This was about Ryder. I now knew where I could tread, and what to avoid saying. I didn’t comment, and tried not to show reaction to what Greg said. X didn’t say anything and Greg continued on like he was trying to come up with a reason why taking me was a good idea.
“He hasn’t been with any women for like a year or so. Anytime we’ve watched him he’s been alone, but not lately. She’s been with him.”
X still didn’t say anything, but I could feel his gaze on me like he was waiting for me to react. I stayed quiet and kept my face in pain, or angry.
“I don’t like this,” X said in his smooth as silk voice. “Silverman. Ryder Silverman. You’re his woman?’
This time I put feeling into my laugh knowing I needed to be convincing. I held my ribs. “Ha, I’ve fucked him, sure. Don’t know if that makes me his women, though. He’s an arsehole, so not really relationship material.” I shook my head. “You do know your idiots picked me up coming from my home, where I live with my dad on base?”
“X, she’s been with him. She has guards. He wouldn’t give her guards otherwise.” Greg snapped and took a step towards me.
I chuckle. “Guards. Ha,” I jerked my head to Greg. “He’s so dumb. They’re friends, not guards. If you’ve been watching me, you’d know my activities aren’t girly, well lately. I go to boxing, out for dinner or work. I hang with guys. That are friends. They don’t have much time to hang with me otherwise.”
Greg growled, “Guys who sit in the salon all day. Men don’t do that even if you are friends.”
I roll my eyes. “You’ve seen the women I work with? They’re hot. The guys come in and chat with me between clients and perv on my work mates.” I shrug. “I also think my dad had them checking on me, while he was gone”
The mask guy might be the brains of this operation, but I had a feeling he was doubting his man. Staying with my father the last couple of days and the way my relationship with Ryder happened so fast might work in my favor.
X stared at me for a while and without saying another word, turned to leave, only to pause at the door. Greg stomped towards him and X pushed him out the door before him. I was grateful he didn’t order me tied and sagged for a moment in relief only to stiffen when I heard faintly from the other side of the door, “Kill her. I want no trace of this to get back to me.”
I didn’t waste time going to the rotted board and kicking into it. I didn’t care about the noise either. I had no idea what time I had before Greg came back to kill me. I picked up the splintered pieces needing some kind of weapon and having no time to work on loose boards.
Glancing over at the window I quickly weighed my options. Did I climb out and hope Greg, X, the injured man, and Cage were the only men holding me here, or did I wait for Greg and attack him and get his weapon? So far, I had only seen three men: X, Greg and Roy. Thanks to Greg, I knew there was a Cage, too. I’d like to think they were the only ones, but with the land being an acreage from what I’d seen when I looked out the window, I’d only noticed a couple of trees and an old barn to hide. I needed to get away and for that, I needed coverage to hide, not wide-open spaces where I could be shot at. As much as I’d like to hope they didn’t have guns, I knew they could get them on the black market despite guns being illegal for the general public. These men seemed like the kind of guys who would know where the black market was to get guns.
Fuck, I had to fight. I prayed only Greg came in and I could surprise him. Positioning myself by the door and the best place I could attack, I stared at my makeshift weapon and pondered ways I could use it as I waited to attack and fight for my life.
I HAD TIME TO MENTALLY prepare myself this time as I waited to attack. I studied my weapon and thought out as many outcomes and ways to use my training as I could. Thanks to my dad, I was an Army brat and had used guns before. I hoped if Greg had one, I got it off him before he could use it on me. This time, I would be better at fighting than when I was taken, I told myself. This time I was fighting for my life. I knew the predicament I was in and was ready as I was ever going to be, so when I heard the door knob turn, I took a deep breath in a let it out in a whoosh as I let my training take over.
“Payback time bitch,” I heard snarled before I attacked. Using the sharpest and strongest part of the wood, I reached up and stabbed it into the back of his neck. I then kicked his legs out and watched as he fell to his knees. The gun he held dropped and I dove for it. His groan was loud as he fell on me and I kicked at him. He bashed his meaty fist on my back, and then he wrapped his hands around my throat and squeezed. Flinging the gun across the room, I grabbed at his hands clawing at him to let go as I bucked to get him off me. I could feel the hits getting weaker, either that or I was becoming numb to the pain. His hand left my neck and his fingers threaded through my hair. The change gave me enough movement to almost get out from under him. I battled his hold, but he wound my hair around his fist and then slammed my head once, twice and a third time on the floor. He tried again, but this time I barely hit the floorboards. His hand in my hair went lax and I took a moment as white dots clouded my vision, but, I knew I couldn’t give in to them. My eyes were losing focus and I blinked as blood tried to cover my eyes. I fought my way out from under him and crawled for the gun before I stood and swiped at my face to clear it so I could see. I checked the safety was off the gun and pointed it at the man bleeding out before me. The wooden plank that looked almost like a stake, stuck out of his neck. I must have hit an artery or something very vital because there was a lot of blood and Greg wasn’t moving.