Stolen by the Sheik (Black Towers Book 2) (6 page)

“Do you have a better idea? We can’t call a taxi, they’ll just take us straight to the police station.”

“Listen, Nayo. Stealing some allergy meds and scones is one thing, but this is grand theft auto! You can’t be serious.” She was starting to feel panicked. What had she gotten herself into?

“We didn’t steal those things, you left money, remember? If it will make you feel better, we’ll ditch the car once we’re close to my friend’s house and you can call the police and give an anonymous tip of its location.” He pulled the handle of an old, beat up, cobalt blue Honda civic and the door swung open. “Bingo! Now get in.”

“No way. I’m not going anywhere in that car.”

Nayo sat in the driver’s seat of the car and ripped down wires from under the steering wheel. Just as he started fiddling with the wires, they heard the sound of sirens off in the distance. “It sounds like our friends at the bakery called the police. Time to go, Olivia.”

Liv looked over her shoulder toward the sound of the sirens, which were getting louder by the second. She looked back at Nayo, trying to decide her next move.

“Olivia, get in the car,” Nayo commanded, still working on the wires. He looked up at her, and the way his gaze burned into hers brought her back to when they locked eyes in the mirror of the change room. Her whole body shivered at the memory, and she knew then that despite what she said, she’d go with him. “Now, Olivia, we’re running out of time,” Nayo said as the engine of the car roared to life.

She quickly climbed into the passenger side and slammed the door behind her. They pulled away from the curb and started down the alley as she pulled her seat belt across her chest.

“Put this address in your phone, I need directions,” Nayo said, giving her Cole’s address.

“That’s a pretty fancy part of town, where are we going anyway?” Liv asked as she plugged the address into her maps app.

“Just a friend’s house, you’ll see, the less you know the better,” he said. She finished putting the address into her phone and the GPS lady told them to take a right at the intersection and that they would arrive at their destination in twenty-eight minutes. Just as they turned out of the alley and onto the main road, police cars with flashing lights sped past them, headed in the opposite direction. “Looks like we made it out of there just in time.”

As they got closer to Cole’s, they abandoned the stolen car on the side of the road and traveled the rest of the way on foot. As they neared the house, they had to be careful not to be seen, sneaking in around back as per Cole’s instructions. When they finally made it inside, Liv couldn’t believe her eyes. She wanted to explore the lavish rooms, but exhaustion was overcoming her. It had been one hell of a day and the adrenaline was starting to wear off. Not to mention she had forgotten to grab the non-drowsy version of her allergy medicine. Nayo led her down the hall to one of the guest bedrooms. “In here, this is the guest room I always use.” The room was beautiful, with silver mirrored furniture and fresh white and green decorations. Luxurious textiles covered the bed that had pillows piled high, crystal lamps with white shades adorned the bedside tables, and long white drapes covered the massive windows. In the far corner of the room there was an antique dressing table and a large potted plant with big tropical-looking leaves.

They immediately collapsed together into the massive four poster bed. As she lay there, at last somewhere quiet and safe, her mind finally had a chance to catch up with the events of the day, and she had a sudden realization that sent her stomach dropping to her feet. “Nayo?”

“Yes?”

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Of course. Ask me anything you want.”

“How did you know how to hot-wire that car?” she asked.

“Do you really want to know?”

After a long pause, she finally answered. “No, I suppose not.” But she couldn’t shake the sinking feeling in her gut, and she started to pull away from him.

Not wanting her to go, Nayo wrapped an arm and leg around her and pulled her in close, cocooning her body with his. He snuggled his face into her hair. “It’s not what you think. I had nothing to do with those bombs, Olivia. I promise.”

She wanted to believe him. And part of her did. But the rational side of her kept reminding her she barely knew this man. Why did she keep sticking around? She really had no idea who he was, and she had seen what he was capable of; evading the police, escaping tight situations with ease, hot-wiring a car. Was it really such a stretch to think he could be being the bombs? She knew she should get as far away him as possible, but right now it felt damn good to lay there in his arms. And she was tired. So tired. It was a struggle just to keep her eyes open. She needed to figure out what to do next, but she’d worry about that after some rest. She finally gave into exhaustion and let her heavy eyelids fall, Nayo’s light snoring lulling her into a deep sleep.

I
t was
the aroma of freshly brewed coffee and bacon that woke her up. Bacon? Liv had thought that Muslims couldn’t eat pork, just like those of Jewish faith. Curious, she crawled out of bed and made her way to the kitchen. As she got closer, she could hear the television. Some local news station was playing, going over the morning’s headlines. They were doing some puff piece about a local park, so Liv guessed that it was shortly before the top of the hour. She bypassed the living area and television, following the intoxicating aroma to the kitchen. There, standing in front of the stove, was a shirtless Nayo, wearing only his jeans and an apron. Liv crossed her arms and leaned against the doorframe, admiring the view.

He sure had a good-looking backside. And those muscles in his shoulders and upper back. . .

When the bumper music began playing, signaling the start of another news cycle, Liv heard the anchormen talking about the bombing. While it wasn’t anything she hadn’t already known, hearing again, on the news, and knowing that both her picture and Nayo’s were being plastered around town, made her uncomfortable. Liv had never hurt anyone in her life--human or animal. She even refused to kill those ants that had gotten into her kitchen last year. Instead of eliminating them, she trapped them and released them, something that was much harder and more time-consuming to do. To think that she had any part in this bomb threat was ludicrous.

Which led to Nayo. As she took in his tight ass and ropes of muscle, she reminded herself that this man was a threat to everything American. Black Towers wasn’t the first bombing incident. The police suspected that Nayo had some part in all three threats throughout the city. Despite her having a difficult time picturing him being so cruel, she couldn’t rule out the possibility of him being a terrorist. He had never hurt her, but they had only been together for twenty-four hours. She didn’t know anything about him or his plan. He could be manipulating her into helping him and possibly taking the fall for the bombings. Perhaps he wanted an American sympathizer or hostage in case there was a shootout.

The thought about being forced to take part in a shootout made her sick to her stomach. She wasn’t cut out for combat, and she sure as hell wasn’t political. The more she thought about her situation, the more Liv knew she needed to get away from this man who was essentially a stranger. More importantly, she needed to go to the police and clear her name. The longer this went on, the more guilty she looked. Not to mention her job. Christ, Carrie was going to have a field day with her over those photos being late.

After one last wistful look at Nayo’s backside, she turned to go.

“Sit down and have some coffee,” Nayo said, his back still toward her.

Liv froze in her tracks, debating what to do. Then the anchorman started talking about how both she and Nayo were considered armed and dangerous, and she knew that she was in way over her head. Nayo was cute and all, but she had her life to consider. Before she could talk herself out of it, Liv started running for the front door, which, unfortunately, was on the other end of the house.

“Hey, come back.” Nayo took off after her, his stride eating up two of hers.

Liv raced down the hallway and through the plush living area. On her way past the sofa, she knocked over an end table and lamp, throwing it into Nayo's path. To her dismay, Nayo easily navigated the obstacle and grabbed her arm just before she reached the door.

"What are you doing?" he asked as he spun her around and pushed her up against the wall.

Liv's breath left her in a rush as her back hit the solid stone. She struggled, but Nayo grabbed her other wrist and pinned both of her arms above her head.

"Liv, calm down."

"No." She continued to struggle, but it was no use. The man was like a bear or an ox. He was unmovable.

"Liv, calm down."

"Let go of me! I have to get out of here."

“You’re not going anywhere. Not in this state. You need to calm down and we can talk things through first.”

Liv started to thrash around in his arms, desperately trying to free herself.

“Talk things through?! What is there to talk about? How you’re holding me against my will? How you planted bombs around the city threatening thousands of lives? Come on then Nayo, let’s talk!” she shouted. Nayo recoiled at her words as if she had slapped him across the face.

“You can’t really believe those things?” he said, unable to hide the hurt in his voice.

“What am I supposed to believe, Nayo? Here I am, being held against the wall, while your face is being plastered all over the news.”

“You’ve got it all wrong,” he all but growled.

“Do I? Prove it then! Tell me what’s right.” She pinned him with her eyes, searching the depths of his, hoping to find some kind of answers there.

“Tell me what’s right, Nayo,” she breathed.

Nayo crashed his mouth onto hers, kissing her with a ferocity that took her breath away. He immediately pushed his tongue past her lips and invaded her mouth hard and fast. He swirled and caressed his tongue along her own, mimicking the same motions he used to lick her pussy to kiss her mouth, making it impossible not to imagine his face in between her legs again. He nipped and tugged at her bottom lip and then licked where his teeth had bit down. The way he worked her over made her inner walls clench until she couldn’t hold back any longer. Finally she gave into the kiss, meeting his tongue stroke for stroke. She moaned into his mouth as he pressed his hips into her, pinning her to the wall. He rotated his hips against hers, letting her feel how hard he was beneath his jeans.

There was a desperation to the kiss that made it feel almost dangerous. And God help her, she liked it. Arms held above her head, his strong, hard body holding her against the wall, the unforgiving way he claimed her mouth with his own; he had taken away all her control and it had her weak in the knees and dripping wet. But as quickly as the kiss started, it ended. Nayo abruptly pulled away, leaving them both gasping for air and wanting more. “You want to know what’s right?” he said. “This is. This thing between us, Olivia. You can’t deny how right that kiss felt.”"

“So what if I can’t, that doesn’t prove anything.”

The hell it doesn’t. Deep down you know you can trust me. Think about what you are doing."

She took in a shaky breath and lifted her head to meet his gaze. “I know exactly what I’m doing. I’m running away from a killer.”

He shook his head. “If I was really a killer, you’d already be dead.”

“Not necessarily. You could be keeping me hostage.”

“Why?”

“Leverage? Ego? I don’t know.”

He frowned. “Come now Liv, you know me better than that.”

She shook her head. “No, I don’t know you, Nayo. That’s the whole point. I don’t know you at all.”
But I wish I did.
He dropped his gaze to her lips. For a second, she thought he was going to start kissing her again, but then he flicked his gaze back up to meet hers and set his jaw. “You’re right, you don’t know me.” He pushed away from her slightly. Not enough for her to run away, but enough so that she no longer had to inhale his fresh, masculine scent, or feel his body heat. “No one does.” He let go of her arms. “And no one ever will.”

“What do you mean? Why not?”

He chuckled, but it sounded half-hearted. “Because I am Darzi, and Arabian royalty. We are not individuals, but a ruling family, doing what is best for our people.” He pushed his fingers through his thick dark hair. “And what’s best for my people is if I stopped running away from my obligations.”

She wanted to question him further, but bit her tongue. He was giving her another opportunity to escape, and the door was only a few feet away. If she ran now, she might just make it—

“You are so typically American,” he said.

All thoughts of escape vanished as she crossed her arms and stared at him. “Excuse me?”

“Always thinking of yourself. Always so quick to judge others and believing you are always right in your assessment.” He waved his hand in front of his torso. “You think that I’m a terrorist. That I would kill people for some vague ideas.”

“Not vague. You hate Americans.”

He nodded. “This is what I mean. You believe that I hate Americans—no, all Westerners, because of my race. You judge me even before you know my story.”

She lifted her chin. “I’m not the only one who thinks that you did all of the bombings. The police—“

“The police are looking for a scapegoat. The reality is that they have no more of an idea of who is doing this than I do.” He took a small step forward. “Think about it, Liv. I had a meeting with Ethan Black at Black Towers from ten until noon. Both Ethan and the building’s security cameras could confirm that. How could I possibly have time to plant three bombs in three different locations if I spent half the morning in a business meeting?”

Liv worked her jaw, but no sound came out. Damn it, the man had a point. “That doesn’t explain the bomb at Black Towers, or what you were doing between the end of your meeting and when it was discovered shortly before one.”

He let out a long breath and slumped his shoulders. “If you must know, I got a quick lunch at the Tower Coffee Shop. I was about to leave when I ran into you. I was on my way to the gym. It’s just around the corner and I missed my morning workout because of my meeting, when I saw you spill your drink everywhere and came over to help.”

“If you’re so innocent, then why won’t you just go to the police to clear your name?”

“You know why,” he said. “Those officers will think like you, assume I am guilty without looking at the facts. They would throw me in jail and ask questions later.”

She stepped forward and placed her hand on his chest. “Then let me go to the police. I could explain—“

He placed his hand over hers on his chest, stopping her words. “If you go to the police, they will do the same to you.” He curled his fingers around hers. “Haven’t you been listening? They are looking for a scapegoat. Even now, the police have changed their opinion of what happened. No longer are you my unwilling hostage, but my very willing accomplice.”

She pulled her hand from his grasp. “No.”

“I’m afraid so.”

“That’s impossible.” She sidestepped him and made her way back to the television, but the news program had already moved on, talking about how easy it was for people to look up how to make a bomb on the internet nowadays.

“Here. Follow me.” Nayo lead her back into the kitchen, where he had set up a small laptop on the island.

“I’ve been following the investigation on the internet.” He opened a new browser and brought up article after article on the bomb threats around Los Angeles. “Here it is.” He pointed to a small paragraph at the end of one of the articles.

“Wow,” she said, reading the contents. “How could they think that I could be a part of this? This is my country. My people.” She took the laptop and turned it to face her. “Let me see.” She scrolled through articles as Nayo went back to the stove. Within minutes he had piles of eggs, pancakes, and bacon—turkey bacon, he had explained—and two glasses of orange juice.

“How did you get all of this food?” she asked as she filled up her plate.

“Cole had his security team stock the fridge with breakfast food for us before we arrived.” He scanned around the room. “This is his place. His new place, actually. He moved in a few months ago, I’ve only been here a handful of times.”

“You mean, Cole Anderson, the actor?”

“Yes.”

She widened her eyes at him. “You have friends in high places.”

“One of the perks of being royalty,” he joked and took a piece of bacon. “And this,” he said holding up the strip of bacon, “this is one of the perks of familiarizing oneself with western culture.”

She smirked and returned her focus to the laptop. “I can’t believe how much attention this is getting.”

“It’s a threat to national security. If it was in my country, we would do the same.”

Liv performed search after search, trying to find something that might help them with their predicament. After a long moment, she rubbed her eyes and grabbed a piece of bacon. “There’s nothing here. Besides us, the police have no leads, no evidence.”

“I know.”

“But we don’t know anything either.” Liv tried another search, and blinked at the screen. A new article popped up, its headline created less than a minute ago. Refreshing the page, she saw the same information posted again and again in various venues and formats. In the background, she head the morning news bumper music play.

“Breaking news at this hour. . .”

“Oh shit.”

“What?” Nayo asked.

Liv clicked on a link to confirm the source, then slowly lifted her gaze to Nayo.

“Your friend is dead.”