“What?” she asked, a smile lifting her lips.
“Aye. We’re going to find your half sister.” It would give him time to figure out how to tell the others about Jane, and try to prepare her for what he was. If that was possible.
She rose from the chair and came to stand in front of him. “You keep surprising me, Banan.”
“Is that a good thing?”
“Yeah,” she said, and rose up on her tiptoes to kiss him. “It is.”
“Good. Now, I’ll be back in two hours. Be here,” he warned sternly.
She gave a salute. “Yes, sir.”
Banan didn’t want to leave. Something kept telling him to stay, but the sooner he left, the sooner he could get back. Plus, he needed to answer the dozen or so texts and calls from Con and Guy.
He drew Jane into his arms for one last, lingering kiss. “Lock the door behind me.”
“I will. Besides, who would want to come after me?” she asked with a laugh.
Banan stepped into the corridor as Jane shut the door. He waited a moment to hear her set the locks. Only then did he pull his mobile out of his pocket to call Con.
Constantine was the leader of the Dragon Kings, the King of Kings. Con was the face of Dreagan, but no one ever actually saw his face. He also ensured that their land, and the fact they were dragons, remained a secret.
Banan exited Jane’s building and walked down the steps to his meeting with Henri North, his mobile already dialing Constantine.
“Con,” Banan said when his friend answered. “I willna be returning to Dreagan immediately as planned. I’ve got a stop I need to make.”
Jane had packed three bags, showered, and readied for the day, and still it was a half hour before Banan returned. She hadn’t quite decided how to quit her job. A phone call would be the best, and probably the safest.
She ran to her cell phone when she heard the chime that she had a text. To her disappointment, Banan was going to be longer than expected.
Jane pulled out her laptop and began to draft an email to Richard with her resignation. She was half done when she realized she had to go to PureGems after all.
“Damn,” Jane said, and tried to call Elena.
If Elena was still at the office, she could get the file Jane needed, and she wouldn’t have to break her promise to Banan and leave.
But Elena didn’t answer.
There was only one thing Jane could do, and that was to go herself. There was no way she was going to leave the file on Sammi there for Richard to find. It was too important. And private.
Jane glanced at the clock. It was nearly lunch. If she left now, she’d time it perfectly so that Richard was gone and she could get in and out of PureGems without him ever knowing. And leave her resignation in the process.
Her decision made, Jane put on her shoes, grabbed her purse, and rushed out of her flat.
She took a taxi to the office and tried to ignore the way her stomach trembled with nervousness. Even as she rode the elevator up, she knew everything would be all right. Richard always left at eleven for lunch, and it was noon.
He wouldn’t be there, and she would be safe.
The doors to the elevator opened, and Jane stepped out. She waited for someone to say something, anything, but as usual no one noticed her.
And for the first time, she was exceedingly glad.
Jane hurried to her desk and pulled open her bottom right drawer. She found the file and tucked it in her purse. Then she drafted a quick resignation letter, printed and signed it.
There was a smile on her face as she walked into Richard’s office and placed it on his desk.
In a matter of seconds, she had her purse and was on the elevator down. All her nerves were for nothing. She was going to make it back to her flat before Banan arrived, and all would be fine.
There was still a smile on her face as she walked out of the PureGems building and stepped to the curb to hail a cab.
The next thing she knew, she was being grabbed from behind and tossed into a black SUV.
“Fuck,” Guy cursed as he watched the black Range Rover drive off with Jane inside it.
Guy knew whoever had taken Jane wasn’t going to be nice, but he couldn’t leave Elena. He took out his phone, ready to send Elena a text with what had happened, when she walked out of the building next to Richard Arnold.
By the way Elena held her shoulders, Guy knew she wasn’t going willingly.
“Bloody hell.” Could nothing go right?
With Banan meeting Henri, and Rhys searching Arnold’s home computer for hidden documents, it was up to Guy to do it all. But he couldn’t. His first choice was go to after Elena. If he did, he almost ensured Jane’s death.
Based on what Elena had told him of how Banan had been acting around Jane, Banan would never forgive him. But he couldn’t lose Elena.
Guy got into a cab and said, “Follow that Mercedes.”
He then sent Banan and Rhys a text letting them know what had happened.
Banan was about to ignore the text for the third time, when he realized there was only one reason someone would continue to text him.
“A moment,” he said to Henri North.
He had to read Guy’s text twice. It took him a second to comprehend what the emotions were raging within him—desperation. And fury.
He was going to kill whoever had dared to take Jane.
Banan refused to think about what would happen if he didn’t get to her in time. He lifted his gaze to Henri and said, “They have Jane.”
“Who does?” Henri asked, his hazel eyes narrowed in confusion.
Banan squeezed his eyes closed, hating the anxiety he felt. “I doona know. What was she doing at PureGems? I told her to stay at the flat until I returned.”
“What direction were they headed?” Henri asked.
Banan shook his head to clear it. He opened his eyes. “South.”
“I bet they’re headed to a warehouse near the waterfront. Come on. We can track her mobile.”