Page 112 of Hot for Hostage

An idea sparked, and I perked up. “How about a beautiful twelve-speed and self-cleaning stand mixer?”

They stared for a full beat before sharing a silent look.

“A stand mixer?” Fessy echoed flatly.

I nodded so quickly my poor head screamed in pain. “Davian already has two in his kitchen. I’m sure his chef would part with one if it meant my life would be spared.”

Actually, I wasn’t so sure Antonio would do that. If the mixers had been mine, these boys would have to pry them out of my cold, dead hands.

They both only stared at me, which made me feel the need to fill the silence. “I mentioned the mixers were self-cleaning, right? That’s usually a strong selling point.”

Another long, uncomfortable pause passed before Zain turned his back to me and strode to the door. “I need to work with Nasir to set up a call with Reed. Stay here and watch her, Fes.”

Fessy hobbled after him. “You’re leaving me alone with her? But she’s crazy?—”

“She’s tied to a chair and completely helpless. I’ve got bigger things to worry about than babysitting some chick.” He stopped in the doorway long enough to pin his brother with a look. “Don’t screw this up, kid.”

The door clicked shut behind Zain before Fessy could get another word in.

Things only got worse from there. Refusing to look at me again, Fessy muttered a few choice curses at the door before propping himself up next to the table with the lamp and burying his nose in his phone. It was quiet and uneventful with him ignoring my existence, so I counted the seconds in my head while waiting awkwardly for something to happen.

Six minutes passed, and…nothing.

Who knew being a hostage could be so boring?

I tapped my toes against the floor and wished for the umpteenth time today that I had put underwear on before leaving Davian’s room.

“Where are we, anyway?” I asked when I couldn’t tolerate the silence anymore.

He glanced up from his phone. “Nowhere Reed knows about, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“I would hope he doesn’t know about a place like this,” I muttered, eyeing the bathtub again with a sigh. “You know, none of this would’ve happened if you hadn’t committed a crime and abducted Bear.”

He slammed his phone down next to the lamp with a scowl. “It’s a shelter. Isn’t the whole purpose to get the dogs adopted? Who cares if we skipped the paperwork?”

“I do.” I straightened my spine as my voice went squeaky with frustration. “Icare. All adopters are screened to verify they can responsibly care for their new family member. Plus, there’s an adoption fee you definitely didn’t pay when you broke the lock on the door and abducted Bear.”

That only made him roll his eyes. “You need to chill. It’s not that big of a deal.”

I huffed at his ignorance. “It’s a big deal to me. I just don’t understand why you can’t go through the proper channels. They exist to protect you just as much as the dogs.”

“I amthisclose to finding that duct tape and risking your weird-ass breathing issues if you don’t shut?—”

But Fessy never got to finish his threat, because Zain chose that moment to burst back through the door with a knife in his hand and murder in his eyes.

who are you calling an old woman?

. . .

Davian

Vince barreled the SUV down the passing lane while I replayed Malcolm’s words in my head. The phone threatened to snap in my grip as the last of my patience vanished. “What do you mean Sadie isn’t in the van?”

Malcolm cleared his throat. “The old woman says?—”

“Old woman?” a furious voice screeched in the background, making my ear ring. “Thisold womanrescued Sadie from your evil den of criminals. And now her being kidnapped is your own damn fault!”

A familiar lethal calm settled over me, and the same cold focus that took over before a kill coursed through my veins.

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