The blond shifted where he stood against the wall. Sunglasses still hid his eyes but she knew he wasn’t happy since he hadn’t stopped frowning after she’d been led into the room.

“How long have you been sleeping with Bill?”

She’d left fear behind and moved right into feeling pure frustration. “I keep telling you that I’ve never slept with my coworker. You can call him any name you want but if you’re talking about Brent Thort, the real estate agent, I’ve never touched him.”

“Where is he?”

She took a deep breath, really wishing the blond would stop asking the same questions over and over. He was the only one who’d spoken to her since they’d brought her into the room. Hours must have passed and she yawned.

“I don’t know.” Her voice rose. “I really don’t. The answer isn’t going to change, no matter how many times you ask me the same questions. I have told you at least a hundred times that I am not sleeping with him. I have never even gone on a date with him and I only see his face at work. Call my boss, I say again, and ask her. She has to know where he lives. It would be in his employee files.” Anger stirred, at Mel, who’d sent her into this nightmare. “Go kidnap her!”

He sighed. “What has he told you?”

“Nothing. I don’t talk to the jerk! I’m tired, hungry, and I want to go home. I don’t know where he is but I’d tell you if I did. Trust me. We aren’t friends. We’ve hardly said two civil words to each other since I started working there three months ago. I avoid him, okay? He’s loud and rude. Crude. He tells offensive jokes at the office, which is very unprofessional.”

She took a deep breath, trying to calm down. Her temper was borderline explosive. Why wouldn’t they listen to her? “He goes to a lot of bars and brags about all the women he picks up. He’s also recently made a habit of taking inappropriate cell phone photos of the women he dates and shows them around the office. That’s all I know about the guy. I swear I’m telling you the truth.”

The dark-haired man pushed away from the corner where he’d been standing quietly since she’d been handcuffed to the table. He frowned as he moved closer. His weapons and belt were gone but it didn’t make him appear any less dangerous. He paused near her.

“It could get really ugly if you don’t stop protecting your boyfriend. He obviously doesn’t care about what happens to you or he wouldn’t have sent you in his place. He must have suspected it was a trap since he didn’t go there.” He paused. “He sent you alone without his protection, knowing something was wrong. Do you understand that, female?”

“Stop calling me that,” Lauren snapped. “My name is Lauren and my boss, Mel Hadner, sent me to that warehouse. That’s all I know. She called me on my cell while I was at the restaurant to tell me Brent had some kind of emergency. She was busy and ordered me to show the property instead. I didn’t want to but it’s my job. I was the last hired and you know that saying. Last hired, first fired. I need to keep my job so I left the restaurant and here we are.”

His lips twisted into a mean grimace. “You just showed your ability to lie. You said you didn’t date. Were you eating alone?”

“I was having dinner with a friend.”

“I see. Do you call men you share sex with your friends? How long have you and Bill been friendly?” A strange, animalistic noise came from him. “Stop lying. You are Bill’s type of female. We interviewed many of the ones he used to share sex with.” He bent a little, drew closer, and those dark glasses just made him look evil. “We’re not easily fooled. He is not a male you wish to protect since he is not one who would protect you. He’s free and you are not. You seem intelligent. This is only hurting you.”

“I was having dinner with my friend Amanda. Don’t twist my words and stop accusing me of screwing that loser. He isn’t my type. I’ll say it again. I wouldn’t touch him with a ten-foot pole!” She pushed back in her chair and glared at his sunglasses, resisting the urge to scream from the frustration.

“We won’t release you until we have Bill. That is a promise.”

She believed him and anger turned to fear all over again. They were going to hold her hostage until they had her coworker. It was beyond shocking. “You can’t do that. Please? I just want to go home. If this is about money, how much does he owe? I’ll try to pay it. Whatever it takes but please, let me go!”

The man drew closer. Lauren felt fear but he suddenly spun away.

“I can’t,” he snarled.

She swallowed but the blond took his place. The guy crouched near her chair. “You are now willing to pay his debts but you aren’t sleeping with him? You are bad at lying.”

“That’s not what I mean. I’m scared, you won’t believe the truth, and I’ll do anything you want if you just let me go.”

“He doesn’t owe us money.”

Lauren lost the last bit of hope. These guys were criminals and would probably kill her. She stared at the guy, trying to convey her sincerity. “You have it wrong. The only thing I did was answer my phone when my boss called me to show a property. That’s it. I don’t care if you want to beat on Brent. I’m sure he deserves it, he’s a jerk, but I’m innocent in this.”

“You were having dinner with Brent? Just tell us the truth if you want out of here.”

“Do you want me to lie? I will. I was having dinner with my friend Amanda but I’ll say anything you want if it makes you happy enough to release me.”

The man took a deep breath. “I see.”

“You believe me now, right? I am not sleeping with Brent.”

The man moved quicker than she thought a person could. Lauren didn’t even have time to gasp before his hands gripped her waist, he flipped her and her back slammed on top of the table. The handcuffs pulled painfully on her wrists, which were hooked above her head now.

Her heart hammered and pure terror tore through her as he leaned over her. His weight caused the table to tip until her head was higher than her feet as his fingers gripped her jaw. He kept her pinned with one hand on her waist and a snarl came from deep within his throat. It mimicked the sound from a vicious dog.

“I’m done playing nice. Hurting a female isn’t something I wish to do but I will. Did you see the drain in the floor? It is there to clean up blood easier.”

“Shadow.” The dark-haired one gripped his shoulder. “I can smell her fear over that horrible perfume even. Back off. You made your point and are going too far with your attempt to make her comply. Let’s give her time to let the situation sink in. We could all use a break.”

The blond released her. “I made certain I didn’t cause her any harm.”

The hands tore away from her body and both men left the room. The door slammed loudly, the twist of a bolt being thrown unmistakable, and she stared at the yellow light hanging above her head as the metal table chilled her body through her clothes.

“Oh my God,” she whispered. They were going to kill her and they wouldn’t believe anything she said. Brent must owe money to the mob or something. Those guys had a room for torturing people and it was designed to make their kills easier to clean up.

She tried to twist to get off the table but it was useless. The edges of the table had those horrible ridges, probably to keep blood from spilling off the sides of it, and gravity held her in place from her body being hung by her wrists. Lauren stared down at her feet and saw that drain from her position with the table tilted upright.

The door suddenly opened. She gasped, turned her head and stared at the bald man who entered. With the bright lights, she got a very good look at his features and they still looked strange. Something wasn’t quite right with his prominent, wide cheekbones and those blue eyes of his were just as icy cold as she remembered. He still wore the uniform but his weapons were gone as well. He crossed his arms over a broad chest, displayed some seriously thick biceps stretching the shirt he wore, and gave a smile that could have frozen hell.