Page 19 of Queen Of Dark Money

Stronghands gripped my upper arms from behind, andIlet out an undignified squeal that was immediately cut off by a rag shoved into my mouth to silence me and prevent discovery.Kickingwildly, my clutch falling to the floor,Imanaged to land a solid blow to someone in front of me wearing a fucking ski mask and all black.Heswore but kept going, throwing a bag over my damned head as the fucking wall of muscle behind me held on for dear life.Ibet it was pretty effortless on his end, considering the size of his fucking hands.Dudewas built like a brick shithouse, his front plastered against my back as they tied my hands together with zip ties.

Fuck.

Well, at leastI’dfound a successful way to avoidEddySinclair’soppressive, controlling company.

Getkidnapped.

Sure, it wasn’t on my list of objectives for the day, nor was it on the approved list of thingsIcould do while posing as my sister.ButIwasn’t about to complain as long as they didn’t try to rape me or beat me or kill me.

Therewere always worse situations to be in.

I’dprobably regret that line of thought later.Butright now, allIregretted was not carrying some fucking mace with me likeIused to back home.

Thatshit was handy in a pinch, and it might’ve made this whole night go far differently.

Imumbled and shouted around the gag, but it was a futile attempt becauseIcouldn’t hear a fucking distinguishable word around this stupid slobber-covered fabric.Ikicked again, but whoever had absorbed the first blow had wizened up because he was well out of reach.Igrunted and kicked backward, hoping to nail the dude holding me and piss him off.MaybeI’dget lucky and he’d drop me.

Icouldn’t be so fortunate, though.Beforemy foot found purchase, he dropped me on the floor, then shifted me around and hoisted my ass like a fucking paper doll and threw me over a shoulder.Mystomach cramped when it hit his rock-solid torso, and onceIwas upside down, bouncing around,Ibegan to really regret those fucking finger foods they set out on the platters for people to snack on.

Ihad far too many, and this position and the jostling from the slight jog he kept up weren’t helping at all.

“I’mgonna vomit,”Itried, but it came out as a muffled gargle, soIjust bit my tongue and sighed, closing my eyes in the hopesIcould trick myself into thinkingIwasn’t moving likeIwas.

Afterall, the last thingIwanted to do was choke on my own vomit.Jeez, what a way to go that’d be.I’dnever live it down, not on my life.

Themuscled brick shithouse carted me through a few different abandoned rooms before the world got significantly darker around my head covering.Addedto the cool breeze working its way up my skirt, it became painfully obvious they’dmanaged to sneak me out of the venue unseen.Iwould be missed, sure, but not for a while.

Andby then, it’d be too late.

Myonly hope was that they’d listen to reason, and thatEddySinclairwould pay up to meet their demands with haste.

Hewouldn’t leave me alone with these brutes for long.

Wouldhe?

CHAPTER EIGHT

JASPER

Iwoke in the middle of the night to a persistent knocking on my front fucking door, loud and annoying and frustratingly forceful.Ifthe idiot on the other side of the door didn’t watch out, he’d dent the fucking thing.AndthenI’dhave to take a chunk out of his hide for property damage.

Andwouldn’t that just be grand?

Ihated court.

“Keepyour socks on, you halfwit fuck,I’mcoming,”Ishouted, grumbling under my breath asIslipped on a robe and tied it tight, the pain waking me up fully as it cinched my waist. “Jesus, man, can’t get any sleep around here anymore.Andto thinkIpay that fucking doorman to keep the riffraff away.Gonnahave to dock his pay–”

Iyanked open the door, half expecting to see some prick neighbor or the building superintendent.Wouldn’tit beat all if someone’s pipes burst or the building was on fire, andI’dbeen yelling at the hired help for doing their job?Butno, the face on the other side of the doorway was foreign to me, and his leering grin spoke volumes–as did the woman-like figure slung over his left shoulder, who squirmed from time to time as he rearranged her carefully.

Hissteely eyes darted to the apartment behind me, then met my sleep-addled gaze asIstruggled to process the scene before me.

“Uh, hey there,Stone, right?Niceto meet you.Thishere’sSpade, andI’mJoker.We’rehere to deliver a package–well, sort of,Iguess.”

Spadeshoved his way in as the peppy, over-enthusiastic blonde smiled at me in that manner dogs did when they were afraid to displease their owners.Icocked my head to the side as the bigger man moved into the foyer, crowding an already crowded space and irking me to no end.

“Whothe fuck ordered a package?Andwhy are you here in the middle of the night?Couldn’tthis–”Iwaved my hands pointedly at the woman now sprawled on my couch, with a bag over her head and her hands tied in front of her, “--have waited until the sun fucking rose?”

Hisblonde curls bobbed around his head as he danced–not even an exaggeration, the way he moved was damn near fluid in its composition–into my penthouse suite, closing the door behind him asIwas left standing in the damn doorway, arms crossed, the slight tingle of remembrance rising inside me asIcaught sight of the woman again.

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