Katie hid the syringe in the folds of her skirt, fisting it against her thigh as she approached Roman. She did her best to give him a beaming smile when he glanced over his shoulder. It really wasn’t that hard. He was utterly, breathtakingly gorgeous. Even out on the water he wasn’t dressed like a normal, casual guy. He went for the dark, shadowed look that gave sexy a new name. He wore black jeans that rode low on his hips with the same belt he’d used to hit her into orgasmic heaven. A black leather vest was all that covered his wide chest, leaving his rippling shoulder and pectoral muscles on display for her viewing pleasure. The back of his vest was covered in a large rust-red patch depicting a scorpion and the name Valdez.
He stiffened a little as her feet whispered along the deck toward him. She was probably the only person he would turn his back on. Sadly, she was the last person he should trust at the moment. She stepped up to him and leaned against his back as he steered the yacht. She pressed her lips against the tanned skin of his arm and peeked up at his clenched jaw. Tension vibrated through his big body. They were heading toward the mainland and he didn’t like it. She knew he didn’t completely trust her, but he was eager to start their lives together. Which included having sex without the barrier of condoms.
He would keep her under lock and key the entire time they were on shore, likely with the help of his boss and friend, Soloman Hart. After their checkups, she was fairly certain he intended to bring her back on board the yacht for a few more weeks until he was more sure of her feelings. Which was why she had to enact her plan immediately. As much as it made her heart ache to leave him after only one day – the most perfect day in her entire life – she knew she had to go. She needed to get her butt to Milan. She had to leave him before they made dock and he had reinforcements. At least now she knew where she was.
So, after pulling on a long chiffon skirt and pink blouse, she’d opened the safe and grabbed one of the syringes he’d stashed away. She was positive it was the same drug he’d used on her to get her on the yacht in the first place. He probably had more in case he needed to move her again and she was being uncooperative. Bastard. Well, she was about to see how much he liked his own medicine.
“Roman?” she whispered, raising her bright blue eyes to his.
“Yeah, baby?” he said, glancing down at her for a second before turning his eyes back to the open ocean ahead of them.
She took a deep breath and edged the needle up his back, threaded in between her fingers. It would feel to him like she was just rubbing his back when she was actually trying to get the needle closer to his arm. She didn’t know what the drug was. He’d injected her in the thigh, suggesting it was safe to go in a muscle. It would act quickest in a vein, but she wasn’t really willing to take the risk with his life. She would compromise instead and inject it in his bicep, closer to his head and heart. Maybe it would act quicker that way.
“You know I love you, right?” she whispered.
He looked down at her, studying her features. She hadn’t actually meant to say that. She meant to keep the conversation light so his eyes would stay on the water. But somehow, she couldn’t leave him without telling him how she felt. She was so focused on his face and the needle that she didn’t notice the arm he wrapped around her waist until he jerked her hard against his body, lifting her right off her feet and crushed her lips beneath his own in a kiss meant to brand her soul with his. She was so surprised she damn near clenched her fist around the needle and injected herself. Apparently, Roman hadn't known how she felt about him.
Finally, he eased his hold a little and set her back on her feet. His obsidian eyes pierced her with such sizzling possession she thought she would burn up on the spot. Certainly, she wanted to rethink her, admittedly, pretty bad plan where just about a dozen things could go wrong and have more mind-bending sex with this bronzed man-God. Alas, more lives than just hers were on the line and the clock was ticking. Her big boss puppet master was benevolent, but also murderous when crossed. He had a soft spot for Katie, but not so much for Roman or XSource. She wouldn’t allow others to get caught in her fallout.
Steeling her heart against the pain she knew was about to come, the kind she didn’t enjoy, she waited for him to shift his eyes away from her. The moment he did, she brought her hand forward and plunged the sharp needle into his skin, pressing the syringe down just as his razor-sharp mind realized what was happening. The hand that had been around her waist came up to crush hers in a grip so tight she cried out in pain. He tore the needle from his arm, her hand still clutching it, and looked down at both.
She watched his face as he stared at the needle. Tears pooled in the corners of her eyes as she watched rage and betrayal tighten his features. His lips firmed into a hard line, his jaw clenched and every line of his body tightened in denial. His hand tightened around hers until she felt the needle snap under the pressure. She bit her lip to keep from crying out again. She deserved the pain. She would deserve it if he broke every one of her fingers.
Finally, he lifted his eyes to hers. What she saw terrified her. He was going to kill her. She saw it in his eyes. He had never looked at her that way before. She was certain the only people that saw that look were the ones he escorted into death. She made a tiny sound, halfway between a sigh and a whimper. She wanted to be brave, but she didn’t know if she could. This wasn’t what she’d planned. Why wasn't he passed out on the deck? God, she wished she’d at least been able to warn Source before getting sucked into this mess. Now, her beloved hacker buddy would no doubt die a grisly death too, because she’d gotten them both entangled in the grip of a psychotic international crime boss.
Roman crashed to his knees, nearly taking Katie down with him. His hold on her hand weakened. She tugged a little and he let go. He scrubbed a hand across his face and then looked at it in disbelief. She stumbled back, staring at him with wide eyes as though he was a wild dog that could attack at any moment. She tossed the broken shards of the needle behind her while he shook his head and then looked around.
“Katie!” he snarled, searching for her.
When he saw her, he reached out for her, swaying. She jumped back. He brought a knee up and rested his arm across it.
“Don-don’t you fucking ru-run way from me, you little bitch. I’ll hunt you down. No matter where you go. N-no place will be far enough,” he slurred, trying determinedly to get off the deck, his dark eyes never wavering from his prey.
She shivered and continued to back away as he got clumsily to his feet. Every instinct she possessed told her to run from the angry drugged killer stalking her slowly across the deck, clutching at furniture as he neared her. But she couldn’t just leave him. What if he fell over board? She would die if anything happened to him because of her. So, instead of running, she slowly backed away from him, allowing him to get close without actually touching.
She saw satisfaction flicker in his progressively heavier eyes right before she toppled backwards with a scream. Arms flailing wildly, she felt herself enveloped in the bubbling water of the hot tub. With a shock, Katie surfaced to find Roman stumbling right in after her.
“No!” she wailed. “You idiot! How am I supposed to pull your giant ass out?”
Then her concern for his safety became the least of her worries when his hands landed heavily on her shoulders and he shoved her backwards into the steaming water. She screamed as he pushed her under. She wondered for just a second if he meant to drown her in the hot tub when she realized he had actually lost his battle for consciousness when he landed on top of her. She shoved herself out from under him and then frantically began tugging at his shoulders. Thankfully, she was able to get him onto his back.
“Oh my god, you big moron!” she yelled at him, pulling him toward the edge. “I had it under control. You were just supposed to quietly fall to the floor like I did, while I called my friend and then steered us to safety. Instead, you freaking hulk your way across this damn boat with drugs in your system and try to drown us both in the yacht-tub? I mean, this is taking obsession to a whole new level, don’t you think?”
She panted and moaned as she braced her feet against the edge of the tub and heaved, using every ounce of strength. Every time she managed to get him partway out, they would slide right back in together. She screamed out in frustration. Finally, standing up on the bench, she shoved her hair off her face and stood over him with her legs on either side of his wide chest. Pulling her arm back, she slapped him with everything she had.
“Wake the fuck up!” she screamed in his face.
His body jerked and his eyes fluttered open, long, black silky lashes sweeping up. His cloudy eyes immediately narrowed on her. He reached up and seized her by the waist, dragging her down into the swirling water until she was forced to straddle him. He tangled his fingers in the strands of her wet hair and brought her head down to his for a clumsy kiss.
Rolling her eyes, she sighed. “Trust you to have sex on the brain at a time like this. Okay, Roman, we need to get you out of here and I can’t do it alone. You weigh an absolute ton!”
He grunted in acknowledgment and let her wedge a shoulder between his arm and ribcage. Leaning heavily against her, he used the last of his strength to help her get him out of the swirling water. He stumbled hard against her, taking her down to the deck.
“I… I’ll come for you, Kat… rina,” he mumbled, an echo of what he told her ten years earlier, his eyes drifting closed.
“I know,” she whispered, running her fingers over his sculpted lips. She bent over and pressed a kiss against them. “But this time I’ll make sure you won’t find me.”