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—and am immediately caught by a pair of threateningly strong arms.
“No,” I choke out, my stomach filling with dread as I struggle in his grasp. “Let me go!”
“Can’t do that, Princess.” His voice is low and domineering. It vibrates through my bones.
“Stop calling me that,” I hiss, continuing to struggle even though I know it’s futile. He’s too strong. It’s pretty terrifying, actually, how strong he is.
“What do you want me to call you, then?” he asks, keeping his grip firm around me.
“Use myname, genius,” I snap.
When I look up to glare at him, a shiver runs through me. The way he’s looking at me right now is…intense. I didn’t get a good look at his features before, but everything about him is hard lines and rough edges. He looks like he’s killed a thousand men and doesn’t feel an ounce of remorse.
Shit. Maybe I need to play it safe around this guy.
“Can you please set me down?” I ask, forcing my voice into a sweeter tone. “I won’t run. I promise.”
He smirks, lines forming around the corners of his eyes. “You really think I’m gonna fall for that?”
“I’m not trying to trick you,” I say. “I know I can’t outrun you. I’m not going to take that risk.”
But he just shakes his head and hoists me up over his shoulder as if I don’t weigh a thing. I let out a yelp, a sound that echoes off into the distance. As he carries me away from the Jeep, I desperately try to take in as much of my surroundings as I can.
We’re in the middle of the woods. I still have no idea where we are.
I hear the beeping of a keypad, and then the creak of a door opening. Then, suddenly, we’re inside a freezing cold cabin. He swings me around, taps another keypad, and then finally sets me down. The floor is chilly and hard beneath my bare feet.
Shivering, I quickly scan the room, looking for potential exits. There are a few windows, but one glance at them and I can tell they’re reinforced and probably impossible to open. And the only door is the one we just came through, which I have no doubt was just locked from the inside.
I’m trapped. Unless I can figure out the code for the door, I’m not going anywhere.
I look at my captor, struggling to process the fact that I’m stuck here with a beastly man like him. Is he going to hurt me? Take advantage of me? Oh, God. This could be really bad. I would like to think that my father wouldn’t lock me up with a bad man, but he isn’t exactly Dad of the Year.
“How long do I have to stay here?” I ask, rubbing my arms in a useless attempt to warm up.
The bodyguard walks over to the wood stove and starts shoving firewood inside from the pile sitting beside it. “Until your old man says so.”
“Great,” I murmur.
“Don’t worry. There’s enough food for months.”
Months?The prospect of being trapped here that long makes me feel queasy. “What the hell is going on?” I say. “Why is this happening?”
“Threats were made,” the bodyguard says, lighting a match. “You were included in those threats.”
Now I feel even sicker. I’ve always known that my dad is involved with some shady people, but I’ve never thought his life was actually at stake. And if they were threatening to hurt his family, too—which only consists of me—it must be really bad.
“Why isn’t he here, too, then?” I ask.
“He has to take care of it. He can’t just go into hiding.” The bodyguard closes the door of the wood stove and stands up to his full height again. And even though I don’t want to get any closer to him than I have to, the warm glow of the fire draws me toward it. I’m freezing my ass off. My teeth are starting to chatter.
The bodyguard’s eyes stay on me as I walk toward him and the fire. I’m still pissed about this whole situation, but I guess it’s a little comforting to know that I have him to protect me if whoever threatened my dad does come after me. Nobody will be getting past this behemoth of a man.
“But if you’re here, who’s protecting my dad?” I ask, stepping into the warmth of the fire.
“He has other men,” the bodyguard says.
“Oh,” I say. I feel stupid for not realizing the extent of my father’s security. I glimpse up at him again. “So…what am I supposed to call you?”
