Please Save Me (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (10 page)

Selina walked in with mugs of coffee on a tray. She lifted her head and gave them a curious look when they just sat watching her.

“Thanks, sugar. Do you know when the glazier’s coming to put in a new window?” Steve asked.

“Uh, he said he’d be here around lunchtime.”

“Good. Gary and I have to go out. I’m going to one of the sites, and there is zoning problem on another. Gary’s going to meet with the engineer and see if an agreement can be met,” Steve explained.

“Okay. I’ve got plenty of work here to keep me occupied.”

“Dorian is going to stay here with you, sugar. I want you to do everything he tells you if something happens. Okay?”

“Yes, Steve. I will. I’m not stupid.”

“I know you’re not, honey, but Dorian knows what he’s doing.” He walked around to her. When she frowned he waited until she’d put the tray down on his desk then gave her a hug to offer comfort.

“You know, I really don’t think any of this is necessary. We don’t even know if it was Joe who tried to shoot me.”

Steve removed his arms from around her, placing them on her upper arms and moved back from her slightly. “No we don’t, honey. But are you willing to take that chance? I’ll feel better if you’re protected. Just in case. Okay?”

“Okay. Now, let me go. I have too much work to do to be standing around jabbering,” Selina said.

“Don’t leave the office unless you take Dorian with you,” Steve called out to her just before the door closed.

“She’s a feisty little thing when she wants to be,” Dorian said with a grin.

“You have no idea,” Steve replied dryly.

“Oh man, you guys are sunk.” Dorian chuckled. “If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I would never have believed it. You are so pussy whipped.” Dorian mimed cracking a whip over his head.

“Yeah, yeah. Make all the whip noises and cracks you like, but it’ll happen to you one day, and then we’ll be the ones laughing.” Gary smiled and winked at his friend.

* * * *

The rest of the morning flew by as Selina slogged her way through the paperwork. She had just finished printing out the last invoice when the front door opened. She looked up to see that the glazier had arrived.

“I’m here to fix the window,” the man said.

“Good. How long do you think it will take?”

“Should be no more than a couple of hours.”

“Okay. I’ll be here. Just holler if you need me, I have some filing to do.”

“No problem.”

Selina didn’t like leaving the man alone, because something about him gave her the willies. The office door was open, and she saw Dorian eying the glazier, but when he caught her watching him, his frown changed to a smile. She gave him a smirk and pointed to the back room, holding up a bundle of files in her other hand, and he nodded in understanding.

She filed for the next hour and thought about how she had broken through the walls Steve had erected around his heart. She sighed with love and satisfaction as she thought about how her persistence had gotten through to him and what had happened after he had opened up with her. She shook her head and knew if anyone saw her they would think she was crazy. Here she was standing in an empty room, no doubt with a goofy expression on her face, thinking of her men. She put the last file away and closed the drawer to the filing cabinet. The only thing left to do was to go to the post office and send out the invoices.

Selina was about to exit the room when she heard a groan and a loud thud. As she hesitated for a moment, her heartbeat sped up, and she hurried out to see what was happening. She realized she should have trusted her first instincts as she walked into a nightmare.

Covering her mouth to hold in the scream forming in her throat, she stared with horror at the scene before her. Dorian was on the floor, out cold. There was a gash on the side of his head, and blood was seeping rapidly from the wound. She moved toward him, intending to help, but she only made it a few steps before a large hand covered her mouth and nose. She was in trouble.

Using her nails on the hand cutting off her oxygen brought a harsh curse in her ear. She lifted a foot and kicked back, hoping to inflict pain and surprise her assailant. He grunted but didn’t let her go. Opening her mouth, intending to bite down on his flesh, she hesitated when fingers pinched a nerve on her shoulder and neck. Black spots formed before her eyes, and even though she tried to stay conscious, it was a losing battle. Rough hands caught her before she hit the floor, and then darkness closed in.

* * * *

Selina came to with a rush of panic but made herself lie still until she could get her bearings. The hum of an engine penetrated her mind, and then she was thrown across what she thought was the bed of a van as they turned a corner with tires squealing. Biting her lip to prevent crying out with pain as her hip connected with the side of the van and her head hit the wheel well, she tried to reach out her arms. But they wouldn’t move. She concentrated on wiggling her fingers and sighed with relief when they obeyed her command.

Cautiously she shifted her legs and ground her teeth together when she realized they, too, were bound. Lying on her side on the floor of the van, her arms were screaming with pain since they were pulled behind her at an unnatural angle, and when she had tried to move her legs, the tension on her arms increased. She was trussed up like a sub for a Dom with thick, abrasive rope, and her mouth was covered with some sort of adhesive tape.

Opening her eyes to slits, she took in the empty bed of the van, her hopes of using something to escape diminishing in the blink of an eye. There was absolutely nothing she could use to cut through the ropes. A tear of frustration leaked from her eye, and she sniffed, trying to control her emotions. The last thing she needed now was to give in to her tears and clog her nose up. She would end up suffocating.

Breathing deeply through her nostrils, she gathered her courage and pushed the fear aside.
Think, Selina. Damn it, you can’t give in.
Use your head.

She had no idea who had abducted her, even though there was really only one person crazy enough to do so, but it didn’t really matter. Joe wasn’t going to win. She had to stay alert and use anything she could to escape and survive. Turning her head until her mouth was over her shoulder, she began to rub at the tape covering her mouth. It was an exhausting process and her neck muscles began to ache, but she wasn’t about to give up. Even if it was only to get the tape off her mouth. At least she wouldn’t have to worry about suffocating.

How long they had been travelling for, she had no idea, but by the time the van slowed down she had only managed to pry the corner of the tape off her mouth. Her head slumped against the van floor as exhaustion crept over her. She prayed that Dorian was okay and would alert her men and the authorities, and she wondered if he had seen her kidnapper.

Thinking back over how she had found Dorian on the floor, she exhaled in relief when she remembered seeing his chest move. That meant he had been breathing.
Thank you, God
. But the angle of the gash on his head wasn’t a good sign. She didn’t think he had seen who had knocked him out. From what she could ascertain, he had to have been hit from behind. But there had been no one at the offices beside her, Dorian, and the glazier.

He had to have abducted her. It couldn’t have been anyone else.
Could it?
But that didn’t make sense.
What would a stranger want with me?
She knew she should have listened to her intuition. The man had given her the creeps, but she couldn’t remember if he had finished the window. She hadn’t even looked at it, since her concern had been for Dorian.
Shit, what if he’s working for Joe?
No, that couldn’t be it. Too much of a coincidence.
Isn’t it?
God, she was getting a pounding headache, going around and around in circles, trying to figure out who had taken her. Just another pain to add to all her other aches.

She nearly screamed with agony when the van came to a screeching halt. Her body went flying forward, and her head connected with something really hard. Nausea roiled in her stomach as agony splintered through her head, her vision dimmed, and then darkness swept over her once more, pulling her down into the dark abyss.

Gary had been a lot happier since Selina had come into their lives. Steve knew that Gary hid his true personality behind his lighthearted, humorous façade, but since their woman had shown up, his lover had become more serious and intent. Gary was always so hard on himself, pushing for perfection whenever he could but hiding his insecurities behind humor.

Steve had sorted out the other site problem without any trouble and had driven to the other site to help his lover out. He was now standing beside Gary.

“What the fuck is going on,” Steve inquired as he and Gary moved toward their foreman.

“There is a problem with zoning. It seems the paperwork for the plan adjustments has gone missing, and we aren’t allowed to continue with construction until this mess is cleared up,” Hank Bridges told them.

“What? That should already be done. I know damn well I filled in that paperwork. Shit, Hank. Leave it with me, and I’ll sort this out.”

Gary looked like he was ready to explode. Steve had never seen him so pissed off before. His lover took a step toward the inspector, who was close to the house, looking it over, and Steve halted him by placing a hand on his shoulder.

“Take a few deep breaths, man. You don’t want to go in there half-cocked and get him on your bad side. Take a minute to get your anger under control,” Steve murmured.

“Yeah, okay. I know you’re right, but I know damn well I filled in that paperwork.”

“Did you give it to Selina to copy and mail out?” Steve asked calmly.

“Ah, fuck. I remember planning to. Wait, let me think a moment.” He frowned as he tried to remember. “Shit, fucking hell. I meant to give it to her yesterday, but with the shooting, I forgot about it.”

“Can you remember where it is?” Steve inquired calmly.

“In my jacket pocket,” he grumbled sulkily and turned away from Steve. He was back moments later after retrieving the papers from the car, striding forward with ire.

“I’m sorry, man. I can’t believe I forgot. Fuck, how could I have been so stupid?”

“Gary, stop it. You have nothing to be sorry for, and the problem is easily fixed. If it had been me, I probably would have lost the damn paperwork by now. You had your mind elsewhere yesterday, just as I did, and obviously so did Selina, because she usually asks for the papers if we haven’t given them to her in a timely manner. Just go and give them to the inspector now, and then construction can resume. No biggie,” Steve said quietly.

Gary walked over and handed the papers over. After the inspector perused them, he nodded at Steve, pulled a stamp out of his pocket, and authorized the continuation of the building. Steve wandered over and shook the man’s hand and watched him leave.

“See, no problems whatsoever. Stop being so hard on yourself, Gary. You don’t have to be perfect. No one is, least of all me. Just make sure you hand them over to Selina once we get back to the office. You know how she likes to have the documents and filing up to date. See you back at the office.”

“I won’t be far behind you.”

Steve waved in acknowledgement to Gary and headed toward his truck, buckled up, turned the key, and pulled away from the building site. Thank God he had Selina. She was such a fierce little thing. She was like a dog with a bone when she wanted something, and she didn’t give up until she had what she wanted. Now he could entrust her not only with his business but with his life and heart. God, he loved that woman. He was so glad she had come into his and Gary’s lives. She was the best thing to have ever happened to him and his lover. She completed them more than he ever thought possible and bound him and Gary together. She was right for the both of them. She was home.

Steve pulled into a parking spot outside the office and felt a chill roll up his spine. He couldn’t see Selina through the new pane of glass, but she was probably in the back room filing. The thought of Dorian dogging her heels all day and driving her crazy made him smile. Dorian was a close friend, and even though he was a cold, brash, mean-looking son of a bitch when he was working, Steve would trust him with his life. Under that hard, tough exterior lay a heart of gold.

He heard a moan of pain as he stepped through the entrance, and his radar went on high alert. Edging his way quietly around the room, he came to a sudden stop when he saw his friend on the floor. A small pool of blood seeped into the carpet beside Dorian’s head. Going to his knees, he was beside Dorian in seconds, just as his eyelids fluttered open.

“What happened? Are you all right?”

“Fuck. I feel like a freight train’s running through my skull,” Dorian replied in a low voice.

“Where’s Selina?”

“Damn,” Dorian muttered and was on his feet in a flash. He and Steve made their way through the rooms, but there was no sign of his girl.

“It has to be Joe. Call the cops,” Steve snapped with frustration.

“I’m so sorry, man. I don’t know who it was or how they got the drop on me. I was suspicious of the glazier, and if Selina’s face was anything to go by, when she saw him, she didn’t like that guy either, but he left without a backward glance after the window was replaced.”