Page 54 of Impossible Thrills

It was too dark to see more than the shapes of furniture.

“Nick?” she whispered, creeping to the couch. “Nick?”

She listened but didn’t hear his soft breathing. She walked around the couch and patted where his leg should be. Nothing but the sheet. Flipping on a lamp, her smile faded when she looked over the couch. Nothing but the sheet and pillow. Where was he? Bathroom or getting a drink of water?

The room felt more than empty. Something was wrong.

Headlights beamed through the gate. It swung open, and she stared as two large vehicles drove along the gravel and parked near the kitchen door. Johnny’s men sometimes came late at night, but not two vehicles of them. She flipped off the lamp and crept toward the window, watching as eight men climbed out of the two vehicles. Their headlights shut off, and it was too dark to see their faces clearly.

She wanted to find Nick and go hide in her room until they went away. Why would so many men come to her house? Most of them walked toward the basement room. Fine. They could go downstairs; she’d find Nick and he’d keep her safe until they went away. Johnny’s men had made her uneasy at times, but not like tonight. She felt even more uneasy that Nick had disappeared.

The alarm beeped and the kitchen door opened. Darcy froze. They were coming into her house. They’d never come into her house before.

There was no way to get back to the bedrooms without running right in front of the men. She eased back against the wall and hid behind a long curtain. Were these Johnny’s men or someone else? They could be traffickers. What if they tried to go for her children? Where was Nick?

The men’s footsteps eased through the house. Her breath came in shallow puffs. Could they hear her?

They walked into the front living room, and she could hardly catch a breath. She didn’t want them after her children. She’d sneak after them and fight them if they tried to get to her babies. But to have them walking straight into the room where Nick should be sleeping and she was hiding was unnerving.

Striding straight up to where she was trying to hide behind the curtain, she couldn’t understand how they knew exactly where she was.

“Hola, lady,” the one man said, clamping his hand over her mouth as she squeaked out a scream and yanking her away from her hiding spot.

She swung and kicked at him.

He flipped her around and pinned her arms to her sides with one arm securely around her chest and arms and his other hand over her mouth. The other man picked up her legs and held them tightly. They rushed through the house as she flailed and bucked and tried to free herself.

Why were they kidnapping her? Did it have anything to do with Nick? She was relieved they weren’t after her little ones, but that was the only comforting thought at the moment. Where on earth was Nick?

Bursting out the kitchen door, they went down the outside steps and around to the basement door. It was open wide.

They carried her down the stairs and into the lit basement room. She’d seen the sparsely furnished room through the basement window, but she’d never come in here. She figured if Johnny’s men left them alone, she’d leave them alone. The status quo was vastly off tonight, and she had no idea why.

Where was Nick? He’d never let anyone hurt her.

The men holding her stopped in front of four other men. Where had the other two gone? One man wore a Brioni suit and had his back to her. His dark-brown hair and tall, lean frame reminded her far too much of …

He turned and gestured to his men.

Johnny!

The one released her legs, and they slid to the ground. The other kept her mouth and upper body pinned against him.

“Darcy.” Johnny looked her over. “Have you missed me, princess?”

The man holding her released her mouth but kept his tight grip on her chest and arms, as if she could lash out and hurt his boss.

“Not for a minute,” she spit at him. “What are you doing here?”

“Well, doll, I paid for this house, so that makes it mine. I can come here anytime I want.”

Arguing with him would accomplish nothing. “What do you want, Johnny?”

“I’d like to know how you dared betray me.”

“Betray you?” She stared at him. His men surrounded him, faces impassive and hands on weapons. “You cheated on me repeatedly. How have I betrayed you?”

Johnny strode up to her. She’d never feared him before, but there was something in his dark-brown eyes that made him look even darker, disturbed truly. He placed his soft palm against her cheek. She flinched, but the man behind her grasped her chin and held it tightly.

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