His hand reached up, still holding her hand in his. His grip shifted ever so slightly so that the pad of his thumb was on her wrist. “I think you are lying to me.” He paused, noting that her pulse actually picked up even more speed. “And possibly to yourself as well.”
Nikki shook her head and tried to pull her hand away, but he wasn’t ready to relinquish her arm just yet. “Where’s my friend?” she cried out, using her only defense which was a blurted-out offense. “Where’s Brianna? Did you take her? Are you holding her prisoner somewhere?”
Nazar looked down into the soft, blue eyes of this woman and something inside of him shifted ever so slightly. “Who is this Brianna you speak of?” he asked gently, his thumb no longer taking her pulse but instead, running along the tender skin of her wrist. “She is obviously a friend, but tell me more.”
Nikki shook her head. “She’s disappeared and the only lead I have is you. You’re too powerful,” she said, hating the quiver in her voice. “You can do just about anything you want with impunity. I know rich and influential people like you don’t care about the little guy, but Brianna is different. She’s my friend and I’m not going to let anything happen to her.”
Nazar liked the sound of her voice. It was strong, feminine and lilting even while she accused him of kidnapping her friend. “This person, she is special to you?”
“Very!” Nikki replied urgently. “Do you have her? Have you hurt her?”
A door to the opposite end of the conference room opened up and another dark suited man stepped in. Nazar saw the look and knew he had to step out. Everything inside of him was telling him to stay, to find out more about this fascinating woman. But he couldn’t ignore the silent message. “I’ll be back and we’ll discuss your friend, among many other topics,” he commanded. A moment later, he disappeared through the door.
Nikki stared at the doorway, wondering if he actually expected her to remain here, waiting for him. Was he nuts?
She looked around, deciding that the other door was a better option. She definitely didn’t want to be found here when the man decided to return. He had some sort of power over her that confused her. Coming here had been a mistake, she told herself firmly. She had to leave before she lost herself, and still didn’t find Bri.
Rushing through the same door in which she’d entered, she almost ran down the scary looking man that was standing sentry. She’d seen him as she’d entered, why hadn’t she expected him to be there when she went back out?
At this point, she didn’t care. She gave what she hoped was a casual smile, pretending that everything was okay and she wasn’t trembling so badly that her knees were about to give out on her, and then pulled her canvas bag over her shoulder as she hurried out the next door. She didn’t stop for anything else until she reached her car. Diving into the driver’s seat, she took deep, cleansing breaths, trying to get her head back on straight. This was not who she was! She was the cool one! She was the brave one! She was the one who barreled around, pushing Rachel and Bri to do things they didn’t think they wanted to do, challenging the status quo, pushing the limits!
So why was she sitting in her car in a dark parking garage waiting for her body to calm down enough so her hands weren’t shaking? She was too nervous to even drive!
“This is ridiculous,” she told herself sternly. “Get a grip, get home and figure out what happened to Bri!”
It still took her several minutes before she was able to press the button to start her car. And even then, it was difficult to focus on the road because she kept thinking about the man’s touch. She almost ran a red light because she was too focused on the memory of his dark, sensuous eyes. She didn’t like this. She didn’t like being out of control, of giving a man power over her. She had to re-think her options and come up with a better solution. Bri’s life might depend on it.
Chapter 2
Glancing around her bedroom, she walked back and forth at the foot of her bed, unaware of the cotton shorts and loose, cotton shirt she was wearing for bed. Unaware of her cold feet as they traversed the hardwood floors. And she had to keep forcing her mind back to the problem and not dwell on the image of the man and his dark looks. Or the way his hand touched her so gently, but with authority.
She didn’t like that. She liked men who listened to her and followed her instructions. She wasn’t one who easily followed anyone’s commands. And if she did, she didn’t do it well. Or willingly.
Nikki squared her shoulders, determined to get more information. She had no idea how to do that, but she wasn’t going to stand around and let Brianna be hurt. The police wouldn’t do anything, so it was up to her to figure this out. Brianna had always been there for Nikki and Rachel when they’d been kids. The woman had the biggest heart, the best shoulder to cry on and a gentle sense of humor that could break through the dreariest of days or the harshest comments from their peers. And there had been a lot of those during middle and high school.
She paced around her cottage anxiously. There wasn’t much room to move around, but she had too much nervous energy to just sit down.
What would the police do in this situation? What would James Bond do? She actually smiled at that because James Bond would probably seduce some fabulously glamorous woman to get information.
Biting her thumb nail, she paced through her kitchen, then back to her living room, the only two rooms on this level besides the powder room. Staring out at the dark night, she didn’t see the trees that were mostly bare or the leaves that needed to be raked up in her tiny front yard. All she saw was the man’s dark eyes, his broad shoulders….
Shaking her head, she whipped around and moved back to her kitchen. Putting the tea pot on, she started making herself some tea. She had to do something. Sitting down at her computer while she waited for the water to warm up, her fingers flew across the keyboard, trying to come up with ideas. But what she really came up with were more articles on the enigmatic sheik. She found herself staring at images of him, ignoring the women latched onto his arm, which were never the same one. She couldn’t believe the jealousy that curled up in her belly at all the women he accompanied to one place or another. They were all beautiful, tall and looked amazingly sophisticated. Her one accomplishment to sophistication was putting mascara on before school. Being around a bunch of high school kids didn’t push one’s fashion sense very high.