Pandora

“I want to talk to you,” Pandora said.

“Wait a minute.” Xavier went off and came back with two glasses of wine and half a Mars bar. “Here,” he said, “caramel goes great with wine.”

Mindlessly Pandora ate it. She ignored the Chardonnay. She’d had enough for Dutch courage but she didn’t want to get drunk.

“Can’t you see that this isn’t right?” she said carefully. “You can’t just go about kidnapping people.”

“You’ve said this already.”

“And I’m saying it again,” Pandora said fiercely. “I made a mistake but I have a life, you know.”

He sat down and watched her. “Don’t you like the wine?” he asked.

“Did you hear what I said?”

“Yes. I heard you the other time too.”

Pandora thought she could have handled rage or threats better than this calm response. He was exasperating, she thought furiously. How could she get through to him?

“You’re even more beautiful than I thought,” Xavier said softly. “You have the most wonderful skin. And I love the way your hair curls around your face.”

“Xavier, listen to me: I want to go home,” Pandora said tartly.

He shrugged. “That’s impossible, Panda.”

She could have screamed. “I don’t want to be here,” she enunciated.

His eyes flickered. “You’ll change your mind.”

“I won’t! I want to go home!” Pandora heard in surprise that her words sounded like echoes. “Something’s weird,” she whispered. “My voice is all strange in my head.”

“I spiked your Mars bar,” Xavier said calmly. “Come on.” He picked her up effortlessly and toted her to the bedroom. “I’ve been looking forward to this.”

***
Framed for treason and abducted, Pandora’s fate lies in the hands of a man who can destroy lives from his laptop. Is Xavier her captor or saviour? In a passionate story of intrigue and espionage, Pandora is about to discover nothing can be assumed about anyone. Even herself.