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The daughter he’d never wanted to know.
But I remembered there’d been several men in dark suits, the hulking frame standing in front watching everything I did. The man with obsidian hair and dark shades.
I’d expected to be riddled with terror, but all I felt was rage. What the hell did he want from me?
Whatever my father had sent me. I was certain of it.
As another jolt occurred somewhere close, I did what I could to keep from panicking. I grabbed my shoes, refusing to give into fear as I slipped them on. There was no way to get away from him.
I wasn’t going to get the chance. The door flew open, the man storming inside, barely closing the door behind him before he headed in my direction. He’d added a suit jacket, the open button allowing both sides to shift as he moved.
Providing a clear shot of a weapon.
My pulse skipped several beats, my throat closing.
“You need to listen to me very carefully, Whitney,” he started.
Backing away, I threw my arm out, palm toward him. “Don’t come any closer, Mr. Diamondis, son of Odysseus Diamondis, notorious mob leader.”
He eyed me warily, expressionless at first. Then a slight smirk crossed his handsome face marring his carved jaw with the ruthlessness it displayed. “I wish we had all the time in the world to discuss the last round in this rather vindictive albeit sinful game we’ve been playing, Ms. Whitney Canfield, daughter of Theodore Canfield. However, we’ve run out of time. You’re coming with me. Get your things together. We’re getting off this train in less than an hour.”
When he took another step closer, I drew in my breath. My entire life spun out of focus at that moment, the loss of words startling. What was I supposed to say to a man who could easily end my life?
“Going where?”
His smirk remained, his once heated gaze turning icy. “You’re coming with me to Philadelphia.”
“That’s not going to happen, Phoenix.” My mind drifted into a fog, but I clawed my way through it, laying out what few options I had. Getting away from him was the first requirement. I’d been played, the ugliness of the realization hit me hard. Had anything we’d shared been real or just a game he’d created? The strong woman I’d always been rushed to the surface. The bastard wasn’t going to derail my life.
“I’m afraid it is. It would seem my enemies were paying attention to what your father did with the information and money he stole.” He smiled as he’d done a hundred times since we’d met, his perfect, beautiful white teeth still able to light up a room but this time the expression wasn’t about desire or joy.
It was about retribution.
I shrank back, hearing the horrible confirmation. The last two days had all been a lie. I’d been played a fool and had fallen for some of the greatest lines in the world. I’d never considered myself naïve.
Now I considered myself an idiot. All the red flags had presented themselves, but I’d wanted to be set free, if only for a little while.
“No. If you’re going to kill me, then that’s what you’re going to need to do. I don’t really care at this point.”
“You’re a beautiful liar, my sweet Whitney.”
He was the villain, a monstrous man who had every intention of stealing my life, yet I found myself mesmerized by him. Every action. The way his dark eyelashes skimmed across his high cheekbones. The subtle yet powerful look in his eyes.
“I didn’t lie about my father. We didn’t speak, didn’t see each other, and now I have even more reason to hate him.”
“A sad situation but your heartfelt assurances change nothing. Youarecoming with me.”
“We’ll have to agree to disagree. With a single word to the conductor, a mention that you threatened me, you will be detained. Now, I’m certain you have a fancy attorney who will easily talk the authorities out of pressing charges, but by that point in time, I’ll be long gone.”
“There’s nowhere on this earth where I can’t find you.” He said the words with a gleam in his eyes, his smirk cocked and charged. He was enjoying watching me squirm. If he thought I was the kind of woman to beg for my life, he was dead wrong. He also knew that I was right.
We were captured in a bubble, glaring at each other as if waiting for the other to back down. That wasn’t going to be me. I lunged toward him, fisting my hand then issuing a hard punch to his jaw.
While surprised, his eyes closing briefly, he reacted like the predator I now knew him to be, shoving me against the wall. While jarred, I refused to play the victim, squirming until I shoved my knee into his groin. Unfortunately, my aim was off.
He narrowed his eyes, pressing the full weight of his body against mine. “Listen to me. Your actions are futile. You have no choice in the matter.”
“Fuck you.”
