Billionaire's Pursuit of Love: Destiny Romance by Jennifer St George Page B

her bags and he could effect their breakout.
    The lift pinged outside the door. A toxic mix of adrenaline, fear and guilt raced through her bloodstream. Her breath stuck like moss to the walls of her lungs.
Move.
She grabbed her bag and flung Daniel’s over her shoulder. Two paces from the end of the entrance hall and the safety of the bedroom passage, Daniel’s bag struck something hard. She twisted. The two-faced metal statue rocked dangerously on the small table. She grabbed at it. The door opened. She lifted her head. The brass artwork clanged onto the marble floor. An awful cacophony echoed through the apartment. The piece split in two and one of the faces rolled to the front door. She followed its doomed progress until it came to rest under the foot of the tall silhouette in the doorway. Light from the outside hall pinned her like a prison spotlight.
    ‘Going somewhere?’ Blake’s voice sounded as menacing as a loaded gun, cocked and ready to fire.
    Sarah couldn’t find any words. Nowhere to go. Nothing to say.
    Blake walked across the floor, his trainers making no sound. He slid her handbag from her shoulder, placed it on the now empty table and rummaged through its contents.
    ‘What do you . . .’ she began.
    He withdrew two passports. Her stomach plummeted. Her eyes swelled painfully. He flicked through her tickets to freedom and dropped one into her bag and pocketed the other.
    ‘You’re welcome to leave, but don’t think for one second you’ll be taking my son with you.’ He walked past her into the living room. ‘And get yourself a lawyer. You’re going to need one.’
    ‘I don’t want Daniel playing computer games all day.’
    Sarah couldn’t believe she was here again, in the Hunt-F Tech conference room and now virtually Blake’s prisoner. Blake had insisted they accompany him to work. He might have Daniel’s passport, but he didn’t trust her not to abscond with Daniel and hide somewhere in the UK. As if she could anyway. Her funds would probably last little more than a week.
    ‘We’re going to be here for most of the day. I’ll arrange for some books to be delivered. You don’t object to reading, do you?’ Blake asked. He flicked through a menu that had appeared on the enormous television screen.
    ‘It’s Saturday,’ Sarah said.
    ‘You work twenty-four-seven in this game.’ A series of computer graphics appeared on the screen.
    She understood crushing work hours. She worked from the moment the sun rose until it set each day. Hard manual labour, but at least it was outside in a healthy environment, not cooped up in some city office.
    ‘Shame you don’t dedicate those hours to something more worthwhile.’ Okay, so she didn’t really understand the extent of Blake’s business, but being held a prisoner hadn’t put her in the best of moods.
    Blake placed the TV controller on the table. ‘Do you have any idea what we actually do here?’
    ‘Produce a whole lot of throwaway technology?’
    Daniel burst into the room. ‘Mum, you won’t believe the toilets here. They flush as soon as you stand up and there’re taps on the basins that you don’t have to touch. You hold your hands underneath and the water comes on.’ He hurled his small body into one the chairs, laughing. ‘Took me ages to work it out.’
    Daniel grabbed the console from the table. ‘Is this a game?’ he asked, pressing every button and flicking the control back and forth.
    ‘Yes and you’ll be the first kid on the planet to play it,’ Blake said, gently retrieving the controller.
    Daniel stared into Blake’s face as if he’d turned into Santa Claus. ‘No way?’
    A lump as big as Santa’s sack lodged in Sarah’s throat. Hell, was she jealous? Yes, jealous. Jealous of the ease with which Blake generated wonder and enthusiasm in her son.
    ‘Yes way,’ Blake said. He showed Daniel how to manipulate the controller. ‘The game’s still being tested. I want you to play and let me know what you