Page 11 of Russian Roulette
I nod back at him. “Okay, now that we’re properly introduced, I’m Jade.”
“Jade Stone,” Seven adds. “I told her it’s a porn star name and I stand by my first impression.”
Keeping them talking is my way out of this. I’m sure the names they gave me aren’t any more authentic than the one I gave them. But it’s a start I can work with. If I had to place a bet, I’d say that Seven is the least dangerous of the three. Not counting Leroy, that is. I can’t quite figure out his role in the group.
There’s no doubt Vulcan is a serious threat to my safety. That’s a given. The Viking squeezed in close to me on the other side is a puzzling enigma. He hasn’t shown enough interest or emotion to give away what’s going on in his head. Until I learn more about him, I need to be careful. He could fit into the ‘silent but deadly’ group.
I shift my arms behind my back and try to find a more comfortable position since my wrists throb. As long as I can still feel my fingers, I’ll be fine. I try to take a positive outlook. Being crammed between two sexy guys can’t be the absolute worst thing in the world.
Or can it?
I’m not sure. Only time will tell.
One thing is for certain. I’m not getting away from them until they decide to let me go. Ten minutes later, we’ve left the famous strip behind and are on our way out of Vegas.
6
VULCAN
“Pull over on the shoulder of the road,” I tell Leroy after we’ve driven several miles straight out into the Nevada desert.
“Why?” Leroy asks, glancing at me in the rearview mirror. “Need to take a leak? We’re almost there. Can’t you wait until we get there?”
“I want to blindfold our guest the rest of the way,” I reply. “I don’t want her seeing where we’re going.”
“What?” She glares at me and yelps in protest. “No way! You’ve already tied up my hands. Don’t blindfold me, too.”
“I’ll be a nice guy and untie your hands since you can’t get past the two of us now that we’re out of town,” I reply. “I’ll use the scarf as a blindfold. It won’t be too much longer. We’re almost there.”
“Almost where?” she asks.
“You never stop asking questions, do you?”
To her credit, she hasn’t complained one time about her hands being tied behind her back since we left Vegas. She’s uncomfortable, but she’s tough. I wasn’t kidding when I said she was a spitfire. She’s full of energy and sass. She shocked the hell out of me when she bit my ear. No one would dare do such a thing to me and live to tell the tale later. It’s good for her sake that she’s a fighter. She has a better chance of staying alive that way.
Leroy pulls off onto the dirt shoulder of the road. I lean over to unsnap her seatbelt, and she scoots forward for me to untie her hands. The scarf left deep red marks on the pale skin of her wrist. A slight tinge of regret hits me for tying her up, then I remember how she nearly bit my ear off. Tying her up was for her own good. If she knew me better, she’d realize I’m not someone you want to push.
She stretches her arms in front of her and flexes her pale fingers to get the blood flowing again.
“Ah… this feels better,” she says, rubbing her hands together. “My hands had gone numb.”
“Why didn’t you say something to us if you were losing feeling in your fingers?” Kit asks her.
“Would it have made a difference?” she snaps at him. “I doubt it.”
He notices the red marks on her wrists too and shoots me a dirty look over her head. “Was that really necessary?”
I shrug. “We asked her nicely to get in the car. She’s the one who took things to a whole other level. Not my fault. Would you rather I stand there and let her beat the shit out of them? In case you didn’t notice, the fight wasn’t going in their favor.”
He’s ticked off and continues glowering at me, but he says nothing. Kit’s a man of few words in the best of times.
“Be still for a second so I can put the blindfold on,” I tell Jade when she keeps moving around to peek out the windows.
“Isn’t this overkill?” She motions toward the window. “I don’t know where I am, anyway. I’m from Los Angeles, so this is all unfamiliar territory. Desert all looks the same to me. Nothing but miles and miles of rocks, dirt, and sand. I don’t have a fucking clue where we are and I sure as hell don’t want to return here.”
“I can’t take the chance of you finding your way back here one day. Now quit squirming because the quicker we get there, the faster you can get out and stretch.”
“I just said I’d never want to come back here, dumbass. Didn’t you hear me?” She lets out a loud, dramatic sigh and turns around slightly so I can wrap the blindfold across her eyes. I double wrap it just in case she can peek through the cloth.
