desire for Bliss: a novel of Sex, Mystery and Romance (RiverHart Book 2)

by Adira August

  "Shut up," the Pig grunted.

  "Okay, that's good," Nervous Guy said.

  Avia turned the doorknob and swung the door wide open, stepping into the room as if she was meeting friends for breakfast. She stopped and slowly rotated her body, to get a complete picture of where everyone was.

  She immediately identified Nervous Guy, he was hovering over a laptop screen set up on Ben's desk that had been dragged closer to the device she'd seen in her vision.

  "You know what's really nice in porn movies," Avia asked Nervous, smiling and cocking her head at him. "Twins."

  While the men in the room gaped at her, she let her glance slide over Talli. She was nude, slumped between two thugs who had her by the arms. They were both armed, one with the gun pointed at Talli's head.

  In front of Talli, was a huge man, naked, bald, covered with coarse black hair. Even his cock, flaccid but enormous, was half covered with thick hair.

  He looked her up and down and gave a snort. Pig. There were also two guys with cameras. And more guns.

  By the desk was a gum-chewing guy, Bored Guy? He seemed to be the prop master. Laid out were an assortment of dildoes, punishment implements and butt plugs.

  Avia kept moving, slowly, smoothly. She could see the shadow of another guard through the terrace doors.

  "What the fuck is this?" The man holding the gun to Talli's head said, looking around. Gravelly Voice.

  "Hey," she said, taking a step toward them, not looking at the hallway door behind them opening slowly. "I heard your boss say he wanted me to be in this movie. He seemed to have his heart set on it, you know."

  Ben edged silently into the room behind them. He looked at the terrace door. The shadow was yanked out of sight. Another replaced it. Taller. Ben nodded at her.

  "Besides, you don't want to see a bunch of stretch marks," she laughed and twisted, flirting, opening her blouse, flashing her exposed breasts at them, pushing her blouse behind her back.

  Ben said loudly, "You guys are trespassing."

  A lot of things happened then, most seemed to be in slow-motion.

  All the heads began turning toward Ben, most hands reaching for guns.

  Avia's right hand came back around her body, pointed at Gravelly, and his forehead sprouted a hole, at the hairline. He jerked his head back and fell, taking Talli with him, yanking her free of the other gunman.

  She heard a splintering and some popping sounds and saw Nervous dive for the floor.

  One of the cameramen went down with his gun half out of the holster. The gunman on the other side of Talli pointed at Ben. So did the prop man.

  Pig ran at Avia, roaring like a wild boar. Avia kept her sights on Talli's other gunman as she squeezed the trigger and a freight train ran her down. She felt something snap in her side and a searing pain when she fell underneath Pig, whose thick, hairy fingers closed around her throat.

  She was fighting for breath. Ben was falling in slow motion, Propman following him with his gun barrel lighting up, like it was spitting fireworks, over and over. Avia couldn't raise the Smith. It was gone.

  Then she didn't see anything at all. Ben …

  THURSDAY

  There was something minty and cool in her mouth. Wet. It felt wonderful. And there was a pain in her side. The minty thing was withdrawn and she whimpered, "More."

  It was back. Fresher. Wetter. Stroking her lips, inside her cheeks. "There," Talli said.

  Talli.

  Avia's eyes flew open. Talli grinned, tears in her eyes. Roland was hovering behind her. Talli put her finger to her lips in a shhhh gesture. She looked past Avia.

  Avia slowly turned her head to her right.

  There seemed to be a billionaire asleep on her bed. At least, his head and arms were on her bed. His right loose on her thigh, the other holding her hand as it lay on the cover. His face was turned away, his dark sable curls a riotous tangled mass.

  Tears. Tears ran and ran and ran. He's alive. Ben's alive.

  Slowly, not wanting to wake him, she looked back at Talli.

  "Hank?" Talli and Roland looked blank. "Eustace," Avia amended.

  Oh. "He'll be okay," Talli said." He's tough."

  "What?" What happened to Hank?

  Roland leaned over his wife's shoulder. "He was shot, honey. But he's gonna be okay. A bunch of great surgeons worked on him. And you're going to be fine, too."

  The pain in her side. "I was shot?"

  "Punctured a lung with a broken rib," Talli said.

  Avia would have nodded she understood but she was exhausted. She could feel herself start to drift. But first she had to know, "We got them?"

  Talli nodded. "All of them. Jailed or wounded. Six dead. Also the Leone guy in New York. Sleep. Don't worry."

  Avia complied. … do what I'm told … good girl … Ben …

  SATURDAY

  "I got Rolly to take him outside," Talli told Avia, who was sitting up, trying to eat some soup with a plastic spoon. "He's starting to to get zombie skin staying in here all day long."

  "When we all get out of here, let's make Ben take us someplace with a beach and warm sand and bright sun for a few days," Avia said.

  Talli rolled her eyes. "Don't you dare say that to him, he'll buy Hawaii for you or something." She munched on one of Avia's saltines. "You know that gift basket he left us at your place? It's got like, at least three-thousand dollars worth of stuff in it."

  A shadow passed over her face and her eyes filled.

  "Tal?" Avia asked, reaching for her sister's hand.

  "I can't. I can't even think about sex," she said wiping her eyes. "It's always been such a wonderful thing between us. … What if I never …?"

  "Have you told him, yet? Roland?"

  Talli shook her head. "Just that they never got around to raping me," she said.

  "They did rape you, Tal. They did everything but penetrate your vagina and anus. They did those things against your will. You were raped and it's a horrendous thing and you need to talk to someone."

  Talli sighed. "Just ... there was so much going on and they're all dead now, so it won't help …"

  Avia grabbed her phone and texted Ben.

  GET ERIN KENDALL HARLEY, M.D.

  4 TALLI 2 DAY

  "They don't get to win, Tal," Avia said fiercely. "Those worthless piece of shit motherfuckers do not get to win."

  MONDAY

  "They wouldn't let me in before." Hunter Dane leaned back against the wall, watching Avia cross the room with a walker. "I think your boyfriend bought the hospital."

  "Built the pediatric wing," she corrected him. "And filled it up with doctor toys. And some stuff for the kids, too. I thought I wasn't supposed to talk to you without a lawyer?"

  He shrugged. "D.A. isn't filing anything against any of you. Make my day law protects Hart, all of you. Criminal and civil. I'm not here to ask you anything, we got the tapes so …"

  "Video files," she corrected him. Avia had learned that Ben did record every Companion session. The cameras started automatically whenever the door was opened. She also learned he'd deleted her files the day after she'd met him and never made any others.

  "So why are you here?" She asked him. She maneuvered around in front of a visitor's chair. Hunter grabbed her upper arms, taking some of her weight, lowering her to sit.

  "Thanks," she said. "You sit, too, so I don't have to look up all the time."

  "You're bossy, you know that?" He dropped into another chair.

  "I do," she said. "I seem to have lost the ability to be politely deferential."

  "Yeah, I get that," he said. "How's the PTSD?"

  She shot him a look. "You've killed someone?"

  He nodded.

  "I dream about it. The whole thing. Being strangled by a monster. But … I don't feel bad," she said. "I thought I would."

  She looked out the big window at her side at the Front Range. "I'm so pissed, though. What a waste of life. I mean," she looked back at him. "Not from being killed by us
, but by what they did. They spent their time doing as much damage to the world as they possibly could."

  He nodded again.

  She sighed. "Are you going to tell me what happened? Is that why Ben let you in here?"

  "If you want to know," he said.

  She considered. "Have you stopped thinking Ben's some kind of criminal?"

  He smiled. "Yeah. They also record all incoming calls on the landlines. Gave us complete access to Salvatore Leone's. But - I checked him out before that; Hart seems like a pretty good guy."

  She nodded. "I'm thinking of marrying him."

  "Oh? He proposed while you're in here?"

  "No, it's just something I'm thinking about," she said. She sat up a little, wincing. "Okay. Tell me what happened."

  He took out a notebook. "It's a little complicated since everything went down so fast. It was basically a seventeen second fire fight."

  He looked through a couple pages. "You killed the guy holding the gun to your sister's head. That was the first gun kill. Nice shot, by the way," he looked up. "You were aiming at his head?" She nodded. "Why not body? A bigger target?"

  "It had to be a head shot. Body shot would make him seize up and he'd have squeezed the trigger and killed Tal. Head shot makes everything go limp."

  "That's right," He seemed impressed. "Hart and Eustace fired almost simultaneously. Hart took out one guy with a camera, Eustace took out the other. But they exchanged fire and Eustace was hit in the chest, as you know. So he's down."

  Dane turned a page. "Now it gets a little complicated. That naked guy you call Pig - looked like a werebear to me - anyway, he's moving toward you. The guy at the desk empties his magazine at Hart who dives for the floor, firing at the Pig. Lucky for Hart the desk guy was a crappy shot, put eight in the wall before Ramos took him down."

  "What?" She held a up a hand to stop him. "Hugo was there?"

  "Came in behind you. The doorway was directly across from the desk. He didn't even get through the doorway. Shot from inside the dressing room. Probably saved Hart's life."

  He smiled a little. "Impressive guy. Took it all in in a second and made a beeline for Eustace on the floor. I think he called 911 on the way. Shoved his hand in the wound to stop the bleeding. Saved Eustace, too."

  "Yeah, Hugo's an amazing man," she agreed. "But, who killed the Pig?"

  He looked back at his notebook."So, Pig's charging, you shoot the other asshole by Talia, Talia shoots the Pig, he crashed into-"

  "What!?" She leaned forward so fast, she cried out with the pain. He reached for her, but she held up a hand. "I really have to not do that again. … What do you mean, Talli shot the Pig? She fell down with the first guy I shot. She was all messed up."

  "Nah, she was faking it, waiting to make a move. Told me she was just about to do a gun take-away on the one you killed when you came sashaying through the door." He grinned at her. "You did, too, it was a hell of an act. You should come work with me," he said.

  "So when the guy went down, she went with him and grabbed the gun. By the time she turned around, you'd taken out the other guy and Werepig was reaching for your throat. She blasted him. Three in the body."

  "I can't believe Talli killed someone," she said.

  "Like I said, complicated. See, we're not sure who killed him. When he hit you, your gun went off, or maybe you meant to be firing. But your arm was pushed down and, you ended up putting two in his thigh. One went right through the femoral artery. One of Talia's went through his abdominal aorta. Talk about bleeding-"

  "-like a stuck pig," she finished. And then wondered at how cold she'd become.

  "Bled out on the floor in about a minute. Rescue chopper set down on Hart's helipad, got Eustace out of there. Took that Howie guy, too. He started vomiting blood. Perforated ulcer. He gave up Leone, answered every question. Usually before we asked."

  "So that's it," he shut the notebook.

  "Wait," she said, frowning. "There was a guy on the terrace."

  He looked a little uncomfortable. "Henry Eustace put a knife through his carotid before things started. Very quiet. We found the body next to an aloe vera planter." He held up his notebook. "You want their names? I can email you a list for your story. … Hey."

  His tone was surprisingly gentle and he knelt on the floor in front of her. Tears streamed down her face.

  "This happens now, sometimes," she said.

  Hunter grabbed the tiny box of tissues from her tray and handed them to her.

  "Yeah, it will for a while," he said.

  "You know, for an arrogant, conceited asshole, you aren't so bad," she said.

  He smiled. "For a pushy, overbearing bitch, neither are you."

  OCTOBER

  Avia's Journal

  1st Mon Oct

  on the terrace

  So, the Madigan trial was a bust. After they picked the jury and wrangled around behind the scenes, and the defense lost three pre-trial motions, they settled. Never presented a single witness. I guess that happened last week. I just heard about it from Carson who keeps asking when I'm coming back.

  Ben's running right now and I'm laying up in a deck chair, like always. Two blankets tucked around me, like always. Ben has this terror of me getting a cold. I'm doing ok, really. Hardly any pain unless I cough. Hence the blankets. Still not much stamina. Or ambition.

  The doctor asked me if I was depressed, but I think I just had a shift in my priorities. Or something.

  I like this journalling thing, I decided. No one judges me, here. Or calls me a hero or wants me to make a decision, or expects me to live up to anything.

  Ben doesn't run the whole track around the wall. He just runs back and forth along the part where he can keep me in sight. I like it. I like watching him. I can almost see him thinking.

  Then he comes back and works some more. Usually out here or we go into his office. You can hear the workmen, sometimes, from there, remodelling the Companion's room.

  It's amazing how much we love each other. He takes such good care of me, like nothing in the world could be more important than having them switch the pool from cold water and bleach to warm water and peroxide. It's therapeutic for me.

  I cling to him now, I know I do. Hunter says that'll fade. I email with Hunt, he's become a good friend. And I take care of Ben as well as I can. And it seems enough.

  We have all our meals up here. They get sent up in the dumbwaiters. Can't go down there, anymore. Too much crying.

  J.J. never did come to see me. She sent a big fruit basket. The Week did, really. That makes me cry, too. J.J., my best friend who just stopped being that. Just - done.

  Done.

  It's so weird. He survived Iraq. He survived being shot. There and here. He survived traumatic heart surgery.

  He was twenty-nine, I found out.

  We still haven't had sex. Not since Macau. Things were better, a lot better after I came home. That day, I was teasing him about something and he said I wasn't too sick to spank and he called me "Sub." Then the phone rang.

  It was Hugo who had to decide to end life support. They were married. I was so surprised. I always pictured Hugo with a sweet chubby wife and a houseful of children. It's the writer thing, imagining lives for other people. Hugo keeps working. His hair's more white. I know it can't be, yet, but it is.

  Stroke. It's what Ben always called the hits in a punishment. Punishment is just what this feels like. I wish I could have thanked him for trusting me. For handing me his gun. For saving us.

  Dear God, I wish there was some fucking light in the world.

  DECEMBER

  They were in the Great Hall having breakfast at a small table near the windows. Avia wanted to watch it snow. It was a picturesque snowfall, fat flakes swirling gently, meandering down to lie still and perfect and the white blanket below.

  She had a big mug of coffee and hot chocolate, Berthe had started making it in large batches for everyone once Avia had dared to suggest something new. She also had juice and
oatmeal with blueberries stirred in. Alma had turned her on to it. It didn't need sugar, the berries were so sweet.

  Ben had coffee. Berthe made him some sort of protein drink in the mornings and that and coffee were all he ever had. He wasn't watching the snow, he was watching her. He loved to watch her eat. It had made her self-conscious at first, but she'd come to accept it was one of his pleasures. She wanted to give him pleasure any way she could.

  They were still not having sex.

  Things had gotten better, especially since Thanksgiving. Ben's parents, sisters, brother and their families had descended the week before. It was something of a tradition for him. Talli and Roland and the boys and her mom joined them. There were nieces and nephews and the big house was packed with people and the kitchen staff seemed to love cooking for them all and didn't mind the children who gravitated toward the cheer and activity, asking to help.

  Avia wanted to know Ben's family, so one night at dinner, she announced the kitchen staff should be at home with their families for the holiday, and she would head chef Thanksgiving dinner if she could get a few volunteers. The few turned out to be everybody.

  Somehow, it worked. Ben made sure there was plenty of drink in the house for all the age groups, putting sparkling cider into crystal champagne flutes to the delight of the children. Everyone made their "specialty" - which meant they had three kinds of sweet potatoes and two kinds of cranberry sauce and ham and turkey and garlic spinach as well as squash soup and a wide variety of stuffings. The pies were epic.

  Avia stayed up with Talli the night before and they decorated the Hall and arrange the tables and put out centerpieces. Talli told her that she and Roland had finally started exploring the gift basket Ben gave them, much to the delight of them both. She was glowing and Avia suddenly felt the weight and warmth of a baby in her arms.