Barefoot With a Bodyguard (32 page)

A few people chuckled, but Alec turned to him. “A Boston accent?” he demanded.

“Thick. That made deciphering his legal mumbo jumbo even tougher.”

Alec whipped around to share a look with Gabe, who was no doubt thinking exactly what he was. A lawyer? From Boston? Without another word, Alec shot out of the bungalow, vaguely aware that at least one other person was behind him. But he didn’t wait.

“Get a golf cart,” Gabe called.

But Alec ignored him, trusting his legs and speed far more than machinery. He tore up the side of the farmette, ducking tree branches with every long stride, raw determination fueling his steps.

Was it that Wesley character? Someone else? Didn’t matter. It was too close to home, too personal. Which was the worst-case scenario. He tore through the resort, praying he wasn’t too late.

*

“I saw a man leave.” Steven loomed over her. “You were supposed to be alone.” He braced his body over Kate and grabbed one of the arms she’d just worked so damn hard to free.

What did he mean, she was
supposed
to be alone? How did he even know—

“I thought the whole idea was that you were alone.” He dropped to pin her upper arms to the floor with his knees, his crotch in her face as he essentially crucified her to the merciless marble. “Kate!”

He almost spit his frustration, sounding so like the Steven she knew:
Of course it’s your fault my plan is falling apart, Kate. You fuck up everything.

She looked up at him from the bathroom floor, fighting a nauseous mix of fear and regret and frustration. She had to think. Had to think of everything Alec had taught her.

Steven Jessup was
not
going to win this one. She would escape and run, exactly as Alec had taught her to do. Except he hadn’t taught her what to do when her ankles were bound and her mouth was taped shut. Her hands were free, but how long would they stay that way?

“It’s time to leave, Kate.” He looked up to the bathroom counter, probably for a weapon, while Kate rooted around her brain for a weapon of her own.

Stab the eyes, twist the ears, slam his mouth right up his nose. Then grab the throat, kick the groin, bend the fingers, and stomp the toes.

Alec’s soft-target song echoed in her head, but she wasn’t able to follow any of the instructions in this position, with her arms under the weight of Steven’s body and—
oomph
.

He sat down hard, his ass on her chest. She looked up at him, trying to communicate, moaning noises that he might think were words…words he had to hear. Maybe he’d take the tape off her mouth.

Instead, he just looked down at her as if she disgusted him. “Did you really think you’d beat me at life, Kate?”

She ignored the question—not that she could answer it, anyway. Nobody beat Steven Jessup at anything, and she’d never understood what drove that competitive insecurity, beyond being the second child of a demanding father.

Didn’t matter. Psychology wasn’t going to get her out of this. She continued spinning through every possible scenario, like Alec had taught her. Look for weapons anywhere. The toilet was hard, the shower was glass, and she had her knees. If she could knee him hard enough in the back, it might put him off-balance.

“Surely you knew I wasn’t going to let you win,” he continued. “I wasn’t going to let you divorce me and make me a laughingstock. You’re going to die, and that prick Mike Wesley’s going to be charged for your murder, which will ruin his career no matter how that trial comes out. Although if I do this right, he’ll get life at least. And you’ll get what you deserve.” He grinned, so pleased with himself.

What the hell was the matter with him? Maybe she did need to use psychology to outsmart him.

“I really would like to get this over with,” he said, reaching down to close his hands around her throat. “And while the pleasure of killing you right now is irresistible, I wouldn’t get away with it.”

He wasn’t going to get away with it anyway, didn’t he see that? It gave her some sense of security, knowing he was too smart to do something that would leave evidence. Not if he was trying to pin this on some other lawyer.

His fingers tightened around her throat, and she automatically jerked, throwing her knees up to slam him in the back, but he was far enough forward that the move did nothing but make him grunt…and squeeze her throat harder.

“I’d like to kill you right now,” he said, the statement weirdly, freakishly calm. “But I’ve been planning this for too long. All those notes and setting up Wesley. Convincing him to get in line and hit on your friend. Working your dad’s new assistant to find out where he sent you. It took time and planning, and so will the rest.”

Of course he could get access to Dad’s assistant. He was the former son-in-law, practically family. He could charm anyone, especially a woman.

“Although, if I kill you now, I could get you out of here when it’s dark, especially if there’s no blood. No clues. No evidence. The evidence has to be up in North Carolina where Wesley and Laurie are going on a little trip together to a cabin that just happened to become available for them.” He pressed harder, making her choke into the unforgiving tape. “But that would screw up the autopsy report.”

So he couldn’t kill her now. He relaxed his hands, and she could breathe through her nose, then he jerked to his feet and yanked her up, suddenly twisting her around and getting both her arms behind her.

Stab the eyes, twist the ears, slam his mouth right up his nose.

She couldn’t, damn it!

Then grab the throat, kick the groin, bend the fingers, and stomp the toes.

Except her hands were immobilized, and her ankles taped.

He pulled her out of the bathroom like that, practically dragging her, yanking her arms backward so hard she thought her shoulders would pop out of their sockets. He threw her on the bed and turned away long enough to reach for the roll of duct tape.

It was all she needed. She flung herself sideways, thrusting her legs over the side of the bed. He lunged at her, and she instantly stabbed her extended finger at his eye. He jerked away just in time to avoid it, but the move gave her access to his ear, which she grabbed and twisted like it was a water faucet.

“Fuck!” he screamed, throwing his whole weight at her, but as he came down, she let go of his ear, turned her hand, and plowed the pad of her thumb right at the tender spot between his lips and nose.

He yowled and jerked backward, giving her enough time to get to her feet and hop toward the door. Almost immediately, he grabbed her from behind and pulled her to the ground, but she wiggled away and kept crawling, sliding, fighting her way toward the bedroom door.

He lunged after her, falling onto her back and smashing her face into the hardwood floor. “I
am
going to kill you now!” he growled at her. “You bitch! You thought you could beat me. Nobody beats me. Nobody.” He twisted her head to the side, shooting excruciating pain down her back, so hard she was sure he was going to break her neck.

He lifted her head and slammed it against the floor again, making her brain explode with pain. Suddenly realizing her right hand was free, she reached around to fight him off, grabbing his thigh, then higher, finding his balls and squeezing with every ounce of strength she had.

He yelped and jumped up to escape the pain, giving her a chance to shoot forward, reach up to the door—

“Kate!”

Alec! She heard his voice and heard banging on the front door, hammering like his foot would surely break it down.
Hurry, Alec!

But Steven leaped on her, rolling her away from the bedroom door. She managed to flip around and take one more stab at his eye, her fingers straight and stiff and unyielding, jabbing right into the soft side of his eye.

“Fuck! Damn it!” He covered his eye and moaned just as she heard the front door explode open with a crack.

“Kate!”

She pushed herself to her knees, determined—so damn determined—to escape. Twisting the doorknob, she pulled it open and threw herself into the hallway just as Alec came running toward her.

He fell to his knees next to her, but Kate shook her head and pointed behind her, where Steven lay on the floor, writhing in pain.

Behind Alec, at least four more men came barreling into the villa, led by Gabe Rossi. “Nice work, Benjamin.”

“I didn’t do a thing.” Holding her with one arm, Alec gingerly worked the duct tape on her mouth, concern darkening his expression as he searched her face. “Oh, God, I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” His voice cracked as the tape pulled and pinched and finally, finally came off.

“Alec!” She reached up and seized him in an embrace, adrenaline and relief and gratitude surging through her. “He wanted to kill me,” she rasped, her voice trembling like her whole body was. She’d come so close to dying. So close. “He wanted to…”

“Shhh.” He pressed her into his chest, his clutch as desperate as hers.

“I was so scared.”

He squeezed harder. “I’m so sorry I left you.”

“No, no. I shouldn’t have…” She let out a sob, all hope for control gone now. “I thought I was going to die.”

“No, you’re too strong for that.” He stroked her hair.

“Hey, don’t touch me!” Steven screamed from the bedroom. “That bitch poked my fucking eye! She ripped my balls off!”

Alec couldn’t help smiling. “See what I mean? Nice work, Smarty-Pants.”

“Had a great teacher.” Great teacher. Great man. Great lover. Great…everything.

Holding him with desperate, vibrating arms, she closed her eyes and ignored the chaos and Steven’s yelling and Gabe’s swearing. It all disappeared as she clung to Alec like he was her lifeline and her happiness and her whole world.

“Alec, you have to go.” Gabe’s voice cut through everything else. “You can’t stay here.”

Alec released her gently, looking up at the man looming over them. “I can’t leave her.”

“This place is going to be crawling with cops in a matter of minutes. I have to get you out of here, now.” He gave Kate a sympathetic look. “You’re safe now.”

“She is not,” Alec insisted. “She’s coming with me.”

“No can do.” Gabe gestured for Alec to move it. “She has to talk to law enforcement and tell them she’s been at this resort hiding from her crazy ex, under protection. You we cannot explain.”

“I’m her bodyguard,” he ground out.

“She just got a new one.” Gabe waved another man over. “Miles, get over here and meet your new principal.”

Alec didn’t budge. “It’s not that simple, Gabe.”

“Fine.” Gabe stepped back and crossed his arms, fury darkening his handsome features. “You stay with her, talk to the cops, get your name plastered all over this, and then you can watch when Vlitnik hunts her down and makes her his personal punching bag. Is that what you want?”

A whole new kind of fear rolled over Kate.

And Alec looked like he felt the same thing. Silent, he inched away from Kate, gently letting go of her.

She reached up to him. “Alec—”

“He’s right, Kate. This is why I shouldn’t have told you anything.”

“No shit,” Gabe added, along with another push. “Let’s move it. The Carlsons just got a divorce.”

One of the security professionals came up behind Kate. “I’ve got her, Gabe. You two can go.”

Outside, a siren blared. With one more look of sheer agony, Alec took off with Gabe, disappearing into the sunshine pouring over the back patio.

Gabe still had a shot at keeping Alec safe and under the radar, but he’d have to move him to a new location, possibly a new country, very soon. Until he could do that, he’d sent Alec down to a safe house on the south part of the island with Nino, put Robyn to work as a housekeeper under Poppy’s care, and started trying to figure out exactly how Steven Jessup had found Kate.

After being examined by a doctor and pronounced concussion free, Kate interviewed with law enforcement, and her reason for staying at the resort under a false name made perfect sense. With her loony-tune ex caught dead to rights, the sheriff wouldn’t have to question the staff. But Gabe still needed to find out how the security breach had occurred up in Boston.

He suspected it stemmed from the judge, but he had to be sure it wasn’t through his cousin’s security firm. That link to his organization down here had to be airtight or this operation would fall apart.

He personally escorted Kate to her father’s room.

“Judge Kingston,” Gabe said after they arrived and the older man had had a chance to confirm his daughter was in one piece. “You were to tell no one where Kate was going or why.”

“I didn’t,” he said. “No one, not even my admin knew.”

“She had to, Dad,” Kate said. “Steven said he worked your new assistant.”

“And likely got something out of her, but…the only place I had information about where you were was in my chambers.”

“And he got in there?” Gabe asked. “How?”

The older man sighed and looked sheepishly at Kate. “I…forgave him.”

“What?” She choked the word. “Dad, I know you have to acknowledge him in the courtroom or if you see him in the courthouse, but”—she fell into a chair and stared at him—“you forgave him?”