Ignacio cut him off with an abrupt wave of his hand. “Miss Covington is going to answer a few questions. That’s it, and I’m short on time today. We need to expedite this.”
“Of course,” Ryker replied as he slipped into the chair at the desk. His hands flew over the computer keyboard for a few minutes. Then, he stood up again and motioned to the chair. “Hattie, take a seat.”
I didn’t want to see Evan or his dad. I was afraid they would know what I did with Ryker…what I still wanted to do with him. It took all of my self-control not to flee from the room and run as fast and hard as my legs could carry me out of the villa and on the road to freedom. I retreated, taking a few anemic steps back, and one of Ignacio’s guards lifted his gun. Shit. I wouldn’t even make it out the door, much less out of the villa. I buried my shaking hands in the folds of my dress and settled into the chair.
Ryker squeezed my shoulder, then relocated to a chair across the room. Ignacio quickly took his place behind me.
“Senator Deveron,” Ignacio said as his image filled the computer screen in front of us. “Miss Covington is alive and well as you can see.” He rested his hands on my shoulders and my breath accelerated to an uncomfortable level. I didn’t want his hands on me. My skin crawled under his fingers, repulsion radiating from every pore.
“We’d like to ask her a few questions to ascertain her well-being.” Senator Deveron adjusted his monitor, allowing me to see Evan and him. Evan looked pale and exhausted. Dark circles shadowed the skin around his eyes, and heavy stubble coated his normally clean-shaven face.
“Go ahead,” Ignacio’s hands dropped from my shoulders, and I took a deep breath trying to erase his touch from my mind and remain calm.
“Hattie,” Evan breathed, inclining forward until his elbows rested on the table in front of him. “Are you okay?”
Seriously. How did he expect me to answer his question? Of course I’m not okay. I’m as far from okay as I could conceivably get. I’m being held captive by a ruthless cartel. “I’m alive,” I said instead, dropping my eyes to my hands as they twisted the fabric of my dress. I was pretty sure my fingers would poke holes in the gauzy material by the end of the conversation.
“Are you hurt?” Evan persisted.
“Physically? No.” I hedged, unable to answer that question either.
Evan stretched forward even further, his face only inches from the screen, bringing the different colors in his eyes into sharp focus…black, gold, chocolate mixed with green flecks. “Nobody has touched you, right?”
My eyes flickered to Ryker. His face didn’t give anything away. I thought I’d see a hint of what he wanted me to say, but his face didn’t offer a single breadcrumb of information. Just before I returned my attention back to the computer monitor, his lips turned up at the corners, and his eyes flashed with a storm of lust, or maybe it was a trick of the light. Either way, that suggestive, fleeting glimpse of his thoughts transported my mind to an illicit daydream. It felt as though I had viewed a movie of us having sex against the wall on fast-forward. My heart stumbled inside my chest. What the hell was happening to me?
Volcanic heat rushed up my neck, and I tucked my head against my chest. “I want to go home,” I whispered, ignoring the question entirely. “I really need to go home, Evan.”
“As you can see, Hattie is alive and in good condition. When can I expect the exchange to happen?” Ignacio barked. Obviously his patience with Evan’s questions had expired. I didn’t care. Mine had too. As much as I wished otherwise, I didn’t have any information to help them rescue me. I suspected I was still in Mexico, but I wasn’t 100 percent certain, and Mexico was a huge country.
“We’re working on it. Things like this don’t happen overnight. Hattie’s father is pursuing it from his angle, and I’m doing everything in my power to facilitate the prisoner exchange.” Senator Deveron cleared his throat and reclined in his chair.
“I’m running out of patience. This needs to happen within the next week,” Ignacio persisted, shifting impatiently from foot to foot.
“No way.” Evan vaulted out of his chair. “That’s impossible. We’re not some third world banana republic with a dictator who can snap his fingers and make things magically happen.”
“Figure it out.” With those three words, Ignacio hooked his hand into the top of my hair, yanking it back, exposing my neck. His other hand curved around the front of my neck. Unfortunately, in that hand, he had a knife. He slid the knife across my neck up the side of my face. “I’d hate to have to hurt her or cause any permanent damage to this pretty face.”
I squeezed my eyes closed, bracing myself for the moment his knife penetrated my skin. With each centimeter it slid along my skin, he pressed harder…deeper. I cataloged his movements.
Cheek.
Below my ear.
The underside of my jaw.
I wanted to scream, but my lungs constricted, preventing me from inhaling one molecule of air. I bit the inside of my bottom lip so hard the copper taste of blood flowed through my mouth. And then it happened…the sharp point of the knife bit into the side of my neck and a warm liquid trickled down my skin.
A piercing scream echoed through the room, and it took me a few seconds to realize it came from my mouth. Ice ripped through my muscles and my heart froze in my chest. It took every ounce of control to suck in another breath.
“What the fuck! You promised not to hurt her,” Evan screamed, his voice cracking, but I didn’t open my eyes. I didn’t need to see his stricken face. I already had a shitstorm of emotions racing through my mind without adding his fear to mine. I was going to die…maybe not today, but soon. The Vargas Cartel had no intention of letting me live.
“I think you understand how serious this is now. Maybe you’ll figure out how to make the wheels of justice churn a little faster,” Ignacio warned. His voice vibrated through my body, as he withdrew the knife and stepped back.
“That’s enough,” Ryker said. I smelled his spicy, sea salt scent as he leaned over and shut off the computer monitor. The noise from the video conference halted mid-shouts. “We’re done here. Everyone needs to leave.”
Distantly, I heard the shuffle of feet as they exited the room, but I still refused to open my eyes. My brain was fuzzy with fragmented thoughts and racing fears. I wanted to go to sleep and wake up when I had my life back, and if that never happened, I didn’t want to wake up at all.
When the heavy door slammed, I slumped down in the chair and opened my eyes. Everything was out of focus, coated with a dreamlike haze. Nothing seemed real. I couldn’t comprehend how my vacation to Mexico had ended with me as a hostage.
Ryker crouched in front of me. “How do you feel?”
Not able to talk, I meekly shook my head.