Twist My Heart by Brooke Taylor (ebook audio reader .txt) 📕

he quickly disheveled his hair and tried to look disenchanted with his shitty life. Hearing the delivery man return, he hustled to hold the door open wider.

“You work here?” the guy asked as he wheeled the dolly through.

“Yeah, we’re not allowed to wear the logo on smoke breaks.” Clay lazily pointed to a red Pump-N-Go vest hanging off a hook by the door before stubbing out the cigarette on the cement block wall. “Corporate bullshit.”

The man nodded. “Here’s the invoice. Sign down here.”

Clay scribbled out an illegible name. “Thanks, man. Drive safe.”

Inside the darkened storeroom, he slipped into the vest, slapped on a logo hat and grabbed a mop cart. Buying himself time, he texted he was stuck in traffic but almost there. Then, leaving the storeroom door slightly ajar, he rolled past the bathrooms with his head kept down.

Between the shelves, Thea was milling about, alone. Her eyes, gorgeously wide, flicked out to the pumps where the bodyguard was waiting. Her rabbit heart was thumping away a mile a minute. Her fear was as delectable on her as it’d been fifteen years ago, when she had hid under her covers.

This time he wouldn’t deny himself the full flavor of it.

* * * *

Coop was taking way too long. I strained to see if he’d made contact with anyone yet. Just in case, I backed toward the hallway leading to the bathrooms where an employee mopped floors with his back to me. I stayed close, even though the smell of the mop water mixing with his cologne unsettled the yogurt in my belly. The far-too-jaunty tune he whistled grated my frazzled nerves. But standing near him seemed a safer choice than standing alone.

No. Move.

I caught sight of Coop through the front windows. He kept glancing at his phone, the expression on his face growing more agitated with each passing second. I trusted him, but I didn’t trust his plan was playing out the way he’d hoped.

Run! Now!

Wheeling on my toe, I went to sprint down the hallway and out of the back door…smacking right into the employee instead. He blustered out an apology as his hand clamped my arm to steady me. The grip turned bruising as he squeezed down, but it was the whiff of a familiar aroma tickling my nose that sent my fear into a tailspin.

The oil Aimee had given me at the mall, which had knocked me out at Nik’s house.

The man’s other hand came around with a red cleaning rag in its grip. Before he could cover my face, I sucked in a deep breath of fresh air and held it. Making a production of fighting him off, I hoped my struggling would catch the cashier’s attention. Lungs burning, I landed an elbow into his gut, back kicked his shin…his knee. I relished his groan, hurting him, but I couldn’t keep it up while holding my breath. His big body easily propelled my smaller one through an employee-only area where there was no one’s attention to draw.

I wanted to scream, but I didn’t dare pull in air through the rag he held over my face. I’d be dead. Not immediately, but soon enough. The more I thrashed, the more I needed to gasp in air. Gripping the pain tight, my focus was the only thing keeping me from blacking out. The back office and storage area slipped from my periphery as he slammed me into a door, my body hitting the bar opener. Doused in sudden sunlight, I realized his car was parked directly in front of us. There was no chance of anyone seeing or helping me now.

Sharp pain gripped my desperate lungs. I slumped over his arm, pretending the drugs dousing the rag had taken effect. My dead weight slowed him down and he would need both hands to get my body into the car. Removing one from my mouth, he shoved the rag in his pocket and opened the door.

Holding my breath had been hard. Maintaining the relaxed panting breath of a passed-out person was truly torture. But I had to keep up the pretense if I stood any chance of catching him by surprise.

He pressed so close against me I could tell his gun had to be at his back. I wouldn’t be able to wrangle it off him from this angle. I could also tell capturing me aroused the sick fuck.

I didn’t have the air to scream. He’d probably knock me out physically if I did. Folding me into the backseat, he bound my hands in front of me with quick zip plastic ties. He was too rushed to do more, like check my pockets. Even so, my heart ramped up in panic as the car engine rumbled to life. The vehicle lurched, moving away with speed. He’d successfully taken me.

I prayed for Coop to follow as I focused on steadying my breath.

Hands bound, I worked my fingers into my pocket. I stretched and pinched until I awkwardly grasped my greatest asset—the cell phone Nik had given me. Toggling the notch on the side, I turned the ringer off. The last thing I needed was Nik or Coop calling and alerting my abductor to its presence.

Eyes closed, I tried to orient myself by memorizing the turns the car was making, the speed and distances. I wasn’t familiar enough with the area to know the streets, so I only kept track of the direction. Even that I second-guessed. But as my body lulled ever so slightly back, I knew we were headed west, up into the mountains.

It wasn’t long before I felt a vibration and looked down to see Nik’s call coming through. Swiping to answer it, I fumbled with my fingers to immediately mute it. I let out a cough, desperate to keep him on the line. Just knowing the call remained connected gave me hope. I wasn’t alone. Nik was with me and could hear me. For now, it was enough.

My abductor had been focused on the