But when she flashed him the most affectionate look she could muster, the man who’d been terrorizing her for weeks relaxed. His expression that of an almost timid and bashful man.
Timid, my ass.
Scottie held her breath as she passed by her stalker, her smile falling flat the second her face was no longer within his view. If she could get to the bathroom, she could lock herself inside, call the police.
A door isn’t going to stop a bullet.
True, Dustin could shoot his way in, if it came to that. But Scottie was already half-way there. If she called nine-one-one the second she shut the door, she could—hopefully—buy herself enough time for the cops to show up and put the psycho in cuffs.
“Scottie?”
She closed her eyes as her steps came to a stop. Looking over her shoulder, she found him staring straight at her. A look of pure joy lighting up the man’s entire face.
“I’m going to make you happy, you know.” It wasn’t a question. “I’ll make you so happy, you won’t ever want to leave.
“Can’t wait.” She forced the words to come.
A heartbeat later, all hell began to break loose.
Everything happened at once, and Scottie was so taken off guard by it all, she never had the chance to even try to react.
The door to her hotel room burst open. Mitch appeared suddenly. He held his gun steady, the deadly weapon up and ready to shoot. But by the time she realized what was going on, Dustin had already made his move.
A burning pain twisted in Scottie’s upper arm as Dustin gave her a rough pull.
Crying out, she stumbled over her bare feet as she was yanked against her attacker’s body. Her back flush with his front.
“Let her go!” Mitch roared, his deep voice booming off the room’s thin walls.
Rather than follow her bodyguard’s orders, Dustin wrapped one arm tightly around her neck while using his other to lift the gun to the side of her head.
“Take another step, and I’ll kill her!”
“No, you won’t.” Mitch shook his head. “You kill her, and you lose the only thing that matters to you.”
Somewhere in the back of her fearful mind, Scottie noticed Mitch was dressed in nothing but a pair of jeans. Water droplets balanced on the exposed skin of the man’s forehead and broad shoulders, and his hair was damp, as if he’d come straight here from the shower.
“P-Please,” she begged both men simultaneously.
She wasn’t sure which she was pleading for most. Dustin to put down his weapon and let her go…or Mitch to figure out a way to get her away from the maniac using her as a human shield.
“Tell him, Scottie!” Dustin’s panicked voice tore through the room. “Tell him what you said about the two of us leaving here together.”
“He’s right!” She eyed Mitch closely while praying he could read the true message she was trying to convey. “I-I was just about to get dressed and…put some things…together.”
The pressure being placed against her throat made speaking a struggle.
“And then what?” Her attacker demanded. “Tell him, Scottie. Tell him what happens next!”
With careful speech and a steady tone, Scottie relayed Dustin’s twisted plan for her to the man who’d been hired to keep her safe.
“A-And then Dustin is going to take me to his home.”
She pleaded silently with her eyes for Mitch to never let that happen.
“Ourhome, Scottie,” Dustin corrected. “Remember? It’sours, now.”
“R-Right.” She nodded as best she could despite the tear that had just fallen down her cheek. “Ours. You’re absolutely right…d-darling.”