Chapter 3

 

Beast had descended into the ninth circle of hell. Not only had he been kidnapped, but he was with a woman who didn’t believe it was happening. A woman who thought they’d have fun. They weren’t going to have fun. They were going to die. And he would bet that the asshole in front of him would be the one to pull the trigger.

With bound hands, Beast grabbed Belinda and shoved her behind him.

“Great improvising,” she whispered to him, making him growl.

Their captor smirked at the move, thinking he was the one with the power. He didn’t know Beast. Even bound, hands and feet, he’d take the guy in a fight. The guns were a problem, though. Fists were no good against bullets.

“Señorita Collins,” the kidnapper said.

Beast didn’t like his tone. It made his skin crawl. This guy wanted Belinda. And not just for money.

“And”—the kidnapper cocked his head at Beast—“it seems we have an extra guest. One who isn’t as famous as the beautiful señorita.”

Beast didn’t answer. He wasn’t giving this guy anything if he could help it. Not even his name. Behind the kidnapper, two more men sauntered into the tiny room, and the tension amped right up. They were both armed with rifles. The two men stood either side of the door, ready to protect their leader. Or to kill the captives. With a knowing smile, the leader turned to the two men behind him and spoke in Spanish, a language Beast spoke fluently.

“See how he protects her still? What a good dog!”

Beast’s muscles went taut. But he didn’t move. He’d learned the hard way not to react, to bide his time before he struck his foe.

“Señorita Collins, it is a pleasure to have you as our guest.” The leader’s eyes lazily scanned her body, lingering at her breasts and thighs. Yeah, the asshole definitely had plans for Belinda that didn’t involve making money from her.

“Who are you? What do you want?” Belinda sounded terrified. Over-the-top terrified. The airhead was acting. Overacting, in an attempt to have some fun. Beast itched to shake some sense into her, but he didn’t move. He had to keep his eyes on the biggest threat in the room—the kidnapper.

“What do I want?” The guy shared a laugh with his colleagues. “I want money.”

He crouched down in front them. Beast noticed he made sure to keep out of reach of his feet. It said a lot about their kidnapper, that he realised Beast was dangerous to him, even while bound. Which made Beast even more worried. This was a man who knew violence, who assessed people quickly and wasn’t afraid of striking out. In fact, Beast suspected their kidnapper enjoyed making people suffer. He reeked of it. His eyes glowed when Belinda cowered. Yeah, he was definitely their biggest threat.

The kidnapper held a phone out to Belinda. “I need you to call your very famous father and tell him that he must do as I instruct. If he doesn’t, I will feel the need to send his princess back to him in pieces.”

His voice was calm, to the point where he could have been discussing the weather, not threatening an A-list actress. Beast felt Belinda still behind him and hoped reality was sinking in for her at last.

“I know I should stay in character,” she said cheerily, “but I have to ask. I mean, you’re an amazing actor. Right up there with De Niro. You’ve even got me second-guessing things. This is a fake kidnapping, right? Not a real one?”

If this were any other situation, and Beast’s life wasn’t on the line, he would have groaned. Belinda Collins didn’t think like normal people. She was in a world all of her own. One that was most likely populated with Disney princesses, rainbows and unicorns.

The kidnapper looked stunned for a second and then burst out laughing. “She thinks this is fake. She thinks we’re all acting,” he told his men, who laughed heartily too.

“Oh, señorita,” the guy said, “this is very much a real kidnapping. And as real kidnappers, we want our ransom.” He gave her a wide smile that didn’t touch his eyes.

There was silence for a second as Belinda processed his answer. “Gotcha, you can’t break character. I should have known. You’re professionals.”

“She still doesn’t believe me,” he told his men. “She thinks this is a game. I wonder if she’ll think my dick is real when I shove it into her.”

Beast clenched his fists to stop from lunging for the man. He obviously assumed his captives didn’t speak Spanish, or he didn’t care if they did. His eyes shot to Beast and he smirked, challenging him to do something about his plans. Beast clenched his teeth hard as he narrowed his eyes at the man. As far as Beast was concerned, his kidnapper was nothing more than a dead man walking.

The kidnapper held the phone out to Belinda. “Make the call,” he ordered her, his voice cold and flat.

Belinda took the phone. “And you promise that once you have the money, you’ll return us to our families?” She was back to acting.

“But of course.” He shrugged, as though he was a reasonable man.

“Unharmed?” She infused the word with trembling fear. If only it had been real caution Beast heard instead of the part she thought she was playing.

“I’m sure we won’t hurt her too much while we use her,” the kidnapper said to his men, who laughed again.

He turned back to her with a leering smile. “Of course you will be returned in one piece to your family. We are not monsters. We are businessmen.”

Yeah, even if he couldn’t speak Spanish, Beast wouldn’t have believed him.

“What do you want to do about her bodyguard?” one of the men asked.

The leader gave Beast a considering look. “We keep him for now. We can use him to get her to behave. But once his usefulness is over, get rid of him.”

Beast tensed. He’d known he was useless to the kidnappers. Now he knew his time was already running out.

“Should I get my father to handle John’s ransom too?” Belinda said, making the men still. “Or do you want John to speak to his partners at the studio himself?”

What the hell? Beast wanted to turn to her and shake some sense into her. He wasn’t a damn character in her delusional game. None of them were.

“Studio?” The leader eyed Beast.

“Oh, yes, studio. Unless it’s too expensive to call the States.” Belinda had obviously decided that her character should be dumb as dirt. Great. More fun for all.

“Oh, wait,” she said as she scooted forward, phone in hand. “That was your agent at the party, right? You could call him instead.” She beamed at him, clearly enjoying herself.

Beast stared at her. He couldn’t speak. There were actually no words in his head.

“Why would your bodyguard need an agent?” the leader said.

Belinda giggled, and Beast had to fight the urge to shake his head. What the hell was she doing? She was going to get them both killed.

“This isn’t my bodyguard,” she said. “This is John Favreau. He’s one of the best directors in Hollywood. He directed Iron Man. He’s known for his action movies, and he’s going to direct me in my next movie.” She lowered her voice as though she was imparting a national secret. “I’m playing the title role in a reboot of Supergirl. That’s why he was invited to my sister’s wedding.” She gave Beast a vapid but shaky smile—still playing her part of airheaded kidnap victim. “We’re practically best friends, seeing as we’ll be working together.”

The leader gave her a lecherous grin. “So pretty and yet you stupid,” he said.

Beast knew he radiated tense readiness. If their kidnappers bought that he was anything other than a caged animal waiting to pounce, then Belinda was a better actress than he’d given her credit for.

“A movie director?” Their kidnapper was, unsurprisingly, unconvinced.

Beast silently willed Belinda to shut her mouth and stop weaving stories that were going to get them both shot.

She didn’t. Instead, her eyes widened and she nodded. “Oh yes, he started in the business as a stuntman. That’s where the muscles come from; he’s known for his healthy movie sets. All of his casts are expected to work out and eat, like, salads and stuff.”

She’d lost the plot entirely now. Beast wasn’t even sure what she was talking about. She was so focused on making the fake kidnapping fun for them both that she was weaving incredible stories. He’d seen photos of the real John Favreau. The guy did not look like he worked out ten hours a day. All their captors had to do was Google the name and they’d know Belinda was lying.

“Stuntman?” The leader was clearly sceptical.

“Oh yes.” She nodded, all wide-eyed and breathy with conviction. It was hard to believe she’d been nominated for an Oscar. She looked better suited for the type of acting you found in a porn movie. A comparison that must have occurred to their kidnappers too. They were looking at her as though they were starving and she was steak.

“After a few years getting knocked around doing stunts,” Belinda carried on, oblivious to the hole she dug deeper with each crazy word, “John decided he knew more about making action movies than the guys ordering him around, and he made one to prove it. The rest is box office history. Now he makes the best action movies on the planet.”

He also made Elf. Another fact the kidnappers would find out when they Googled the real John Favreau.

There was a moment’s silence before the leader spoke. “I think the big director can make his own phone call.”

Yeah, that hole was even deeper now.

“You first.” The leader motioned to the phone.

Beast kept his eyes on the men as she dialled. “Dad, it’s me, Belinda.”

There was silence. Belinda smiled. “I knew you were in on this too! Tell Daniel I’m going to get him back for this.” She actually winked at her captor before getting back into character. “Dad, listen, the men who’ve taken us want me to give you a message.” Her voice broke on the last word, and if Beast didn’t know she was hamming it up, he’d have thought she was genuinely scared. “John Favreau has been kidnapped too. We’re together. John is going to call his agent, Michael Carter, and tell him he needs to pay the ransom. I’m telling you the same thing. Everything will be okay if you pay. The—”

She didn’t get to finish, as the phone was snatched from her hand.

“Señor Collins,” the leader said to her father, his eyes still on hers and a smirk in place, “I have left a letter for you at reception. Follow the instructions in it and you’ll get your daughter back in one piece.” He hung up. “Well done, Señorita, we are going be good friends—this I know.”

The leader handed the phone to Beast. “Your turn, big director.”

Beast had no choice but to play along. He had absolutely no doubt that if he didn’t, there would be a bullet lodged between his eyes before he could take another breath. He stabbed Harvard’s number into the phone, his eyes never leaving their captor. With bound hands, he held it to his ear. “I’ve been kidnapped. Pay the ransom.” He tossed the phone to the leader, who narrowed his eyes.

The man held the phone up. “Is this the director’s agent?” There was a pause. “That depends on you. I didn’t plan for two captives. You will follow the instructions given to Señor Collins or your client will die.”

Belinda shrank behind Beast and started to sob. Crocodile tears. Great.

“You’re going to regret this,” Beast told the leader when he’d finished the call. His voice lacked emotion of any kind. He was imparting fact. Nothing more.

The man stood and turned his back on them. A clear message that the man didn’t fear Beast. His threat meant nothing to him. “What’s he going to do?” he said to his men. “Go on TV and complain about me? Americans! Always complaining about something.”

No, Beast thought, I’m going to hold your head and twist until I hear your neck crack. That’s how I’m going to make my complaint.

“Rest,” the kidnapper said. “This will be over in the morning.” He turned towards the door but looked over his shoulder with a chilling smile. “I wouldn’t try to escape. We’re in the middle of the jungle. There are no towns for miles. Your chances of making it out alive are non-existent. Trust me, you are better off dealing with me than the jaguar who prowl this area. And to prove I am a businessman and not a monster.” He ordered one of his men to give them provisions.

The man reached outside the hut and came back with two bottles of water. He tossed them on the mattress beside Belinda.

“We will bring more in the morning. Now rest. You have had a stressful day, no?” And with that, he was gone.

Beast turned to find Belinda grinning at him, her eyes dry. She reached for the bottles and handed one to Beast. He ignored it.

“You need to drink,” she said. “You dehydrate fast in this humidity.”

He felt his eye begin to twitch. There was a good chance that if the kidnappers didn’t rid the world of Belinda Collins, he might do it himself.

“What the hell did you think you were doing?” he demanded.

She blinked at him with confusion and twisted the lid back onto the bottle. “I was establishing your role. It will be much more fun for you if you’re a famous victim too.”

Beast was pretty sure a vein popped at his temple. “This. Is. Not. A. Game. This is a real kidnapping. Those were real guns. You are in real danger.”

She rolled her eyes. Dramatically. “I’ll admit, for a second there, I doubted. That guy was such a good actor. He totally gives me the creeps. Like De Niro in Cape Fear. He’s wasted in the jungle. He should be in Hollywood; he’d make a fortune. Anyway, I thought it through, and really, this couldn’t be anything but fake. Think about it logically. There was too much security at the hotel, Brian would never betray me, and my brother threatened to arrange this experience for me. I’m sorry your friends roped you in too, but you should suck it up and make the best of it. Think of this as training for when you take the job with Benson Security. They do a lot of hostage retrieval work. This way, you get to see things from the victim’s side, and it will help you become a more sensitive security specialist.”

A rumbling growl was the only answer Beast could give her.

“Do you have to growl at me? How about you use your words instead. Huh?”

Beast could have sworn a blood vessel popped behind his eye, because he was definitely seeing red. “How’s this for some words, Hollywood? This is a real kidnapping and we’re in a fuckload of trouble, which you just made worse. You put us on a deadline. As soon as you opened your mouth and gave him a name he could look up on the internet, the clock started ticking. Now, we have no option but to escape tonight. Which means hiking through the rainforest with no resources, no idea of our location and no experience in this terrain. Basically, we’re up shit creek and I’m your only paddle, because somehow, I don’t think you have the skills we need to get out of this alive. So, listen very carefully to what I say—this shit is real.”

She stared at him for a long time before she smiled. “That was awesome! I actually had goosebumps. That’s some of the best acting I’ve seen in years.”

Beast couldn’t help it. He growled again.