“No, please,” she begged. “Don’t do that.”
“Then shut your mouth and be a good girl. This can all run smoothly if you just learn to behave yourself.”
“What can run smoothly? What’s going to happen to me? Please, why can’t you just tell me?”
“All in good time.”
I gave her another shove toward the car. She stumbled, and I was forced to haul her back up again. Henry had already stepped toward the vehicle and now opened the rear door, ready for me to push her into the back seat.
“Walk properly, or I’ll put you in the trunk again.”
She gulped down a sob, her head down, her hair hanging over her face.
We reached the car, and I pushed her inside. She scooted along, pressing herself up against the door on the other side, clearly trying to put as much space between us as possible. Her hands were still bound, making her movements awkward.
I got in as well, and she glanced over at me with pure venom in her eyes. I had the feeling that if I ever untied her hands, she would probably attack me.
Henry slammed my door shut and climbed in behind the wheel. The drive would barely take five minutes. I was looking forward to being home again.
He took the small road away from the airstrip, heading toward the coast. The island was only a little over ten miles in circumference, so, other than right in the middle of the island, most of it was made up of coast.
In the distance rose the white blocks of my property, visible in the moonlight. The infinity pool stretched from the front of the house, ending at the cliff face, which dropped off into the ocean below. I could have built the house on any part of the island, including at one of the beaches, or even in the center, where I would have had three hundred and sixty degree views, but it was the thought of the infinity pool giving the illusion of swimming right out into the ocean that had caused me to choose this particular spot.
Henry drove straight up the driveway, around the fountain positioned in the center, and parked the car near the grand double doors. Palm trees with uplighters gave the place an air of the exotic. Lights were already on inside the building, ready for my return. I had another member of staff who took care of the place while I was gone on business.
Beside me, Jolie stiffened, sitting straighter in her seat, either to get a view of the property, or maybe even to see if there was anyone around who she might be able to count on to help. She needn’t have bothered. I could already tell her there wasn’t.
Henry climbed out and went around to her side to open the door for her. She looked at him mistrustfully, and then slid her legs out of the car before getting to her feet. I moved to climb out behind her, but before I’d managed to plant my feet on the ground, she ran.
I exhaled an irritated sigh as she sprinted back the way we’d come. She hesitated before she reached the end of the driveway, and then darted off to the right, as though planning on heading through the grounds and into the middle of the island.
“Running is pointless,” I shouted after her. “You’re wasting your energy.”
“Would you like me to go after her, sir?” Henry asked me, his lips pressed together, his nostrils flared, as though he sensed my irritation.
“No need,” I told him. “I’ll go.”
Her hands were still tied, making her run awkward. The manicured lawns of my property gave way to the palm trees that covered the innermost point of the island where I’d allowed nature to take over.
“There’s no point in running,” I called after her. “There’s nowhere you can go.”
And there wasn’t. She could run, but she’d only make it from one side of the island to the other, and it wasn’t as though she’d be able to swim off the island with her hands tied. Even if they weren’t tied, there was nowhere she’d be able to swim to. We were miles off the coast, and she’d drown before she got anywhere.
Maybe she figured drowning would be better than finding out what her future held with me.
I exhaled another sigh and broke straight into a run. She must have heard my feet hitting the ground, as she glanced over her shoulder and picked up her pace.
“Stop running, Jolie,” I called after her.
I was already gaining on her. I was bigger, stronger, faster, and she had her hands bound behind her back. Besides, I knew this island and could probably make my way around it blindfolded. I had everything on my side, and she had nothing.
Ahead of me, she tripped and flew forward. Without her hands free to protect her face, she landed badly, and I winced. Stupid girl. That was obviously going to happen.
I drew to a halt beside her. She lay face down on the ground, her hands still behind her back, sobbing into the dirt. I reached down and caught the top of her right arm, my fingers wrapping around her narrow biceps, and pulled her back up again. Keeping my hold on her, I used my other hand to push the hair from her face. Her cheek was grazed where she’d landed, beads of blood popping on her fair skin. In the graze, dots of black, speckled dirt appeared.
I frowned. “Now, that was dumb, wasn’t it? If you’d only done as you were told, you wouldn’t be hurt right now. Good thing you didn’t break your damned nose.”
She didn’t reply, only trembled in my grip. I bet the soles of her bare feet would be sore from running across the gravel as well.
“Let’s get you into the house. You’re going to need that cleaned up.”
She came more willingly this time, perhaps finally realizing she hadn’t helped herself any by her little escape attempt. I didn’t trust her in the slightest, however. I was sure she’d do whatever she could to break free from my clutches, and I needed to take precautions. There wasn’t anywhere she could go on the island, but she could get herself killed, which wouldn’t fit my plans at all.
Chapter Six
Who the hell was this man?
I’d sensed he had money the first time I saw him in the university hall. Even sitting there, among the reporters and obsessive women, he’d radiated wealth and power. What kind of man owned private planes and huge properties on private islands? From the way the other man spoke to him, it seemed Hayden had staff as well—staff who were willing to turn a blind eye to the fact he’d abducted me and brought me here.
My face stung where I’d fallen, and my shoulders ached from having my hands pulled back in the same position for hours. I just wanted for all this to be over, but I doubted it was going to happen anytime soon. Had people back home noticed I was missing yet? Had anyone contacted my aunt and brother? A thought occurred to me—would Hannah even know how to get hold of my remaining family? Because of my background, I kept myself to myself, and though I’d told Hannah about my family history, I didn’t think I’d actually given the other girl any emergency contact details. Wait, the university must have my aunt’s number on file. Then I realized it wouldn’t be the university who would be contacting her, it would be the police.
My heart contracted with pain. Aunt Jeanette would be worried sick about me. My aunt had already lost her sister, she’d be tormented at the loss of her niece as well. I wasn’t particularly close with my aunt. I’d been a difficult teenager, understandably, but that didn’t mean I’d want her worrying about me. All of us had been through enough to last a lifetime.
Hayden pushed me back toward the house. I didn’t even bother to struggle this time. It all felt pointless. I’d accepted that I wasn’t going to be able to run like this, and I’d only end up hurting myself even more than I already had. Maybe there would be a way of getting help inside the house. I could find a phone, though I didn’t know how I’d tell people where I was. I’d been unconscious when I’d been brought onto the plane, and couldn’t even say where we’d taken off from or how long we’d been in the air. But maybe someone would be able to trace the call and find me from here. And there were bound to be computers and internet. Couldn’t the police trace an IP address these days and find a location?
I wasn’t going to give up hope, I just needed to think ra
tionally about what I was going to do. My head was still foggy from the chloroform, and fear had overwhelmed me. I’d seen my chance and reacted. Next time, I’d come up with a better plan. But, I realized, I wouldn’t be able to do much with my hands still bound. My first mission needed to be convincing this asshole to untie me, and my little escape attempt just then wouldn’t have done me any favors.
Someone was at the door, ready to open it as we approached. To my dismay, I saw the person was a woman. Was she someone else this man had taken? Could she be an ally?
But as we got closer, I realized she was much older—in her fifties, at least. It was highly unlikely she was another kidnapping victim.
She ducked her head as we approached. “Good morning, sir.”
Hayden nodded in return. “Good morning.”
Good morning? It had been evening when I’d been kidnapped, so I’d been in transit for a number of hours now. That meant wherever this place was, it was nowhere near home.
Nothing was said about how he was walking a bound, bloodied, tear-streaked girl into the house. Was this something he did on a regular basis? Was their lack of reaction because they’d witnessed him doing this many times before? A sickening thought struck me. Was that how he’d made all this money? By stealing girls and selling them on? He’d said that wasn’t what I’d been taken for, but I had no reason to believe him. He might have just said it to keep me quiet.
We stepped into the grand entrance hall. The place looked more like a hotel than a home. Though it was undoubtedly beautiful, there was nothing personal about the place.
Was he lonely, living out here all alone? Sure, he had the staff, but that wasn’t the same as having family and friends. Then I wondered why I gave a shit. The man was an abductor and a criminal. If he was lonely, I was pretty sure it was his own fault, and it was the least he deserved.
Even though I knew it wasn’t going to do any good, I still found myself imploring the other woman as I passed. “Please, help me. I’m not supposed to be here.”
Everyone ignored me.
“Thank you, Loretta,” Hayden said. “My guest will be hungry. Can you bring us both down something to eat, when you get a chance?”
The other woman bobbed her dark head. “Yes, sir.”
“I don’t want anything to eat,” I snarled. “I want to know what I’m doing here, and I want you to let me go.”
He ignored me and pushed me forward. A wide staircase rose up to the second floor, but it didn’t look as though we were going in that direction. Instead, he pushed me to what looked to be elevator doors positioned under the stairs.
Down. We were going down. I didn’t think that would be a good thing.
He released me with one hand and used a keycard attached to his belt to call the elevator. My instinct was to struggle, though I knew it would do no good. He was so much bigger than I was, towering over me, and there was nowhere I could go.
The doors slid open, and he dragged me inside.
“No, please, no.” Tears streamed down my face, the salt mixing with the graze I’d sustained when I’d tripped, stinging.
He gave me a shake as though I were an errant puppy. “Quit it.”
The doors closed, shutting off my view of the house, and suddenly I was alone with him inside the confined space. Everyone knew you shouldn’t get into elevators alone with strange men, but it wasn’t as though I had a choice. He radiated power and brutality. I felt dwarfed by his presence, as though the force of him could somehow cause me to shrink into nothing.
The doors slid open again, and I sucked in a breath, happy to stumble forward with the shove he gave me. I staggered away from him, putting space between us. Though I was relieved to be out of the elevator, a part of me didn’t want to look around, knowing this place beneath ground—which I assumed must have once been the cellar—would most likely be my home until I was sold on, or whatever the hell was going to happen to me next.
But I needed to look. It would be stupid not to. I might miss something that could help me.
Like the rest of the house, this space was beautifully decorated. A large, four poster bed took up the middle of the room, though it held only a pillow and small blanket, with no sheets to cover the mattress. To the right, there was a white painted desk with a chair pulled up against it. At the foot of the bed was a lower coffee table, a couple of upholstered chairs set around it. There was a dresser, and a shelf filled with books and clear sleeves of DVDs. On one of the walls was a flat screen television. An open doorway led off onto what I assumed was the bathroom, but there was no actual door attached to the frame.
This place had clearly been designed for someone to live in—and not only someone, a woman. Maybe I should have been happy that I was being offered some comfort, and not thrown into a dank, dark hole somewhere to rot, but instead of comforting me, the décor of the place was like ice to my heart. This wasn’t somewhere a person was brought to only spend a small amount of time. This was a room intended for someone to live in.
Other than the elevator, and the door to the bathroom, there was no other entrance or exit that I could see. We were beneath ground, so the room had no windows either. My only chance at escape would be via the elevator, and as far as I could tell, I needed the keycard Hayden had on his belt to make it work.
Hayden had been watching me while I took in my prison, but now he spoke.
“Come here.”
I turned to discover him standing there, a pocketknife in his hand.
I shook my head, my heartrate skyrocketing in fear. “No, please. You don’t need to do that. I’ll be good, I swear.”
A slight frown appeared across his smooth forehead, lines creasing the space between his thick, dark eyebrows. His gaze dropped to follow my line of sight to the knife in his hand. “Don’t be stupid. I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to cut the tape around your hands.”
“Oh.”
I didn’t think it was surprising I’d assumed it was me he wanted to cut. After all, he had kidnapped me and was now locking me in what was basically a cellar, no matter how fancily it was done up inside.
I didn’t like the idea of going anywhere near him, especially not with a knife in his hand, but I really did want my hands free. My shoulders were screaming with pain at being pulled back for so long, and I longed to roll them out completely, and to circle my wrists, which were also stiff and painful.
Feeling as though I was growing smaller, hunching into myself in the hope he wouldn’t feel the need to hurt me, I took a couple of steps closer. He gave an exasperated sigh and covered the rest of the space between us with a couple of long, determined strides of his own. He reached me and grabbed both of my shoulders, spinning me around so my back was toward him. I tensed every inch of my body as he placed the blade between my wrists and started to saw. I was terrified the sharp edge of the blade was going to meet my skin instead of the tape, but after what felt like a lifetime, the tape popped open, and I was finally able to move my arms.
I couldn’t help groaning as I rolled my shoulders and then rubbed my hands up and down each arm, massaging out the numbness and stiff muscles. I flexed my fingers, happy to be able to have full movement again. I wasn’t going to thank him for cutting the tape, though. I should never have been taped up in the first place.
“This will be your home for the foreseeable future,” he said. “I suggest you make yourself comfortable.”
I frowned. “Foreseeable future? What does that even mean?”
“You’ll be kept here for as long as necessary.”
“What will happen to me after that? Will I be released, or be relocated and handed on to someone else?”
“You don’t need to know the answers to that just yet.”
I pressed my lips together, my teeth gritted.
Hayden gestured around. “There are books to read, and you can watch movies, if you want. There’s no regular television, though, and definitely no internet.” A small smile touched his perfect lips. “
I’m sure I don’t need to explain why.”
I glared at him. “You fucking bastard. You won’t get away with this. I’ll fucking kill you if I get the chance.”
“You won’t get the chance. I promise you that.”
The elevator hummed and whirred, and I realized it was coming down. I hadn’t even noticed the doors closing behind us and it going back up, I’d been too absorbed in taking in the sight of my new home.
The woman he’d called Loretta stepped out, carrying a tray. Her gaze flicked between us, and then she glanced away.
“Thank you, Loretta,” he said, taking the tray from her. “That will be all.”
She nodded and left us alone once more.
Two sandwiches and two plastic bottles of water sat on the tray. Both sandwiches were also on plastic plates. I guessed I wasn’t to be trusted with anything breakable.
“Here,” he told me, placing the tray on the low coffee table. “Sit.”
I clenched my teeth. “I don’t want to sit.”
His eyes hardened, a pair of emeralds glinting from his face. “Sit, the fuck down, Jolie.”
Fear caused my legs to fold, and I sank into one of the chairs positioned around the table.
He took the seat opposite. “Now eat your food.”
I tightened my lips and held his gaze. “I’m not hungry.”
He shrugged and picked up his sandwich and took a bite. I hoped he’d choke on it. He chewed and swallowed, with me watching his mouth the whole time, and then cracked open the bottle of water and took a swig.
“For every meal you refuse to eat,” he said, “you will be forced to miss the next one. Is that understood? Considering the time, we’ll call this meal dinner, so if you do not eat it, you won’t be offered breakfast. If you refuse your lunch, you’ll also be missing dinner.”
His plan was clearly that I’d end up so hungry I’d wolf down whatever I was next offered. But I didn’t want to play his games.
Shattered Hearts: A Dark Romance (Bad Blood Book 1) Page 4
