“Like hell I can’t. I’m going to break his neck.”
“There’s two of us and, as soon as they’re alerted to our presence, dozens of them. We don’t stand a chance. And if we get caught, there really will be nothing you’ll be able to do to help Camille.”
As much as I hate it, Nick is right.
19
CAMILLE
CHAPTER NINTEEN
CAMILLE
“Stop it!” I shout as I try desperately to bat Leo away from me. Thwarting his unwanted advances are enough to make me wonder why I was ever friends with this guy. Either I was naïve and blind, or he was really good at hiding who he really is.
“I’ve lost patience with you, Camille,” he hisses at me as he tries to corner me with my back pressed against one of the walls in his room. I’m trying to stay as far away from the bed at the other side as possible, although I doubt that will matter for much longer. Leo has a rabid look in his eyes, and the more I push him away, the more feral he seems to get. He might be smaller than Gabriel but he’s still bigger than me. And I’m not honestly sure I can fight him off if it comes down to that.
“I’ve been more than patient with you, and I thought by now that you’d see I’m the one who really cares about you. I’ve been here for you and watched out for you, wanted you for years,” he says as he tries to press himself up against me. His breath is too close to my face and it’s making me feel like I’m going to pass out. “It’s time for you to want me too.”
“It doesn’t work like that, Leo,” I say, turning my cheek to him. “You can’t force me to want you. You were my best friend and I’ve never held romantic feelings for you. That isn’t just something you can make me have.”
“Sure it is,” he says as he smooths his fingers down the side of my face and onto my neck. “You just have to try a little.”
I’m going to be sick. I don’t do something to stop him, this whole situation is going to be one I can’t return from. So, I do the only thing that I can think of that might work. I jab my knee forcefully right between his legs.
Leo groans and doubles over for a few seconds, cursing me under his breath as his face contorts in pain. “You won’t do that again,” he warns when he straightens himself up and heads toward the bedroom door. “And youwilllet me have you, even if I have to motivate you more forcefully.” He opens the door and calls for one of his men that is standing nearby. “Go and fetch my brother,” he commands. “It’s time for my future bride to witness a live execution.”
“No!” I scream as I rush toward him, hoping futilely to slip out the door between them, even though I know I won’t get far. But Leo grabs me by the back of the neck and throws me down onto the floor before closing the door again.
“When my brother gets here, you will either submit to me, Camille, or you will watch me kill him in front of you. The choice is yours.”
Every alarm bell inside my head is going off as I stare up at Leo looming over me. I have no idea who this man is, and I guess I never did. What am I going to do? If those guards drag Gabriel in here, they’re going to kill him, or make him watch as his brother has his way with me. There are too many of them, and Gabriel is unarmed. Even with Nick here, there are still only three of us to the dozens of men with guns inside this warehouse. This is all inexplicably horrible.
“He’s gone,” a voice says as soon as the door opens up again.
“What?” Leo growls. I use the momentary distraction to get back up onto my feet.
“Gabriel. He’s escaped.”
Leo is furious. “How could you let him escape? We’ve got tons of men and there should’ve been two outside his door.”
“One was outside his door, but he was laid out,” the soldier answers.
“How the hell did the door even get opened?”
“Looks like he had a key.”
I watch the realization play out across Leo’s face when he puts it together that Nick came here not to join him but to help free Gabriel. He turns around and glares at me as if he knows I’m in on it but just doesn’t know how. “Find my brother!” he shouts out the door at every guy within the near vicinity. “Find Gabriel now and bring him to me!” At least this serves as a diversion to buy me some time before Leo tries to get in my pants again.
“And you stay right here,” he snarls at me. “I’m locking you in and posting double guards at this room. Don’t even so much as think about trying to get out. And don’t think about using the fire escape either, because the steps have all been removed. You’re not getting out of here, Camille. You’re staying with me.” Leo goes out to join the search effort and retrieve his brother, and I can only hope that Gabriel and Nick have managed to escape already. But I know that Gabriel won’t leave me behind. They’re still here somewhere, hopefully staying out of sight.
I sit in a chair at the edge of the room and wait as I listen to the sound of people scrambling around outside the door. As time passes, it becomes increasingly clear that they’ve scoured the warehouse and much of the surrounding area but haven’t been able to find Gabriel and Nick. It gives me a small satisfaction to know that Leo isn’t as smart as he thinks he is, and has been so easily outdone by his brother.
When the door opens, I jump to my feet, dreading the thought of Leo being back here already. But I’m overjoyed to see Gabriel standing in the doorway instead. “How are you even here?” I ask as I rush toward him and throw my arms around his waist.
He gives me a quick kiss on the top of the head and then tells me we need to hurry. “Nick and I took out the guards outside the door and everyone else seem to be scurrying around like chickens with their heads cut off. Now’s our chance to get out of here.”
But getting out of the building doesn’t prove as easy as maneuvering around inside of it. Every exit is blocked with double the number of men as before. “There’s no way out,” Nick whispers as he peers around the corner at the last set of doors we hadn’t yet checked. “We’re trapped.”
