Always - Iris Johansen [11]
“Lie down.” He pushed her back on the pillow. “Give yourself time to wake up and come to terms with the situation before you decide to take me on.” He smiled grimly. “I’m sure that time will come soon enough.”
“What are you doing in my room?” But it wasn’t her room! she suddenly realized. The bed she was lying on was king-, not queen-sized, the spread dark blue, not charcoal-and-yellow stripes, the walls beige, not pale gray. She was still wearing the same tailored white satin pajamas, but everything else was wildly, terribly wrong. Her eyes widened with shock and she tried to sit up again.
The movement was immediately frustrated by Donahue’s hands on her shoulders pressing her back down. “No, it’s not your room,” he said quietly. “You’re no longer at the hotel. This is my bedroom at a villa located about a half mile from the casino. There’s no reason to be afraid. You’re perfectly safe and will remain so. I promise you.”
“Your bedroom?” Lisa stared at him in stunned disbelief. “What am I doing …” She stopped as she remembered the disjointed half dreams that had plagued her sleep. “You kidnapped me,” she whispered. She couldn’t believe it. “You actually kidnapped me?”
He nodded. “It was necessary,” he said simply. “I have to get Baldwin. I told you that.”
“So you kidnapped me,” she said. “Another trap, you said. I wouldn’t act as bait in the trap, so you just moved the bait to another trap.” She raised her hand and pushed the hair away from her forehead. “Is that what you did?”
“That’s what I did. I told you I wanted your cooperation. I’m sorry it had to be this way.”
“Sorry!” The anger was curling through her veins, burning away the haze that had befuddled her senses. “Dammit, you kidnapped me and all you can say is that you’re sorry? You committed a crime!”
“Yes, I know.” Clancy frowned. “I wish you’d try to go back to sleep. We can discuss this later. According to the doctors, you should have slept another five hours. I’m not sure this upset is good for you.”
“You don’t think it’s normal for me to be upset about being kidnapped? It may be commonplace in your lifestyle, but it’s not in mine.” Her eyes were blazing up at him. “I’ve never been kidnapped before.”
His lips tightened. “I don’t go around kidnapping people off the streets, Miss Landon.”
“No? Should I be flattered that you selected me?” She struggled to a sitting position, throwing off his hands. “Well, I’m not, Mr. Donahue. I’m mad as hell.”
“I can see that,” he said dryly. “I didn’t expect anything else. However, I’m afraid you’ll have to resign yourself to the fact and make yourself as comfortable as possible. You’re here, and you’ll remain here until Baldwin shows up.”
“The hell I will.” She leaped out of bed and started to run toward the door. But there was something wrong with her legs. They felt weak and flaccid, and her head was whirling again. There was a sudden sharp pain as she stumbled blindly and fell to her knees on the carpet.
Vaguely Lisa heard Donahue’s low curse, and then he was on his knees beside her. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” His arms were about her, her face crushed against his chest. Mint and soap and musk again, she thought dully. “I told you that you should stay in bed. You had a drug overdose. How the hell do you expect to go running around when you can hardly hold your head up?”
“I wasn’t running around. I was escaping,” she muttered. Even through the whirling darkness it seemed important that the distinction be made. Desperately she clutched his sweater to try and steady herself. “Drugs?”
“We gave you a harmless sedative. We had no idea that you took sleeping pills.” His arms tightened around her. “You shouldn’t take the damn things, anyway. Why the hell do you?”
“I need them.” The darkness was clearing again. She tried to raise her head from his chest, but discovered it felt far too heavy. “Besides, it’s none of your business.”
“Isn’t it?” It was almost