“I’ll call Shane. He can be there before us, since he’s currently in the United States. Give me the exact location.”
After the calls were made, it didn’t take them long to collect Ari from the sitting room and for them to arrive at the airport. They would have to drop her in a safe location when they got to the States, because they weren’t taking any chances of her getting caught in the crossfire. It was bad enough that Rachel was in danger.
The weather was such that no one should have been thinking of flying, but none of them said a word as they made their way to the airport. They would reach Rachel, or die trying.
“Sire, I’m sorry, but we can’t get authorization,” Adriane’s pilot said.
“I don’t care what it takes; you will get this damn jet in the air,” Adriane thundered.
“A hurricane is about ten miles off the coast of the island, Sire, threatening to turn at any time. We won’t even get liftoff,” his pilot told him.
Rachel had been out on that water, far too close to the dangerous winds and waves of the hurricane. What were the chances that Gianni and Rachel had even made it to Gianni’s safety point? It wasn’t looking good.
Instead of coming unglued and berating the pilot, Adriane, Rafe and Ari waited, counting down the hours for the storm to pass. The walls of the hangar shook as the wind did her best to wipe out the entire building, but none of the people inside had a single thought of waiting elsewhere.
If they made it through this storm, they would head out the second the jet was able to lift into the air.
As the tense night progressed, the storm continued to grow in its fury, threatening to lay waste to Adriane’s country. He didn’t even care. All he cared about was finding Rachel.
Homes he could rebuild; crops could be replanted.
Rachel. There was only one of her.
If it took his death, that’s the price he would pay. As long as she lived, the world would be righted.
Finally, the winds abated.
Now, for the long journey, with only the hope that she was where they thought Gianni had taken her.
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
“TAKE A BREATH in and then push it back out.” Rachel continued to repeat those words to herself in a low whisper as she sat on the filthy cot in the pitch-black room. The last thing she needed was to panic.
Two days she’d been there.
She knew that only from the remarks made by Gianni’s minions. They’d hauled her by her ropes from the filthy room, bringing her into the main part of the house to question her about Adriane, trying to force any information they could from her that they thought would help them in the takeover of Corythia.
She didn’t know anything of that sort, and if she did, she certainly wouldn’t tell them! She’d closed her eyes as they’d tried terrorizing her by making lewd comments about what they planned to do to her once Gianni felt her no longer useful to him.
She was nothing to them — less than nothing — and they weren’t afraid to remind her of that fact, over and over again.
She’d woken up when she was dragged from the boat onto land and then quickly transported to a helicopter. The wind had been picking up speed as the chopper hurried away, deeper inland, outracing the hurricane that had been on their tail.
A few times she’d thought they’d go down. The man sitting next to her with the cold, dark eyes hadn’t even blinked while they’d been tossed about. She’d said a few prayers, hoping they wouldn’t end up in a fiery pile of metal.
She didn’t know how they made it out, but somehow she’d survived that ordeal only to be moved to a private jet. She’d been in the air all through the night, to somewhere far from Corythia, and had ended up in this new prison. She was sure that hell would be a safer and more comfortable place. If it weren’t for the babies she was trying to protect, she would gladly have wished for death.
Her stomach had been cramping up for two days, but the first time she’d been allowed to use the restroom, she’d burst into relieved tears at seeing not a trace of blood in her urine.
As sore as she was, then, so far she still wasn’t bleeding. Maybe her children would make it through all of this. She had to keep her wits about her and think if she had any chance of escape.
Closing her eyes, she tried to focus on her twins, on a nice warm bath and a hot meal. She tried to dwell on pleasant thoughts so she could calm her rapidly beating heart.
Anything was better to focus on than the putrid smell surrounding her. The men were barely feeding her, just the scraps they placed before her during their demented meetings. She couldn’t afford to lose the few nutrients they’d provided.
She would make it through this. She wasn’t one to give up.
Someone would rescue her soon. Either Adriane or Rafe, surely. They wouldn’t leave her in this hellhole. But what if they didn’t know how to find her? How could they know?
It seemed so hopeless.
No! She wouldn’t think that way. If she did, she’d really panic and only make her situation worse.
“Time to come speak to the boss.”
Rachel didn’t open her eyes at the gruff command. She didn’t want to go out there again with those animals. They were too disgusting to even call human.
They were scum.
“Get your ass up now, before I have to come over there and assist you.”
The way he said it, he was clearly hoping she would defy him. The last time she had… A shudder passed through her at the thought. Gianni had walked in as the man had her trapped against the bed, and he’d ripped the man off her.
Not that he cared about her safety, but he’d told his minion that now wasn’t the time. He was too afraid they’d kill her in the process before he could get information from her. But once she’d served that purpose, she was all theirs.
They planned to do unspeakable things to her on video for Adriane’s benefit. She didn’t know when the next part of their nasty game was going to begin, but fear seized her heart at the thought of it.
With trembling legs, she rose from the bed and opened her eyes to look at the man’s face. She wanted to remember every single feature. When she got out of this — because she refused to believe she wouldn’t — she wanted to be able to identify him.
He would pay. They all would.
Rachel followed him down the narrow hallways, the only light coming from the uncovered bulbs hanging every ten feet or so. Layers of dust and grime covered every surface, and the windows were boarded up.