by Sierra Rose
But this...this blew all those other times out of the water.
“So why did you bring me here?”
A part of her almost didn’t want to ask the question. A part of her was afraid that when she did, the games would stop and she’d be faced with a sudden, unpredictable conclusion. But there was nothing more to be gained from minced words and room service. The man had lured her there for a reason. It was time to find out what that reason was.
“Why did I bring you here?” The man’s face was suddenly awash with the most tender of smiles. A smile she had seen on Logan’s face many times before, but one that looked both terrifying and totally out of place on a stranger. “Why isn’t it obvious, Lacy?”
Without another word, he crossed to the window and abruptly pulled back the curtains.
“I’m in love with you.”
It was worse than she could have ever imagined. A literal nightmare, come to life.
The curtains were pulled back, but the room didn’t get any lighter. Probably because there wasn’t a single inch of the windows that wasn’t plastered over with one of a thousand pictures. Pictures taken from every angle, at every time of day and night. Pictures taken in various stages of undress and unawares. Pictures that would haunt her forever.
Oh my goodness.
It was Lacy. Every single one of them was of Lacy. This man, Peter, had built a little shrine. A thousand images of her face—memorialized, shadowed, and flickering in the faint golden glow created by the tea lights.
Chapter 27
“This...” she took an automatic step closer, staring in horror at the terrifying collage as her eyes welled up with tears, “this is...”
There were no words.
It was easy to see where Peter had gotten the naked pictures he’d sent that morning. The man had a seemingly endless supply. There were pictures of her and Logan on the beach, staring deep into each other’s eyes as they made love on the pebbly shore. There were pictures of them standing frozen in the icy surf—as naked as the day they were born. In most of them, he was cut out. In others, he wasn’t. But by far—the most disturbing images were yet to come.
“You’re the man in the shadows taking pics of me! It wasn’t the press or tabloids. It was you.”
“Why yes indeed. You are so smart. Not just pretty, but smart too.”
Mixed in with the pictures of her picking up a cup of coffee or walking obliviously into the office, there were other pictures as well. Ones that had been taken much closer. From inside her very house. She sucked in a silent gasp as the room around her started to spin.
How is this happening? How is it possible that I didn’t wake up?
Her eyes lingered on a particular photo of her in bed. Her eyes were closed and her entire body was resting comfortably on the sheets. Not a stitch of clothing in sight. She could just barely make out a tuft of Logan’s blonde hair on the pillow beside her, but what struck her most was the box of Chinese take-out in the corner. A box she suddenly realized was still there.
“You took this last night,” she said in horror, slowly turning back around to look Peter right in the eyes. “You were in the house.”
“And I want to thank you both for putting on such a spectacular show for me,” he replied sweetly. “Which, of course, brings us back to the reason why you’re here.”
He didn’t say it outright. He simply sat down in the center of the bed. Maintaining eye contact the whole time. A shudder ripped through Lacy’s body and she backed away to the wall.
“You can’t be serious. You are out of your fucking mind.”
The man gestured to the window with a calm smile. “Obviously. But Lacy,” he stood up slowly as she started inching towards the door, “I’ve also thought this through.”
She froze in her tracks, still too far away to reach the handle.
“You see, when you set me up last year on a date with your friend—a date which cost me a marriage, by the way—you taught me a very important lesson. I realized that I hadn’t lost my wife by chance, nor had I been caught by any sort of coincidence. You did your homework, Lacy. You knew my life, inside and out. It made catching me in the act almost easy.”
The room darkened and it felt like the walls were closing in. With every frantic heartbeat, Lacy felt her world get a little smaller. Felt the air get a little harder to breathe.
“You also taught me the incriminating value of a photograph.” He flashed a wicked smile, before patting the bed beside him. “I want you to have sex with me. Right now. No questions. Of your own free will. If you don’t...I’ll see that these photographs get to every major tabloid in Cleveland. That they’re plastered at every coffee stand. That they make their way into the mailboxes of all your old clients. Your parents will be getting a copy too. For Christmas.”
The room went quiet. There was a dull ringing in her ears. A strange numbing sensation that was spreading through her entire body from the ground up.
“And if that isn’t enough to convince you...I’ll have to go with Plan B.” He flashed another smile, gesturing to another rather graphic photograph of her and Logan having sex on the stairs. “I’ll send a few of these over to Skylight Resorts in Miami.”
For the first time since entering, Lacy’s skin went ice cold. It was one thing when she was only scared for herself. When she was the only target. But Logan? What the hell would he do if these pictures ended up in the hands of his board, or even worse, in the hands of his competitors? With his international fame, she couldn’t imagine that there was a magazine on the planet that wouldn’t bend over backwards at the chance of publishing naked photos.
It was the classic celebrity scandal. And they would drag him over the coals.
“Think about it,” Peter urged, lowering his voice to a quiet murmur. “The fallout would be incredible. International business mogul disgraced. He’d lose his company, his reputation. Any chance of him expanding to the west coast to be with you would be ruined. He would be ruined. And it would be all your fault, Lacy. I would make your life a living hell.”
Her head snapped up with a vicious glare, one that didn’t entirely hide the fear beneath.
“My fault?” she hissed. “And how exactly would it be my fault?”
“Because you can stop all of it right here.” Peter’s eyes glowed in the darkness as he patted the blanket beside him. “You can buy yourself the life and the love you always wanted...it will only cost you one night with me.”
...one night with me.
He made it sound so simple. When it was anything but. The entire idea was repulsive, it churned Lacy’s stomach and made her want to light the room on fire rather than stay there for even another second.
And yet...
Everything that Peter was saying was true. If she didn’t do something, it wouldn’t just be her life that was ruined, it would be Logan’s as well. The company he’d worked so hard to build, the reputation he’d worked so hard to cultivate. It would all go up in smoke. All because of her.
“How would I know that?” Her throat tightened up and she paused, unable to believe she was actually considering it. But her eyes flickered to the pictures of Logan’s naked body on the window behind her, and she forced herself to keep going. “How would I know that this would be the end of it? I mean—you were in my house. How would I know that—”
“Take another look at the pictures, Lacy. They’re polaroids. Didn’t you notice that there was something different about my camera when I met you two at the lake?” He gestured once more to the window. “Every picture here is one of a kind. Not made digitally, so there are no digital copies. If you do as I ask tonight, then you can leave with them in the morning.”
She absorbed this silently, but found herself completely unable to say a word. Her shaking had gotten to the point where she had to place a hand on the wall for balance, and every time she tried lifting her head to look at him, she felt like she was going to throw up.
“I know what you’re thinking...” He
pushed himself slowly off the bed, walking forward to stroke the side of her cheek. “You’re thinking that you can’t possibly do this. That there has to be a way out, another alternative.” His lips twitched up in a smile, as his thumb stroked along her bottom lip. “But if there’s one thing you taught me, Lacy, it’s the power of blackmail. You can end this—all of this—right now. You just need to say the magic word.”
One night...in exchange for an entire lifetime of happiness. One night...to save the man I love. One night...and I never have to think about it ever again.
Her hands trembled as she lifted her chin to look him in the eyes. He was very close to her now. Too close for comfort. She could feel the heat rising off his body, smell his breath as it clouded across her face.
One night...and it will be like it never happened.
She clenched her jaw and took a deep breath, closing her eyes as he gathered her up in his arms. If she was going to surrender to this, at least she wasn’t going to watch it happen.
But that one moment turned out to be her undoing. That split second changed everything.
She shouldn’t have closed her eyes. The second she did, the room and all of its horrors melted away, and she was left with a single image. A beautiful, smiling face. One that in no way resembled the stolen ones that were plastered across the wall, despite it being the same man.
He wouldn’t want this. No matter the cost, no matter the price.
Logan would kill before he let this happen.
Just like that, Lacy’s eyes snapped open and her body came back to life. What had she been thinking?! She wasn’t going to let this happen! She’d rather kill the man herself!
A wave of bile rose up in her throat as she pushed Peter away with all her might, then turned desperately to open the door. She’d just yanked it open, when a heavy boot kicked it shut.
“And where do you think you’re going?”
The smile was gone. As was the false façade of charm. What remained was a man driven mad with thoughts of revenge. A man willing to do anything in the world to get what he wanted.
“Go to hell!” She kicked out at him once more, catching him hard in the chest. Just like all those mannequins at the gym. “And you can take your little art project with you!”
She ripped open the door as he went stumbling back, and took off sprinting down the hall towards the elevator. Her hair streamed out behind her as she ran with all her might—not daring to look behind her. She’d just slammed her fingers down on the button, when a strong hand caught the back of her dress and yanked her clear off her feet.
She fell to the ground with a muffled shriek. All the air rushed out of her as the silhouette of a tall man dove on top—pinning her to the floor. She struggled and kicked, but was no match for his strength. She tried screaming for help, but the second she opened her mouth, a hard slap to the temple had her head spinning in a daze. Another slap, and her body went suddenly still.
Choking on a thick cloud of incense. Blinking slowly as the world blurred in and out of focus. She punched him in the face and tried to knee him in the balls.
“Lacy?!”
“Logan?”
“Get the FUCK away from her!” Logan shouted.
A sharp impact shook her where she lay. Another one rocked the very floorboards. The third was followed by a sharp cry, and the inescapable weight pressing her down suddenly lifted.
With a look of wonder, she slowly opened her eyes...only to see that beautiful face staring back at her. It was pale. Tense with panic. Bleeding from a cut above the eye.
“Lacy?” Logan said her name again, sinking at once to his knees with a look of pure devastation on his face. “Honey, are you alright? Please—say something! Talk to me!”
He seemed scared to move her. Worried he might do more damage.
“Clary,” he slipped into the nickname again, his lovely blue eyes focused intently on her face as he ever-so-gently stroked back her hair, “give me some sort of sign. Talk to me. Please.”
Lacy gazed up at his face. Blinked three times. Then lifted a hand to her temple.
“...ow.”
Chapter 28
When Lacy opened her eyes, she thought that the nightmare would be over. Her white knight had come to save her. Now was the part where they were supposed to ride off into the sunset. Hand in hand. Completely free.
It wasn’t until that same white knight was suddenly ripped away from her, that she realized their troubles had just begun...
There was a sharp cry, followed by a muffled profanity as Logan was lifted suddenly into the air. Just as he was leaning down to kiss her. That lovely smile still lighting up his face. He flew back through the air, before crashing hard into the opposite wall—falling to the ground with a muffled groan as pieces of glass from a broken picture rained down on top of him.
“How sweet.” Lacy looked up to see Peter pacing on the ground in between them. A stream of blood was trickling down from somewhere inside his hair, and he kept shaking out one of his arms, like he was trying to regain the feeling. “The billionaire flies in to the rescue.”
Before Logan could get up, he rushed forward—kicking him squarely in the ribs. There a quiet snap, followed by a muffled groan, as Logan’s blonde head sank into his arms.
“Stop it!” Lacy’s voice was so shrill, she almost didn’t recognize it. By now, she had managed to pull herself to her feet, but the room was still spinning. Despite all of her kickboxing over the last few years, she had never taken an actual, ungloved punch to the face. Let alone two of them. Let alone from a guy who looked like he was coming up on seven feet. “Just stop it!”
A helpless distraction, but an effective one. Peter turned his attention away from Logan and rounded on her instead, staring down at her swaying body with a sinister smile.
“But you know I can’t do that, Clary.” He recycled Logan’s nickname with a little sneer, as if he planned on saying it many more times that night. “You see, your precious boyfriend is just going to have to wait his turn. He might get you in the long run, but this is my night. My night,” he said again, stepping even closer. “And I plan to enjoy every second of it.”
She stumbled into the wall as he caught her by the back of the neck—tilting her face up for a kiss. The smell of his aftershave turned her stomach, and she was ready to kick him in the balls as hard as she could. But she had clearly underestimated the billionaire in question.
While Peter might have had things all planned out, Logan had plans of his own.
“LET HER GO!”
There was a vicious cry as he came out of nowhere, tackling the man on the fly. The force of the impact rattled the very walls, and a second later, both men were falling to the floor in a violent tangle, both thrashing around and trying to get the upper hand.
Elbows were flying. Hair was whipping back and forth. Knuckles were smearing streaks of blood all over the floor. For one horrifying second, Peter circled around behind and wrapped his arm around Logan’s neck in a chokehold, but Logan simply smashed his head back with all his might—breaking the man’s nose.
“Sorry,” he panted, pushing shakily to his feet while kicking the man in the ribs at the same time, “but I was never that good at waiting my turn.”
Lacy was in his arms the next second. Gripping onto him for dear life, as her attacker shuddered and groaned on the ground behind them. She wanted to be held. To be comforted. To be reassured that everything was going to be alright. But Logan hadn’t risen to the top of a high-stakes corporate ladder for nothing. When the adrenaline started flowing, he didn’t panic. He grew suddenly calm. A dangerous, chilling kind of calm. She tried to lean in, but he pulled back—catching her gently by the arms as he looked her up and down, scanning for damages.
“Are you alright?” he said softly, an indecipherable emotion dancing behind his eyes.
She nodded shakily and reached for him again, but he held firm.
“Lacy, I’m serious—are you okay?” A flicker of w
orry clouded across his face as he stared searchingly into her eyes. “I think maybe you have a concussion.”
“I think you might be right,” she mumbled. “But I’m okay.” All of a sudden, that panic he was suppressing settled over her in a frantic haze. “Logan—I didn’t mean to come here. This morning, I got all these emails. And I thought...I thought he was you!”
“I know,” he said soothingly, finally pulling her in for that embrace she so desired. His eyes flickered behind them, checking on Peter’s status, before narrowing with the deepest kind of loathing. “A little tip,” he said scathingly, “the next time you use someone’s email address to lure their girlfriend to a secret rendezvous, be sure you delete the emails when you’re done.” He gave the man another kick, then turned back to Lacy. “I saw every single one. Tried calling you immediately, but your phone was dead. Tried calling the hotel, but then my phone died.” He laughed humorlessly. “In the end, I just grabbed a taxi and came right here.”
“Thank goodness you did.” Lacy glanced behind him, then buried her face in his jacket with a little shudder. Concussion or not, she had the terrible feeling that she was going to remember every second of what happened in that hotel room until the day she died. “I can’t even...”
Her voice trailed off as she gripped onto him once more. One hand wound around her lower back, as the other stroked back her hair. His lips came down to her ear, whispering mindless words of comfort as he rocked her back and forth. It was the exact sort of meditation she had been craving. The kind where she could close her eyes, relax her body, and know for certain that no matter what happened next, the was undeniably, unequivocally safe.
At least, that’s how she felt until Logan said those next fateful words...