Yield to Me (12 page)

He took a deep breath, reaching for
his glass and swallowing the contents in an angry gesture. It surprised Brent
to see his hand actually shaking. He’d never known the senator to show weakness
of any kind.

“The one time I questioned her about
it she brushed it aside saying I was imagining things.
Said
there was nothing that would keep her from getting married.”
He snorted
scornfully, reaching for a decanter and refilling his glass, some of the liquid
splashing over onto his desk. “I should have asked her point blank if she loved
the bastard.”

Brent had seen Sophie react to Lord
the same way so he knew the senator wasn’t being paranoid or just an overprotective
father. Leaning back in his chair, he quietly observed his old friend. His
reaction was normal for a father who loved his daughter, and had qualms about
her reasons for marrying a man most of the public feared and disliked. He
couldn’t help wondering if it went a lot deeper than that, though. Maybe the
senator disliked Lord for other reasons. He sounded like he had a personal
vendetta against his daughter’s fiancé.

“Go ahead and say it,” the senator
quipped, obviously reading his mind.

Brent shrugged. “It sounds like you
have more reasons for breaking up their relationship. Maybe your suspicions
aren’t grounded. It wouldn’t be the first time someone married for money.”

“My daughter isn’t like that,
Brent,” he said, shaking his head vehemently, his brows drawn together. “Sophie
has more money than she’ll ever spend in her lifetime. Yet you guessed right
when you said I have reasons for wanting to stop this. I know Jonathan, too.
He’s a ruthless, blackmailing bastard who doesn’t do anything without it benefiting
him in some way. I’ve heard stories about him for years.”

Brent wondered what kind of dirt
Lord had dug up on Sophie, or the senator. He searched his memory for anything
he could recall hearing during the ten years they’d known each other; some tiny
bit of gossip that usually had a way of surfacing when someone ran for office,
whether it ended up in the news or not. However, nothing came to mind that
would ruin the senator’s career.

“Then maybe you’d better focus on
what that something could be,” Brent remarked dryly, running his hands through
his dark hair.
“Because if Lord’s blackmailing her, it must
be pretty big.
And when you find out what it is you’d better be prepared
to make a decision.”

He knew the senator was smart enough
to figure out what he meant. When the time came, his decision would probably be
based on whether he wanted to continue with his political career or not. Could
he sacrifice Sophie if it came to that?

The news came back on, catching
Brent’s attention. He turned in time to see an instant replay of an earlier
broadcast about Sophie’s abduction, his eyes turning hard with contempt. “I
specifically told Lord not to notify the media. If this had been a real
kidnapping her life wouldn’t have been worth squat after this aired the first
time.”

A snort erupted from Senator Adams,
who was also watching the news. “Jonathan’s always been more concerned with how
he looks in the public eye. He thrives in the limelight. But that doesn’t make
things easier for you, Brent.”

“Yeah.”
Brent nodded regretfully, deciding there was really nothing more he
could add to that. “I contacted Lord with the particulars a couple of hours
ago,” he revealed, turning away from the TV. Lord’s indignant reaction to his
outrageous demands still caused him to smile.

“Don’t make things too easy for him.
I need more time to dig around.”

“Ten million in
unmarked bills to start out with.
He’s demanding
proof that Sophie is alive and well. I’m going to send him a snapshot, which
he’ll never buy. He’ll want something more tangible like hearing her voice on
the phone. By the time we go back and forth with that you should have enough
time to find what you’re looking for.” He prayed.

“Hopefully,” Senator Adams added
with a grin. “I like your plan, even if it makes you seem a little
incompetent.” They both knew Brent was anything but.

“Appearances can be deceiving.”
Sophie’s face flashed before Brent’s eyes as he rose to leave. A sudden worry
of what kind of mischief she’d been up to while he was gone filled his gut with
dread. “I think it’s time I get back.” He held out his hand.

“Tell my daughter I…” The senator
caught himself, rising to his feet and taking Brent’s hand.
“Never
mind.”
Both men knew what he’d been about to say. “I’ll expect a phone
call every day at the agreed upon time.”

Brent prayed the next time he
phoned, the senator would have an update; like it was over and he could release
Sophie. Tom was already complaining that the stress was making his ulcer act
up. Moreover, he was convinced he was going to spend the rest of his life in
prison. Brent hoped telling Tom to eat the chocolate gun he’d used on Sophie
calmed his fears long enough to get him through this.

As he pulled into a parking spot at
the apartment complex a flash of white caught his eye, causing him to glance up
in time to see several pieces of paper floating to the ground. He slid from the
vehicle, shielding his eyes against the glare of the sun while taking in the
small plane flying overhead. The advertisement banner trailing behind it was a
normal sight, some advertisement for a seafood restaurant down the road, but he
didn’t for one minute believe they were getting away with littering the area
with flyers.

When one landed at his feet he bent,
snatching it up out of curiosity.

“Son of a—” He skimmed over the
handwritten note with growing trepidation. In the prettiest penmanship he’d
ever seen were the words, Reward! I’m Senator Adams’ daughter and I’ve been
kidnapped! I’m being held in a seventh floor apartment in Bayside Towers!

His unease quickly grew to rage of
gigantic proportions as more flyers began to float to the ground around him
like falling snowflakes. Sooner or later, someone else is bound to get nosy and
pick one up too. He crumbled the paper in his fist, making a run for the ground
elevator. As it made a slow ascent to the seventh floor, his mind raced with
options of what he was going to do, short of wringing her little neck!

* * * *

Sophie was standing at the bay
window, slowly releasing more homemade flyers, when she heard Brent’s angry voice
in the other room, demand, “Where the hell did she get all that paper?”

She couldn’t help smiling when she
heard Tom repeat the same story she’d told him. “She said she wanted to write
down her thoughts. That it would give her something to do, and take her mind
off being cooped up.

“Why? What happened?”

“There are flyers all over the damn
parking lot! Pack up anything personal and be ready to leave in five minutes;
we can’t stay here now.”

Sophie could tell by Brent’s voice
that he was getting closer to the bedroom. The next thing she knew the door
flew open and slammed against the wall. She let out a small shriek, pressing
her back against the window frame. Her eyes rounded with fear as he stomped
toward her. The look on his dark face convinced her that he might just toss her
out the window.

She quickly threw the rest of her
flyers out before running to the other side of the room, and putting the bed
between them.

“You’ve really done it now,” he said
between clenched teeth, his eyes glittering with cold fury. Uncurling his
fisted hand, he let a paper ball drop to the floor.

Sophie’s gaze watched it hit the
carpet before she unwillingly met the storm simmering in Brent’s predatory
eyes. There was no use denying it; he’d caught her red-handed. And there was no
sense in trying to run, since she knew he’d only catch her. She had no choice
but to stand her ground. She took a deep breath and prepared for the worst.
Yet, when Brent was within a foot of her, she lost her nerve and spun around to
flee.

“Not so fast!” His hand shot out,
catching the collar to her shirt, effectively halting Sophie’s escape before it
even got started. The sound of buttons popping off and seams ripping caused her
to gasp. “You’re turning out to be more trouble than you’re worth,” he growled,
jerking her backwards against him.

“You would have done the same
thing!” Sophie insisted, bracing herself for his retaliation.
What does he expect me to do, sit around
like some helpless woman and calmly await my fate?
Her father had taught
her long ago that there were some things in life she could control just by
simply taking command.

“You’re too clever for your own damn
good,” he remarked, his gruff tone laced with what sounded like grudging admiration.

“I’ve had plenty of spare time on my
hands,” she replied smartly. The more time they wasted discussing it the longer
the authorities had to arrive. “If I were you, I’d take off while you still
have a chance.”

“Don’t worry about me, lady. You’re
the one who’s going to pay the price for your little trick.”

What did he mean by that? Brent spun
her around; his lips thin with anger. “I’m sorry if I’ve ruined your plans,”
she said in an insincere tone. She wasn’t sorry about anything.

“That’s okay, I’m about to ruin
yours.” He gave her a shake and the breath caught in Sophie’s throat when she
felt the shirt slipping off her shoulders.

“There’s nothing you can do that
would make matters any worse,” she retorted heatedly. If she didn’t do
something soon she would end up stark naked. As the soft fabric began to slide
over her breast, she made a grab for it, jerking it back into place.

Brent’s gaze dropped and Sophie
glanced down to see plenty of cleavage and the swell of one breast. Her gaze widened
when she realized the hard little nubs outlined against the material were her
nipples.

He sucked in his breath, letting his
grip slacken. “Making an escape with a half-naked woman won’t go unnoticed,” he
grumbled angrily.

Especially one as well known as I am.
She smiled, meeting the anger simmering in his eyes. “Looks like
you have a problem.”

“Come on.” He pulled her with him to
the closet. “We’re getting the hell out of here.”

“Where are we going?” Once inside
the closet he forced her in front of him. He started looking through his
clothes. “If I were you I’d let me go. You’ll have a better chance of getting
away.” The confined space of the closet made Sophie very aware of their
proximity. Brent’s scent was intoxicating. The heat radiating off his body made
her aware of him as a desirable man.

Growling something unintelligible
beneath his breath, he continued searching through his things over the top of
her head. “If I had time I’d wipe that smug expression off your face,” he
threatened, a muscle in his jaw twitching.

Tom chose that moment to stick his
head into the room. “I’m all packed.”

“Check the place over thoroughly;
make sure there’s nothing here that will give our identities away. Then I want
you to get the hell out of here and go home. I don’t want you any more involved
than necessary.”

“But…”

“You heard me, Tom. It’s just the
princess and me from here on out. The place we’re heading isn’t big enough for
the three of us.”

Sophie gave Tom a thorough
inspection, committing him to memory so she could give the authorities an
accurate description later on. She could tell by his expression that he was
almost relieved, yet hesitant. After a moment, he turned and left.

Her gaze returned to Brent to find
him scowling down at her. “I think your partner’s worried about his share of
the ransom money,” she said.

He released a tired sigh. “Believe
me, if we get any ransom, he can have it all.”

“And what will you get?”

He was in the process of pulling a
pair of sweats and a lightweight jacket off a hanger, when her question caused
him to pause. “Peace and quiet,” he said after a while. “And don’t waste your
breath giving the authorities our description later; I saw how you were looking
Tom over. We’ll be out of the country before you can count to ten.”

Sophie was secretly relieved at his
comment. She’d wondered why they hadn’t kept her blindfolded, worried at what
that could mean. She’d seen enough movies to know it didn’t usually bode well
for the kidnap victim when they saw their kidnappers’ faces.

“You’re awful sure of yourself.”

“You think you’re the first person
we’ve kidnapped? I’ve been doing this a long time, princess, and they haven’t
caught me yet. Remember the Holland case?”

Shock and astonishment caused
Sophie’s breath to catch. She’d heard about the abduction. Who hadn’t? For a
while, it was all she heard on the news, or read about in the papers. Eunice
Holland, the wife of a billionaire ship builder, had been kidnapped the year
before. She was released after the ransom was paid, but to date no one knew who
was behind it.

It didn’t take her long to get over
her initial shock. “You don’t look anything like the man’s description that was
circulated in the news.”