Page 2 of The Bodyguard Undone

Despite that I get up, my apartment is a war-torn scene, and I try to charge the men dressed as paramedics as they take her away. I’m not leaving her. But another dose of tranquilizer is speared into my vein before I’m knocked unconscious.

I jerk at the chain now. Pulling hard enough that I want to rip the wall from its foundation.

She’s been taken from me.

Someone dared to take her from me.

Fuck.

And now I’m in a cell made of boulders. Naked. And I don’t know where she is.

I roar until my lungs threaten to split open.

I smash aside the thought that she might have died from the impact of the explosion. Or was killed by the men pretending to be paramedics.

It’s not true. She’s here, she’s somewhere in this hell hole and I need to find her.

I examine the single metal cuff on my wrist. It’s electronic. Immediately I glance around the cell. Except for the slab of stone which I’m bound against, the room is bare. In the corner where the ceiling meets the wall, I see a camera.

The tech on the cuff is of high quality. Impenetrable without the remote. The room is bare of anything else because my enemy knows me.

I glance up into the lens. My jaw twitches with silent rage. I count off my foes and no one, not a single one of them would dare to touch Sophia without being willing to die at my hand sooner rather than later.

“Ah, you’re finally awake.” A sound comes over an intercom system attached to the camera. But a voice changer manipulates the pitch, making it unrecognizable.

“How are you feeling? You took the brunt of my mini fireworks explosion.” A high-pitched laugh resonates against the stone walls.

I don’t say anything. I stare dead blank into the lens. My first instinct was to demand to see Sophia. But I’ve been in situations like this before and I grit my teeth to stop myself from roaring out that question and threatening to slice their head off with a blunt fucking knife.

“Hmm… The silent type.” But there’s disappointment in their voice. They had expected something else from me. A sign of weakness.

“No worries. We will have plenty to talk about at dinner tonight.”

A slat on the ceiling of stone opens up and drops a pair of black loose-fitting pants, a white t-shirt and a pair of men’s sandals to the floor.

“Please dress up. I think my guest would appreciate you not showing up naked.” An electronic buzz clicks into place, as if it’s being disconnected but then clicks back on.

“Oh and Langley. If you want to see Queen Sophia alive, you will be dressed and ready without any hassle. Await further instructions.”

He has Sophia. My heart thuds aggressively. I bite the inside of my cheek raw when all I want is to demand to see her immediately.

This person might know enough about me to put me in a room with nothing but stone, but they’ve underestimated me.

This is a person who has no idea what I would do to hold Sophia in my arms again.

This is a person I won’t kill on sight. That would be too easy, too merciful.

I am not merciful when it comes to my princess.

Chapter Two

Sophia

I know I’m dreaming. There’s a hazy light around Kayne, and I can’t see anything else beyond him. Only he exists.

“Come here,” he says to me.

A smile lights up my whole face. I shrug my coat off my shoulders. It falls softly to the floor.

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