Page 24 of The Villain's Captive (The Villain's Duet 1)

10

I was wrappedup in a bundle of silk sheets when a loud slam of the door jerked me awake.

“Charlotte, get up.”

A curtain of dark, disarrayed curls fell over my face, and I wiped it back with my arm. “What is—”

“Get the fuck up. Now.”

The silk sheets swooshed as he pulled them off and grabbed my arm, hauling me off the bed so fast I tripped over my own feet. But he yanked me back up, giving me no time to find my goddamn footing.

“What is happening?” I tried to twist my arm free from his hold, but he only gripped tighter.

“We need to leave. Now.”

“Why?”

We rushed out the door, and he pulled me down the hall so fast, my feet barely touched the wooden floors. It was still dark, maybe early morning hours since the windows revealed the black sky. Dim lights lit the way down the hall, and I tried my best to keep up without tripping over my own two feet.

“Where are we going?”

“It’s no longer safe here. Shit.”

“What do you mean? What is going on?” Pushing down my heel, I tried to stop and pull back. “Elijah, stop!”

He turned to face me, and my breath got lodged in my throat, his golden pupils all dark and dangerous. Wild and bewildered, he stepped right up to me, his shoes touching my naked toes. “Right now, I need you to trust me. Can you do that?”

“I…what…Elijah, what’s—”

His grip on my elbow tightened, fingers clawing into my skin as he pulled me against him, leaning down as his stare burned into mine. “Tomorrow you can fight me all you want. Be defiant and act like I repulse you.”

“Act? It’s not—”

“Charlotte!” Like a sonic boom, his voice exploded down the hall. “Either you fucking listen and do exactly as I say and we both get out of this alive, or you continue to be fucking stubborn and you won’t see another sunrise.”

It was one of those intense moments when the sound of your racing heart drowned out the sound of your thoughts. When the rush of adrenaline stopped time, and you were frozen, unable to comprehend what was happening, what your options were, and what it was you were supposed to do.

“Mr. Mariano,” a man came rushing down the hall, “all three cars are ready. They’re waiting at the back exit. We need to leave now.”

A loud crack blasted next to us, followed by the piercing sound of glass breaking. I crouched to the side and felt Elijah’s arms cover my shoulders. “Josh, switch off the lights. Now!”

Fear sliced my insides, and I looked up at the cracked window. “What was that?”

“Keep your head down.” The lights went out, and Elijah kept his arm around me as we ran down the hall as fast as we could. Everything happened so quickly, it was just one giant blur. Wooden floors were replaced with the loud echo of tiles as we moved across it in almost total darkness. There was a glint of steel doors in front of us—an elevator, but Elijah pulled me to the right just as a door opened in the far corner.

“Come on, come on.” Elijah’s arm dropped, and he wrapped my hand in his as we started down two flights of stairs before we darted through another door. “Josh, keycard.”

Josh swiped a keycard, and the elevator doors opened, my heart pounding in my ears as I struggled to catch my breath. Once inside, the doors slammed closed, and Josh pushed the last button on the panel.

For the first time, Elijah let go of me, pacing while holding a goddamn gun in his hand.

“Can someone please tell me what the hell is going on?” I demanded between rapid breaths, my hands clinging to the support rail behind me.

Elijah completely ignored me. “Is the plane ready?”

“Yes, sir.”

Elijah nodded, still pacing. I wanted to press for an answer, raise my voice and make myself heard so I could find out what the hell was happening. But the ping of the elevator door signaled, and it opened, two men and a woman waiting on the other side.

---