Illusion(64)

“You compared me to such the night we met if I am remembering it correctly,” he teased as he let me slide from his arms to stand on the sand beside him.

“Hmm.” I stood back and looked over him, from his thick wet hair, down over his broad shoulders and muscular chest. My eyes traced over the ridges of his toned abdomen to finally sweep over the length of his long, solid legs.

“Well?”

“Fucking beautiful.” I used his words from our first night together; the night that forever changed my life.

“Min gudinna.” He closed the distance between us and cradled my face in his hands. “You were worth the wait, vackra.”



Anna stayed true to her word. She’d phoned early the next morning, agreeing to meet at my villa. She needed to take photographs and have me sign the necessary contracts giving her permission to represent me in the sale of my house. I’d snagged the keys to Stefan’s car since my jeep had been donated to charity and been picked up the day before. Slipping behind the wheel of his Audi, I drove the familiar route to my house, anxious to get the paperwork signed and get back to catch our flight later in the afternoon.

As I pulled into the driveway, I was surprised to see Lukas with Anna, standing at the rear of Anna’s car. Putting the Audi into park, I stepped out of the car and glanced between Anna and Lukas.

“Hey Anna,” I hugged Anna briefly. “What are you doing here, Lukas?”

“I’m saying goodbye to Anna,” Lukas replied abruptly. His ice blue eyes lacked their normal sparkle and he seemed reserved for Lukas. Normally, he’d find some way to sexually charge the conversation or tease me. He was reserved, standing uncomfortably between us.

“Alright, let’s get this show on the road. I don’t have much time.”

Anna was prepared and made short work of snapping pictures around the house, leaving Lukas and I alone in the living room. He sat nervously on the edge of the couch, cracking his knuckles and rolling his neck from side to side.

“Is something wrong, Lukas?” I asked as I watched his odd behavior. He looked down at the floor and refused to meet my eyes.

“I hate to fly.”

Lukas’ behavior was peculiar, but I couldn’t put my finger on exactly what was different. He’d been very quiet and detached. He normally loved to be the center of attention, thriving on it.

“Ok, Josie. Get your ass in here and sign this contract so you can be on your way. Lucky bitch,” Anna called out from the kitchen, her voice breaking through my mental musings about Lukas.

Making my way into meet her, I took the pen from Anna and signed in the appropriate places. I was handing Anna her pen back when her eyes widened and her mouth opened in a loud scream. I felt something heavy hit the back of my head and everything went black.





Chapter 10 – Wrong Until You Make It Right


When the room started to come back into focus, the first thing I felt was the back of my head throbbing. Attempting a groan, it was muffled, my mouth gagged, a cloth shoved between my lips. And my hands and feet…they were numb from the tight cord that had them bound, tied behind my back and strapped to a chair in the kitchen. The events leading up to this started to come back to me, flooding my brain in an overload of information. The last thing I remembered was seeing Anna’s eyes widen in surprise and feeling the impact of the blow when everything went dark.

Anna and Lukas! Where were they?!? I instantly lost the last of the grogginess that was fogging my brain and forced myself to think. Bringing down my shields, I concentrated on trying to sense her emotions. Immediately I was bombarded with her overwhelming fear, her panic mixing with my own, amplifying and intensifying my own terror. Attempting to free my hands from my restraints, I heard a deep, condescending laugh from behind me. Struggling even harder, a male voice spoke, heavily accentuated with a Southern accent.

“You can’t get away and you’re wasting your time and energy. Are you looking for this?”

Derek stepped into my line of vision, gripping Anna by the back of her neck. Her hands were tied in front of her and as he thrust her ahead of him, I noticed that her face was streaked with tears and blood was running from one side of her nose, her cheek bruised and swollen.

“We meet again, Josephine. I’ll remove your gag as long as your promise to remain quiet. One shout, one scream, and your friend dies. Got it?”

Glancing from Derek to Anna, a solitary tear escaped from my eye and ran down my face as I nodded to him.

Derek reached and yanked the rag from my mouth. I wearily watched Derek as he stepped back, still holding on to Anna tightly.

“Good girl.” He forcefully shoved Anna to the kitchen floor and she fell at my feet, her muffled cries of fear and pain renewing my efforts to get myself free. I frantically twisted and turned my wrists until they burned and I could feel the wetness of my blood trickle down my wrists.