Page 63 of Keep Me Safe
His gaze worked its way over my body, lingering at my cleavage, and it left me feeling vulnerable and exposed. Like I was nearly naked.
His voice was low and appreciative. “I like this dress.”
My stomach turned. How could I respond to that, other than to shudder?
I stared at the gun at Juric’s side, and it did not go unnoticed. He grasped the cuff of his sleeve with his free hand and tugged it down, adjusting the way the suit coat sat on his broad shoulders. Comfortable, relaxed. But he moved with an elegance that was off-putting, as if everything was calculated. The gun was slipped into a holster hidden beneath his arm, disappearing beneath his suit coat.
“Does that make you feel safer?” he asked.
“No. It doesn’t.”
He gave a pleased smile. “Why do you think that is?”
Maybe I could stall him. Maybe Jason or the police weren’t far behind, and at any moment they’d burst through the barn door.
“I’m not naïve,” I said, for my benefit more than his. “I know what kind of man you are.”
“Really?” He looked, for lack of a better word, delighted. “What kind of man am I?”
“You’ll do anything to get what you want.”
“How do you know that?”
“I used to be married to a man like you.”
A glimmer lit his piercing eyes, one that said he highly doubted Paul was anything like him. That he was so,somuch worse than my ex-husband.
“We’re going to have fun together, you and me.” A chill ran down my spine. “Are you all right? Did my men hurt you?”
I clenched my teeth so hard it hurt. “They weren’t exactly gentle.”
His gaze dipped down to the gash on my arm that had stopped bleeding, but blood was smeared and crusted there.
“I’m sorry about that, but I took care of it.” He gestured to the bodies, but I jerked my gaze away. “They were warned not to harm you.”
My lungs refused to work when he came close enough I could hear his steady breathing, as if mocking me with his ease. Casual. Calm. I recoiled when he reached out and tried to grasp my arm, perhaps wanting to better examine the cut.
“Don’t touch me.”
He tilted his head, evaluating and considering. “Lie down on the mattress.”
The way he commanded it and the worry of what it implied scared me so much I whimpered. “I’d prefer to stand.”
“This isn’t about what you want.”
He shoved me backward, and because my hands were bound in front of me, I went down with nothing to break the fall except for his hands. He eased me down onto the mattress while I gasped and struggled. There was no time to recover, either. He stepped over me, putting a foot on either side of my hips, then dropped on top of me so I was trapped beneath his full weight.
I swung at him, but he grabbed the plastic tie and wrenched my hands above my head. It was easy for him.
“Don’t do this. If you fight, I’m going to win.”
It didn’t matter; I’d fight anyway. All the way until the very end. “You’ve already lost,” I spat out. “Your men brought me to you, instead of Laurel.”
At the sound of my sister’s name, one hand tightened painfully on my neck and his nostrils flared. He looked utterly furious as he glared down, the center of his pupils like black holes. My heart ground to a halt and ice flash-froze my body.
He looked like he wanted to murder me.
But he blinked and took a long, deep breath.
