“Robert—”
“Don’t interrupt.” He paused for effect, allowing several moments to go by before speaking again. “Who called you every single day to find out if you were okay?”
“You did, but—”
“You don’t get to discard me in a matter of seconds because some young punk enters your life.”
I pressed my lips together as frustration pushed its way up my throat. “You make it sound like he’s a rebellious teenager. He’s thirty-three, and he’s not a punk.”
“Regardless, I won’t allow him to just waltz in and steal everything I’ve worked for. You. Are. Mine.”
I reared back, my stomach churning at his words, and the look in his eyes creeped me out. He saw me as his possession. Almost as if he’d peed on me to mark his territory and was now demanding that I submit to his authority. The very thought made me want to vomit. Made bile rise up my throat.
“I don’t belong to you, Robert, and Troy can’t steal me away, as you put it. I’m the one who decides who I want to be with, and I’m sorry, but it’s not you.” I hated putting it that bluntly, but he needed to hear it.
His eyes widened and pain flickered there for several long seconds.
“I’m not trying to hurt you,” I said, “but don’t treat me like I’m a piece of property you can own.”
Glancing away, a muscle pulsed in his jaw, and I could tell he was exerting a great deal of energy to remain calm. “You don’t know what you’re saying. You had feelings for me before he entered the picture.”
“Robert, no—”
“You were warming up to me.” He clenched his fists, and a shadow fell over his features. His countenance darkened, and it was as if he were someone else, a man I didn’t know. Even the clouds above seemed to thicken in response to his mood. “I’ve patiently waited eight years for you. Risked everything.”
I wasn’t sure how he’d risked it all, but I didn’t get a chance to ask because my thoughts caught on the other thing. Eight years. How could he say he’d waited that long? I’d met him eight years ago, but it had only been four years since Daniel passed away. Was he actually saying he had designs on me while I was with Daniel? Was he admitting it?
“Daniel was alive eight years ago…” A chill ran down my spine, and my eyes widened. “You…” The words died in my throat. I couldn’t say what I was thinking, but it had to be written all over my face.
He relaxed his fists and softened his expression. “Look, let’s not talk about this here. Come with me and we’ll have lunch. I’ll drive and then return you to your car afterward.”
There was no way I was going anywhere with him, especially after what he’d just said. “I can’t. My parents are expecting me.” I needed to act as normal as possible so I could get out of this in one piece. I stepped forward and forced a smile. “You’ve always been a good friend, and I’m grateful for everything you’ve done for me.” I swallowed hard, the cognitive dissonance from that statement making me almost ill. I’d voiced this sentiment many times before, but it didn’t ring true anymore. “Let’s have lunch another day. My parents will worry if I don’t hurry back.”
He frowned. “Why are you staying with them?”
“Mom feels like she doesn’t get to see enough of me. You know how that goes.” It was the truth, at least. I laughed uneasily.
“Yes, unfortunately, I do, but that’s not an answer I can accept today.” He said it in a way that was so final. As if he’d come to the conclusion that he would never have me, and I was about to be punished.
A terrifying shiver crept up my spine and grabbed me at the back of my neck. It wrapped its ugly claws around my throat and tightened until I could barely breathe. I had to get out of here. Right now. I clicked my key fob to unlock my car door. “Gotta go…”
I never got a chance to finish that statement because the door to the van parked next to my car slid open, and a man jumped out. A jagged cordlike scar traced the upper side of his jaw, and I gasped, knowing immediately who it was.
The man who attacked me after the concert.
He was connected to Robert, which meant…
Robert had been behind the attack.
I started to scream, but it was like one of those nightmares where nothing comes out of your mouth except a hoarse moan that sounded muffled at best. I was completely paralyzed with fear.
“Cooperate and I won’t have to hurt you,” the man said.
My chest tightened at his words, but it wasn’t what he said that sent horror through me as much as how he’d said it. I recognized his voice. It had to be him—the same guy who’d called and told me I didn’t have a prayer.
“Never.” I attempted to run, but he seized me around my waist and started tugging me towards the van. Adrenaline finally kicked in and I struggled against him as hard as I could. I pushed against his chest and attempted to knee him in the groin, but he moved just in time.
I tried to recall what Troy had taught me in his self-defense lessons, but he was right. A moment of crisis was much different from practicing in a gym. I was so petrified, I couldn’t remember one thing he’d shown me.
When I continued to struggle, the man slapped me hard on the face. It stung and my vision blurred momentarily. Wet liquid dribbled down my skin from my nose, and as I wiped it away, the blood smeared across my fingers. I cried out more from the shock of it than from the pain. It hurt, but the terror ripping through me was far worse.
Robert stepped in, putting one hand on my back and the other on my arm. “Stop fighting us. I’ll take care of you. I promise.”
Both men pushed me into the van, and the man with the scar got in behind me.
“Magnus, tie her wrists together,” Robert said. “Make sure she can’t get loose.”
The man pulled a coil of rope from the side of the van and began to unwind it, and I shrunk away from him. As if coming out of a fog, I remembered the emergency button on the watch Troy gave me. If I didn’t push it now, I might not be able to later. As discretely as I could, I turned my back to him and pressed the button that would alert the police. Troy would be alerted as well, and as long as I had the watch, they’d have the ability to track me. It occurred to me that he would notice the watch when he tied my wrists, so I unbuckled it and slid it into my pocket. Robert was tinkering with something in the driver’s seat and wasn’t paying attention to what I was doing.
“Don’t turn your back on me,” Magnus said suspiciously.
“I don’t want to be tied up.” It seemed reasonable and it was true, but I said it more to distract him from what I’d just done.
Robert turned the key in the ignition, and the engine sparked to life. “I have to use precautions until I can trust you. Don’t want you doing anything stupid to jeopardize us.”
“I won’t. I promise.” There was so much pleading in my voice I had to tone it down. “You can trust me.”
Robert let out a deep sigh. “If only that were the case.” He glanced at Magnus over his shoulder and grimaced. “Hurry up. Tie her hands and feet.”
As the van swerved out of the parking space, Magnus nearly fell into my lap. He righted himself, and after giving me a tissue to clean up the blood on my fingers and face, he began the process of tying my wrists together. When he finished, he did the same with my ankles.
“Where are you taking me?” I demanded. “This is kidnapping. You’re aware of that, aren’t you?”
Robert chuckled low in his throat. “Not kidnapping. Saving. I’m saving you from yourself. From the bad choices you were about to make.”
Anger unlike anything I’d ever known before rushed up through my stomach to my chest, and I wanted to punch him right in the nose, to deliver a bloody mess like he’d allowed Magnus to deliver to me.
Lord, help me to get control of myself so I can deal with this man. And please let the police catch us.
I had to keep a sharp mind and not let emotion clutter my thinking. I’d pushed the button. They would find me. It wou
ld be okay. I couldn’t allow myself to panic.
We headed onto the freeway and took the 405 heading north. Magnus sat in the seat next to me while Robert weaved in and out of the lanes, trying to take the fastest route.
“How did you know where I was, Robert?” It was the question I’d asked when he’d first approached me in the parking lot, but he’d ignored it and posed a question of his own.
“I downloaded a spy app to your cell phone so I could track you. It didn’t show up on your phone settings, which is why you didn’t notice it.
“Why? I’d already given you permission through the other app.”
“Because I feared there’d come a day when you’d disable the tracking app, and I wanted a backup. Appears I was right.”
“You don’t see a problem with what you’re doing? I mean…morally. This is wrong.”
“The end justifies the means. Eventually, you’ll agree with me.”
That would never happen, but arguing with him would only make things worse. I needed him to view me as cooperative so he’d untie my wrists and ankles. Then I’d have a chance at getting away.
I hoped the police would find me before it came to that, but just as he had a backup plan, I had to have one as well. In the meantime, something weighed heavily on my mind. A question I didn’t want to ask but had to.
As my lips formed the words, my heart picked up its pace. A sick feeling twisted in my stomach and even though I didn’t want to know the answer—didn’t want to hear the horrible details—I couldn’t stop myself from asking the question.
“Robert… Did you kill Daniel?”
“No.” He hesitated for a split second. “He was my friend. I wouldn’t have had the stomach to do something like that.”
His statement brought no relief, mainly because I didn’t believe a word he said anymore. “Then Magnus did it,” I said, glancing at the man with the scar, and he stared back at me with a dead-behind-the-eyes expression. There was a hardened cruelty there as if what he were doing now was just one of many crimes he’d already committed.
Robert was silent for some time, neither confirming nor denying the allegation, but I knew it was true. I couldn’t deny it anymore.
I needed to push him into sharing more so I could get a confession. “Please, I need to know. If you want me to love you, the only way that will happen is if I can trust you to tell me the truth.” I would never love him, but I had to start making him believe it was possible.
He let out a throaty laugh. “If you haven’t loved me after eight years of patient loyalty, why should I believe it will suddenly occur now?”
My eyes widened. If he didn’t think I could love him, what was he planning on doing with me? The thought sent a shiver down my spine and my body began to tremble.
At the very least, I had to make him hope that it was possible.
Chapter 19
Kayla
I opened my mouth to tell him I had feelings for him but then promptly closed it, conviction sweeping through me. Lying was wrong. I wanted the Lord to save me from this situation, but how could He bless lying lips?
A sense of despondency swept through me, and I felt boxed in. What was I supposed to say to this man? Lord, help me to know what to do. Give me wisdom and the appropriate words.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of maroon out the window on my right, just beyond where Magnus sat, and my heart nearly leapt out of my chest. Please let that be Troy. When the car sped up and passed us, my heart sank. It wasn’t Troy. The disappointment was severe, but I hadn’t given up hope yet.
I leaned forward, my bound hands in my lap. I needed to keep him talking. “Why are you doing this, Robert? I thought you cared about me.”
“All I ever wanted was for you to love me,” he said. “I need that more than anything.”
“Kidnapping me isn’t the answer.”
“You were almost there with your feelings, but he messed it up.” Disgust settled in my stomach because I’d never had those kinds of feelings for Robert and never would.
“Troy has nothing to do with you and me. What you’re doing… It’s—”
“Just…stop,” he said. “This is for the best.” He let out a breath and stared ahead. “I was taken with you the first moment I saw you. Won’t ever forget it. You wore a red dress, and your hair fell loosely over your shoulders in waves. So beautiful. So sexy. I’ve never wanted to get rid of a man so badly.”
I winced at the “sexy” comment, not wanting him to think of me that way, and a nauseous feeling turned my stomach, making me want to retch. My heart ached to think of Daniel and all that I had lost. He didn’t deserve what this man had done. He’d had a life and a future, and all of that had ended so abruptly. I didn’t have doubts anymore. Robert was behind everything. He hadn’t admitted the truth yet, but I sensed he would if pushed.
The last happy moment I’d had with Daniel flashed through my memory. We were out to dinner and he’d held my hand. I love you, Kayla. God knew what He was doing when He brought you into my life.
It felt as if someone twisted my heart like a rag, slowly pulling the life out of me. Tears sprung to my eyes and slid down my cheeks. My wrists were bound, so I couldn’t wipe my tears and was forced to let them dry on their own. It seemed pathetic and sad, but I was mostly just furious that Robert had stolen so much from me. Not only had he taken my husband’s life, he’d stepped over the line and made himself a trusted friend. I wanted to gag every time I remembered how he’d comforted me.
We drove through a tunnel and then merged onto the 5 freeway. Robert glanced at me over his shoulder. “Don’t cry for him. He was your past, Kayla. I am your future.”
I closed my eyes to stop myself from crumbling. Never. Troy is my future. Not you. After a few painful moments, I opened my eyes, determined not to let him get to me. “How can I be your future? You already said I’ll never love you.”
“I didn’t say it wouldn’t ever happen. It just won’t happen today.”
“Where are you taking me?” My voice sounded remarkably calm considering the anxiety residing in my chest.
Where were the police?
What if the button hadn’t worked?
“I have a home in the desert. An isolated spot. That’s all you need to know.” He paused. “Didn’t want to have to resort to this, but you pushed me to it. I can’t let you pursue a future with Troy.”
“Why did you hire a bodyguard for me if you were behind everything?”
“I wanted you to trust me, to see me as the hero.” That was probably as much of a confession as I would get.
“That backfired, didn’t it?” I laughed bitterly, wishing I’d seen through his fiendish plan sooner. All it had done was make me see Troy as the hero.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of maroon out the window to my left and a spark of hope fluttered in my chest. I turned my head slowly so Robert wouldn’t notice, and my gaze fell on a Toyota SUV that looked like the one Troy drove. The vehicle was far enough back and to the side that I couldn’t see the driver.
Robert cleared his throat nervously. “Yes, I guess you could say it backfired.”
Lights flashed to my right, catching my eye, and I turned in that direction. A siren blared, and my heart raced within me. Could it be?
“Pull over to the side of the road,” a police officer said through a loud speaker.
Magnus stiffened and glanced out the window. “Cops! There are at least three cars.”
Sweet relief washed through me, and I let out the breath I’d been holding. Thank you, Lord. You brought help.
Robert cursed and swerved to the left, nearly hitting the car next to us. “How did they know where we are? They must be tracking her phone.”
“She dropped her purse during the struggle in the parking lot,” Magnus said. “There is no phone.”
“Check her pockets.”
He shoved his hands into both pockets of my black dress pants and pulled out the watch, his eye
s bulging. “Look at this… It’s a tracking device.”
Robert glanced over his shoulder to see what he held. “Throw it out the window.”
“It’s a little late for that,” he said, dryly.
“Just do it!” Robert wiped his forehead, and I tried not to smile. He was starting to sweat, which meant he knew he was in trouble.
Magnus pushed the button to lower the window on his right, and he threw out the watch. At least the police had already found us, and I doubted Robert would be able to lose them.
The flash of color caught my attention on my left again, and the maroon SUV increased its speed until we were side-by-side. I looked out the window and my gaze connected with Troy. He mouthed I love you, and it was just what I needed to to hang in there. I started to mouth the same thing but Robert sped up and Troy fell behind.
“I will never let him have you,” Robert mumbled. “You belong to me.”
He was truly a psychopath. How had I not seen it before? I sensed Magnus’s gaze and glanced over to find him staring at me.
“What?” I asked.
“He’s going to do something stupid,” he said quietly under his breath. “Get us both killed.”
“What do you mean?” I whispered.
He turned his gaze back to the front of the vehicle and didn’t answer. My brows creased, and I felt helpless to do anything with my wrists and ankles bound. A chill washed through me at the thought that Magnus had most likely murdered Daniel in cold blood, and he’d attacked me as well. I hated sitting next to him. Hated breathing the same air. Even so, he seemed to know something about Robert that I didn’t. Robert had already put our lives in danger by driving like a maniac. What more would he do?
Lord, please get me through this. I don’t want to die. I still had fight left in me. Still wanted to live, to enjoy the new love I had with Troy. I wanted to experience the success of fulfilling my dreams. To host Country Star and get my big break. My parents’ faces came to mind and several tears slipped out. If I didn’t make it, they would be devastated.
Protected By The Bad Boy (Bad Boy Bodyguards Book 1) Page 16
