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One of the men leaned forward and spoke to their antagonist in a language Meredith wasn’t familiar with, the words fast and flowing. He nodded and waved his hand toward Darcy. “Come. The sheikh will be here in an hour, and you must be prepared.”
When Darcy hesitated, the two men entered the room as if to force her to accompany them.
They weren’t taking her daughter anywhere.
Meredith lunged forward, her fingers were ready to claw out the eyes of the man who reached Darcy first, when Ayman said in a deadly calm voice, “Enough.”
He held a gun leveled on her daughter. She froze, and in an instant, rough hands were pulling her arms painfully behind her. Holding her still as they waited for Ayman’s direction.
“I expect your cooperation. Anything less will result in harm to this lovely daughter of yours. Try that again if you don’t believe me. Now take her.” He nodded to the other guard, who grabbed Darcy’s arm and pulled her, struggling, to the door.
“Mom. Please, I’ll be okay. Don’t do anything to risk yourself. Please.” The plea in her daughter’s eyes helped Meredith steady herself. She was so going to kill this bastard.
Ayman said something to the guards as they passed him with her daughter, and then they were gone, the door closing behind them.
&nb
sp; Leaving her alone with Ayman.
He stalked toward her, slowly. “I did mean what I said. About getting to know you. I recognized you. That night, at the club. The mother who’d offered a touching plea for her daughter’s safety.”
He reached her, and she stepped back, feeling the mattress behind her knees. He touched her hair, letting his fingers run through the strands. “Beautiful. As you were the other night. I wanted you then, and was sorely disappointed when Mr. Bauer told me you weren’t among his acquisitions. And then fate stepped in, and here you are. How better to ensure your compliance than by holding the care and safety of your daughter over your head?”
Was that why he’d been watching her that night? He had to know she was there looking for Darcy. He’d have seen Travis, too.
“You don’t think that you’re going to get away with this? That man who was with me, he knows who you are. It’s only a matter of time before he finds you. And you’re not going to like what he does to you.”
She smiled, then, even though she couldn’t deny her fear and doubt that Travis would find them. He might not even know where to start, with Peter, his company, anything. Because she’d been so bent on following Peter that she hadn’t bothered to fill him in.
It was more than just not having time, though, and she had to admit that. She’d been ashamed of her behavior and hadn’t wanted to see that look in his eyes again. It had been stupid. And now Darcy would pay the price.
He grabbed her by the throat so quickly she had no time to try and move out of the way. His fingers squeezed as he lifted her chin higher, and she tried to suck in air, to pull his hand away. He looked almost uninterested as he watched her flail.
Someone knocked at the door, but he didn’t release her, merely called out, and the door opened again to the wiry man she’d seen earlier. His hand had loosened enough so she could draw breath. They conversed in that strange language again, then the man left, leaving them alone once more.
“Looks like I’m needed. But you should begin to accept your new fate.” He took his hand away, and she dropped back onto the bed, clutching her neck protectively. “I’ll be back. Soon.”
Accept her fate? Never.
She just needed some time to figure out how the hell they could get out of this.
…
The clatter from the kitchen and the bustle of the staff were loud, deafening, but Travis was able to tune them out and focus on what Meems was explaining through his earpiece. He looked over at Jace, who’d arrived just twenty minutes before and would have his back for what he had to do next.
Having waited for what seemed an eternity, Travis was ready to go now, but he forced himself to be patient.
Four hours. It had been four long, agonizing hours since he’d seen Meredith taken away in the copter. Barely less than that when he’d arrived at the airstrip in time to see the small private plane take off for parts unknown—for another half an hour, until Meems had managed to figure out where the plane was headed and, with Jace’s help, arrange their own private plane, which arrived in Vegas almost an hour later.
During their short flight, Meems had been busy tracking down where the occupants of the other plane had gone after landing. Not an easy feat, but she’d worked her magic, and by the time they landed an hour later, they had the name of the hotel. From there, Meems made quick work of hacking into the hotel’s database and security cameras to discover Meredith and Darcy had likely been taken to a suite on the twenty-ninth floor. At least, that was where the owner of their plane was registered as a guest, so they could only pray this was where the women were taken as well.
Unfortunately, the hotel security cameras didn’t extend into the three-room suite, and he didn’t know precisely how many men were waiting inside. Didn’t even know for sure if Meredith and Darcy were inside. But they had the layout of the rooms, and Travis had a good idea from the men going in and out what he was about to step into.
As soon as they could confirm the women were inside, Meems would contact the police.
They had estimated there were at least two guards and the brother inside the suite now, and another four with the sheikh in the casino playing a private high-roller game of poker. But the sheikh was on the move now, and as of ten minutes ago, they were expecting room service to send up a large quantity of food to the suite.
Which was precisely what Travis and Jace had been waiting for.
