Under Pressure

by Lori Foster

  Triumph blazed in his dark eyes. “Of course.” His attention dipped to her chest, then back to her face. “But my guards will need to accompany me.”

  “I understand.” She looked around as if searching for the right place. “I believe there’s an empty boardroom. If you give me five minutes—”

  “Five minutes,” he repeated, then his voice hardened. “And, Catalina? If you think to run from me, you can consider your brothers dead.”

  That wasn’t a threat, but a guarantee, and Cat shivered with apprehension. “I won’t run, Senator, not this time.” She would never run again.

  “Finally,” he purred, “you’re being reasonable.”

  Blind with determination, Cat fled his proximity, heading for the designated boardroom. She ensured no one followed. And in fact, she almost felt invisible.

  Only Leese remained acutely aware of her. With every step she took, she felt his attentiveness.

  She slipped out of the conference room and across the hall, then ducked inside the dim, empty boardroom. Pressing her back against the wall, her heart in her throat, Cat prayed her brothers would be okay. Bowen and Holt were good men. They didn’t deserve to be pulled into her nightmare.

  Remembering the plan, she quickly removed her earrings and pulled the pins from her hair, then shook it loose. At a table to her left, draped over one of the chairs, she found the long coat that would completely conceal her dress, along with black ballet flats to replace her heels. Forcing herself to go through each preplanned step, she set the heels aside and—

  “Cat.”

  She jumped, but immediately recognized Leese’s calm voice and launched herself against him, holding tight.

  “It’s okay now,” he said, as he coasted his hands down her back. “Sahara is changing. She’ll join us very shortly.”

  They’d used different rooms to change, to help lessen the chance of them being caught together.

  Moments later, Sahara slipped through the back door that led to the restrooms. “I’m sorry, but I need one of you to zip me up.”

  Sahara had ducked away right before Cat had, going into the private, locked restroom where her blue dress was hidden. There, she’d switched out her shoes and earrings too.

  Beneath the doors, lights from the conference room filtered in. As Leese turned to assist Sahara, he said to Cat, “Go out the back door now and into the private bathroom. Platt could be here any second and if he sees you together, we’re blown.”

  “Please,” Cat whispered. “Please, both of you, be careful.”

  Sahara said, “I’ll be as careful as I need to be to nail that bastard. Before the night is over, he’ll be mine.”

  Knowing she had to hurry, Cat said, “Thank you, Sahara.”

  Poised, strong in her own right, Sahara smiled with evil delight. “This, Catalina, is absolutely my pleasure.”

  Cat believed her. Sahara was not only a beautiful woman, she was intelligent, cunning, ambitious and a very imposing adversary. Strong enough to best Platt? Cat just didn’t know, but Sahara certainly thought so.

  Bracing herself, Cat whispered, “Leese?”

  Leaning down, he struggled with the tiny zipper, and finally pulled it up. “What is it?”

  “I love you.” She needed him to know...just in case this all went sideways.

  Battle-ready, prepared for the worst, Leese slowly straightened and stared toward her.

  Cat didn’t want or need for him to say the words back. At the moment, under the circumstances, she wouldn’t believe him if he did. “I’m just saying, you better not get shot again.”

  His face dark with turbulent emotions, Leese nodded. “I promise not to get shot.”

  “Thank you.” She hurried to the door.

  “Cat?”

  “We’ll talk later.” When our lives aren’t on the line. “I’ll be waiting for you.” She peeked out the door, saw no one around and hurried down the short hall to the private room. Once inside, she locked the door and then...all she could do was wait.

  Each minute felt like an hour. She strained her ears, trying to hear, but couldn’t distinguish the sounds of the party from possible conflict.

  Was the senator, at this very moment, attacking Sahara? What if he’d sent one of his guards to shoot her without warning? Sahara absolutely could not take a bullet for her. Cat knew she couldn’t live with that.

  She waffled, reaching for the doorknob then backing away again.

  No, that wouldn’t happen. Not at the crowded party. Not with both Leese and Justice looking after her.

  Regardless of what common sense told her, Cat continued to torture herself with what-ifs.

  When she heard footsteps, she went limp with relief. Leese was okay. And it hadn’t really taken long at all. Probably only five minutes or so.

  She smiled as the key sounded in the lock and the doorknob turned, a million questions at the ready.

  The door opened—and there stood Tesh.

  It took a split second for reality to crash into her expectations. No! She opened her mouth to scream and Tesh slapped her hard, propelling her into a wall. Dazed, she struggled to regain her footing, and his hand clamped over her mouth and nose.

  Crushing her close, her back against his chest, he crooned, “Now, now, my kitten. None of that.”

  Cat kicked and struggled. Her shoes flew off her feet, her elbow hit the wall...but no one heard.

  No one came.

  Tesh held her so tightly she thought her jaw might break. Blackness fogged the edges of her vision, and her limbs began to go weak. Fighting him did her no good. He dragged her out the door and down to another room, farther and farther away.

  He had her and he wasn’t letting go. Cat knew she would die...and with her last cognizant thought, she prayed that at least Sahara, Justice and Leese would survive.

  * * *

  LEESE GROUND HIS teeth together.

  The senator didn’t indict himself. In fact, the cowardly bastard spoke from a distance, one guard next to him inside the room, the other guard standing just outside the closed door.

  “You’ve taken us all on quite the chase, but it’s time for you to quit these absurd games, stop being such a difficulty to so many and make your amends by going home.”

  Keeping her back to him, her shoulders rounded in a show of defeat, Sahara nodded.

  “I’m glad you’re finally coming to your senses.” His voice dropped. “You realize there’s nowhere you could have gone. That’s why you’re here now?”

  Again Sahara nodded.

  “And a show of deference? Of meekness?” The senator narrowed his eyes. “I suppose better late than never.”

  When the guard smirked, Leese wanted to destroy him.

  These were the people terrorizing Cat, chasing her, threatening her. He could gladly kill them with his bare hands. Having to hide, hearing Platt berate her, it took a herculean amount of effort to stick to the plan and wait.

  “You and I will come to an agreement,” Platt promised without an ounce of sincerity. “But only if you go home tonight. Do you understand me?”

  Hidden, Leese watched as Sahara ducked her head as if cowed. She didn’t face the senator, didn’t speak.

  “Answer me, damn you!”

  That tone pushed Sahara a little too far. Her shoulders slowly drew back and a new crispness entered her tone. “Will you promise not to hurt me?”

  The senator was apparently too lost in his own power trip to realize it wasn’t Cat. “I won’t promise you anything.” Breathing harder, he demanded, “Be at Webb’s, tomorrow, one o’clock. That’s your last chance. Now do you understand me?”

  Sahara sighed with frustration. “Not really, no. Care to spell it out?”

  After a lengthy pause filled with electric r
age, Platt muttered, “You’ve wasted enough of my time.” The door opened, and he said to the guard in the room, “Take care of her.”

  Leese stiffened. Son of a bitch. That could mean anything from actually “help her” to “kill her.” He’d bet on the latter.

  More than ready, Leese moved out of the shadows, inching up behind the man.

  The guard was so bent on following orders, he never realized, even after getting face-to-face with her, that Sahara wasn’t Catalina.

  The idiot reached for her, and Leese locked an arm around his neck in a rear naked choke, squeezing to cut off the blood flow from the guard’s heart to his brain.

  It was an effective way for Leese to immobilize the bastard. It was a very different matter than the way Enoch had been choked, and worked as a temporary means for Leese to quietly get the upper hand.

  While Leese tightened his hold, Sahara took advantage and nutted the guard, hard. A squeaky sound of pain escaped him before he passed out, going limp in Leese’s hold.

  “Well,” Leese muttered, “that ought to teach him.”

  Seething, Sahara said, “We need the senator to come back. Maybe if you hold the guard—”

  “Fine by me,” Leese said, lowering the big man to the floor and relieving him of his weapons. “But I want Catalina out of here.”

  “Justice can get her.” She withdrew the phone from her purse, gave Justice instructions and then knelt by Leese. “He’ll take her to one of the upstairs offices and stay with her behind a locked door.”

  “No sign of Tesh?” Leese asked as he fastened the guard’s hands and feet with the nylon restraints he’d brought along in his suit pocket.

  “He said not.”

  Justice opened the door, looking a little confused. “You get her already?”

  Sahara asked, “Who?”

  A drumming of dread brought Leese upright.

  “Cat,” Justice said, looking around and then drawing a breath of alarm. “Fuck. She’s not in the room.”

  Leese strode across the floor. “She has to be. You checked the bathroom—”

  “Yeah.” Justice followed on Leese’s heels. “The door was unlocked and open, and she’s not there.”

  Running now, Leese surged up to the open bathroom door, and like a knife to the heart, he saw Cat’s discarded shoes, not set neatly on the floor, but flung, as if she’d been kicking.

  “Listen to me,” Sahara said from behind him. “It’s going to be okay.”

  But even Sahara didn’t sound convinced.

  “We’ll find her, I promise. But first—”

  “How?” Leese demanded. For him, there was no other first. He looked toward the boardroom where he’d cuffed the guard, and his eyes narrowed. If necessary, he’d beat the bastard to death to get the answers he needed. He started forward.

  Sahara got in his way. “We have to talk to the guard. Talk, Leese. If it was Tesh—”

  “You know it was.” Leese easily lifted her and set her aside.

  Justice, ever protective of his boss, said, “Umm,” his loyalties divided.

  Leese got two steps closer to the boardroom before Sahara was in front of him again, and this time she had that pissed-off look he recognized as gritty determination.

  She grabbed him by the lapels and hissed, “You will listen to me if you want to get Catalina back.”

  Hell, yes, he wanted her back. “Then tell me. Now.”

  “I put a chip in her dress,” she said quickly, “just in case something like this happened. It’s why I didn’t ask her to change, to just pull on the coat. We can track her using GPS.”

  Leese drew a breath. He could still reach her. “We have to hurry.”

  “I agree. But for Catalina’s sake, we need to know what we’re up against.” She turned to Justice. “Grab the guard. Drag him somewhere. Anywhere. I don’t care. Find out from him how Tesh got in, who he has with him and where he might be going. Then let me know. I’m going with Leese.”

  “That’s nuts,” Justice said. “You need to stay here, run your party, deal with—”

  “I’m going.” She paused for one second to say, “I already figured I’d be away dealing with Platt, so I have an assistant handling hostess duties. You just concentrate on that guard.”

  “What about Platt?”

  “Ignore him for now.” Her voice hardened. “We’ll deal with him later.”

  Leese didn’t care enough to debate it. He was already on his way, leaving Sahara rushing to catch up.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  TESH KEPT HIS grip bruisingly tight as he hustled Cat along, out a side door, down an alley toward the street.

  She fought him the best she could but it wasn’t enough. In comparison to Tesh’s strength, she was downright puny.

  So she did what Leese had taught her and went limp.

  Cursing, Tesh quickly readjusted his hold, wrapping one arm around her throat, the other around her waist. With a huff, he warned, “Keep dragging your feet and I’ll kill him. And her. Fuck, I’ll kill them all.”

  No! Somehow, Cat would stop him.

  But she knew she wouldn’t manage it with fear, so she gripped his forearm and managed to loosen his hold enough to gasp, “Not if he kills you first.”

  Growling, Tesh turned and slammed her into the wall, knocking the wind out of her.

  His hand landed at her throat, pressing against her windpipe. His nostrils flared and his gaze smoldered.

  Between his choking hold and the way he’d slammed her, she couldn’t draw a single breath. Her eyes watered and her lungs burned and all she could do was wheeze.

  He searched her face, no doubt looking for the fear he craved. A slow smile lifted his dark expression. “I was on to Sahara and your bodyguard.”

  She shook her head, denying him.

  “Yes.” He moved up closer to her, angling his body against hers. “I have men watching them both. They’ll shoot to kill if I give them the word.” To convince her, he asked, “How do you think I knew to find you in that bathroom? The senator’s guards are my men. Loyal to me. I was notified the second Platt went into that boardroom with you. Only other men were watching all of you too, and when Ms. Silver disappeared, and your bodyguard, I told them to check every door.” Satisfaction dripped from his tone. “Only that bathroom was locked, accessible enough. It made sense that I’d find you there.”

  No, it wasn’t possible...

  His thumb stroked over her fluttering pulse. “So wild,” he remarked, fascinated with the telltale sign of her terror. “You know the truth now, don’t you? There is no escape from me. Not ever.”

  Fear pumped through her veins, destroying her attempts to conspire a strategy. Still barely breathing, she gave up and rasped, “Please.”

  Oh, he liked that. She saw it in his eyes, in the shift of his posture. “Please what, Kitten?”

  “I don’t want anyone else hurt.”

  The smile spread over his face. “Then quit fighting me. It does you no good anyway.”

  In a fog, Cat nodded. She couldn’t quite ground herself, couldn’t think of a way out.

  Tesh stepped back just enough that his body no longer pressed hers. He reached into his pocket, whispered, “Sorry, Kitten,” and then slipped something over her head.

  She couldn’t see a thing, but neither did she dare fight him. He lifted her roughly over his shoulder, jostling her as he walked at a fast clip. She heard the creaking of metal, an idling engine, and then she got dumped on a hard floor. Before she could get her hands under her, her head smacked awkwardly against something, dazing her anew.

  Pinpricks of light danced before her. The covering over her head disappeared and Tesh stroked his hand through her hair, smoothing it.

  She jerked away...and her he
ad pounded.

  “You struggle against your fate,” Tesh whispered. “Shh, shh now. You’re mine and you’ll stay mine.”

  Dear God, he sounded insane. By instinct alone, Cat flinched away from his touch.

  A firm hand brought her face back around. “Always so stubborn.” The pleasure in his soft laugh sent shivers down her spine. “Sometimes there will be pain. Sometimes not. It’s natural that you’d resist. I don’t mind too much. It’ll make taming you more fun.”

  Don’t react, Cat told herself, knowing he enjoyed shocking her. She tried to get oriented and became aware of movement. Everything had happened so quickly, but...they were definitely on the go.

  Tesh smiled down at her, superior, smug, even giddy.

  Shifting only her eyes, Cat looked around and realized that she rode in a stripped-down cargo van.

  “This,” Tesh said, “is the beginning of your forever...with me.”

  Needing to be on her feet, away from Tesh, Cat wrapped her fingers into an empty cutout of the bare-bones vehicle and stood.

  One man, a stranger, stared out the windshield as he drove. Other than his and the passenger seat, the van was hollow—metal floor, metal walls, metal ceiling. No windows in the back. The streetlamps they passed lit the interior with a strobe effect that made her stomach pitch. Two empty paint buckets, a metal ladder and tarps littered the floor. A single handle secured the rear doors.

  Had Tesh stolen a painter’s van?

  He, too, stood. “No, Kitten, no one will report the van stolen, and the driver will not help you. Resign yourself.”

  Never.

  Cat looked around the van again, Tesh watching her closely as she gathered the facts and sorted through them. One giant question drummed against her sluggish brain and she decided, why not ask? If nothing else, it’d maybe keep him distracted.

  “How did you unlock the bathroom door?”

  “I took keys from your little friend, Enoch.”

  Fresh anger poured through her. “You almost killed him.”

  “You had no right to give him your artwork!” Tesh flexed his jaw muscles, squeezed his hands into trembling fists. “All your gifts belong to me.”