Free The Mogul (Necessary Lies Book 2) by Alison Ryan

the bed and loosened his tie.
    “My father is dead! I saw his body! He’s dead. You aren’t going to accomplish anything with this, you sadistic bastard!” The words tripped over each other as they spilled out of my mouth. I’d have said anything to save Nolan. To save myself.
    “Come on, Camilla, you’re smarter than that. It’s over. Unless you’ll enjoy it more if I have to force you, get up on the bed now.”
    “You have family somewhere. Someone you care about. Even monsters do. I’ll find them. I’ll find all of them. And you’ll watch as they suffer. One by one. I’ll save you for last.” It was Nolan’s voice, barely recognizable through his rage.
    The large man rolled his eyes and put his hands on his hips. “You know what? After I get done with her, and you tell me what I need to know, I’m going to cut you loose and give you a chance. Killing you while you’re helpless won’t be nearly as satisfying as ending you with my bare hands while you try to stop me. While Camilla watches.”
    “Do it now, tough guy. Come on. You’re what, a decade younger than I am? At least fifty pounds heavier? And you couldn’t take me without sneaking in while I slept? You’re pathetic.”
    Nolan’s verbal jabs actually seemed to bother him. Nolan had him on the ropes and he knew it.
    “Are you impotent? Is that what makes you rape? Or did all the steroids make everything shrivel up so that you could never satisfy a woman? Did mommy not pay enough attention to you? Thumb sucker? Bed-wetter? What was it, you cretin? Did an uncle or older brother…” Another hard backhand interrupted Nolan, followed by a series of punches to his exposed midsection.
    “How many ribs do you think I just broke, Weston? Three, four?”
    Nolan took a series of deep breaths, clearly in distress. “Jo’burg. South Africa. That’s where Richard Hunt is. Turn me loose and I’ll give you the address of his safe house. And then face me man to man. You fucking coward.”
    The man narrowed his gaze, staring hard at Nolan for any sign of deception. He produced a phone and made a call.
    “Ladson. This is Nicholas. Richard Hunt is in Johannesburg. I’ll have details soon.”
    Ladson. Jessa Ladson.
    I’d had enough.
    He glanced at me, appraising me like livestock, then turned his attention back to Nolan. I grabbed the lamp off a side table behind me and swung it as hard as I could.
    The lamp, a slender, green metallic piece, connected solidly with the back of his skull. He pitched forward, rolling over and winding up near Nolan’s feet.
    “Camilla! His pants pocket! The keys!” Nolan implored me to hurry. The giant wouldn’t stay stunned for long. My mind screamed at me to run, to get help, but Nolan’s voice won out. Forsaking my fear, I knelt and dug into the fallen man’s pockets as he started to sit up, holding the back of his head.
    “You little bitch.” He muttered to himself, looking at his hand, streaked with blood.
    My fumbling fingers hit metal in his pocket and yanked, hard. A small keyring popped out, and I bounced to my feet. Until an enormous hand captured my ankle and brought me crashing back down.
    “Not so fast,” he said, pulling me back into his clutches.
    I heard a sickening “thwack!” and the grip loosened. Nolan’s arms were bound, but his legs were not. He’d kicked the larger man viciously across the side of the head, and I was free once more.
    I scrambled behind Nolan, searching the ring for the proper key. A jagged little number fit the cuffs, and Nolan leapt from the chair just as the large man rose to his feet.
    Nolan’s hands found the man’s chest and he sprang into the air, a whirlwind motion that ended with his legs around the men’s neck, his momentum yanking them both backwards, crashing to the floor near the sofa. Nolan chopped at the bridge of Nicholas’s nose with the side of his hand, sending a spray of blood into the air. His legs remained tight around the giant’s neck, and