His to Protect

by Katie Reus

  “I’m scared.” Even saying the words aloud felt freeing. She wasn’t just scared, she was terrified. What happened if she let Kell into her life then things exploded in their faces? They had a son to think about and if she was being really honest, Charlotte knew she was risking her heart. And Kell had the ability to shred it to ribbons.

  “That’s understandable, but clearly this man isn’t like your husband, who liked the young woman you were more than the woman you grew into.”

  Charlotte blinked as more shock punched through her. “What?”

  Her mother smiled faintly as she picked up her iced tea. “The last Christmas you were here with Andrew, I could see the tension between you two, the way you were growing apart. It was subtle, but…you weren’t the same woman he’d married and my guess is Andrew resented it. Maybe even tried to make you feel guilty about growing into your own person.”

  “You’re not far off the mark,” Charlotte murmured, her mother’s words hitting their target with piercing accuracy.

  “Well, you’re not the same girl who married him. You’re older, a lot smarter and you need to trust your instincts with Kellen.”

  At that Charlotte smiled. She sometimes called him by his full name, but it was rare. “You can call him Kell when you meet him.”

  Her mother shifted slightly on her seat, turning her chin up in that familiar fashion that always made Charlotte smile. “I’ll call him by the name his mother gave him. Speaking of which, when can I expect to meet him? We’d like to have all of you over for dinner soon.” Yeah, she wasn’t so much asking Charlotte as ordering.

  She couldn’t blame her. The past two weeks would have been impossible for them to meet since Charlotte had been hiding out at Lizzy and Porter’s place. And she hadn’t been ready for them to meet Kell before then. Not before she got a hold on her feelings for him.

  “I need to check what his schedule is, but maybe this weekend if he’s free.” With that, Charlotte knew she was going to take the chance that might get her heart broken. She had to make a go of things with Kell or she’d regret it for the rest of her life.

  She might not have been able to admit it to him, but she loved him. She’d realized it the night before when he’d had that panicked, vulnerable expression over the lunatic blonde woman. He’d been so worried Charlotte would think he’d betrayed her that she’d known in a bone deep way that Kell would never intentionally hurt her. He’d rather talk or argue than turn to someone else. And her mom was right, Kell wanted the woman she was. Not a young, inexperienced girl barely a woman.

  Sighing, she glanced at the slim watch on her wrist and realized she needed to head out soon. Her father was watching Reece so she and her mother could enjoy lunch, but she wanted to kiss her son before she left too. The community center was only twenty minutes away but she wanted to account for traffic in case there was any.

  * * * * *

  Cecil crept down the hallway of a place he was very familiar with. It had been difficult but he’d managed to follow the SUV tailing the witness. Once he’d realized she had a shadow of her own, all he’d had to do was follow that guy.

  The woman had gone to a very wealthy neighborhood this afternoon so he hadn’t followed her past the gated community. Instead he’d just waited, knowing she’d have to leave sometime. He’d tailed people in the past before killing them and the watching and waiting was always a pain, but he’d stolen a luxury sedan and switched the plates so at least he was driving in comfort.

  Now she was at the community center he’d frequented as a teenager. It was where he’d first started selling drugs. Since it was a Wednesday and not quite three o’clock yet, the place was empty for the most part. Which was perfect for him. The fewer witnesses the better.

  Cecil had watched as the tall, intimidating looking guard for the woman had followed her inside. The man had scanned the parking lot, watching for any threats, but Cecil hadn’t parked in the main lot. He’d been across the street in hiding. Once they’d gone inside, he’d slashed the SUVs tires. When he ran, he wasn’t going to risk the chance of anyone pursuing. Because after today, he was gone from Miami for good.

  His sneakers were silent against the terrazzo flooring as he rounded the corner into another hallway. He couldn’t be sure, but the only reason for a clearly wealthy woman like Charlotte to be here was because she wanted to donate money or volunteer. Either way, she’d be in the main office.

  Lucky for him, there was another room that connected to it through one of the rooms for the five-year-olds and younger. The woman who ran this place liked to be close to the little ones in case there was ever trouble. She’d been running this place for over twenty years so he knew how things worked with her.

  Slipping into the empty room with desks and colorful drawings on the walls, he immediately pulled out his stocking mask and tugged it over his face. He’d dyed his hair dark brown for other potential witnesses, but he needed his face covered this time. From the attached office he could hear murmured female voices. He knew he was taking a risk, but it had to be done now. If the woman was separated from her guard—and he was pretty sure the guy was sitting in the anterior office since he’d come in with her—it was his best opportunity.

  The door had a glass pane in it, letting light through but it was a thick glass, making it impossible to see inside. Testing the door, he internally smiled when it twisted. He drew his gun and raised it as he stepped inside.

  Charlotte sat on one side of a desk and Lana Gonzalez, the woman who ran the place, sat on the other. They stared at him with wide eyes, both clearly speechless. When it appeared the witness might scream, he let out a low growling sound. “Stand up and quietly come with me or I’ll wait until the kids get here and start shooting randomly,” he whispered. He wouldn’t actually do that, but he needed them terrified enough to do what he said. Since he wasn’t sure if the woman’s guard was in the other connected room he wasn’t taking a chance of being overheard by shouting.

  Knowing the threat against children would keep them quiet, he kept his gun hand steady as he slowly backed up. The women followed him. Once they were in the hallway he pressed his gun into Charlotte’s spine and shoved her forward. The Gonzalez woman was in front of her, terror in her dark eyes.

  Even though she couldn’t see him clearly because of the mask, he kept his gaze trained on the community center director. “We’re going to walk out of here quietly and neither of you are going to make a sound or I’ll pump this bitch full of bullets. Understand?”

  She nodded and Cecil risked a quick glance over his shoulder to make sure they weren’t being followed. It was clear.

  “You don’t have to do this,” Charlotte said quietly, her voice teary.

  He pushed the gun into her. “Quiet. Move.” Another hard shove and the women were hurrying down the hall in front of him. Once they’d rounded the corner, he told them to stop and opened the ladies’ bathroom door. “In,” he commanded.

  The women walked in and he tossed a pair of flex-cuffs to Lana. “Hook yourself to the handicap rail,” he demanded.

  It was clear she didn’t want to, but he put the barrel of the gun to Charlotte’s head, spurring her into action.

  Once she was secure, he grabbed Charlotte’s arm and dragged her from the room and down another hallway.

  “I have a young son,” she pleaded, her voice shaky, as they stepped out into the sunlight of the parking lot. He took off his mask, not caring if she saw him now. Plus now he needed to blend in.

  “Shut the fuck up or I’ll make you suffer.” He wouldn’t but he needed her quiet until he could get her somewhere private. He planned to hide her body so the police wouldn’t know she was dead for at least a few days. They’d waste time searching for her, which would throw some of the heat off him while he made his escape.

  He hurried her across the paved parking lot onto the side street where he’d parked his stolen car. There were a few new vehicles parked along the curb, but the street was quiet. Perfect. P
opping the trunk, he started to shove her inside when a scuffling sound alerted him that he wasn’t alone.

  She started screaming, punching at him from behind, her hard fists slamming into his spine and shoulders. But she wasn’t his problem. As he turned, a fist connected with his jaw. For a moment he saw a bright flash of light as pain exploded in his face. He was aware of dropping his gun as another fist slammed into his nose. More excruciating pain.

  Then, blackness.

  Chapter 13

  As the elevator he was in headed to the parking garage of the Red Stone Security building, Kell dialed Charlotte’s cell phone again for the third time, but got nothing. It rang five times then went to voicemail. She’d texted him letting him know she was going into the interview and would put her phone on silent, but that had been almost an hour ago. How long did an interview for a volunteer position take anyway? He didn’t want to bug her or try to smother her, but after the past couple weeks he couldn’t curb his overprotective nature.

  The security job for the day had been postponed until Friday. Their principal had been delayed because of personal issues Kell didn’t give a crap about. He just cared that he’d been called into work a job and now didn’t need to. He could have been Charlotte’s guard today rather than Vincent. And possibly gotten some much needed alone time with her before she picked Reece up from her parents.

  “Screw it,” he muttered to himself as he started to dial Vincent. He hadn’t wanted to harass his friend since he was more than capable of protecting Charlotte.

  But right now Kell wasn’t feeling rational. Before he could dial, his phone buzzed in his hand.

  “Charlotte’s been taken,” Vincent said.

  Horror slammed through him, making him stumble as he exited into the quiet garage. “Tell me everything.” His voice was hoarse, clipped.

  “A masked man took Charlotte and her interviewer at gunpoint. There’s another entrance to the office I didn’t know about. I’m sorry man—”

  “I don’t care. What happened?” He raced to one of the company SUVs he still had the keys for from the days cancelled job. Vincent could make all the damn apologies in the world after they got Charlotte back.

  “The guy cuffed the other woman in a bathroom and took Charlotte. I heard the woman screaming and found her unharmed. By the time I got out to the parking lot the fucker had slashed my tires. The woman says it was only one man who took her, but I saw two vehicles—one sedan and one SUV tearing away from the road. I got their license plates and have Charlotte’s truck keys, but they’re gone.”

  “I’m going to patch Lizzy into this conversation, but did you grab her purse or anything?” If Vincent had his truck keys he could only assume he’d retrieved them from Charlotte’s purse. Kell started the SUV but remained where he was, having no place to go and feeling completely useless. His heart beat an erratic tattoo against his chest, but he had to stay focused and calm until Charlotte was safe. Either the cartel, the 19th Street Gang, or Cecil Talley had taken her. None were good options.

  “Yeah. It was in the office when I found it empty.”

  “What’s in it?”

  There was a brief shuffling on the other end while Kell used the add participant function to dial Lizzy’s direct number. He’d just seen her as he left Harrison’s office so he prayed she was still upstairs.

  “Yeah?” she said.

  “Lizzy, it’s Kell and Vincent. Charlotte’s been taken.”

  The other woman sucked in a sharp breath. “What do you need?”

  “Vincent, did you find her phone?” he asked.

  “Just the company one, but not the red one I saw her using to text you earlier.”

  Thank God. Kell didn’t let one ounce of relief slide through him though. Not yet. “Lizzy, I need you to track her if possible.” Courtesy of Red Stone’s technology he’d put trackers on both her phones. He just hoped she had hers with her. If they could just get a general area Kell would rip the entire fucking city apart to find her. She had to be alive because he refused to believe otherwise. Absolutely refused.

  The fear was clawing its way through him, trying to shred him apart, but they’d taken her. They hadn’t killed her outright, which would have been the easiest thing to do.

  “Okay…just one sec…her cell’s moving down Brickell right now at forty-five miles per hour. Whoever she’s with, they’re sticking to the speed limit.”

  Kell sped out of his parking space, his tires squealing as he zoomed to the nearest exit. Lizzy continued giving them directions, both he and Vincent on their way to find her. There was no way he was getting off the phone to call the police. Charlotte was his and he was more than trained to find her. Both he and Vincent were.

  “Lizzy, let Harrison know what’s going on so he can get a team together, but no cops. We’re taking care of this our way.” For all he knew there were more dirty cops on the force, but he didn’t want them involved for more reasons than just that. Whoever had taken Charlotte was going to die.

  His friend tried to apologize again, but Kell cut him off. Right now wasn’t the time for any of that shit. Now he had to keep his head on straight and focus on his only goal. Finding Charlotte and bringing her home safely.

  * * * * *

  Charlotte felt as if someone had taken a two-by-four to her head. Groggily, she struggled to open her eyes. A bright light was shining directly in them so she moved her head and it immediately subsided, letting her start to make out shapes.

  That was when she realized she was in the trunk of an unmoving car and the light wasn’t exactly bright, but her face had been right in front of the tiny bulb. Not that any of that was important.

  Rolling over onto her side, she brought her hand up to her face to brush her hair out of the way only to find her hands bound in front of her. As she struggled to remember what happened, she heard a gurgled moaning coming from somewhere close. The trunk of the car was cracked open a fraction, letting the noise in.

  It sounded like a wounded animal crying out for help and made all the hairs on her arms stand up. The eerie cry was…pitiful and made something primal inside her want to hide. She froze as she heard a man’s voice speaking in Spanish. The words were low, guttural and the voice was raspy. It was followed by more moaning.

  Then a sharp cry of obvious pain. She wanted to curl into a ball and cover her ears so she’d never have to hear something so creepy again, but getting the hell out of there was all that mattered.

  She clearly remembered Cecil Talley kidnapping her at gunpoint then trying to shove her into a trunk. Someone else had been there too, but she hadn’t gotten a good look at them before something had struck her in the head. After that she didn’t remember anything else but someone had definitely tied her up.

  Pushing up, she struggled to sit, her head hitting the inside of the trunk. She bit back the instinctive cry of pain, but as she struck the lid, it creaked as it popped open.

  She froze at the sight in front of her. She had to be in a warehouse of some sort, but that wasn’t what was shocking.

  A bruised and bleeding Talley was tied to a chair, his face swollen, almost unrecognizable and…oh, Lord, were those fingers on the ground lying in a pool of blood? Her stomach roiled but she kept it together as the masked man with the machete-type weapon turned to look at her.

  He wore a red and black mask that looked like something from Halloween. She could only see his eyes, dark and savage, looking back at her. His long-sleeved T-shirt, cargo pants and boots were all black.

  Run!

  Jerking out of her shock, she gave in to the urge to flee. She managed to swing one leg, then the other over the trunk. With her wrists tied together in front of her it was a struggle and she fell to her knees. Pain ricocheted through her at the abrupt fall, but she shoved up and started running.

  Charlotte made it four steps before a huge body slammed into her, twisting them until he had her pinned up against the car.

  Breathing hard against her ear, she could f
eel the man’s elevated heartbeat against her back. Pure terror spiked through her and she tried to struggle but he held a knife to her throat. She went completely immobile. The blade didn’t dig into her skin, but it wouldn’t take much for him to kill her. He could do it so quickly, with one slice. Facing her own mortality, all she could picture were Kell and Reece’s faces. She wanted to tell Kell she loved him and hold her baby one more time. The thought of her son growing up without her made her want to sob, but she held herself in check, not wanting to give the man any excuse to slice her open.

  “I didn’t expect you to wake up before I was done,” he rasped against her ear, his breath hot. There was a hint of an accent to his guttural words.

  “I haven’t seen your face,” she managed to gasp out through her pounding fear.

  “I know. It’s the only reason I’m letting you live.” It took a long moment for his words to register. A burst of relief flooded her, but before she could respond he continued. “You tell anyone you saw me here, your son will grow up without a mother. And I know exactly who you are Charlotte Bastien. You woke up tied in the trunk, found a dead man outside it and ran for help. Easy enough to remember?”

  She hadn’t seen his face anyway and even if she had, she knew deep down she wouldn’t tell a soul what he looked like. She wasn’t letting Reece grow up without her or putting him in danger. Nothing was worth that. “Yes,” she said immediately.

  Suddenly the weight was gone and she heard soft footsteps walking away. Though it terrified her to do it, she looked over her shoulder.

  The masked man was standing behind the abused Talley, his knife right at the dying man’s throat and his dark eyes directly on hers. He slit the man’s throat as he stared at her. Charlotte didn’t pause as she turned and sprinted across the concrete floor into more darkness, her heart racing out of control.