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I shook my head at him. "He knows I have a meeting with Jack. I'll just be in my team's bullpen when he's ready to go home.”
He gave me a nod. "Okay, I'll tell him."
I gave him a little wave with my fingers and headed down the stairs. Jack shouldn't be left unattended too long. He couldn't ruin much, except my team's morale. I think Atticus was right. While Jack was well intentioned, he was not the best guy to manage the team. They didn't want to follow him and he didn't know the software.
He was playing catch-up, and he was used to the kind of positions where he just came in and led teams without having to get into the nitty-gritty of the programming. My team was used to a hands-on leader. He was always going to be a bad fit.
I’d decided I’d walk him through today and then talk to Macy about taking on some leadership responsibilities. I hated the sound my heeled boots made on the stairs as I went down the many flights, but there was no way I was going on the stairs barefoot.
As I approached the fourteenth floor, someone else was opening the door of the stairwell. I just automatically shifted to one side and kept going.
I was already late, and I didn't have time for chitchat. I needed to wash my hands and get a little centered if I was going to deal with Jack for the next hour before we left.
Whoever had opened the door seemed to be heading up instead of down, and I kept moving. When I reached my floor, someone grabbed me from behind. And before I could let out a scream, they had a hand over my mouth and had shoved something dark over my head to obscure my vision, but they didn’t get it all the way on before I saw where they were taking me.
I was being dragged into the utility closet right next to my floor. I was three feet from safety. Three feet from freedom.
I had a guard. Rowan would come and find me. Today was Rowan’s day, right? Yes. I’d texted him as soon as I left Atticus's office. It wasn't entirely feasible to have the guys on me at all moments of every day. So they were stationed on our floors. Every single employee of Pendragon had been vetted with an in-depth background check, but my guards were still stationed all over the building just in case.
Like a fool, instead of just going to the elevator and grabbing an escort, I’d opted for the stairs and told Rowan I'd see him in just a second. He was three feet away. Three feet. All I had to do was open the door, and he'd be there.
Instead, I was being dragged into darkness.
The hand loosened on my mouth, but before I could even gather a breath to scream, duct tape was slapped over my mouth. Zip ties secured my arms behind my back. I was so disoriented in the dark. And while freedom was still only three feet away, it might as well have been miles.
Stop feeling sorry for yourself and think. Think about it, Gwen. Where are you?
I was in Pendragon. This was my company, my home. So I had the benefit of knowing the building well. Or as well as I could for someone who had recently started. But since everyone in the building had been cleared, whoever was trying to take me couldn’t know it as well as I did.
I was on the fourteenth floor, just outside of my own hallway.
What's just outside that door?
Rowan. Safety.
Think.
Okay. Immediately, I tried to orient myself, and whoever grabbed me shuffled around. I tried to move, but I was connected to some kind of post.
Shit.
Something came up to my lips and I tried to avoid it, but hands grabbed at my hair, and they were gloved. Why were they gloved? Fingerprints, probably. But they were thick gloves, like winter weather gloves. Why wear those?
My abductor peeled the duct tape off my mouth sharply, causing micro tears on my lips, then something was pushed to my mouth again. It seemed like a thermos, but I didn't want it.
A hand tugged my hair back and poured the liquid into my mouth, which I immediately spat out, fearing they were trying to poison me. Whoever it was savagely released my head, shoving me forward and then the tape was back. Then I heard a rustling of clothes, and the door opened just enough for me to be aware of the brief wash of light. And then it was completely dark again.
And I was tied to a post.
How the fuck was I going to get out of this one?
27
Atticus
I had just gotten off my call and put my dick to sleep when Rowan came charging in. I expected to see Gwen right behind him as he'd been stationed on her floor. But his eyes were wide, and his lips set in a firm line. "Did Gwen leave?"
Those three little words sent me into a goddamn spiral.
