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The electric contact of his skin against my cheek as he moves away is enough to push me into action. I swing my arm and hit him with the cross. To my misfortune, he’s able to react in time to protect his head, but the assault still throws him off balance and he falls back.
I push myself up and go for the firearm tucked in his belt holster but have barely touched it when he’s already righting himself.
No time. Get the fuck out! Run!
With those words blaring in my mind, I toss the cross at him, forcing him to duck. Taking advantage, I rush out of the room like a bat out of hell.
“Mom!” I scream, running straight for the first guard I see.
Seeming confused, he just moves out of my way and allows me to pass him. I head toward the winding staircase I saw yesterday and down past another guard, who also acts puzzled and plasters himself against the wall before I trample him.
“Mom!”
“Lou!” Rowan’s long legs already have him out of the room and then closing in on me in a matter of seconds. “Louisa, stop!”
I don’t stop, not even when I can practically feel his breath on my neck. “Mom! !here are you?!”
I’m two steps away from the first-floor landing when Rowan throws his huge body on me. My much smaller frame easily succumbs under his weight, and I smash onto the tile floor.
“Let me…go!” I desperately fight him, kicking, screaming. I manage to drag myself out from under him but don’t get far.
His big hand wraps around my ankle, holding me in place. “Not until we talk,” he says easily, while I’m breathless and panting.
“I have nothing to say—” My denial dies on my lips when my mother appears in a large archway holding a cracker topped with thinly sliced salmon.
Beside her, the guy named Declan, impeccably dressed in his tailored suit, is pressing the barrel of his gun against her temple. “I suggest you oblige the boss.”
My eyes go from him to my mother. I stop moving, stop fighting, my body completely limp. “Mom?”
Before she can utter a word, I’m unceremoniously flipped onto my back then dragged up Rowan’s chest as he rises to his full height.
I despise the way every one of my female senses comes to life. Memories of that hard body extended over me spark like fireworks in my mind, flashes of images and touches that made me want. Made me ache.
Futilely, I push against him, refusing to remember. Hating the helpless whimper that escapes me. Out of the thousands of times I pictured running into Rowan again, this is not how it played out.
But he shows as much pity for me now as he did the day he left me shattered. Not caring one bit that his proximity is killing me all over again, he snakes an arm around my waist and fists my hair to keep me from looking away.
“Do I have your attention now?” he asks, his tone low and menacing.
As if he’s ever lost it.
* * *
After being given an hour to shower and dress in a pair of gray slacks and a pink cashmere sweater, I’m escorted to the study on the first floor.
Per Rowan’s promise—really the only thing that kept me from lashing out at my captors—my mother is already there, peering out a tall window. She’s standing beside the very man who held a gun to her head earlier, speaking to him in low tones.
“Mom?” I run into her open arms when she turns to me. Inhaling her warm scent, I tuck my face into her neck and squeeze tighter. “You’re all right. I was so worried.”
“Lulu, of course I’m okay.”
Pulling away, I inspect her for any sign of injury. But other than the bandage on her forehead, she seems to be in good health. “That beast hasn’t hurt you?”
She laughs, her brown eyes crinkling at the corners. “Quite the contrary. I’ve been treated very well. So far, they’ve all been gracious hosts.”
“Gracious?” I glare at Declan. “Mom, we’re hostages. This man held a gun to your head!”
“But he wasn’t actually going to shoot. It would have completely ruined our plans if he had.”
