Page 2 of The Savage

Meet me outside in the lane.

Don’t let anyone see you leave.

You must move now; you don’t have long.

My first thought is that my father’s done something, and we need to run as a family. There is obviously no time for a family conference about this and I dread what could be tomorrow’s headline.

My father is Lord Richmond and not a stranger to scandal and this must be another one of his mistakes hitting the headlines.

I look around and note that every eye in the room is glued to the unfolding drama outside, so without hesitating, I inch slowly toward the door into the corridor outside. My heart is racing, and I feel a rush of fear as I take the fire escape and make my way outside.

This must be serious; my mother wouldn’t ask me to run if those men weren’t here for me.

Just thinking of what that could mean spurs me on and as I push through the fire escape, I slam it loudly behind me. Luckily, the rest of the school is otherwise entertained, and I sprint the short distance to the tree-line, hoping like hell nobody can see me and raise the alarm.

The wall that surrounds Rose Hall Academy is designed to keep us in and intruders out, but we discovered a hole in it a while ago leading to the lane outside. Ivy has grown over the space that was the result of a car hitting it late one night a few years ago. The school never had it repaired, and I’ve lost count of the number of girls who have snuck out and met the local lads for a night of sin. Not me though. Not good little Charlotte Richmond, who plays by the rules. Maybe that’s why I feel so afraid now. This isn’t like me. Thisisn’tme and as I squeeze through the thick ivy, I wish it was anyone else but me right now.

I scrape my elbow on a bramble and a nettle stings me at the same time and I curse my father for his recklessness. Why can’t he just be happy with what he’s got instead of the numerous affairs he appears to thrive on that always make it into the tabloids?

Feeling quite cross about the whole situation, I look down the lane for my mother’s car and note a black Range Rover parked halfway down.

Quickly, I run toward it and hope she has a good explanation for this and as soon I reach it, the door flies open and before I know what’s happening, I am pushed inside.

By the time I open my mouth to scream it’s too late because the door closes, and I hear the locks engage and then a bag is placed over my head and tied securely at the neck before my wrists are bound and I am strapped into the seat as the car speeds away.

I have never been so frightened in my whole life and the fear only intensifies when a rough voice whispers in my ear, “You’re mine now.”

CHAPTER2

IVAN

As plans go, this one was executed perfectly, and I’m quite smug as we speed away from Rose Hall Academy with the target neatly secured by my side.

In fact, the whole plan was a stroke of genius, even if I do say so myself.

It wasn’t difficult to steal Lady Richmond’s phone while she lunched at the Savoy. The distraction at the school was easy to arrange and I laugh to myself when I think of Yuri playing the part of a father searching for a school for his daughter. It wasn’t difficult to persuade him either because he loves nothing more than making an entrance and when I told him why, he couldn’t sign up quickly enough.

Lord Richmond has become a problem for the Bratva that is a difficult one to solve. It always is when it involves a high-profile customer who owes us, so this was the perfect excuse to kidnap his daughter and demand he pay up to get her back.

It’s a shame he never will because there’s a much higher bidder for the woman beside me, which will set Winter free and bring her home to us where she has always belonged.

As I sit back in my seat, I wonder what’s running through this girl’s mind right now. She must be fucking terrified, and I feel bad for her. Then again, she has lived a life of privilege to this point and so any guilt I have is quickly pushed aside because it will do her good to see how hard life can be for most of the population. Me included. My friends included and a little discomfort for once in her life is just the consequences of a very bad action.

I’m surprised that she doesn’t scream, struggle even, but it’s as if she’s frozen in place. Maybe she’s fainted, stopped breathing perhaps, but as I run my eye across her chest, I see it heaving as she struggles to remain in control.

I’m not happy about this, but there are always casualties in every war, and she is just one of them. A bargaining chip in a deadly game and unfortunately for her, the man she is heading toward is a bastard at it.

The car screeches into the private airfield where our jet is standing by and as we stop in front of the steps, I waste no time in flinging the door open and heading around to her side.

As I pull her roughly out, I toss her over my shoulder and growl, “Move one inch and I’ll knock you out.”

Once again, she stiffens and I’m a little disappointed about that. She’s making it too easy. Where is the fight I love? This is almost boring, and I consider slapping her ass just to get a reaction, but instead I haul her up the steps over my shoulder and content myself with dropping her into her seat and securing her bound wrist to it with handcuffs.

The door closes behind us and the engines start and just five minutes after we arrived at High Baron airfield, we are speeding down the runway with a very precious cargo onboard.

Once the plane is in the air, I relax and, being slightly curious, I untie the fastening around her neck and pull the bag off in one swift move.

I’m not sure who is more shocked and, as I stare into the most bewitching eyes I have ever seen in my life, I lose the power of speech.

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