"Like I said before, I knew Tyler would end badly. I just didn't know how badly. Not until today. Seeing his face like that." Luke's calm exterior had crumbled under the grief of his brother's death.
My thoughts went to Wash and how he put on a gruff front. But I'd seen the man inside-funny and gentle and sexy as all hell. I already missed him. It was stupid and made my chest hurt to think about, but I refused to lie to myself any longer. I loved him. I loved him from the moment I'd seen him in that courtroom years ago. But he didn't love me. The thought was final, as if I'd closed a book and put it up onto a high shelf.
Luke reached across the table and gripped my hand. "I can tell something's bothering you. I won't ask what. But maybe we can lean on each other a bit, if that's all right?"
I nodded.
He smiled and looked at my cup. "Drink your coffee. You'll feel better."
I took a large swallow, the warmth spiraling down into my empty stomach. I'd skipped breakfast, so the coffee was a welcome addition.
Luke released my hand and leaned back. "Now tell me what's wrong."
"I can't. You have plenty of trouble without my complaining." I took another drink.
"It'll take my mind off things. Please. Maybe I can help?"
I snorted. "I doubt it. Unless you have experience dealing with hardasses?"
"All the time. Try me." He rubbed at his eyes with the thumb and index finger of one hand. The movement made his T-shirt ride up his bicep a bit. The bottom letters of a tattoo appeared, but then they went wavy as my vision blurred. I rubbed my eyes.
"Does that say 'Chip'?"
He dropped his hand, and the tattoo was obscured by the fabric again. "My dad used to call me that. Woodworkers, you know? So, chip off the old block?"
I smiled, but a shadow flitted across my mind that I couldn't quite catch. The edges were fuzzy. "That's actually kind of nice. And I'm impressed an unassuming financier has ink." I stared at my coffee but couldn't focus.
"What do they say? You can't judge a book by the cover?" He smiled, though I couldn't see his eyes beneath the brim of the hat. "Now, I'll ask one more time, what's upsetting you?"
I'm upset? Oh yes. "It's just Wash. He's so . . ."
"Caroline?"
I lost my thought. What was I talking about? I set my coffee cup down. "Wash. You know, he's so complicated."
But I hadn't said complicated. I'd slurred straight through the word. Luke was smiling, his even white teeth the only thing I could see until he stood and caught me as I slid from my seat. Then I saw his light blue eyes. He slung my arm over his shoulder and hustled me out the coffee shop's side door. My limbs were limp, and my eyes kept trying to close.
"Stop." Had I said it or just thought it?
Luke dropped me into the passenger's side of a black car at the curb. He jumped in the driver's side and yanked me upright by my hair before fastening my seat belt. I couldn't even cry out. I was paralyzed, though the pain registered as tiny eruptions along my scalp.
"Wouldn't want to get busted for a moving violation." He smirked and pulled away from the coffee shop.
Everything faded until all I could see was his profile and the occasional glance from those blue eyes. Then nothing.
Cold and aching, I woke. The sun was low in the windows ahead of me. I lifted my head but didn't get far when a pounding crush of pain swamped my sense. My head felt like it had gone fifteen rounds with a heavyweight. I was gagged-a round, rubbery ball pressed on my tongue. Where am I?
I tried to look again and managed to get my head up. I was nude, every part of my body assaulted by cold air. I tried to move my hands, but my wrists were stretched away from me. My ankles, too, bound and pulled wide apart. I was inches above the floor, suspended in rigging in what was otherwise a normal sitting room. Victorian furniture dotted the room, an elegant brocade covered the walls, and a chandelier gleamed brightly above my head. The only things out of place were me and the layer of plastic beneath me.
I shook, my muscles trembling as I remembered what had happened. Luke had drugged me. And now I was here. I yanked harder at the bonds on my wrists and ankles, but they held fast.
"This is a tried and true system, Caroline. Trust me. You aren't going anywhere." Luke's voice came from behind me, but I couldn't see him.
I tried to scream, but the ball gag effectively kept my sounds within the walls of the room.
Fingers touched my side, and I jerked as Luke came into view. He was shirtless and moved to stand in front of me, placing his hands on my waist as he stared into my eyes. My heart raced, and I was having trouble breathing, my nose incapable of keeping air flowing to my lungs.
"I admit this is my favorite part." He put his hand in between my breasts and pressed. His eyes closed as if he were hearing the sweetest music. "Your heart pounding so hard before it stops forever."