Read Online Playing for Keeps by Cherry Adair - Free Book Online

dozen times.
    She’d never seen such blackness. Not a star, not a glimmer of a moon. The enormous palace behind them was dark. How he could see where he was going she, had no idea.
    “No Victoria’s Secret at the airport,” he said very quietly. “Veer to the left, then straight for another two hundred feet.”
    Heart in her throat, as it had been for what seemed like hours, Danica glanced behind them. Every step of the way she expected to hear dogs barking or gunshots. But other than the cick-cick-cick of a distant sprinkler and the soft shushing of fronds in the hundreds of palms and shrubs on the grounds, everything was quiet. So quiet she could hear the pounding of her own heart.
    The balmy night air was redolent with the thick, sweet scent of jasmine, citrus blossoms, and the green smell of the jungle just beyond the city. Jon’s hand in hers was warm and strong, and despite the fear trumpeting through her body, she felt safe with him. She always had.
    He was infuriating and frustrating and had the innate ability to irritate her like no other human on the face of the planet. But she trusted Jon more than anyone else she’d ever known. With her life at least. Trusting him with her heart was a little trickier.
    The palace grounds were secured from break-in, but apparently, it never occurred to them that someone would break out. At least, that’s what Jon assured her as they snuck out of her room. They moved through the empty, dimly lit corridors, down the wide marble stairs, through the kitchens, and out of the building. Undetected-or so she hoped.
    She wanted to believe him, but she still kept waiting to feel canines embedded in her leg or the slam of a bullet in the back of her head as they ran across the lawn.
    Keeping close to the thick tangle of foliage bordering the gardens, they were, according to her partner in crime, heading toward a side gate and freedom.
    Jon wasn’t overreacting. Unfortunately, his paranoia was contagious. An elevated sense of urgency completely trumped her personal sense of propriety. Under normal circumstances, Danica would never rudely dash off without so much as a farewell. Especially when she was the guest of honor.
    Until she’d seen Jon’s eyes. Looked deeply and seen danger. Real, immediate danger.
    “Okay?” Raven whispered twenty-minutes later.
    “Define okay,” she whispered back, sarcasm in her voice. Her breathing was labored, her palm slick with sweat.
    “Almost home.” Metaphorically, if not in reality. The black, wrought-iron fence enclosing the estate was only a couple hundred yards away. They’d managed to elude the palace guards without breaking a sweat. The best he could say about them was that they wore cool uniforms. He debated taking down one of them to get a weapon, but doing that could bring attention to their departure earlier than necessary.
    They passed beneath an arched arbor, its shape defined by the pale blobs of spicy-scented roses flowing over it.
    Danica was breathing heavily, and even though he knew she must be in some discomfort from the crash, she hadn’t uttered a word of complaint. And she hadn’t slowed down. He knew she was scared. This was as far away from her element as it was possible to get. She was a Sunday-with-the-Miami-Herald, walk-on-the-beach-at-dusk, cuddle-up-on-a-rainy-day kind of girl.
    How had she, of all people, ended up in a plane crash, kidnapped, and drugged?
    And more important-why?
    As a security specialist, Raven rarely encountered violence, although he and all his employees were certainly highly skilled and trained for any eventuality. Up to and including terrorism. But most of his clients were Fortune 500 companies, museums, technical and medical installations that required state-of-the-art security hardware. His clientele valuing brains over brawn.
    Even so, it made him sick to think his business might have anything to do with why Danica was a target. The fact that Uncle Sam not only knew about Dani but also