Page 74 of Captivated By Him

“Sit back, Nicole. Enjoy the ride. It will take some time to get to the railcar.”

“Railcar?” My voice squeaks.

“Yes. Mr. Kaczmarek would like a word.”

Ice runs through me. “No,” I say, shaking my head. This can’t be happening. This isn’t happening.

“Yes,” he says, looking at me through the rearview mirror.

I can’t just sit here and let this happen, so I attack. Lunging forward between the front seats, I grapple for the wheel. He barks orders at me in Polish, but I’m not in the right frame of mind to obey the creep. I get hold of the wheel and jerk it to the right.

His foot presses the gas during our struggle and the car spins, turning too fast. The car lifts up onto two wheels. I barely manage to lift my head before I see the traffic light coming right at us.

Or we’re headed at it.

In one instant I’m screaming at the prick still hitting me and trying to get me away from him, and in the next I’m floating.

A sharp pain ricochets through my chest.

And then there’s nothing.

Chapter 22

Jakub

The kitchen is alive with activity as dishes are prepped and plated. Servers hurry in and out with requests then rush back out with dishes for tables.

The restaurant opening is a hit. Food critics are here and from what Nora reports, they are more than happy with their meals. Good news from the cigar bar upstairs repeats the success story of down here. It’s all going perfectly.

Exactly as Nicole wanted it to go.

And she’s not here to see it all.

“Here you are.” Nora finds me standing in the back of the kitchen.

“It’s busy as hell out there. I was just getting in the way.” After making the obligatory rounds with the customers, I ducked out. They don’t need me watching them over their shoulders while they taste the veal.

“The cigar room is booming. And next door is seeing an increase, too. They’re eating here then going next door to dance off the calories.” She beams with pride. And she should. Most of this is her doing. “You shouldn’t keep Nicole away, Jakub,” Nora says, reminding me of her mind-reading skills. “She deserves to see how well everything is going. And there’s been requests from several of the reporters to meet her. It looks weird that she’s not here.”

“What did you tell them?” Making her look unprofessional is the last thing I want for her. But Dominik made it clear the Kaczmareks could show up tonight. I can’t concentrate on her safety and the Kaczmareks at the same time. She’s safer at home.

Dominik enters the kitchen and heads straight for us.

“I’m sure she would have loved to be here, Nora. But she couldn’t.” I won’t go into details, and Nora is wise enough not to dive into them. She frowns but leaves me without any further comment.

“What’s going on?” I ask when Dominik approaches.

“Your phone’s not working back here?” he asks, concern pulling his brows together.

I grab my phone out of my pocket. It’s dead. “Fuck. I thought I had it charged.” The last time I used it was when I talked with Nicole. She’s angry, but she’ll get over it. We’ll talk when I get home and I’ll let her rage at me for a bit. She deserves to have her anger on this one, but in the end, she’ll forgive me. She’ll understand.

“What’s wrong?” I ask when his frown deepens. “What is it?”

“Nicole took off,” he says simply, as though he’s telling me the Bears won a game.

“What do you mean, took off?” My first instinct is to get out of this kitchen and get home.

“I mean, she left. Took the fire escape, got in a car, and left.”

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