Acropolis Read Online Free

slightly
panicked.
    Roosevelt begins to look annoyed. It isn't a
good look for him. His eyes are beady, his face tight.
    "Look , Emma . . ."
    "You were never good at subtlety, Roach," a
male voice interrupts. It has a distinctive Southern drawl I find
immediately comforting. A genuine doctor this time?
    "And you were never good at following
orders," Roach hisses. " I work
on the inside."
    "Rules were made to be broken," the voice
answers. There is an accompanying male snicker. A third man?
    "He's incorrigible. Even his own mother
refuses to work with him," the third voice says. It is definitely
male and as Southern as the voice before it.
    I am frozen with fear. There are footsteps on
the linoleum floor behind me, and I flinch as a hand settles gently
against my forehead. The hand is large and cool.
    "Hello, Emma. I'm Conor Reinhardt, and I'm
here to help you. Promise you won't run, and I'll take off your
restraints."
    His voice is low, hypnotic.
    "P-please . . ."
    "Promise me, Emma," Conor says patiently.
    I nod against his hand. The light pressure on
my head vanishes as he moves to my side.
    "You dimwit! You can't just release her until
we're sure she's not a risk!" Roach argues as I get my first look
at Conor Reinhardt.
    There are no adjectives strong enough to
describe the blue jean, navy tee-clad young man I see now before
me. He is tall, maybe six foot with dark blond hair and startling
blue eyes. His hair is carelessly long, falling onto his forehead
as he leans over me, pulling first one strap free and then another.
I don't move.
    "She's not a flight risk," Conor says calmly
as his eyes meet mine. There is an indefinable gleam in his sky
blue gaze. Sympathy maybe?
    "Where's my mother?" I whisper.
    He grins crookedly, his face full of an
assurance I don't feel.
    "She's safe, sweetheart. But you're not.
That's why I'm here."
    " We're here," a sullen voice interjects. Conor looks over my head
and grins.
    "Cousins. Now they are incorrigible." He motions idly. "That
scruffy imbecile behind you is Will Reinhardt, bane of any woman's
existence."
    Roosevelt Franklin flaps his hands
angrily.
    "Can the introductions, Reinhardt! You sorry,
low-life, inbred . . ."
    I stiffen.
    "And that charming jackass," Conor says as he
waves his hand at the fluttering man beside him. "Isn't worth your
time."
    Conor moves to my feet, removing each
restraint as gently as he can.
    "You have the gall to call me a mule! You
wretched, moronic . . ."
    "Write it in your journal and call it a
dictionary, Roach. We don't have time," Conor says.
    I sit up slowly, pain flaring in my
extremities as blood rushes back down into my hands and feet. I
feel my face heat, fear making electric tingles shoot down my
spine. I swing my legs over the side of the bed, preparing to do
something other than listen to the men insult each other.
    "You promised, darlin'. No running," Conor
chides as a slightly shorter, but no less impressive version of him
moves toward me. Will Reinhardt?
    I scoot away and the boy freezes, throwing
his hands up in a gesture of peace. It is a no-win situation. Every
time I edge away from any of them, I move closer to another. I am
feeling closed in. A scream works its way into my throat, and a
hand suddenly clamps over my mouth.
    "No yelling. I wasn't lying when I said you
were in danger."
    Conor's breath wafts against my ear, and I
squeal, my eyes wide. I try shaking him off, my teeth bared against
his palm.
    "She suffers from pantophobia, you idiot! She
fears everything," Roach snarls.
    I am shaking uncontrollably now, my body a
mass of nerves. Nausea rips through my stomach, and I gag against
Conor's hand. I am having trouble breathing. Distantly, I hear Will
swear as Conor freezes behind me.
    "And that's what they meant by shy. Gotta
love getting the run around," Conor whispers against my ear.
    My pulse is beating too rapidly now, my heart
a war drum in my chest. My skin is heating. I whimper without
meaning too, my mind and body refusing