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“Now what?” She winced. Dammit. You’d think an award-winning screenwriter could come up with a clever narrative to fix this. Too bad there weren’t any rewrites in real life.
Marjoy put her face between the bars and held on with both hands as she cackled. “This is the best part! First, I’m going to cut off the tips of your fingers so you can’t type another word. Then I’m going to cut out your tongue so you can’t dictate.”
Her crazy laugh sent a shiver down Amata’s spine.
“And the last to go will be your eyes!” A line of drool swung from her cracked lips as her eyes darted back and forth. “That way, you won’t be able to watch yourself starve to death when I leave you here all alone! No one to care about you. No one! No one!” She pursed her thin lips and smacked them with kisses. “You’ll die all alone.”
Amata saw her chance. With a fierce grip, she seized the front of Marjoy’s hoodie and shoved her back. In a swift, forceful motion, she yanked the woman’s head toward the cold, unyielding steel bars.
The resounding crack was loud.
Marjoy groaned as her eyes rolled to the back of her head.
Amata let go as her unconscious kidnapper collapsed to the floor in a boneless heap. Dropping to her knees, she strained to grab hold of the woman’s body to search for the keys of the cage. Damn… almost there! Just a bit more. If she stretched…
“Need some help?”
Amata’s mouth dropped open when the last person she swore she’d never see again stood there with his arms crossed and a tolerant grin.
How in the world was Claude standing there? It’d been months since the last time Amata saw him. An awkward goodbye that left a haunting memory of the painful look in his gray-blue eyes when she turned her back to him. She couldn’t count how many times she stopped from picking up the phone to call him. It was pretty obvious from this last movie she’d written she couldn’t get him out of her mind.
Out of her mind. Yeah, wasn’t she just the queen of understatement?
“Claude? What?” With a firm grip on the bars, she savored seeing him. He wore his normal black suit and white shirt, minus the tie. Looking closer, she saw his jacket had dirt and mud mixed with blades of grass on one side. Her gaze lingered on his captivating features, drinking in his masculine beauty.
Claude was a handsome man in his fifties, with silver hair and thin lines of wisdom fanning out from his piercing eyes. A broad smile stretched across his full lips, creasing the skin around his mouth with sensual intent.
“Is this what you’re looking for?” He reached down and picked up a set of keys just out of her reach on the floor. “Let’s get you out of there. The cops should be here any minute.” He put the gun he’d been holding back into a holster at his hip and transferred the keys to his other hand.
“Cops?” She had a hard time catching up with what was going on. “Claude, what? How did you know what happened to me?”
He inserted the key into the padlock and clicked it open. “Come out so I can look at you. I need to make sure you’re okay. You hurt anywhere?”
She took a tentative step out of the cage and shook her head. “No, I’m…” Oh, to hell with it. Taking a leap of faith, she jumped from where she was into his arms and wrapped her arms and legs around him. Without giving him a chance to say anything, she plastered a kiss on his mouth. Since his lips were open with surprise, she boldly stroked her tongue inside to claim him.
Smart man didn’t hesitate. He returned her caress and took control.
His deepening actions ignited a flame of passion, making her insides melt with need. Her tongue fondled his in return with swift hunger.
She moaned when he broke the kiss.
“I guess this means you’re okay.” He put her down.
She grabbed his firm forearms to steady herself.
With a soft smile, he rested his forehead against hers, his large hands framing her face. “I came to see you at the studio after I saw that live interview this morning. If I hadn’t, I can’t imagine what would’ve happened to you.”
“I’m so glad you came to see me instead of calling.” She pulled back and tilted her head. Spying her shoes next to the cage, she slipped them on. Looking him square in the eye, she demanded, “Why didn’t you call me?” Her face heated, hoping he wouldn’t ask her the same question. It might thrill her he was there, but did it change anything? Being with him again made old fears rush back. How could she give her heart to someone she couldn’t share her entire lonely life with?
He held his chin high. “I didn’t call you because I couldn’t find you. Apparently, you and Jordyn’s family have disappeared off the face of the Earth. And since I couldn’t find any of them to ask where you were, I was at my wit’s end. Thank God I had that TV on when I did.”
She lowered her eyes. “I didn’t think you wanted to see me, after the way we parted.” Which she should to do again. Her heart squeezed at that idea.
Claude put a forefinger under her chin and lifted it up to meet her eyes. “I’m still not sure why you don’t think we have a chance.” He cleared his throat. “Listen, I’ve retired from the CIA. Now I have plenty of time to devote the rest of my life to us.” Closing his eyes, he leaned down to give her a soft kiss. He pulled back before she responded. “All I’m asking for is a chance.”
She broke eye contact as her eyes filled with tears. “I don’t…”
“Die, you fucking bitch!”
