Page 87 of The Stolen Dagger
I hurriedly exited the SUV before it stopped completelywith my gun raised. Panic rushed through me like a tidal wave.
The urge to beat Adrian to a bloody pulp for putting his hands on Katherine—for even threatening her life—was all-consuming. Fear gripped me anew, and my stomach flipped at the very real possibility that Katherine’s life was in the hands of this madman.
I didn’t have to look over at Roman, who had also exited the car and came up beside me, to know that the crime lord was thinking the same thing.
The only difference was Roman could act on it.
Being a cop, I struggled knowing that the strings of the law restricted me from what I really wanted to do to Adrian.
I wanted to kill Adrian for everything he’d done to her. If I had to settle for throwing his ass in prison, then I guessed that was okay, too.
When they were only a few feet away, I took in every detail I could of Katherine.
My gaze traveled over her, starting at the patches of dirt on her jeans, up to Adrian’s tight grip on her upper arm, to the redness that covered the left side of her face like she’d been slapped, and finally to the fear so evident in her glistening brown eyes.
“It's going to be okay,” I mouthed to her. It was the only form of comfort I could provide at the moment.
A slight nod of her head was the only indication that she acknowledged my unspoken words.
I reluctantly tore my gaze from Katherine and took in the surrounding threat.
Three armed men stood in front of the SUVs parked on the outer edge of the grounds. Another man, who I assumed was the infamous Hunter, stood beside Katherine and spat blood into the dirt at his feet.
Adrian held Katherine against him with an arm across her upper chest and the dagger at her throat.
He glared at Roman with a look of abhorrence, but I could see the terror behind his mask of arrogance in the way his gaze shifted between each of Roman’s men as they surrounded them, which only took a few more seconds of tense silence and shuffling.
Adrian and his men weren’t getting out of this without a fight, and even then, they were out-manned and out-gunned. From the way Adrian’s jaw clenched and his grip tightened on Katherine, he knew it, too.
He was surrounded. He’d lost.
But a man like him didn’t give up so easily. I had to be prepared for even the slightest chance that this wouldn’t go our way.
Roman, ever the man of confidence, stepped forward with his hands casually tucked in his suit pants pockets. He was armed, but what was the point when you had five other men with their guns aimed and ready.
“I’ll give you one chance to do the right thing, Adrian.” Roman’s voice boomed across the deserted space. “But that’s all the mercy you’ll get from me. Now, release my daughter and hand over the dagger.”
Adrian laughed, loud and exaggerated. “Well, if it isn’t dear old dad.” He turned his head in toward Katherine’s ear. “He finally found you after all this time. Tell me, did you forgive him for everything he did to you?”
Katherine’s brows drew together in question, and she shifted away from his mouth, but with the dagger at her throat, that wasn’t very far. “You knew where he was? That he was looking for me?”
“Of course, I knew.” Adrian laughed again, but it was more condescending than anything else. “Who do you think convinced him you were so much happier without him? Itwas almost too easy. He was so desperate to be a part of your life, even when that meant sacrificing the relationship with his only daughter if that was what she really wanted.”
He scoffed.
“It was all part of the plan. Once I took the dagger, and Roman eventually found out it was me, he wouldn’t be able to touch me if it meant I was part of the family. And even if I was caught, being my wife, you wouldn’t have been able to testify. It was the perfect plan to cover all my bases. But then you had to ruin everything by running.” Adrian growled that last part and pressed the point of the dagger into her throat.
A drop of blood beaded, and Katherine raised on her tiptoes as if to try to escape the sharp blade, but Adrian at her back kept her from really going anywhere.
The hurt in her eyes at his revelation soon turned to anger as her brows lowered and knitted together.
That’s right, baby,I thought,use that anger against him.
Roman growled, his voice much harsher than before. “I’m only giving you one more chance to do the smart thing. Let go of my daughter and hand over the dagger!”
Adrian’s answering silence was deafening as the tension grew between the two groups of armed men.
No one dared make the first move in fear of what might be their last.
