Pleasure Vows

by Khloe Summers

  I turned away with crossed arms, trying not to let his words sting. But I was tired too and everything felt exaggerated.

  Warmth fell onto my shoulder from behind like a warm blanket. I stayed in place, letting him soothe away the pain and exhaustion.

  He tucked his head onto my shoulder. “I’ve added something to the bucket list,” he whispered.

  I relented, enjoying the heat from his whisper on my ear lobe. “I want to fuck you in your wedding dress.”

  “Like right now? I don’t have a dress.”

  He twisted me towards him. “No. On our wedding day.”

  I nodded, “Yeah, I figured you would, most people do… right?”

  He kissed my forehead and winked playfully. “Not the way I have in mind.”

  Chapter Nine

  Kevin

  I’d agreed to help because I couldn’t live with myself knowing Hannah was in trouble but seeing her every day, knowing she didn’t love me back—that was going to be a struggle. The only thing that would get me through this turmoil was the hope that I could keep Hannah distracted until she realized she didn’t need Matteo and his train of wrecks in her life.

  I took one last sweep through the apartment, picking up the last of Sophie's toys, narrowly missing a Lego that laid like a shard of glass on her bedroom floor. She was with my parents for the next two weeks. I’d treated them all to a Disney cruise in hopes that they would be kept as far away from this nonsense as possible. I hated that I was relying on them yet again, but it was hard enough to explain to Sophie why Hannah had left the first time. Plus, for obvious reasons, she’d be much safer in the middle of the Atlantic with Mickey Mouse. After Sophie’s mom left, I’d done anything to shield her from pain and I’d taken the job ‘Dad’ with great responsibility, but I’d fallen under a spell with Hannah—and nothing was breaking me from it.

  I took one last look around the apartment and closed the door as a pit grew in my stomach. I was making a mistake. For hours, I pushed past feelings of regret as I fed codes to the security feed at the ranch. But the moment the silver feed flickered on my computer screen, I knew I’d leapt off an edge I couldn’t come back from. I’d let Matteo De Luca talk me into doing things I’d never have done on my own, and he’d used Hannah as a pawn. The pit of anxiety in my stomach turned to frustration and rage. I just wanted Hannah to see what she was giving up with him. I wanted her to see how simple her life could be without him. My phone buzzed in my back pocket, pulling me out of the moment.

  Matteo: You get what I needed?

  Me: You’re in.

  Matteo: Good, meet us in 30, where we discussed.

  My stomach turned as I reached for my keys and made my way to the truck to put Pyramid Lake into the GPS. The lake sat peacefully sunken between the mountains and hills of an Indian reservation on the outskirts of town. When I arrived, Matteo’s black SUV was waiting near a cluster of rocks that slightly resembled a wind-worn pyramid. The passenger door cracked, then opened with Hannah jumping out onto the sand. She wore jeans and a loose gray sweater with sunglasses that nearly covered her face. Matteo rounded the other side of the vehicle while I stayed put in the truck.

  Hannah’s face was red, and she rubbed at her nose as though she’d been crying. I wanted to jump out bury Matteo’s face in the sand, but that wasn’t an option, so instead, I stayed frozen.

  He walked towards me, striding wide as though his muscles were too much to carry, then knocked on my window.

  I opened the door with a clenched jaw. “You can put her bags back here,” I said, pointing to the back of the cab.

  Moving back towards his SUV he gathered Hannah’s bags, returned, loaded them, then turned towards me with piercing eyes and a lowered voice. “I’m trusting you because we have no one else. Don’t fuck it up. She’s vulnerable, and you prey on that… right?”

  Blood rushed to my face, overwhelming my reasoning and for a moment, I thought I felt my fist lift in his direction, but Hannah disrupted the visions of red.

  “Thanks for coming. I hate that… I hate that I have to ask you to do this.” I hadn’t heard her voice in months. She sounded strained, like she did when we first met—she’d come so far since then, now she was back to square one. Shifting towards me, she leaned in awkwardly for a hug. She’d lost weight—too much—like stress was eating her alive. But she still smelled of wildflowers and rain. God, I’d missed her.

  Matteo pulled her into his side, with his hand on her waist. Then handed me a cheap-looking phone he’d kept in his pocket. “It’s a burner, I have another. Call if anything goes wrong but use it sparingly—it can still be traced. It just takes longer for them to figure out who’s using it.”

  I took the phone and looked towards Hannah, she was trying to conceal her tears, wiping them away in quick succession as they fell beneath her shades.

  Matteo turned towards her. “I will see you in two weeks.” Bending down, he laid his massive hand on the side of her face and began kissing her softly. I turned away but could hear her whispering something to him, and soon his reply. “I told you I’d let you know as I progress, I will. I promise.”

  When the sounds stopped, I turned back to find Hannah making her way to the passenger side of my truck. I followed her lead and jumped in, but Matteo stopped my door from closing. He was massive, and obviously intimidating me with physicality as he spoke. “Remember what I said. She is vulnerable, don’t take advantage of that.”

  I ignored him, and shut the door, pealing out of the sand with purpose. Hannah was already distraught; I wasn’t going to get into it with Matteo about how I was doing him a favor. And how none of this would be happening if he’d been responsible with his love from the get-go. Instead, I diverted my attention towards Hannah, noticing she was trying to hide her increasing tears by staring out the passenger window towards the sagebrush.

  “I have tissues here somewhere. I think they are in the glovebox.” Reaching towards the dashboard, I popped open the lid and fumbled through papers for tissues.

  She took over the search. “I’m sorry I’m such a mess. I’m just so confused. He shouldn’t be doing this. They’re going to kill him.”

  I didn’t say what I was thinking, if I had, she’d only gotten more upset. “I’m sure he knows what he’s doing. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t be going. At least this time, you know where he is and you know he’s thinking of you.” Saying the words made me sick. I wanted to tell her how much happier she’d be with me, how he was only going to keep hurting her because that’s all he knew.

  She sniffled, then straightened. “Are we picking up Sophie? How has she been? I’ve missed her. I’m sorry you know, leaving… leaving you, leaving her… it wasn’t easy.”

  “Sophie’s on vacation with my parents for a couple of weeks. That should keep her happily distracted.” I avoided the topic of Hannah leaving, it was still too much.

  “I feel so bad, you’ve had to rearrange your whole life. I just… I didn’t want to be alone through all this, and I don’t really know anyone else.” She paused. “Saying all that out loud sounds selfish. I could get an apart—”

  “Han, it’s fine. Sophie is having fun and I’m happy to see you. Plus, I don’t think you should be alone right now. I’m happy to help.” I looked towards her and back at the road again, desperately wanting to pull over and wrap her in my arms.

  She lifted her glasses to wipe her tears more efficiently, then tried to change the subject. “So how have you been? Your drone, I saw it made national news.”

  “The only reason it’s picked up is because of your addition. The monitoring aspect has been what people are interested in. I’ve sold a bunch to rescue organizations in Africa recently. I wanted to call you so bad that day, but I—” I stopped, immediately regretting my words.

  Silence captured us in an awkward bubble until she spoke. “You should have! That’s big news.”

  I stayed focused on the road. “Yeah.” The wo
rds sounded fake, though I’d tried hard to give them life. Thankfully, she was distracted with a barrage of incoming messages on her phone.

  “Shit! Do you mind if we stop by the shelter before we head into the city? The vet I got to cover for me isn’t going to make it in until tomorrow morning. I can’t leave the animals.”

  “I thought you weren’t supposed to be going back to the shelter. We could ask one of the volunteers, I’m sure they’d be happy to help.”

  “I would, but we have one fox right now that has a feeding tube, that’s why I flew in a wildlife vet from Alaska. She’s one of the best out there. It’ll just take a second… one last thing for me to worry about.”

  I glanced in her direction, trying not to notice how round her brown eyes had gotten, then turned on my blinker. It was probably a bad decision, but I was on a roll. Besides, it would be a much longer drive when she convinced me to go later.

  She perked. “Thanks! I know it’s crazy but with wedding plans and Matteo losing his mind, work has been all that’s kept me sane. I don’t know how I’m going to be a—”

  “Wedding plans?” I could feel my face turning red.

  She shifted awkwardly away and her tone dropped. “Yeah…he asked a bit ago. We’ve been planning but he…I’m sorry I didn’t mean for that to come out so—”

  “No. It’s fine.” My voice staggered in a series of highs and lows as I muddled my way through the conversation. “You don’t owe me anything.”

  I wanted to say more, so I didn’t look nearly as hurt as I felt, but my brain got caught on replay. A wedding? I’d still hoped in some twisted way she was still feeling things for me—that maybe her agreement to be here now was because she had unresolved feelings.

  The silence had lasted too long, I needed to say something to let her know I was fine—the kind of fine that didn’t need to talk about this anymore.

  Instead, I said, “Are you happy?”

  She turned her attention from the window to face me. “I know we didn’t get a chance to hash everything out. It was a cluster fuck. I wasn’t expecting Matteo to come back. I wasn’t expecting—”

  Words kept falling from my lips. “I remember what happened. But, are you happy?”

  “Right now? Right now, I’m confused. But when things are good. I’m happy.”

  “Why are you confused?”

  “I just… I expected things to be different when he got back. I expected him to be the Matteo I left, but that island changed him, and it’s been stressful. He’s hyper-focused on seeing these Kings Ranch people dead. I know he has good reasons. I just—sometimes I wonder if it would be better if we just disappeared.” A tear fell from her cheek and soaked into the fabric on her sweater. I hadn’t meant to stir her emotions so quickly, and I certainly didn’t want to reassure his love for her, but I didn’t know what else to do.

  “He’s coming back. If anything, his stubbornness will keep him afloat.”

  She cracked a half-smile. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

  I’d never been happier to see the shelter. Talking to Hannah like we used too wasn’t going to be an option, and I’d never been much of an actor.

  A beat-up pickup truck in the lot caught her attention. “I wasn’t expecting anyone to be here. It looks like someone is still inside.”

  I turned my truck into the stone lot. “Maybe he pulled off to check directions.”

  Reaching out, she touched my shoulder. “No! What if he’s one of the Kings Ranch people, what if—”

  “Okay… okay. I’ll pull up next to him and we’ll ask through the window.” I pulled the truck parallel to the older man who’d now noticed our arrival, then rolled down my window.

  “Can I help you with something?” I asked, nodding my head in polite introduction.

  “I’m lookin’ for Hannah Adams. I saw on the Google she runs the shelter here. I got a few questions to ask. Ya know where I could find her?” The man was in his late fifties, with thinning silver hair, and a squat nose that sat perfectly centered on his frail face. He hadn’t been eating much, though the way his skin hung, it looked as though he used to.

  “Sorry, I just pulled off to make some donations. Don’t know who runs this place.” I could feel Hannah sinking—melting backward as far as the seat would allow.

  “You wouldn’t know where I could find Matteo De… De Luca would you?”

  A nervous churn spun in my stomach, and for the first time since I’d said yes to all this craziness, I realized how serious a situation I’d gotten myself in. “No. Maybe you should try in town. Someone may know—”

  “I got a letter from someone that used his letterhead. I’m just trying to figure out how he plays a part in everything.”

  I glanced towards Hannah to see what she was thinking, but she was already texting Matteo from the burner. “What are you doing? I have this handled.”

  “I know, but Matteo needs to be here. This is strange,” she spoke under her breath. “He’s only five minutes away, he must have been going back to the cabin. He said not to do anything sudden.”

  Sweat sprouted in places it hadn’t been before as I realized this was going to get a lot worse before it got better. I turned back towards the man who was now holding the so-called note out the driver's side window of his truck.

  “I’m desperate for help. Maybe ya could look the note over, see if anything rings a bell. This De Luca guy is from the area. Anything you can tell me will help.”

  I reached out, despite Hannah’s faint whispers not too. As the letter had grazed my fingertips, the sound of popping rocks caught my attention. Matteo had arrived—and in the most dramatic way possible. Pulling into the lot without slowing down, he slammed on his brakes in front of the man’s truck, then swung his door open, stepping his massive body out with his pistol drawn.

  “Step the fuck out of the car.”

  The man was frozen but held his hands in the air to show he had no weapon.

  “Get the fuck out of the car, or I will move you.”

  Hannah was shaking, I reached for her, pulling her close to my side.

  Finally, the man moved from the vehicle, slowly stepping one foot out at a time. “You’re Matteo De Luca. I saw you online. You’re the man I need to talk too.”

  “And why the fuck would you need to talk to me?”

  “I have this letter.” The man, now standing at the front of his truck, nodded towards me.

  “I don’t give a shit what you have. Tell me what you want.”

  “I’m just trying to find—” The man stumbled, catching himself on the edge of the pickup. “I’m trying to find—” His legs buckled beneath him, and he collapsed on the sharp stones of the parking lot.

  Instinctively I opened the door to help him.

  “Don’t move!” Matteo yelled, slowly checking his surroundings while keeping his gun on the man. Walking over, he bent down and lifted the man’s eyelids, watching for response in his eyes. When he got none, he tucked the gun into the back of his pants, then turned towards me. “Let’s get him inside.”

  Hannah, who’d been tucked beneath my arm sprinted from the car to unlock the shelter doors as I helped lift the frail man from the ground to carry him into the exam room in the shelter. Matteo, who had the man’s shoulders, laid him haphazardly on the cold metal table. “Well… do your thing. I need this guy to talk.”

  I bit at the side of my cheek and raised my brows. “Do my thing? I help injured wildlife and build software programs. I don’t bring people back from whatever this is.”

  “Right, but the theory is the same. Just try.” He seemed even more aggressive than usual.

  Hannah stepped from the corner and began checking the man's vitals. “His heart rate is elevated, so is his blood pressure. He looks dehydrated. I have an IV here…” She rolled the IV stand in from the far side of the room and hooked a full bag of fluids to the drip. “Always have a hard time with this though…” She handed
me a freshly wrapped butterfly needle. “I’ll get him a warm blanket.” She left the room leaving a seething Matteo alone with me.

  “What the fuck are you guys even doing here?” Matteo asked.

  “The vet from Alaska got delayed. She won’t be in until morning.”

  He nodded, but his face stayed stoic and wrinkled as I pulled the needle from the wrap and tied the man’s arm to look for a steady vein. He was pale and weak; his veins scant like strings of thread. Hannah had made the right call. He was certainly dehydrated. Struggling, I slid the thin needle into the man’s vein and released the tied rubber in his upper arm.

  “Good job doc,” Hannah said, nudging my arm as she passed me with warm blankets. She placed one over the man, and the other beneath his head.

  “Why are we babying this guy? He was here to do God knows what,” Matteo said.

  “Well, let me tell you why he was here.” Hannah sounded annoyed at Matteo’s extreme reactions. She pulled the letter from her back pocket and read it aloud.

  Mr. Black,

  It is with great distress that I write this letter. However, if acted upon quickly enough you will be able to save your daughter from a life of imprisonment. She was taken by people that have sold her and will be moved to a buyer’s location on April 15th. At that time, I will no longer have access to her whereabouts. You must meet me on April 13th at the tree line on the other side of the stables at Kings Ranch Larne, Ireland, 1:30 AM. I can’t leave the property, and your daughter is too weak to travel far on her own.

  DO NOT contact the police. They are working with the ranch and will inform them of any plans. Instead, come alone—quietly. Once you have your daughter—disappear. DO NOT go back to your home, DO NOT return to your daily life. They will look for you, and they will kill you both.

  Matteo rolled his eyes. “Bull…shit. He could have had this printed anywhere. Did anyone see his wallet?”

  I went to the man's side and reached into his pocket. I’d seen the lump when I was putting in his IV. “Says his name is Jake Black.” I looked up, Hannah and Matteo were already on their phones searching.