Secret Revenge: An Enemies-to-Lovers Billionaire Romance

24. Emily

It was such a relief not to have to lie to Travis anymore. I felt light, as though an enormous weight had been lifted from my shoulders.

For the first time since my childhood, I no longer felt the need for revenge.

I was safe in his arms. As he wrapped me close, our sticky bodies pressed tightly together, I shut my eyes and listened to his heartbeat.

It’s not long before the doorbell rang, startling me. I rarely had visitors and wasn”t expecting anyone.

Travis raised his head to look at me, arching a brow. I shrugged in response. “I’ll see who it is.”

Could it be Michael?I wondered. I wondered how he was taking the revelations we’d discovered. I had Travis to comfort me; he didn’t.

Travis got out of bed and grabbed his pants, pulling them on quickly. Then he pulled me back toward him. He kissed me deeply and smacked my bum gently. “Don’t take too long.”

I shook myself out of his grip and grabbed the robe that hung on my bedroom door. I smiled at Travis before leaving, drinking in his beauty, then hurried to the front door.

“Coming!” I yelled, as the doorbell rang again. I unlocked the door but made sure the chain was in place before opening the door a crack.

Jonathan was standing outside the door with an irritated look on his face.

A frown creased his face as he saw me. Before I knew what had happened, he was pointing something at me through a crack in the door.

The color drained from my face. He held a pistol.

My mind raced. I could still slam the door in his face, but there was no way this flimsy door was bulletproof.

“Open this door now,” Jonathan said softly, “or I’ll paint your lovely carpet with your intestines.” His eyes held a cold, ruthless look that left no doubt about his threat.

“Don’t test me,” he warned, cocking the gun. “Open the door.”

I unlatched the chain with shaky hands and stepped backwards. I raised my hands as he stepped forward, the gun pointed at me.

Then the other men appeared. They’d been pressed against the front of my house where I couldn’t see them. Now they flooded in, all holding weapons of their own.

I staggered backward, now realizing the magnitude of my mistake. I should have closed the door in Jonathan’s face and ducked for cover. My apartment was now full of armed men.

And Travis Ross, one of the most valuable hostages in all the world, was in my bedroom.

“Jonathan,” I said in a croaky voice. I hated how high pitched and whiny my voice sounded but there was nothing I could do about it.

“We can talk about this…”

“Where’s the data?” Jonathan’s voice was cold and hard, sending a chill up my spine.

The data. If I can get him to take the data, and leave Travis…

But I already knew that wasn’t going to work. For it to work, Travis would have to stay hidden, and I doubted he was going to stand for that while there were guns pointed at me.

“I’ll get you the data,” I agreed, and I didn’t have to feign my terror. It’s?”

It was at this moment that I heard the bedroom door behind me creak open, and Jonathan’s eyes registered shock.

No, Travis! No, no, no…

But it was too late. The attacker’s aims shifted from me to Travis.

“Hey, Emily, was it?oh.”

I heard Travis stop cold in the bedroom door.

Run, run Travis, there’s a window in the bathroom… I thought furiously at him, but dared not speak aloud. There was no telling what might cause one of our captors to start firing their guns.

Travis didn’t move. The room grew so deathly still, that I could hear my breathing loudly in my ears.

The air cracked with dangerous energy. Jonathan glanced from Travis to me, and back to Travis, a look of delight slowly growing on his face.

“Ah, Travis Ross… Who would have thought? Now I understand why my star reporter had her sudden change of heart.”

Travis frowned and stepped forward. “What do you want?” His voice was commanding. He was so used to being in charge.

“Well, if you must know,” Jonathan said, straightening his arm and pointing his gun at Travis’ forehead. “I came here for the files Emily stole from you. But I think you’ll be an even better prize for my employer.”

“Run!” I screeched, unable to contain myself any longer. I took a gamble, aiming a low kick at the knees of the henchman closest to me. But a moment later I was on the ground, crushed under the henchman’s weight with his arm around my neck.

“Let her go,” Travis’s voice was low and deadly.

“Oh no. You’ll both be coming with us. Unless you see another option.”

I watched Travis’s gaze travel from me to Jonathan, then back to me. He didn’t see another option.

“Fine,” Travis’s voice dripped with disdain. “But if you harm her, there will be no refuge for you or your men.”

Travis, you noble idiot, run!

One of the men with Jonathan walked behind Travis and nudged him towards the door impatiently with his firearm. With all the guns trained on him, there was no way Travis could escape.

Someone has to have called the police,my mind tried to soothe itself. All these men with guns outside my apartment, someone has to have called…

My mind raced, seeking any way to stall them long enough for the police to arrive.

“Wait!” I cried out. “I have to change. I”m completely naked under this bathrobe! And if anybody sees me like this, surrounded by a bunch of men, they’ll know something’s wrong.”

There was a pause as Jonathan considered. “You find your clothes and the data. I’m not leaving here without that flash drive.”

“Yes, sure,” I agreed, relief flooding me. Any moment of freedom I could get could be used as a weapon.

To my dismay, one of the henchmen followed me. I glared at him, sidling up to my closet and clutching my robe about me. “What are you, a pervert?”

He grumbled something incoherently, but turned around to face the wall. He’d know if I ran for the window, but maybe he wouldn’t be able to see what I put in my pockets.

I took my time changing my underwear. I selected the sturdy push-up bra I’d bought for my trip to Calypso?and pulled out the emergency burner phone Michael had given me. I was grateful that I’d stored the thing in my underwear drawer, hoping to deter anyone who might search my apartment from finding it. I quickly turned the phone on and sent Michael an SOS, then stuffed it into one of the cups of the sturdy bra.

I’d hidden the flash drive containing the stolen data on Ross Industries in the same place. I hesitated, then snapped it up between my fingers. If I didn’t bring Jonathan the data, things might get violent.

“Hey what’s taking so long?” the armed goon demanded, just a few feet away.

“Haven’t you ever waited for a woman to get dressed?” I hissed back at him, then opened a new drawer and started pulling on a pair of jeans.

My pulse thundered in my ears, a frantic drumbeat, as I was marched back into the living room. The sight of Travis, standing stoically with three menacing barrels aimed at him, sent a fresh wave of fear coursing through me.

Please, please don’t let me get him killed.

I took a deep breath and held the flash drive out to Jonathan. “Here. Now you can let him go.”

Jonathan’s hand shot out, snatching the flash drive with a triumphant sneer. His laugh, cold and devoid of humanity, echoed ominously in the cramped space.” “Oh, this? This is just a bonus,” he said, pocketing the drive. “Your dear Travis, on the other hand, he’s the real jackpot – and now so are you.”

Damn it,I exhaled sharply, the bitter taste of desperation filled my mouth.Hurry, Michael.

Hurry.