Twenty-one and ready to take on the world, orphan Lizzie Gold didn't expect her chance encounter with a stranger to lead to a damnable task - to take down a rising business tycoon.
Ryan Pierce - her viciously handsome target and her new boss - might...
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L I Z Z I E 48 | collateral
present:
"Ouch!" the exclamation rips out from my throat the moment Ryan throws me down from his shoulder into a seat of the private chopper.
I give him the most judgemental look I can muster, seeing him smirking at me as he bends to buckle my seatbelt around my waist. Confusion is keeping me on edge every time my gaze falls on his watch. If this is indeed Ryan, which he sure looks like now that I can find some context regarding our situation, I wonder how or when he changed places with Reece.
"You comfortable?" he asks, placing himself down on the seat next to mine.
There are four seats in the interior of the chopper, arranged in a circular form. I keep gawking at Ryan, afraid to give myself away that I have recognized him because whatever he has planned, that revelation might ruin it. My hands are fisted on the armrests of the seat as Winston joins us after having chatted with the pilot.
He settles himself in the seat opposite ours, letting out a sigh. I watch his aged face which is morphed into a worrisome expression as he gazes out the window while tapping a thumb under his chin.
The pilot gives the sign for the takeoff and Ryan picks up a pair of headsets from a compartment in his seat.
"Grab yours," he tells me, sounding nonchalant. "You'll need it to hear us."
I search mine with an upturned curve of my lips, finding the headset and putting it on as Winston puts on his. My ears block out the whirring noise that had been rounding the cabin, replaced by a soundless echo that allows me the time to contemplate my next steps.
I can either remain quiet and take whatever shit they throw at me or I can try to find out more regarding my position here as whatever I am supposed to be.
"Where are you taking me?" I ask Winston, my lips close to the microphone that is attached to the headset.
Winston faces me at the sound of my voice just as the chopper takes off from the roof of the building. I dig my fingers around the armrest, my stomach doing a drop as soon as I spot the sky outside. I have never flown before. Never needed to.
I hate it. My feet are better suited for the ground.
Winston adjusts the microphone so that it is at a little distance from his lips.
"You're leverage for Ryan to not make any attempts," he replies. "No harm will come to you. So, just play along."
At the mention of his name, I notice Ryan clenching his fingers as his eyes never leave Winston's face. I know then that he did exchange places with Reece and all of this is a ruse to trap Winston.
I keep my knowledge to myself, a little relieved that the guy next to me is the one who loves me and would never harm me.
"Why are you doing this?" I keep my questions directed towards Winston, adding a shiver to my voice which I hope he concludes as fear. "Ryan's your family. Why are you doing this to him? To Gloria?"
