Billionaires and Bad Boys: The Complete 7-Book Box Set

by Nikki Chase

  I speed-dial Anthony using the buttons on the steering wheel. “Code yellow. Alice. You know what to do.”

  “Now?” Anthony asks.

  “Yes. ASAP. I’ll be gone until tomorrow because there’s an emergency, but I want this taken care of right away.”

  “Yes, Seth. Anything else?”

  “Nothing else for now.”

  “Okay.” Anthony hangs up. I like how he doesn't waste any time with unnecessary greetings.

  I need to move quickly before Alice tells her sister she's coming to Seattle.

  After all the work I’ve put into making her quit her job and end her lease herself, it wouldn’t be funny if she just tells her sister over a text that something’s terribly wrong.

  Alice is staying, whether she wants to or not.

  She's trapped with me now.

  Alice

  “Anthony? What are you doing here?” I fold my arms over my chest and glare at the man. He's crouching by the nightstand.

  My nightstand. In my bedroom. Which I never let him into.

  “I’m sorry,” he says.

  As he stands up, I notice the phone in his hand. My phone. I am completely, entirely sure that's my phone, because there are pink cartoon donuts and cupcakes all over the case. It looks ridiculously tiny in Anthony’s big, hairy hand.

  The man has got some explaining to do. He's the biggest, meanest-looking man I know, but I stand in the open doorway to block his path with my relatively puny body.

  “Is that my phone?” I ask, even though I already know it is.

  Anthony bends down to meet my stare, resting his hands on his thighs. His brown eyes look sad.

  “I’m sorry, Alice. It has to be done.” He puts his hands on my upper arms.

  “Hey! Get your hands off me!”

  Instead of letting me go, Anthony spins me around until I'm inside my bedroom and he's in the doorway.

  “Hey! Give me back my phone!” I struggle, but his hands are like a vice, locking me in place.

  As soon as he lets me go, Anthony slams the door shut.

  “Hey!” I grab the door handle and try to turn it, but all it does is make metallic rattling sounds. Try as I might, the white wooden door wouldn't budge. I thump on it. “Anthony! What do you think you're doing?”

  I hear no answer from outside; only footsteps of a big, heavy man moving further and further away.

  “Damn it!” I slam my fist on the door as hard as I can, and immediately regret it. A sharp pain invades my knuckles. “Ouch!”

  I pull my hand back and blow on it.

  Why did Anthony just do that?

  Seth has loads of money and, as far as I can tell, has no problem using it to compensate his staff well. Surely a trusted man like Anthony enjoys good pay. He shouldn't need to steal phones.

  Although, who’s to say he has to be in some desperate situation to resort to stealing? Maybe he just wants some extra beer money.

  Wait. He said something weird, didn't he?

  It has to be done.

  What the hell does that even mean?

  What has to be done? The theft of my phone? Locking me in my own room?

  Why does it have to be done? Because Anthony needs money? Because he needs some time to run away after stealing my phone?

  It makes zero sense. Why would he risk his job for a phone that's only worth a few hundred dollars on Craigslist?

  What the hell is going on?

  I was about to start searching for flights to Seattle on my phone, but I guess that's not happening now.

  God, what do I do now?

  The house is always quiet. I don't really see anyone other than Seth, Alejandra, Anthony, Ana, and the few women who clean the house, none of whom speak much English. Of course there are also the security guys outside…

  Wait, that's it!

  Someone's bound to come along, right?

  It's not like I’m going to die of starvation and slowly rot in here. It's just a matter of time until someone lets me out, so there's no need to panic.

  I scan the room. My eyes land on my notebook full of recipes, lying on the same nightstand my stolen phone was on.

  I know!

  I cross the room to get the notebook and the pen on top. I tear out two pages. I write the same message on both pieces of paper. I slide one under the door and stick the other one on the window with some sticky tape. I check the window for some way for me to sneak out through it, but it only opens a few inches; there's no way I’d fit.

  Oh, well. It's okay. It won't be long until someone walks through the hallway right outside my door or passes my window from the outside. Then, they’ll come let me out after reading the message I’ve written:

  HELP!! LET ME OUT!!

  “Alice?” Emily leans in until her face is hovering just inches over my face.

  I frown at her. What is she doing?

  “Are you okay?” She looks concerned.

  Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?

  “Well, no particular reason. It's just, you don't look okay.”

  Why would I not look okay? How do I look?

  “You look fine. It's not that.”

  Wait. I didn't say those questions out loud, so how did Emily know what I was thinking?

  The room starts to spin, and I hear a rhythmic sound, like the beating of a tribal drum. The room spins faster and the beats grow louder and everything whirls together into some kind of psychedelic mess.

  Then, silence.

  “Alice?”

  Who's calling me? Emily?

  “Alice?”

  No, not Emily. Someone else.

  “Alice?”

  She speaks with a thick accent… Ana!

  I will myself awake.

  More knocking on the door. My bedroom door. In Seth’s mansion.

  I remember where I am now, and what’s happening. I need to get out of here.

  “Alice?”

  “Ana!” I sit bolt upright and call out. “Ana, are you there?”

  “Yes,” she says softly from outside the door. “Are you okay?”

  “Yes! Ana, could you let me out?” I crouch on the carpet by the door. I can see the shadows of Ana’s feet.

  “No.”

  “What?” I must've heard wrong. It must be the old language barrier. “Ana, you have to open the door for me. I’m trapped in here!”

  “Sorry, Alice. I have to go now.” I hear her get up and take a step back.

  “Wait, Ana!”

  “I can't stay,” she says under her breath. “I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

  “Ana, listen. Anthony stole my phone, and then he locked me in here. Can you open the door for me, please? I need to get out.”

  “Sorry,” Ana says. Her footsteps are light as she walks away.

  What the hell? Can people stop apologizing to me and just tell me what's going on?

  Why am I being locked up? Who is locking me up, and why? If Anthony is acting alone, then why wouldn't Ana help me get out? If they're both in it, then… But… But that doesn't make any sense! Why would they work together to lock me up here? What's in it for them? A crappy used phone?

  I sit my butt down on the floor and massage my temples. My head hurts from all the questions swimming in my mind.

  I might also be feeling faint from having missed dinner. It's dark outside the window but, without my phone, I can't tell what time it is.

  My stomach rumbles. I thought I was never going to go hungry ever again, especially after taking this job. But for the first time in a long time, I’m actually worried about starvation.

  I chuckle to myself. Serves me right for going home with the handsome stranger. I totally violated the rules of stranger danger.

  On the bright side, I won't be dying any time soon. Thanks to the ensuite bathroom, at least I have drinking water.

  I decide it's probably still too early to throw furniture at the window to shatter the glass. No, I’ll reserve that for later, if things get any wor
se.

  Maybe Anthony threatened poor Ana, and someone else will let me out in the morning.

  Seth

  Turns out it’s quite hard to unlock and open a door with one hand. With some difficulty, I finally manage to swing the door open, balancing the plate on one hand.

  Alice stirs in her bed because of the noises I’m making. I stand by the door, staring at her. She looks so beautiful and vulnerable. Her blonde hair is a tangled mess, and her eyes don't focus. She hasn't had a chance to put her guard up yet.

  She blinks a few times as she comes back to reality.

  I wonder how she feels when she realizes where she is and what's happening. Is she in denial, or is she realistic? Is she regretful? Or angry, maybe? Does she hate me?

  “Finally!” She exclaims when she sees me. “It's about time someone opened the door.”

  I guess she hasn't quite figured out what's really going on. I take a seat on the edge of her bed, resisting the urge to reach out and touch her. This friendliness is not going to last long.

  “You’re not going to believe what happened yesterday,” she says.

  I bet I’m going to, actually.

  “You must be hungry,” I say, handing her the bowl. “Eat something first.”

  I look out the window. It’s already starting to get dark outside. From what Anthony told me, I’m guessing Alice hasn’t eaten for twenty-four hours.

  Alice sits up cross-legged on the bed and takes the bowl. She frowns as she studies the spaghetti carbonara.

  “This looks really familiar,” she says as she sniffs the pasta.

  “It should be. It's one of your recipes.” I pause when she gives me a confused look and quickly add, “Found it online.”

  “Strange. I could've sworn I never gave this recipe to the food bloggers.”

  I shrug.

  What am I supposed to say? That she taught me the recipe herself in person at a workshop in prison?

  She's going to be freaking out in a few minutes. It's probably best to keep the scary details to a minimum.

  Alice twirls the fork and lifts it to her mouth. She pauses to chew and says, “It’s actually really good.”

  “Good.”

  “Who made this? Ana?” Alice takes another mouthful and actually moans a little, making my cock stir in my pants.

  “I did, actually.” I watch as she widens her eyes and stares at me incredulously.

  “Are you serious?”

  “Yeah.”

  “You’re not pulling my leg right now, are you?”

  “No. I don’t joke about food.” I smirk.

  “Yeah, me neither.” She giggles and continues to attack the pasta. “This is serious. It’s seriously good stuff, Seth.”

  “Thanks. It’s your recipe. Really, you’re complimenting yourself right now.”

  She laughs. “The secret to my recipe is the bits of bacon. But you took it to another level by substituting bacon with pancetta. This is gourmet now.”

  “I can afford good ingredients.” I shrug. It’s hardly revolutionary. The dish tasted just as good with bacon, back when I had no money to splurge on food.

  Alice’s recipes have helped me get through many difficult days. She gave real, practical tips for whipping up good meals with cheap ingredients, knowing many inmates were going to find themselves in financial trouble when they got out.

  This carbonara is one of my go-to recipes, especially when I was struggling—it reminded me there were still good things in the world to enjoy, no matter how bleak things seemed.

  “Okay, I’m full now. And I really enjoyed learning about your cooking prowess,” she says as she puts the bowl on the nightstand. “But we need to talk about Anthony and Ana.”

  There it is. Here we go. She won’t look at me the same way ever again.

  “So, Anthony stole my phone yesterday and locked me up here.”

  I take a deep breath and exhale. I thought I knew how I was going to deliver the news, but I don’t. Not really.

  “And then, Ana came here and didn’t want to let me out!” Alice’s voice gets louder and she speaks more quickly as she gets more excited. “I told her I was locked up here, and she just walked away! I don’t know what is up with them, but something weird is going on.”

  I remain quiet, hoping she’ll keep talking. But her story is over.

  “Seth, you heard me, right?” She looks at me, expecting some kind of reaction.

  “Yeah.”

  She grows silent, sensing something amiss in my lack of response.

  “What’s going on, Seth?” Alice asks.

  “It was me,” I admit.

  “What do you mean?” Her eyebrows are furrowed. Confusion is etched into her pretty features.

  “I told them to stop you from leaving.” I brace myself for her anger, which would be completely justified.

  “What? Why would you do that?” Alice raises her voice.

  “I can’t tell you everything, but it’s dangerous out there.”

  “What? What does that even mean?” She runs her angry fingers through the tangles of her messy blonde hair. “Is it because I wanted to go to Seattle?”

  “You can say that.”

  “Jesus, you don’t want me to go, so you lock me up like some kind of a prisoner?” She glares at me, shooting sharp pain straight into my heart. She asks, “Why would you even do that? I was going to come back in one week!”

  “That’s one week too long. I told you, it’s dangerous out there for you.”

  “We’re…” She narrows her eyes at me. “We’re not talking about… It’s not just because you’re afraid of flying, is it?”

  “What? Of course not!” I recoil at the thought of taking away someone’s freedom just because of an irrational fear. I have a valid concern here.

  “Then tell me why it’s dangerous out there,” she demands.

  “There are people who want to hurt you. That’s all I can say on the subject.”

  “What? Who? Who would want to hurt me? I’m nowhere near important enough for that kind of craziness to happen in my life.”

  “Just believe me,” I say. I can’t reveal more without putting her in more danger.

  “Believe you? Believe you?” The pitch of Alice’s voice gets higher and higher until it almost hurts my ears. “Let me get this straight. You lured me here, promising me ridiculously high pay for an easy, relaxing job. Sure, you’re very particular about your food, and you have a lot of money, but hiring one person just to cook for you alone? You have to admit that’s nuts. I can forgive that, though. Maybe you’re just a weirdo with too much money.”

  I meet her eyes, even if the way she glowers at me makes my chest hurt. I deserve this outpouring of anger. It’s my punishment.

  “And then, you told me I could go to Seattle to visit my pregnant sister. But the next thing I know, a big, burly man was in my room, going through my stuff, taking away my phone. What the hell?

  “Now, you’re telling me you were the one who ordered him to lock me up, and I’m supposed to believe you?”

  “What can I say?” I look her in the eye, hoping I can convey the gravity of the situation somehow. “It has to be done. It’s not safe out there for you.”

  “You keep saying that, but you don’t tell me why, which means that it’s all bullshit!” Her face grows red with frustration. She takes a few deep breaths and regains her composure. In a calmer voice, she says, “You’re the last person I’d believe.”

  “Fair enough.” I inhale deeply, trying to ease the stabbing pain in my chest. I’m only trying to help her, but it’s fine if she wants to attack me for it.

  “That’s all you have to say for yourself?”

  “Yeah.”

  “There’s nothing else you want to tell me?”

  “No.” I pause. “I’m just sorry they didn’t give you anything to eat last night. I forgot to tell them to. I thought they would’ve known to send you something. Sorry, I was busy. I made you something as soon as
I realized you hadn’t eaten.”

  “That’s all you have to apologize for? For not giving me any food? What about for locking me up, huh? For taking away my phone? This is criminal, what you’re doing.” Alice flips open her blanket and gets up on her feet. Her hands get more animated as she speaks. “You’re taking away my freedom, which you have no right to do. And you’re taking away my property, which—guess what?—you also have no right to do!”

  “I told you. I’m only trying to keep you safe.”

  “Oh, so I’m supposed to thank you now, for giving me food and shelter, so I don’t die?”

  “You don’t have to thank me if you don’t want to,” I say, exhausted. I’ve been under too much stress this past twenty-four hours. I haven’t slept at all, and I went into a frenzy when I got home and realized they had practically starved Alice. The pressure in my head is building, causing my temples to throb.

  “Hey, if this is how you run things, Seth, I quit!” Alice is yelling by now, her voice loud and shrill.

  “You can quit being my personal chef if you want,” I say as I stand up and walk toward the door. “But you’re not leaving.”

  “If you think you’re locking me up in here again, you’re wrong!” Alice dashes toward the door and pulls the handle before I can close it.

  I let the door swing open. “I was just closing the door in case you wanted to rest. I’m not going to lock you up again. You can go wherever you want within the premises.”

  Alice

  I watch helplessly as Seth walks away, my whole body shaking in anger.

  What the hell just happened?

  I want to run toward Seth and pummel him until he tells me everything and lets me go. Hell, I’d settle for letting me go at this point. I’d walk away and never look back, but only after reporting him to the authorities.

  But I know that’s not going to work. I’m a tough woman, sure. I’ve survived lots of hardship in my life and I’ve struggled to get to where I am in life.

  I’m strong, but not in that way. There’s no way I can bring enough physical pain to a big, muscular man like Seth to make him do anything he doesn’t want to do.