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“Sorry, boss.”
A faint sea breeze hangs in the air, and the crash of water lapping over the docks signals to my brain we’ve arrived at our destination. Rose and I are walked another few yards before a sharp squeal echoes in the tense silence.
“Step up.” A male voice says, not the deep one I’ve now come to recognize.
I do as I’m told while Rose puts up a fight just ahead of me. I wish I could see what’s happening, but I can’t make out anything with this darned hood over my head. The asphalt beneath my sneakers is replaced by metal, and it only takes me a second to realize where we are now. Inside one of those huge metal containers in the shipping yard.
Panic grips my chest, and I try to scream but nothing more than a muffled moan seeps out. Oh God, please, I don’t want to die today.
Firm hands press down on my shoulders, and my knees give way despite my best efforts. My butt lands on a seat instead of the metal floor as I’d imagined.
“Just behave and everything will be fine, little fox.” That familiar voice appears beside me again.
I try to draw in a steadying breath, but my lungs are rioting. I’m terrified I’m going to pass out. My chest is heaving, and darkness invades the corners of my vision, and this time it’s not just from the hood.
Rose screams beside me, muttering something. Help her? Oh, me. She’s talking about me.
The hood is ripped off my head, and I blink quickly, until my pupils adjust from the pitch black. A pair of mesmerizing sapphire orbs drill into me.
“Are you having trouble breathing?”
I can barely make out the man’s words over my thundering heart. Finally, I focus on the movement of his lips, on the thin scar that bisects the upper one. My head bobs up and down.
“Do you promise to behave if I remove the gag?”
I nod again.
His hands come around my head and untie the knot. I draw in a lungful of blessed air, and my manic pulse begins to settle. He remains standing in front of me, those piercing irises razing over me.
Fudge, now my heartbeat is ratcheting up again.
A door creaks open, flooding the container with light. I take a quick look at Rose who sits beside me and whisper, “Are you okay?”
She nods quickly, the hood still over her head.
The clang of approaching footsteps jerks my attention to the two males walking toward us. All the blood in my veins ices over.
Jasper, my ex-husband.
“What are you doing here?” I splutter. Rose and I had only just discovered his dirty little secret moments before we were snatched.
Jasper opens his mouth to respond, but the other guy gags him before he can get a word out. Then the hood comes next.
The man with the scar on his lip who I’m now starting to understand is the head of this whole operation crouches in front of me. “It’s almost over, little fox. I must say I’m so thrilled to finally meet you in person. After all these months spending quality time with Jasper, I feel as if I know you.”
Before I can respond, he slips the gag around my mouth again. My eyes go wide, my lungs constricting once more.
“Just breathe through your nose, and you’ll be fine. It’s the panic that’s not letting you breathe. Not the gag or the hood. Understand?”
I nod slowly, trying my best to temper the fear. When all I really want to do is kick the son of a biscuit in the family jewels.
He drops the hood back over my head, and everything is black once again.
CHAPTER 3
BACK IN BUSINESS
Maisy
