Willing Captive (2 page)

My eyes blur and the
bridge of my nose tingles.

“
I
know,” I mumble into her shoulder.

Squeezing her once
more, I release her and put on a huge fake smile. “Go.
Quickly.”

Terah runs over to
the windows that lead to my patio and blows me a kiss. She opens
the door and steps out when we both hear the intercom in my room
hiss before dad’s voice clearly sounds. “Terah. Delilah.
Downstairs. Now.”

Terah’s stunned
facial expression is priceless. I burst into laughter and say in a
sing-song voice, “Someone’s busted.”

Eyes wide with
shock, she whisper hisses, “No way! There’s no way he knows. This
has gotta be something else.”

I shrug. “Lucky you
didn’t go. We both would’ve been in lockdown for a month.”

Terah looks down at
herself. She looks like she’s going clubbing and we need to cover
her up quickly before my dad sees. “Take off your shoes and put on
my robe. Wrap it up tight.”

She slips into my
red Japanese silk robe and ties it so tight she’s probably cutting
off the circulation from her waist down. We make our way downstairs
and into the dining room. As soon as I see my dad, I know two
things: he’s tired, and worried.

Shit. Not good.

Mom sits next to
him, holding his hand, looking equally as tired and twice as
worried.

Double shit.
Something’s wrong.

Terah and I stand
just inside the dining room door. We look at each other with
obvious concern and she takes my hand in hers and squeezes. I clear
my throat and my dad looks up. He puts on a fake smile. “Ah, there
ye are. Come in, my girls. Take a seat.” I love my dad’s
accent.

Terah and I sit
close to each other. I look from mom to dad and ask, “What’s wrong?
And you can’t lie for shit so don’t say ‘nothing’.”

Dad glares at me.
“Language, Delilah.” I hate being called Delilah.

Mom pats his hand.
She looks to me and my sister and explains, “There have been some
problems at Flynn Logistics.”

Terah and I look at
each other in shock before my sister whispers, “Are we losing the
house?”

Dad’s brow furrows.
“No. This isn’t about money,” he sighs and runs his hands down his
face. Whatever this is, it’s affecting him…a lot.

My heart
squeezes.

Sick of the run
around, I look right at my dad. “What kind of problems?”

Dad inhales deeply
and leans back in his chair. “Well, there have been some
accusations thrown around. These accusations are the kind a person
can go to jail for…for a very long time.”

My sister and I both
squawk in disbelief, “What?”

Mom cuts in. “Calm
down, girls. Your father hasn’t done anything wrong, so there’s
little they can do. We’ve allowed the police full access to
computers and documents at the warehouse and to whatever else they
need.” She smiles, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. “Everything’s
going to be fine.”

Dad nods. “Jett and
Jamie are helping as much as they can. We’ve shown the police we’re
being cooperative. I’ve left them to it. The police don’t want me
back there till this has been sorted.”

Silence covers us
like a thick fog. I shrink into myself. “Well, this certainly sucks
balls.”

Dad’s lip twitches. “Yes, darling. It
does
suck balls. But like ye ma said, everything will be
okay. I’m sure of it.”

Terah asks the
question I’ve been dying to. “What exactly are the
accusations?”

Dad looks between us
a long moment before he answers, “Well, it’s complicated. All ye
need to know is that we’re upping security here and at the
warehouse. College is out of the question until this enquiry is
complete.” Looking toward my sister, Dad’s face softens in apology.
“Sorry, Terah.”

Terah looks as if
she’s about to burst into tears. This is her second year of
college. I’ve been working with dad at Flynn Logistics the past two
years. He calls it an internship; I call it a sly way for him to
keep an eye on me. The only two people I really see there are Jett
and Jamie. I rarely leave the office.

Jett and Jamie
Harrison are my dad’s right-hand men. They moved here from Ireland
about three years ago. Well, actually, Dad brought them over from
Ireland to come live with us and to work at the warehouse. Dad’s
best friend growing up was a man named Kian Harrison. Although I
never met him, I heard about him a lot and spoke to him on the
phone some. He was a happy man, always laughing and making jokes.
It never seemed to faze him that dad had become a big-shot
businessman. To Kian, he’d always be Ciaran Flynn with the muddy
face that played soccer with him whenever he could. They remained
true friends until one night three years ago when Kian’s wife,
Aileen, called to tell us that Kian had died from a heart attack.
Dad spoke with Aileen a lot to check on her welfare. He sent money
which she declined. Dad was devastated. No amount of money could
fix this. Aileen called one night, and after a short conversation,
Dad asked what he could do to help. He told her he’d do anything
that was in his power. She timidly asked whether he’d give her twin
sons jobs at Flynn Logistics. Dad was more than happy to do that.
If Kian’s sons were anything like their father, they’d be a great
addition to the business.

Turns out Kian’s
sons are exactly like their dad was. Sweet, polite, and funny. Both
are hardworking men at twenty-six years old. They’re identical
twins. And gorgeous.

As
in
Meow
.

Tall and slender, yet muscular, black hair and grey eyes that
almost look silver. They are just…
wow
. I’ve seen them both eyeing Terah. They’re smitten. And the
problem is that she’s just as smitten…with both of them. A recipe
for disaster, to be sure.

Dad breaks me out of
my thoughts with, “I’m sorry, girls. I canna do anything about
this. Terah, I’ve deferred the rest of the college semester and
ye’ll stay home with Delilah and me. We’ll work from home doing
what we can till they say we can go back.”

Dipping my chin, I
nod to the floor. Terah’s hand grips mine so tightly that I know
there’s nothing more she wants to do than screech at the top of her
lungs and throw shit around the room. I get it. I do. College was
her only freedom and with that gone…she’s going to become like
me.

Defeated.

Standing abruptly, I
announce, “Well, if that’s all, I’d like to be excused. I’m a
little tired.”

Dad looks up to me.
“Of course, dear. If that’s what ye-” Dads cell phone vibrates on
the dining table. The screen flashes bright red. When my father
picks up his phone to look at the display, he visibly pales.
Looking between me and Terah, he says firmly, “Girls, go to ye
rooms. Right now. Lock the doors from the inside. I don’t want ye
to come out until ye hear from me. No one else but me. Do ye
understand?”

My blood runs cold.
I can’t move. I’m petrified.

“
I
said do ye understand me?” Dad booms and it jolts me. I nod
vigorously and from the corner of my eye, I see Terah do the same.
Dad focuses on something passed Terah and I, in the distance
and whispers, “Run!”

My legs move of
their own accord.

I drag Terah down
the hall, running in my socks and slipping every few steps. We bolt
up the stairs, and when we reach our rooms, I pull her into a hard
hug. She whispers, “It’s probably nothing, Lily. Do what Dad says,
okay?” I nod into her shoulder.

We separate. I hear
her go into her room and shut the door. I open the door to my room,
with my hand still on the knob. I freeze, solid as an iceberg.

Oh, fuck my life!

Chapter Two
Kidnapped

Lily

Pressure builds in
my ears, my palms sweat, and I lock my knees to stop them from
shaking.

Staring into the
masked face of the tall, muscled, olive-skinned intruder, I try
hard to think about what I should do, but all my brain is giving
out is white noise.

He
stands by my bed, motionless, wearing a tight black tee, black
cargo pants, and black army boots. The mask he wears is black and
looks to be leather too. It’s a peculiar looking mask. It’s been
sewn together and covers his whole head. The eye holes are round
but covered with some sort of mesh so you can’t
see directly into the person’s eye, same with the
nose holes and mouth. I’ve never seen anything like it before. I
almost want to ask him where he got it from
. It looks very steam-punk, and if I’d seen him on the street
and not in my room being all creepy and shit, I
would
ask him where he got it.

What the eff?
Focus!

My brain currently
wears a sign that says “Gone Fishin’”.

Movement at the door to my closet tears my focus away from the
intruder. When another identically dressed, masked man
appears
, only bigger and taller, I figure I’m
screwed.

Well, that’s that.
Goodbye cruel world. Be sure to fuck thyself on the way out, you
mean-assed son of a whore.

I
should’ve snuck out with Terah tonight. God, she’s gonna be
so
pissed at me!

A muffled scream
from Terah’s room makes me break out into a cold sweat. I panic a
moment before courage blooms from the center of my gut. I breathe
deeply and steady myself.

I
am
not
going down without a
fight!

My
hand stiffens on the door knob. I take a small step back, and the
man at my bed shakes his head slowly. And
shit
! It freaks me out.

I take another small
step back. My sister screams again, louder this time, and it slices
right through me like a hot knife through butter. The man at my
closet steps closer to me. I hold his masked gaze and take another
step back. Before I can think about what I’m doing, I turn and run
as fast as I can to my sister’s room. I thank God she didn’t have
time to lock the door. I open the door to see two more masked men
restraining Terah. My hands shake as I take in her tearful face. I
rush over to her desk, pick up the crystal vase that sits on the
corner of it, and creep over to masked man number four. Unable to
see me with his back to me, I smash the vase down onto his head as
hard as I can without a moment’s thought. It shatters to pieces and
the man falls to his knees yelling, “Fuck!”

Strong arms wrap
around my waist and lift me. I kick out and shriek, “No! Let my
sister go!”

Balling my hands
into fists, I swing back over my shoulders and connect with another
masked man’s face. He growls, “Stop!”

Stop? Are you
shitting me? How about…no!

“
Limp dick motherfucker! Let me go!” I yell out through
heaving breaths.

My knuckles throb
but I try to hit him over and over again. He’s moved his head
behind mine so I can’t reach his face. Pulling my arm forward, I
wrench it back hard and elbow him in the ribs. He drops me and I
hit the floor with a thud. Scrambling to my feet, I run forward two
steps before bigger, taller masked man number two hauls me over his
shoulder and runs with me down the stairs. It hurts my stomach so
badly, I feel like I’m going to puke. I don’t even realize I’ve
started crying until I can barely take in a full breath. The man
takes me down the hall and toward the front door.

The nerve of these
guys! Kidnapping us through the front door?

Now that’s just
cocky.

I
screech, “DAD! MOM! HELP!”

A muffled argument I
can’t quite make out reaches my ears and I hear my dad yell out,
“Delilah!” just as the masked man takes me out the front door.

Anguish slices
through me. My stiff body slumps in defeat and I sob into the man’s
back. I cry out, “Please let me go! Oh God, please!”

But the man’s pace
never slows.

As we pass the
property line, he holds me tightly and carries me into the back of
a large black van. The van takes off as soon as my butt hits the
seat. I have no fight left in me. The courage I felt earlier is
completely demolished by the one thought circling around in my
head…

It’s official.

I’ve been
kidnapped.

***

The back of the van
is pitch black. I can’t see a damn thing. I have no idea where I’m
being taken. All I know is that Humungo won’t let go of my arm.

The van stops after
what feels like about twenty hours of driving when in reality, it’s
been around twenty minutes. The side door slides open and light
floods the back. I look around me and fear clogs my throat.

There are another
three people in the back with us. They’re all so quiet that I
hadn’t even noticed them. They’re masked, too. If the devil had
minions, this is what they’d look like; I’m sure of it.

Freaking. The. Eff.
Out.

Humungo tugs on my arm and steps out of the van, pulling me
out behind him. I look around. We’re in an underground parking lot
that’s completely empty. I squeak when he lifts me over his
shoulder again and carries me like I’m a sack of potatoes. I don’t
mind not walking right now because I don’t think I could even if I
wanted to, but
damn
, his
shoulder in my belly hurts like hell. My face is pained as I strain
through gritted teeth, “Please put me down. You’re hurting
me.”

To my absolute
shock, he does.

The man places me on
my feet in front of him, grips my upper arm with one hand and
removes his leather mask with the other. I’m suddenly staring into
a pair of blue eyes that are so cold, if you looked up arctic in
the encyclopedia these eyes would be pictured underneath.