Drayton
The mind was a mysterious thing. You could pretend to be happy, angry, or nice, and the smallest tinge of emotion stained the deadened parts.
But where it stained, it didn’t completely penetrate.
I could almost believe I felt happy when I pretended to be hopeful for Marian.
The truth was, the moment I hung up the phone and remembered my past, I despised her even more for making me temporarily forget.
Two hours. We’d talked for two uninterrupted hours, and it was all because of me.
I couldn’t let her go. I had to keep hearing her talk.
Not about what happened but about our lives now.
Marian was every bit the businesswoman I knew she’d become for her father.
Maybe more. There was a hardness to her I’d never known.
Even a coldness in her tone that edged in when she spoke of companies or owners.
My Marian was firm, but she was never cut-throat.
She was now, and where that should have given me hesitation, all I saw was a challenge.
I saw a woman I couldn’t wait to break. Marian would give me a fight.
A damn good one once she realized the truth.
“Bastian Allard’s guards are staged in twos.
Two are positioned at the main entrance.
Two are on one side of the lobby, where another pair are on the opposite side.
They’re close to every entry. Every exit.
That’s not including the signing area, but we’ll know how many are there soon enough.
We’ll be careful, but with our plan, it shouldn’t be a problem.
I scanned the ten-man team I’d accumulated.
Well, nine men, one woman team. They were the best of the best, and after weeks of planning, it was finally time.
I nodded, looking in the mirror at mine and my pretend wife’s appearance.
Mine was so real. So… different. Hollywood was great for many things, and costumes and masks were one of them.
The face and hair I wore was not my own.
I appeared as an average-Joe blond just like her.
Nothing stuck out about us. We were readers in jeans with matching black and red t-shirts.
Hers said Stalked. Mine said Stalker. We looked our part for the darker romance aspect we were about to step into, and I’d made our reservation weeks ago.
It was genius. It would get me to her after I checked in.
As far as Marian was concerned, she wouldn’t see me again for quite some time.
What she was about to undergo was an abduction like no other.
A mindfuck meant to turn the tables in my favor.
She’d be no one. My captive. My slave. Then, my wife.
That was if I went along with my plan. This was my new beginning.
Too bad for her, it was her end. But she should have known this was coming. Our world was dark. My plans, darker.
“Let’s go.”
And we did.
We split up, loading in our different vehicles and leaving our hotel’s parking garage.
My pulse was thudding as I went down a few blocks, giving my team time to park and get set up with how heavy the traffic was.
As I turned around and drove to Marian’s hotel, Susan, my fake wife, hit the button and spoke into her earpiece.
“Ten-Four.” She turned to me. “They’re ready for you.”
Weeks of preparation. Years of rage and mental torture. Of guilt for Delia, my dead cousin. All for this. For her.
My foot grew heavier on the pedal as I began to force my way around cars.
I wanted this done. Marian would be deep in the throes of her book convention.
She was probably already searching for me.
Maybe she had been from the beginning. Or maybe…
the woman I needed to want me, the woman I wanted to suffer, didn’t give a shit at all.
Maybe our call meant nothing last night.
Dammit. I hated that deep in the back of my mind, she was still there.
Marian lived within me, and no amount of killing myself on the inside could get rid of her.
She was like a cancer—a fucking plague. One that made me sick.
One that killed me more every day. But not anymore.
You couldn’t get rid of a disease unless you targeted it.
Unless you treated it, and Marian would get the full dose of my wrath.
I was going to be so potent in my revenge that I’d annihilate her hold over me.
But then there was the love I felt… there was always love.
“Got it.” She paused, nodding for the briefest moment.
I glanced over. Susan spoke, even though she still stared ahead.
“Second floor. The target is with the girl, Penny. They’re walking around, but she is very aware. She keeps scanning the room.”
I came to a red light, slowing. “And Bastian?” My eyes locked on the line of cars in the distance waiting for the valet in front of the hotel.
“He’s on the second floor as well. There’s a sitting area outside of the signing.
He’s reading a book, watching everyone who goes in and out.
I don’t think he’ll be a problem with our path to escape.
It’s his men we’ll have to keep an eye on.
There’s quite a few in the signing area.
One in each corner, and two roaming the tables trying to blend in. ”
“Fuck.” My teeth clenched. “He’s not taking any chances now that he knows I’m in town. He suspects something. Marian has always been guarded, but not this much. Our plans didn’t account for this many guards. We didn’t expect Bastian to be here at all.”
Susan’s lips tightened, but she stayed quiet, listening to the chatter in her earpiece. I didn’t bother to listen to mine. My volume was down. I couldn’t focus with all the talk. I needed this to work. I only had one chance, and I wouldn’t fail. I couldn’t.
I made my way into the line of cars, moving up a few feet at a time. When I finally got to the front, I met the eyes of one of my men in the hotel uniform. I nodded, putting it in park and giving him the signal that we were a go. He’d have our SUV ready. He’d be waiting.
Susan pulled the suitcase from the back seat, and I walked around, taking it from her, rolling it behind as I began to lead us inside.
The guards were there. Watchful. Studying me.
But they didn’t move. They took in my height, almost dismissing me just as fast. The check-in went smoothly, and from my peripheral I could see Susan’s body relax a little as I stepped back from the counter.
I wrapped my arm around her shoulders, leading us to the elevator.
With two other readers entering, we stayed silent on our ride up.
They were laughing, their excitement clearly shining through as we stopped on the second floor.
We followed their exit, scanning the busy hallway as we headed towards the large open sitting area.
Bastian was studying the crowd, appearing bored, but I knew better.
He was on edge, but he had more to worry about than me slipping through to try to steal Marian away from him.
He wasn’t any safer than her. Home or here made no difference.
Marian may have been my mission, but the truth was, he’d always been part of the plan.
Now, my team was gunning for him. They’d get him, and when they did, he’d serve as a revenge so grand, Marian would never forget.
Dark eyes shot up to me as I pulled Susan in close.
I could see Bastian watching us in my peripheral as we passed and headed for the hall full of rooms, but once I passed, I was blind to whether I still had his focus.
My tall height and wide shoulders made me a target, and that was risky for a man I knew trusted no one.
Susan leaned in as we passed the third room to the left. I took out the key card, stopping at the next room as I faced the barrier. From the corner of my eye, I could see a figure standing at the turn off.
“Is that him or one of his guards?”
Susan giggled, leaning in to kiss my cheek.
“That’s him. He followed us to the hall.”
I laughed, pushing the door open and turning to swoop my arm around, pulling Susan in close.
Just before I went to kiss her, I turned, meeting his eyes.
My smile fell, and the rage blossomed into protectiveness as I narrowed my lids at him suspiciously.
As if I felt he was intruding or had an attraction for my wife.
I straightened, pulling her against me and easing her inside.
Bastian cautiously stepped back, disappearing from view.
“That probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do.” Her voice was a whisper as I breathed through the rage, still glaring down the hallway. It took me seconds to break myself from the intoxicating need to tear him to pieces.
“Probably not, but I’ve never been one to play things safe.
” I pulled the suitcase inside, tossing it on the bed and opening it up.
It was full of essentials. Shots to knock them out.
Weapons. Gags and ropes if we needed them.
But I didn’t. I grabbed two syringes and a blindfold, putting them in my pocket.
I’d leave the rest for Quinn and the team.
Susan would accompany them. She’d make sure they had the key to the room and everything they needed to take Bastian.
I was taking Marian. Alone. That I wouldn’t bend on.
This was personal. Intimate. Private. Our first meeting wasn’t going to be pretty.
When she woke up, the suffering would begin.
She’d be in my world, and she wasn’t going to like it.
But to get there, I had to get to her. With all of Bastian’s guards, it would be difficult.
I’d have to sneak Marian from the room. Easy.
But then, we’d have to make it to the parking garage without being seen.
With the side door I planned to use to leave the signing room, that put me two long halls away from the elevator.
Stairs wouldn’t work. Not with the guards posted inside the stairwell.
It was risky, but not as risky as the challenge my team faced getting to Bastian.
His best men stayed glued to his side. They were ready for anything.
I let out a deep breath, watching as Susan holstered her gun under the front of her shirt. I turned up the earpiece, taking a few moments to soak in the details the team was relaying. I turned to Susan, nodding.
“It’s time. Let’s do this.”