Page 34 of Between the Lies

Gripping her backpack, Nina slid out of the van. ‘You know, I can head out from here. I don’t want to be a burden.’

She knew it was a long shot. No one abducted you from the police, then let you go. He had an agenda.

Robert rounded the car, prowling over to where she was.

I’m his prey.

Again, his torso with that wide chest came into view?—

His fingers reached up and gripped the strap of her backpack, just where it sat digging into the soft flesh above her breasts. Her gasp rose unbidden at his touch, and her back straightened, knocking her chest against his wrist. Nina’s eyes rose and clashed with his.

Blazing hot fire. That had to be what she was seeing. Those green eyes of his shone with a dark glint – like black marble under the sun.

Her jaw dropped. She tried stitching words together, then he took a step closer, so close now she had to tip her chin up to even see him.

‘Let me hold that for you, Nina.’

His breath whispered across her face, his words a caress.

Undeterred by her heaving chest, he gripped the bag’s strap tighter and tugged.

Heavy as it was and as unbalanced as Nina felt, she lurched ahead with the momentum, tumbling straight into Robert’s chest. ‘Rob!’

Her shout sounded muffled; her face was planted in his jacket, and the scent of his cologne spread its hold over Nina’s body, flirting with her starved need for human connection.

She made to push away, to fight for her equilibrium. She reached up to grip his chest and steady herself when the backpack slipped off her back and landed on the ground… Then his arms came around her.

He held her so tight, her hands were trapped against his chest, her front flush against his. They stood there, her clutching him, melded as one… squashed together until she felt him – all of him. Did the man have any fat, or was he a wall of muscle? Unless he wore some kind of armour, that was his actual body.

Nina tipped her head up and caught him watching her. ‘L-Let me go.’

He fastened his arms around her, squishing her not-been-to-the-gym-in-ages body harder against his.

‘You are a puzzle.’ His face was so close, his breath played over her forehead. ‘Does it hurt?’

Finding herself flush against the man who kidnapped her, her lady parts screaming at her to gyrate her hips so she ended up looking like a wanton teenager? That did hurt on so many levels. But surely that wasn’t what he was asking.

Nina didn’t respond, just standing there, mouth still agape.

Robert shook his head. ‘We’ll get you in and clean you up.’

Clean her up? Her mind flashed an image of a shower, the mirror steamed and them, him?—

He let go of her, and the cold surged in, leaving her shivering. Robert’s hands gripped her wrist, turning her so he could bend and fetch her backpack. Then he intertwined their hands and tugged her towards the pavement. ‘It’s past dinner time now.’

She stumbled, but he didn’t stop, urging her forward like an impatient master would his dog. And much to Nina’s horror, she followed.

Oh God! What the hell was she doing? She could be attracted to a man and not act on it. She could be around him without tripping over herself to follow his bidding.

When they approached a building – the same building she’d lived in – and he used a key to get them in, Nina swallowed. He knew. There was no point in asking him how or why. If he’d been the leaflet guy, this was some elaborate ruse he’d planned with Finn. And Finn knew her address, a consequence of using his excellent forged IDs.

The narrow foyer led them to a lift. Robert marched them into the carriage, then pressed the button for the second floor.

In under two minutes, he’d led them to a door and entered the apartment. Nina sighed. When she’d walked away from here, she had never expected to return. At least not this soon into the game.

Nina walked in and heard Robert click all the locks in place behind her. She blinked at the sofa, the centre table, the desk pushed against the space between the two windows with her desktop on it. Someone had even cleaned up the mess she’d left behind.

Robert’s footsteps echoed on the wooden floors. He came to a stop right behind her. ‘It is threadbare, but I guess it works for what I have in mind.’

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