Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
CARLY
F inding myself locked in the back of a limo being driven by a crazy man who thought he could force me to become his wife, racing away from my new husband, was the furthest thing from what I’d had in mind for my wedding night. My fingers clenched around the bag I’d come to the car to find, and I cringed at the thought of how the contents might affect what happened next. The purple and white stick with the plus sign held the happiest news of my life, but it also greatly hindered me when it came to trying to escape from Sean.
Still in my wedding dress and heels, I wasn’t exactly prepared for a battle when I crawled in here. I’d give just about anything to go back in time and leave a gun behind because a bottle of champagne wasn’t going to cut it as a weapon against him. Maybe if I wasn’t pregnant, I’d give it a go. With the baby to protect, it was too risky a move for me to make. But watching the miles fly past as the limo moved farther and farther away from the reception hall and Brandon, I knew I had to try something. Maybe get him talking to me at least. I highly doubted that reasoning with Sean was going to work since he was batshit crazy, but I figured I had to at least give it a try.
“Getting one of my guys to flip was a smart move on your part.” I figured flattery couldn’t hurt. He was a guy after all. “How long has Greg been working for you?”
Silence hung in the air around me, long enough that I started to think he wasn’t going to answer, then the intercom crackled to life.
“It was fecking brilliant, is what it was.”
Note to self , not only was he delusional if he thought I was going to marry him, he was also an arrogant asshole.
“It wasn’t even hard, getting him ta turn on ya after bringing the fecking DeLuca enforcer inta the fold. Your da is probably turning in his grave at the mockery you’ve made of the O’Reilly family.”
The idea of managing to piss my father off in his grave was something that made me insanely happy, but I didn’t think Sean would appreciate hearing that. It sounded like he’d looked up to the man I’d grown to hate. In a strange way, it kind of made sense since my da had planned to marry me off to Sean.
“I’m sure you’re right.”
“Damn straight, I am. If only ya would’ve listened to me at your da’s wake and honored his promise to me, I wouldn’t have had ta resort to this!” What had started as barely more than a whisper, ended in a roar. It appeared as if he really did blame me for not wanting to marry the man to whom my da had basically sold me.
“Resort to what?” I asked, hoping he’d slip up and clue me in on his plan since he was so pissed off.
“You’ll find out,” he uttered in a menacing tone.
I didn’t like the sound of that. “Where are you taking me?”
“Far away from that rat bastard who stole ya from me, that’s where.”
Holding back my defense of Brandon, I bit my lip so hard that it started to bleed. His reply didn’t give me even the tiniest hint of where he was taking me. I’d been hoping for a little information since I didn’t have any weapons. And it looked like my time had run out since we were pulling into a location which was very familiar to me, an airstrip with a private hangar which should have been under O’Reilly control—a place where my and Brandon’s word was supposed to be law. Yet, Sean drove right in like he owned the place. Heads were going to fucking roll once I got out of this mess.
The limo rolled to a stop, and I cast a final, frantic glance around, hoping to find something I could use to protect myself. My gaze landed on a wine bottle opener, and I scuttled across the seat to reach for it as the driver’s door slammed shut. I wrapped my fingers around it and slipped it under the blue garter on my left thigh. The skirt of my dress slid back into place over my legs just as the door opened, revealing Sean standing there with a gun aimed at my head.
“I won’t take any of yer fecking bullshit, Carly. You put up a fight, and I’ll shoot ya.”
“You can’t force me to marry you if I’m dead,” I reminded him.
“True,” he agreed, lowering his aim to my knees. “But there’s lots of places I could shoot ya without killin’ ya—assumin’ I get ya some medical attention.”
I had to assume that the blood loss and trauma from a non-lethal shot might cause me to lose the baby. It left me with no other option than to climb out of the car and do as Sean said. For now, anyway.
“Please don’t shoot me,” I whispered as I neared him. It galled me to do so, but I placed my hand in his free one and let him help me out. As I straightened, my eyes narrowed on Greg as he climbed back into the front of the limo, tossing me a smug grin through the window. The bastard had been smart enough to leave the reception hall with me, which meant Brandon wouldn’t have any leads on my whereabouts.
The same limo driver who’d picked me up this morning stumbled out of the small office, buttoning up his pants and then swiping a finger under his nose. A scantily clad woman followed behind him, teetering on a pair of ridiculous heels as she tottered over to where Sean and I were standing.
“You need me for anything else?” Her eyes dropped to the crotch of his pants while she licked her lips, making it blatantly clear exactly what she thought Sean might need her to do for him.
“Run along now,” he instructed, giving her a swat on the ass as she walked past us to an older Ford parked outside the hangar.
“Not sure how you can turn an offer like that down. Her mouth is like a Hoover vacuum.” It seemed the limo driver had a hell of a time while Sean used the car. At least he had the grace to blush when his startled eyes landed on me before he hurried to the driver’s side door.
“You’ll wait until the plane takes off ta leave, just in case anythin’ goes wrong,” Sean ordered.
“Yes, sir.”
The stupid bastard didn’t even question what kinds of things could go wrong. He probably assumed Sean meant something mechanical with the plane, and not my husband coming to my rescue with guns blazing. Speaking of the plane...
“You’re kidnapping me in my own plane?”
“It’s not yours anymore. It’s mine,” he boasted, nudging me in the back with the gun to get me moving towards the steps that led up to the open door. “Ya fecked up, choosin’ to dump the traffickin’ and the drugs. I stepped inta the gap ya left behind. Some of your men aren’t like the blind idiots who’ve chosen ta follow ya. They want ta keep the money rollin’ in, an’ they’ve made sure I’ve had what I needed to ensure their pockets remained well-lined.”
Information. Access to me. The plane. Greg might have been the traitor who’d turned me over to Sean, but he couldn’t have pulled all this off himself. He wasn’t smart enough, or high enough up the ladder, to get Sean everything he would have needed. There had to be more of my men involved. Fucking shit.
Seeing no other option that wouldn’t put the baby at risk, I boarded the plane. Sean didn’t waste a moment, instructing the pilot to take off immediately. I stared out the window, praying Brandon would somehow manage to find me before that happened. The odds of my survival dropped even lower once we got in the air. Minutes ticked by as the pilot readied the plane before we taxied to the runway. When the wheels left the ground and we were already in the air, I saw several black SUVs racing towards the limo. Tears streamed from my eyes, knowing Brandon had done the nearly impossible and tracked me down, even if it was a couple minutes too late to rescue me.
Pressing one hand to the window and the other to my stomach, I watched as one of the SUVs plowed into the limo. The tears kept falling, but I stayed silent, not wanting Sean to know Brandon had gotten there in time to capture Greg. I waited until they were out of sight, and then I brushed the tears away and turned away from the window.
“Enough o’ that, now,” Sean chided. “It won’t be all bad. Once we arrive at our destination, we’ll get your marriage ta that dago annulled. Then you’ll marry me an’ we can go on as though your stupid decision never happened.”
“That’s impossible,” I whispered, but not softly enough because he heard what I’d said.
“It’s going ta’ happen, Carly. I caught ya before the marriage could be consummated, and a lucky thing too. I’ll have what was promised ta me, one way or another.”
“I’ve already given it to my husband, and I’ve got a baby in my belly to prove it.” In my fury and fear, I tossed the words at him.
His eyes turned ice cold. “Well, then, I guess I’ll just have ta find another use for ya.”