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“What?” I was such a jumble of terror and confusion at that point, I almost couldn’t even digest the crazy shifts the conversation kept taking. “No, that’s not what I—”
“Oh, angel! You silly little thing!”
I snapped my mouth shut and just stared at him, as his face split into a genuine smile.
“Don’t you see? I’d make a much better father than that scumbag. I’ve literally got billions of dollars at my disposal, you and your son would never have to want for anything again if you came with me. God, you thought that brainless neanderthal was your only option? You poor thing.”
He was actually batshit crazy. I wanted to fight him on everything he was saying, but suddenly it occurred to me that maybe I could spin him, spin his weird fantasies to my favor. Maybe, just maybe, I could actually get out of this alive.
I looked down as I let him talk as if I was suddenly shy, but it was actually so my hair would fall forward and cover my expression from him, in case he could see the disgust in my eyes.
“Oh, Ellie. If you survive the night, you and I have a lot of talking to do.”
“What?” My head snapped back up, and I had no doubt he could see the resurgence of anger on my face. There goes that last thread of hope… “So much for us being genuine friends, dirtbag. You don’t just kill your friends.”
“It’s just business, Ellie.” He was calm again, which was somehow more terrifying than his frantic panic from earlier. “You won’t die if your boyfriend does what my father wants.”
“Bullshit,” I spat out as my anger grew. “I’m dead either way, it’s just a matter of tonight, tomorrow, or in a few months.” I was on a roll. Was it smart? Hell no, but at this point, what difference did it make? Ryan paled the more I spoke. “Let’s say, Diesel agrees tonight, but you’ll be ordered to hang on to me for a little longer to make sure he keeps up his end of the deal. Then it’ll be ‘give me all your properties or she’s dead. Work for me and I won’t hurt her. Give me half your profits or I put a bullet in her head’. Just do it now, don’t drag it on, waiting for Daddy to tell you to do it.”
I sighed.
What the hell was I saying? I blamed the pregnancy hormones.
He stared at me for a long time, the expression on his face completely unreadable. Eventually, he broke the stare and spoke out loud though it wasn’t aimed at me. “I need to call my father.” He walked away, leaving me alone again, but this time he left the light on.
The room was so quiet I could hear the blood rushing through my body and my heart banging up against my chest. This is it, I said to myself as I tried not to panic over my impending death.
Was this how Mom felt, knowing she had no more time left with her girls? Knowing she couldn’t say goodbye and that we would spend the rest of our lives wondering what happened to her? I hoped not. I hoped she thought of us dancing in the kitchen while we made a taco bar. I hoped Stacy’s last thought was of Leo’s smiling face and his sweet baby laughter.
That’s what I thought of, Leo making Diesel and me laugh as he told us all about his day and the animals he befriended. The way he hugged me with his whole body. The way Diesel cupped my face before his lips met mine in a searing kiss.
***
My body froze at the sound of an almighty crash several rooms away. And then a thud followed by sounds of a struggle. I sat up straighter. Was it Diesel and his men coming to save me?
The door was unceremoniously kicked open and I gasped in surprise, but it quickly turned to fear at the sight of the man who entered. He was tall—well over six feet—with a bald head and dressed in an expensive-looking suit. The gun at his hip quickly became the gun in his hand as he took a step forward.
“No! Don’t!” I curled into myself with my head down as I made my body as small a target as I could.
“How did you find me? I didn’t tell my father where I was taking her.”
“Wanted to have a bit of fun in private? Look at you, you pathetic waste of space, that’s what Carter gets for sending a boy out to do a man’s job.”
“This isn’t necessary.” Ryan’s voice shook with fear that told me he was no longer in control of anything.
“Get out of the fucking way, kid.”
“I can’t do that. Dad said she lives until he says otherwise.” There was something deeply unsettling about a killer talking about his dad like a child waiting to get permission to ride his bike around the neighborhood.
“Yeah, well, he told me if he didn’t call by midnight, I was to track you down and put a bullet in the bitch myself.”
Oh, great. A cold-blooded murderer with a backup plan.
“He didn’t tell me that.”
“He told me, so move the fuck out my way or I’ll shoot through you to get to her. He has more than one kid, boy. You’re expendable.”
“Just listen to me,” Ryan began, but his words were cut off by a loud shot that rang out in the room.
