Protecting the Prince

by Dana Volney

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Eliam led the team through the maze of containers to the Prince Industries office that sat on the waterway in the back of the property. They’d come in by foot after parking before the range of the shipyard security cameras started. Their now five-person team—Noor and Roe had joined them, women just as scary as Felix and Eddie—was moments away from step two of the plan to save Winter, and he prayed they weren’t too late.

  What in the world was Bram thinking? He’d gone completely off the deep end. Did he really think his plan, whatever he had in store, was going to work? What was he going to do with Winter? Yep, you’re doing a great job of not thinking about it, man. Focus on the present. You’re close to getting her back.

  His eyes had been glued to the cameras the guys had put in his office. There was no sound on the feed. Eddie had mumbled something about faulty wiring in between an impressive amount of swearing, but the picture was clear. Bram was there, his wife, and Winter. She looked to be engaging them, and Eliam took that as a positive. To see her tied up, though, and not be in the room with her to help made every part of him buzz simultaneously with helplessness and anger.

  The five of them had discussed a plan—well, more like he’d stood there as Felix told him the plan. Eliam would head in first, Eddie and Roe would climb containers and find areas for a clear shot, and Felix and Noor would go in through the building—being “right behind him.” Eliam had looked at them like they were crazy, but all four of them seemed to think their plan was doable and no big deal. Whatever. All he had to do was take the elevator to the fifth floor, sign whatever Bram wanted him to sign, and leave with Winter. He’d leave Bram and Carmen to the four muscled, military-trained people who were not very happy they had taken their boss. Hell, Winter would probably want in on that action, but Eliam would make sure she was clear of the building as quickly as he could.

  Eliam stopped at the last stack of containers before the small parking lot outside of his office building. If Bram was watching the office cameras, he’d know when Eliam arrived. If his cousin had managed to tap into the shipping yard cameras in Louis’s office, he’d know Eliam hadn’t come alone.

  “This is where we part ways,” He turned back and huddled with the four members of Winter’s team. “Ready?”

  They all nodded and Eliam stood, walking straight for the front door, still in his dark jeans and baby-blue button-up dress shirt. The brisk air made him sniffle and he walked faster. The adrenaline hadn’t stopped since he’d received Bram’s phone call. He could have a finger missing and he wouldn’t feel it right now. The only part of him that had the possibility of feeling pain right now was his heart. Bram and Carmen would not live to see the next hour if they’d done anything to Winter. Eliam had experienced enough carnage in the last couple days and found out he was capable of things he’d never thought possible last week.

  Eliam headed straight for the elevators and pushed the up arrow several times. He never really understood why the building had to have an elevator, but it came in handy most of the time. Today wasn’t one of them because it was taking forever. He didn’t want to take the stairwell because that was how Felix and Noor were going to enter. Eddie and Roe were scaling containers somewhere—oddly enough there had been a little scuffle over who got the “fun option.”

  Be cool. Give Bram what he wants, get her, and get out. That was all he had to do—say whatever, sign whatever, and see Winter again.

  Finally the doors opened and he pressed the five button. When the doors opened to the lobby, he took a second to collect himself. What if he just wants to kill me? In all the craziness, he’d never stopped to think that he may actually be in trouble. He stepped out of the elevators and the doors closed behind him. He tapped his back pocket. Should I put the gun somewhere else? Drawing the handgun and firing at Bram the first chance he got held high appeal. If his cousin had stashed Winter after the team stopped looking at the camera feed though, they might not find her in time. No, the gun stayed put. If his life was in danger, he’d try to stall until the four bulls showed up to save the day.

  He wanted Winter or he wanted nothing. He’d just prefer that “nothing” wasn’t the option Bram had in mind.

  • • •

  Bram had been lecturing Winter for the past however long that Eliam was going to get what was coming to him, he didn’t deserve all that he had, and that Bram was delighted—his word—to finally show the SOB just what he thought of him. Carmen chimed in periodically to fight with him and cuss out Winter. Winter was now well-versed in what the woman thought was due and, her mouth was taped shut, since Carmen hadn’t liked any of her suggestions on how this could all be worked out a different way.

  The only win from having to listen to these two bicker was Ms. Red High Heels hadn’t left the room in about twenty minutes. It would be a godsend if the team had managed to get into place while she wasn’t looking at the cameras.

  Her head still throbbed and she knew her reactions to anything would be impaired. Spikes of adrenaline, especially when he’d taken her out of the closet, helped to combat the sleepiness, but there was no mistaken whatever he’d given her was affecting her body.

  Carmen exited the office but returned in less than a minute with a laptop. “He’s here,” she sang out. “And he’s alone.”

  Winter watched the doorway and prayed it wouldn’t be Eliam. Hopefully, it would be one of her team members posing as Eliam to take Bram out the minute they got through the door.

  Bram stared intently at something on the laptop Carmen had set on Eliam’s desk then stood behind him. They’re watching the cameras from in here now just to make sure he’s really alone. Surely her guys would know that.

  Holy. Fuck. She didn’t know what they knew. Everything she’d been telling herself about them saving her was just to make herself feel better. Eliam could have no clue this was a trap and not a straight trade and walk through the doors while her team sat on couches somewhere enjoying their Saturday.

  The bell to the elevator sounded. The doors to the office opened and she knew that outline. Her heart sank in her chest. It wasn’t Felix or Eddie, guns blazing, but Eliam. Alone. He didn’t have a gun in hand. She wasn’t even sure he owned one.

  Eliam was laser focused on Bram sitting at his desk. He didn’t even look around the room. She wanted to make eye contact with him desperately—she wanted to reassure him it was going to be okay and be reassured that they were all walking out of here alive, that he had a plan and her team was backing him up. Now the contents of her stomach, which consisted of nothing because she hadn’t eaten since last night, threatened to come up. Bram was unstable, and by the looks of Eliam’s actions, he was pissed.

  “Bram.” Eliam’s voice boomed in his office. “What in the hell are you doing?”

  “Eliam. Nice of you to stop by.” Bram kicked his feet up on the CEO desk and Carmen put her hand on his right shoulder.

  Eliam clenched his jaw and his fists tightened to white knuckles. “What do you want me to sign?”

  She moved her cheeks around, trying to loosen the duct tape. It wasn’t working.

  “I want you to sign your precious company, the great Prince Industries, over to me.” Bram crossed his arms over his chest and smiled like he’d just won the lottery. “All of your shares.”

  “What? You have got to be kidding me.” Eliam shook his head and rested his hands on his waist.

  Who the hell cared what Bram wanted him to sign? It wasn’t like the paperwork would hold up in court. Duress, much?

  “What has happened to you?” Eliam continued. “Why are you doing this?”

  “Because it’s his right,” Carmen leaned in to yell at Eliam.

  “Stay out of this, Carmen.” Eliam held a hand up to silence her. “This is between Bram and me.”

  Okay, she was totally glad someone showed up because she could not get out of the ropes, but what the hell? Was Eliam not going to ask about her? Did he even know Bram had kidnapped
her? Was he not concerned she never showed up? She stared at her lover, trying to burn a hole in his cheek. Get me the hell out of this chair so we can kick ass and leave. She could scream with her mouth shut, but she knew Eliam wasn’t skilled in the art of hostage negotiation or probably anything to do with a psychopath trying to have one killed. He should get in and out as fast as possible. The longer he stayed around, the more bad things could happen—knife wounds, gunshots, death. And if she had to see Eliam have a gun to his head one more time, she was probably going to have to give the personal security company to Felix and leave the country—she’d have no business being in the profession any longer. As it was, she’d done a total bang-up job with Eliam’s protection. And, if something actually happened to him, she’d have no heart left and would have no choice but to go back to a job that required no soul overseas.

  Since neither of those options were particularly awesome, Eliam needed to notice her and they needed to get the hell out—after punching Bram, of course. Bram would not be getting away with any of this.

  “Why am I doing this?” Bram was indignant at Eliam’s questions and stood quickly, causing Carmen to step back, and he brandished his weapon. He put his hands on his hips, still gripping the gun.

  Winter wiggled her hands more. This development wasn’t good.

  Eliam nodded. “Yeah. Why?”

  “Because our fathers started Prince Industries together and then when my dad died, we ceased to exist.”

  “That isn’t true. You’re family. You didn’t stop being family.”

  “Then why am I only a manager? Why aren’t I the president? Your mother didn’t even consider me for any other positions.”

  “Okay, well we can change your title.” Eliam shrugged, clearly losing patience. “Yes, we can.” Bram used the tip of his gun to slide a thin stack of paperwork across the clean cherry tabletop. “Sign where the tabs are.”

  “Okay.”

  Bram looked at her and Eliam followed his gaze.

  Eliam’s steely eyes connected with hers, and she thought he stopped breathing. He froze, only moving his eyes over all of her to make sure she was okay. She wasn’t okay—she was tied to a chair like a freaking animal.

  Eliam mouthed, “You okay?” to her.

  She nodded once. He emanated concern—head to toe, the fear in his eyes was for her. Her throat burned and a tear formed in her eye. He was there to get her back. Good. That meant he had stopped to think about what he was doing and her team was there, too. Maybe he was stalling to get them in place. Everything was going to be okay.

  Cameras. Holy shit, we put cameras in here. Eliam had probably known the entire time that she was tied up in the office.

  “Sign,” Carmen yelled and Eliam’s attention went back to her captors.

  “Did she get you into this?” Eliam pointed to Carmen.

  Bram’s chin jutted. “It was all my idea.”

  “My man’s really smart.” Carmen nodded her head toward Winter. “Can’t say the same about hers though.” She laughed.

  “Sign the papers,” Bram gritted out. “Then your life will go back to being perfect.”

  Bram was lying. Her heartbeat was loud in her ears. As soon as Eliam signed the papers, Bram was going to use his gun.

  • • •

  Eliam peeled his eyes once again from Winter. She was okay. She was alive. He started to breathe again. His entire world was sitting twenty feet away from him tied up in a chair.

  Bram, however, stood two feet away and was losing it more and more by the second. Eliam wanted to jump across his desk and punch the man until he couldn’t talk. The psycho standing in front of him, who had caused so much pain and death over the last two days, was a person he didn’t know—Bram had always been mild tempered, nice to everyone, and quick to smile. Bram’s father died nearly twenty-two years ago; they’d both been children. Bram had expected to have a giant part in the company at such a young age? Eliam’s father had died when he was fifteen and he hadn’t even been expected to take over then.

  Eliam wasn’t sure if the guys were in position yet. “What am I signing?”

  “Does it matter?” Carmen, who was finally showing her true colors, crossed her arms and smiled. “Sign already.”

  “It matters. I’d like to know what this paper says that is so important you killed over it.”

  Bram raked a hand through his hair and sat back down. “I told you already.”

  “What specifically am I signing, Bram? Otherwise, I’m going to sit down and read it.” His plan to just sign and rescue Winter was not exactly working. The fact that Bram, sitting at the desk like the entitled brat he was, thought he would blackmail him into giving away his company was beyond ludicrous.

  Eliam couldn’t handle it.

  “You are giving me your shares. You will no longer have a job here. I will never see you again.”

  “The last part doesn’t sound too bad.” He balanced the heavy Prince Industries pen in his hand. “Did you really have to try to have me killed? And kill Franklin?” He had to know. Before he left, before Bram and Carmen were arrested and plead insanity, Eliam had to know.

  “I wasn’t getting the time of day from either of you. No one was giving me the time of day. When you ousted Franklin, I thought maybe you would bring me in as a VP. When you didn’t, when you made no notice of how hard I’ve been working, I decided I was going to have to make opportunities happen for myself.”

  “Where did you get the money?” Eliam wanted to touch his phone in his jacket pocket to make sure it was recording, but Carmen would notice. She was watching him like a hawk. Alex was going to need confessions to arrest them—or better yet to make sure all the charges stuck.

  “Don’t you worry about that,” Carmen said.

  He put the pen to the first “sign here” tab. “This isn’t going to end well for you. Either of you.”

  “Wrong. This isn’t going to end well for you. You’re going to be left with nothing.”

  Well that doesn’t sound promising. He was running out of things to say. Hopefully the team was in place.

  Eliam flipped through the paperwork, signing five more lines. Does he really think this is legal?

  “There ya go.” He rushed the paperwork across the desk and started to walk toward Winter.

  “Not so fast.” He heard Bram push the chair back.

  “What else do you want?” Eliam didn’t stop, and now he was only a couple feet away from her. He reached into his pocket for the knife Felix had given him.

  “I want you to suffer.” Bram’s low voice spiked Eliam’s adrenaline.

  The unmistakable clicking of a gun cocking stopped him before he reached her. Ice froze his veins.

  He slowly turned around, palms facing Bram. Please be pointing that gun at me.

  Bram pointed his gun at Eliam and then swung to put Winter in the crosshairs. “I’m going to kill her.”

  “No.” He worked to keep this voice low and steady. “We can talk about this.” Eliam started to move between the business end of the gun and Winter.

  “Stop! Not one more step.” Bram moved the gun between his two hostages.

  “Bram.” Eliam’s warning tone held no consequences. The only thing he could do was hope that Eddie was set up. Eliam was about two feet away from Winter. So close.

  Bram smiled and Eliam dove to Winter. Shots rang out and glass shattered just as he collided with her, knocking them both to the ground. He covered her with his body the best he could. He didn’t feel the rampant pain of a gunshot wound. Did he miss? Is she hit?

  The room was silent. He snuck a peek behind him and saw Bram and Carmen lying on the ground. Felix and Noor were in the doorway, guns still drawn.

  Relief and grief sagged Eliam’s entire body. It’s over. “Are you okay?” He removed the tape from Winter’s mouth.

  He reached for her cheeks, cradling them, and kissed her. He scrambled to his feet to correct the chair, then he got out the knife and started to cut h
er free.

  “Yeah.” She stood and he slid his arm around her waist to steady her. “I’m good.”

  “Thank God.” He rested his forehead on hers.

  “I see you brought the team.”

  “I don’t think I had the option not to.” He started to grin. “They are good men and women.”

  “The best. Although, your heroics were pretty impressive.”

  “I know you’re going to be tempted to hire me. But, I’m happy at my current place of employment.” He looked into her dark blue eyes. “But you can kiss me whenever you like.”

  She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. God, her lips were heavenly. She pulled away from him and they both checked out Bram and Carmen. Dead on the floor. Gunshots to the head. Sorry, cousin, it didn’t have to be like this. His aunt had gone back to Israel after her husband’s death. Eliam would have to coordinate sending Bram’s body to her. And probably Carmen’s.

  Eliam caught a glimpse of Alex behind Felix. He was actually glad the detective was involved—having a cop there when someone died was a better way to not go to jail for murder.

  He took his phone out of his pocket and lobbed it to Alex, who caught it with one hand. “I recorded the conversation, if that helps you close the case on Franklin.”

  “Let’s get out of here,” Eliam whispered into her neck. He’d seen enough blood to last a lifetime, and he didn’t need to imprint the scene into his brain any more. This was his office—his office that was now going to need to be completely redone.

  Winter thanked her teammates while he pushed the elevator button and texted Ann about the new, pressing need for renovations and windows.

  He loved Winter. They’d both just escaped death—seven times over in the past couple days if he were counting. The circumstances really added up to only one solution—and he was looking forward to it and the rest of his life.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  “Where are we going?” Winter sat in the passenger seat of Eliam’s Ford Mustang loaner.

  He’d missed the exit for downtown. In fact, they were going south, not north into Seattle.