Riding Steele #1 Read Online Free PDF Page A

hair. “Fine. Now get lost. I’m going to have to figure out what the hell we’re going to do about this.”
    Wild Card walked to the door and then turned. “Happy birthday, Steele.” Then he closed the door behind him.
    â€œYeah, happy fucking birthday to me,” he grumbled.
    *  *  *
    The man named Steele turned to her and Laurie stiffened.
    â€œMy name’s Steele. And you’re Laurie. I’m a friend of your brother’s.”
    The fact he knew her name told her they hadn’t kidnapped her randomly. She’d been targeted for some reason. She remembered his earlier words about a plan. It sounded like they’d planned to kidnap her, then changed their minds.
    â€œLook, I don’t know who you are or why you’re trying to get me to trust you, but that’s not going to happen. All I want is for you to let me go.”
    â€œYour brother’s name is Craig.”
    She narrowed her eyes. Were they after ransom? If so, they would have researched her family connections to know who to send the ransom request to.
    â€œLook, if you’re trying to get ransom from Craig, you need to understand that he doesn’t have a lot of money.”
    â€œI know that. I’m not after ransom money.”
    If he had discovered Craig wasn’t rich, that could be why they had rejected her as a victim.
    But Donovan was a wealthy man and everyone knew it. Were they planning on approaching him for money?
    Her blood turned cold. He would pay it. She wanted to be free of the man, but this would put her in his debt.
    After the vicious way he’d treated her tonight, she actually wondered if he might have set this up as some sick kind of control thing. To make her totally aware of how much power he had over her. Maybe he would even show up and play out some scenarios his sick mind might entertain. Like watching these bikers gang bang her, just like he’d suggested in the parking garage.
    Her mind was raging with wild notions, and maybe that’s all they were. All she knew for sure was she couldn’t trust anything these men told her.
    The big man beside her sighed deeply. “I see I’m not going to get anywhere with this tonight.”
    He leaned toward her and she cringed away, but he simply grabbed the covers and pulled them over her, then lay back in bed.
    â€œI’m going to sleep. I suggest you do the same.”
    Then he rolled over and turned out the light.
    Not that he fell asleep soon. He could sense the woman quivering on the other side of the bed. He wanted to console her and assure her everything would be all right, but there was nothing he could do right now that would make her trust him. Trust was only achieved by actions, and the only actions she had seen by him and his man Wild Card was to be torn away from her friends and family and brought to this isolated cabin. And her bad-news boyfriend, but that only made it worse. Being taken from one situation where she was totally helpless, to another, didn’t inspire confidence.
    In the morning, he’d sort this out somehow. He could roll over right now and promise he’d take her home tomorrow, but he was a man of his word and had learned better than to make promises until he knew the whole situation and what the consequences would be. Wild Card had kidnapped her. She could lay charges and have them all arrested. He’d like to contact Killer, and her brother, to see if they could sort this out without that kind of complication. Also, he didn’t want to just return her to a situation where she would be in danger from her boyfriend. Hopefully, she was smart enough to consider him her ex-boyfriend by now, because the things Wild Card told him the guy had said and done tonight showed that he would have no qualms about brutalizing her. And the man obviously had means, so that meant he’d be more likely to get away with it.
    What a fucking lousy way to end his