Chapter 20
Nina watched in horror as Esan left with Shrake. She wished she could have warned him earlier so that he wouldn’t have gotten caught up in this crazy scheme. It was right on the tip of her tongue to tell him that she loved him, but she didn’t. He was in danger and there was nothing she could do about it. Valkri had taken her phone before tying her up. That didn’t mean that Nina would give up. She grew up with six sisters. This bitch didn’t know what she was getting herself into.
“Valkri, I can’t believe you would go to all this effort only to hand over the money to Shrake.”
Valkri had been pacing back and forth but stopped to glare at Nina. “You don’t have a clue how thingsss work.”
“Maybe not on your home world, but I do know how things work everywhere else. Women don’t need to have men manage their lives, take care of themm and hold the wealth. I make my own money, have my own career, and can date whomever I like.”
Valkri snorted, “Do you really think Esssan will mate you? He wasss barely tolerated asss a halfsssie. Hisss sssissster wasss shunned. But if he mated a human, he would be completely ossstracisssed. There would be no place for him on Reptan.”
Nina tried not to let the hurtful words distract her. She needed to get free so that she could call Trig and alert security about what was happening. Esan needed help.
“It must bother you that someone as handsome and successful as Esan would prefer a human over you. You know, he left me in his bed this morning and was planning to send you back.”
“You bitch!”
Valkri came at her running towards her with her first lifting up to strike Nina, but Nina was ready for her. She rolled out of the chair to the right. When Valkri skidded to a halt, knocking the chair over in the process, Nina tried to run for the door. Valkri grabbed her leg, making her fall. With her hands tied together, she could barely protect herself from the fall.
They both scrambled to get to their feet. Nina barely ducked the punch that came her way. She wasn’t going to be taken down so easily. She kicked out her leg and hit Valkri’s back calf. The Reptan was taller, more athletic, and a little stronger, but Nina had pure fury on her side. She clasped her hands together and threw her own punch and hit Valkri directly in the face. She heard something crack and saw blood squirt out. The moment of throwing the awkward punch had her lose her balance and tumble to the floor again.
“You broke my nossse!” Valkri cried putting both hands over her face in shock.
“That was for me.” Nina stood up, walked over to where the chair was lying, and picked it up. With a determination that surprised even her, she walked back to Valkri, who was struggling to stand up again but holding onto her nose. “This ... is for Esan.” She used her tied hands to swing the chair at Valkri’s head. The Reptan fell back and hit the ground. To Nina’s shock, the whole scene felt like it was happening in slow motion. She stooped down to check on Valkri. She was still breathing but knocked unconscious. “Take that bitch!” she muttered as she stood, still gripping the remains of the chair in her hands.
*****
Esan was worried for Nina. What if Valkri killed her while he was gone? He had to get the weapon away from Shrake and get back to Nina. Trig and his security team would be looking for Shrake. He just needed to get someone’s attention.
“I know what you’re thinking. If you try to essscape or get sssomeone to help you, I will hit sssend on a pressset text to Valkri inssstructing her to end your female.”
“You know you’re a complete asss.”
“I’m a ressspectable member of the Reptan council. You might live through thisss if you treat me asss sssuch.”
“Why did you grab Nina?”
“I had to make sure you would follow my directionsss without crosssing me. Ssseeing your female tied up did the job nicely.”
Esan got on the elevator and waited for just the right moment. Shrake started to enter the elevator and turned around to face the doors as they closed. Esan struck fast. He wrapped his arm around Shrake’s neck in a chokehold. Shrake tried to grab his arms to rip them off of him, but Esan kept a tight grip on him. Then Shrake tried to reach for his weapon, but Esan was ready. He pulled his arms tighter, cutting off more air. Shrake struggled, but began weakening as he started to lose consciousness. As the elevator doors opened again, Esan dropped Shrake’s body to the floor.
“Well, I didn’t expect this,” a male voice said.
He looked up to find Jet getting in. “Hit the button for the top floor. Nina isss being held hossstage by thisss male and hisss partner. Alssso, I need your phone — mine wasss taken.”
Jet handed over his phone, hit the elevator button, then squatted down to take a look at Shrake. Esan dialed the number for security.
“Thisss isss Esssan. I need to ssspeak with Trig immediately. It’sss an emergency.” A few seconds later, Trig got on the line.
“Esan, this is Trig.”
“Trig, Shrake and hisss partner kidnapped Nina. They took her up to the arboretum and are holding her there. Shrake isss with me in elevator 7858. I knocked him out and am my way back up to the arboretum.”
“Wait for us to get there.”
“No, Nina’sss in danger and I can’t jussst leave her there. If it wasss your mate, would you wait?”
“Don’t do anything stupid.”
“I’ll try not to.” Esan hung up and handed the phone back to Jet, who was standing back up.
“I tied the male’s hands behind his back with my belt. I also tied his shoe strings together in case he tries to run off when he wakes.”
“Thankssss.”
“Who is he?”
“My fossster father.”
“Seriously?”
“Yesss.”
“That’s messed up, man.”
Esan agreed. It was messed up. That summed up his childhood perfectly.
“Who has Nina?”
“A Reptan female named Valkri. She posssed as one of my potential matesss to help my fossster father sssteal from me.”
“Again, that is messed up. What do you want to do with this guy?”
The doors opened. Esan glanced down at the male he had once looked up to as a role model. “Drag him off the elevator and watch over him until Trig and the IDJ agentsss arrive.”
“Will do.”
Esan started running toward the arboretum doors. He only hoped he wasn’t too late. Please let Nina be all right. He couldn’t lose her now — not now that he’d found the person he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.
When he shoved the doors open, he stopped in his tracks at the sight that greeted him. Nina was standing over the still body of Valkri, holding what was left of a chair. Her hands were still tied together but she looked fierce in that moment. A warrior goddess, beautiful and dangerous.
“Nina!”
“Esan!”
Nina dropped the remaining piece of the chair and ran toward him. He took her into his arms and hugged her tight. “I wasss ssso worried for you.”
“I was scared for you too. Are you okay? Where’s Shrake?”
“He’sss knocked out. How are you?”
“I’m just so glad you’re okay. I wouldn’t be able to handle it if anything happened to you. I love you.”
Esan kissed her, then pulled back to look into her lovely face. “I love you, too — more than you will ever know.”
He meant every word. Esan didn’t know how it had happened, but he had fallen in love with Nina Sinclair. He hoped she was ready to accept his love, because there was no holding him back now.
He bent down, picked her up and began walking to the doors. Nina looked up at him in confusion. “Where are we going?”
“I’m taking you to the healersss to have them check you over.”
“I am perfectly fine, except for having these ropes still on my wrists.”
He stopped walking and looked down in horror. “I forgot.” He put her back on her feet and reached for the ropes. He pulled at them but stopped immediately at her wince of pain. “I’m sssorry.”
The doors burst open and Trig entered with his security team and a swarm of IDJ agents. “Is everyone okay?”
“I need sssomething to cut the rope on Nina’sss wrissstsss.”
“I’ve got a knife,” Trig moved forward to hand the knife to Esan.
Once he removed the rope he frowned. Her wrists were red and bleeding in some areas.
“Nina needsss to sssee a healer,” Esan told him.
Trig knelt down by the fallen female. “I have healers on their way up. I wasn’t sure if you would be able to hold back. Did you have to hit the female so hard?”
“I didn’t hit her. If I had, she would be dead.”
Trig looked at him, then at Nina.
Nina confessed. “I knocked her out. She was still breathing when I checked on her, though.”
Esan stepped back as the healers came in. One checked on Valkri while the other one looked at Nina’s wrists. He treated her cuts and gave her instructions for further care. “I gave you a topical anesthetic and healing gel. I would like to give you a strong painkiller, but it’s best to do this in your suite or back at our healing center. It is going to knock you out for a good twenty-four hours and I recommend having someone watch over you.”
Esan’s patience with being nice was at an end. His female was hurt and another male wanted to care for her. He growled with fury. “You’ll give her the painkiller at my sssuite and I’ll watch over her.”
“Very well.” The healer took a step away from Nina, clearly intimidated by Esan.
“Hey, don’t I have a say in this?” Nina asked.
Esan lifted her in his arms easily and looked at her. “No.”
Nina shook her head and laughed. “I guess I’ll have to get used to your bossiness.”
“I’ll make it worth the effort,” he teased back.