Smiling now, he pulled out a pistol, with a long slim silencer attached to the muzzle. ‘I’ll tell Arlo that I got you in the car, that we drove away, but you were hit. So I rushed you to the hospital but you bled out, and they couldn’t save you.’
Cosima went cold. ‘No...no…what…Jack?’
He aimed the gun at her. ‘You shouldn’t have chosen him, Cosima.’
Cosima shook her head. ‘No…no, Jack, please, don’t…’
He moved quickly, pressing her back against the car seat, shoving the muzzle against her belly.
‘I’m sorry, Cos, it has to be this way. I meant this to be over a long time ago, but I underestimated you. You were meant to die in my house, slowly, painfully. But I’ll settle for killing you now.’
Cosima stared at him in horror. ‘Your house? Oh god…it was you…you kidnapped me…you raped me…’
‘Of course, it was, Cosima, my beautiful darling. Of course, it was. Don’t you know I’ve loved forever…protected you, worshiped and yet you spread your legs for the nearest billionaire? ’ He ground his mouth down on her, and she cried out, struggling He smiled. ‘I have been looking forward to this moment for a long time, Cos…’ The muzzle of the gun was cold on her skin, her thin dress no barrier. Jack flicked off the safety and looked deep into her eyes.
‘Goodbye, my beautiful Cosima…’
‘No...please…’
But he shot her anyway, and the bullet slammed into her belly – lava-hot metal punching through her flesh. Cosima could only gasp – all the air was pushed from her lungs, and her ears rang from the gunshot. But nothing could compare to the indescribable pain. As her consciousness began to shut down, her muscles failed, and she slid down the seat.
The last thing she saw was Jack’s face, smiling down on her bloody body as if it were the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen…
***
She had woken up. Yes, the breathing tube was preventing her from speaking, from pointing her finger, telling the world that he, F.B.I. Agent Jack Hampton, son of New England billionaire, Ronald Hampton, had kidnapped, held captive and raped her and just when she thought she was safe, had shot her in cold blood at point blank range.
He would have to finish the job before she could say anything.
He stood in the doorway, watching Arlo stroke her lovely face. Getting her alone was the problem. He could offer to watch her, but then they would know it was him. He needed a window where they didn’t know he was there. Take out the security camera, that was no problem. Creep in and switch off the machines that monitored her, then pull the dressing from her wound and stab her repeatedly in and around the original wound. That way, it might delay them finding out how she died…
No, that was ridiculous. He should have shot her in the heart, made sure she was dead. He had dismissed putting a bullet into her head; no way would he want to spoil the beauty of that face, even in death. But to press the gun below her left breast…it would have ended her life instantly.
You fucking idiot, he said to himself, all because you wanted to see her suffer, see her bleed, see the understanding that he was the one ending her life, watch her in agonizing pain. Your fetish could bring about your downfall.
Make a plan. Get your passport and cash ready. Kill her and flee the country. It wasn’t as if you don’t have enough money to disappear forever. But not without seeing Cosima die. She had to die; it wasn’t acceptable that she live…
***
The doctor removed the breathing tube the fourth day after the shooting. ‘Now, this doesn’t mean you can get up and start partying. Take it very, very slowly. But, good work, Cosima. You have a lion heart.’
She smiled at him. ‘Thank you, doctor.’ Her voice was croaky, dry and Arlo held a cup of water to her lips.
‘Drink. Baby.’
After a moment, after the doctor had gone, Arlo sat down next to her, kissing her lips gently. ‘I love you. Thank you for fighting.’
She smiled, stroked the hair over his ears. ‘I had a lot to fight for, the best reason to stay alive. I love you so much, Arlo, you didn’t think a little thing like a bullet was going to keep me from you, did you?
He chuckled, but his eyes were sorrowful. ‘No way. There’s way too much sex still to be had.’
She laughed, wincing slightly as the motion pulled on her tender muscles. ‘Of course.’ She sighed and pulled his lips down to hers.
After a while, after they’d stared at each other, not quite believing they’d made it through another crisis then Arlo, his eye serious, spoke softly.
‘Sweetheart…do you remember anything about the shooting at all?’
Cosima’s face hardened ‘Oh Arlo…I remember everything. Everything.’
***
Jack’s chance came sooner than expected. He’d had the idea as he spent the previous evening, drinking beer in his hotel room. He’d laughed out loud. Of course. So simple. A hypodermic syringe full of nothing but air. Stick it into one of Cosima’s veins, cause an air embolism to her heart. Boom. Dead. Less bloody than he would have liked but he’d already had that pleasure.
He could be in South America before they discovered what killed her.
When he arrived at the hospital, he went straight to her room. Arlo was there, but the others were M.I.A.
‘Where is everyone?’ Jack looked at Arlo, who looked worn out.
‘Gone home for now. They’re exhausted.’
‘You look all done in, too. Look, man, I can sit with her for a couple of hours. Go grab some sleep.’
Arlo nodded slowly. ‘That would be great.’ He got up and smiled at the other man, but Jack noticed something in his eyes – wariness, doubt.
‘Everything okay?’
Arlo nodded. ‘Everything is fine. I’ll be back before six.’ He leaned over the sleeping Cosima and kissed her lips. ‘I love you, chicken.’
Chicken? Jack worked to hide the sneer; could this dude be more of a sap? When Arlo had left, he went to work. Pulling the syringe from his pocket, he drew the plunger back, filling it with air.
He reached for her arm – and Cosima moved, quickly, her left arm coming up and he felt a sharp pain across his arm. Blood welled, and with a yelp, he dropped the syring, realized she was holding a scalpel.
‘You son of a bitch,’ she hissed at him, ‘did you think I wouldn’t remember?’
Jack lunged for her – then felt something pressing against the back of his head, heard the click of a safety catch being flicked off.
‘Don’t even think about moving, motherfucker.’ Arlo’s voice was granite hard. ‘Give me one reason to pull this trigger and I will.’
Jack, trained in combat, swerved around to try and knock the gun from Arlo’s hand but the bigger man was ready. He brought his fist up under Jack’s chin as Jack managed to knock the gun from his hand, and Jack screamed as he bit through his own tongue. The others were there then, Harpa darting in front of Cosima to protect her sister; Naveen, sleek and dangerous, his own gun back in his hand. Jack skittered to the far side of the room as Naveen took a shot, the bullet wide, smashing the large window behind him. Jack flinched down, outnumbered.
Arlo sneered at him. ‘Did you think we would find out about the contractor? The one you bribed to shot at us? Believe it or not, it was Sabine who saw you talking to him at the opening.'
Jack sneered at him and his gaze switched to Cosima, shielded by Harpa and Mikah. ‘I loved you, Cosima, for years. I worshiped you. When I fired that bullet into your belly, you were finally mine, do you understand? I would do it again and again…’
Arlo, enraged, struck him savagely across the jaw with the butt of his gun. ‘Shut your damn mouth, motherfucker.’
Jack laughed, spitting teeth and blood. ‘Fuck you, Forrester, she was mine, and you took her away from me.’
Arlo roared at him. ‘Cosima is not a possession for you to lay claim to, you asshole.’ He stepped forward and pressed the muzzle of the gun against Jack’s forehead.
Harpa looked concerned but then as Cosima began to get up, Arlo rushed to help her too.
On unsteady legs, Cosima walked to Jack and looked down at him. ‘You bastard,’ she began quietly. ‘You filthy, despicable coward. Did you think you had any right to decide who I loved? It would have made any difference. Even if I didn’t love Arlo as much as I do, I could never love a coward like you. You’re pathetic.’
Jack, smirking, got to his feet. ‘I should have cut your throat the day I fucked you, little girl.’
Arlo growled, but Cosima stopped him. ‘You’re mistaken, Jack. Fucking is a wonderful, magical, thing between two people who love each other. You raped me, Jack. Rape. After you drugged me because that would mean I couldn’t fight you off. You were scared I would fight you because that’s the filthy coward you are.’
He lunged for her again but this time, Arlo was ready. With an almighty shove, he knocked Jack backward, jabbing him again and again, hard until Jack was backed against the open window.
With just one mighty push, Arlo could end this now…forever. He stepped towards Jack, who gave him a bloody grin.
‘Do it, Forrester. Kill me. Because if you don’t, I’ll keep coming back and I swear, she will die.’
Arlo lunged but Naveen pulled him back.
‘Arlo,’ said Naveen, ‘Let the police have him. He does not deserve a quick punishment. Let him rot in jail.’
Arlo, quivering with rage, didn’t move, staring Jack down. It wasn’t until he heard the police behind them, moving into the room, and felt Cosima’s hand on his arm.
‘Arlo, come to me. Leave this scum to get what he deserves.’
He turned and saw she was struggling to stand up; all the adrenaline had left her body. In one swift movement, he swept her into his arms and carried her out of the room and took her to the new room they’d arranged for her.
They had all set it up, of course. After Naveen and Mikah had talked to Arlo, he hadn’t needed much persuasion to believe that Jack was Cosima’s shooter. When she woke, after the tube was taken out, she’d confirmed it, telling him exactly what had happened. The horrific truth shocked him with its cruelty.
So cold blooded, so merciless. But Arlo finally felt there was something he could do – he’d arranged the police guard but used his influence to delay their arrival until they had dealt with Jack themselves. He wanted to kill Jack, rip him limb from limb but knew they would never allow that.
But now, as they saw Jack being dragged past her room by the police, Arlo knew Cosima had been right to stop him pushing Jack out that window.
‘You’re not a killer,’ she said, as if she could read his mind, ‘There was no need to change who we are to beat him. It’s over, Arlo.’
She winced as she shifted on the bed, and now the horror and trauma were over, she looked exhausted. Arlo sat on the side of the bed and touched her cheek.
‘The minute,’ he smiled at her, ‘the minute you get out of here, we’re getting married.’
Cosima smiled. ‘That sounds good to me.’
He leaned in to kiss her, brushing his lips against hers ‘Now I can believe you’re safe at last.’
She wound her arms around his neck. ‘You and me, Arlo Forrester, that’s the only thing that matters. You, me, and our children…Turner and Hooch.’
Arlo burst out laughing and gathered her to him. ‘To our family,’ he said, kissing her passionately.
‘To us, forever,’ she whispered back and they kissed until they could no longer breathe…
Epilogue
The Maldives, Indian Ocean
Two years later…
He watched as the waiter led the woman to her table, saw her thank him. A beautiful smile. He couldn’t take his eyes from her; the luscious curves of her, her dark skin glowing against the dark gold of her sun dress. Her dark waves fell past her shoulder, and he watched as she pulled her hair over one shoulder. She glanced up and smiled at him.
He got up and walked towards her. She sat up when he approached. The night was sultry, sensual and her skin had a faint sheen of dewy moisture.
‘Excuse me, ma’am, I’m going to the bar,’ he said, ‘If you’d like to join me, I’d be pleased to buy you whatever is your poison.’
She smiled that radiant smile. ‘I’m sorry; I’m waiting for my husband.’ She ran a hand over her belly, swollen and blooming with pregnancy. ‘As you can see, I’m not alone.’
Arlo grinned down at Cosima, his gorgeous, healthy, wife and she laughed back at him.
‘Well, now, he’s one lucky son-of-a-gun.’
He leaned down and kissed her thoroughly to the amusement of the other diners.
‘Yes,’ she said breathlessly as they broke apart, ‘yes, he is.’
He held out his hand to her. ‘Screw the drinks?’
Cosima laughed, got to her feet and took his hand, gazing up at her beloved husband.
‘Screw the drinks.’
And they walked back to their villa on the water, knowing that they were walking into forever…
The End.
THE LUCKY SERIES
Complete Box Set
An Alpha Billionaire Romance
By Michelle Love
LUCKY STARS
An Alpha Billionaire Romance
Book 1
By Michelle Love
Blake
Pinks and oranges fill the sky as the sun sets behind my parent’s home. The mailbox has become my enemy, but I check it anyway. The last letter from the IRS took millions from me. I close my eyes and hope there’s nothing else from them in the box shaped like a large mouth bass.
My father was a novice fisherman, but you wouldn’t know that by the amount of fishing paraphernalia he accumulated in his lifetime. My mother was not a very good cook, but she had enough cookbooks to stock an aisle in Barnes and Nobles.
They passed away last year, together, right in the house I still live in. I was away at college, thankfully, or I’d be where they are now. A gas leak in the house took them as they slept one night.
I should sell the place and move, especially since I lucked out on the road trip they had me make. In their will they left me three thousand dollars, and I had to use every penny of that money to play the lotteries through every state I went through on my journey to spread their ashes.
Dad was spread in the Atlantic Ocean and Mom in the Pacific. The crazy thing is I won seven of the lotteries and each jackpot was larger than the next. I ended that week a billionaire.
Thanks, Mom and Dad!
Every time I tell that story I have to thank them. Between them and God is the only way I got that money. I don’t think I’ve ever been this lucky.
Well, the luck is running out as the IRS is finding way after way to get the money.
“Hey, what ya doin’ out here at the ol’ fish box?” my neighbor, Josh asks me as he strides out of his house next door.
He moved here a couple of years ago and we hang out now and then, he’s a bit older than I am. I’m a kid to most at twenty-one, so I get left out of a lot of the block parties the older people have. Josh is a pretty good guy though and a great neighbor.
“Just checking to see if there are any more letters from the evil government, trying to take my money,” I gripe as I close the fishes mouth and am happy to see there are no letters from my arch nemesis.
“About your money,” he says. “It’s none of my business and I love having you as a neighbor, but why the hell are you still here in the two-bedroom house you grew up in? Get a mansion like all the other billionaires, dude!”
With a shrug of my shoulders, I say, “It’s not the right time yet. I know it sounds crazy, but I don’t want to leave the old house behind just yet. I’ll get out of it someday, but not just yet. My parents’ things are all in it and I’d
have to pack them up if I move. Frankly, I kind of act like they’re on vacation and will be home anytime. It makes me keep the house cleaned up.”
He chuckles and pats me on the back. “You should come over and eat dinner with us tonight. The wife made spaghetti.”
“Thanks, but I have a frozen dinner cooking in the oven and I’d hate to let it go to waste. Maybe another night.” I stroll back up the walkway to the old home my parents bought when they had me. It’s looking a little worse for wear and I make a mental note to at least get new siding on it. I’m a freaking billionaire after all.
“Hey,” Josh calls out, stopping my retreat. “Did you say the IRS took a lot of your money?”
I nod and whine, “Yeah, I have no idea what to do about it.”
He jogs up to me. “My brother-in-law happens to be a man in your position.”
“What position is that, a top player in Halo? Cause hook me up, I love a challenge,” I say as that can be all he means. I do little else since I won the money.
“No,” he says with a laugh. “He’s rich too. Filthy, stinkin’ just like you. He lives in Houston. I could set up a meeting so he could help you figure out your finances and how to keep most of your money.”
“Really!” My heart speeds up with the first good news I’ve heard in a while. “That would be awesome, dude!”
He turns to go back to his house. “I’ll call him and ask when would be a good time for him. You’re pretty much wide open aren’t you?”
“I’m completely wide open. Thanks so much.” I wave and go inside.
I break into a dance as I finally may have someone to help me not only take action to keep my money, but maybe they can help me figure out something worthwhile to do with it as well.
Looks like I got another lucky day!
Max
“For the love of all which is holy!” I jump to avoid tripping over the Barbie dream car hiding at the bottom of the staircase. “Zoey, what did I tell you about leaving your toys lying around? Especially on the stairs!” I round the corner to see my four-year-old daughter diving behind her mother as she sits on the sofa in the sitting room we use for the kids to play in.
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