Mag-log inHe sat beside her and put his hand on her back. “Tabitha, what is going on? Who is Trish?” The gears in his mind started to turn as he tried to make sense of this. When she looked up, the tears in her eyes sent a stab of pain through his chest. She looked tired, scared, and hurt. He knew that look. He’d questioned enough suspects and their family members to know it when he saw it. The look on her face was that of betrayal. “Trish is my sister. Tricia Stuart.” They sat in silence a moment. Steele squinted his eyes in concentration. “Are you telling me your sister is the one who took the money?” Tabby swallowed back her tears and looked into his eyes. “I honestly don’t know what is going on. I can only assume that you’ve mistaken me for my sister. I haven’t spoken with her in a few weeks but she’s prone to taking risks.” Steele reached over and cupped her chin with his hand. He examined her eyes and face closely. He believed her. He knew all the signs of ly
Tabby could feel her heart beating forcefully in her chest and the sound of it echoed in her ears. What the hell was going on here? She looked over at the man with the deep, dark eyes and he was kneeling down behind her chair. She started to object, but then noticed that he was starting to untie her bound arms and feet from the chair. She waited until he was done and then she jumped to her feet and started to run for the door. She didn’t make it very far before she fell flat on her face. Oomph! The air was knocked out of her lungs and then he was over her. He grabbed her by the arms and easily lifted her. He swept her up in his strong arms and then stepped the short distance to the leather sofa that sat in the middle of the room. “Easy now,” he said, and when she could breathe again she looked up into his face and could have sworn she saw a small smile creeping up on his lips. She took a moment to look down at her legs as if they were aliens and had not been
Steele watched Tremaine closely as he took the woman by her shoulders and gazed into her wide eyes. Steele could feel her fear and it put his body on high alert. He suddenly felt wildly protective of her. “There’s my T. girl,” Tremaine purred as he ran his hands up her neck and his thumbs pressed against the tender skin of her neck. “Where have you been? Why haven’t you taken my calls?” he continued as he stood over her with his hands around her throat. Steele could see her attempt to swallow before she spoke in a tiny voice, “Who are you?” This answer surprised everyone and Steele wondered what dangerous game she was playing. His eyes narrowed as he took in the scene before him. Tremaine threw his head back and laughed loudly. “You are a riot. If I wasn’t so crazy about you, I’d kill you right now,” Tremaine said and then leaned down to look deeply into her eyes. “Where have you been, Tabitha? Answer me!” He spoke more forcefully now and the humor was gone
Tabby was dreaming. She knew she was dreaming but she couldn’t make herself wake up. She dreamt that she was in a straitjacket and the harder she struggled to free herself, the tighter her restraints became. She shook her head from side to side and realized that something was over her mouth. It was gagging her and she suddenly felt as if she couldn’t breathe. She fought the urge to panic and began to cough frantically. Her tongue protruded from her lips and she felt something rough and unnatural there. What was going on? As her eyes opened and tried to focus, she saw blurry images of unfamiliar furniture and she had the chilling sensation that she was in a strange place and that someone was watching her. Suddenly it came back to her in a flash. She remembered leaving work and her missing car. She remembered the black Mercedes and then…and then she remembered nothing. Where was she? How had she gotten here? Who had grabbed her out of her office parking deck and
He watched the pulse beat slowly beneath the skin of her neck. Her head was turned at an uncomfortable angle and almost resting on her own shoulder. Her legs were sprawled with her skirt having risen up to expose a little too much of her sexy, toned thigh. He had a sudden urge to reach over and run the palm of his hand up her thigh and over the silky texture of the white stockings she wore. He knew he shouldn’t even be looking at her this way. His boss wouldn’t like it. His boss had said not to hurt her. If there was any hurting to occur it would be administered by Mr. Tremaine himself. So, he’d elected to simply inject her with a small dose of midazolam. It was a sedative often used during surgery that didn’t usually have too many side effects. This way she wouldn’t hurt herself trying to run away and she’d have a comfortable ride into Atlantic City, where Mr. Tremaine was impatiently waiting. They rode in silence inside the lush interior of the luxury sedan. Ro
If her life were any more boring, she’d be six feet under. Tabby Stuart had this sobering thought as she looked past her reflection in the large plate glass window and out into the dark night as snowflakes started to fall slowly onto the city street below. Another Friday night and Tabby was still sitting at her desk in the high-rise office building that was home to many companies, including the accounting firm that employed her. She’d always been a hard worker but lately it had become an absolute obsession. She’d needed to work harder, longer hours to make partner. She’d given up her social life in order to accomplish this goal, but in doing so had managed to give up all other goals in her life. Goals like finding love and having friends. This year, she’d set out to change things. She looked down at her desktop calendar and noted that it was already the first of February and she wasn’t any closer to accomplishing her New Year’s resolution than she had been a mont







