Dani stripped out of the dress as soon as the bedroom door closed behind her. It flew, flapping like a red flag across the room, to collapse in a corner. What the hell had she been thinking? A dress? She grabbed for her comfort clothing: cut-off jeans, t-shirt, her comfortable boots. The clothing she wore traveling, stuff that fit her.

The dress had looked cute, and Luke had liked the way it showed her legs, but he wasn’t really all that interested in looking anymore. He was angry, consumed by hatred for her and, truth be told, she couldn’t really blame him. The whole sham about the wedding, the trap for her father, all of it... of course, he blamed her. This whole mess was her fault.

I never should have gotten involved with him in the first place.

She grabbed the laces of the boot and pulled hard, hearing the cords creak and stretch as she pulled the boot tighter than she should. She backed off a bit so as not to impede her blood flow, and laced it up.

Slowly she was beginning to feel more like herself, less like someone’s doll. Damn it, why couldn’t he realize that she’d dressed like that exclusively for him? He was supposed to be captivated by her beauty, or at least interested. However, except for the one time she’d caught him staring at her legs, he’d shown a bulwark of indifference to her dress.

Maybe he never loved you at all. Have you ever considered that?

She didn’t want to go there. That kissing/wrestling match they’d had was nothing more than cover for him to talk to her. That wasn’t safe, not with Benny in the room with them and only a few feet away. If he was going to reject her she was going to be in her real clothing, and to hell with primping and fussing.

So, I’m in my real clothes. In my room. Alone. Now what?

She sat on the edge of the bed and sighed. It was time to keep things in perspective. So the cops were watching. It wasn’t the first time the house had been infiltrated, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last. From the sound of it, this time they had a man inside. That had happened before, too; servants came and went. Sometimes they came wired for sound. Sometimes they went with a little evidence—but never more than a good high-priced lawyer could refute.

The only thing that made any of this different was that Luke was Benny’s prisoner. That was a federal charge, and one that he could make stick. But the problem was, Benny hadn’t been the one to kidnap him. David had. Benny was just holding onto the trophy David had already brought home. He could make that stick, too. That meant that, if caught, David was going away for years unless Luke lied under oath to save him, and Luke had no reason to want to save David.

And if he cared about me?

But the problem was, he didn’t. He’d made that quite clear. He’d insulted her from the moment he’d first seen her that morning, making that crack about her being a princess, and saying all that about her family. Okay, so maybe there was some justification for all of that. He was a prisoner in their house, after all. It was natural for him to be having a snit about that.

Still. That meant that he wasn’t in any kind of mood to debate the innocence of the man who had kidnapped him. And the fact was, David had been the one to kidnap him.

Maybe I can talk to him. Maybe I can get him to see reason... or at least do me a big favor. If he can say it was Benny’s boys who came and got him...

Like that was going to work.

She flopped back on the blanket and stared up at the ceiling. He needed that damn USB stick. What the hell was on that thing anyway? Dani hadn’t seen it since she’d slipped it into her back pocket. Luke seemed to think that it was somewhere accessible, which would put it in the house somewhere, as there was no other place he could possibly get it.

Not that he was able to get at anything outside his room right now.

So where was it? He’d been dragged in through the front door. That hadn’t left a whole lot of places he could have stashed the thing. He also hadn’t had a whole lot of freedom of movement. She chewed her thumbnail as she stared up at the light fixture, trying to see faces in the mottled shade like she had as a child. She used to think of those faces as friendly creatures there to help her. Right now the streaks on the frosted glass only seemed to form question marks, giving her no help at all.

Well, sitting in her room staring at the ceiling wasn’t going to get her anywhere. Even in her comfortable clothing she was still a prisoner, and on the other end of the world from Luke. She needed to talk to him; she needed... him. That was it. It seemed rather obvious now, but it hit her like a flash. She needed him. What fiancée didn’t need time alone with her betrothed? If Benny wanted a wedding with a blushing bride and handsome groom, then he’d have one. Only, there had to be some reason to blush. What was it he’d said back at the banquet hall? Something about them needing time together? Maybe he’d been on the same wavelength, though for different reasons. That meant they might allow her some leniency. She only needed to push a little and see what she could get away with.

Of course, that still left the small difficulty of Luke hating her guts. It was a small obstacle, but one that needed to be addressed. There was no guarantee that, even if she could get to his room, he wouldn’t just slam the door in her face.

Well, she wasn’t going there to jump him, that was just the cover story. She was going to his room to talk to him. Maybe to even work out a deal with him, if he would let David off the hook.

And get him out of the house. Every day he’s here puts him in that much more danger. Not that I know how to do that just yet, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Right?

Well, even if she couldn’t get him out of the house just yet, she should be able to get herself into his room. She thought for a moment and stood. She looked at herself in the mirror and sighed. She looked competent.

She shook her head. It was the exact wrong look for what she needed.

With great distaste, she again stripped and reached for the cast-off dress. She had taken such comfort in her boots and the thick, warm socks, and now she had to trade them for outrageously high heels that no one who wasn’t trained in acrobatics should even attempt to wear. She made a face as she slipped each shoe on each foot.

She looked at the mirror again, finger-combing her hair so that it fell in a sexy and somewhat tousled cascade over one shoulder. Now she looked... less likely to kick someone’s ass.

This so isn’t me.

Part of her just wanted to go all Rambo and beat the crap out of every one of Benny’s men, and let the cops sort the bodies. But however good she was, she was only a single person against how many men Benny had working for him? Not to forget to add in taking over David’s boys and whoever her father had left behind.

Okay, so we save that for Plan B.

Which left Project Airhead on the table. Because, of course, no one expects the idiot to have a plan, much less any ability to carry it out.

So I’m a bubble-head. I can do that, too. She plastered a smile on her face and let her eyes lose focus a little. Then she lifted her eyebrows, giving her a happy, but perpetually confused sort of look.

She only stumbled once on a stupid heel as she traipsed across carpeting way too plush for stiletto heels, and knocked on the door. The guard on the other side didn’t respond, so she tried again.

It was the very guard she’d hoped for. He’d been the one who’d escorted her to her room in the first place, but since they often changed posts she hadn’t been counting on it still being him. Thanking her lucky stars for the first break she’d had in days she gave him a wide-eyed look, letting her lips part naturally, her tongue darting out to wet the lower lip.

The guard was young, the youngest of them that she’d seen. He looked like he was rather full of himself and walked with a bit of a swagger. Promoted too soon, she thought with contempt, having served with his type before. Needs the stuffing knocked out of him.

Her foot twitched. Those pointy toes would go a long way toward educating the lad.

“Are you knocking to leave a room?” the guard asked, amused with himself, already laughing at his own joke.

Dani widened her eyes, and though she was dying inside of embarrassment and shame, she pulled out a little-girl voice. “Can I go to the li-berry? I want to find a book. I’m getting so bored in here.”

“You want a book?” The question was a loaded one; he could barely keep the sneer from his voice. He stroked what would have been a mustache, if he’d had the ability to grow hair on his upper lip.

Bingo. He’s arrogant enough to fall for it. Don’t oversell, keep it simple.

“Uh-huh. I want something to read. I’m kinda bored.” She was repeating herself. Could she sound any more vapid?

He looked around as though he was about to do something illegal and didn’t want to get caught. “All right.” He smiled at her. If Luke had ignored the way she looked in a short red dress, this... punk made up for it in spades. He was practically drooling.

Yeah, buddy boy, think what you want. If you think you’re going to touch me, I’m going to kick your ass first. Then, when this is all over, I’m going to come back and do it again just to keep you from ever getting ideas.

She swallowed hard. The things she did for love.

“Thank you!” she said, as chipper as she could, and even flounced a little for good measure as she followed him down the stairs.

Dani walked into the library and made a big show of turning around, looking at the vast array of books as if she’d never seen it before. In truth, this had always been her favorite part of the house, largely because her father never darkened that particular doorway. Dani wasn’t convinced her old man could read. It was uncharitable, but if he hadn’t stolen the money and run she wouldn’t be in this position.

On the other hand, it wasn’t he who’d decided that the mansion needed a library. That was strictly her mother’s work. Every time she walked into the room, she felt her mother there with her. The jewel-tone accents gave the room her warmth, the whimsical additions her humor. She breathed in the scent of old books, one hand on a globe that lacked any countries at all, save the ones you could draw yourself with chalk. Dani closed her eyes, allowing herself the luxury of feeling her mother’s presence.

“Having trouble finding one?”

She turned and stared at the guard. He stood leaning against the closed door, openly eyeing the boss’ niece with such a smug look of superiority that it was all she could do to not put the granite paperweight on the desk to good and creative use. Her fingers twitched toward the object. Instead, she sent the globe spinning as though she hadn’t a care in the world.

Idiot. As if she couldn’t get him in a great deal of trouble with Uncle Benny. He had to know it, but he was too arrogant to care.

I’d ask you to pick one for me, but I don’t think we have Curious George here. “I guess maybe a book wasn’t really what I was looking for—deep down, I mean.” She lowered her head and traced a circle with the toe of her shoe. She looked up without moving her head, letting her eyes peek up at him from under her hair. “I’m engaged,” she said, and licked her lips. “and my finance... fee...”

“Fiancé?”

“Yep!” She lifted her head and smiled as vacuously as possible. “Yeah, that’s him. He’s here in the house, but I never get to see him!” She stomped her foot just a little. “He’s gonna be my husband and I miss him!” She walked up to the man, boldly, letting her hips sway a little extra with each step and almost twisting her ankle on the damned shoes. She put her hand on his chest. The guard flinched a bit. Dani realized he thought she was going for his shoulder holster.

Idiot. Like I need a gun to take care of someone like you. What the hell am I doing?

She traced her fingers down his chest and tugged gently on his tie, hating the very feel of him underneath her fingertips. “Do you think you can get me in to... see... him?” She moistened her lips and looked up into the young man’s face coquettishly. Or something like that. At this point she was vamping straight out of old movies, thankful she’d spent some time watching Bette Davis and Marilyn Monroe on late night cable TV.

He took a deep breath. Dani thanked the gods that she’d put on the lavender perfume. That’s right, she’d hypnotize the boy with her charm. He licked his lips. It was all she could do to not back away. She took her hand away, looking down and feigning defeat. Unfortunately, her eyes hit his crotch and she noticed that her act had a physical effect on the man, despite his hesitation. Ewwwww...

Get me to see Luke soon; I’m making myself queasy here!

“Well...” The man looked aside. Again, who the hell was he looking at? The boy had to look around him in an empty room for permission to break the rules. Dani bit her lip hard to keep herself from laying him out cold. This was infuriating. This was humiliating. This was... for David. For David, she would do this. And for Luke. Yeah. Him, too.

“I’ll see what I can do...” he said, and walked back to the door. Dani sent a thought to her mother, asking her to watch out for her daughter, and followed. For a moment, she forgot to hold her eyes wide and her eyebrows high in the middle. A passing glance at a mirror in the hallway showed a smart, calculating woman. Watch yourself, girl. Thankfully she corrected her expression before the man turned around.

He motioned her to silence and pointed down the hallway, gesturing for her to remain where she was. The idiot was going to leave her unattended. Of course, she wasn’t going to run, at least not in those heels, but he had no way of knowing that. She smiled as widely and as vacantly as she could and turned a leg to pivot the foot. She tried to look as innocent and child-like as possible. He gave her another appreciative leer and headed down the hall to the man standing in front of a door.

They spoke a bit, rapidly, and the other guard shrugged and walked off. Her young man signaled for her to wait and when the other was gone, he signaled her to hurry. “I told him that I was assigned here, and he was to take your room,” the man whispered to her. “I said you were already asleep, so we have some time.”

“Thank you!” Dani chirruped and stood on her toes to kiss the man’s cheek. He got in a grope of her ass. Her right fist came back out of instinct, but she hit the doorknob and grabbed it, passing it off as being anxious to see her finance... finesse... damn, now he had her doing it for real.

She opened the door and slipped into the room, swearing that if she lived through this she was going to hunt down that particular guard and break his hand finger by finger, and then dance on his face with the stiletto heels that were currently tearing into her instep.

Luke had a large room. It was actually two rooms together, much like hers. The first room was a sitting room of sorts, not that they’d given him any luxuries. The TV that should have been in the corner, noticeably wasn’t. Neither was there any sign of books or magazines to help pass the time. She winced, realizing he wasn’t exactly getting much in the way of hospitality. The couch by the window was empty. She supposed he was in the adjoining bedroom. Past that would be an en suite bathroom.

From where she stood, Dani heard heavy breathing, huffing and puffing and groans. Wondering what she’d walked into, she slipped the shoes off and carried them into the bedroom. There on the floor, Luke was doing pushups. His shirt was off, and he was covered in a sheen of sweat that accented the cut of his muscles and the ripple of the skin as he flexed. “Ninety-seven, ninety-eight, ninety-nine, hundred, hundred-one...”

Dani stood there, transfixed, watching him work out. His arms were thicker than she remembered, his back broader. She’d seen him naked twice, but it was still an eye-catching sight. She couldn’t take her eyes off him.

“Tell me when you get to six hundred,” she said, leaning against the doorjamb.

He pushed off, caught his feet under him, and leapt to a standing position while spinning around to look at her. It was a move worthy of an acrobat, or a gymnast... or a fighter. For the first time, she realized what she should have a long time ago: Luke was a trained federal agent. It meant he knew how to handle himself in a fight. He was trained—like she was.

And from the look of it, in better shape than she was.

I should have been working out, not stomping in my room like a child.

Being cooped up had made her soft. And she’d had the audacity to think she would be able to help him somehow. He looked like he could take on every guy in the place. At the same time. Blindfolded.

He stared at her. She stood without moving, leaning with her hip cocked, stiletto heels dangling from a finger, her short dress riding up a little on her hip. She knew very well what she looked like; she’d organized her body and dress before speaking.

“What are you doing here?” he growled at her.

She smiled and looked down at his heaving chest, to the tight belly and the hair that seemed to rise from the sweatpants that rode low on his hips.

“You can pretend all you want, but you’re wearing sweatpants. I can tell you’re happy I’m here.”