Page 9 of Accidentally Kidnapping the Mafia Boss
It’s empty. My heart drops through to my feet.
“What?”
He must have crawled over the seats and got out from the front. As I turn, both my hands are snatched in strong fingers, and yanked back in a move I recognise from learning in a video, and using last night. There’s the snap of metal and I gasp. Soft handcuffs tighten on my wrists before I can jerk away.
“Well?” says a deep voice from behind me. An Irish accent that’s smooth as butter but dark as the bottom of the ocean.
Adrenaline spikes out from my chest, down my arms and legs. I’m shaking as I twist around, eyes wide. And I look right at… Broad shoulders, covered with a rumpled forest-green shirt and charcoal suit jacket.
My heart smashes against my ribs as I tip my head back, up and up, over his open collar, past gleaming silver necklaces, to a short beard. Until I’m looking into a pair of eyes that are such a bright green they seem poisonous in the pale, sparkling morning light reflecting from the sea.
Finn Kilburn.
The blood drains from me like the tide pulling back.
My mouth falls open and is dry as sand. Fear shoots down every limb, vivid and hot.
It immobilises me.
He’s as gorgeous as I remember, and my memory has been extremely active since we met. But in the low light of the pub, I didn’t see the details that make him all the sexier. The scar over his generous top lip that I couldn’t help wanting to kiss. His outrageously long black eyelashes. The distinct lump of his Adam’s apple, and the whorls in his stubble.
And he looks furious.
I’m shaking.
I’m caught by my brother’s boss. Finn Kilburn isdangerousand his silence and the way he’s staring at me prickles my skin. The Irish Kilburn kingpin is charming but deadly, and he seems a bit crazy right now, his eyes glittering as he examines me.
“Where’s Noah?” I croak.
“I came out to tell you that your brother couldn’t come home tonight.” Finn raises one dark eyebrow. It has a nick in it. Another scar.
Oh my god. I think… I may have forced the billionaire mafia boss of the London territory where I live into the back of my car, and took him to a seaside cottage.
I abducted the wrong man. Not just a mistake. An absolutedisaster.
Possibly a fatal one.
“I’m so sorry.” The words stumble out. “I didn’t mean to, honestly. I’m really so sorry. Please don’t hurt me.”
I should run. I cast my gaze around. We’re in the middle of nowhere, a very long walk to the local village, never mind anywhere that might help me. The isolation is what makes the cottage so tranquil, and perfect for Noah’s enforced recuperation.
Even so, I eye up the dunes. Could I get ahead?
“Don’t even think about running. I’ll catch you.”
Heat floods between my legs, and I gasp. Looking back at Finn, his face is like thunder.
It shouldn’t be hot.
He’d be faster than me. There’s no point in trying to escape, and yet, the instinct to do so is there anyway.
“I’m really sorry.” I wince again.
“Are you?” he asks, regarding me from head to toe in a way that makes me flush to the tips of my hair in its sensible ponytail.
“Yes! I meant to kidnap my brother!” Where is Noah? I almost ask. But he’s probably fine. Likely made his way home on his own, maybe via the bookies. He’ll assume I’m asleep. Or if he notices I’m not at our tiny apartment in Kilburn, he’ll think I’m on shift at the hospital.
We often miss each other because of my weird job timing. I gulp.
