In Bed With Her Shithead Boss (By Ellie Wynters) novel Chapter 256

She splashed water on her face, wetting some paper towels to clean herself as best she could. The cool water against her skin was refreshing, momentarily clearing her head.

When she returned to the main room, she found Alexei sitting on the edge of the cot, his head in his hands.

"You should lie back down," she said, approaching him with concern.

He looked up at her, his face pale. "I've rested enough. We need to formulate a plan."

"Plan? Alexei, we've searched every inch of this place. There's no way out unless someone opens that door."

"Then we make them open it," he said.

"And how exactly do we do that?"

"By giving them a reason to." He gestured for her to sit beside him.

Keira understood immediately. "What, like start a fire or something?"

"We take advantage of their concern, or at least their concern about losing a valuable hostage and their payday."

"It's risky," she said, but considering the his idea. "If they decide we're not worth the trouble..."

"It's risky to do nothing, too," he countered. "Every hour we spend here is another hour something could go wrong with the negotiations."

She couldn't argue with that logic. "Can we give it a little more time? Give our families the chance first? I don't feel like dying today by bonfire. Let's get a little rest and then we'll see."

"Why wait?" he asked.

"I know you want to get out of here and I do as well. But you're also less able to fight if it comes to that," she pointed out.

"I can fight," he insisted, though the way he winced as he shifted position undermined his confidence.

"We're getting out of here," she whispered, more to herself than to him. "Both of us."

As she worked, her mind drifted to her sisters. Were they looking at these same warehouses right now? Were they close? She had to believe they were. Blair and Sutton would move heaven and earth to find her. And with Roman and Luca's resources, plus whatever Alexei's father was doing... someone had to be getting close.

She just hoped they'd find them before she and Alexei had to risk everything on their desperate plan.

When she finished cleaning his face, Alexei stirred, his eyes fluttering open to meet hers. For a moment, they simply looked at each other.

"Thank you," he murmured, reaching for her hand.

She let him take it, his fingers intertwining with hers. "We're going to get through this," she said firmly.

"Together," he agreed, his voice stronger than before.

Outside their prison, as daylight faded, unknown to them, the gears of their rescue were already turning, closing in on their location with every passing moment.