Rough hands hauled her up. Fingers twisted in her hair, yanking her head back. She found herself staring into Ricardo’s handsome face right before his spit hit her on the cheek.
“You will pay for killing my brother, whore.”
Chapter Four
Tyana Berezovsky awkwardly made her way down the hallway to Jonah Pearson’s office. The going was slow, thanks to the crutches and heavy cast encasing her right leg.
She faltered for a moment when she got to the door but regained her footing and shoved the door open with one crutch.
Jonah looked up as she entered. “Should you be up and around?”
She glared and hobbled forward. When she got to his desk, she leaned on one crutch and brought the other one up until she prodded his chest with the rubber tip. Jonah glanced down at the crutch then back up at her with a raised eyebrow.
“You’ve got to do something about Eli. He’s driving me insane.”
Jonah shoved the crutch away and smirked at her. “Eli is your problem. Not mine.”
Tyana sagged into a chair and dropped the crutches with a clatter. “Surely you can find something for him to do?” She frowned at the pleading note in her voice. She sounded desperate.
Hell, who was she kidding? She was desperate.
Jonah chuckled. “It was your idea to fall in love with the guy.”
She closed her eyes. No, it wasn’t her idea. If she’d had a choice, she wouldn’t have waded into all those messy emotions.
It was one thing to be accountable to herself and to her team. She could deal with that just fine. But now she was accountable to someone else. Someone she was emotionally involved with. In short, it sucked.
“He’s smothering me,” she grumbled. “I can’t take a piss without him hovering.”
Jonah put his fingers together at his chin and stared hard at her. “As much as you know I don’t love to play armchair psychologist, may I point out that A. the guy loves you, and B. he damn near lost you. He’s entitled to hover a bit.”
She closed her eyes and groaned. “Jonah, please. There has to be something you can give him to do just for a couple of days. You’re supposed to be bringing him into Falcon. Isn’t there some bullshit assignment you can throw at him? Have him go make the arrangements for the safe house for Ian and Braden. Something, anything. I just need him out of my hair for a little while or I’m going to pull it all out.”
He studied her for a long moment. She was begging, and she knew it wasn’t a pretty sight. She never begged for anything. Maybe he sensed her desperation, not that it would take much brilliance to figure out she was at the end of her rope, because he sighed and leveled a resigned eye roll in her direction.
“I’ll see what I can do, Ty. But damn it, Eli isn’t my problem. He’s yours. I’d thank you to remember that in the future.”
She grinned. “If I could get up, I’d hug you.”
He managed a look of horror. “You’ve gotten soft on me. You fell in love, and it turned your brain to mush.”
“Could we stop going on and on about the L-word?”
Jonah shrugged. “You’re going to owe me one for this, and don’t think I won’t collect from your invalid ass.”
She nodded and made a grab for her crutches only to realize she couldn’t reach to the floor from her chair. She shifted and reached again only to come up short.
“Damn it,” she muttered.
“Problem?” Jonah asked with ill-suppressed humor.
She flipped her middle finger at him as she strained with her other hand to snag her crutch.
“And you wonder why Eli is hovering,” Jonah said dryly as he walked around the desk. He bent and picked up her crutches and then handed them to her.
“Thanks,” she mumbled.
She heaved herself upward, sweat breaking out on her forehead as she bobbled. Her continued weakness bugged the hell out of her. She was ready to be a hundred percent again.
Jonah caught her arm to steady her and frowned. “Might I suggest you stay off your feet for a while longer? You’re clearly not ready to be up and around so damn much.”
Tyana sighed. “Now you sound like Eli.”
“Heaven forbid.”
She hobbled toward the door, ignoring his sarcasm. Up to now he hadn’t fussed over her much, and he hadn’t cut her any slack. Just the way she liked it.
“Don’t you get soft on me, Jonah,” she said when she got to the door. She turned to look at him. “I much prefer you being the big asshole.”
He lifted one brow. “And you expect me to do you a favor?”
She winced. “Yeah well, forget the asshole part.”
He smiled again. “Don’t let the door hit you on the ass on the way out.”
Chapter Five
A sharp slap to her face brought Katie awake. She tried to raise a palm to her stinging cheek, but rough hands gripped her wrists, holding her immobile.
Ricardo stood in front of her as two men hauled her to her feet. Annoyance ticked his cheek even as satisfaction carved a smile on his sensual lips.
He was an extraordinarily handsome man, as Paulo had been. Olive, sun-kissed skin, raven hair and startling blue eyes, crystal clear, like a Caribbean sea.
She wanted to laugh at the idea that she was standing here, waiting to die and remarking on the beauty of the man holding her life in his hands.
Instead of striking her again, he cupped her cheek in his palm and lightly caressed her skin.
“Paulo was a fool to think he could ever tame you,” Ricardo murmured. “He was too weak, too trusting. You unmanned him in every way.”
She had to bite her tongue to keep from retorting. Let him bait her. She wasn’t going to give him a reason to hit her again.
His fingers trailed down her skin and hooked into the neckline of her tank top. He slid his palm inside, cupping her breast. Every muscle in her body tensed. She couldn’t control the shudder of revulsion, and it angered him.
“I, on the other hand, am more than capable of bringing you to heel,” he said silkily.
Bile rose in her throat. He didn’t mean to kill her at all. Merely make her wish for death.
“Take her upstairs and make her bathe.” He withdrew his hand and stepped back. Then to her he said, “I’ve taken the liberty of laying out some clothes for you. I expect you to clean yourself up and change. You look a mess.”
She pressed her lips together and looked away. It was a mistake.
His palm cracked against her exposed cheek, knocking her back into the men who held her arms.
“Don’t you ever look away from me, whore.”
Slowly, she turned to stare him in the eye, doing nothing to disguise her hatred.
“Yes, you’d like to kill me wouldn’t you?” he said in a deceptively soft tone. “Just like you killed Paulo. I will make you beg, Katie. You will beg me to kill you before I’m finished.”
He waved his hand. “Take her away.”
The two men dragged Katie toward the stairs. She scrambled to get her feet under her, but they walked too fast. They hauled her up to the bathroom and shoved her inside.
“Do as the boss says,” one of them ordered. “Your clothes are on the counter.”
They retreated, closing the door behind them.
Katie took quick stock of the bathroom. There wasn’t a single window. Most of the rooms in the house didn’t have any. The first time she’d seen Ricardo’s compound, she’d remarked to Paulo how it reminded her of some clichéd drug dealer’s fortress. Paulo hadn’t been amused, but then she hadn’t realized until later how on-target her assessment had been.
Her hopes plummeted at the thought of how difficult escape would be. Even if she did manage to gain freedom from the house, she would have to deal with the surrounding terrain. Ricardo would have no compunction about ordering his men to bathe her if she refused to do it herself. With that in mind, she turned on the shower and stripped out of her shorts and shirt.