by Zara Chase
“What is it—”
“Shut up!” Jodie hissed. “Vasin.”
She sensed Gloria trembling behind her, which didn’t do much for Jodie’s own nerves. Vasin paused within spitting distance of the door to the cellar, staring at it. Jodie knew it had been closed when she first entered the cellar. Was it always closed, or could it have been left open by one of the waiters when he went to fetch more wine? Presumably such thoughts occupied Vasin’s mind, but it wouldn’t be long before he checked it out. He didn’t seem like the type to leave things to chance. Jodie glanced around, desperate for somewhere to hide. There was nowhere. Their only chance would be to go back down and hide behind the wine racks, but they wouldn’t go undetected for long and would also be stuck underground with no way out.
So be it. It was a lousy choice but the only one available to them. Vasin was walking toward the door. They had to move, and move now. Jodie was about to do so when Vasin stopped and talked into a mic on his lapel. She peered at him more closely and saw the tell-tale wire going from his ear and disappearing down the back of his neck. Then, praise be, he turned on his heel and headed out of the kitchen.
Jodie didn’t hesitate.
“Come on!”
Not caring if she was seen by anyone else in the kitchen, she grabbed Gloria’s hand and they walked smartly toward the side door, and freedom. A few curious stares were directed at them, but no one challenged them. The moment they were outside and breathing fresh clean air—something Jodie had started to think she might never do again—she ran as fast as she could toward the gates, adrenaline pumping through her veins. Gloria, despite her wobbly legs, kept pace with her.
Jodie had thought no one would see them cutting across the grounds since there were so many cars parked. Unfortunately, a lot of those cars had now gone and there were two tough-looking men—Belikov’s men—patrolling the grounds. They were seen, and challenged.
Jodie picked up speed.
* * * *
As Leo and Ty watched more cars leave the house, there was a sudden commotion. Men shouting, dogs barking.
“There!” Ty said, pointing.
Two figures pelted hell-for-leather across an open expanse of lawn, pursued by men with guns who were gaining on them. Ty’s heart changed places with his gut when he recognized Jodie. What the hell was she playing at and who was that with her? And why weren’t the guards shooting? They couldn’t miss from that range. Presumably they thought they could catch Jodie and her as yet unnamed fellow escapee, or else the use of guns was frowned upon when Belikov was entertaining.
“Shit!” Ty groused. “They’ll never make it. I feel so fucking impotent.”
But luck was on Jodie’s side. Once word got back to the house that there was an “episode,” presumably the gates would be locked. But before that could happen, another care drove through them. As they swung open, Jodie and her friend put in a burst of speed and dashed through them just before they closed.
Ty ran forward and caught Jodie in his arms.
“Ty,” Jodie said breathlessly, looking up at him with panic in her eyes. “Thank goodness you’re here!”
“What the devil—”
“In the car!” Leo said urgently, grabbing the other woman’s arm, not bothering to ask who she was.
Ty and Jodie piled into the backseat while Leo pushed the other woman into the passenger seat and gunned the accelerator. He hurtled down the hill at a dangerously fast pace. No one appeared to have followed them, and Ty doubted that Belikov would authorize a chase here in Nevella. He couldn’t take the chance. Leo reached a place where he could pull off the road. He cut the engine and turned to look at Jodie.
“You okay?” he asked.
It was obvious to Ty that she wasn’t. She was trembling from head to foot. Anger at her stupidity mingled with relief and an overwhelming desire to comfort her. He pulled her close and stroked her hair until the trembling subsided.
“This is Gloria Arden,” she said. “Gloria, meet Ty Vaughan and Leo Hadleigh.”
“Gloria,” Ty said slowly. “I know that name. You worked with Flavia.”
“Yes, yes I did. You’re her chef. I saw the picture she carried of you, and she spoke about you often.”
“You’d best tell us what’s going on here,” Leo said. “Start from the beginning.”
Jodie told them about the conversation she’d accidentally overheard the night before and the invitation Belikov had extended to her.
“And you didn’t think to mention it,” Ty said, furious with her. “I’d warned you that he was a womanizer. He only wanted to get into your knickers.”
She touched his face. “I knew how you would react if I did tell you and—”
“Goddamned straight I would.”
“I didn’t know you spoke Russian,” Leo said, clearly trying to defuse the tension.
“It’s one of the languages I have a working knowledge of. When I heard the mention of Gloria’s name and then Belikov invited me here today, I knew I had to come and check it out. I found her locked in the wine cellar, scared out of her life. So far that’s all I know. We’ve been too busy escaping to exchange life stories.”
“It’s all my fault—about Flavia, about everything.” When no one argued with her, she went on. “I had an affair with one of Belikov’s men some years back. He introduced me to designer drugs and then persuaded me to move them about for his employer under cover of the model agency.”
“And got Flavia into it, I suppose,” Ty said in a mordant tone.
“I introduced her to some people when she started struggling with her weight.” Ty shook his head but said nothing. “We both realized we were in too deep and wanted out, but when I saw what happened to Flavia, I didn’t have the courage to say so.”
“Do you know who killed Flavia?” Ty asked, sitting forward, his entire body radiating tension.
“Oh yes. Vasin boasted to me about what he’d done and how he’d do the same thing to me if I even thought about quitting.”
“Did Belikov order the killing?” Leo asked.
“I’m not sure. He really liked Flavia.”
“I’ll just bet he did,” Ty said, seething.
“But if it’s any consolation, she didn’t let him touch her.” Gloria looked at Ty as she spoke. “There was no one for her but you. Anyway, I think Belikov blamed Vasin for losing control of Flavia.” She shrugged. “I suppose he had no choice but to silence her permanently, but he would have left it to Vasin to take care of.”
“Okay,” Leo said. “But that still doesn’t explain why you came here to Nevella.”
“I got sacked by e-mail by the Agency.”
“Because they knew you were acting as a drug mule?” Jodie asked, not pulling her punches.
“I doubt it. There’s been some reorganization at the top. I suppose I hadn’t been on top of my game due to drugs and…well, worry about whether I’d finish up like Flavia.” Gloria must have recognized the hostility in the three gazes focused on her and known she’d get no sympathy, but continued to talk. “Anyway, in the cut and thrust of the modelling world, they don’t muck about. If you’re out, you’re out, no matter where you happen to be in the world on the company’s business at the time. So I found myself stuck in Italy with a load of Belikov’s product and no safe way of getting it into Britain.”
“My heart bleeds,” Ty said sarcastically.
“I was tempted just to flush it but knew what happened to Flavia when she failed to perform. So, I had the brilliant idea of bringing it here to Belikov directly and explaining my predicament. I knew possessions don’t get searched on the way into Nevella, only on the way out, so figured it was the safest way to prove my loyalty and to explain why I had no choice.” She shook her head. “Pretty dumb, huh?”
Neither man argued with her.
“Unfortunately, I arrived yesterday, and just my luck, Belikov was out somewhere and it was Vasin whom I had to face.” She shook her head. “That vicious bastard wou
ld kill his own mother if he thought there was profit in it. I knew the moment I saw him that I’d miscalculated and should have taken my chances.”
“How did you get her out?” Ty asked Jodie.
“They’d stupidly left the key to Gloria’s handcuffs hanging on a hook.” Jodie shrugged. “I couldn’t just leave her there and send for help. By the time Belikov’s guests had left, Gloria would have been dead. So I let her out, we sneaked out, and…well, you were here, thank heavens.”
Ty stroked her arm, a big chunk of his anger fading away in the light of her courage. “Remarkable,” he said.
“Not really. You would have done the same thing.”
“Vasin would have killed Gloria,” Leo said grimly. “No question about that. Belikov can’t risk having anyone find out that a courier of his brought drugs into Nevella. He’s trying very hard to portray a squeaky-clean image here. Where are the drugs now, Gloria? Do you know?”
“Yes. Belikov’s chopper is being flown up from Barcelona. It’s been stuck there, I think, waiting for a part. They’ll be taken out onboard that. I don’t know where to.”
“Right.” Leo pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. “Jack,” he said, speaking to the helicopter pilot who lived at Hadleigh’s. “You are the heliport?” He listened. “Is Belikov’s chopper there?” More listening. “Right, when it lands, is there anything you can do without making it obvious to prevent it from taking off again?”
Leo hung up a short time later. “Jack will take care of that, which will give Padron time to arrange a search.” He dialed another number, spoke to Padron, and succinctly outlined his problems. “Damn,” he said when he hung up. “Padron will arrange for the chopper to be searched, and if the drugs are found, he can have the police raid Belikov’s premises. But without the drugs, they have no probable cause to look at the house. Some of the people at that lunch today were local politicians, apparently, and Pardon, for reasons of his own, would prefer for them not to be tainted by association.”
Ty rolled his eyes. “Glad to know Pardon’s political ambitions are his first priority.”
“You’ll have to stay at Hadleigh’s at least for tonight, Gloria,” Leo said as he put the car in gear and moved off. “You, too, Jodie. Can’t leave either of you unprotected until we know what’s happened to Belikov and Vasin.”
Ty wasn’t too worried about Gloria. She was right to say she was inadvertently responsible for Flavia’s death. Okay, so Flavia was an adult responsible for her own choices, but Gloria was supposed to look after her, not put temptation in the path of a woman who admitted to having an addictive personality. Even so, Leo was right. She couldn’t be left alone. That was okay. There were a couple of guest suites at Hadleigh’s—part of the establishment but with no access to the private areas. Ty wouldn’t have to see her again or have anything more to do with her.
When they got back, Leo dealt with Gloria, but Ty knew he would be needed in the kitchen. Jodie insisted upon going in there, too, and getting down to work.
“No way!” Ty said, hands on hips.
“Please, Ty,” she said, tentatively touching his arm. “I know you’re mad at me and perhaps you have good reason, but now’s not the time. I need to work and you need me. We’ll have fallen behind.”
“Okay, but you and I have unfinished business, lady.”
She stood on her toes and kissed his cheek. “I know. And thank you for rescuing me.”
“Any time. But, just so you know, if you ever do anything like that again, you won’t be able to sit down for a month.” His tight lips curved into a reluctant smile. “And as it is, once I get you alone later, I don’t rate your chances of sitting comfortably for the next week or so too highly.”
“I guess I deserve that,” she said, gulping.
“No question.”
The others gave them curious glances when they entered the kitchen but were too busy to ask questions. Ty and Jodie were on tenterhooks throughout service, waiting for news. It came at the end of the evening, when Ty had dragged Jodie from the kitchen, leaving the other three to do the clearing up.
“We’ve just heard,” Leo said, he and Jack having waited for Ty and Jodie in the private lounge. “The drugs were found on the chopper. Well done, Jack, in keeping it grounded.”
“No sweat.”
“The police raided Belikov’s place, but they’ve legged it.”
Fuck it!” Ty said aggressively.
“All except Vasin. He was found in the cellar where Gloria had been kept with a bullet through the back of his head.”
“Well, that’s something, I suppose,” Ty groused. “A quicker end than he deserved, but still—”
“But Belikov got away with it,” Jodie said, sounding as frustrated as Ty felt.
“Not exactly,” Leo assured her. “He knows he can’t ever come back to Nevella. Drugs are the one commodity that none of the families here will tolerate, and he knows it. But he was trying to go legitimate so had transferred a lot of his cash to Nevellian banks. All those accounts will be frozen and his various properties in the country will be seized. It’ll hit him where it hurts the most.”
“And all his classy friends he’s gone out of his way to cultivate will most likely cut him dead.” Ty curled his lip. “Too bad.”
“Right, and according to Padron, he’d decided to get out of Russia because he’d fallen foul of some of the other ruthless gangs who are on the up-and-up there. God knows how Padron knows these things, but his information is usually on the button. Anyway, Belikov will now be forced to go up against those gangs again if he wants to reestablish himself, and I don’t fancy his chances.”
“Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy,” Ty snarled.
“Plus his lucrative sideline of smuggling drugs through the models is closed to him,” Jodie said, touching Ty’s hand. “I can’t see him surviving this.”
“Good, but it still doesn’t seem right that he’s gotten away,” Ty said, although he could already feel the heavy weight of responsibility for Flavia’s death lifting from his shoulders. “Come on, babe,” he added, pulling Jodie to her feet. “You still have some explaining to do. In private.”
Chapter Fourteen
Jodie and Ty’s relationship was now an open secret. Jodie had moved in with Ty that Tuesday night and he hadn’t allowed her to move out again, even though Belikov had fled Nevella and she was no longer in danger. He said he didn’t trust her out of his sight. It thrilled Jodie to the core each time he drilled her with an intent, possessive look and told her as much. In the kitchen, since he didn’t show her any favors, the others accepted the situation and the contestants continued to gel as a team.
Each night, Ty introduced Jodie to new experiences that were unimaginably enlightening. This sexually liberated person, unafraid to go after what she wanted, was clearly whom she was always meant to be. It had just needed Ty’s skilled hands and dominating personality to make her realize it. And she loved him for making her understand that such an exquisite form of expression could be so rewarding. As the punishments got harsher and she learned to absorb them, knowing pleasure would chase close on the heels of pain, she floated on an endless tide of desire for the man she so comprehensively adored, willing to do anything to earn his approval.
Even venture into the dungeon.
Except he hadn’t yet suggested that they do so. Nor had he taken her back to the viewing gallery. It seemed that after her brief flirtation with danger, he wanted to keep her all to himself. Either that or he didn’t think she would do much for his street cred.
Please don’t let it be that.
She was put out of her misery after a particularly busy service on Sunday evening, after which they could look forward to a lazy day off together. The moment they walked into his rooms, she sensed something was different but it took her a moment to realize what it was. The big picture of Flavia was gone and in its place was one of her on the viewing gallery with the ball gag in her mouth. It was before she was b
lindfolded, and she was staring straight at the camera without being aware of it through eyes widened with a combination of passion and exhilaration.
“Oh my God!” Jodie clapped a hand over her mouth. “I look totally wild. Is that really me?”
“You look sexy as get-go.” He pulled her into his arms and kissed her possessively. “You look in that photo the way I always want to think of you.” Think of me? He’s already planning to let me go.
“I don’t look nearly as good as Flavia did up there.”
“Flavia’s gone,” he replied softly. “I’ll never forget her, but it’s time to let go. And,” he added, in an abrupt change of voice, “it’s time for you to make an appearance in the dungeon.”
Her stomach bottomed out and her throat went so dry that she struggled to swallow. Even so, she didn’t hesitate. She could do this for him. She absolutely could.
“Yes, Sir,” she replied, lowering his eyes. “I’d like you to take me there.”
“I know you would,” he replied softly. “Go and get yourself showered and report back to me here. Don’t bother to dress.”
Jodie took the shortest shower in living memory. If she gave herself time to think about what she was about to do—to exhibit her less than perfect body to strangers—she might bottle it. Not having to think about what to wear made it quicker still. She paused only to pull a brush through her hair and then returned to the sitting room.
Ty was lounging in a chair, naked, watching her with unnerving stillness as he casually massaged a massive erection. She quailed beneath his gaze and struggled to keep her limbs from trembling—a jumble of anxiety and anticipation. A slow, sexy smile of approval lit up his features and helped to settle her skittish nerves as he levered himself athletically to his feet. He walked toward her, fitted a collar around her neck with a leash attached to it, and cuffed her hands in front of her.