King's Ransom

by Jackie Ashenden

  A muscle leapt in the side of his impressive jaw. ‘You don’t care that all you’ve done is swap cages?’

  ‘No. Anyway, you told me last night you’d let me go when Dad leaves Sydney.’ At least Ajax’s cage wouldn’t end up crushing me. Probably.

  He stared at me for a minute, not saying anything. As if he couldn’t quite figure me out. Which I liked. Especially considering I got nothing but dismissal from Dad.

  ‘If he doesn’t,’ Ajax said, ‘I’m going to take your virginity. You do understand that, don’t you?’

  Seriously? He thought I didn’t understand? Maybe I should have told him what I’d decided, but if he was grumpy now, he’d definitely be grumpy about the fact that I wanted to use him purely as a way to get back at Dad.

  I gave him an exasperated look. ‘And do you understand that I’m okay with you taking my virginity? I mean, why do you think I didn’t mind any of what you said to me last night in the van?’

  ‘Little one, you barely know me. And you’ve certainly got no fucking idea what losing your virginity to me even means.’

  ‘Okay, first, like I told you last night, I’m not stupid. I have some idea what losing my virginity means. Second, I’ve read about you. I know about your reputation.’

  He remained motionless beside the bed, his eyes glittering strangely, his big body radiating tension. ‘Whatever you heard about my reputation, just know that it’s twice as bad and twice as fucked up as any of the rumours. I’m not a man you want anywhere near your bed, Imogen.’

  That didn’t sound like a ‘no’. More like a...warning.

  Too bad I didn’t care about warnings.

  ‘Why not?’ I asked. ‘The rumours said you once took down a drug ring all by yourself and that you broke the kneecaps of—’

  ‘Enough.’ His voice was as hard and cold as the look in his eyes. ‘You’ll remain my prisoner until your father leaves Sydney. That’s all.’

  I bit my lip, trying to hold my tongue and hide my disappointment.

  Except I could see my chance for revenge slipping further and further away and a question came out all the same. ‘So all those threats last night were empty ones?’

  His scowl became thunderous. ‘Don’t push me.’

  Another warning. Which I also ignored.

  If I couldn’t change his mind now, then I’d be returned to Dad like an unwanted present, free to be handed to whomever pleased him the most.

  And I would never, ever have this chance, this choice again.

  ‘Why not?’ I asked. ‘What are you going to do to me? I know you won’t hurt me—’

  ‘You don’t know that.’

  ‘Yes, I do. You didn’t last night when you kidnapped me, which means you’re not going to now. I mean, you could have used my life to get Dad to do what you want, but you didn’t. You used my virginity. Which is a whole lot friendlier than, say, actual murder.’

  His expression shifted, the look in his eyes sharpening. ‘Tell me why you were so pleased to be kidnapped by me.’

  The change of subject caught me off guard. Should I tell him everything? Maybe I shouldn’t.

  It said something about me that I hadn’t realised how prescribed my life had become until I was eighteen, and I was a bit of ashamed of that. And then there was the fact that it had almost taken a man’s life to make me see it.

  Yeah, I wasn’t too keen to share that with him.

  I’d had one attempt at a normal life, where I’d tried to have friends, a job, go to uni—all the things a girl my age should have. And it had been great—until I’d impulsively asked a guy I liked out for coffee, only to have poor Cameron beaten half to death in an alleyway.

  Dad had called me into his office afterwards to inform me that it had been him who’d ordered it and that I needed to be more careful with whom I associated. That had been a wake-up call for me about how far he was prepared to go to keep me out of anyone’s reach.

  I’d wanted to leave ever since, but the opportunity had never presented itself until Ajax had showed up.

  ‘I was tired of being a prisoner,’ I said, deciding to keep some of the truth to myself. ‘I’d been trying to figure out how to get away from him for ages and you came along at just the right time.’

  His gaze roamed over me and I felt it like the sunlight falling on my skin. No, hotter than that. Way hotter. ‘You don’t act like a woman who’s been a prisoner for years.’

  ‘How is a woman who’s been a prisoner for years supposed to act?’ I shifted on the bed, restless all of a sudden.

  I didn’t want to sit here and talk about Dad and how he’d curtailed my life. Or about how I’d been so desperate for his approval that I’d let him. Or about Mum and the constant reminder of the debt I had to pay.

  You can’t pay it now.

  And I never would. But surely that didn’t mean I wasn’t allowed to have a life? I wanted to have a taste of all the stuff I’d missed out on. Stuff like exploring having sex with Ajax King.

  Surely that was allowed?

  Except Ajax completely ignored my slightly pissy tone. ‘Did he hurt you?’

  ‘Who? Dad?’ I moved to the side of the bed and slipped off it. Not physically.’ Emotionally, yes. Another thing I didn’t want to talk about.

  I walked past Ajax and went over to the massive windows that looked out over the sea. It was so beautiful. The only thing I’d seen from the windows of Dad’s isolated house in the Blue Mountains, where I mainly lived, was trees and paddocks and yet more trees.

  ‘Wow,’ I breathed, staring at the ocean and white-capped waves and the yachts sailing on it. ‘What an amazing view. Can I go outside and see it? Do you have a boat?’

  ‘No, you can’t go outside, not yet. And yes, I have a boat.’

  I could feel the pressure of his stare against my back but I didn’t turn around, keeping my gaze on the sea, enjoying the way he was looking at me. ‘Oh, good. Can I go out—?’

  ‘What did he do?’ Ajax’s deep voice cut through mine like a hot knife through cold butter.

  The damn man had a one-track mind.

  ‘Can we not talk about that?’ Slowly I turned around. ‘Can’t we talk about what you promised me in the van last night?’

  Ajax had remained by the bed, but was now facing me, his arms folded across his chest. The expression on his hard features was difficult to read, but something steely glinted in his eyes. ‘I’m not sleeping with you, Imogen. I’ve already made that clear.’

  He said it so...flatly. As if that kiss he’d given me, that small taste of pleasure, didn’t mean a thing.

  Of course it didn’t. He just told you he didn’t mean it. The real question is: why does it mean so much to you?

  Wasn’t that obvious? Dad had told me what to do my entire life and now I had a chance to do what I wanted for a change, I couldn’t—wouldn’t—give it up.

  ‘You’re not going to sleep with me yet,’ I amended for him. ‘But why can’t we do it now? Dad will never know.’

  ‘He will if he demands a doctor’s examination.’

  My face went hot because, knowing Dad, that’s exactly what he would demand.

  How humiliating.

  ‘As it stands now,’ Ajax went on ruthlessly, ‘he’s going to have to take my word that I haven’t touched you.’

  ‘You could...lie, maybe?’ I tried not to sound too hopeful.

  But that was clearly the wrong thing to say because the blue of his eyes became ice. ‘My word as a King means something to men like him. And I won’t put that at risk with a lie simply because you want to lose your virginity.’

  I blinked, feeling like he’d thrown a bucket of cold water over me, with an extra helping of shame following along behind it. I’d gone full Imogen on him last night, not even bothering to try and contain myself. Asking questions and interrupting. T
ouching him without asking and then getting annoyed when he told me to stop.

  I’d made it all about me. I hadn’t even thought about him.

  ‘I’m sorry.’ I shoved away my disappointment, trying to regain my dignity. ‘You don’t want to sleep with me and that’s fine. I respect that.’

  But something in my tone must have given me away because the muscle in the side of his jaw leapt again. ‘You’re a sexy woman, Imogen. And it’s not about your lack of attractiveness, understand? But nothing gets in the way of me achieving a goal, and that includes any personal distractions.’

  I didn’t take offence at being lumped under the heading of ‘personal distractions’. I was too curious.

  ‘The goal being to get Dad out of the city?’ I asked. ‘Why?’

  ‘Why do you think? Your father is trying to set himself up as a pretender to Dad’s empty throne and that’s not happening. Not while I can still fucking breathe.’

  A whisper of cold swept through me. I knew who my father was. I knew that the money we had didn’t come from him working hard. I understood that my mother’s death had left a hole inside him that he’d been struggling to fill. I’d once wanted to be the one who helped him fill that hole, but that had been before he’d made it clear that I could never be that for him.

  He didn’t want the child his wife had died giving birth to.

  He preferred money. He preferred power.

  Of course he’d want to be the new Augustus King.

  At that moment, Ajax’s phone started buzzing.

  He pulled it from his pocket and checked the screen then he hit the answer button and raised it to his ear. ‘King.’

  Silence fell as whoever was on the other end of the call talked.

  Ajax simply stared at me. ‘Listen,’ he said eventually, his voice ice-cold. ‘Here’s what’s going to happen. The only way you’ll get your daughter back is if you get the fuck out of Sydney and stay out. And if you don’t? Then I’ll take her precious virginity and make her mine.’

  Another silence fell, Ajax’s gaze burning.

  Was it weird to find the way he’d said that hot? Not that I cared if it was weird or not. It was hot. Especially the way he’d said ‘make her mine’.

  Calm down. You’ve known him approximately twelve hours or less.

  So? It wasn’t like I was going to fall in love with him or anything. This was all about attraction.

  ‘Yes,’ Ajax went on. ‘She’s alive.’ He held out his phone towards me. ‘Say something to your father, Imogen.’

  I looked at the phone and everything I’d been thinking vanished from my head as a wave of dread swept through me.

  I didn’t want to talk to Dad. He’d be disgusted with me for allowing myself to be taken. And it would be my fault. Everything was my fault.

  Why do you still care what he thinks?

  I didn’t know. But that didn’t change the fact that I cared.

  Ajax’s blue gaze narrowed then, as abruptly as he’d pointed the phone at me, he lifted it back to his ear. ‘She’ll speak to you later. Remember what I said.’ Then he disconnected the call without another word.

  I cleared my throat, feeling like an idiot, but Ajax spoke before I could say anything. ‘Take a shower if you like—I’ve asked my housekeeper to leave you some clothes. There’s breakfast on the terrace for you when you’re done. You’re allowed to go anywhere in the house including outside, but the top floor is off limits.’ He paused, giving me a look that pinned me where I stood. ‘I’m going to be out the rest of the day, but don’t worry. You’re safe here. Understand?’

  ‘Yes,’ I croaked. ‘But where are you—?’

  ‘Later,’ he said. ‘We’ll talk more later.’

  And, before I could ask him any more questions, he turned and walked out.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Ajax

  I ABSENTED MYSELF from the house over the next couple of days, using the time to have meetings with people who should have known better than to fuck with me. Meetings that involved gentle reminders of who was boss...and that wasn’t William White.

  The reminders weren’t of the violent kind—it wasn’t necessary when threatening people’s money worked just as well—but that didn’t mean I was kind. I’d ruin every last son of a bitch in this town if they even so much as kept White’s name in their contact list, and they knew it.

  I also tried not to think about Imogen, an impossible task seemingly.

  My brain kept returning to the look on her face when I’d handed her the phone that morning. She’d stared at it like I’d handed her a snake, making every one of my protective instincts sit up and take notice.

  She’d told me her father hadn’t hurt her physically, yet she really didn’t want to talk to him. In fact, the only time I’d seen her scared was when I’d given her that phone.

  Why? What had he done to her?

  Knowing what the story was between her and White didn’t affect my overall goal and technically it could be called a distraction. But I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

  I couldn’t stop thinking about what a delicate thing she’d seemed that morning either, with the light falling on her hair, turning her from white and pale into sun-drenched gold. She was fragile and vulnerable, a woman in need of protection.

  Yet that’s not all she was. There had been a demanding element to her, flashes of a strong, stubborn will, plus an honesty I hadn’t experienced in a long time. The world I moved in—even now it was totally legit—was full of bluffs and façades and gambles and trade-offs. Games. That’s what doing business was all about.

  But Imogen didn’t appear to have a façade at all. She didn’t strike me as a game-player either. There was no artifice to her, no guile. She wanted me and she’d been totally straight up about that.

  Hot.

  It was probably a good thing I’d stayed out of the house. God knew my dick could sure as hell use some time out.

  Two days later I stepped out of the building where I’d had my last meeting, heading to the featureless black sedan where Andy, my assistant, was waiting for me.

  Getting into the car, I settled myself then slammed the door shut behind me.

  As Andy pulled into the traffic, my thoughts drifted back to my little captive. I hadn’t seen her for the past couple of days, though my housekeeper had been giving me daily updates, which consisted of Imogen roaming around my house being bored, apparently.

  Too bad. Then again, Imogen kept asking my housekeeper questions which annoyed Mrs Jacobs because I’d forbidden her to answer them.

  I probably needed to give Imogen a few more things to do.

  You could think of a couple of things.

  I scowled at the traffic. Yeah, there were a lot of things I could think of for her to do. Particularly things involving a bed.

  Sadly, that wasn’t happening. I had to keep my eye on the big picture, that’s what I’d always been about. I couldn’t get obsessed with the details and, right now, Imogen White was merely a detail.

  Like your brothers were details?

  Shit, my brothers had never been details. No, I hadn’t been able to stop what had happened to them, not when I’d had to keep up the façade of the loyal first son to Dad, but it had been vital that Dad thought I was on his side. That way he wouldn’t see me working in the background to take him and his filthy empire down.

  Yes, Leon and Xander had got caught in the crossfire, but they were better now. They had the lives they’d always wanted and all because Dad was no longer in the picture.

  It had all been worth it in the end.

  My phone buzzed in my pocket.

  I hauled it out and looked down at the screen. Yet another call from White. Should I answer it this time or leave the prick to stew a little longer?

  I hit the answer button but didn’t say anything.
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  ‘King?’ White’s voice vibrated with fury. ‘You’d better be answering this time, you piece of—’

  ‘Are you ready to give me what I want?’ I interrupted. ‘Or am I going to have to disconnect yet again?’

  There was a silence, White evidently trying to get himself under control. ‘I’ll call the police. Tell them you have my daughter.’

  ‘No, you won’t. You can’t afford to have the police getting into your business and we both know it.’

  He muttered a curse. ‘I’m not leaving this city. It’s impossible.’

  ‘Then I’ll make sure your pure Princess isn’t so pure any more.’

  ‘You can’t. She won’t let you touch her.’

  I laughed. ‘Oh, you’d be surprised. She seems to quite like the idea.’

  ‘If you’ve even so much as—’

  ‘Relax, I haven’t done anything to her.’ Apart from a kiss, but that didn’t count. ‘Her virginity is quite safe.’

  ‘I’ve only got your word for that.’

  I watched the city moving past my window. ‘And my word is all you’ll get.’

  ‘The word of a King.’ He spat the words down the phone, my name dripping with contempt.

  ‘You respected my father’s,’ I said coldly. ‘You’ll respect mine.’

  ‘What makes you think I care enough about her virginity to pack up my life and go somewhere else anyway?’

  ‘Because you need it. Once she’s mine, she’ll be useless to you. And you don’t have anything else of value to get people on your side, do you?’

  ‘You have no idea—’

  ‘I’ve done my research, White. Believe me. You don’t have the finance, not these days. All you have is your daughter.’ I leaned back against the seat. ‘Except you don’t even have her now, do you? I could make her mine, get a couple of kids on her. What do you say to having a couple of King grandchildren, hmm?’

  ‘Fuck you.’ His voice was bitter. ‘I’ll leave and when you free her I’ll take her somewhere else. A new city. Melbourne, maybe.’

  ‘Fine. I don’t care where you go.’ And I didn’t. There was only one thing that mattered to me. ‘Just stay the fuck away from what’s mine.’