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I want Ben. Oh, I want Ben.
I know he’s looking for me. He’s so smart; he’ll figure out something. Please.
“Then you ruined it.” Alec scowls at me. “By driving into a damn tree. And you broke my nose.”
Oh crap.
“So I couldn’t come back to the library until the swelling and bruising was gone,” he continues. “And by then, you had your bodyguards around all the time. It was very frustrating.”
He stares at me expectantly, so I offer a weak, “I’m sorry?”
Apparently, it’s the right answer, because he nods in approval. “I know you are. I realized you were scared, and you didn’t know you were hurting me. That’s why I showed my face this time.”
I’m racking my brain, trying to come up with some kind of plan.
Fear is still clawing at me, but I’m finding it easier to shove it aside. Jam it into a box to be deal with later. Hopefully, after I’m out of this place.
“The most frustrating part was waiting to get you alone again. You were always with that man. The one with a kid. Or those security guards. But then the woman was arrested for the fire, and I saw my chance.”
“Your chance?”
“To frame her, of course.” Alec beams at me. “It was so easy. I just put all the stuff I used in her trunk. I even called in an anonymous tip—said I was a neighbor, saw her coming home that night, staggering, bloody, she stashed something in her car… So easy, really.”
I can’t believe it. He tricked all of us.
But. As I keep packing away my fear, concentrating on something much more productive, a plan starts to coalesce.
Find out what he wants. And maybe I can trick him, too.
So I make myself sound as cowed as possible when I ask, “What’s your plan? With me?”
“Thea.” He gets right up in my face again, this time smiling at me. “You’re going to stay here with me. I thought you understood that already.”
“Oh. I guess… I wasn’t sure how that would work.” I widen my eyes at him, not even bothering to hide the tremor in my voice. “Am I going to be tied up all the time?”
“Oh, no.” His hand cups my cheek and I bite my tongue to keep from reacting. “This is only temporary. Until I know you won’t try to run away. And then you’re going to fall in love with me.”
I almost burst into hysterical laughter at his ridiculous statement. But now I have a plan, and I’m committing to it. There’s no way to know when Ben will find me—it’s not like Alec was ever a suspect—so I need to suck it up and be brave on my own.
“Alec,” I start. “Being tied up like this, it’s scary. Could you just… maybe for a little while, untie me?”
“No way, Thea.” He’s already shaking his head, his expression darkening.
So I double down on a hunch, and say, “But I couldn’t get away from you, Alec. Look at you, and look at me. You’re tall and strong. I’m barely five feet. I don’t have muscles. I’m a librarian… How could I possibly do anything?”
A gleam of satisfaction shines in his eyes, and I know I’m on the right track. It makes me feel disgusting to play up to him like this, but I don’t know what other choice I have.
“Well….” he hedges. “I suppose that’s true. And it would be nice to get to know you a little”—desire heats his gaze—“better.”
“Yes.” I try to channel all the heroines I’ve read about in my books, the ones that somehow, against all odds, manage to trick the bigger and stronger villain. Bobbing my head in agreement, I add, “I always thought you were nice, Alec. Maybe this… would help us get closer.”
Please. I’ve never hoped something worked more in my life.
When he starts undoing the ropes around my ankles, I almost sob in relief.
But not yet. Getting untied is only the first part of the plan.
All the terror I tamped down is surging back to the surface. I’m going to have to try something I’ve never done before, and I’m not sure it will work.
