Page 26 of Capturing Victory

Jaya sniffed the air and immediately perked up. She fought with the blankets for a few seconds and then shoved her way into a sitting position. As soon as she was up she remembered that she was naked. She grabbed for the falling cover and yanked it back up to her armpits, tucking it firmly into place. When she reached for her coffee, her eyes met Ivan’s amused gaze. Her cheeks heated under his look and she squirmed a little, feeling the soreness between her thighs.

This prompted her to glance sideways down at her arm. Sure enough, fingerprint bruises were beginning to show against her dark skin. She chewed on her lip a little and then gave the other side a quick glance. Yup, there too. She knew she should be upset, but oddly the visible marks of his possession caused creeping warmth in her belly that swept lower.

She accepted the coffee and took a sip, watching him over the rim. The look he was giving her held a wealth of masculine possession. Even in her relative innocence, she recognized it. But there was something else there, something that sent an arrow of concern through her. Men like Ivan, men with more wealth and power than they could possibly use in several lifetimes, held the things they considered precious close.

She was about to ask him about the cage and her prisoner status when the sound of an airplane flying low overhead startled her and made Ivan frown. “What the fuck?” he snarled. He leapt to his feet and reached for his pants, yanking them on without underwear. He buckled his belt and pointed at her. “Stay here.”

Jaya nodded, her eyes wide and guileless as he slammed out of the bedroom, leaving her alone and naked in the middle of the bed. She quickly remedied the latter by pulling on a long brightly patterned skirt and white blouse. Then she sat on the edge of the bed, sipped her coffee and did her best to calm her heart rate. She fully expected Ivan to return quickly. It wouldn’t take him long to figure out what was happening and why there were suddenly aircraft flying over his private island. A private island with a military no fly zone order and a communications scrambler.

* * *

“Are we under attack?” Ivan demanded, throwing the door to his security room open. Keane was already present along with two other men.

“Not yet, sir,” Keane was quick to supply. “But this bird is not friendly. This is definitely reconnaissance. Next step will be a strike team and if they’re organized they’ll be here inside of ten minutes. With half of our security systems still down from the canary’s escape attempt yesterday, we need to get the fuck out of here.”

Ivan nodded. “Give the order, clear the island. Walk with me.” Keane fell into step with Ivan as he strode down the corridors, retracing his steps toward his private quarters. “We’ll go with exit plan Delta since Jaya took out the helicopter.”

Keane cleared his throat. “Hate to say it boss, but the first thing the girl did up on the roof was black out our communications. Must’ve been her that sent a signal.”

Ivan stopped walking and looked at his second-in-command, his eyes cold and flat. “Do you think I wouldn’t have realized that the moment I heard the UFA?”

“Sorry boss,” Keane grunted.

They continued moving. “Don’t waste my time again with useless speculation. Jaya will be questioned and dealt with appropriately. I want you to make sure all sensitive information is taken care of and the island is abandoned. You have seven minutes. I’ll deal with the prisoner.”

They split off. Keane jogged back toward the communications and security wing while Ivan threw open the door to his room. She was sitting cross-legged on the middle of his bed, her feet tucked under a long frilly skirt, her kitten curled in her lap and her book balanced on a knee. She looked up at him as he strode into the room, her dark hair streaming over her shoulders. Her eyes were speculative and wary but not curious. Absent was the question that should have been there if she’d been innocent.

“Did you reach the part where Cathy betrays Heathcliff?” Ivan asked, bitterness leaking into his voice. He knew he had no right to feel this way, knew that she wasn’t actively trying to betray him by leaving or sending a signal for help. But the irrational part of him wanted her to pay. She was his, belonged to him. She’d touched something inside of him, mired herself within the blackness of his heart, and dammit, he wasn’t going to let her claw her way out.

Jaya carefully slid a piece of paper between the pages, a torn page from another book she used as a bookmark, and closed Wuthering Heights. She tilted her chin up and stared at Ivan. “Yes, I’ve reached that point. But I don’t see Cathy’s seeking the comfort and luxury of another home as betrayal. Heathcliff left her to the dubious and abusive care of her older brother. She couldn’t possibly stay where she was, waiting for him to come rescue her.”

“He loved her, would have done anything for her,” Ivan said, staring back at her, searching her face for answers. Something was off. She was more relaxed, more confident than he’d seen her since he’d taken her from her home. As though she knew something. “She should have waited for him.”

“Why?” Jaya snapped, her brows drawing together in annoyance. “She had no guarantee that he would come for her. She only knew that her situation was bad and going to stay that way unless she went with the best opportunity in the neighborhood. It’s the same story for women all over the world.”

Ivan made an impatient sound and reached for her arm, dragging her off the bed. Haty hissed and leapt off Jaya’s lap, bounding off the edge of the bed and onto the floor. “We don’t have time for this. I need to know right now who’s coming to this island and what they’re planning. Don’t bother denying you had anything to do with it. We already know you sent a signal out when you knocked out our communications.”

“I wasn’t going to deny anything,” she snapped, shoving against his chest. “Of course I did!”

Ivan didn’t check his strength, he released her arm and as she tried to straighten, he slapped her. His open palm caught her hard on the side of the face spinning her halfway around and sending her back into the side of the bed. He dropped to his knee next to her and lifted his fist again but realized if he hit her like that with his full strength he really would cause damage. But fuck, she was tearing him apart. He wasn’t used to these emotions, wasn’t used to caring what another person did to him. If anyone near him got close enough to cause such harm, whether it was warranted or not, he would not hesitate to put that person down.

Ivan pulled the gun from his holster and pressed it against her temple. He expected fear. Complete and utter terror, like he’d seen on her face the day he’d killed the waiter in front of her. Instead, when Jaya turned her face to him, her cheek burning bright from his slap, her eyes held a maniacal fury. As though she were inviting him with her eyes to go ahead and shoot her in the head, because she would get the last laugh. And she would. Because Ivan knew, no matter how many more years he lived, he would not find another woman like Jaya. Even if she’d spent half their time together acting, lulling him into complacency. It just proved she was an even worthier partner than he’d ever believed.

“Tell me who you contacted and what the plan is,” Ivan demanded, pressing the gun harder against her.

She didn’t flinch or speak. It became clear that she wouldn’t. Ivan knew he could get it out of her quickly, but the methods he would have to use would be brutal and she would be damaged beyond repair. He weighed his options while staring into the face of the beautiful, treacherous woman that had come to mean too much to him. Since he wanted her intact, he would have to get most of the information he needed later when he could use less invasive methods for extraction.

For now, he would earn her hatred another way. He pointed his gun at Haty, who was busy cleaning her fur a few feet away from the bottom of the bed. “Speak now, tell me the attack plan, or I kill your cat.” Her mouth fell open and she lunged forward. Ivan slashed an arm around her middle, flinging her back and trapping her against the bed. “Speak!” he shouted in her face. “You have three seconds.”

“Okay,” she relented, staring at Haty, who was still oblivious to their fight. “I don’t know the exact plan. He said he would come rescue me when I sent a message and try to capture you. I don’t know anything else. Honest!”

“Who, Jaya?” Ivan demanded. “I want a name.”

“I can’t tell you!” she cried desperately, staring at her cat with wide, teriffied eyes. “I don’t know his name.”

Ivan shoved a frustrated hand through his hair. He believed her. He stood up, reholstered his gun and hauled her to her feet. She stumbled and then stood staring stonily past him. She sniffed and swiped at her eyes. “I always knew you were going to use her against me,” she whispered stiffly.

“We’ll discuss this later, and Jaya.” He shook her until she looked at him. “You will tell me everything I want to know.”

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