Page 4 of Survival

“But not before you take care of me first.”He winked at me.

Gross.

“Now, whatever questions you probably havecan wait until later," he said as he grabbed my arm and dragged mealong with him out the doors of the office.

We took the elevator down, and before I knewit, we were standing in front of a large metal door with a key codenext to it.

“Come here, Jaden,” he said, as he pulled meto his side. His arm slinked around my rib cage as he brought hisphone out of his pocket. Seconds later, the cuffs around my wristsand ankles linked together and I felt myself lose my balance fromthe sudden shift, but the arm around my torso kept me fromfalling.

“Look at me,” he said, putting his phoneback in his pocket. Still secured in his right arm, I turned myhead and looked up at him in intense bitch mode. “When we exit thisdoor, there will be no screaming or fighting. No one will hear youfor miles, and if anyone did happen to hear you, the snipers aroundthis building would shoot them on sight. Do you understand me?”

Snipers? There were snipers surrounding thebuilding? Shit, I hadn’t a chance in hell of escaping this placealive. The realization suddenly made me shrink inside all overagain.

“Jaden?” he warned, unhappy with my lack ofresponse.

“Yes, I understand.” I sighed.

“Good girl,” he said and then bent down andlifted me over his shoulder before exiting the building. I groanedin irritation. I hated being carried. I was a grown-ass woman withtwo working legs; I could fucking walk.

Warm air hit my skin, and I shielded my eyeswith my arms from the intense brightness of the sun even though itseemed low in the sky. The owner kept a secure arm around my legsas he walked us down a cement path. I turned my head back to see along sleek black limo waiting for us.

I didn’t linger on it long as I quicklylooked around to take in my surroundings. We had exited a hugebuilding that resembled a warehouse. A shit ton of trees surroundedthe area, but my stomach instantly dropped a thousand feet when Isuddenly realized what stood among them.

“Palm trees?” I said aloud to myself.

There were no palm trees in Michigan, noteven close. So how the fuckhadIended up in a place with palm trees?

“Where are we?” I said a little strongerthan I should have.

“Be quiet, Jaden,” the owner repliedsternly.

I turned back around, irritated with my lackof answers, and then suddenly noticed something black move aboutthe roof.

That was when I noticed the guard with therifle in his hand.

Goddamn, I had no hope in this situation,but somehow, I doubted the owner would let them shoot his new pieceof property if I tried to run now.

Being bent over his shoulder like this, Iwanted nothing more than to rise up and gouge out both his eyeswith my thumbs, but I knew that was a sure way to get shot by theguard. And even then, what was I going to doafterward? Somersault my ass home? Notlikely.

Once we got to the limo, he hurled me insideand I landed on the far end of the seat. Following quickly behindme, I tried to scramble away from him, but he grabbed my hairroughly and yanked me down to the floor, placing me on my assbetween his legs. With my back against the bottom of the seat andmy ass firmly planted on the floor, I looked up and noticed hisknees were above my head by an inch or two. Fuck, that made me feelsmall.

His hand wrapped firmly around my hair andtwisted it around his thick wrist, tightening his hold on me.“Relax, Jaden,” he said from behind me as the limo began to pullforward. I tucked my knees to my chest and tried to calm myheartbeat as his grip loosened a little to play with the strandsand comb through them with his fingers.

“Were are we going?” I asked, trying not tosound too irritated.

“I told you. Home.”

“And where is home?” I continued.

“Wherever I say it is,” he replied with awarning in his voice.

I blew out an annoyed sigh through my noseand tried to relax. He wasn’t going to divulge any information. Iwould have to figure it out on my own.

“You were quite impressive back there, bythe way,” he said.

“Thanks,” I replied, not giving a fuck.

“You should have seen the faces of all myclients. I’ve never seen so many jaws drop from a single woman inall my life.”