“Such language from a pretty young thing,” he said through another chuckle.
“I said freaking!”
“Where I come from, it means the same thing. My mother would have washed out my mouth with soap. A lady shouldn’t—”
Vic slammed on the brakes, jolting Reece forward in his seat until the seatbelt locks snapped him back again.
She jumped out of the car and practically hopped over the hood, swinging open his door.
His face registered shock for about two seconds, and then he lifted his chin, giving her something to punch. “You get off on punching an unarmed man?”
Vic pulled back but then dropped her fist to her side. “You could have killed us.”
“Not even close,” he said, smiling again, flashing his pearly white teeth against sun bronzed skin.
“How the hell did you get your foot up there? You’re like six-four.”
“Years of Capoeira, a Brazilian martial art.” He grinned. “I lived in South America for years, so it was an enjoyable and clearly worthwhile pastime.”
Vic threw up her hands, wondering how she would immobilize him. A passing car slowed, and she waved the driver off, realizing that she probably looked like a damsel in distress.
The sun had just dipped behind the horizon, leaving a honey glow across the sky, barely enough light to see in the early evening hours of spring, so the driver couldn’t see that she was more than likely taller than he was. Ugh! More men trying to help her. Just what she needed.
“Impressive, huh? I could have killed you, you know. I could have snapped your neck in seconds, but I didn’t. You know why?”
Ignoring him, she walked to the rear of the car. She didn’t know why, and she didn’t care why. She popped the trunk. She had to have something inside to restrain him. She pulled out a pair of heavy-duty jumper cables and strolled around to his side again.
“You gonna jumpstart me? I assure you, I don’t need a jumpstart.”
She resisted laughing. For someone who thought they were going to be killed, he sure made an awful lot of jokes.
Carefully, watchful of his dangerous, powerful legs, she pressed her palms on his thighs and held him steady while she tied his feet with the thick cords.
“You really are a dominatrix, aren’t you? I’m not usually into that stuff, but okay.”
“Shut up, Reece.”
He faked a quiver. “Ooh…say it again.”
Vic bit down on her lip, doing her best to retain the burst of laughter that threatened to explode. When was the last time a man had made her laugh? She thought back…she couldn’t remember actually. Yeah, she had fun, but when was the last time she really felt like laughing? Never. Not even Derrick. He’d always been too serious, probably always wondering where Kristina was.
Vic shifted the car into first and pulled onto the road again. Michael, she was crazy about Michael. He made her feel things, but she still felt uptight around him. And Jonas…she’d really liked Jonas, but she’d always known he was high strung. A relationship with him would be like training a Herculean pet. Strong as a god, but as hyperactive and uptight as a poodle. Of course, there was the matter of him being a homicidal maniac too; though, she still found that hard to accept.
“How ’bout some music?” Reece requested, breaking her out of her thoughts.
Not seeing any harm, Vic pushed the power button on her satellite radio. The acoustic sounds of ‘The Coffee House’ channel—the only station she listened to—actually soothed her anyway, and she needed all the soothing she could get right now. She pretended that she was at her no-men-allowed spa in Sedona, Arizona, having a hot-rock therapy session—
“Fifty-nine please.”
“Um…no,” she answered flatly. “My radio, my music.”
“Even prisoners get to pick their channel,” he groaned.
“Well, this isn’t a democracy. I don’t follow US laws; I follow crea—”
“Cre-a?” Reece repeated. “What’s cre-a? Another country? You’re spies?”
Vic smashed her lips together and changed the channel, hoping he’d just shut up.
CHAPTER FIVE
Fifty-five minutes later, Vic turned onto the long drive leading to the family’s safe house. She clicked the remote to open the ten-foot-high iron gates embedded into the wall that surrounded the property. She stopped in front of the wraparound porch, so that she wouldn’t have to carry Reece too far. No way could she take the chance of untying his legs.
“Ahh…home sweet home,” Reece crooned as he stared up at the nineteenth-century Farmhouse. “I always wanted to live on a farm. So will I be the stable boy, and you’ll be the mistress of the house with a horsewhip?”
Vic couldn’t help but roll her eyes. “You know…you sure joke around a lot for a federal agent. I thought the FBI didn’t have a sense of humor.” She exited the car while he continued to jabber on.
“I’m not an FBI agent, and who says I’m joking?” He paused as he watched her walk around the car. “Okay…I’m just kidding. About the whip anyway. I figure that if I’m a hostage, I might as well have a sense of humor about it, though. I don’t suppose whining and crying about you holding me captive would do any good, would it?” He raised an eyebrow as she opened the passenger door. “Then again, since you seem to be into cuffs and tying me down, maybe it would.”
She stared at his tall body sitting inside her Mini Cooper. “Do you ever shut up?”
Reece let out a fake whimper, and it took everything Vic had not to laugh.
She reached for his confined legs, pulling them outside the door, and then unbuckled the seatbelt and lifted him out of the car by his cuffed wrists, wondering how she would carry him into the house. She released his hands, thinking she’d better sedate him again.
In the one second she took to reach into her pocket, Reece threw his cuffed wrists over her head and propelled her against the car, pressing his weight against her. “Uncuff me.”
“No.”
He wrenched her sideways, knocking them both to the ground. “I’m not playing, Victoria. Give me the key.”
She glared up at him. “I’m better on my back, Reece.” She bucked, but he didn’t budge.
“God, don’t make me hurt you,” he groaned. “Do you realize I could kill you right now? Don’t make me snap this beautiful, slender neck…”
Vic bucked again, struggling against his weight. It was just because he was large that he had such a grip on her. It wasn’t because he had creatus blood running through his veins. It wasn’t because she wanted him where he was.
Reece’s weight disappeared along with a grunt.
“Thank you, Reece,” Michael growled above her. “I wanted a reason to kick your ass. Keep your hands off my girl.” Michael slammed him against her car.
Now free, Vic jumped to her feet. “My car!” she screamed. “And, since when am I your girl? Put him down!”
Michael turned on her then, his eyes narrowing. “He was going to snap your neck, Vic.”
She sighed, pulling Reece out of Michael’s hands. “No he wasn’t. He was kidding.” She glared at Reece, waiting for him to agree with her.
Reece blew out a breath. “Of course I was kidding…”
Michael grabbed Reece by the cuffs and dragged him toward the house. “Why did you move his cuffs, Vic? Derrick cuffed his hands behind his back. Maybe you aren’t up to this. Maybe I should watch him instead.”
She walked past him and leapt the four steps to the front door. “Be my guest. This is Derrick’s idea, not mine.”
Reece looked back and forth between the two of them, raising a finger from his cuffed wrists. “I don’t want to interrupt your lover’s spat, so you could just let me go.”
“Shut up!” Michael and Vic shouted in unison.
Vic shook her head and unlocked the door beneath the stairs. “It’s all set up. I cleared out all the weapons.” She stepped inside the tiny area, which had a solid steel hatch concealed by parquet flooring
hidden beneath the rug. The entry to the basement was practically invisible, but they’d still covered it with a rug, a bookshelf, a vacuum cleaner, and other household items you’d expect to find in a small storage area.
Once she got the hatch open, she poked her head around the doorway. “You need me to get his feet?”
“Nope. I got him.” Mike kicked the back of Reece’s knees, knocking him on his back with a thud. Grabbing him by his restrained ankles, he hauled him across the floor.
Reece didn’t make a sound, but Vic couldn’t repress the gasp that escaped her throat. “That is exactly why you can’t be in charge of him, Mike.” She stepped around Reece and lifted him beneath his shoulders.
Michael harrumphed. “I didn’t hurt him. He’s strong. Besides, it’s payback for him doing that to you.”
Vic thought about it, but it wasn’t the same. Reece had tripped her, but he’d also held his hands behind her head, she realized. Yes, he wanted the key, but he really hadn’t tried to hurt her.
He peered up at her, but there were no more jokes or smiles. He simply closed his eyes.
Had he been playing all the times he’d flirted with her, hoping she’d let down her guard so that he could try to hurt her? She couldn’t blame him. What they were doing to him was inhumane, but they had no choice.
Derrick was right. She couldn’t kill him, but she couldn’t let him go either. But she definitely couldn’t fall for him. Never.
Mike reached the bottom of the stairs, and she threw him the key to open the next steel door. The door had latches for padlocks on both sides. Of course, at the moment, they only planned to lock it from the outside.
A steel beam was concreted into the walls with a Mul-T-Lok brand padlock that Derrick assured her he’d tested. But it also had an alarm on it. Without the correct tools, even a creatus couldn’t break it.
Once they entered, Mike released Reece’s feet and turned on her. “Can we talk?”
“Yeah…now?”
“No. Upstairs.” Mike shoved Reece as he walked by him and stomped back up the stairs.
“I think your boyfriend’s ticked,” were Reece’s first words since Mike had dropped him on the wooden planks. As if he’d read her mind, he reached for his head, but the cuffs impeded him.
Vic reached for his hands. “Don’t try anything, okay? You’re not getting away, so you might as well make yourself comfortable. I stocked the place with food, but let me know if you want something specific. Derrick said I’m supposed to treat you like a guest, not a prisoner.” She glanced up at his face to see if he was going to behave, but he just stared at her. “Oh, and Mike’s not my boyfriend; he’s a friend.” Why had she felt compelled to offer that information? As though it mattered if she were single or not.
Reece smiled, revealing a large dimple. “So that’s why he’s ticked. He wants you, and you don’t want him.”
“I didn’t say that,” Vic seethed. “You don’t know anything about me, Reece, so stop trying to analyze me.” She unlocked the cuffs and released his wrists. He could untie the cords around his ankles, which would give her time if he tried anything.
She started to turn, but then realized she’d underestimated Reece too many times. She backed away, hating the smile he flashed and the slight tipping of his head as though he were wearing a hat. He’d sensed her hesitation.
Men! She really needed a vacation.
And now she had to go contend with Michael. Could he really be jealous…or mad that she’d reminded him that they weren’t a couple?
She’d agreed to go out with him after he was out of the hospital…after he healed from the gunshot wound that Reece had inflicted. That’s why he was mad. He was mad at Reece, not her.
Vic locked the door and trudged up the steps. Mike was at the top of the stairs, waiting; he extended a hand. As much as she wanted to knock it away, to show him she wasn’t weak and didn’t need him, she accepted and let him pull her up beside him.
Michael pulled her firmly against his body, resting his forehead on hers. She expected him to yell at her for being careless, to be upset with her for stating she wasn’t his girl—even though she wasn’t—or maybe even to kiss her, but he did none of those things.
Instead, he just stared at her, his large hand brushing against her cheek. “Go out with me tonight,” he whispered.
Her heart pounded as it’d done in the hospital when she thought that he was all she’d ever wanted. “I can’t.”
Michael sighed and moved his hand around the back of her neck. “You promised. You said when I got out of the hospital, we’d go out together…on a date.”
Unable to look into his deep brown eyes, she dropped her head against his chest. “I have to babysit.”
Michael laughed. “That excuse doesn’t work anymore, Victoria. Eric is a grown man.”
Her blood rushed when he said her full name. She’d only ever allowed Derrick to call her by her entire name. “Not Eric. I have to stay here with Reece.”
Michael stepped back from her. “Have to? Or, want to?”
Vic crossed her arms. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You’ve protected him, defended him, and then contradicted me in front of him. You obviously have the hots for Reece.” Reece’s name came off Michael’s tongue as though it were an oath.
“I do not!” Vic stormed away from Mike and headed into the kitchen.
Although they’d kept the original wood beams and wood floors, they’d remodeled everything else in the old farmhouse. Unlike the basement, the kitchen was naturally bright in the daytime because of the row of French doors that led out to a stone patio.
A work island had been set up in the middle of the long room, separating the kitchen from an eating area that held a solid plank table that’d seat twelve easily. The soft alabaster walls and honey pine cabinets and floors contrasted with the chrome appliances and dropped lighting from the twelve-foot-high arched ceiling, lending the room a modern, but comfortable old-time feel.
She reached into the wine cabinet and selected a bottle of merlot. She might just drink the entire bottle this evening.
Mike stepped behind her. “Wine and candlelight will suffice.”
She whirled on him. “The wine isn’t for you; it’s for me.”
He grinned down at her. His rounder face than most creatus men was almost boyish looking. “It’s still cool enough. We could light the outside fireplace…”
Of course, Michael was anything but a boy. He’d conquered so many women over the years that she’d lost count, but now he’d turned his affections on her. A first. He’d never been monogamous, and she wasn’t sure how she felt about that.
A memory of Derrick and her at the ski lodge, snuggling near the fire pit, flashed in her head. She needed to stop this; she needed to forget him. He’d fallen for another woman.
Wanting to forget, not caring for a moment, she stepped forward. Michael didn’t waste a second. His mouth covered hers—
“Victoria!” Reece shouted. “Victoria!”
“Ugh!” She backed away from Michael. “He never shuts up.”
He narrowed his eyes. “I could kill Reece with my bare hands…I’m positive of it now.”
Ignoring Michael, certain he wasn’t joking, but wanting to break the moment, she called toward the cellar. “What?” He wouldn’t be able to hear her, of course.
“I haven’t eaten all day,” Reece called back.
How had he heard her response? She shook her head. No…he hadn’t heard her all the way in the basement…through two steel doors.
He’d just been calling out the rest of his demand when he said he hadn’t eaten all day.
Mike reached for her hand. “Don’t go... He’s not going to starve.”
“Why not? Your brother wants me to fall for him. They say the way to a human man’s heart is through his stomach—”
“What?” Mike’s grip tightened around her wrist. “My brother said what?”
Michael didn’
t wait for a response. He left the house, and she heard the roar of his Dodge Charger a couple of seconds later.
CHAPTER SIX
“You told Victoria to fall for Reece?” Michael seethed.
Derrick pulled him into his apartment and quickly escorted him to the spare bedroom, nudging him to sit on the leather futon. “Calm down, Michael—”
“Calm down?” Michael jumped back up. “You don’t want her, so I can’t have her either?”
“No one will ever have Victoria. Maybe if you realized that, she would have already fallen for you, and this conversation would be a moot point. But she hasn’t. Besides,” he lowered his words to a whisper, “you know I can’t make Victoria fall for anyone. You know we tried for fifteen years. When it happens, it happens. No one can control the feelings, no matter how hard they want it.”
Mike plopped down on the couch again. “I love her…”
“Love isn’t enough…you know that.”
He glared at his brother. “I do know that, but now I can’t even get her to go out with me. And when I tried to kiss her…”
Derrick smiled. “Yes…”
“That damn human screamed out her name.”
His older brother nodded. “For humans, love is enough.”
“Reece doesn’t love her; he’s infatuated with her, but then he tried to kill her.” Mike inhaled a deep breath, attempting to control his temper. “I arrived without a minute to spare. He had her pinned on the ground with his hands around her neck.”
Derrick laughed. “You sure he was trying to kill her?”
“He said, don’t make me break…” Michael paused, remembering Reece’s words, the words that had angered him, “this beautiful, slender neck.”
“Reece won’t hurt her. He’s crazy about her. It’s the only way, Michael.” Derrick rested his hand on his shoulder. “We can’t keep him hostage forever, and we can’t kill—”
“I’d be happy to kill him,” he interjected. “He did shoot me, after all.”
Derrick sighed. “If you’d killed him in self-defense, I wouldn’t have questioned you, but no one is killing an innocent man.”
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