Kidnapped by the Billionaire

by Jackie Ashenden

  “Oh.” She fell silent for a long moment, staring at him, and he hated that look on her face. Hated it for reasons he couldn’t have explained even to himself. “Why? Why did you work for him? And what were you hoping to achieve?”

  “His death. And the death of that fucking empire he built up.”

  “Because of your wife?”

  “Yes.” There was no other answer.

  Violet stayed where she was, her blue-green eyes burning into his, and he didn’t look away. He had no idea why she wanted to know these things, or whether it would change things between them, but he was what he was and there was no changing what he’d done. He couldn’t pretend otherwise. Anyway, she should know what he was by now. He hadn’t held himself back when it came to dealing with her.

  “I’m sorry,” she said suddenly, thickly. “I’m so sorry, Elijah.” Suddenly she was walking toward him, closing the distance between them, coming right up to where he stood, and then putting her arms around him.

  Shock held him frozen to the spot. The heat of her body was right up against him, and part of him—the raw, desperate, grief-stricken part—wanted to shove her away. And yet he couldn’t. Her arms were slim and they held him so lightly, yet they felt like iron bands around his waist. Chains holding him fast.

  She bent, her forehead resting against his chest. And then she began to cry.

  The band looped around his heart pulled even tighter. So tight it was painful.

  He’d watched plenty of people cry over the years, both men and women. Tears of sorrow, of anger, of pain. Of fear and desperation. But none of them had ever moved him. His heart had been long hardened against anything as weak as pity or mercy.

  But now … The sounds of Violet’s sobs were doing something to him. Breaking him in ways he couldn’t describe. She’d come to give him comfort, the first person to do so in years, and yet now she was the one who was crying. Holding onto him as if a storm was tearing at her and she was terrified of being blown away.

  Why? Did she expect him to give her comfort in return? Didn’t she know that he wasn’t the kind of man who did that? He hadn’t been that kind of man for years.

  And yet despite that, he found himself lifting his arms and putting them around her slender figure, gathering her in close. Holding her like she was holding him.

  The tension in her body abruptly relaxed and she cried harder, deep, gut wrenching sobs that had him holding her even tighter, as if she were coming apart at the seams and only he could keep her together. He found himself whispering inanities he didn’t even realize he was capable of, his mouth against the short, soft spikes of her hair. “Hush, princess. It’s okay. Everything will be fine, I promise.”

  He didn’t know how long he stood there holding her, but after a while her sobs eventually quieted into soft hitched breaths before dying away completely. Then they both just stood there for a good couple of minutes until, abruptly, Violet pulled away.

  He almost reached to haul her back but sensed she needed a moment, so he let her go, watching as she turned away from him, dragging an arm over her eyes.

  If anyone had come into the room right at this moment, he would have killed them.

  Violet’s arm dropped, her cheeks shiny with tears, her eyes red. “All I wanted was to find my brother,” she said in a thick voice. “That’s all that mattered to me. But now? Fuck. After hearing about everything my father has done? It’s selfish. Theo’s probably really dead and I’ve been wasting years—fucking years—chasing a ghost.” She took a small, ragged breath. “But you know who’s not dead? Jericho. And he should be, Elijah. He fucking should be. So if you want to use me to take him down, then from now on I’m all yours.”

  * * *

  She had thought she’d be the one to comfort him. She hadn’t realized that the moment she put her arms around him, she’d be the one needing comfort. Absorbing his strength like a flower deprived of sun absorbs light. She even half expected him to pull away the way he’d done a number of times before, but he didn’t. He just stood there, so hot and strong and immovable. Like granite. And then he’d put his arms around her in turn, and because it had been so long since someone had just held her while she cried, she didn’t question it. She just took it.

  It was kind of a relief to cry, because she hadn’t done so since the apartment and there had been so much building up inside her. Grief and shock and the terrible bleakness that had settled on her soul as Honor had named her father’s crimes.

  A bleakness she’d never be able to escape.

  But she could have this, a moment or two to cry and to take some comfort. God knew, she didn’t deserve it, not after what her father had done to her friend, to all these other people too, but she’d allowed herself to take a couple of minutes.

  And then she’d forced herself away, because for two days she’d managed to bear the fear and the uncertainty of being held captive and hadn’t broken. She wouldn’t break now. Especially not now that she had a new purpose.

  She would make things right. She would help Elijah take down Jericho if it was the last thing she did.

  Elijah didn’t say anything, which was unexpected. She’d hoped he’d look at least a little bit pleased, but he didn’t. If anything he looked more … concerned. Except that wasn’t an expression she associated with him, so it couldn’t be, right?

  He was standing in front of her, still in his exercise shorts; and someone must have given him a T-shirt because last time she remembered, he hadn’t been wearing one. In fact, last time she remembered, he’d been on the ground having been hit in the face by Gabriel. Who’d also gone for the wound on his shoulder.

  Oh shit. She’d been so lost in the horror of what Honor had told her about her father, she hadn’t even stopped to think about what had happened to Elijah. What Gabriel and his friends had done to him. Perhaps they’d hurt him. Perhaps that was why he was looking at her like that.

  Wiping her face to get rid of the last of her tears, she scanned his scarred, brutal face. There had already been bruises on it when he’d kidnapped her, now there were more. One darkening on his cheekbone and around his eye socket, making the scar that ran across his face seem like a stark white line. His lower lip was bloody too.

  “Are you okay?” She took a step toward him, closing the distance once more. “What did they do to you? I saw Gabriel punch you in your shoulder—”

  The words died in her throat as Elijah’s big, warm hands suddenly reached out, cupping her face. She stared at him in surprise. Because the touch was gentle, and the look in his eyes …

  “You had a lead,” he said. “You said you had a lead on your brother.”

  She blinked, not understanding where he was going with this. “Well, yeah, but that’s not important anymore—”

  “It’s important to you?”

  Violet stared at him. There was a fierce gleam in his eyes now and although the words had sounded like a question, she got the impression that they weren’t. Like he knew already. “It was important before,” she said slowly. “But now…”

  “Why not?”

  “Why do you think? God, after everything Dad did, me trying to find a dead man seems a little dumb. Especially when I can help you take Jericho down.”

  But he was frowning now, his gaze moving over her face as if she was a difficult book he was trying to read. “Why are you doing this, Violet? This … concern over me. Binding up my gunshot wound. Throwing yourself between me and Woolf. Telling them not to hurt me. And now…” His thumbs moved almost absently along the line of her jaw, a soft caress that seem to wake every single nerve ending into full awareness of him. Of the heat of his palms cupping her cheeks, the hard warmth of his body inches from hers. “You’re giving up what’s important to you in order to help me kill a man. Why?”

  Good question. And one she had yet to come to a decision about. Because fundamentally, she had no idea why. Oh, she knew the answer with regard to Jericho, that was clear to her at least. But the rest?


  You’re falling for him, dickhead.

  No. No way. Falling for him would be … all kinds of wrong. Really, what kind of idiot would she be to fall for her kidnapper? Yeah, she’d had sex with him, but she wasn’t one of those girls who fell for the first man she had sex with.

  How would you know? You’ve never had sex or fallen for anyone before.

  Violet swallowed. “I’m helping you because I need to fix what my dad did. Not for any other reason.”

  He didn’t let her go, those thumbs moving back and forth along her jawline, making her shiver. “And throwing yourself between me and Woolf’s gun?”

  “I’d do that for anyone.” And that wasn’t a lie. She would. That’s not the whole truth though, is it? “Anyway,” she went on, trying to drown the voice in her head because it felt too raw and exposing, “what’s it to you?”

  He didn’t reply, staring at her in that intense, sharp way he had. As if he could see the secrets of her soul, the secrets she didn’t even know she had. And then just as suddenly as he’d held her, he released her, turning toward the door. “If you want to help me then we need to get out of here.” His voice had turned cold. “There are some people I need to contact, things that need to get set up.”

  The imprint of his palms still burned like fire against her cheeks, the gentle motion of his thumbs on her jaw a featherlight, ghostly memory. He’d always been hard and rough with her, never gentle. Never … tender.

  Something that felt awfully like disappointment twisted in her chest, as if she’d said the wrong thing or made a mistake in some way. Except she couldn’t think of what mistake she’d made. Or why it even mattered to her.

  No, that was another lie. She knew why it mattered.

  “Elijah,” she said before she could second-guess herself.

  He turned back, the look on his face impenetrable. “What?”

  “I lied. I wouldn’t put myself in front of Gabriel’s gun for anyone.”

  “But you did for me?”

  “Yes. I did for you.”

  His dark brows drew down, and for a long moment he only looked at her, black eyes enigmatic. But all he said was, “Come on. We have to go.”

  What she was expecting she didn’t know, but that wasn’t quite it.

  You hurt him.

  The words echoed in her brain. Unbelievable. Ridiculous. How could she hurt a man like him? He was so strong, like a mountain—he didn’t bend and he didn’t break. Besides, in order to hurt him, he’d have to care about what she’d said, and he didn’t. Did he?

  He’d turned back, striding to the door. Honor had warned her that Gabriel and the others were clear that they’d wanted Elijah to stay at Zac’s place while they decided what the hell to do with him. And she didn’t think that Elijah just walking out of here was going to work.

  Then again, he wasn’t a man who let people stop him when he wanted to do something.

  Pushing away all the other disturbing thoughts, Violet followed him to the door. “I’m not sure they’re going to let us go,” she said as he reached for the handle. Because together they were “us” now, right? “Honor told me they didn’t want you getting out.”

  “Then they should have put a better guard on the door.” Elijah didn’t even hesitate, pulling open the door.

  Honor was waiting outside in the hallway, talking to someone on the phone. But as soon as the door opened and she noticed them, she ended the call, sliding the phone into the pocket of her tailored, black suit jacket. Her blue eyes went straight to Violet, as if checking to make sure she was okay.

  And then the guard stepped into the doorway, blocking it.

  Honor opened her mouth to say something, but Elijah’s hand shot up and, before anyone could move, he took the guard by the throat and slammed him into the hallway wall opposite the door. The guy began to raise his hands, trying for some kind of last-minute defense, but by then it was too late. Elijah’s fist caught him full in the face and he dropped like a stone.

  “Are you coming, princess?” Elijah didn’t look in Violet’s direction, his attention firmly on Honor.

  Violet’s heartbeat had begun to speed up. She’d been planning on convincing Honor to let them go without a fuss, but Elijah had pretty much killed that plan.

  “That was unnecessary, Mr. Hunt,” Honor said in a cool voice, completely unfazed by the sudden explosion of violence.

  “Really? And I suppose you would have let me just walk out of here, Ms. St. James?”

  Honor’s gaze flicked to Violet. “Well, that depends on what you’re about to do. Such as grabbing my friend here and trying to kidnap her again.”

  “He’s not trying to kidnap me.” Violet stepped into the hallway, coming up beside Elijah. And then, very deliberately meeting her friend’s eyes, she reached out and took Elijah’s hand, twining her fingers through his. “I’m coming with him because I want to help.”

  Perhaps it was a risk taking his hand and revealing herself like this. And not only to Honor, but to Elijah as well. But hell, why not? The battle was coming and she’d picked a side. She wasn’t ashamed of that.

  Elijah didn’t look at her, but he didn’t pull away either, his hand still and warm in hers.

  Honor’s gaze fell to their entwined fingers, then rose to look back up at them. “I see,” she said softly. “Gabe is going to hate that.”

  “I don’t give a fuck whether he hates it or not.” Elijah’s voice was flat. “I’m taking Violet with me and that’s final.”

  “You want to go, Vi?” The question sounded casual, but Violet knew it wasn’t. She could hear the subtext. If he’s forcing you, let me know. I’ll help you.

  “It’s okay, Honor,” she said steadily. “I need to go with him.”

  “You know what he’s going to do, don’t you? What he wants you for?”

  “She’s not stupid,” Elijah said, his tone icy. “Of course she does. That was the first thing I told her.”

  Honor flicked him a glance that was strangely measuring. “We need the name, Mr. Hunt.”

  “No, you don’t. I’m sure Ms. King can find out for you. If she can break my security system, she can find out that minor detail.”

  Honor pursed her lips. “How did you know it was Eva?”

  “There’s only one way to open that door without the combination code and that’s to reset it. It’s a top-end Void Angel system and there’s only one person who could possibly have hacked into it so quickly.”

  So that’s how they’d gotten into Elijah’s apartment. She still didn’t know whether she was pleased about that or not.

  “You know Gabriel and the others are in the next room right now.” Honor’s gaze was level. “All I have to do is call out. And we know where you live. We can stop you.”

  “You could. But you won’t. Because the person I’m going to kill is exactly the same person you want dead too.” He smiled one of his terrifying smiles. “Ask Ms. King. She’ll be in agreement I’m sure.”

  “But we don’t even know who that person is.”

  “Then you’ll just have to trust me.”

  Honor snorted, clearly disbelieving.

  “You can,” Violet said quietly as she tightened her fingers around Elijah’s. “And if you don’t trust him, you can trust me. I know what I’m doing.”

  But her friend didn’t look convinced. “He captured you, Vi. You’re a psychology major. You must know—”

  “Yes, I know. Stockholm Syndrome, et cetera, blah, blah.” She held Honor’s gaze. “You can believe what you like about that, but you have to know I’m also doing this for the people Dad wronged. To make up for all the pain he’s caused. You have to let me, Honor. You have to.”

  She could feel Elijah’s impatience. She knew he wanted to go and go now, and to hell with Honor and the rest of them. But she didn’t want to leave with a fight, because that, in the end, wouldn’t help anyone.

  Honor stared at her. “You know who he’s going after?”

  For a sec
ond she struggled with her conscience, with her loyalties. Elijah hadn’t told them, which meant he must not want them involved and she could see why. He wanted this to be his fight, not theirs.

  She could feel his dark gaze on her, fierce and cold, but he didn’t say anything. As if he was waiting for her to make the choice.

  So she made it.

  “No,” she lied. “I don’t. He wouldn’t tell me.”

  Honor’s gaze flickered as if she knew Violet was lying. “But you trust him anyway? Really?”

  “Yes.” The word wasn’t hard to say, mainly because it wasn’t a lie. “I do.”

  The other woman looked at her for a long moment. Then suddenly, she let out a breath. “Go, then. I’ll make sure the others don’t come after you.” Her gaze flicked back to Elijah. “But I can’t guarantee they won’t. They have their own reasons for wanting to follow up on this.”

  “Then they’ll have to bear the consequences,” Elijah said shortly. “Consider yourself warned, Ms. St. James.” And without another word, he turned toward the front door.

  “Vi,” Honor murmured as Violet slipped past her. “Be careful.”

  “I will.” She forced a smile on her face even though smiling was the last thing she felt like doing. “And thanks.”

  But Honor didn’t smile back, and the worry in her blue eyes stayed with Violet for a long time after they’d gone.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Honor waited for Gabriel and the others in Zac’s study, her hands clasped on her lap.

  None of them were going to be terribly happy with her about letting Elijah go, but really, what did they expect? Zac had left one guard. One. Hardly a match for Elijah, and it wasn’t as if Honor could stop him if he’d tried to leave.

  Still, she probably should have told them that Elijah and Violet had gone. Yet she hadn’t and she hadn’t worked out why that was yet.

  She hadn’t expected her friend to want to go back to him and the fact that Violet had was a worry. Yet … Honor suspected there was something deep and complicated going on between Elijah and Violet. She’d seen it in the glances they’d given each other, in the way Violet had reached for his hand, had told Honor she’d trusted him.