“So, how about I think of a way to lure the guard back in here, then you distract him so I can jump him and knock him out?” She squatted down beside him. “I read that in a romantic suspense book when the hero and his buddy are kidnapped and locked in a room. Of course, those books all have a happy ending. Not sure if it will work out in real life.”
Even if Holt could have talked, he wouldn’t have known what to say. Except for Arianne, Viper’s daughter and now, after an incredible betrayal, the Sinner president’s old lady, he’d never encountered a woman as cool and collected as Naiya. No screaming or crying or sobbing. No balking at the risk of trying to escape. She was calm, focused and determined to plan their escape out to the nth degree. As if life ever went according to plan.
Holt had learned that lesson the hard way. If life went according to plan, the Sinners would have beat down Viper’s door the very day Holt sacrificed himself to save Evie’s life. .
“I’ll take care of the guard,” he said with a confidence he didn’t feel in the least. “Just stay out of my way.”
“How are you going to jump him when you can’t stand?”
“I’ll lean.” He braced himself against the wall and willed his legs to push. “Help me up.”
Naiya came up under his arm and helped him up. “This is the last time I’m doing this until we get out of here,” she said. “You smell worse than my grandfather’s socks, and that’s saying something because he boasted he only washed them once a year.”
That sound again—laughter—erupted from his throat. Naiya looked up and smiled.
“I was worried about you for a while there. Thought maybe they’d done your head in. Viper likes his little mind games. He twisted my mom when she young, and she was never the same again.”
Holt frowned. “Viper … your dad?”
“God no.” Naiya recoiled. “One of the Jacks is my dad, but my mom never told me which one, and I don’t care because I want nothing to do with them. I don’t think she ever knew. I honestly don’t understand it. She didn’t want to have a baby. She told me all the time that I ruined her life, her body, her status in the club … I mean, if you’re life’s ambition is to be an MC sweet butt and your currency is your body, why not make the guy wear a condom so you don’t get pregnant? No glove. No love. That’s my motto. Well, it would be my motto if I slept around…”
Sex. She was talking about sex. He hadn’t thought about sex since the day Viper imprisoned him in the dungeon. In the daily fight for survival, sex was the least of his concerns. But now that she brought it up, a woman with her looks and that lush body should have men falling over themselves to be with her. Maybe she had a man. But then where was he? If she had been his, no fucking way would he let Viper near her. And if Viper did get his hands on her, he’d be moving hell and earth to get her back. Like he would have done for any of his brothers. Like they didn’t do for him.
Lucky for the man who had her. Holt had long given up hope of ever being with a woman again after what Viper had put him through. And Holt loved women. He loved their softness and their curves. He loved the musical lilt to their voices and the silk of their hair. He’d been with many women, but he’d never had a woman of his own. Not since he’d failed his sister, Lucy. Not since the day she died. Even if he got out of here, that torture would never end.
“You okay?” Naiya touched his cheek, bringing him back to the moment.
What the hell? He had to focus. They had one chance to get out of here and one chance only. And it was all up to him.
“Maybe I should stab the guard.” She ran her finger along the flat of the blade. “We learned all about stab wounds in one of my courses at college. Did you know that if the direction of the force is perpendicular to the skin, then it’s considered a stab wound? But if the direction of the force is tangential or parallel to the skin, then it’s considered a cut wound? If we want to slow him down, we’ll need to stab.” She made a thrusting motion with her fist. “Rather than cut.” She drew the knife down, and Holt jerked away.
So, she was smart as well as pretty. “You ever kill someone, darlin’?” The more he talked the worse he sounded. Hoarse, rough. So unlike himself. But then all he’d used his voice for over the last three months was screaming.
“No.” Naiya paled, looked away, her hesitation belying her bravado. “I just … read about it. And study it. Death, I mean. And crimes leading to death. So really, it’s just theoretical. And I was just thinking about wounding him, not killing him.”
His tension eased the tiniest bit. Okay, maybe she wasn’t crazy, but she wasn’t living in the real world if all she did was read and study about death, or if she thought she’d have enough control to stab an enraged man without killing him. She certainly didn’t have the life experience to put her plan into action.
“Can’t let you do it.” Holt tightened his grip on the dagger. “If it goes wrong, you’ll never get over it.”