Chapter 27
Zoe delivered the last line of her keynote speech, then stood on the stage and watched as the audience surged to their feet with thunderous applause. She exhaled with a smile. Relaxed her shoulders. The speech had connected with the audience, especially with the woman who were listening.
But it wasn’t just the women who were applauding enthusiastically. Most of the men were, as well. There were a few who scowled, their arms crossed over their chests, but they were a tiny minority. Most of the scowlers shouldered their way out of their seats and headed for the doors. No one paid any attention to them.
She sucked in a breath and blew it out. Then another. As soon as she moved toward the stairs from the stage, people would swarm her. But Spence was in the wings on the right side of the stage, watching the audience. Looking for Ethan. She knew he’d protect her. Keep a little distance between her and the attendees.
Taking another breath, she moved toward the stairs and watched as Spence trotted over and walked down the stairs. They’d worked it out ahead of time, because she’d known what would happen. Spence would stand between her and the audience, letting people through after he made sure Ethan wasn’t among them.
He'd already let several people through, so Zoe started toward the steps. As she reached the first one, a current of air from the wings brushed over her. She turned to look and saw Ethan less than three feet away from her.
“Spence,” she screamed, throwing herself toward Spence. But there were several people between them.
Spence pushed people aside and reached for her, but Ethan grabbed her arm and hauled her into the wings, behind the curtain. She looked over her shoulder and saw Spence shoving people out of the way until he could leap onto the stage.
As Ethan looked behind him, he curled his fingers more tightly around her arm and yanked her further into the wings. Zoe used both hands to beat at his face and arms, but he tightened his grip as if he felt nothing. When she dug in her heels and tried to drop to the ground, Ethan pulled out a long knife and held it near her throat with a frighteningly steady hand.
“Don’t worry, Zoe, I’m not going to hurt you.”
“Then what are you doing with that big-ass knife?” she said, digging her heels into the wooden floor of the stage.
“I’m protecting you from that man who’s been following you around. I don’t like the looks of him.”
Zoe wanted to scream that the only man following her around was Ethan, but she didn’t want to upset him. Not with that knife at her throat.
He yanked her arm hard, and she stumbled forward. Tried again to fall to the floor. Give Spence time to reach them. But Ethan shoved the knife in a scabbard on his leg and put his hands beneath her arms. Dragged her to her feet and yanked her father away from Spence.
He clearly knew his way around the backstage area, because a few moments later he shoved the bar to open a door and hauled her into an alley. His white Subaru sat there, a couple of tickets on the windshield, and he opened the back door. Shoved her onto the seat and reached for her wrist. As he reached for her wrist with a zip tie in one hand, she kicked him in the chest and scrambled toward the other door. Tried to open it. She managed to get it opened a few inches, then Ethan yanked her backward. Secured her wrists with the zip tie, then pushed her down so she was laying on the seat.
As he reached for her ankles, she kicked him again, knocking him back a few steps. She scrabbled for the door, but her bound hands slowed her down. She had the door open and one foot on the pavement when Ethan grabbed her hair and yanked her backward. With a yelp of pain, she grabbed his wrist and tried to pry his hand from her hair.
“Stop it, Zoe,” he said, his voice rising, and she heard panic in it. “I’m not going to hurt you. I know you want me as much as I want you. I’m making it happen.”
She tried to twist away from him, but he grabbed one ankle and flipped her onto the seat. As she was trying to push away from him, he secured her ankles with another zip tie.
He yanked the seatbelt over her, slammed the door and ran around to the other side of the car. She was halfway out the door when he shoved her back into the car and kicked the door closed.
He grabbed the tickets off the windshield, tossed them on the ground and got into the car. As he closed the door, Zoe heard the door to the convention center bang open. She managed to raise her body enough to see Spence rushing toward the car, but Ethan took off, tires screeching, and barreled around the corner.
Gunshots erupted from Spence’s gun, and the car lurched to one side. Bullets hit the body of the car, and she wondered if he was trying to shoot out the tires. Tiny pieces of glass from the back window fell onto Zoe, and she shook her head to get them off her face and out of her hair. Spence had blown out the back window.
But Ethan just kept driving.
The centrifugal force of the car’s turn threw Zoe toward the floor of the back seat, but the seatbelt held her in place. She struggled to get her fingers on the seat belt so she could unbutton it, but she couldn’t quite reach it. In moments, Ethan had merged into traffic and was driving away from the convention center.
“Ethan, what are you doing?” she said, trying to keep her fear and panic out of her voice.
“I’m making sure that we can start our life together,” he said, his unspoken ‘duh’ making it sound as if she’d asked a stupid question.
She wanted to scream that she didn’t want a life with Ethan, but she was afraid of what he might do if she rejected him out of hand. So she said, “Where are you taking me?”
He glanced over the seat and smiled at her. “I have the perfect place. It’s in the mountains. Beautiful scenery. Secluded, so we’ll be alone. You’ll love it,” he said happily.
The mountains were two or three hours away from downtown Seattle. She’d charged the ring right before her keynote speech, and she hoped it would last that long. “I’m not a big fan of mountains,” she said.
He glanced over his shoulder again, frowning. “Then why did you move to Seattle?”
“There aren’t any mountains here,” she said. “But there are a lot of tech companies. Exactly what I needed to start my business.”