Page 36 of Courting Danger

Another voice spoke from at least a few feet away. “What’s the point of all this? Why not just kill the bastard and be done with it?”

“Those weren’t the orders. Boss-man wants it done this way. So, we do it this way.”

None of the voices sounded close, and the footsteps of my kidnappers seemed to be growing farther away. I took a chance and cracked one eye open just enough to take a look around.

I was lying on the floor of a construction site, surrounded by half-finished concrete and exposed rebar. All of my kidnappers stood gathered around a large metal container on the other side of the room. None of them were looking in my direction.

It only took a few more passes of the knife to finish sawing through the ropes on my wrists. Then, as quietly as I could and without sitting up, I curled into a ball to reach my ankles. Instead of trying to cut the ropes this time, I used the point of my knife to pick apart the knot holding it together. Blood flowed from the cut on my hand, making my grip slippery, but I managed to get it untied after only a few tries.

I didn’t give my captors any warning. Just jumped to my feet and started running. They shouted after me as I blindly bolted for the nearest doorway.

While I’d been lying on the floor, the dizziness hadn’t been too bad. The moment I started moving, however, everything seemed to turn sideways. It felt like I was trying to cross the deck of a ship during a hurricane. The floor kept tipping in different directions.

My shoulder slammed into the side of the doorway.

I fell into a wall.

My palm left a bloody smear across the surface as I pushed off the wall and kept running.

Everything was a blur. Loose beams and debris lay around the half-constructed building, threatening to trip me at every turn.

Fresh air suddenly filled my lungs, clearing my head for a moment. I’d stumbled into an open area where the building’s foundation hadn’t been poured yet. Construction equipment sat around, waiting for the next job, yet there was no obvious exit out of this concrete maze.

I checked over my shoulder. My pursuers were out of sight, but judging by the sound of their voices, just around the corner. I took the opportunity to dive under the tire of a bulldozer. As I lay panting in the dirt, several sets of footsteps ran past my hiding place without noticing me.

Breathing a sigh of relief, I pressed my back against the massive tire and buried my face into my hands.

The numb shock that had kept me calm until that moment was wearing off. A shiver started in my chest and spread until even the tips of my hair seemed to tremble.

I wanted to go home. I wanted to see my mother and Ghita again. I wanted to attend my father’s funeral and even take over my new responsibilities running the family.

I wanted Garrison.

We hadn’t actually known each other long, but even in such a short amount of time Garrison had already become a symbol of safety.

I didn’t have a lot of safety in my life.

But would Garrison even want to see me again?

The last time we’d been together, we’d fought. For good reason. I’d lied to the man, after all. Many people wouldn’t be able to forgive such a thing.

No, I refused to die when our last interaction was so unpleasant. I was going to get out of this, I was going to find Garrison, and I was going to apologize. Even if Garrison didn’t forgive me, at least my conscience would be clear.

Shaking off the panic that burned like molten copper in the back of my throat, I peered around the tire. It was night, and eerie shadows covered the construction site. The only light came from an advertisement billboard lit up with spotlights from below.

Whitelock Holdings.

I read over the name several times, sounding it out under my breath. It sounded familiar, but the memory was hard to find in the scattered chaos that my mind had become.

Whitelock Holdings?

Wasn’t that the name of a company owned by the Bianchi family?

Now that I thought about it, I remembered my mother calling me with the news of the Bianchi family’s latest enterprise. I hadn’t been paying much attention at the time. My latest conquest had been kneeling at my feet sucking me off when the ring of my phone interrupted us, and I’d only been focused on hanging up as quickly as I could without seeming rude.

Still, I remembered the name. The company definitely belonged to the Bianchi family, which meant the construction site belonged to them as well.

Fuck.

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