Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 81787 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 409(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81787 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 409(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 273(@300wpm)
I reached out and took it. “This is great and all, but you need to explain what is going on.”
His gaze swung back to the road in front of us. “You’re in danger, Oakley. I had to get you out. That’s all you need to know.”
Danger? Me? What?!
“Wilder, that isn’t an answer. How am I in danger, and how would you know I was in danger? Are you … high?” I asked finally, not able to come up with any other reason this man had lost his damn mind.
The driver laughed, then tried to cover it up with clearing his throat.
“No, I’m not fucking high,” he bit out.
That had clearly annoyed him.
“Well then, why are we doing this? Why do you think I’m in danger?”
“Because you are.”
I threw up my hands in frustration. “Thanks for clarifying. I feel so much better about all this now. My phone was in the house, Wilder. What if someone calls me? I have plans this afternoon. Hamilton is coming to pick me up. What happens when he shows and I’m not there, but my door is smashed in, and my phone, purse, car are all there? Did you think of that? This is technically a crime you’re committing here. Taking me by force. It’s called kidnapping.”
“You can shut up, or I can gag you,” Wilder said, cutting his eyes toward me, as if he’d rather look anywhere else.
“Gag me? See, that’s only making the crime worse. None of this is legal. I’m your daughter’s aunt, and I realize you don’t—” I stopped talking as he reached behind the seat. My eyes dropped to his bicep that was flexing against the fitted, short-sleeved black shirt he was wearing. For a moment, lust made me forget what I was saying.
But the moment was brief when he jammed a piece of cloth into my mouth, grabbed my shoulder, turned me away from him, wrapped the cloth around my head, and began to tie it. I reached up to grab it when he yanked back on it.
“If you touch it, I will tie your goddamn hands,” he warned me in a low voice.
Whoever this was, it was not Wilder. I didn’t recognize this man impersonating him. Wilder was a jerk, but only to me. He was a computer nerd, albeit a sexy one. He lived in a fancy house and drove an expensive car. He loved his mom and lived on the right side of the law.
The cruel, unhinged guy who had just gagged me was not Wilder Jones. Although he looked just like him and smelled like him. And he seemed to hate me as much as him.
I sank back against the seat, leaving the fabric he’d tied around my head in my mouth. He wasn’t going to explain. I could trust him, couldn’t I? I mean, he hated me, but would he do something bad to me? He’d said he was saving me. I didn’t see how this was saving me, but okay. He was Sarah’s dad. He loved her. She loved me.
In his voice messages, he had sounded frantic. Worried. Actually terrified. He had been scared someone was going to get me. He warned me not to leave the house. Begged me not to leave the house, was more like it. All those things meant I was not being kidnapped to be sold into the sex trade or something equally horrible.
I had to trust Wilder. Assuming he wasn’t mentally insane and no one knew it.
The SUV pulled through the entrance of the Shephards’ ranch. I’d been here many times when I had dated Sebastian. I knew exactly where we were, but why were we here? Did this have to do with the dark, illegal things that I had heard this family was involved in? If so, why was I a part of it? UGH! So many questions, and if I took this stupid gag off to ask any, he’d tie my hands, and that would be terribly uncomfortable.
The driver didn’t go toward the house, but took a dirt road out behind the stables that went on for another mile. I’d never been back here. This was new for me. I looked at Wilder, wishing he’d say something. Tell me what was going on. He didn’t even acknowledge me. Damn him.
Finally, the SUV came to a stop near the foot of the mountain that backed up to the Shephards’ property. Wilder opened the door on his side and climbed out, leaving me sitting there. I watched as someone walked around the edge of the rock in front of us, and Wilder spoke to them. I couldn’t see who it was, only the back of someone’s head. The driver opened his door and got out, leaving me alone.
Wilder turned his attention back to the SUV, then said something before making his way to my side of the vehicle. He yanked my door open and held out his hand to me. “Get out.”