Page 103 of Viper

He’d need night-vision goggles to make out anything happening on deck, but he still didn’t stop searching for signs of movement.

A scream split the air. “No!”

Paige.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Paige’s bare feet slapped against the floor. She leaped through the slider. Broken sobs of fear and desperation dragged from her chest. She ran for the end of the boat, lifted her arms to dive, and⁠—

Wham!

Craig’s body slammed into her back, sending her barreling forward. Her ribs hit the edge of the deck, and the momentum sent them both rolling onto the swim platform. He landed on top of her, straddling her waist. He wrestled both of her wrists into his grip.

“You fucking cunt!” Craig spat through clenched teeth.

Her abdomen screamed and her lungs worked to get in a breath of air. She kicked and bucked, trying valiantly to throw him off her.

He got to his feet, dragging her back onto the boat.

“No!” she wailed. She went limp, sinking to the deck like a wet noodle and turning her muscles into dead weight.

He might have won, but she wouldn’t make it easy for him. He let go of her wrists and seized her ankles, jerking her. She fell backward, her skull banging against the deck. Stars swirled and danced in front of her vision and a low buzz sounded in her ears.

She moaned and grabbed her head, blinking rapidly to chase away the fog closing in. He continued to drag her back toward the slider. She forced open her eyes and looked at the night sky.

Any second and she’d be pulled inside. He’d do whatever he wanted with her no matter how hard she fought.

He was angry now. Furious. He’d do everything to her that he’d done to Annamay. She’d be tormented. Raped. Chopped up.

There’d be nothing left of her by the time the guys made it here.

She couldn’t let that happen.

Twisting in his grasp, she rolled onto her belly and caught the leg of the bench seat. He cursed and pulled, but she didn’t hear his threats.

Something moved in her peripheral vision. A form scaling the edge of the boat. She gasped, then clamped her lips.

They’re here.

Her grip loosened and Craig pulled her violently inside.

Troy reached for the edge of the yacht and lifted his leg from the boat, ready to jump over and get to Paige. Havoc’s forceful hands grabbed his shoulders and pushed him back down into the raft.

He’d seen that cocksucker dragging Paige. She’d been half fucking naked. Rage emanated off Troy in waves, and his body vibrated with the need to leap onto the yacht and follow them.

One bullet. That was all it’d take.

“Hold, goddammit,” Havoc snapped on a low whisper, as if saying it a second time.

Troy exhaled through his nose. His breath was hot, his body boiling. Striker secured the raft to the yacht with a rope.

“Wraith and Reaper, stay put until I give the signal,” Striker ordered. “Then stand by. Viper and Havoc, move in.”

Havoc held tightly to the side of the boat, stabilizing the raft. Troy climbed onto the deck, staying low and ducking behind the outdoor furniture. His Glock sat snuggly in his palm. Heavy and comforting.

Havoc moved beside him. Striker ran to the opposite side of the boat and crouched behind the end of the bench seat.

The slider was closed, the inside of the yacht dark. Troy strained to see through the glass, but he couldn’t make out anything but the white tile floor glistening in the moonlight.