DARK: A DARK BILLIONAIRE ROMANCE (The Boyne Club Book 1)

by Vi Carter

  Getting out, I dry off and re-dress in a fresh black suit. I’ve left the other one in the fireplace. Lighting a match, I throw it in on top of it and watch my clothes burn. Dialing Linda again proves unfruitful. Something was wrong.

  I make my way to the club and make sure I keep to the back of it. Cara isn’t on the floor, but she would be in the club today. I check Linda’s office, it’s unlocked. Everything is in perfect order. Stepping around her desk, I check a notepad that’s opened on her desk. It’s a list of club duties. Sitting in her chair I pull out the first drawer, nothing only stationary is in it. I ring her mobile again, putting it on loudspeaker as I continue to search her desk. The phone rings out and goes to voicemail.

  “Linda it’s Gerald. Where are you?” Hanging up, I sit back in the chair and look around the office. There’s nothing here that could tell me where she is. Linda never put up a picture. Why would she? She didn’t have anyone. I didn’t think she ever would. I didn’t think either of us would ever have the normal type of life that deep down we both craved.

  I’d met Linda a year after I found Jake. Her father wasn’t around and her mother hadn’t cared. Linda wasn’t the most open person. So when I’d found her bleeding and crying down an alleyway, she’d fought me. But I recognized her type of pain when I saw it. She’d been passed from one man to another and after years she had fought back. The result was her being left to die in an alleyway. She always reminded me of a feral dog. She wanted someone to take care of her but she made it so hard. Getting out of her office chair, I take one final look around her office before I return to the club. I sink further into the darkened corners. Cara’s on stage and my whole body comes alive watching her. She curls her body around the pole and I want her on top of me, just like last night.

  “My name is Cara.” Her words echo in my ear. My eyes skim the room and I see two men watching her. My skin feels tight again and I pull at my shirt. I need to leave. Outside I call Linda again.

  “Answer your phone,” I bark, while hoping that Linda gets the voicemail. I enter the house but don’t go to my quarters. Sometimes Linda spends her time in the tea rooms, organizing parties. The moment I step in, I regret it. Mary waves at me eagerly. She must have been waiting for Linda. Another table of women watch me. I’m ready to leave, but Mary is out of her seat. I meet her halfway across the floor.

  “We can’t seem to find Lady Linda.”

  “She’s out sick,” I say to Mary.

  Mary’s eyebrows rise. “She really should have informed us. Me and the girls are waiting to discuss a very important party.”

  Every party to Mary was important.

  “She should be back to work tomorrow.”

  “But we are already here.” She points at the group of women who watch us. When I look at them, they wave and smile.

  “I do apologize, Mary. But I have to return to work.”

  She pulls her chin into her chest and leans back while narrowing her eyes. “Why do I feel like I’m being dismissed?”

  Because you are.

  “Absolutely not. I do apologize and I’m sure Lady Linda will compensate you.”

  “She has a lot of compensating to do for me. She’s really letting things slip.”

  I nod. “I apologize once again.” I turn and leave before she can continue talking.

  I leave the house and get my car from the garage.

  “Simon, I found Linda, and she’s sick.”

  “Ah, no. Hope she gets better soon.” Simon’s tone doesn’t suggest any such thing and I wonder if he has anything to do with her disappearance. I rule it out. He’s just a bartender.

  “Yes, me too. But in the meantime. You’re in charge.” I slide into the car and switch on the engine. “Tell Candy she is to oversee things with the girls and you keep an eye overall. Ring me if you have any problems.”

  “No problem. I will run this ship tightly.”

  “Don’t run away with yourself, Simon. It’s a few hours.” I reverse out of the garage and hang up on Simon. I ring Linda four more times as I drive to her house. She lives on the outskirts of Slane. She shares a small bungalow with another girl. I’ve never been inside her home, but I often dropped her off at home after work. I don’t see her car as I pull up.

  I ring the doorbell three times before her roommate answers.

  “Hi…” The brunette who answers the door smiles at me. “Mr. Norris,” she says.

  I had no idea what her name was. “I’m looking for Linda.”

  Her smile slowly dissolves. “Linda doesn’t live here. She hasn’t in months.” Her brows pull down in confusion. “Is she okay? I thought she moved in with you.”

  I force a smile. “She’s great and yes she did move in with me, but she left her phone at home and I was worried.”

  Her roommate's smile is back. “I always said that to her, you were one of the good guys.”

  I smile. What the hell was Linda playing at?

  “I’m sorry I couldn’t be more helpful.”

  “If she drops by just tell her I’m looking for her,” I say stepping off the front porch.

  “I will, Mr. Norris.”

  I get back into the car and ring Linda again. “I was just at your house. The one you don’t live in anymore. You have a lot of explaining to do.” I hang up and wave at her ex roommate who’s still at the door smiling at me.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  HER

  “I’ve been asked to escort you back to your room.” There is an awkwardness in Simon’s voice. He rocks on his feet, while stuffing his hands in his black jean pockets.

  “By who?” I fold my arms over my chest. I hadn’t seen Linda all day, and I had wondered if something had happened. “Linda?” I quiz.

  Simon flicks his head, moving his hair out of his brown eyes. “Yes, Linda.” Simon sounds unsure, but I just nod.

  What did it matter? “Okay. I’m ready.”

  He narrows his eyes at my outfit. “You’re going outside in that?”

  I had never been outside. Linda took me through back doors and hidden halls. “No. I’ll show you.”

  Once we leave the club, my hearing takes some time to adjust. “This way.” I open a door to the left of a coat rack. You would never have known a door existed as it’s covered in the same wallpaper that’s on the walls.

  “This is cool.” Simon’s comment confirms my suspicions. That these hallways are only used by Linda.

  “It must have been used by servants,” I say as I keep my arms folded over my chest. Being down here with Simon makes me feel uneasy. I’d never really thought of my surroundings before, with Linda. I never felt unsafe. The light only casts a dim shadow along the wooden hallway. Once we reach the door at the end, we step out into a much brighter hall.

  “Down this way.” I point to the end of the hall.

  “You live here?” Simon looks at me with bright eyes and glances back at the hallway, with its large frames and stunning finishes.

  “Kind of.” I wouldn’t say live here, but I didn’t know Simon, so I wasn’t going to divulge what I was doing here. We reach my room and my stomach tightens as I twist the handle. When I turn, Simon is right behind me trying to get a look into my room.

  “This is me,” I say.

  He glances at me. “See you tomorrow.”

  I give a tight smile before closing the door. I count to twenty with a pounding heart. I haven’t released the door knob and I turn it slowly and pull, but the door doesn’t open. I didn’t think Simon locked me in. The door must automatically lock itself.

  I step into my room and start to take off my ‘work clothes’. The lights go out, and my heart does a dance that I am starting to associate with the arrival of Gerald. I turn to the bedroom door, hoping to see him when he enters. I wait for what feels like an eternity.

  “Hello.” His husky voice comes from behind me. Had he been in my room the whole time? Was that weird? This whole situation was weird.

  “How did you get into my room?�
�� I ask, turning around and facing more darkness.

  “The same way I come into your room every time.”

  Now that I think about it, I never recall him coming in through the bedroom door. I was always too afraid to notice things like that.

  “What do you want?” My body is already humming with the idea of his hands on me, his cock inside me.

  I tighten my thighs as I hear him remove his clothes. I want to remove mine too, but I’m not brave enough. There is a small voice in my mind telling me not to allow this to happen, that this was wrong. But in the disguise of the darkened room, I was going to pretend that I had asked him to come to my room. His large hands touch my shoulders and slowly make a burning path down my arms, pulling the straps of my suit with it. I don’t stop him as he removes my clothes. The part that Linda had said about taking control rises inside me. I needed to take control, or I wasn’t sure what would happen. My hands touch his solid chest and it reminds me how big he is. How strong he is, how much stronger than me could he be?

  I let my hands roam down and he stops me. “Hit me.”

  “What?” My voice shakes.

  “I said hit me,” his words brush my face and I take a step back.

  “No.”

  He moves quickly, his hands sinking into my hair. “I said hit me. If you don’t…”

  I strike out and hit his chest and he releases my hair. My body temperature rises and I’m all too aware that I’m naked.

  “Harder,” his voice is rough and anger laces through it.

  I want to say no, I don’t want to hit him, but his silent threat that he didn’t finish lingers in the room.

  My hand’s slap against his chest and the noise of skin hitting skin has me wanting to apologize.

  “If you don’t hit me,” his voice rises.

  My body reacts. My hand connects with his face, no doubt leaving a mark. His large hands are on me, pushing me, and I can’t see. Each time I stumble he catches me. I swing and connect with his shoulder. My back hits the wall and he spins me around so I’m facing it, his body smashing up behind me.

  “Try to hit me now.” His harsh words brush my ear, but he has me pinned. I can’t move. His knee pushes my legs apart and he maneuvers himself until I can feel his large erection at my opening.

  “Let me go now.” Panic claws at my throat as his body keeps me pinned.

  He removes his cock and I think it’s all over before he slips two fingers inside me. “You don’t want me to let you go. You’re turned on.”

  Was I? I had no idea what was happening to me.

  His fingers rub against my lips, my tongue flicks out on reflex and I taste myself. “You taste that?” He pushes me painfully against the wall and I struggle for a moment.

  “Yes,” I shout angrily and he laughs in my ear. It isn’t a nice laugh. His knee jerks my legs again, making me spread them further. He maneuvers himself once again at my opening. The tip enters easily and I feel such a sense of betrayal.

  “Your pussy wants me.”

  I want nothing more than to push him away. He enters me fully now, and I gasp as he pulls out and starts to slam into me. This time is different from all the others. There is a savagery in his movements. My pleasure mingles with pain, but pain this time takes over as I tighten my eyes and wait for it to end. It does quickly and only with his release. His sweat trickles onto my back.

  “You’ll soon learn to do as you’re told.” He takes himself out of me gently. It’s such a contradiction to his words.

  “You must feel so powerful Gerald.” I don’t move even as he releases me from the wall. I stay against the wall as tears trickle down my face.

  He doesn’t answer, and I hate the silence now.

  “Do you get off on hurting people?” I ask the darkness. He won’t answer, but he is still there.

  “What? Did someone hurt you?” I want to understand this madness. I had no sympathy for him, but I didn’t think one human being could be so cruel to another without a reason.

  He still won’t answer, and I push away from the wall as salty tears enter my mouth. “Why won’t you answer me?” I feel drained now and the fight leaves me, the pain between my legs returns.

  “You like when I take you,” his words come from the darkness, but they are enough to start a fire in me.

  “Fuck you.”

  His laughter startles me. It’s loud and fills the room.

  “So full of anger.” I can still hear the laughter in his voice.

  “You took me… and made me…” I trail off, my stomach twisting painfully.

  “Your father gave me you and I made you do nothing. Your anger has got nothing to do with me.”

  The burn is immediate to the back of my throat and eyes. “I want to go,” I finally say as tears drip off my chin.

  “What about your father?” He’s closer now. Yet, I hadn’t heard him move.

  “Should I really care if you kill him or not?” I wasn’t sure who I was asking the question to.

  “Do you want me to kill him?” His question sounds so serious that it makes me really consider it.

  My father had sold me to this man who took my virginity, who has me pole dancing, and locked in a room. Anger bubbles in my stomach and burns the back of my throat like acid.

  “No,” I whisper while I slowly slide down the wall and sit on the ground. I didn’t want my father dead, and right now I felt the damage was really and truly done to me. I didn’t recognize myself anymore. This person who enjoyed sex with people she couldn’t see. I had participated in so much. I told myself it’s to stay sane, if I face the reality I won’t last long here. I needed to survive, and Linda had said control was how I survived.

  “Where’s Linda? Have you hurt her?” I ask from the ground while pulling my knees into my chest.

  He exhales loudly and I’m starting to wonder why he is still here.

  “No, I didn’t hurt her. Did your father hurt you?”

  His question once again startles me. He seems to be doing that a lot tonight. “Like the way you do?”

  I can hear him moving, I’m searching the darkness. “Why won’t you let me see you?” I ask, but I know he won’t answer me.

  “Does your father put his hands on you?”

  It’s my turn to laugh now. “You sound angry Gerald.” He did, which pissed me right off. “Like someone might have played with your toy.” I’m shouting again. I feel like I’m losing my mind.

  “I am. You’re mine.” He must be right in front of me. So close. His words confuse me. He sounds almost like he’s fond of me.

  “Leave me alone,” I tell the darkness. I sit for a while and I can hear his movements before something clicks and I know that I’m alone well before the lights come on.

  ***

  I’m left alone until the next night. I’m walking a path in front of my bed when the door opens. The relief I feel at seeing Linda isn’t normal. She looks a mess, but she’s alive. She just looks like she had a wild night.

  “Are you ready?” She won’t meet my eyes and I pause.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yes. Are you ready?” She sounds pissed and I’m sick of being locked in this room, so I follow her out the door. She doesn’t speak but I feel her watching me, which is odd. Each time I glance at her, she looks away. Once we reach the club, I pause at the door.

  “Are you okay?” I know we weren’t friends, but I could feel how distressed she is.

  Her head snaps up to me and her eyes shimmer. Seeing her display such emotion has fear crawling across my skin.

  “No. Something, there’s something I need to tell you.”

  I’m holding my breath, and I can’t even begin to think what she wants to tell me.

  “Is this why you weren’t here yesterday?” I ask, taking a step towards her.

  She exhales loudly and her phone rings. Taking it out of her pocket she stares at the caller ID then at the door of the club before she answers.

  “I’ll be in�
� what?” Linda takes the phone away from her face and opens the club door.

  “What’s wrong?” I ask, but she doesn’t answer me. I follow her to the changing rooms. I can hear the chaos before we enter.

  “She isn’t breathing.” Candy’s on her knees leaning over Wendy whose body is still, too still. Linda doesn’t hesitate but moves beside Candy and places her head over Wendy’s mouth. She checks her neck for a pulse.

  I can’t seem to react as Linda starts to do CPR on Wendy. Candy’s cries are the only sound in the changing room as the rest of the girls, who I don’t know, stand around and just wait.

  “Cara.” Linda doesn’t turn around as she calls me, but I’m right beside her in seconds.

  “I need you to take over compressing her chest when I tell you.”

  I want to say no.

  I nod and when Linda breathes into Wendy’s mouth, she looks at me. “Okay start.”

  I do, I keep the pumping motion going for as long as Linda tells me.

  “Candy, go get Damien now.”

  Candy leaves and it feels like the circle of girls shuffles closer around us.

  “Stop.” Linda listens closely. Her smile of relief is instant. “She’s breathing.”

  A few girls exhale a sob of relief too.

  “What happened?” Damien, who I recognize from the oak doors, looks down at Wendy. He isn’t overly alarmed. The more I stare at him, the more unsettled I feel. He seems so unaffected at seeing Wendy on the floor.

  “I need to get her to a hospital. Shut the club down.”

  All the girls start chattering at once. I hear one ask what about pay. When my eyes clash with hers, she stands a bit taller. “I still got to eat.” She defends her callous remark. She fades out as all the voices mesh together. It’s seconds before the space is cleared out. Linda’s gone with Wendy and Candy follows too.

  I enter the club. The lights are on, half glasses of alcohol sit on nearly every table. The place must have been packed. Damien steps back into the club as I wander through the empty space moving chairs back into place as I go. Simon is behind the bar, clearing glasses. When he notices my approach, he smiles.