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Useless, given the thrum of the engine and, again, the Russian.
Now she sat on the edge of the bed, staring out the window as they soared through clouds, the terrain below dark and ribbed with gray rivers, splotches of snow. So, maybe they were already in Siberia. The earlier mountains had given way to flatlands, and now, again, she spotted mountains to the north.
Not so different from the beautiful Rocky Mountains of Glacier National Park, maybe. Growing up on Ian’s ranch—at least, the wonderful years she’d spent there—the mountains had been both foreboding and majestic, awe-inspiring yet gritty.
An intoxicating mix, and maybe a little why she loved Ned. He’d always been unbreakable, really, and now that he’d become a SEAL, it seemed he’d added an edge of danger to his aura. She’d been in love with him since the moment they’d been trapped together during a tornado, when he’d helped her treat some of the victims. And then, months later, she’d become a victim when his car was forced off the road. She’d broken her ankle and he’d carried her on his back—even when shot—to safety.
And then he’d attacked a man who was trying to kill her, saving her life.
So yeah, she was more than a little crazy about Ned.
But he also scared her.
And maybescarewasn’t the right word, but he had an intensity, a passion, a drivenness about him that left her undone. He always knew what he wanted.
And she…she followed her heart.
Clearly, right into trouble.
But it was more than that. She used to fear that he’d die being a SEAL. But now she thought he’d die a little not being one. He never did anything small, and when he went after it—well, it was a little like holding onto a wild mustang, the wind in her hair, but dangerous too.
So she had tried not to. Tried to give him room. Tried not to get in his way.
And she wasn’t so stupid as to not know that with a proposal came expectations—she wasn’t unaware of his hope of a family, a home. And…
Sheesh, she hadn’t the first clue what that looked like—thanks, Mom. And Uncle Ian had been a bachelor, so their home life had been late night takeout, or his housekeeper feeding her at his big granite island.
Aw, it didn’t matter. She’d marry Ned in a blinding second.
And wow, she was good at the what-ifs, because it was very, very likely that she’d never see Ned again.
What was the survival rate of gulag? She’d read it somewhere, and it wasn’t good.
Behind her, the door opened, and the flight attendant came in. She wore a pair of black pants, a gray blouse, and maybe she was less of a flight attendant and simply a female bodyguard, because she also wore a short black jacket with a shoulder holster. Long dark hair piled up behind her head, elegant and lethal.
“Come vith me.”
Right. Shae followed her into the cabin where Lukka sat with two of his bodyguards in the plush leather seats. The woman gestured to a seat in front of Lukka, and Shae lowered herself onto it.
“We’re getting ready to land,” Lukka said, his dark eyes studying her.
Oh. Indeed, she felt the engines shift and the plane begin to descend.
“I’m not going to sell you,” he said quietly, his hands folded in his lap.
She looked at him. “What?”
“I think you are more useful than that. I will contact your uncle. Give me his information and, should he comply, then…” He lifted a shoulder. “We will be done with you.”
Oh.
Lukka leaned forward. “Until then, I don’t want trouble from you.”
Her eyes widened, and she nodded. If anyone could get her home, it was Uncle Ian.
The plane banked and she looked out the window. They’d left land and were now out over the sea. She struggled to place it—had they already crossed the entire country?
Maybe. The sea was dark blue, angry, frothy, and wild, even as the plane neared a massive peninsula. Oh, why hadn’t she paid more attention in geography?
