by Sandi Lynn
“First chance I get, I’m calling the police,” I spoke.
“Go ahead. I have your briefcase full of your aliases and the keys to your apartment. I’m sure somewhere around this world you’re wanted and your ass will be going to jail for a very long time,” he spoke deadpan.
“I don’t have thirty thousand dollars.” I looked away. “I can give you the ring Samuel gave me as partial payment.”
“No. You’re giving the ring back to him. You will not screw that poor man over. I’m sure he’s devastated enough over the fact that he can’t get hold of you. So what you’re going to do is write him a letter of apology and tell him you had to leave town, put the ring with the letter, and I will have someone deliver it to his office.”
I couldn’t help it. It was a gut reaction. I spit in his face. I hated people telling me what to do. I expected him to go into more of a rage, but he didn’t. He just grabbed the napkin off the table and wiped his face with it.
“Do that again and you’ll be sorry,” he spoke in a calm tone.
“Why is Samuel so important to you?” I asked.
“Because he’s a friend and I don’t like people fucking with my friends. Now I’m going to get you a piece of paper and a pen and you’re going to write that letter. Understand?”
“Computer,” I spoke.
“What?” His eye narrowed at me.
“No handwritten letter. It must be typed. He could have the handwriting analyzed and it could come back to me.”
“How?” he asked in confusion.
“I don’t know. But I’m not taking any chances.”
“Fine.” He grabbed my arm and led me out of the kitchen.
“Let go of me.”
“And take the chance of you running? No thanks.”
“You already said I have no chance in hell of getting out of here, so where would I run to?”
He led me to his office and set me down in his high back burgundy leather chair. Opening his laptop, he pulled up a Word document.
“Type.”
“What the hell do you want me to say?” I asked.
“I don’t know. You’re the expert at lying. You can steal from people without them knowing, but you can’t type a simple letter?” His brow arched.
Rolling my eyes, my fingers began clicking across the keyboard.
“There. Good enough for you?” I spoke with an attitude.
“Good enough.” He hit the print button and the letter spewed from his printer.
When he went to grab the paper, I stopped him.
“I wouldn’t touch that if I were you.”
“What? Why?”
“He could have it analyzed for fingerprints. And if he does, how would you explain your prints all over the paper? Common sense, Gabriel.” I smiled.
“So what the hell do I use?”
“Do you have a pair of gloves?”
“In the closet, I do.”
“Then I suggest you get them, and we’ll need to wipe the ring clean before you stick it in the envelope.”
“Wait a minute. Wouldn’t your fingerprints be all over his place?”
“Liquid adhesive bandage.” I held up my hands to him and wiggled my fingers.
He took in a deep breath, closed his laptop, and spoke, “Are you serious?”
“Yes. I’m very serious.”
He slowly shook his head. “I’ll be right back. Don’t move.”
Within a matter of seconds, he returned to his office with a pair of black leather gloves on his hands. He folded up the letter, put the ring in a small plastic baggie, and retrieved a long envelope from his drawer. Pulling out his phone, he made a call.
“Carl, I need you to deliver something for me.”
“Wait,” I spoke.
“Hold on, Carl. What?” He looked at me.
“You need to put it in his home mailbox because he’s going to interrogate every person in that building until he finds out who delivered it. If you use a delivery service, he’ll contact them and they’ll describe you or whoever you send. It’s too risky. But wait; he has security cameras inside and outside his house. He’ll see you.”
“Forget it, Carl.” He sighed as he ended the call. “Now what?”
“Let me take it to a delivery service.”
He laughed. “Hell no. You think I’m stupid? You aren’t leaving this house, sweetheart.”
“Fine. Then mail it for overnight delivery but type his address on a label. No handwriting.”
His eyes narrowed at me. He was either delighted that I knew so much or disgusted. I couldn’t really tell. As he prepared the label, I looked around his office. Pictures of him and his dad, I presumed, sat on a bookcase that was filled with books. On his desk sat a picture of him and a younger guy, someone who was as equally as handsome as he was.
“Who’s this?” I asked as I picked up the picture.
“My brother, Caleb.”
“He’s cute. I bet he’s a real lady’s man like his brother.” I smirked.
“Put it down.”
When he moved me out of the way to open the top drawer of his desk, I caught a glimpse of something. A stack of post-it notes that read: From the desk of Gabriel Quinn. How the hell did I know that name?
“Oh my god. You’re Gabriel Quinn of Quinn Hotels,” I spoke.
“I wondered how long it was going to take you to figure that out.”
“Yeah. I’ll admit that I’m a bit disappointed in myself for not figuring it out sooner. Well, well,” I leaned back in his chair, “Mr. Gabriel Quinn is a kidnapper.”
“I’m no kidnapper. You stole something of mine and I want it back. I’m simply keeping you around until that happens.” He pointed at me. “I’m not taking the chance of you hopping on a plane to god knows where and me never seeing my watch or my thirty thousand dollars again.”
“You have all the money in the world. Thirty thousand dollars is change to you.” I rolled my eyes.
“Believe it or not, thirty thousand dollars is a lot to me, and when someone decides to steal something of mine, I don’t take it very lightly. Let’s go.”
“Where?”
“Out of my office. In fact, you need to go back up to your room. I have to go out for a while.”
“Seriously? You’re going to keep me locked up in that small room while you’re gone? There’s nothing to do up there.”
“Watch TV. Same thing you’d do if you were down here. Now let’s go.”
“But the kitchen is down here. What if I get hungry or thirsty?”
He took hold of my arm (I was really getting sick of him doing that) and led me to the kitchen. Opening the pantry, he grabbed a bag of chips and some almonds. Then he walked over to the refrigerator, grabbed two bottles of water and an apple and handed them to me.
“There, you have your snacks and drink. You’ll be fine until I return.” He grabbed my arm again and took me up to my room.
“You know what? You’re a real asshole, Gabriel Quinn!” I shouted as he shut and locked the door.
Chapter 10
Gabriel
I sighed as I walked downstairs and headed out the door. Climbing into the limo, I dropped the envelope addressed to Samuel off at the post office and then headed to the office to pick up a file I needed so I could work from home.
“Mr. Quinn, I thought you weren’t coming in today,” Lu spoke as I walked past her desk.
“I’m only here to grab a file. Anything I should know about?”
She got up from her chair and followed me into my office.
“Your meeting from this morning has been rescheduled for Friday at nine o’clock, and Mr. Ingram called and needs to talk to you about the details of the grand opening of the hotel in Hawaii.”
“Thank you, Lu. I’ll give him a call when I get home.”
“Very well, Mr. Quinn. Enjoy the rest of your day,” she spoke.
“You too.” I gave her a small smile as I left my office.
Upon climbing
into the limo, I pulled my phone from my pocket and called Grace.
“Hello,” she answered.
“Grace, it’s me. What are you doing right now?”
“Not much. Why?”
“Do you think you can meet me at Whole Foods?”
“Umm. Sure.”
“Thanks. I need you to help me pick out something for dinner and I need to discuss something with you.”
“Okay. Are you cooking tonight? I can come by and cook dinner for you. It’s no trouble.”
“Thanks. I appreciate the offer, but I’m going to cook. Can you meet me in about fifteen minutes?”
“Sure. I’ll see you soon.”
I figured since I was going to be working from home, I’d cook dinner for me and—the girl who stole my Cartier watch. One thing was for sure, she would reveal her name tonight. Even if I had to fuck it out of her, I would know her real name.
Upon entering Whole Foods, I saw Grace standing in the produce section looking at the peaches.
“Thanks for coming, Grace.” I smiled as I kissed her cheek.
“You’re welcome, Gabriel. So what is this special dinner you’re cooking and for whom are you cooking it?”
I sighed as I picked up a peach and examined it.
“I have a houseguest and she will be staying for quite a while.”
“She? What’s her name?”
“Well,” I set the peach down, “when I first met her, she said her name was Hannah, but that has proven to be untrue. So I don’t know her real name yet, but I will find out tonight.”
She narrowed her eye at me as she began pushing the shopping cart.
“So you’re telling me that you met a woman named Hannah, but it turns out that’s not her real name, yet she’s your houseguest and you still don’t know her name?”
Placing my hands in my pants pockets, I spoke, “Yep.”
“What’s going on, Gabriel?”
“She stole something from me and she will be staying at the house until she gives it back.”
“I’m not sure I like the way you said that. Is she staying on her own free will?” She cocked her head.
“No. The first chance she gets, she’s going to run. So I need you to keep an eye on her while I’m at the office.”
She stopped the cart and shot me a disapproving look.
“Gabriel, what did you do?”
“Don’t look at me like that. She’s a con artist. I’m doing the upper class a favor by keeping her at my house.”
She rolled her eyes and pushed the cart over to the meat counter.
“I’m going to go out on a limb here and assume you had sex with her?”
“Yes. About a month ago.”
“Before or after you broke up with Greta?”
“After. I met her on the plane back from Seattle. But enough with the details. Now, what should I make for dinner?”
“What does she like to eat?” she asked as her brow raised.
“I don’t know. Does it matter? She’ll eat whatever I make and if she doesn’t like it, then that’s her problem.”
“If it didn’t matter, you would have come here by yourself and bought whatever you wanted. You wouldn’t have asked for my help. My suggestion would be to get some salmon and a couple of steaks. She should like one or the other.”
“Thanks, Grace. I owe you.”
“You sure do, Gabriel. Especially if I’m now a babysitter.” She smirked.
Kate
I lay on the bed, grabbed the remote, and started flipping through channels, praying and hoping something good would be on to keep me occupied. He could not, and I repeat, could not keep me locked up in this room. I’d go stir crazy. Insane. How did he expect me to repay him for the watch when he wouldn’t let me out of this damn room? I threw the remote down and began pacing back and forth trying to figure out how to get myself out of this mess. I stopped and ran to the door when I heard footsteps in the hallway.
“If you’re back, you can let me out of this room!” I shouted as I pounded on the door.
“Hello?” I heard a male voice that wasn’t Gabriel’s.
My heart started pounding. Someone else was here and this was my chance to escape.
“Help me!” I pounded on the door. “Can you please let me out?”
“Who’s in there?” the male voice spoke.
“Please just open the door!” I shouted.
“Lady, calm down. Why are you locked in there?” he asked as he jiggled the doorknob.
“Because the man of the house is holding me as his prisoner. Please help me!”
I heard him chuckle from the other side.
“Gabriel would never do that. Who are you?”
“Who are you?” I asked in a calm tone.
“Caleb. Gabriel’s brother.”
Ah, the cute one I saw in a frame on Gabriel’s desk.
“Caleb, you have to help me. Your brother is crazy. He’s holding me captive here in this room.”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t have a key. Where’s Gabriel?” he asked.
“I don’t know! He went out! Please help me. Can you find anything to open the door?”
“Umm. Like I said, I don’t have the key. Just sit tight. I’m sure Gabriel will be home soon.”
Was he serious? I began pounding harder on the door.
“Please, don’t leave.”
Gabriel
As Carl helped me put the grocery bags in the back of the limo, my phone rang and Caleb was calling.
“What’s up, little brother?” I answered.
“I called your office and Lu said you took the day off, so I came by your place. Want to tell me what’s with all the security men outside and the woman that’s locked inside your guest room? She said you’re holding her as your prisoner. Do I even want to know what’s going on?”
“I’m on my way home now. I’ll explain when I get there.”
“She was screaming at me to let her out and banging on the door. Bro, seriously, what the fuck is going on?”
I chuckled. “Like I said, I’ll explain when I get home.”
“When will you be home?” he asked.
“In about twenty minutes or so.”
“And what do you want me to do? She’s still screaming and pounding on the door.”
“Ignore her. She’ll eventually stop. I’ll see you soon.”
I took in a deep breath as I ended the call with Caleb. Shit. I didn’t expect him to come over, and now I needed to explain to him what I’d done and why I was keeping her there. She had to talk to me and tell me about herself so I could figure out my next plan with her. But, as long as she remained tight-lipped about who she really was, she’d be spending an awful lot of time in that bedroom.
As soon as Carl pulled up to the house, I grabbed the bags and entered through the service door to the kitchen. When I walked in, Caleb was sitting at the island eating a sandwich.
“Enjoying your lunch?” I smirked.
“Yeah, actually, I am. Grace can make one hell of a chicken salad.”
“Did she quiet down?” I asked as I set the bags on the counter.
“Yes. Thank god. Now explain to me what the hell is going on.”
“She’s the woman who stole my watch.”
“Shut up! How did you find her?” he asked as he cocked his head.
“I saw her at Samuel’s Gala, except she looked totally different. Different hair and colored eyes.”
“I thought you said she was only in New York for a couple of days.”
“That’s what she told me, which was obviously a lie. She lives here in an apartment over on East 84th Street. She has a briefcase full of aliases. Different names, different looks.”
“So you kidnapped her to get your watch back?” His brow arched.
“I didn’t technically kidnap her. I tricked her into coming over and now I won’t let her leave until I get my thirty thousand dollars back.”
“The price of the watch?” He narrowe
d his eye. “Where’s the watch?”
“She sold it.”
“Oh. Shit.” He scratched his head. “So she’s a con artist, I take it?”
“Yep. She was conning Samuel Coldwater. He had given her a twenty-thousand-dollar ring from Tiffany. A ring that I made her give back to him.”
“Ouch.” He chuckled. “If she cons rich men, she must have the thirty grand to pay you.”
“That’s the thing. She said she doesn’t and that’s all she’ll say. I still don’t know her real name.”
“So what are you going to do? You just can’t keep her locked up in this house. The first chance she gets, she’ll call the police, and then you’ll go to jail. Do you know what that will do to the company?”
“She won’t call the police. I have her briefcase with all her passports and different aliases and the keys to her apartment. She’ll be the one going to jail.”
“Dude, I seriously can’t believe this.” He laughed. “Here I was coming to spend a little time with my brother, and I find out he’s got some girl locked up in one of the guest rooms. I thought maybe you were doing something kinky.” He smiled.
“I wish it was something like that. I guess I better go check on her.”
As I began walking out of the kitchen, Caleb stopped me.
“Hey, Gabriel?”
“Yeah.” I turned around.
“Remember when you first told me about the watch and I told you that I believed it just wasn’t about that?”
“Yeah. I remember.”
“I still think this isn’t about the watch.”
I looked away and headed up the stairs.
Chapter 11
Kate
I was sitting on the floor with my back up against the door when I heard the key go into the lock. Standing up, I stood in front of it as he opened the door.