Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chen stood at the window of the master bedroom, slowly turning the glass of scotch in his hand as he looked over the dark property surrounding the rental house.
There wasn’t much to see beyond the faint outline of trees and the occasional glow of headlights moving along the distant road, which was precisely why they had chosen the place.
They were roughly an hour and forty minutes outside Virginia Beach, far enough away from the chaos surrounding the port and the massive search underway for Willow that Chen could finally allow himself to relax.
His plan had worked.
A satisfied smile tugged at his mouth as he lifted the glass and took a slow drink.
He had known about the tracker hidden inside that ridiculous stuffed elephant before they had ever reached Norfolk.
One of his men had discovered it while checking Lily after they had left the rescue center, and Chen had immediately recognized the opportunity it presented.
Destroying the device would have told anyone monitoring it that something was wrong.
Leaving it active had been far more useful.
Let them follow it. Let them believe they had found Willow.
Better yet, let them waste hours trying to figure out how to safely open a shipping container wired with explosives while Chen quietly disappeared with the only person he had actually come to Virginia for.
Lily had never mattered. The child might carry his blood, but that meant nothing to him.
From the moment she had been born, she had been nothing more than a distraction for Willow, something that consumed her attention and made controlling her increasingly difficult.
If anything, the girl had been responsible for giving Willow the courage to run.
His contact near the port had kept Liu updated throughout the afternoon, and the reports had been almost amusing.
Police, federal agents, bomb technicians and military personnel had descended on the area while explosives specialists spent hours working through the devices attached to the container.
By the time they had finally opened the doors and recovered Lily, Chen and Willow were already long gone.
The only disappointing part was that the container hadn't exploded.
Chen had no particular interest in killing the child, but if it had happened, he wouldn’t have lost any sleep over it. Besides, the destruction and confusion would have bought him even more time.
He checked his watch. They still had about an hour before they would move.
The private jet was waiting at a smaller airport under paperwork that wouldn’t immediately connect it to him.
The aircraft belonged to one of his business associates through a legitimate company, and according to the latest information Liu had received, nothing had been flagged.
The flight plan was in place, the crew was prepared, and they would soon leave the rental property and drive to the airport. After that, they were going to Italy.
Chen had already arranged everything they would need at his coastal estate.
Security would be increased, Willow’s access to the property would be severely restricted and, at least initially, she would be confined to a room with twenty-four-seven security.
He had made the mistake of giving her too much freedom because he had believed she had finally accepted what her life was.
He wouldn’t make that mistake again.
His gaze shifted toward the reflection in the window, allowing him to see the large bed behind him.
Willow lay motionless near the center of the mattress, her arms resting awkwardly with her wrists secured together in front of her.
Her ankles had been bound as well, although the restraints were probably unnecessary while the drugs remained in her system.
She had barely moved since they had arrived at the house.
Even unconscious, she looked different.
Chen turned away from the window and studied her more carefully.
The physical changes were subtle. She looked healthier than she had when she had escaped Morocco, and there was more color in her face. Her hair was longer, and the clothes she wore were nothing like what he had allowed her to wear while she lived with him.
But those weren’t the differences bothering him. It was what he had seen outside the rescue center.
Chen had expected Willow to panic the moment she recognized Liu. He had expected fear to take over and return her to the obedient woman she had once been whenever she understood resistance would only make things worse.
Instead, she had fought. And she’d fought well.
Three men had been needed to control her, and even then she had managed to hurt two of them before they got her to the ground. She had fought with a desperation that went beyond protecting Lily. There had been purpose behind her movements, as though someone had actually taught her what to do.
Chen’s jaw tightened at the memory.
He wondered how much the man Willow had been with was responsible for the changes in her.
Chen had seen enough photographs during the week he and his people had watched Willow to understand that whatever existed between them went beyond her simply staying in his home.
Willow touched him willingly. She smiled around him.
She allowed the man near her daughter, and Lily appeared attached to him.
They had even begun using his last name. That particular discovery had infuriated Chen more than he cared to admit.
Willow belonged to him, yet she had been walking around Virginia Beach pretending she belonged to another man.
He crossed the room and stopped beside the bed.
A faint bruise had already begun forming near Willow’s temple from the struggle earlier, and Chen reached toward her before stopping himself. There would be plenty of time for touching her once they were safely overseas.
First, she needed to remember her place. The thought brought some of his satisfaction back.
Willow had surprised him. He would give her that much. Escaping Morocco had required more intelligence and courage than he had believed she possessed, and surviving on her own afterward had proven she was far more resourceful than he had ever credited her for being.
But none of that changed what came next.
Once they reached Italy, he would begin her training again.
This time there would be no special privileges, no wandering the property unattended, and no opportunities for her to mistake his generosity for weakness.
Whatever confidence she had gained during her little taste of freedom would be stripped away.
And when she finally understood that running from him had accomplished nothing except making her life harder, Chen might consider giving her some of the freedoms she had once enjoyed.
Willow shifted faintly on the bed.
Chen’s attention sharpened.
A quiet sound escaped her as her head moved against the pillow, but her eyes remained closed. The drugs were beginning to wear off.
Chen returned to the window and lifted his glass again, strangely eager for the moment she woke and realized exactly where she was.
He wanted her to understand that the life she had built in Virginia was already behind her.
Soon, they would board the jet. By sunrise, the United States would be thousands of miles away, and once Willow was behind the walls of his estate in Italy, no Navy SEAL, federal agent, or friend she had collected during her brief taste of freedom would ever take her from him again.
Willow felt the pain before anything else. Her entire body ached with the deep soreness that came after being hit and thrown around, and when she tried to shift, something pulled painfully against her wrists.
Her eyes opened slowly, struggling to focus through the lingering fog in her head, and for several seconds she stared at an unfamiliar ceiling while trying to understand where she was.
Then she tried to move her hands, but she realized quickly they were tied.
Panic rushed through her as she pulled against the restraints and attempted to sit up, but the sudden movement sent the room tilting violently around her. She squeezed her eyes shut and dropped back against the pillow, waiting for the nausea to pass as memories began crashing into her.
She had been at the rescue center with Lily. Then she saw Liu. She remembered Lily screaming as Chen’s men attacked.
She had fought them. God, she had fought harder than she ever had in her life, but there had been too many. Then she had felt the sting in her arm and seen Chen standing over her just before everything disappeared.
Willow’s eyes flew open again. Lily!
“Look who’s finally awake.”
Her blood ran cold at the sound of that familiar voice.
She turned her head and found Chen standing near a window with a glass in his hand, watching her.
For one terrifying instant, Willow wasn’t in an unfamiliar bedroom in Virginia. She was back in Chen’s estate, trapped inside the nightmare she had spent three years surviving. Her heart hammered as memories tried to drag her under, but she forced herself to concentrate on what was real.
She had escaped him once. She could do it again.
Chen set his glass down and approached the bed. “I was beginning to wonder how much they gave you.”
“Where’s Lily?”
He ignored the question as he sat beside her. Willow immediately tried to move away, but there was nowhere to go. His hand settled on her arm and slowly traveled upward, the familiar touch making her stomach turn.
“You surprised me today. I didn’t know you had learned how to fight.” His fingers moved toward her shoulder before brushing across the upper part of her chest. “Three men, Willow. You actually managed to injure two of my men.”
“Don’t touch me,” she snapped.
Chen's expression hardened.
Willow’s heart pounded, but she refused to take the words back.
His hand remained against her for another second before he finally removed it. “Someone has certainly made you brave.”
“Where is my daughter?”
“She’s around.”
Willow’s stomach dropped. “What does that mean?”
“It means Lily is safe for now. Whether she remains that way depends entirely on you.”
Every instinct Willow possessed screamed at her to attack him, but her hands were tied, and she still couldn’t move without the room spinning.
More importantly, if there was even the slightest chance her baby was nearby, Willow couldn’t risk doing anything that might hurt her.
“What do you want?”
A pleased smile appeared on his face. “There she is. The Willow I remember.”
She wanted to spit in his face. Instead, she swallowed her anger. “Where are we?”
“Still in Virginia.”
Hope flickered inside her before she could stop it. Jay Bird had to know she was missing. They had to be looking for her. Jay Bird, Riley, Derek, Mia, and every one of those crazy SEALs who had somehow adopted her and Lily into their enormous family.
Chen chuckled softly, and Willow realized she had allowed too much to show on her face.
“Don’t get too comfortable. We’re leaving shortly.”
Her hope immediately faltered.
“For Morocco?”
Chen actually laughed. “Morocco is finished. Your friends made certain of that when they raided my property.”
“So where are you taking me?”
“Italy. I think you’ll like it. Beautiful coastline, wonderful weather, and enough privacy that nobody will ever find you.”
Willow pulled against the restraints again, ignoring the pain shooting through her shoulders. When she shifted her legs, soreness spread through her hips and ribs, and she couldn’t stop the grimace that crossed her face.
“You really shouldn’t have fought my men. You know how much I dislike seeing bruises and cuts on your body.”
“Then maybe you shouldn’t have people attack me.”
His eyes narrowed.
Willow knew she should stop, but something inside her wouldn’t let her.
Chen shook his head slowly. “Unfortunately, you have no one to blame but yourself. Everything that happened today was a consequence of your actions, just as what happens when we arrive in Italy will be.”
A familiar dread crawled through her.
“What are you talking about?”
“You’ll begin training again.”
The words slammed into her harder than any fist ever could.
Images she had spent months trying to bury exploded through her mind: locked doors, punishments, being told when she could eat, sleep, speak, and bathe. The endless lessons designed to teach her obedience until she had learned that sometimes survival meant disappearing somewhere inside herself.
“No!” Willow screamed as she twisted violently against the restraints. “I’m never doing that again!”
She managed to push herself upright, but Chen moved faster. The back of his hand struck her across the face.
Willow fell sideways onto the mattress as pain exploded through her cheek.
For several seconds, she didn’t move. Her ears rang, and suddenly she could almost hear his voice from three years ago telling her what happened when she disobeyed.
The old Willow would have gone quiet. She would have lowered her eyes, apologized, and tried desperately to figure out what she needed to do to keep him from hitting her again.
However, she wasn’t that woman anymore. Sure, she was scared. She would be an idiot not to be. But fear didn’t mean she had to surrender.
The door opened before Chen could say anything else, and Liu entered.
“We need to move. The pilots just confirmed the plane is fueled and ready. Everything around the airport looks clear.”
Chen nodded before looking down at Willow. “Perfect timing.”
He reached for her ankles and began removing the restraints.
Willow remained still. Not because she had surrendered, but because she was thinking.
Chen left her wrists bound and hauled her to her feet. Her knees nearly buckled as another wave of dizziness hit, forcing her to steady herself against the edge of the bed. His hand closed around her arm.
“Don't make this difficult, Willow. If you cooperate, I’ll reconsider some of your punishment. But fight me again, and I’ll remind you exactly what happens to women who forget their place.”
Willow said nothing as he pushed her toward the bedroom door.
She concentrated on every step, forcing her legs to cooperate as they moved through the unfamiliar house. She noticed doors, windows, and the men positioned between her and freedom. She didn’t know where she was or how far they were from help, and she had no idea whether Lily was truly nearby.
But she knew Chen intended to get her on that plane. And once she was on it, her chances of getting back to Lily disappeared.
So Willow walked quietly beside him, allowing Chen to believe the threat had worked while she fought through the remaining fog in her head and waited for an opportunity.
She didn’t need a perfect one. She only needed one chance.
Because no matter what it cost her, Willow was not getting on that plane.