I pulled Lucy carefully to her feet, then had to wrap my arm around her waist as she swayed, unstable. I helped her to the main room and settled her in a chair, and I sank to my knees in front of her, holding her hands.
“Call the cops. Do it. Then tell me what happened to Wulf because we could sure use him right now.”
I got up and paced. I couldn’t call the cops. Jimmy had been very clear in his threats to me. First he’d hurt Tanner and Emma. Then Lucy. Then my seventy-seven-year-old grandmother in an assisted living facility. She might not remember me, but she was still family. My cousins. We never spoke, their dubious life choices not meshing with mine, but they were blood. My blood. Greg’s blood. They didn’t deserve to be hurt or killed by Jimmy Steel.
Thanks to my dead brother and his big mouth, Jimmy had a ready-made list of every living, breathing person on the planet that I cared about. At all. Every. Single. One.
Fuck.
Shaking my head, I met her pain-filled eyes. “I can’t call the cops.”
“Why not?” Lucy was rubbing her temples like she had a bitch of a headache. She probably did.
“Do you need to go to the hospital?”
“No. I’ll be fine. Where’s Wulf?”
“Ruth Sanchez,” I muttered. “That’s what happened. His perfect matched mate showed up. He had a bride, apparently. An Interstellar Bride who didn’t stay with him when they were first matched a few years ago. She showed up, said she made a mistake, that she wants him back. She sat in his lap and kissed him on live TV, Luce. He had his hands all over her, and then he asked Chet to give him his cuffs.”
“Oh, sweetie. No.”
“He didn’t even look at me. So I left. I couldn’t watch him put them on her wrists. I couldn’t do it.”
“I’m so sorry. You fell in love with him, didn’t you?”
I couldn’t speak, so I nodded. As dumb as it was, I had fallen for him. Hard. “I don’t care about Wulf right now. I need to find the kids.”
She wobbled, but she stood and came to wrap me in a hug. We were both shaken up, and we clung to each other like frightened children. “What are we going to do? I knew something was wrong every time you asked me to babysit. You should have told me about this Jimmy guy.”
I sighed. “He was Greg’s loan shark who dabbles in all kinds of stuff. Drugs, prostitution and more,” I repeated. “When Greg died, he owed Jimmy a lot of money. He came to me to collect, threatened Tanner and Emma”—and you, I thought, but I didn’t say it out loud—“if I didn’t cooperate. We made a deal. I did a few drops for him ’cause I look more like a soccer mom than a drug mule, paid him some cash and returned all the money owed. The other night, when you watched the kids?”
“Yeah?”
“That was my last drop. I left the show, made the drop, came home. It was supposed to be over. I kept my end of the deal. I did what he wanted.”
She shook her head but winced. “It’s never enough, not for guys like that. Not when they know they can use you over and over. The kids are leverage.”
I sank onto the couch. “Now he has Tanner and Emma. If I call the cops, he’ll hurt them. I know him, Lucy. He’ll hurt them.” I broke down then, the tears streaming down my cheeks as I fought to hold in the out-of-control, racking sobs I knew were right behind them if I didn’t at least try to hold myself together.
“Then we take him down.”
I looked up at her determined face. “How?”
“I don’t know.”
I popped back up, paced. “I need a gun. Where can I buy a gun in New York?”
“That’s crazy talk.”
“Is it?” I wiped my cheeks and took a deep breath. I would cry later, when it was over. I’d think about Wulf and Ruth and what a mess my life was later. Right now I had to get Tanner and Emma home safe. That was the only thing that mattered. “What did Jimmy say? What does he want?”
Lucy pointed and dread made my heart heavy as I approached the table nearest the window. Sitting in the center was a rather large box, black, tied with a pretty bow.
Hand shaking, I untied the black satin bow from the box and lifted the lid.
“What is it?” Lucy asked.
“I don’t know.” A cream-colored envelope lay atop a layer of black tissue paper, my name written in a scrawl I recognized all too well. Jimmy Steel’s handwriting.
The envelope was not sealed, and the paper felt like soft fabric as I pulled out a single card, finer than anything I’d ever touched before. The invitation was handwritten, in ink, the calligraphy elegantly curved and beautiful. Ironic that something so beautiful felt like holding death in my hands.
I read aloud. “Your presence is requested at the New York Gala Event for the I-I-M-A-A. The International, Interplanetary and Multicultural Arts Alliance.” I glanced at the clock on the bedside table. “Oh God. It started fifteen minutes ago.”
I didn’t read Jimmy’s handwritten note aloud. Lucy had been through enough.
Embarrass me and Emma dies first.
Embarrass him? What if I wasn’t there, what was Jimmy going to do to the kids? To Lucy the next time his goons got his hands on her? To everyone I knew? This was a nightmare, and I missed Wulf so much I felt like a barbed dagger was being shoved—one agonizing bit at a time—right into my heart. I turned away from Lucy so she wouldn’t see me clutching at my chest. That was all I needed right now, a heart attack.
“I have never even heard of this Arts Alliance. Why does he want you to go?” Lucy was rubbing her temple now, and I was grateful she remained in the chair with her head down so she wouldn’t see me shaking. “That doesn’t even make sense.”
“No, it doesn’t.” I placed the invitation on the side table and pulled back the tissue paper. “Holy shit.”
14
Olivia
The taxi ride was uneventful. The gown I wore was more befitting a beauty queen than me, but somehow Jimmy Steel had included everything I needed to pull this off, in all the right sizes.
That meant he was either an amazing talent in women’s clothing—which I doubted—or he’d had someone watching me for months. Stalking me. Taking fucking notes. I had to choke down the bile rising in the back of my throat at the thought.
But I had on lingerie that was softer than my own skin. The dress fit like a glove, highlighting all the right curves and hugging the rest tight. Even the shoes were spectacular and fit me perfectly.
Lucy had worked a five-minute miracle with my makeup. I had no idea what I was walking into, but I did know two things. One, I didn’t have a gun. Even if I’d wanted to get one, I didn’t have time or anywhere to hide it in this dress. And two, Wulf wasn’t coming to help, to rip their heads off as Lucy wanted. I’d made sure of that.
In fact, I’d called the producer and left him a voice message to congratulate Wulf on his happy reunion with Ruth—I would hate her forever for stealing my man—Sanchez, his perfect match. I figured that would wrap up the show as he wanted, get the sound bite needed so I’d get some kind of job in the future. I’d hung up and cried for all of two minutes before Lucy reminded me that the kids needed me. Tanner and Emma. I had to focus on them. I’d claw Jimmy’s eyes out with my fingernails if I had to, to make sure he never threatened them again.
As a bellman opened the taxi’s door, I paid the driver and allowed the tuxedo-clad gentleman on the curb to assist me to the door. I should be completely focused on Jimmy, on this event, on what the hell was happening right now. But no.
Instead, every time I blinked, I saw Ruth’s lips on Wulf’s, his hand on her ass as she straddled him, heard the gasps from the audience and saw Chet—Drama King—Bosworth’s satisfied smile, and I wanted to crumble into flakes like month-old bread crust. That wouldn’t do. I had to hold myself together. For Emma and Tanner.
“Your invitation, miss.” The bellman handed me off to what had to be a bouncer, also in a tuxedo, who was checking invitations and keeping out people who shouldn’t be here. People like me. I
had no business being in this marble-columned event center. The building was intimidating, looked like a courthouse… or a castle.
Forcing a smile, I handed him the linen paper and waited until he gave a slight nod to yet another person on the inside of a glass door. The door opened, and a woman in an elegant white satin gown walked forward to greet me.
“Welcome. Welcome. You look stunning, dear. Truly beautiful.”
“Thank you.” Was that her job? To give every person who walked in overstated compliments?
“What is your name?” she asked. “I will escort you to your table for the evening.”
When I offered it, she nodded, not needing to check any list that I could see. “Of course. If you would follow me.”
She led the way toward the front of a grand ballroom set with round tables the likes of which I had never seen. Flowers cascaded from every wall. The tables were set with dishes for dinner, the fine china so thin I could see through the coffee cups as I walked past, all of it decorated with gold filigree I did not doubt was real. The crystal looked expensive; the people looked like they were from another planet. Literally. I had never seen so much gold or jewelry. The diamonds in this room could probably fund a small nation’s economy for years.
Not one person glanced my way for the first half of my journey. Then I heard the first gasp, a woman’s voice, of course. Followed by, “Isn’t that the woman from that Bachelor Beast show?”
“Oh my God, I think it is.”
Then a few more murmurs. By the time my guide and I reached the table I assumed was our destination, I had attracted a small crowd and was not paying attention to anyone seated there waiting for me. Until I heard his voice.
“Ah, there you are, my lovely. What took you so long?” Jimmy Steel stood to greet me, an empty seat beside him, the only empty seat at the table. He looked handsome, civilized in a black suit and tie, yet I knew the monster that lurked beneath the facade. His scowl drove off the curious who had been following me, and surely they sensed what I did. He was a demon in the flesh.
Embarrass me and Emma dies first.
I couldn’t make a scene, and there were at least two women who had taken out their phones—discreetly, of course—who were, without doubt, recording every moment. I realized a photographer was slowly making his way from the opposite side of the room as well. His camera pointed in our direction. Most likely he had one of those long-range lenses and had already taken pictures. Shit. This was not what I was expecting. Not at all. Before, it had all been in secret. Now? Everyone knew I was with Jimmy Steel.
“What do you want, Jimmy?” I looked around the room, then returned my gaze to where he stood, waiting for me to sit. Like a gentleman, he’d pulled out my chair.
“My dear, I simply want you to meet some friends.” His gaze raked over me, and he took his sweet time about it, making me even more uncomfortable. “You look amazing in that dress. We’ll go for a drink later.”
Was that an invitation or a threat? He couldn’t be serious. My level of interest in any relationship since I’d mistakenly believed I’d found the love of my life with an alien Atlan warlord named Wulf was a big, fat zero. With Jimmy? Well, when hell froze over wasn’t long enough. No. Hell would have to freeze, thaw out, burn for a while and then freeze again. Oh, and then I’d have to be dead before I would willingly spend time with the man.
I didn’t respond to his invitation or say thank you for the compliment despite the audience. I could not get the words past my lips.
Embarrass me and Emma dies first.
“Where are Tanner and Emma?”
“They are here, of course. With the other children.” He waved a hand, and I noticed a large section of one wall was made of glass. Behind it, a number of well-dressed children ran and played. In the middle of the group, laughing and looking like they didn’t have a care in the world, were my niece and nephew. Safe.
Thank God. My knees buckled for the briefest of seconds, and it was Jimmy’s hand that came to my elbow to steady me. His touch made my skin crawl.
“What do you want, Jimmy?” I repeated the question, because if he’d given me an answer, my addled brain had missed it completely.
“I saw what happened earlier on TV, with that Ruth woman, was it? I thought you might enjoy a night out to forget about it.” He used the hand on my elbow to his advantage and led me to the chair reserved for me with a handwritten card.
Miss Olivia Mercier. Like I belonged here. What a joke.
Jimmy sat next to me and smiled, a huge, show-every-tooth-in-his-mouth smile, his voice loud and directed at the other occupants of the table. “Olivia, my lovely. I knew you would appreciate a night out, and my closest friends wanted to meet you.”
If Jimmy had one true friend, I was a brain surgeon. But whatever. The kids were safe. They were in a public place. The chair that I sat in, right next to Jimmy, was strategically placed so I could keep the kids in view. Smart. Jimmy Steel was one of the smartest criminals on the planet.
The table held two other couples, all in their sixties if they were a day. Each one of them wore more money in clothes, jewelry and shoes than I made in a year.
“James, dear, introduce us to your beautiful date.”
Date? I was not his fucking date. I was his hostage. And James? No one called him that. No one I knew, and I knew just about every top-level drug distributor he ruled over in Miami.
His hand clamped down on mine on top of the table, and I held my tongue, forced a smile.
“I’d like you all to meet the lovely Olivia Mercier.” He nodded and tilted his chin as if he were the best boyfriend on the planet. “Olivia, this is Marcia and Walter Smith, and Agnes and Harold Jenaway.”
The second name rang a bell. I’d heard it somewhere before. I looked more closely.
“Senator Jenaway? From Florida?”
She chuckled and her beaming husband took her hand in the same way Jimmy’s still covered mine. I doubted Harold had to squeeze quite so hard to keep his wife from breaking free. “My dear, I told you someone would recognize you here.”
She smiled back at him, their banter natural and easy, as if they’d been married forever and could read each other’s thoughts. “You were right, Harold. As usual. New York is not that far from Florida.”
He lifted their joined hands to his mouth and kissed her knuckles. “What would you do without me?” he asked.
She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. “You know, dearest, I really loved that silver and stone sculpture from Prillon Prime. Do you think you could go check the bids again?”
“Of course.” He winked at me as he rose. “Happy wife, happy life. Right, Olivia?”
I nodded mutely as the other couple, Marcia and Walter, rose, as if on cue, the wife speaking in an apologetic whisper.
“I have my eye on the platinum cuffs from Atlan.” She glanced around as if afraid someone might overhear her. “I really, really want them, and I don’t want anyone to outbid me.”
Her husband had his hand at the small of her back as he led her away. “No one is going to outbid you, dear. You already offered a small fortune.”
“You never know.”
“Yes, dear.”
The trio wandered off to what I assumed was some kind of alien art display area, which left me with Jimmy—who finally let go of my hand, thank God—and Senator Agnes Jenaway, from Miami, who suddenly looked less than friendly.
“I’m glad you accepted our invitation, Olivia,” she said.
“Our invitation?” Her choice of words had me clearing my throat. “Is that what you call it?”
She smiled and sipped from her crystal goblet filled with white wine. “Of course. The children look lovely, don’t you agree? Happy? Well-groomed? Without a care in the world?” She looked over to where they played, a satisfied gleam in her gaze. “I chose their outfits myself. What handsome children. You take good care of them, dear.”
What was she getting at? What did she want? “I do my best
.”
“Of course you do. That’s a mother’s job. Isn’t it, James?”
“Yes, Mother.”
Mother? What? WHAT?
“Close your mouth, dear girl. Didn’t your mother teach you any manners?” The senator scolded me, and I closed my mouth like an obedient child.
“What do you want?” I asked again. Jimmy Steel was James Jenaway? Son of a senator? What the hell?
“What do you think I want?” she asked.
I was going to kill her. Jimmy. Everyone in this damn room. The waiter leaned forward to fill her glass with more wine, and she waived him off with a soft thank-you and a request for a few moments of privacy.
“Yes ma’am.” The innocent server walked to stand along the wall where she could summon his return with one crook of her twisted, evil finger.
“Now that we’re alone, Olivia, James and I have a proposition for you.”
“What kind of proposition?” Every other moment my gaze drifted to where Emma and Tanner played, oblivious to the danger. The threat to them.
“First, I must ask, did you truly fall in love with that alien? What was his name? Warlord Wulf?”
“I don’t know what that has to do with anything.”
My nonanswer was, apparently, all the answer she needed, because she smiled and my stomach dropped. “Of course you did. So handsome, so virile, so different from all the human men who perhaps didn’t appreciate your… Rubenesque figure.”
Was she calling me fat now? “What. Do. You. Want?”
“The question, dear, is what do you want?”
When I remained silent, she continued.
“You see, this woman, Ruth Sanchez, is as much a problem for me and my plans as she is for you. I have asked James to make arrangements for her, so that she will no longer stand in my way. Or yours.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Yes, you do. Don’t play dumb with me. She ruined your chances with the alien you love. She ruined my plans for a very successful business alliance with a brand-new, world-famous, human bride on The Colony. Ruth will conveniently disappear, and our plans will resume. Yours and mine, my dear. You will have Wulf back, crawling on his knees, and I will have you exactly where I want you.”
Bachelor Beast (Interstellar Brides® Program: The Beasts Book 1) Page 14