Page 43 of Burning for You

What the hell is he talking about?

I continue taunting him. “You were responsible for the wall collapse on the East Street construction. Three of you were injured.”

I glance over my shoulder, noticing Levi shaking his head.

I add, “What would a crook like you want from me? I know Rupert isn’t just paying you to scare me.”

“We’ll talk,” he says.

“You’ve been spotted inside the Brilliance office. You and your brother were at my fundraising dinner. Someone will find us here. It’s not the Wild West anymore.”

While talking, my eyes steal a 360-degree view of my surroundings. It’s a ranch. The main house is perhaps about half a mile from where we are now. Then we pass a stable. From this angle, I can also see a hangar across the paddock.

“Move it!” he says as we’re leaving the ranch, headed into a dense forest.

And we keep going.

My pulse quickens. I haven’t told anyone about Levi Holt, though perhaps Rhea Chan still remembers. But right now, I’m sure no one knows I’m here.

Sunlight starts to disappear as the vegetation becomes thicker, and it is almost sunset. Soon I realize Levi might’ve been right. No one will find us here.

“Cross it,” he says as we reach a creek. “Lucky you’re wearing sneakers.”

They’re my Gucci sneakers.

Caught between pride and hopelessness, I step on a boulder. Sure enough, my city footwear fails me.

“Fuck!” I say as I slip.

Accepting the inevitable, I brace myself for the water to slap my shoulder, and then my face. And who knows what’s under the current. Sharp stones or more boulders might meet me and crush my bones.

But there’s no pain. There’s not even a splash.

It might well be an anaconda who has just saved me. Levi’s stocky, tattooed arm encircles my waist, almost making me float. My whole back is wrapped in a bundle of warmth coming from the slab of muscles forming my kidnapper’s torso.

In between steps I can hear his vocal cords vibrate, releasing soft growls. He’s carrying me like cargo. As we approach the banks, I find myself being propelled to dry land.

“Take that as a reminder that you can’t survive on your own out here,” Levi says, huffing.

He has definitely put a lot of effort into taking me safely across, because I have no idea how I skipped the width of the creek without getting soaked to my waist.

“Move it!” he says, returning to his menacing self.

Never mind the water, my lower abs are starting to pulse. After a few steps, I stop and turn to my kidnapper. “Let me rest, please.”

He sighs. “You run marathons. This should be a walk in the park.”

More than that. I have trekked the Amazon jungle. This isn’t that hard, but I just need to rest.

Levi tosses me a bottle of water.

I gulp the drink, while in my head I’m drawing a map, recording the route we’ve taken so far. I want to be able to return to the ranch and get help. And I will cross that stupid creek by myself! I just need to eliminate this man. Much as I feel at ease being with him, I don’t like to be driven like a sheep.

“Let’s go,” he commands.

So we keep trekking, sliding ourselves in between bushes and low-hanging branches. His gun is pointing right at my neck.

“This is a place where money can’t save you,” he boasts.

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