I’m daydreaming, thinking about Sonny as I sit under a tree at a picnic table outside the local college I’m attending. Dez walked to the school coffee shop to grab some drinks while I’m supposed to be working on homework and studying.
“Is that smile for me?” a voice asks from behind me, a voice I only hear in my nightmares when they sneak in.
My body goes ridged, and my heart stops completely before hammering in my chest. Fear washes over me, and I suddenly feel ice cold. I don’t move, staying stone still. And I pray he’s only here to torment me with words before Dez gets back.
“It’s not often your brainless body guard leaves you alone.” He drops lower, his voice snaking into my ear right behind me, so close I can feel his breath on my neck. “But he’s gone now.” There’s a lilt in his voice making me panic more at the thought that he hurt Desmond.
“D-did you hurt him?” I stutter as I ask, unable to hide the obvious fear from my voice.
He walks to my side. I try not to look at him, keeping my eyes forward, but I can still make him out in my peripheral vision. Ricco DeBrava hasn’t changed much since last time I saw him.
“Not yet,” he says with a snide chuckle. “That will depend on what you decide to do next. You have three options: One… you stand calmly and walk with me to my car and get in without causing a scene and your watchdog walks away. Two… you put up a fight and I take both of you with me. Or three… you cause a scene; I take you both and send your boyfriend pieces of both of you in the mail.” I feel the hard press of metal to my side. “What’s it going to be, Ruby?”
I take in a deep, ragged breath and stand, walking toward the SUV he pointed to a minute ago. Tears fill my eyes, but I try to keep them from spilling out so he won’t see. I don’t want to give him any more of my tears than I already have in my life.
“Good girl,” Ricco says when we reach the SUV. He reaches around me and opens the back door. “In.”
Sliding inside, I pause to look around and jump when I see Dez knocked out with tape over his mouth and his hands and feet bound in the back of the vehicle. Trying the door, it won’t open and Ricco is already in the front seat, the driver speeding away from the curb and the school, my life drifting away behind us.
The farther we get from the school, the angrier I become. Letting out a yell, I leap up to the front. If I’m going to die, I might as well do it on my own terms. Grabbing the steering wheel, I swerve the SUV into oncoming traffic before the driver rights us and Ricco grabs me.
I’m kicking and screaming and throwing my arms any way I can, but he’s too strong. Within minutes, he’s got me pinned against him, holding me still, locked between his arms and legs.
“You know I like a fight, but I’m not planning on dying today,” he grits out as his hips move under me. I feel him getting hard, and it makes me want to puke. “You’re going to stop fighting me so I can bind your wrists and ankles—since you obviously can’t be trusted. Or I’m going to bash your pretty little face into my window until you go unconscious and then feel how much your pussy has changed since the last time I touched it.”
Swallowing down the bile rising in my throat, I hold my wrists and ankles together and let him secure them. He keeps me on his lap the rest of the drive to wherever we’re going. When we turn off of the highway, he puts a blindfold over my eyes.
When the car comes to a stop, he cuts the restraints off my ankles so I can walk, and he guides me inside wherever we are. I hear a loud thud and then a door creaking closed. “Don’t go anywhere,” Ricco laughs.
Once his footsteps have disappeared in the distance, I reach up to pull the blindfold off my eyes. They take a minute to adjust to the dark room I’m in, and when they do, I see what the thud was. Desmond.
Hurrying over to his limp body, which is still tied up, I pull the tape off that’s covering his mouth. Leaning down, I make sure he’s breathing and let out a sigh of relief that he is. He’s got blood soaking the front of his shirt, and his face is battered. He definitely put up a fight before something knocked him out cold.
“Dez,” I whisper-yell at him, nudging him with my body. I don’t know who is around or what they can hear. I try not to make too much commotion as I tear the tape around my wrists with my teeth. Once I’m free to move, I release Desmond’s ankles and wrists too. “Dez, wake up.” I repeat myself for what feels like a thousand times before he finally lets out a groan. “Oh, thank God,” I say to myself almost more than to him.
His eyes blink a few times, trying to focus, and his face pinches in confusion. “Ruby?”
“Yeah,” I say with a bit of relief. “Ricco took us. You were knocked out or drugged or something. You’ve been out for a while.”
“Fuuuuck,” he groans, sitting up and rubbing the side of his head. “You okay?” he asks as his eyes scan over me looking for injuries.
“I’m fine. Do you remember anything?” I ask.
He lets out a puff of air. “I left the coffee shop, and when I turned the corner, I remember getting clocked and dropping our drinks. It gets a little fuzzy after that. I think you’re right though; I think they drugged me. Great bodyguard I am,” he huffs, shaking his head.
“No. You don’t do that,” I tell him, crawling closer to him. “You have never let me down, and you aren’t now. We’re in this together, and we’re going to get out of here together too.”
“Sonny is gonna shit a fuckin’ brick.” He almost laughs, and I can’t help but smile a little too, because he’s right. He takes my hand and gives it a squeeze. “He’ll come for us, and we’ll get outta here. I’m not goin’ to let this sick fuck hurt you.”
My eyes fill with tears, and this time I let them spill over. “I’m scared, Dez,” I whisper.
He pulls me into his chest and hugs me tight. “I know. But I’m here. I got you, baby Knight,” he says, kissing the top of my head.
I look up at him with a sad smile. “You called me baby Knight instead of baby King.”
“It’s your name now, right?” He smiles.
I nod into his chest and let him hold me a little longer. Closing my eyes, I try to imagine that we aren’t locked up in some cell being kept prisoner by Ricco. Instead, I think about Sonny and his smile, the warmth it brings and how sexily handsome he is when he lets it go and laughs freely.
I must have fallen asleep because I jump awake when I hear the lock turn on the door before it creaks open.
“Aww…look at the happy little couple,” Ricco mocks as he steps inside.
“What the fuck do you want?” Dez asks, standing up to face Ricco.
Ricco’s eyes veer down to me, still sitting on the cold floor. “Her,” he says simply with an evil smile.
“Over my dead body,” Dez seethes.
“That can be arranged,” Ricco replies without missing a beat.
I stand, my back braced against the wall to help keep me up. “What do you want from me?” I ask, trying to steel myself in strength.
Ricco’s eyes twinkle like I just gave him the world. “So very many things,” he starts, walking closer to me. His tongue licks his bottom lip as his eyes travel over my body. “But first, let’s get you cleaned up, shall we?” He flicks his hand, and two men come in. I think they’re coming for me, but instead, they go to Dez, holding him in place. “Come, Ruby. I’m going to show you how I treat my queen.”