Mastered(25)

He shut the door and started the walk around the back of the vehicle to get in on the other side. Evangeline immediately yanked at the handle, fully intending to be out and running as fast as her shoes allowed before he got in.

But nothing happened. She tore at the handle, cursing under her breath, words that would have her mama washing her mouth out with soap because no true lady ever even thought the words Evangeline was spitting out in rapid succession.

Then a warm, comforting hand closed over the one not frantically grasping at the door handle. He squeezed, halting her futile attempts to open what amounted to a child lock that prevented opening the door from the inside. So now she was nothing more than a recalcitrant child, a nuisance Maddox had been sent on an errand to retrieve because she’d stepped out of line. A line she had no knowledge or understanding of. Things just didn’t happen like this in her sheltered existence. She felt as though the night she’d been bullied into going to Impulse she had crossed into an alternative reality that had an entirely different set of rules and she had no idea what the hell they were!

“Evangeline.”

Though not forceful or intimidating sounding, there was still a command for her attention. For her to look at him. One she felt compelled to obey despite the fact that she had no wish to face this man. She chastened herself for even contemplating obeying the order and yet, to her dismay, she found herself complying. How screwed up was that? If she couldn’t even stand up to one of Drake’s underlings, then how on earth was she going to have a chance against Drake himself? She was beyond fright and panic at this point. She was fast entering meltdown stage and wondered if somehow she could stealthily retrieve her cell phone from her bag and call 911. But she had no idea where Maddox was taking her and no actual crime had been committed. Yet.

Reluctantly, but unable to defy his command, she turned her head, her gaze lowered, eyes downcast as defeat settled over her. She sagged against the seat, exhausted both mentally and physically, tears burning the corners of her eyes. She inhaled sharply, calling on all her flagging reserves to pull herself together. This man would not see her cry, nor would he see her as a weak, helpless woman who’d accepted defeat.#p#分页标题#e#

“Evangeline, look at me,” Maddox said softly.

His hand still gripped hers but his thumb rubbed softly over her delicate skin as though to comfort her. And the really stupid, screwed-up thing about it was that it did give her a small measure of comfort. Surely if he planned to murder her, he wouldn’t be trying to offer her reassurance. She nearly groaned aloud, because again, her extreme naïveté was taking over her brain. Serial killers were often normal, average men who gained the trust of their victims before viciously ending their lives.

Knowing she was being a coward—and, well, she was a coward—she slowly lifted her eyes to meet Maddox’s intense gaze. She hated conflict and any sort of confrontation and yet here she was, on her way to the mother of all confrontations. She wanted to dig a very deep hole and bury herself in it.

“You will not come to any harm,” he said in a tone that couldn’t possibly be misunderstood as a lie. “Drake will not hurt you in any way. Nor would he ever allow anyone else to hurt you. I know you have no reason to trust me, or Drake for that matter, but I swear to you on my life that you will be safe at all times. I will escort you personally to Drake and once you are with him, no one, and I mean no one, will be able to get within a mile of you. And while he is most certainly capable of handling himself in any situation, he is surrounded at all times by a security team and they are the absolute best at what they do. They are highly trained and there isn’t a single one of us who wouldn’t give our life for Drake, and now, by proxy, you.”

She stared at him in utter bewilderment, trying to take in everything he’d just said. There were so many insane responses swirling in her head that she was dizzy from it.

“You’ll forgive my skepticism,” she said, trying to keep the tremble from her voice that betrayed her fear. No, fear was too tame a word. She feared spiders and bugs. Drake terrified her. “But he sent you to kidnap me. No amount of pretty words or explanations changes the fact that I was taken against my will. You wouldn’t take no for an answer. My absence at the seven o’clock pickup time he commanded of me should have been signal enough that I had no desire to accept his dictate. And for that matter, he never asked me to meet him. He didn’t offer me a choice. He told me to be at my apartment at seven and that someone would be there to pick me up and bring me to him. And I was so freaked out and just wanted to get as far away from that place as possible that all I did was nod, because if I told him no then, how was I supposed to know if he would have even let me leave? Now you tell me. What sane person wouldn’t be scared out of her mind? And what sane person would blithely accept the assurances of a man who looks like he could break me in half with nothing more than a look that I won’t be harmed and I’ll be safe? What about this entire freaky four-in-the-morning stalkfest would convince any woman that she’s safe or that the man who gave the order for her to be kidnapped doesn’t plan to hurt her?”