Hush Read Free

range—he’d be no damn good to either of them dead.
    â€œEasy,” he said calmly, sitting up and raising his arms, palms out. When he wasn’t immediately drilled full of holes, he swung his feet to the gritty floor. “No need to hurt her. She has nothing of value. Just let her leave, she won’t be any trouble.”
    â€œRight. I won’t be any trouble at all,” she assuredthem fervently, her eyes darting from man to man, then back to him. She dragged in a shaky breath. “Look. I don’t want … Just take … Damn it. All I wanted was one night of—” She blushed. She goddamn blushed . “Which was great—but I don’t think I deserve to get the hell beat out of me because I made a bad choice. Not that you were bad,” she hastened to add, “but, well, this situation is …”
    She shot him an annoyed glance. “ They don’t appear to speak much English, and you don’t speak Spanish, so …” She turned to one of the men and said in halting, Rosetta Stone Spanish, “Si vas a disparar, me gustar morir con mi dignidad. Y con la ropa encima.” If you’re going to shoot me, then I’d really like to die with my dignity. And fully clothed . She motioned with her chin to her clothes scattered on the floor.
    He’d ripped the scrap of dress off her in his haste to get her naked the second the door closed behind them the night before, and it wasn’t going to do much to cover her even if they let her have it. “Es aquí mis cosas. ¿Yo poder …?”
    â€œLady? Last time. Shut the fuck up,” Zak repeated, coldly, ear cocked for his brother. Where was Gideon? His brother was a light sleeper. He must’ve heard the scream if nothing else. Fuckit. Had the men dealt with Gid before coming here?
    â€œI talk when I’m nervous. Which you might agree I’m justified in being,” she snapped. Apparently, realizing she wasn’t going to be able to do anything about her nudity, she behaved like the emperor with his new clothes. Juststood there haughty as hell and as if she were fully dressed. Her chin rose as she gave him a hot look. “The circumstances notwithstanding, stop telling me to shut up. This is my room, and I can say whatever I damn well like in it. You don’t like me chatting? Take a hike.”
    Unbelievable. Bare-ass naked and surrounded by military grade hardware, and she still had a mouth on her. He’d liked it last night, but then again, they hadn’t exactly been talking. Standing there sleek and naked, blond hair wild and just-been-fucked sexy, she was escalating an already volatile situation just by looking the way she looked.
    â€œFor fuck’s sake. They hold all the cards.” And it would be worse for her if they decided to shoot him and take her. Any way, anywhere, they wanted.
    She gave him a fulminating look and snapped her mouth closed. Zak could almost read her thoughts in a word bubble over her head. Fear radiated off her in waves. One of the men holding on to her shifted to hook his arm across her throat. Her pearly skin gleamed in the semidarkness as she struggled to remain on her feet while the two men tugged her this way and that, which they found vastly entertaining as she fought uselessly to get free.
    Two dogs with one bone might work after all … at the least, she’d keep them distracted.
    He kept his arms up: Patience . His mother used to say, “You wait until your father gets home. He’ll deal with you.” This was like waiting for the shoe to drop, and for his father to mete out the usual punishment when he eventually got home—be it at seven that night or a weeklater. The only difference was the amount of blood this shoe was going to take with it.
    â€œWell?” He kept his tone fairly civil. All things considered. “Take what you want, and go. We won’t call the authorities.”
    The man