Except the scream ended up muffled, vibrating against his palm as the other huge hand clamped itself over her mouth instead.
His face was suddenly inches from hers, the color of his mismatched eyes muted in the dim light of the room. “Don’t even think about it,” he growled menacingly. “And if you bite me, I’ll bite you back, understand?”
Olivia snapped her teeth together with a click, only just missing his skin, fighting to remain calm as adrenaline pumped hard through her system. Fear and shock and anger tangled themselves together inside her, along with a familiar, wild thrill of excitement.
He’s back, her stupid brain kept singing. He’s back. He’s back. He’s back!
She glared at him, trying to get her feelings under control and pay attention to the situation at hand, trying not to simply stare at him, study the lines of his face to see how he’d changed, find the young man she once knew in the hardened Navy SEAL standing in front of her now.
He’d sent her a couple of photos of himself while he’d been on base and on deployment. One of him in uniform when he’d graduated as a SEAL and one of him standing in front of a tank with a massive gun cradled in both arms. She hadn’t noticed the differences ten years in the Navy had made then, but boy did she see them now.
He’d always been tall—six five to her five five—not to mention broad, but somewhere along the way, he’d filled out too. And how. Massive shoulders, arms that could lift a small car, a heavily muscled chest that strained the black cotton of his top and the worn black leather of his jacket. But that wasn’t all. Back when she’d known him, his features had been unformed, giving him a bland kind of handsomeness. But they weren’t unformed now. The years had sharpened them, making his jaw hard and his nose a blade. Giving him high cheekbones and broad forehead. A man’s face. Rough and battered, with lines at the corners of his eyes and around his quite frankly beautiful mouth. And to top it all off he had a short, dark Mohawk that made her want to run her hand through it, see if his hair was as soft as she suspected it was.
God. He was even more gorgeous now than he’d been at eighteen.
Stop staring at him, you idiot. He’s got his hand over your mouth don’t forget. Anyway, weren’t you supposed to not be in love with him?
There was that. What had started out as a teenage crush had gradually, over the years they’d corresponded, deepened into something more. Something that wouldn’t ever be returned—she knew that too. He’d never felt about her the way she’d felt about him.
Not that it mattered right now. Not when he was standing there with his hand clamped over her mouth muttering something about not wanting to be discovered and how they had to escape out the window.
There was an intent look in his eyes, and it suddenly hit her that he was in fact serious. That he did indeed want her to go with him. Right now.
Olivia opened her mouth to tell him he could take his hand away and explain just what the hell was going on when his gaze snapped to the door of her bedroom. He gave a soft curse, then before she quite understood what was happening, he removed his hand from her mouth and slid one hugely muscled arm around her waist, picking her up and slinging her over his shoulder like she weighed nothing at all.
Too shocked to say anything, Olivia stared at the ground, trying to figure out why her world had upended itself and what exactly she was doing draped over one of Wolf’s massively powerful shoulders.
But she didn’t have time to puzzle it out because he clamped one arm around her legs, holding her still, and then he was moving over to the window.
Her heart rate skyrocketed as she heard him pull aside the curtain, and she twisted, trying to see what was going on. “What the hell are you doing?” she demanded breathlessly. “Put me down!”
He didn’t answer, but then the world tilted yet again and there was cold air swirling up underneath her nightgown. And when she looked down, she found herself staring into the darkness of the garden that lay at the base of her window. A garden that was a good three floors down.
Dizziness caught at her, a scream building in her throat.
Dear sweet baby Jesus. Wolf had actually climbed out of the window and now there was nothing between her and a three-story drop but empty air and him. She closed her hands reflexively onto the black leather of his jacket, the scream escaping as a hoarse cry. “Wolf!”
“Yeah, yeah, I know.” He didn’t even have the grace to sound concerned. He just sounded irritated. “Just don’t struggle and you’ll be fine.”
There was a sickening drop, his shoulder abruptly pushing hard into her stomach, and she gasped, shutting her eyes so she didn’t have to see the ground rushing up to kill her.
But there was no impact, only another couple of drops and then one hard bounce. And then it felt like he was walking, and fast. She opened her eyes again, and this time she saw the sidewalk reassuringly under his feet. It would have been a relief if she hadn’t been held over his shoulder like a sack of flour.
With an effort, she got her tight jaw to work. “Y-You can put me down now.”
“Nope.” He was jogging, and she had to swallow hard as the dizziness hit her again, the movement bouncing her against his back. “Nearly there, though.”
Olivia barely had time to wonder where that was before he’d come to a sudden stop and she heard the sound of a car lock beeping. Then she was pulled from his shoulder and bundled into the back of the car.
She sat there for a second, too stunned to move, her brain struggling to accept that she wasn’t in her cozy bed anymore and that the man she’d been friends with for over ten years had apparently kidnapped her. Then, as the driver’s door slammed shut, she pulled herself together and reached for the door handle.
Only to find herself sliding across the seat as Wolf pulled away from the curb in a screech of tires. She squeaked, scrabbling to hold onto one of seats in front of her as he made another hard turn, making her slide the other way.
His gaze met hers in the rearview mirror, a passing streetlight illuminating his different-color eyes, one green and one blue. “Put your fucking seat belt on.”
Her heart was beating far too fast and for some reason she wasn’t nearly as terrified as she should be. Or as furious with him.
Great. Just great. He’s kidnapping you and all you can think about is how exciting this is and how wonderful it is that he’s here.
Was she? Was she really that stupid?
That was up for debate, but not putting on her seat belt simply because he’d ordered her to, really would be stupid. Especially since he was driving like a maniac.
With shaking hands, Olivia grabbed the seat belt and clicked herself in, still holding onto the seat in front since even with the belt she kept sliding around. “Are you ever going to tell me what the hell you’re doing?” she demanded, hoping she sounded strong but knowing she probably didn’t.
“Yeah.” He made another screeching turn, zigzagging through what little traffic there was with all the casual expertise of a race car driver. “But not until I get you somewhere safe.”
A bubble of some sort of emotion caught in the back of her throat. Perhaps it was finally panic? If so, she was probably due.
“I was safe in my bedroom,” she pointed out, clutching hard onto the cheap vinyl.
“You were. But I wasn’t.” Wolf kept looking in the rearview mirror and not at her. Was he checking to see if they were being followed?
“Dad probably wouldn’t have liked you being in my bedroom at four in the morning, no. But it’s not like—”
“I promise I’ll explain it all when we get there,” he cut her off, scowling. “But could you just shut the fuck up for two seconds? I need to lose this tail.”
Nice. She didn’t remember him being this rude.
Olivia opened her mouth to tell him exactly what he could do with his damn tail, but then the car swerved and swerved again, then accelerated, and anything she’d been going to say went completely out of her head as death in a head-o
n collision loomed large in her future.
She bit down on yet another scream as a garbage truck pulled out directly in front of the car and she braced herself for impact. Except again, there wasn’t one. Wolf simply put his foot down, swerved around the truck, dodged a motorcycle, made a hard left down an alley then another right, cutting across a main street and narrowly missing yet another truck, before ducking into yet another alley.
By that stage, Olivia had had enough.
She closed her eyes and laid her forehead against the seat in front of her, praying to whomever would listen to get her out of this in one piece. Oh yes, and maybe save Wolf too, though she wouldn’t mind if he suffered an injury as payback for scaring her half to death.
She didn’t know how much time passed, but finally the sickening lurches of the car stopped and she realized that in fact the car had stopped too.
There was a moment’s silence broken only by the ticking of the engine. The driver’s side door opened then slammed shut, the sound echoing weirdly, and another door opened, cold air rushing into the car and making her shiver.
“Liv?” Wolf’s rough, gravelly voice, much harsher and deeper than she remembered. “We’re here.”
She swallowed and lifted her head, glancing out the windows of the car.
“Here” appeared to be an underground parking garage.
Wolf was standing at the open rear door of the car, staring at her, massive arms crossed over an equally massive chest. And despite having been kidnapped from her bedroom at four in the morning, not to mention barely surviving the car journey from hell, a small bubble of joy exploded in her chest.
Now that there was more light and she wasn’t being hauled around over his shoulder, she could see he wore what looked like a black thermal with a black leather jacket thrown over the top, worn jeans, and heavy black boots. The fabric of his thermal clung lovingly to his broad chest, highlighting every superb muscle, while the denim of his jeans clung to his lean hips, pulling tight over powerful thighs.
She couldn’t stop staring.
Ahem. He kidnapped you, don’t forget.
Olivia took an unsteady breath and attempted to pull herself together. She really should be yelling at him, not staring like a lovestruck teenager. It was shock, definitely shock.
His straight dark brows lowered, mismatched gaze narrowing. “You okay?”
Swallowing, she tried to unclench her hands from the seat she’d been clinging to, a shiver sweeping through her. God, it was cold. Really, really cold.
“F-Fine,” she said, deciding to ignore the tiny stutter. “If you could call being woken up at four in the morning, tossed over someone’s shoulder, carried down the front of a building, then driven by a maniac into an underground parking garage ‘fine.’”
“Yeah, I get it. I know this is a hell of a surprise, but I wasn’t given much of a choice. Come on, get out of the car. You look like you’re freezing your tits off.”
Very carefully, Olivia did not look down at her chest, even though she was, literally, freezing her tits off. She didn’t like not being in control, really, really didn’t like it, and being kidnapped—no matter that her kidnapper was a friend—was the very definition of not being in control.
It was very important that she get some of it back.
“I’m not going anywhere,” she said clearly. “At least not until you tell me what the hell is going on.”
Wolf made an impatient sound, his boots scraping on the concrete as he shifted on his feet. “I’ll tell you upstairs. It’s too cold down here and you’re only wearing…” He paused, his gaze dropping down to her nightgown. “What is that? A nun’s outfit?”
“Habit,” she corrected automatically. “A nun’s outfit is called a habit.”
“Outfit, habit, whatever. You’re cold. So come on, let’s go.”
“And I’m not wearing a nun’s habit. It’s my nightgown.”
“Liv. Seriously. I don’t give a shit what it’s called. You’re shivering and you need to get warm.”
She was shivering. But she also wasn’t getting out of this car until he told her what the hell was going on. Sure, she might get hypothermia, but she had to draw the line in the sand somewhere. He wasn’t going to have this all his own way. Had he been this pushy ten years ago? She couldn’t remember.
“Well, I don’t give a shit about shivering or being warm,” she said, consciously mimicking his flat tone. “I’m not leaving the car until you tell me why I’m here.”
He was silent a moment, glaring at her, letting her know in no uncertain terms that he was very unhappy with her little ultimatum. Then finally he said, “Okay, one last time. Are you going to get out of the car?”
Olivia folded her arms, more to stop herself from shivering than anything else. “Does it look like I’m going to get out of the car?”
“In that case you got three options. One, you stay here and spend the next few hours locked in the car. Two, you come upstairs with me willingly, where there’s a bed, a bath, where you can warm up and also get a couple of hours’ sleep. Three, I pick you up and throw you over my shoulder again and take you upstairs whether you fucking like it or not.”
Okay, now she was starting to feel angry about the situation—and about damn time. She wasn’t going to let him get away with shocking her like that, with absolutely no explanation whatsoever. Friends didn’t do that, they just didn’t.
She met his gaze and lifted her chin. “I believe I’ll stay here, thank you very much.”
CHAPTER TWO
Olivia was sitting in the back seat of the car, wearing nothing but that stupid white cotton nun thing, her arms folded and her determined chin set at an angle that told him she wasn’t going to be moved come hell or high water.
He remembered that about her. She could be stubborn when she wanted to be. Very, very stubborn. Not that she ever made a big song and dance about it. She simply dug her heels in and refused to budge, like a fucking mule.
She kind of has reason, dickhead.
Well, sure. But hadn’t he told her he’d explain? He just wanted to go where it was warm and comfortable, and more importantly, where they wouldn’t be disturbed.
Shit, the longer they were out here in the parking garage, the more likely it was that they would draw attention. And after they’d been tailed fairly determinedly from the de Santis mansion, Wolf wasn’t prepared to risk it.
The bolt-hole he’d brought Olivia to—a hotel—would only work if they hadn’t been spotted going in, and the more time ticked by, the closer it was getting to regular working hours, which meant hotel employees would be around and the chances of running into them would be higher.
He had to move her and he had to move her now, not dick around with things like explanations. Mainly because he hadn’t had a lot of time to think about what kind of explanation to give her.
Strategy had never been his thing—he left that to the smart guys—and tended to go off of instinct and what was happening in the here and now. He’d just hoped that a decent explanation would occur to him once he’d gotten Olivia safe, and that hadn’t happened yet.
Which looked like he was going to have to settle for option three.
Gonna draw attention even more if she screams.
True, but that couldn’t be helped. He’d simply have to encourage her not to scream.
Muttering a curse under his breath, he stepped up to the car, bent, and reached inside, grabbing her hips.
“Hey!” she protested, her hands flashing out and slapping hard against his chest. Her normally calm voice had gone all breathless, and the harsh light of the garage was washing all the color out of her skin, making her look even paler than normal. “I said I wanted to stay here.”
“Yeah, well, I changed my mind. Option one is not an option any more.” Firming his grip on her, he began to pull her out of the car.
“Wolf, stop it!” The hands on his chest pushed hard, and suddenly there was a knee pressing against a very important
part of his anatomy.
He could easily have avoided that knee. Could have pulled her from the car as easily as an oyster from its shell. Could have trapped her hands, tossed her over his shoulder and carried her to the service elevator he was planning on using with absolutely no problem at all.
But he didn’t. Because as he stared into her white face, it hit him like a bullet hitting Kevlar that this was Olivia. The girl he’d first met the day he’d been invited into the de Santis mansion, who’d become his friend, the first he’d ever had.
His father encouraged the friendship, telling him that getting as close to de Santis as possible included getting close to those he loved, including his daughter.
Wolf hadn’t expected to like Olivia though. He’d thought she’d be a spoiled brat, a society princess with a massive trust fund to go along with her massive sense of entitlement. But she hadn’t been that way at all.
She’d been wide-eyed and earnest. Interested in him, his thoughts and his opinions, in a way no one else ever had been. As if he had something worthwhile to say. She treated him as though he was smart, and since he’d always been told that wasn’t where his strengths lay, he’d liked that. Probably far more than was good for him.
He’d liked her.
He also hadn’t expected that she’d stay his friend throughout the years he’d been in the Navy, training hard to follow his brothers into the SEALs. Apparently not minding the sometimes months of silence when he was on deployment, providing him with some contact, with a reminder of real life, when war had made it feel like the world had gone to hell.
Now though, the world hadn’t gone to hell and it was just Olivia he was holding, and there were other things starting to impinge on his consciousness. Such as the warmth of her curvy little body soaking into his palms where he was gripping her hips, and the faint scent of strawberries. The very slight hint of pink through the sheer cotton of her ridiculous nightgown, right about where her nipples would be …
A shock went down his spine, and before he could second-guess what the fuck he was doing, he’d let her go and was backing away from her, his heart beating oddly fast.
The Undercover Billionaire Page 2
