Page 46 of Claimed Gem

“Looks like lover boy isn’t going to come to the rescue after all,” Carlos told someone. “Wish I could say I was surprised. But I am a little disappointed. This will make my payday harder to get.”

“Go to hell,” Stephanie told him. Then she cried out as the sound of flesh meeting flesh echoed through the warehouse.

Ries’ finger itched to pull the trigger, but he needed to make sure Stephanie was safe first. He moved forward, holding his gun at the ready. Then he took a deep breath and stepped into the light.

“Carlos, move away from her,” Ries called out.

Carlos looked at Ries and then the gun before bursting into laughter. “Nice try, but that’s not going to work unless you want your girlfriend to die right now. Angelo, come out and meet Ries Kafatos, youngest heir to the Kafatos Empire.”

Ries met Stephanie’s eyes, seeing the tears spilling over them and the fear. “It’s okay, Stephanie,” he said softly. “I’m here now.”

“As am I,” Angelo stepped forward, grabbing Stephanie around the throat and pulling her up to her knees while pressing the barrel of his gun against her temple. “Thank you for joining us.”

Ries had lost.

“Why don’t you put down the gun, so I don’t have to shoot her?” Angelo suggested. “Head shots are so messy.”

Ries kept his eyes on Angelo’s hand and the gun at Stephanie’s temple. He knew that once he complied with Angelo’s demand, his chance for either he or Stephanie making it out of the warehouse alive would be gone.

And yet, if he didn’t, Angelo would shoot her. Right in front of him. Something in the assassin’s voice told Ries he didn’t make idle threats.

Angelo watched him. Ries had so many thoughts running through his head, he didn’t even know which ones were important.

Up to this point, his life had been worthless. Aside from his brothers, one of which might actually be relieved, there weren’t that many people who would even notice if Ries died.

The chances that he would somehow get out of this alive were almost zero and he wished there was another way. Another chance to apologize to Stephanie and make sure she knew how much he cared for her.

He stared at her, silently willing her to see that he was doing this for her. That she needed to be ready to run and hide, if need be. That she needed to forget about him.

That she needed to do whatever it took for her to get to safety.

Stephanie had spentthe last several hours looking for a way to escape. Carlos must have hit her over the head more than once, because one minute she’d been crying over leaving Ries, and the next she’d awakened, terrified, alone, and freezing in the warehouse.

She’d panicked at first when she realized her hands were tied and she was gagged. But at least she had her vision. That meant she could find weak spots in her captors’ prison.

She’d immediately recognized Carlos and all of her inner misgivings where the young man was concerned came rushing forward. She’d heard what he’d told Ries about trying to poison him, and she was glad she’d intercepted his efforts.

When Carlos had told her the time was almost up, Stephanie had been terrified that he was going to execute her. He and Angelo had been talking amongst themselves and she wished she’d only had to contend with one man instead of two.

But she was also working on her bonds.

She knew from experience that patience did amazing things when panic would be worse than useless. So, she played up her panic, faking dramatics as much as she could, while she slowly slipped her wrists out of their duct tape bindings.

It was tedious and painful work. The duct tape bit at her skin, but her sweat softened the adhesive. Here, small movements did more than wild flailing ever would.

While waiting for them to ignore her presence, she had plenty of time for self-reflection. She realized that she’d not even done half of the things she’d wanted to do with her life.

She’d never scaled a tall mountain or swam with a dolphin. She’d never gotten married, had children, or learned to ride a motorcycle. She’d not visited the Great Pyramids, watched a Hawaiian volcano erupt, or visited Yellowstone and watched the geysers.

She’d done nothing except come to Greece, and that trip had been an utter failure.

She had so many things she wanted to do with her life, and this man was threatening to take it from her. She wasn’t ready to die. She had wondered if Ries would come.

If he didn’t, she’d just have to fend for herself.

If he did – the need to escape became even more urgent. She couldn’t let him die.

A life without Ries in it would be no life at all.