Page 11 of Protected Hearts

He didn’t speak again. They crossed the New York border, but didn’t go anywhere near a road that would bring them to the JFK airport.

“One more thing.” The man whipped the van into a gas station parking lot.

“We need gas? Now?”

“No. We’re switching vehicles. In case someone is tailing us.”

Even for a car thief, the man was damn smooth. In little time, they were seated in a sports car that he claimed to “borrow.”

He urged her inside, but she stood her ground for a heartbeat.

She jerked her face toward him, finding him standing close. Too close. Recovering quicker than she believed she could, she burst out, “Great! Now we’ll be hunted for grand theft auto! And getting into a car this low to the ground is almost worse than climbing up into the moving van.”

He said nothing.

The car was a lot faster than the lumbering van, though. When she saw a small sign with the name of a private airstrip, she grasped the edges of the seat. Fear dragged an icy finger down her spine. How many times had her ex flown her out of places just like this one?

They reached a small parking lot without a crack in the pavement in sight. Yes, this was a place where wealthy people flew out in private jets. The shiny, new bird sitting on the runway solidified this fact in Shiloh’s mind.

“Private jet?”

He didn’t respond to her question, only got out of the sports car and hurried to the passenger door. She hated that he grasped her by the waist and tugged her upward to her feet even as she was grateful that she didn’t have to attempt to navigate the maneuver in a mermaid skirt covered in feathers.

He took her by the arm and led her to a flight of steps leading to the jet entrance. In the open doorway, another tall, muscled man appeared. His brows shot up as he spotted her.

Her rescuer took her elbow, and she flinched as he skimmed the bruises there. As if he noted her reaction, he released her and moved his hand to her waist, guiding her up the first few steps.

“I’m not going with you! Take me to my sister’s.”

“Can she keep you safe from those Russians?”

He had a point.

Step by painstaking step, Shiloh made her way up and into the jet. The man standing at the top was just as tall as her…her what? New husband? Was that even a legal ceremony?

He stepped back, allowing her and the man behind her to duck inside.

A striking blonde woman sitting in the front row shot to her feet. “What in theworld?” The tall man moved over to her side as if seconding her exclamation.

He leveled his gaze on her rescuer. “Seriously, man. What the hell? I’ve heard of love at first sight, but this is ridiculous.”

“This is not a love match!” Shiloh bit out. She sent a fiery glare at her captor. “Heboughtme!”

The men exchanged unreadable glances.

There was no way out.

A fresh batch of adrenaline hit Shiloh’s system, and between the rush in her veins and the cool air in the jet, she began to shiver, which only made the feathers on her dress wave in wild flutters.

“Here. Sit down.” The man she just married guided her to a seat and opened an overhead compartment. He pulled down a blanket and draped it over her. Next, he produced a bottled water and placed it in her hand.

His face loomed close as he took the oversized leather seat next to her. “Let’s talk.”

She opened her mouth, but a sudden thought hit, almost as horrifying as being married to a man she didn’t know and trapped on a plane bound for an undisclosed destination.

William.

If her ex hacked her laptop, he’d only get the bare basics on her computer setup. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t figure out that she had all the dirt she gathered on him in a cloud. If he breached that, all would be lost. Oh god. How dumb could she be?

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