamming the cabin door. Time passed slowly and she couldn’t concentrate on anything. She took only a few sips of water, afraid they wouldn’t let her use the bathroom.
The waves lulled her back to sleep until she heard the roar of the helicopter. The madman was back. She heard loud voices outside the cabin, and then the door burst open, and he flippedon the lights.
“How is my little kitten feeling?”
She refused to engage and instead looked at him with loathing. He leaned down to look at her with a fiendish smile.
“It appears you need more time in the cage. I expected you to be happy to see me.”
She scoffed. “You will never get away with this.”
“Pchelka, I have already gotten away with this. I have half a million in cash, and this ship can be in Russia in four days.”
“Russia? You can’t be serious?” Her shrill voice gave away her panic.
“Da. Deadly serious. I presumed you were bright and figured that out. I have thought of everything.”
“You can have any woman you want. Why me?”
He came close to the bars of the cage. “Gage is the reason I don’t own Club Dominus. Imagine my surprise when I discovered my revenge could be so sweet and satisfying. You see, I’ve always wanted a fiery redhead for my collection. But I will make you suffer for cutting off your beautiful hair. When I saw the surveillance photos, I wanted to cane you black and blue.”
Brynne swallowed a sob.
“Don’t worry, Kiska. Now that I have you, I’ve calmed down. I will punish you at my leisure.”
“You are vile. Why take someone who doesn’t want you?”
“It is the fire in you. The moment I met you, I knew I wouldenjoy making you surrender your will to me.”
“That will never happen. I’ll never surrender to you.”
He laughed loudly. “Excellent. I hate easy submission. When I break you, it will be all the sweeter.”
Brynne refused to show him any weakness. She wouldn’t cry, either. That was probably the ultimate fetish for him.
“I will leave you now. Dinner awaits. You are not ready to share a table with me. Rude pets stay in the cage until they learn manners.”
He left the cabin. Brynne lay back down on the hard pallet and prayed.
The satellite phone rang in the cockpit, and the pilot transferred the call to Gage.
“John, any news?”
“Yes. We found out who chartered the helicopter. Nikolai Seminov is an employee of Ivanov’s UK holding company. He flew him from Inverness to Skye, then it landed on a yacht anchored off the coast of Lewis. Dimitri then took a jet from Stornoway back to London to meet you. The heli landed thirty minutes ago on the same ship. According to His Majesty’s Coastguard, it’s a seventy-two-meter superyacht called theRussian Princess. She has charted a course for the Shetlands, but we think they will continue to Russia.”
“Jesus fucking Christ. What if Brynne is on that ship? Canwe intercept it?”
“Gage, to involve the Coastguard and demand to board and search, we need some proof of a crime.”
“Christ almighty. I just pray to God that she left me a clue at the house. It will be an hour before I am home. I will call you from there. Don’t lose sight of that fucking boat.”