Page 52 of Assassin's Mark
The question rang in my head as I followed Leah into the living area. She went straight to Remi, leaningover the back of the couch to speak, her words too soft to hear, her hands busy checking her patient. The scene was somehow intimate, a moment that deserved protection from prying eyes, and I turned my head away.
My gaze collided with Levi’s.
He stood near the outer door, obviously waiting for Leah, but he wasn’t watching her; he was watching me. Every time I saw him, I had the same thought:He’s beautiful. Tall and built and sexy. He took my breath. But I always looked for one thing. His eyes. They were literally windows, if not to his soul, at least to his mood. They told me where we stood when we came face-to-face.
Right now, the cold expression was back, and I couldn’t help comparing this man with the one who’d taken me with such fire mere hours ago. His gray eyes hadn’t beencold steel then; they’d been molten silver, blazing with hunger. Which was the true Levi? Growing up with a parent with political ambitions, I was used to people wearing masks. The problem was, I couldn’t decide which Levi was the mask—the lover or the killer. Both? Neither?
I didn’t know. The only thing I knew with absolute certainty was that when I figured it out, no mask would be able to protectme from the pain.
“Let’s go,” Eli said, startling me out of the connection that bound me to my kidnapper. Only then did I notice the black material clutched in Eli’s hands. Leah noticed it too, her steps hitching as fear flashed in her eyes.
“Leah.”
The voice sounded like sandpaper and sleep. Leah turned her head to look at Remi. I did too.
“It’s for your protection. That’s all. I promised,remember? No one will hurt you. This way”—he nodded toward the cloth—“you can’t see anything pertinent, not cars or locations or anything.”
And by the time she could help the police trace their way back here, to the warehouse, it would be empty.
“It’s okay,” Remi was saying, rough voice soothing despite the gravelly tone. “I promise.”
“I don’t trust promises from men like you,” she said. “ButI guess I don’t really have a choice.”
Remi’s amber eyes flashed with something I didn’t quite understand, then went cold. Just like his brother’s. “Not if you want to be with your daughter tonight,” he told her.
She gave him a short, sharp nod, then walked the last few steps to Eli. I watched her take a deep breath before the black bag settled over her face. Eli grasped her hand and led herto the door, where Levi took over. Before he walked her out, he glanced at Remi. Something passed between them, something deep. Something serious. And then Levi and Leah were gone and the door closed.
I couldn’t help wondering when my turn would come. If it would come. Or, as Leah had said, if I even wanted it to.
I shoved the question away as Eli passed me. Not only had I not noticed the blackbag in his hand, but apparently while I’d been with Leah, he’d been packing. A small stack of boxes and cases sat nearby. Eli strode past them to the computer desk, where another box awaited him. He shut down the system, then started disassembling it.
“Anything I can do to help?” I asked. If I wanted to stay somewhere near sane, some of the questions rattling around in my brain had to go, sohere was the first one: did helping your kidnappers mean you were crazy?
I would be if I kept worrying about it.
Eli shook his head, completely unaware of the weird psychoanalysis going on in my brain. “You better pack your stuff.”
Because you’re taking me with you, or because you plan to dump the evidence after you get rid of me?I didn’t ask, though. I went to the bedroom. The faint scentof sex rose from the bed, but I ignored it too. Maybe this should become my new modus operandi.
The black duffel Levi had packed my things in still sat next to the dresser, a few sets of clean clothes inside. Stripping off a pillowcase, I proceeded to stuff my dirty laundry into it, then retrieved my toiletries from the bathroom, neatly wrapped in a dry towel. Fifteen minutes, tops. That wasall it took to visibly erase my existence from my prison.
Eli was even faster. By the time I reappeared, he had all but the heaviest equipment stowed away. “Let me get these in the van,” he was telling Remi. “Then I’ll get you settled.”
I set my bag next to his stack. “What about me?”
Eli shook his head as he bent to retrieve two boxes from the pile. “You aren’t going with us.”
“I’m not?”A kick in my gut—fear, shock, maybe anger?—made my breath hitch. “Then —”
“Levi will be back in an hour. You’ll go with him.”
Right. Of course. To a drop-off point, like he was doing with Leah? Or another location, another prison? Or…
“Abby,” Eli said. I glanced up, realizing I was still standing with the strap of my bag in my hand, frozen, every ounce of uncertainty on full display.
I clearedmy throat. “Yeah?”
“He’s not going to hurt you. I promise.”
“There’s a lot of promising going on today,” I said.
“We mean it.”
Since when had the pissy one decided I needed comforting? Maybe around the time that pity had appeared in his eyes. I glanced at Remi. Yeah, it was there too.
“Right. Okay.” I gestured towards the pile. “Can I help?”
“Just stay here. Keep Remi company.” And he wasout the door. Theclickof the lock had a ring of finality about it, and I couldn’t help wondering if it was a sign of things to come.
