Page 62 of His Captor

“I suppose it’s not,” Mr. Harvey said, shifting his stance into what I recognized as the way my parents’ people stood when they believed someone to be on the inside. “What’s really important is what you and your company might be able to do for the Harvey Corporation.”

And they were off. I was surprised by how quickly Mace got down to business. I was also in complete awe of the mastery with which he faced the pitfalls Colin had put in his way.

“I believe Canton Enterprises could do a great deal for the Harvey Corporation, sir,” he said, respectful without being entirely deferential. Men like Mr. Harvey would respond to that, I knew. “We’re still a new company, but we’re growing fast. I’ve headhunted a talented and growing team of engineers and designers to develop the very latest in effective and discreet security technology.”

“I’ve been impressed with the specs you sent me,” Mr. Harvey said, “but as you know, I’m concerned about your reliability and ethics after what I heard from an associate at Victory Holdings.”

I could feel Mace tense. Victory Holdings. Of course. I was a little tense myself. If I’d learned anything in the last week, it was that corporate warfare wasn’t as cute and fun as it looked in the movies.

“I can assure you,” Mace said, very seriously, “the things you’ve heard about me from Victory Holdings are nothing more than the product of an unfortunate grudge that is going into litigation.”

“Oh?” Mr. Harvey asked. “Is that going to affect your ability to do business?”

I wanted to hear more. I was interested in everything Mace was doing, not to mention everything anyone was trying to do against him. But my entire body ached from standing for so long, and my pregnancy bladder wasn’t going to hold out.

I squeezed on Mace’s hand, then leaned in to whisper, “I really need to pee. I won’t be but five minutes.”

Mace had just started answering Mr. Harvey, so he nodded to me and let go of my hand before launching into a reassuring explanation of his feud with Colin.

I hurried to the side of the room where a lit-up sign indicated the bathrooms were located. The party was in full swing at that point, and before I reached the side corridor, a live band began to play in the far corner of the room.

The bathroom hallway was more like a passage connecting the various hotel ballrooms with the kitchens, service corridors, and other parts of the hotel that patrons never saw. I found the bathroom easily enough, but for some reason, I didn’t like being so far out of the ballroom, so far away from Mace.

I chalked it up to whatever bond had been steadily forming between us. Newly bonded mates couldn’t be apart from each other for long, or so I’d always been told. This was the farthest apart Mace and I had been in a week.

There was another guy in a suit in the bathroom when I came out of my stall and went to wash my hands. I nodded to him with a tight smile, then ignored him.

I absolutely did not expect the man to grab me around my chest the second I finished drying my hands or to clamp a hand over my mouth when I tried to cry out.

“Stay silent and do as you’re told and you might just live to see your baby someday,” the guy said in a low growl.

It was the hint that I might not see Junior that had me weak in the knees and slow to fight back. That and the dark, knit cap he slipped over my head and pulled down to blind me.

“You can’t do this,” I gasped as soon as a shred of sense hit me. “My alpha is just out in the ballroom, and he’ll realize I’m missing. He’ll come after me, and you’ll?—”

That’s as far as I got before I felt the sting of a needle in my arm. Within seconds, the world went black.

Mason

Everything was going so well.

“And that’s why I hope you can believe me when I say that these initial hurdles are small and that the vision I have, that the entire team at Canton Enterprises has, will overcome a few early set-backs,” I told Mr. Harvey, finishing the explanation, which had turned into a sales-pitch, of everything that Colin had put me through in the past few months. Everything I was at liberty to reveal, of course.

“Wow,” Mr. Harvey said, shaking his head in disbelief. “You’ve certainly been through it with your old friend. I’m sorry, I had no idea.”

“It’s as much personal as it is professional,” I said with a shrug. “There’s no way you could have known, and really, if the situation were ordinary, there would be no reason for you to know.”

“I’m glad I invited you to this shindig, at least,” Mr. Harvey said, slapping my arm. “Something you just can’t convey through email, or even over the phone. Come on.” He shiftedand gestured for me to follow him. “Let me introduce you to a few more people.”

I took a few steps before a feeling that something was very wrong wafted over me.

Hayden. He wasn’t there. He’d gone to the bathroom about—I checked my watch—ten minutes ago.

Guilt and worry hit me a second later. I should have kept a better eye on him. I’d become so engrossed in my conversation with Mr. Harvey, and Mr. Harvey had asked so many questions, that time had flown by and I hadn’t felt Hayden’s absence.

I did now. I definitely felt it, along with a suddenly immense amount of worry.

“I’ll be right there, Mr. Harvey,” I said. “I just want to go make certain Hayden is alright. He’s due any time now, and you never know this close to the end.”

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