Carmine squats next to him, checking for a pulse. “Dead.”
“You killed him?” Nadia asks as Shane gently rubs his fingers through my hair, and Rafe works on the ropes.
“Yeah. My clumsiness paid off.” I tell them how it happened. “But we have to get out of here. He said he had associates on their way here. That’s who I thought you were.”
“In and out,” Shane says, seeming to remind them all of their mission. “We deal with the rest later.”
“What’s the rest?”
“Plane’s ready,” Rafe says with a nod. Suddenly, my hands are free, and Shane lifts me into his arms.
“We’re getting you out of here, little dove.”
I lay my head on his shoulder, suddenly so tired I can’t keep my eyes open. I feel weird. Dizzy.
And then I feel nothing at all.
* * *
“Wake up, sweet girl,” Shane croons in my ear. I feel like I must be in heaven. Surely, I’ve died, and heaven is a place where Shane’s voice wraps around me and makes me feel safe. “Come on, Ivie, I need you to open those gorgeous eyes for me.”
My eyes flutter open, and I see Shane leaning over me, smiling down at me softly.
“There you are,” he says. “You scared me for a minute there.”
“I’m in a bed.” I frown and glance around. “Are we flying?”
“Yes, we’re flying back to Denver.”
“Wait.” I sit up and press my hand to my head. “Weren’t we already in Denver?”
Shane sits next to me, takes my hand, and then kisses my fingers, making my stomach jump.
“What do you remember?”
“I remember being taken out of the clinic. I was drugged. Then I woke up in a shitty room and got beat up a bit. Ended up killing my captor on accident, and then you arrived.”
“I suppose that’s the CliffsNotes version,” he murmurs. “Honey, he took you to New York. We found you in a basement in Queens.”
I blink, completely baffled. “I was passed out that long? I wonder what he drugged me with?”
“As do I,” Shane says, examining me. “Does anything hurt?”
“I’m a little stiff and sore from having my hands tied behind me for so long, but other than that, I’ll live.”
“When I saw his handprint on your cheek, I wanted to kill him myself,” he admits. His voice is mild, but by the look in his eyes, I can see that he means every word.
“I kicked him,” I say, thinking it over. “He was up in my face, trying to intimidate me, and I just brought my feet up and kicked him in the gut, hard. He jerked back, tripped, and then fell against the table.”
“That was too good of a death for him.”
I blow out a sigh. “Yeah, well, it was fast. I don’t know who the hell he was.”
“I do,” Shane says. “We’ll talk about it all when we get to my place.”
“Your place?”
He just looks at me with those gorgeous brown eyes that always seem to hypnotize me.
“Shane, I have to work. Annika needs me. Oh my God, Annika!”
“We’ve already told her that we found you safe and sound,” he assures me. “We’ll stop and see her before we go to my place in the mountains.”
“Shane, I can’t go with you to the mountains.”
“And I can’t let you go home,” he says. “Not until we have a full picture of what’s going on here. I’m going to keep you safe, no matter what. A little time away from work won’t hurt anyone.”
“I don’t—”
“I’m not asking,” he says, his voice sharp, and I gape up at him.
“I was just kidnapped once. I won’t do it again, Shane. I care about you, and I enjoy being with you, but I’ll live my life under my terms.”
He rubs his hand over his lips in agitation. “I’m just trying to keep you safe.”
My head is throbbing. “I don’t want to have our first fight on this plane.”
His expression softens, and then he chuckles. “Fair enough. Have you eaten?”
“My captor didn’t offer me room service.”
“Let’s go eat something,” he suggests and reaches out for my hand. He leads me into a different part of the plane where the others are seated. Carmine and Nadia are curled up on a loveseat, looking at an iPad. Rafe is staring out the window. All their heads come up when they hear us enter.
“How are you feeling, sugar?” Nadia asks, rushing over to hug me.
“I’ll be okay. I’m hungry.”
“I have a tray ready for you, miss.” I look up at the formal voice and blink at the older gentleman who’s smiling kindly at me. “I’m Charles, and I’m happy to help you today.”
“Thank you.” I glance up at Shane, but he just nods and gestures for me to sit at a table. Within a few seconds, Charles sets a charcuterie board full of cheeses, meats, nuts, and olives in front of me, and I immediately dig in. “This is awesome.”