The boss stared at him for a moment as though trying to figure him out. It was easy to see this guy thought he was an expert. He was playing the big guy for the rest of his crew. Henry could work with that.
It was important to figure out what a man wanted in these situations and then to decide whether to give it to him or hold back.
He would howl. He wouldn’t hold back. He would let this guy think he was going to break, that he was weak. Then he would let the “pain” take him out for a while. He would do it over and over again. He was excellent at pretending to be unconscious. He would lay in wait and when it was right, he would pounce.
“I don’t like to waste my time.” The boss paced in front of him. “I know other men would try to see if they could get you to talk by beating on you or pulling out some fingernails. I think you’re stronger than that. I was joking about your balls. I actually don’t think that would break you at all. I’ve decided to go another way.”
Henry went still. “And what way is that?”
A chill went up his spine at the man’s smile. It was genuine pleasure. That man was enjoying himself and truly believed he had the upper hand. That smile meant trouble.
“You have a wife, Mr. Bishop. A pretty thing. Younger than you. Dark hair.”
He could taste bile in the back of his throat. There was no way. “Try again. You can’t get to her. She’s protected.”
No one in Bliss would have taken their eyes off Nell. She wouldn’t have gone back to their cabin alone. She would have stayed with Stef, or perhaps allowed Seth to fly her out to New York and hide there. Nell would protect their daughter.
“Not as much as you think,” the man said with a laugh. “She’s a moron. She actually found the mercenaries and paid them to take her to where you are. Such a sweet thing. I can understand why you chose her. If you hadn’t taken my money, you could have had a life with her.”
He snapped his fingers and that was when Henry heard a woman crying.
Oh, god. He was going to be sick. What had she done? Had she thought she could talk to these men? He had to find a way to get her out of here. She wouldn’t last. He wouldn’t be able to watch her being tortured.
“I’ll get you the money.” He had no idea how much they were talking about, but he had to say something.
The boss’s smile got deeper. “Yes, I think you will.”
The doors came open and he could see a petite woman being dragged into the room. There was a bag over her head and her hands were tied in front of her. They’d taken her shoes, but he recognized that cotton skirt of hers. It was one of her favorites.
“Please don’t hurt her.” He started to move the chair and quickly felt big hands on his shoulders. “I’ll get you whatever you want.”
The boss pulled her against his body. “I bet you will. But first you’ll watch me play with your bitch for a while. Here, honey. Why don’t you go give your husband a kiss and remind him what’s at stake.”
“Please,” she said, her body shaking.
Henry stopped. Something was wrong. And then he knew what it was. The bag came off her head and midnight hair spilled out.
“I just want to see my husband,” the woman said, her voice quaking.
Kayla Summers.
Kayla was good. Like Hollywood actress good. She always had been, but getting married to a top-paid actor seemed to have refined her talent because she had tears running down her face.
“John.” She stumbled toward him but he could see she was still in complete control. “John, I told them we would give back the money.”
So they hadn’t even bothered to get a real look at his Nell. He’d always said the cartels didn’t do enough reconnaissance. They tended to fly by the seat of their pants when it came to these things, and it was about to bite them in the ass.
Kay wouldn’t be alone.
Kayla hit her knees and made a spectacular show of fear. “I was so worried for you.”
He needed to know what the play was. “How could you do this? How could you walk into their hands? You have to know it was foolish to come here.”
She sniffled. “I thought about ten different plans, but this was the only one that could have worked. I had to talk to them, had to make them see they didn’t need to kill you.”
So Ten was somewhere around. “This isn’t a game. You’re not some fish they’re going to tag and release, Nell.”
She nodded, telling him Tag was here, too. “I know that now. We have to give them the money. It was a mistake to take it. If only we’d thought for five minutes, we would have known we wouldn’t get away with it.”
Five minutes and then Tag and Ten would do whatever they were going to do. Her hands were on his lap as she looked up at him, and he could see she was practically holding those bindings together. She’d already worked her way out of them and was trying her hardest to not let the bad guys know.
“This has been a bomb waiting to go off in our lives forever,” Kay cried.
So he was waiting for a big boom.
The boss hauled Kayla up by her hair. “You were never going to get away with anything, bitch.”
“Please don’t hurt me,” Kayla begged. She managed to cradle her hands to her chest as the boss held her against him.
“Your husband there was talking about how he thought we should go slow in the beginning.” There was a cruel look in the man’s eyes as he crushed Kay close to his body. “I think I’ll
