Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR

Nia

I sink down lower in my seat, wondering what sort of fresh hell I've landed myself in now. What is this man going to do to me?

I suddenly realize that I'm breathing so heavily, I'm beginning to hyperventilate. "What do you want with me? Why am I here? Are you going to hurt me?"

The car slows as he lets off the gas. "No."

He didn't have to answer but I barely acknowledge that as I try to calm my racing heart. I've suffered abuse before and fists I can take. But other types of assault make my stomach pitch. "I'd rather you just killed me than…." The words are out before I can hold them back, but I bite back the second half of that sentence, not wanting to say what I'm worried he'll do out loud.

"Nia," he says my name like my words have pained him. Him. Some niggle of anger helps me to gain control. Why should my death hurt him? I'm the one who's been forced against my will. Something, I guess I'm used to. Thanks to Toni.

"My father will come for me. "

"I know." His voice is so calm and so assured that my mouth drops open. Is that the plan? Am I bait?

"What will you do with me while we wait?" The fear is sliding back in, my limbs begin to shake as he slows the car down, pulling over to the side.

Casually, he reaches under his seat and then pulls up my phone. With a quick strike using the butt of the gun, he smashes the device, then rips it apart. In a final move, he tosses it out the window.

And then we're off again.

I look back out the window, like the phone was my final lifeline. Maybe it was.

"To answer your question, I'm not going to do anything with you."

I blink, turning back to him. "What do you mean?"

"What I said. We're going to spend some time getting to know each other. That's it."

I shake my head. That doesn't sound all that reassuring. That's the kind of creepy thing some rapist would say to cover his real meaning.

"It really helps that you ditched Gris tonight. At least I know you're not pining for that Brit."

Does he realize he's given something away? I suspected Gris was involved, but now it's been confirmed, I know exactly who to tell my father to kill. Gris Smith is at the top of the list. Fucker.

And Toni will. If there is one thing I know about my father, he's a killer.

"I'm Jake Kincaid, by the way. Pleased to meet you."

I shake my head, trying to put this together. My kidnapper is just giving me his identity? He must be planning to kill me. "Are you going to rape me first? Because the term ‘getting to know each other' sounds like code."

The car jerks, Jake's eyes meeting mine in the mirror. "I would never?—"

I shake my head, cutting off his words. "Why would I believe you?"

His mouth tightens, pressing into a thin line. "Listen very closely. I am not going to hurt you. Unlike your father, I have never hurt a woman in my life. "

I swallow, because it's kind of refreshing to speak the truth about the man I have to pretend to love every day. Silver lining? Maybe. "You know that about him, do you?"

"I know a lot of terrible things about him."

My shoulders wilt as I look down in my lap. I had no idea I needed to hear someone say that so badly. "He's a monster."

"Yes. He is." I needed to hear someone say that too. Shit. How does this guy know what my heart has been pining for?

I shake my head, tears stinging my eyes. I never cry. Not anymore. And I can't afford to fall into the guy who has just stolen me. "So what are you here for? What am I here for?"

"We can help each other." He gets off at the next exit and for a moment, I think we might stop. Maybe I can get away…

But he only reverses direction, heading the opposite way down the highway.

Which makes sense. If anyone tracked my phone, we'd want to change direction. And that's the moment I realize I am in way over my head.

He's got a plan and it's methodical, and he isn't even trying to hide his identity, which means he's got really good reasons for giving me his name. It wasn't a mistake. He wanted me to know it.

My eyes flutter closed again, and I sink down until I'm lying on the back seat. I don't cry, at least not audibly. I've got iron control over my emotions. I just focus on drawing the next breath.

"You good, sweetheart?" He sounds…concerned.

I don't answer. Will my lack of cooperation make him stop the car? Hurt me? I don't know. But I keep my lips clamped shut.

"Nia." His voice holds a command I don't ignore this time. I intimately understand the danger of ignoring a man who has power over you.

"If you wanted to help me, you'd drop me at the airport." The words are whispered into the seat, but he seems to hear them anyway.

"And why were you going to the airport?"

"To take a flight."

"Where? Why? "

"Why am I in this car?" I don't meet his eyes. They scare me. Instead, I keep mine closed, my face pressed into the upholstery that smells like new car.

"I told you, we're going to help each other."

"How are you helping me?" I breathe through my nose, trying to keep my head. I'll die silent before I allow him to use me to hurt my family. I may not love Toni but there are people who should be protected. My sister's face fills my thoughts.

"Where were you going? You snuck out for a date. Why go to the airport?" I let out a breath and lift my head, trying to figure out what he wants.

My stomach pitches with the movement. "I think I might be sick."

Something cool touches my hand and I snap my eyes open to see a bucket in front of my face. He even thought to bring a vomit bucket.

I take the plastic container and hold it below my face. The car hums along and I realize that I should be watching where we're going. Paying attention.

But my head is pounding, and my stomach is rolling. It's been silent for a few minutes when Jake speaks again. "See, I think that you were running away."

I don't open my eyes. I'm still trying to control my stomach. "Maybe I'm just wild."

He gives a small laugh. "You socialize once a week at the same place at the same time. Other than that, you're rarely seen socially, except with your father. That's your version of wild?"

My father…

It's not lost on me this man knows my whereabouts, my habits. Should that make me feel better? This is all very methodical. Planned. Does that make him more or less likely to hurt me? "I don't…"

"See, I think I was right, and you were running away from Toni."

I can barely focus as I sink my face deeper in the bucket. "What if I was?"

"Well…in that case, you can think of this as me helping you."

My eyes pop open and I sit up, intent upon telling him where he can stick his help. But my stomach pitches again, this time not to be tamed, and I'm grabbing the bucket as the contents of my afternoon snack land in the plastic container.

"Shit," he says as he pulls the car over. I retch until there is nothing left and I'm panting as my heartrate slowly comes back down. Silently, he reaches back. "Give me the bucket."

I hand it over the seat, no fight in me, and he opens his door, dumping the contents on the side of the highway.

What weird universe am I living in right now? Part of me wonders if this is my moment to escape, but my head is swimming, my body weak, and honestly, I'm never getting into the front seat, past him, and out the door. I need to pick a better moment.

Instead, I wilt back into the bench seat, wrapping my arms around myself. I don't even realize I'm shivering until he shrugs of his jacket, a buttery leather, and drapes it over my torso.

That calms something inside me. If rape and torture were his game, would he be placing clothing over me to keep me warm?

I pull the jacket tighter about my body when the scent of it hits my nose. It's spicy and masculine with a touch of cigar scent laced through it. It smells amazing. I want to curl into that scent.

Weird, since the man who carries it is my kidnapper. "What did you say your name was?"

"Jake."

Jake. Jake is not one of Mason's brothers. I know their names. Leonard. Roman. Jake is the…uncle. "How come you told me your name?"

"I'm not here to hurt you, Nia. Like I said, I want us to help each other."

"And the gun?"

His eyes meet mine in the rearview again. The same shock runs through me, but I'm not so scared this time, more curious. Interested. And confused. How does he think I might help him? "Just a way to make sure we had enough time to make sure we really talked."

The questions swirling in my thoughts help to add a bit of rigidity to my muscles. "How can you help me? "

"If you wanted to run away, disappear, then I've done you a large favor. Because you just left Vegas without a trace."

"That's supposed to comfort me? That no one can find me and I'm with a strange man who stole me?"

He quirks a half grin, making him even more handsome. Mysterious. "I'm not going to hurt you. Not one hair on your pretty head. I promise you that."

I shake my head. He sounds serious but I don't know how I could possibly trust these words. "Why am I here then?"

"In tomorrow's papers, there is going to be an announcement."

Is he ignoring my question? "Oh yeah. What's that?"

"The announcement? That you and I are engaged."

My mouth drops open. "What?" I can't even make sense of the words. Why would he print that…my family will think…

"See. If anything happens to you, I'm suspect number one. It's your insurance I won't hurt you."

But the ramifications of it send a shiver down my spine. My father won't think I've been kidnapped. He'll think I ran away from the shit wedding he's planned for me. Which I was…but worse, they'll all think that I betrayed them and then Toni's going to… "I really am the bait to tempt Toni," I mutter.

"Don't think of it like that." We slip through the desert, the dark of the night more comforting than I thought it would be.

"So just to be clear. People, my family, are going to think that you and I eloped?"

"That's right, Mrs. Kincaid."

"You're even crazier than I thought." I really am going to need to escape because if my family manages to get me back, I'll have to pray that the Italian boss is very enamored with me. He'll be my only hope of living to see Christmas.

He chuckles at that. "And you're funnier than I thought."

I let out a rush of air. Why is he so calm? He's committing a major crime and…he's probably used to that. My father is. Does he know what he's doomed me to? I didn't want to stay in Vegas before, now there is no choice at all .

"You have to know that I'm not marrying you."

"Technically, I said we got engaged. Not that we married. Just so we're clear."

"Crystal. Why would I think you would make good on a public offer?" My lip curls. Much of my fear is gone, replaced with a reckless need to lash out. Maybe he'll kill me quickly in a fit of rage and this will all be over. I'm so tired…

"Is that a specific insult to me?" He doesn't sound like he's gone into a rage. In fact, curiosity laces his deep baritone. Maybe even amusement.

"Nope. I just meant you're all part of the same crooked beast that runs Vegas's filthy businesses."

"My family rarely breaks laws. But your father has attacked both of the women we protect and?—"

"So I'm up for grabs then? It's justified to hurt me?"

"I'm not hurting you," he says, his eyes level. "I would never hurt you. But after your father is locked away and spending his life in prison, you can make the choice where you want to go. What you want to do."

I stare at him, my mouth hanging open. He thinks I could just go back to my family after this? Either he doesn't understand anything, he's lying, or he really is off his rocker…