Page 70 of Collide

“Don’t keep my girl for too long, Johnson,” Kai said darkly.

Mr. Johnson laughed, but there was nothing funny about the way Kaihad said it.

“I’ll be waiting at the bar for you,” Kai said before giving me a kiss onthe cheek, swiping a thumb across my smeared lipstick, and turning to walk away. I watched him go, desperately wanting to go with him and wishing for a time when we weren’t interrupted by phones or people.

“Shall we?” Mr. Johnson asked, holding his hand out to me andbegrudgingly, I accepted.

One dance turned into a second. For an old man, Mr. Johnson sureknew how to move and before I knew it, I’d been waltzed across the dancefloor and had completely lost my bearings, and sight of Kai.One thing I was sure of though was that my bladder was at burstingpoint.

“I’m so sorry but I need to excuse myself and visit the ladies,” I toldMr. Johnson when he was preparing himself for dance number three.He thanked me for the dances, and as I made my way across theroom heading for the direction I knew the bathroom was, I tried to find Kai, but there was no sign of him. I figured I wouldn’t be long, and surely he couldn’t get mad at me for nature calling.

Making my way out of the room, I gave one last glance over myshoulder to see if I could see him, but there were just too many people.

I made my way down the deserted corridor and found the bathroomquickly. Once I had taken care of business, much to the relief of my bladder, I washed my hands and reapplied a layer of the lipstick I had carried in my little clutch bag. Looking back at myself in the mirror, my face was flushed. I wasn’t sure if it was from the kiss that kept replaying in my mind, or from the unexpected energetic dances with Mr. Johnson.

Either way, I tried to cool my cheeks down with a splash of water.Taking one last look in the mirror and making sure I was presentable, I headed out of the bathroom.

Only, the second I stepped outside a hand grabbed my arm andyanked me backward, almost causing me to topple off my heels. I was shoved up against the wall and my mouth hit the floor when I recognized the man who had grabbed me.

“What the-! You! You’re Detective Anderson!” I gasped.

The mansmiled at me.

“Hello, Riley.”

A shudder of fear swept through my body and my eyes darted leftand right along the corridor hoping to get someone’s attention, but there wasn’t a soul in sight.

“I’m afraid you need to come with me, there is someone who isdesperate to meet you,” Anderson said before grabbing my arm again and yanking me away from the wall.

“Get your hands off me,” I squealed, yanking my arm out of his grasp,but I wasn’t quick enough to get away thanks to my stupid heels.

Anderson grabbed me again, harder this time, and once againshoved me against a wall, holding me in place with his forearm pressed hard against my throat, constricting my airways.

“I’ve got strict orders not to kill you, Riley, but if I have to hurt you, Iwill,” he warned.

He looked different from how I remembered, more tired and definitelymore menacing from the customer who sat in the bar eyeing up Blaze as though she was the only woman to grace the planet.

He was a short man, only a few inches taller than me and while hehad some muscles under his tux, he was nowhere near as big as Kai or any of the men who worked for him.

Anderson grabbed my arm again and held me in a bruising grip as hestarted to drag me down the corridor toward an emergency exit.I didn’t know what the hell to do, should I try to get out of his graspand run? Not that I’d get far in my shoes. What if he was armed? He said he wasn’t allowed to kill me, but what would he do to hurt me?

Panic bubbled up my throat as I let him drag me down the corridorand as we were about to reach it, another door opened and a young waiter stepped outside. Anderson released my arm and moved it to my waist, holding me as if I were his date, happy to be in his presence.

“Good evening,” Anderson beamed at the waiter, acting as if all wasright in the world. This was my chance but fear stopped me. I had a feeling that as much as Anderson was under strict instructions not to kill me, I suspected that didn’t extend to anyone who stepped in his way. And I was not going to be responsible for the death of an innocent young man.

I gave him a small smile and desperately fucking hoped he’d seen mewith Kai at some point in the evening and would go and tell him what was happening.

The waiter muttered his greeting before scurrying away back downthe corridor and as soon as he was out of sight, Anderson once again grabbed my arm and dragged me towards the fire exit.

We burst through the door and the chilly air hit me, goosebumpserupting all over my exposed skin. The exit led out to the back of City Hall where there were no vehicles other than an ominous dark van sitting in wait. Even the windows were blacked out, and fear churned in my belly.If I was forced into that vehicle, there was no way Kai would find me.

When Anderson started dragging me towards it, panic really kicked in and I went into fight or flight mode.

And backed into a corner, I would always come out fighting.

There was no way I was going with Detective Douchebag willingly.Pretending to stumble on my heel, I let myself fall to the floor withAnderson still gripping my arm.

“Get up you clumsy bitch!” he roared and leaned down to pick me up.

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