Chapter 23

Twenty-Three

The pain in Jess’s shoulder wasn’t subsiding. If anything, it was getting worse and any chance of her getting back into the dance company this upcoming season was fading with every passing minute.

Daiken was pacing around the room, pulling at his hair, muttering to himself. She only knew his name because he kept talking about himself in the third person.

At least he’d taken the tape off her mouth, although the skin around her mouth was burning from the tape. “Why are you doing this?” she asked again.

Jess had asked the same question so many times, she was surprised he hadn’t taped her mouth again. Then again, the second they’d gotten to the house, his demeanor had changed, as if this place was a trigger for him.

She’d been faking sleep when he carried her inside. She figured it would be the best way to ensure that he didn’t use the knife he had.

“Shut up. You know what you’ve done.”

Jess kept her mouth shut, her mind working through why she thought she recognized his name. She’d heard it before, but couldn’t put her finger on where.

Why couldn’t she remember?

She studied him as he gazed out the window; even his profile seemed familiar. As if she’d seen him from afar. She closed her eyes, hoping that would help.

“I got her.”

Daiken’s words had her eyes opening.

He was on the phone. Who was he talking to? Had someone asked him to get her?

“What do you mean? I thought this is what you wanted! Her out of the picture.” His voice was getting louder and louder with every word he spoke. Clearly, whoever he was speaking to wasn’t happy with what he’d done.

Jess couldn’t make out what the other person was saying, but she was a woman and she was yelling, because Jess could hear her.

“I did everything I’ve done because you’ve spent the few weeks bitching about the rumor you heard about her taking your place. You hate her. You said you wished she wasn’t around. I’m making that happen for you, Benita. Scaring her didn’t work but taking her, and making her disappear will.”

Benita!

Oh my God! Benita!

Jess was aware that Benita had a huge diva complex, but she didn’t think Benita would go as far as to have Jess kidnapped.

Shit...Daiken is Benita’s boyfriend .

No wonder the name and the man seemed familiar. Jess had heard the way Benita talked about her boyfriend and how wonderful he was. How he could afford to follow her around the country on tour because he came from a wealthy family.

The guy standing in front of Jess looked far from someone that came from a family of any means. He’d ditched the scrubs and cap he’d had on when he took her and the clothes he wore were dirty. His hair looked like it hadn’t been washed in days. The way he was talking and muttering to himself prior to his call to Benita all pointed to him having some sort of mental breakdown. Not to mention what he’d done with her.

“I don’t care! I’ve done this for you because I love you. Now you’ll get your position back as lead dancer and will never have to worry about this woman again.” Daiken threw the phone against the wall and stalked over to Jess, pulling the knife out he’d held against her neck earlier.

“You don’t want to do this, Daiken,” she said softly, hoping if she talked to him, she could talk him off whatever ledge he was on. “Think about the consequences of what you’re going to do. It won’t end well for you. You’ll end up living the rest of your life in prison.”

He laughed, and not in a jokey way, but in a maniacal way that movie villains did. “I won’t. I’ll be fine. No one will ever know it’s me who did this.”

He was completely delusional. “You just told Benita that you’d taken me. Do you plan on getting rid of her, too?”

Daiken leaned in her face. “Listen here and listen good. Benita isn’t going to say a word. She’s got what she wants. She’s going to thank me. And as for me, as I said, no one can touch me. My father has connections everywhere. Why are you worried? It’s not like you’re going to be around to see what happens to me.” He raised the knife. “I hope you like hell, because that’s where you’re going for taking my girl’s position.”

Jess froze. Her arms and legs were still bound. There wasn’t anything she could do.

Daiken’s eyes were wide, as if he were getting off on the prospect of killing her.

Maybe he was.

She couldn’t just lie there. Jess rolled to her side, kicking with her bound legs, and screamed as loud as she could. Her kick caught his arm and the knife clattered to the floor.

Jess hauled herself off the couch and onto the floor, covering the knife. It would be easy for him to roll her off it, but maybe she could somehow push the knife under the couch and get herself behind it.

She didn’t care if she scraped every inch of her clothes and skin off getting to safety. If the action caused her to never be able to dance again, because her shoulder was burning right now, it didn’t matter. If it was her only hope to keep herself safe, then she’d do it.

Finn wanted to bolt through the front door when he heard Jess scream.

“Don’t do it, Hive.” Kevlar grabbed the back of his tactical vest and pulled him back around the side of the house.

The unassuming house in the unassuming neighborhood was the last place Finn expected Daiken to take Jess.

Yet, here they were.

The residents in the surrounding houses had been advised to stay locked inside, and the police and SWAT had set up, ready to begin negotiations. The whole process had taken a matter of minutes, and it had surprised Finn at how quickly it had all gone down.

“Why aren’t they bursting through the door?” Finn asked Kevlar, when a couple of minutes had passed since Jess screamed.

Wouldn’t that have been the sign to forget protocol and just get the fuck inside the house? “She could be…” He couldn’t say the word. Didn’t want to say the word. But what if that scream was the last thing he would ever hear from Jess?

“Don’t go there. You know they set up cameras inside. The sniper is ready to take the fucker down. We just have to wait. We’re not in charge of this operation. They’re letting us be here because one of our own is inside. I know you want to get in there. I would, too, if it was Remi. It won’t be long.”

Kevlar’s words made sense, but it didn’t make it any easier to deal with. As if his thoughts had been transmitted to the leader of the SWAT team, the man raised his hand and the door was smashed open without any fanfare. No time for negotiation or polite hellos, not when something they’d seen or heard had propelled them into action.

“Steady,” his fellow SEAL cautioned. “When it’s clear, they’ll let us in.”

The convoy of officers entered the house.

Finn, Kevlar, Oak, and the rest of Kevlar’s team were surrounding the perimeter of the house, should the guy decide to jump through a window or go out the back door.

Shouting from the SWAT team, as well as the asshole who took Jess, filled the air and his impatience was at an all-time high.

He wanted to get inside.

Kevlar tapped his shoulder. “It’s go time.”

Finn didn’t need to be told twice. He sprinted to the front of the house. He skidded onto the porch, stepped over the broken door, and gasped at the inside of the place.

The outside might have looked like a normal neighborhood house. The inside, however, revealed no one had lived there for a while. Dust covered every surface. There wasn’t a lot of furniture—only a couple of chairs and a couch. A horrid-looking couch, but it had the most important person to him perched on the end.

On the floor to the right, there were two officers holding Daiken Nicholas down while another one cuffed him.

Daiken was screaming, but Finn blocked it all out. His focus was on the woman who held his heart. The woman who was his whole world. The woman he’d gladly give up his career for.

Nothing mattered to him more than Jessica Killian.

Finn rushed to her and fell to his knees. “Jess!” Anything else wouldn’t get past the lump in his throat. He brushed a hand down her cheek, noting the abrasions and redness around her mouth, indications of tape burn. Long, severed zip ties lay nearby. That bastard must’ve had her wrists and legs bound. One of the SWAT team must have cut them off.

“Finn!” Jess winced as she reached for him.

Carefully, Finn wrapped his arms around her and lifted her from the couch.

She snuggled into his hold, sobs wracking her body.

His own eyes filled with tears, the relief that he had his woman in his arms overwhelming.

Someone—he didn’t know who—guided them over to one of the large lounge chairs and Finn sank into it, never letting Jess go.

Around them, movement happened.

Daiken was taken away, yelling that he’d done nothing wrong.

Finn blocked it all out. All his attention was on Jess, helping her through this moment, listening to the release of emotions that formed in the mass of sobs still coming from her.

“You’re safe, Jess. I’m sorry I wasn’t there. I’m sorry you had to go through this. I won’t let you go.” He murmured the words over and over, knowing that the reality of them was impossible, but he meant them from the bottom of his soul.

He didn’t know how long it was, but finally her tears subsided, and only the odd shudder swept through her.

Slick and his dad were standing a few feet from them. The look of utter fear on Slick’s face was one Finn could relate to.

The threat may have been gone, but that didn’t mean the fear could be taken away as easily as escorting Daiken Nicholas out of the building was.

Finn should let Jess go, so Slick could reassure himself that his daughter was okay, but he couldn’t. Not yet. He needed to tell Jess how he felt. Tell her what he should’ve told her years ago.

Hooking a finger under her chin, he lifted it so that their gazes met. Her blue eyes were glossy with tears.

“Jessica Killian, I love you more than anything in this world. I should’ve told you years ago how I felt, but I was a coward. Not anymore. Not a day is going to go by where I don’t tell you that I love you. That you are my world. My everything.”

Jess squeaked. “I love you, too. I don’t want to go another day without you. I haven’t lived fully until I stepped out of my dressing room at the theatre and saw you waiting. Since then, life has been brighter. You’re my everything, too.”

Finn kissed his woman, gently and hyperaware of her injuries, but pouring all his love into the kiss.

Jess gave back to him, and he should’ve been embarrassed that his dad and Jess’s dad were watching this, but he didn’t care.

All he cared about was the woman in his arms and the future the two of them were going to have. He pulled away and smiled. “I’m going to marry you soon.”

Jess smiled, then grimaced when she tried to move. “I’ll hold you to that, but I need to go to the hospital. My shoulder is killing me.”

“You know, Jess, you told me when you were eight that you were going to marry Finn. I shrugged it off, but I guess I was wrong.” Slick came up and Finn reluctantly handed Jess over to her father.

“Dad, you should know, when I say something, I’m going to make it happen.” She caught Finn’s attention. “It just took a while to make my dream come true.”

He grabbed the hand she held out. “I’m going to spend the rest of my life making that dream come true.”