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“Good night, all.” I made my way out of the private room and through the main dining room. The valet brought my car around and I checked my phone for messages. It was unnecessary, but I listened for voicemails just in case one of them didn’t pop up as a notice on my phone.
Of course, there was nothing from Kennedy. I sent a text to her just in case it would go through, but it seemed as pointless as the entire dinner. I’d left her alone, and for what?
My dinner with the Castilles had eaten up precious time. An errand to garner information about Crew had become more about family politics than the kidnapping. It was an error I wouldn’t repeat. I couldn’t afford to waste that kind of time again. I wouldn’t. Not when she needed me.
Chapter9
Kennedy
Iwoke up with a pounding headache and a shooting pain in my hand. I immediately looked for Crew. He was hurt too. I thought he had a broken rib. Then my stomach sank, and I remembered it was a dream. He wasn’t here in the cabin with me. Shit. It had felt real. I pushed up with good hand and moved my feet to the floor slowly. I couldn’t get my bearings. I couldn’t shake the conversation I had with Crew in the dream. I shook my wrist and wiggled my fingers, trying to get sensation back.
I took a deep breath of hot air. The damn radiator had started hissing again. I had no idea what time it was. I wanted to see Knight’s eyes. His grin. Hear his sexy voice say he was back with tons of food. My stomach rumbled at the suggestion of eating anything. I’d pay a hundred dollars for a croissant right now.
I closed my eyes reliving bits and pieces of the dream. I couldn’t put all the parts together. It was blurry and fading from my consciousness like a wafting fog drifting through the cabin. God, he had looked terrible in the dream. His five o’clock shadow was starting to show. The dark circles under his eyes made it seem like he hadn’t slept at all.
“Where are we? Who put us here?” I asked him, feeling the hysteria in my chest. I didn’t want Crew to see it or recognize it, but it was harder to push it down. We had been in the cabin for over a day at that point. “Why? Why the hell are we still here?” I ran my fingers through my hair. I was still wearing the silk suit from the office meeting with Knight. I felt dirty. Exhausted. It looked as if someone had dragged me through the mud. Even my knees were caked in dirt.
“Do you have any idea where we are or how long we’ve been here?” I pressed Crew. I wanted answers.
Crew rested his hands on his knees. “I’m not sure. I woke up not long before you. I haven’t seen or heard anyone.” He made the same scan of the room as I did.
“The heat,” I groaned. “Did they leave us any water?”
Crew searched the cabinets. “Found it.” Crew grabbed two bottles out of the small refrigerator, twisted off the caps, and handed one to me. I drank greedily.
Whoever had left us here, dropped us on the floor and took off.
“The door?” I lowered the bottle from my lips.
Crew shook his head. “I tried it.”
The windows were boarded up. “Are any of the boards loose?”
“I didn’t find any, but there’s nothing in here. I don’t know what we could use.”
Neither of us were survivalists. Crew had a degree in accounting and marketing, and I was a mafia queen.
“Shit.” I whispered more to myself than to illicit a response.
“I don’t know why I thought I could just get out of New Orleans. Start over.” Crew hung his head. “It was never going to happen.”
“You still can leave with her. We’ll get out of here.” He couldn’t give up this easily. Not this soon.
“Do you think they have Seraphina too?” His eyes landed on mine.
“Oh God. You think this is about you two?”
“Why wouldn’t it be?” He seemed startled. “This is exactly what we were worried about. This. Being discovered. It has to be the reason we’re here now.”
I cleared my throat and took another sip of water. “It could be,” I admitted. “Or you could have been in the wrong place. There’s no way to know until we hear the demands. Crew, this could be a deal gone bad at work. You know that.”
“But Seraphina.” He was panicked. “Oh God, Seraphina,” he whispered.
“I’m sure she is fine,” I tried to reassure him. “We have to figure out as much as we can from inside this cabin so we can get out of here.” There was a sliver of fear that she was also wrapped up in this. Would one of the organizations hurt a pregnant woman? Had the families fallen so far into a dark hole we had become unrecognizable?
“I agree, but how?”
“Let’s start in one corner and work our way around the room,” I suggested.
