“I’m not lying to you.”
“That’s exactly what liars say.”
His lips twitch, the bastard. “Listen. I’m keeping you safe, and I’m going to find your sister. That’s exactly the situation we were in an hour ago, and you weren’t pissed at me then.”
“That was before I knew you were using my sister in some kind of dangerous mission.”
“She involved herself.”
“And she’s just going to hand over the diamonds? No one’s going to hurt her?”
“That’s up to her.”
Oh God, London. Where are you? “I don’t care. Let me go.”
“That’s not going to happen.”
I glance over Elijah’s shoulder to where Carson stands at attention. His gray eyes meet mine. “You,” I say, desperate now. “Please help me. He won’t let me leave.”
“I’m sorry, ma’am.”
Angry tears flood my eyes. “You knew. All along when we were talking about you and your nine siblings, you knew I was a prisoner here. Your mother would be ashamed of you.”
He does look sober. “Yes, ma’am, but I work for Liam North.”
Apparently working for someone means doing anything they ask, including kidnapping. How did I go from being an ordinary woman who wrote in a coffee shop to being torn between possessive, domineering men? I throw myself at Elijah, using both fists to beat his chest. It’s pointless and maybe even mean, but I don’t care. I’m trapped. Literally trapped, and it feels like I can’t stay in one place. I can’t even hold my body together, so I hit him. My fists bounce off his pecs, not even able to sustain a solid blow. “I hate you,” I say, my voice breaking. “I hate you.”
Those robot green eyes look back at me. “I never thought you would love me. I knew I would never deserve that, but I’m keeping you. I’m not letting you go.”
CHAPTER THIRTY
Elijah
That could have gone better.
When I enter the bedroom, I see that Holly has built a wall made out of pillows right down the middle of the bed. It reminds me of the old bolsters, a wooden board used to separate young people so their hands wouldn’t wander during sleep.
“Holland Ashley Frank.” I got her full name from the dossier Liam gave me.
She does not move.
“Holly. I know you’re not sleeping.”
“I hate you.”
“We need to talk. The more you tell me about your sister, the sooner we can find her.”
She sits up, making the wall of pillows spill over into my side of the bed. “Why would I tell you anything? I don’t want you to find her. I hope she buys up all of Paris with those diamonds.”
“Diamonds like that don’t get sold at pawn shops. She starts flashing those around, someone is going to kill her and keep the black velvet bag.”
She flinches. “And you’re going to help? I don’t believe you.”
“I’m not going to help her sell them. I’m going to help her get out of the goddamn crosshairs.”
“She’s only in the crosshairs because you put her there.”
I sigh, thinking back to that day when I’d seen London in the back alley. For a second I thought she was a prostitute. Then when I recognized her, anticipation beat in my chest. I hoped Holly would be with her. Of course she wasn’t. They weren’t teenagers on a family trip anymore.
Could I have scared London into keeping my secret without giving her anything? Maybe. Maybe not, but I wanted the link to Holly, God help me. That probably makes me fucked in the head.
I didn’t know Adam was going to turn on me.
I also didn’t expect to find Holly thrown into the cell with me.
“Holly. What is your plan here? Are you going to give me the silent treatment?”
She ignores this.
The pillows spill over like a fluffy white cloud. I pick up one of them and toss it onto the ground. Another. And another. Soon the bed is empty except for Holly’s slender body, the sheet, and the pillow under her head. She turns resolutely away from me, her knees bent.
The loose sheet bunches in my fist, and I tug it away, exposing her pretty legs and sexy ass in a silk negligee. She makes a sound of surprise that goes straight to my cock.
There’s absolutely nothing ugly in that wardrobe. Only the softest fabrics and the most expensive lines. She looks like a Victoria’s Secret model and acts like a goddamn librarian.
It’s a fantasy I never knew I had. Until her.
“I’m going to remove every single thing between us,” I say.
She clutches at the silky fabric. “How dare you.”
“Or you can tell me what I want to know.”
“I don’t know where she is.”
“You know her better than anyone else. You can help me find her.”
She glares at me. “Never. I’m never helping you.”
I give her red silk an insolent once-over. “Then I’m afraid I’ll have to take that.”
She stands, and I brace myself to catch the furious body like before. I want her to beat my chest with her fists, not because it hurts, but because it makes me feel alive. Instead she lifts the black lace at the hem of her nightgown. Then she pulls it off.
I stare at her naked body, sweating even though I’m the one who initiated this. She’s so goddamn beautiful. If she were only less pale, less pink, less perfect, then maybe I could think straight. She makes me want to do terrible things to her. She makes me want to wrap my hands around her neck and feel the moans in her throat. She makes me want to fuck her so hard she begs me to stop. She makes me want, want, want, and it’s painful holding back.
What’s the purpose of control?
What’s it ever gotten me but another pointless mission?
“There,” she says, her voice unsteady. “What will you do to me next? Throw me into a cell? Threaten me? Make me kiss you for a bottle of water?”
“I don’t have to threaten you to get a kiss, sweetheart.”
Her expression turns mutinous. Is it wrong that I’m hard as a fucking iron bar right now? I want her fighting me. I want her turned on even as she wrestles with her morality. I want her to come so hard she’s screaming my name even as she loses.
I grasp the back of her neck and pull her close. Her lips are pressed together in defiance. I press a kiss to them. It’s like a brick wall. Another kiss. It’s a very sad fact that I enjoy this even without her consent. I nibble her bottom lip, and she makes a growling sound.
Her palms push me away. “Why did you give her the diamonds?”
“So I could steal them.”
“Bullshit,” she says.
I stand up straighter. “Excuse me?”
She steps close enough that we’re toe to toe, her bare breasts brushing against my chest, her eyes a foot away from mine. They’re brown and luminous tonight, as if she’s fully in her power. That’s the irony of this little interrogation.
The more I question her, the more I need her.
“You heard me. And I know you’re basically a genius, so you understand, too. Bull. Shit. You gave her the diamonds because you wanted to sleep with her.”