Page 117 of Lucian

Thirty-six …

Thirty-seven …

At forty, Lucian forced his body to relax.

The man didn’t loosen the wire for a second.

A professional wouldn’t, Lucian knew. They weren’t supposed to stop until the job was done.

Lucian hated that’s what his life was right now, a job.

Once more, Lucian met Jordyn’s teary-eyed gaze. He was aware of what she was seeing, and how frozen she was because there wasn’t a thing she could do. It was likely his face was turning red, blood vessels in his eyes expanding, readying to burst from the lack of oxygen. Perhaps a bluish tint was beginning to creep over his grimacing lips.

Forty-five, he counted silently.

Lucian wanted to marry Jordyn. He didn’t know when exactly, but he had a feeling it didn’t much matter as long as she was his. Every morning and every single night, he wanted to love her. He couldn’t—wouldn’t—ever get enough of her. Strangely, he bet Jordyn would make an amazing mother to his children, something else he’d never considered but wanted with her so desperately. He didn’t even care she’d only been in his life for a couple of brief months, as something inside whispered she wasn’t ever going to leave.

Sometimes that was how love worked.

It was the worst time to be having the realizations, but the mind has a funny way of coping.

Fifty seconds …

A darkness was starting to seep into the edges of his vision. If he didn’t act soon, the oxygen deprivation would pull him into a blackout.

As the elevator dropped slightly from reaching the top floor, the door dinged and began to open. It was the moment Lucian had been waiting for. He only needed to survive the trip up, as his attacker no doubt assumed his job would be finished within that time frame. Briefly, the wire loosened just enough to tell Lucian the man had turned to check the opening doors. Lucian took the chance to breathe, as deep and with what little air he could, though it hurt to do so.

At that point, he attacked back.

One of his elbows landed with punishing force to the middle of the man’s stomach, knocking the air from his lungs with a staggered whoosh. At the same time, despite the protest and pain from the wire at his throat, Lucian used what strength he had left to pull forward enough so his other elbow could slam up into his attacker’s face.

The sickening crunch of a nose breaking told him he hit his mark right on.

“Shit,” he heard hissed behind him.

Maybe the man hadn’t expected Lucian to have the power left he did after being choked to near unconsciousness, but the surprise hits worked. The wire slipped from one gloved hand, releasing the deathly tight hold on Lucian’s throat.

After that, time moved so much faster.

Lucian couldn’t consider Jordyn still pressed into the corner, or how he struggled to catch breath as he turned to face the man. He kicked the wire that fell to the floor off to the side, out of reach. Startlingly quick, his fists landed one after the other into a bleeding, broken face he didn’t recognize. Lucian didn’t register his knuckles spitting open on the man’s teeth as he continued his assault until the guy was backed into the other side of the elevator.

Rage swelled with every hit. Lucian trembled all over. The man blindly waved out at him, maybe in an effort to hit back, but the blood was undoubtedly blinding him and the strength of the defensive moves were weak at best.

With all the force he could muster, Lucian’s knee landed to the man’s stomach, again taking away his air. Groaning, the man doubled over, falling to his knees on the floor. After, he reached over and hit the keypad on the elevator to close the doors before hitting the ground floor button to take them back down. Lucian released a shaky exhale, his fists clenching into tight balls at his sides.

“I have sixty seconds before this thing stops again,” Lucian told the man. “That’s sixty seconds with just you and me, asshole. Sixty seconds in a six-by-six metal box you planned to kill me in, but that you can’t get out of, now. Just imagine the damage I can do to you in one minute. Start counting.”

“Lucian …”

Jordyn’s painful whisper behind him made Lucian tense all over. “I’m fine.”

“Okay,” she replied bleakly.

“Fifty-five,” Lucian informed the man beneath him. “Tell me who hired you and I’ll make it easy.”

The man chuckled, though it sounded painful. “I doubt that.”

Lucian struck out with a kick that sent the man’s head flying back into the wall. Gurgles of bitter laughter answered the hit. “Who?”