Dark Star by Roslyn Holcomb Read Free Book Online

this,” he said.
    “Hate to break it to you man, she already
hates you. We didn’t have time to squabble with her all night.
She’s pissed with you and would’ve fought you even if you’d been
offering her the Hope diamond. It was pointless. She was heading
toward hysteria and would probably have jumped out the car and ran
the first chance she got. After cutting your throat.” Deringer
said.
    Try as she might to focus, Tonya’s overriding
thirst distracted her. “Water,” she said though it really sounded
more like a croak. “Could I have something to drink?”
    Nate rushed over to the bed. “Of course,
little sister. Anything you need.” He walked over to the table on
the other side of the room where there was an ice bucket filled
with beverages and returned with an ice-cold bottle of water.
    Tonya tried to sit up, but quickly realized
that she was too weak to support her own weight. Her entire body
felt rubbery and insubstantial with no muscle function at all. .
.what the hell? Had she been sick? She felt as though she had the
flu.
    Nate helped her sit up. After propping a few
pillows behind her for comfort, he handed her the bottle of water.
He took it back when he realized that she lacked the strength to
even unscrew the cap. Tonya took the bottle again and turned it up.
Her throat was so parched she almost drained it. Now that she felt
almost human again -- aside from the throbbing headache -- she
turned to Nate who had remained beside the bed.
    “Not to sound melodramatic, but where am I?
What is going on? Did I hit my head on something? Man have I got a
beast of a headache.” She looked around the room as she spoke. It
was tastefully decorated and she was pretty sure it wasn’t a hotel
room. Though English cottage style wasn’t really her taste, she
could appreciate the soft pink and green floral design, and the
casually mismatched furniture. It wasn’t overdone and the antique
oak four-poster was lovely with a patina of age that no designer
could create. The cost of the furniture alone was enough to confirm
that this was probably a private home, but whose and why was she
here?
    “Do you remember the conversation we had
before in the car?”
    Tonya frowned, straining to recall. All she
remembered was Nate and a strange man showing up in her hotel room.
She shook her head, but regretted it immediately as the motion sent
exquisite shards of pain slicing through her skull.
    Nate gave her a sympathetic look. “Sorry
about that. It’s typical for the drug. That’s why I don’t like
using it.” He glared at Deringer. “Fortunately it’s only temporary
and your memory will return.”
    “Wait a minute. You drugged me?” Tonya asked,
struggling to think clearly.
    Nate exhaled heavily as he pulled up a ladder
back chair from the desk on the other side of the room. After
sitting down he succinctly recited the events that had occurred
over the past few hours. Tonya closed her eyes as the memories
flooded back. Despite the death threats and mind-numbing fear, the
shock of seeing Nate had somehow had more impact than the threat of
being kidnapped by some international badass who wanted to kill
her.
    “Are you sure about all this? It just seems
like it has to be some big misunderstanding. Or maybe it’s some
crazy trick you’re playing on me,” she said grasping at anything to
make sense of the bizarre circumstances.
    “Do you really think I would make up
something like that, Onion? I mean seriously. I know you’re pissed
at me, and you have good reason to be, but I’d have to be one sick
bastard to do something like that,” he said.
    “Stop calling me that,” she snapped. The
nickname brought back too many sweet memories.
    “Why? Your ass is still so gorgeous it makes
me want to cry.”
    Vintage Nate, part courtier, part good old
boy. “Personally I wouldn’t believe you if you had your tongue
notarized.”
    “I might lie about few things, okay, a lot of
things, but I’d never lie about your