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“She was a part of it. She was right here.” He looked around himself.
“She was here the night you executed the Donatellas?” She wanted her voice to be steel, but there was a quiver beneath it she couldn’t contain.
“Oh, sure. She liked coming to Bancroft properties and fucking me,” he said, and Savvy knew it was a lie. “She liked the danger. Marcus wasn’t invited, but he showed up with Chandra. They caught us, and they would have told the old man, which wasn’t part of the plan.”
“Their deaths never had anything to do with the dune failure,” Savvy said.
“That was what everyone wanted to believe, so I pushed ’em there. ‘Blood money’ was a nice touch.”
She felt soul sick for her sister, seeing how terribly she’d been used and abused by this human aberration.
“I like you, Detective. I really do. It’s too bad you couldn’t be like Nadine or Kristina and hang around awhile, but you’re not the type to play along, are you?”
“Kristina never played along.”
“Oh, she did. She did. She helped me haunt the old man. She despised him.”
Fury licked through Savannah. “That’s a lie. She liked Declan.”
“That’s why I picked her, y’know. ’Cause she married St. Cloud. His grandson. My nephew,” he said, chortling.
“You’re not a Bancroft,” Savvy said again. “Catherine said your father was a monster.”
He flew forward and slapped her hard. Her senses spun. How long had it been since he’d abducted her? It had been afternoon, and now it was night. She’d called Hale, and he said he would call her back. How many times had he tried?
“My father is Declan Bancroft!”
“No.”
This time his answer was to pinch one of her nipples, hard. Savvy shuddered but was too cold to react much, and, anyway, it was nothing compared to what he could do with his thoughts. He ran an experimental hand down her body, and though she clenched her teeth, sick with worry, the terrible feeling didn’t follow.
“You’re thinking about him,” he suddenly accused her, and he slapped her again so hard, she saw stars. She had been thinking about Hale. How much she wanted to be with him. How, if she got out of this mess, she would make it work between them. How it didn’t matter what anyone thought. She wanted a future with Hale and hoped he felt the same.
And then she felt it coming, that awful snaky sensation, like being overcome by a dark sexual twine. She moaned in fear and blanked her mind to it, thinking only of Hale, and baby Declan, and the love she felt for her sister, who’d fallen victim to this madman. The throbbing sexual netting seemed to lessen, and she squeezed herself tightly, fighting him off.
“Fuck!” Charlie yelled in frustration. “You can’t
get away from me!”
But something must be working, or he wouldn’t be so upset. She bore down inside her mind and thought about Hale some more, recalling the hard line of his jaw and the surprise of his smile, the long, dark lashes over steely gray eyes, the male scent that was uniquely his, which she’d smelled in his bedroom.
The bellow that rose from Charlie’s chest made Savvy’s eyes fly open. She was shaking uncontrollably now. Hypothermia.
He glared at her with consuming fury. “You want him? Your sister’s husband? You want him?”
“Yes,” she said, fighting to keep her voice from trembling. “I want him. Not you.”
He ripped at his hair, clearly overcome with her defiance.
Then her phone started ringing from inside her messenger bag, and she recognized Hale’s ring tone. With a screech of fury that made her worry the last shreds of his sanity might be fleeing, he grabbed up the bag and yanked out her still ringing phone, holding it up for her to see.
“Lover boy,” he snapped when the ringing finally stopped.
“He’s been trying to reach you.”
Savvy tried to keep her relief from her face. He knew she was missing.
“Well, maybe it’s time we let him know where you are. . . .”
