Romancing the Alpha: An Action-Adventure Romance Boxed Set (82 page)

Tobin shot him a look that said,
Shit, what now?

The best he could offer was a look that replied,
Stay cool.

The leader had a thick mustache and wore a brown shirt, brown pants, and high boots that gave him a shady, mercenary look. And for all Seth know, that’s what the man moonlighted as, even if the insignia of the Belize Defense Force graced his sleeve.

“Señorita
Steffens, you have a package. I want it.”

Tobin swung around, shooting Julie a wide-eyed look that said
Jesus, girl! Even I’m not stupid enough to transport other people’s shit!

Seth bristled at his brother. Julie wasn’t stupid. She wouldn’t do anything illegal. Would she?

“And who are you?” Julie stuck her chin out, showing more indignation than fear. Seth couldn’t help but marvel at her one more time. His girl had balls.

His girl.
He shifted to keep her covered as well as he could, given only his body as a shield.

“Capitán
Hernandez of the Defense Force.”

“And you’re here in an official capacity?”

“Of course!” the man said, his voice going saccharine-sweet.

Yeah, right,
Seth thought.

Julie pursed her lips. “All I have is a package from Professor Leeds for the Sisters of Mercy Convent in Matigúas,” she said, crossing her arms.

“Yes, Professor Leeds and I are old…friends.”

Seth figured the hesitation meant the two were old adversaries.

“I am happy to deliver the package for you,” Hernandez continued with a crocodile smile.

“I bet,” Julie shot back.

He made a tiny gesture with the gun and scowled. “What exactly would you like to bet,
señorita
?”

The cabin fell silent; even Tobin held his tongue. The rubbing hulls sounded rougher from belowdeck, and every ripple on the water brought a low groan from
Serendipity
. Seth took a deep breath. This was his grandfather’s boat — the boat he’d been entrusted with. Couldn’t he do better than this?

He took a step toward the intruder but stopped immediately when the gun barrel swung toward his chest.

He put his hands up. He loved this boat, but it wasn’t worth his life. Wasn’t worth Julie’s safety.

“Give it to him,” he said, leveling the man with a gaze that made it clear the gun was the only thing keeping him from closing in.

He didn’t know what was in the package, but it wouldn’t be a rosary, not with these goons after it. He nodded at Julie, urging her to hand it over. The sooner they were rid of whatever it was, the better.

She let a second tick by before reaching for her backpack and pulling out a shoebox-shaped package. In seething silence, she passed it to Seth. It weighed as much as a couple of pounds of flour. Substantial, but not leaden. Seemed to him that drugs would weigh more. He passed it to Tobin to give to the man and nearly made a shooing motion with his hands.

“It’s yours,” he said.
Whatever it is.
“Go.”
Get the hell off my boat
.

The man lowered his gun — didn’t need it, not with his buddy leaning down from the cockpit with a rifle trained right between Tobin’s eyes — and weighed the package in his hand as a greedy smile stretched across his face.

“Gracias, señorita.
Next time the good Professor Leeds asks you to transport something for him, you maybe think twice. Or—” he grinned broadly “—you bring it to me.”

“Like there’ll be a next time,” Julie replied, her face pinched tight.

“Adios,”
Tobin chipped in.

The man only smiled more broadly. “Oh, we’re not finished yet.” He motioned with his gun. “On your knees.”

A cold shiver rippled down Seth’s back.

Tobin put his hands up. “Hey man, you got what you wanted. Just take it and go! We didn’t do anything.”

There was a glint of steel and a blur of motion as the man smacked the barrel of his gun across Tobin’s cheek. Tobin grunted and dropped like a stone; Julie let out a horrified squeak. Seth heard his own guttural shout of protest while the men leaning in from the cockpit roared like spectators at a boxing match.

Seth leaned over his brother, cussing under his breath before getting kicked away by the man with the gun. He tumbled backward, and the hand he held up to ward off whatever came next was covered in blood. His brother’s blood.

“Fuck, man,” Tobin muttered from the floor, cupping his cheek.

“On your knees!” the man shouted.

Tobin was already there; Julie folding to the floor. Seth threw a frosty look at the intruder before complying. Rapid-fire Spanish mixed with English ensued, and a second man advanced with something bristling in his hand. He yanked Tobin’s hand away from his face and forced it behind his back, jamming his wrists together and wrapping something around them.

Cable ties, Seth registered. The man was tying Tobin up. Did that mean the three of them would be left tied up or tossed overboard to drown? The intruders didn’t seem to know either, judging by the tone of the discussion.

Then the radio squawked with a static-laced voice. “
Serendipity, Serendipity
, this is
Bluegrass, Bluegrass
. You still there?”

Everyone froze, and the voice came on again.

“Serendipity, Seren—”

The closest man clubbed the radio with the butt of his gun, sending bits of metal and plastic flying.

Seth stared at the remains of his radio and growled. His brand new, four-figure radio, bought just for this trip.

The second man stepped over Tobin, shoved Seth down, and yanked his hands together. He had no choice but to comply; struggling only made the cable tie cut deeper into his skin.

The man turned to Julie next, and every instinct in Seth blazed. Kill man. Protect woman. Protect his home.

Julie’s eyes were defiant, but her cheeks were pale. Christ, if they touched her…

The man pulled her to her feet and yanked her hands behind her back. Then he stopped with an appreciative cluck.

Julie paled, and a hundred ugly scenarios flashed through Seth’s mind. He braced his right foot against the floor, collecting his body to spring off his knees and into action — any action.

The man brushed a hand down Julie’s back then turned to his colleagues with a grin.

“Maybe we take a second prize tonight,” he purred to the others.

Seth dipped his right shoulder down, ready to body check the man. What he’d do after that with his hands tied behind his back and three guns trained on him, he didn’t know, but he wouldn’t just stand there while they had their fun.

The man’s left hand slid an inch lower. Lower, past the hem of her shorts. His right hand slid along Julie’s waist.

Every muscle in Seth’s body tensed as he prepared to spring. Not. Letting. That. Happen. Never. Every leaden thump of his heart was a vow.

Then a godawful crackling sound broke the still air, and all eyes swung toward the door. The radio on the police boat erupted into a harried mix of static and guttural shouts.

Seth’s ears strained to make sense of the noise.

“Capitán! Capitán!”
The man outside in the cockpit motioned at Hernandez.
“Capitán!”

A jumble of Spanish followed, and even the man ogling Julie looked pained. Were they being called away on another mission — a legitimate one? Maybe getting called in to report?

Hernandez’s eyes flashed, and he gripped his gun tighter as if squeezing off a couple of rounds might ease the frustration so evident in his face. His jaw clenched.
“Vamos.”

A stone rolled off Seth’s heart. At least, that’s what it felt like when the man next to Julie stepped back. He scowled, whipped a cable tie around Julie’s wrists, and shoved her so hard, she went sprawling across the floor. Seth nearly did the body check then.

Cable-tie man stomped past, kneeing Seth in the ribs, punching Tobin’s back. Seth struggled to stay upright as pain flooded his taut nerves — along with relief. The men were all stamping up the stairs. Away. Out.

“Señorita
Steffens.” Hernandez paused at the doorway, motioning with his gun.

Seth managed to lean right, blocking a clear shot at Julie. Just in case.

“I suggest you forget what happened here and get out of my country,” Hernandez said. “Soon. Because remembering…” The man paused in his warning, tut-tutting with his head. “That would be bad. Very bad.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Seth saw Julie roll to her back. Her lips were moving, formulating some clever reply, but she bit it back. Barely, judging by the angry twitch of her cheeks.

Then mustache man was gone, too, and multiple footsteps resounded through the hull. There was a thump, shouted orders, and the roar of the other boat’s engine, followed by an ear-splitting scrape along the length of
Serendipity
.

The roar receded into the distance, and they were alone.

Alive.

Kicking, more or less.

The taste of bile filled his mouth as he imagined the alternative.

His eyes swung to his brother’s blood-smeared face. Tobin twisted, then groaned and gave up.

“Julie,” Tobin sighed at the ceiling, “you sure got some ‘splaining to do.”

“We need to get out of here first,” Julie said, twisting her hands where they were bound behind her back.

Seth could see her contorting, trying to work her hands free. He figured it should be at around this point that the average woman — hell, the average man — would break into tears and collapse in a puddle on the floor. But Julie’s eyes were flashing anger, not fear. She was flopping around like a fish on a line and muttering under her breath — a whole flood of expletives, all of them aimed at one man.

“Professor Fucking Gregory Leeds, when I get my hands on you,” she started. With a roll and a heave, she flopped over to her stomach. “Sisters of Mercy Convent in Matigúas, my ass,” she panted, wiggling into a tripod position with her forehead and two knees under her body, her butt in the air while her hands continued writhing behind her back.

“You’ll only make it tighter,” Seth warned, casting around for some sharp object. Too bad he ran a tight ship — there was nothing loose lying around. Not from his perspective on the floor, at least.

“We don’t have much time.” Julie grunted as she pushed herself up on her knees.

Seth didn’t like the sound of that. But Tobin beat him to the question. “What do you mean, not much time?”

She shook her head and heaved to her feet, swaying there for a minute before blinking and taking a step aft. She started picking her way past Seth’s sprawled limbs, then Tobin’s as each of them struggled to sit up.

“They’ll be back when they realize…” She trailed off.

“When they realize what?” Tobin barked.

Silverware clinked as she rooted around in the galley and cursed. “Tobin, tell me how close I am.”

“You’re changing the subject.”

“I’m trying to find something to cut us free.”

Smart girl. Seth nodded to his brother. Julie might not be able to see what she was reaching for, but Tobin could. “Come on, tell her.”

“There’s a knife on your left. No, my left. Wait, that way,” Tobin started.

Seth could hear her sigh of exasperation. “Just tell me hot or cold.”

“Cold. The other way. Warmer. Warmer…”

Seth heaved his body up, only to slam into the underside of the table built into the center of the cabin. Some pirate he made.

“Warmer,” Tobin went on as the silverware continued to rattle. “Hot! Hot! There!”

“Got it,” she said.

Seth tried standing up again, and this time, he made it to the seat beside the table. Julie, meanwhile, was turning around, then turning back, then facing forward again, trying to figure out how to work the knife in between her bound wrists. Her gaze flipped to Tobin and paused there for a moment, weighing her choices. Whether to hand him the knife and let him cut her free, or to use it to cut his first, maybe?

Another second’s hesitation then she turned to Seth instead. His inner audience gave a little cheer.

“Here, take it,” she said, shuffling over so she was back-to-back with him. “Got it?”

He lurched to his feet and let his fingers search around. Past the fabric of her khaki shorts, past the light cotton of her shirt — there. His fingers found hers and traced their way to the knife — the six-inch kitchen knife that badly needed sharpening. Great.

“Got it.”

“Tobin, can you see? Tell him where to aim,” she said.

“Move a little,” Tobin started. “OK. Um, stick the knife, well, I mean, put it, I mean…”

“Tobin!” they both shouted at the same time.

“I can barely see your hands,” he complained.

“How’s that?” Julie asked, bending forward at the waist so that he had a clear view of the space behind her back. Seth knew because the motion shoved her perfect ass into his and sent a series of completely inappropriate images through his mind. But now was really not the time, so he forced himself to concentrate on the knife clutched awkwardly between his fingers.

Silence. Nothing. He looked toward Tobin and found him staring at Julie’s long, lean legs and perfect ass.

“Tobin!” he barked.

“Right.” Tobin blinked. “You need to get the tip in closer.”

Seth clenched his jaw. “Closer where? I don’t want to slit her wrists.”

“With that knife?” Tobin scoffed. “It’s way too dull.”

“Great,” Julie muttered.

He tried again, his fingers jittery with either numbness or fear. Whichever.

“Hey,” she whispered, softer now. “Relax. I trust you.”

It wasn’t just the words. It was the tone, the way her body scooped alongside his. Julie, trusting him with her life.

Like his heart could pound any harder.

“Yeah, but do you trust him?” Seth tried joking it off by aiming an elbow toward his brother.

She cocked her head at Seth, locking her blue eyes on his. “Trust him? Mostly. Now get to work, captain.”

It took three minutes — and decade off his lifespan, Seth figured — but he did it. Got the knife behind the cable tie, sawed away from her until he heard an audible snap. He froze, waiting for a warm trickle of blood to signal he’d missed badly, but there was only a happy squeak and a flutter as Julie’s hands flew up. She was free.