Filthy Desires: A Romantic Suspense Collection

by Parker, Kylie

  “So you’ve just been stringing me around and driving a wedge between Éclair and I, what, because you wanted to run your own company so that you could compete with your sister?” I shake my head in disbelief at this woman’s absurdity. I grit my teeth at her, “You know all that shit is password protected. There is no way my bank is going to let you transfer the amount of money you need to-”

  “Let’s see, password protected,” Sylvia, err, Suzette, sings, “Password hint: first pet. Let’s see…. You told me that one! Bagel –your dad’s stupid dog that you just loved, right? Let’s see if that works… what do you know!” she smiles up at me. “You think I haven’t already slipped all of these password hints into our conversations? Lookie there, it’s asking for another one. Password hint: childhood best friend. Rodney, right? The guy you told me about that Eddie couldn’t’ stand? Awe –look that one worked too.”

  Conniving little bitch. “Well your plan is not going to work,” I say, “my company is not for sale, so even if you have the money-”

  “Well, when the owner of Shattered turns up dead like his big brother, someone is going to have to take over,” she puts the laptop aside, the transaction having already been made. She reaches down for the baseball bat and comes over to me.

  “Sylvia-” I say longingly, hoping that she senses the desperation in my tone.

  “Suzette,” she says and then starts swaying the bat at her side, “Do you have any idea how hard it was playing the part of your perfect little angel? It took months of following you around to prepare me for the role –to figure out what you liked. It sure did help that you had been crushing on my modelling job for so long.” She rubs her eyes, “Damn these things!” she removes her contacts, revealing big purple eyes just like Éclair’s. They look creepy on her.

  I pull at the zip-ties, but I don’t think I’m going to be able to break free. “Suzette,” I say, correcting myself, “You’re telling me that all of this was fake? Nothing about what we had was real?”

  She just laughs at me. “You really thought this was a match made in heaven, didn’t you? News flash, James, relationships are not ever that easy.”

  I feel as though my stomach and chest have swapped place –if that makes sense. I just feel out of whack. Betrayed. Disappointed. And a little heart broken. Oh, God, Éclair! If what Suzette is saying is true and Éclair had nothing to do with this, she’s never going to forgive me. “So what’s your plan now?” I ask.

  “I’m going to beat the shit out of you like I did to Eddie, but this time I’m going to make sure you stay dead the first time around,” before I have time to doubt that this tiny woman could have possibly have taken down my older brother, she swings the bad into my shoulder, and I swear my arm is broken.

  “Mother fucker!” I shout and attempt to bounce out of the chair, but all I do is knocked myself and the chair over onto my side which hurts like hell with my arms wrapped around the back and tied. I suppose I just always assumed some big guy had taken down Eddie, but one would have thought being surrounded by extremely athletic women like Éclair and Suzette I would have not jumped the gun on that one. Nope, I just assumed a woman wouldn’t get her hands dirty like this. She had probably come up on Eddie and knocked him in the head like she had done me –except she had probably not waited around for him to wake up to finish the job.

  I’m not really sure what hurts worse –finding out that this woman I had completely fallen for didn’t exist and is really just some psychopath out to one-up her sister or the beating I’m taking from said psychopath. The bat makes contact with my sides, hands, legs, and my skull. I am spitting up blood, still trying to pull at my restraints. I can feel the plastic ties bending, but I’m not sure if I’ll be able to break them before she kills me.

  The private elevator door opens. There are only three people who have access to my elevator. Eddie had been one. Suzette was the second.

  Éclair enters into my apartment with this pissed off look on her face. Thank God! I’ve never been so relieved to see her in my life even with that sour look. When she spots me and Suzette her mind takes a moment to register what is happening. “What the fuck!” she shouts and looks directly at her sister. “You’re insane! Put that down!” she lunges at Suzette, but Suzette swings the bat in her sisters direction –so Éclair jumps back and holds up both hands, dropping her Gucci purse in the process.

  “Are you kidding me?” Suzette hisses as she sways her bat around, “James, I thought you said I was the only one who had access to that elevator.”

  I can only mumble my response as I spit up blood and, awe fuck –is that a tooth? She knocked one of my teeth out! “Why would he give you access to his elevator?” Éclair asks and then shakes her head, realizing that that is not at all important right now. “Suzette, what the hell are you doing?”

  “I really wish you hadn’t come up here,” Suzette says, “I mean, really, Éclair. I really wish you didn’t see this. I mean, I can’t stand you, but I never would have gone out of my way to hurt you physically. But now you’ve seen this, so I don’t think you’re leaving me much of a choice.”

  Éclair takes another step back. “Why are you hurting James?”

  “She’s Sylvia,” I manage to spit out weakly, and I can see the gears turning in Éclair’s head as she pieces together the extravagant and mentally unstable plan Suzette had created.

  “Oh my God, ewe!” Éclair snaps, “You’re sleeping with my sister!”

  Not the part I want her concentrating on right now. The two of them start yelling at one another in French, and I am almost afraid to know what they are saying. Suzette lunges towards Éclair, her bat at her side. “Leave her alone!” I shout from the ground, pulling at my restraint with what little strength I can muster as Éclair makes a run for my kitchen to get away from her crazy sister. I hear crashing noises as Éclair dodges the bat and Suzette knocks a bunch of shit off my kitchen counter.

  I look up to see Éclair diving out from around my kitchen island just as Suzette catches up to her, beaming her square in the back with the bat and knocking her to the ground. Suzette comes at her with the bat, and the zip-ties finally snap. I suddenly don’t feel my injuries as adrenaline flushes throughout my body, and I dive right into Suzette –tackling her like a damn football player. We go crashing back, and I’m fairly certain I’ve knocked her out after that impact. I stand up slowly, hardly able to hobble over to Éclair who is lying flat on her stomach moaning something terrible. I hope Suzette didn’t break her spine with that hit.

  “Éclair-” I say, reaching out towards her just as Suzette awakens and leaps onto my back, the baseball bat pressed against my neck –choking me.

  “Get off, you damn spider-monkey!” I shout and try to fling her off of me, but she’s got a grip like you would not believe. I suddenly can’t speak as she rears back, pulling the bat with both hands against my throat. I can’t breathe!

  I fall to my knees, my breath becomes this raspy, desperate attempt to inhale as I reach around trying to pull her stupid ass off my back. I see Éclair moving on the ground, but I don’t realize what she’s reaching for until I hear the shot ring out. She pulled that damn pistol of hers out of her Gucci purse and shot Suzette right off me. I lean forward, gasping. I look back and see Suzette lying on the ground, a bullet wound in her shoulder.

  I grab at my throat and glance over at Éclair as she struggles to stand. “Thanks,” I say as I rise.

  “Oh my God, is she okay?” Éclair sounds legitimately distressed as she hurries to her sister’s side. She reaches down towards her, and it turns out the psychopath was playing dead and she snags Éclair’s gun right out of her hands. Shit.

  I snatch Éclair back, and when Suzette shoots up she hits my ceiling fan –causing the lights in the apartment to flicker and sparks to fall down over our heads. Both Éclair and I bolt towards the elevator as Suzette struggles to stand up, the pistol pointed our way. I push Éclair in, and I receive a shot in the back. Just as the elevat
or doors are closing, I fall down to my knees. I feel Éclair grab hold of me. “Get up, she’s going to be coming after us. Do you have your phone? Can you call the police?”

  “No. My phone’s back at the apartment. Where’s yours?” I ask.

  “In my purse,” she says.

  “And your purse?”

  “In the apartment.”

  “Fuck!” I snap, and she helps me stand. I have a fucking bullet in my back and I’m fairly certain I have a few broken bones as well. I feel around in my pockets. “I have my car keys,” I say.

  “Good,” she says, “let’s get the hell out of here.”

  73

  “Where to?” Éclair asks as she takes the wheel of my car and sends us zipping out of the parking deck.

  “The hospital, where the fuck do you think?” I snap as I slowly cover the passenger’s seat of my car with a puddle of my own blood. “I can’t believe she shot me!”

  “I can’t believe you took a bullet for me,” Éclair says, ignoring all traffic regulations.

  “Watch it!” I shout when she speeds through a red light, “You’re going to get us killed!”

  “Suzette is the one who is going to get us killed,” Éclair hisses.

  “Yeah, about that,” I say, a hint of resentment in my tone, “you never told me your sister was insane!”

  “You never told me you were screwing her! And I didn’t know she was that crazy. I mean, she’s always been a little off, but-” the car jolts forward. I glance back, and of course, Suzette is in the car behind us –having just rammed into us.

  “She’s going to run us off the road!” I shout.

  “And she’s probably still has my gun,” Éclair says, “Well this is just great.”

  My ears are ringing. How could Sylvia –Suzette –do this? After everything we’ve been through in the past few months I am suddenly finding out that it was all fake? Everything she did she did because she knew it would get me excited. No girlfriend is that laid back! I mean, seriously, how did I think any of that was real? Perfect body, mind, and soul! She was like a dream! Turns out she was just a nightmare out to ruin my life. She had created my ideal girl for me just to yank it right out from under me, and for what? Money? To get back at her sister? This bitch is all kinds of crazy!

  “Shit!” I hear Éclair scream as Suzette rams us again, and Éclair suddenly jerks the wheel to the right. I swear, the car comes up onto two wheels for a second as we make this freakishly rapid turn onto… a one way street.

  “Son of a bitch!” I scream and grab hold of the oh-shit handle above the window. I see five cars coming our way –the faces on the drivers are just as freaked out as mine.

  Éclair jerks the car back and forth and up onto the sidewalk. One poor bastard jumps up into a stores window’s shingles to avoid us. I look back, and Suzette is actually following us. “Is she still behind us?” Éclair shrieks as she jerks us down another road to get off the one way street.

  “Yes!” I say after looking into the rearview. “Your sister is crazy!”

  “No shit!” Éclair shouts, “I’m going to lead her to the police station.”

  “Do it,” I say, “turn down this street.”

  “No, that will take me downtown,” she says.

  “The station is downtown,” I argue.

  “No, it’s not,” I argue right back. Are we really having a petty argument right now? Suzette hits us again, but this time we spin out, but somehow Éclair manages to get us facing around the correct way. I can smell burnt rubber. I hear a gun go off. “She’s shooting at us!” I shout.

  “What could she possibly gain from killing us?” Éclair snaps as she regains control of the car.

  “She just transferred all of my money to an offshore account,” I say.

  “Damn it,” Éclair says, and this time when she tries to turn we wind up spinning around completely. She throws the car in reverse and hits the gas.

  “What the hell are you doing?” I scream, and as I look straight out the windshield I can see Suzette coming up on us at full speed with this absolutely crazy look in her eyes.

  “Shit!” I hear Éclair say; she is looking back; she jerks the wheel again, and the car flips.

  The next few seconds feel like they are happening in slow motion as I glance out the window and see Suzette running straight on into a cement truck –the truck is obviously the reason Éclair had spun off. I’m not sure how many times we flip, but I can feel my shoulders and head bash around as glass shatters all around us. We stop flipping, and we wind up upside down dangling by our seatbelts.

  I rub the side of my head, and I see blood from my bullet wound dripping down onto the ceiling of the vehicle. “Geeze,” I groan and I glance over at Éclair who is dangling beside me. She’s not moving. “Éclair? Éclair?” I reach for her, tapping her shoulder, “Éclair! Éclair! Wake up!” I think this is the most terrified I’ve ever been. The thought of losing her is by far the most horrifying moment of my life.

  “Ma’am, are you okay?” I hear a man shouting –one of the construction workers who had been working on the road.

  I look out the window, and I see Suzette climbing out of her crushed car. Of course, the crazy one is fine. She looks really beat up; I swear her leg is broken as she starts hobbling across the street towards me. “Shit, shit, shit, shit!” I struggle with the seatbelt; she’s going to kill us. I can see Éclair’s gun in her right hand, dangling at her side. She looks dead at me, and she raises her gun.

  The sound of squeaking tires and a horrible thud shrieks in my ears as I watch a van come into my line of sight, running Suzette down where she stands. My jaw drops as I witness Suzette go up and over the enormous vehicle, landing on the assault behind the van. Turns out it wasn’t luck that saved me. Fucking Leonard Troft, my personal driver, climbs out of the car that had hit Suzette.

  “Leo?” I question.

  She straightens his suit as construction workers are helping me out of my car. I grip onto one of the kind Samaritans as I stare at Leonard. “Did you just…”

  “I believe I did, sir. I saw you and Ms. Éclair fleeing from that lunatic, so I followed you… is Ms. Éclair okay?” Leonard looks so suave. He is not even slightly fazed by the fact that he just mowed down Suzette in the middle of the freeway. “Every time you get in a car without me, sir, something bad happens. Perhaps you should make a habit of calling me more often.”

  The construction workers are calling an ambulance. They lay Éclair out on the side of the road, and I hurry beside her. She’s awake, but she looks really dazed. She hit her head pretty hard, but I think she’s going to be okay. “Where’s Suzette?” Éclair mumbles. “Is she okay?”

  “Not really,” I say, and I can see the hurt on Éclair’s face as she’s lying there in the median. I hold her hand. I won’t say it, but I’m pretty sure Leo just killed Suzette. I’m probably going to pay for his lawyer…

  I don’t look over at Suzette. I can’t. I have never felt such betrayal. I loved her –or rather, I loved Sylvia. But I also love Éclair, and Éclair is real. Sylvia was just a fantasy. Real relationships have fights and imperfections. Sylvia was perfect because she had to be to trick me. I want something real. “I love you,” I say to Éclair as they putting her into the back of an ambulance.

  She flicks me off, but she gives me this sad smile and says, “I love you too, jackass.”

  74

  I look at Kate after making the announcement. Everyone looks excited, but Kate’s face is just blank. It’s shock, I think. We, and by we I mean myself and Eddie’s other half-siblings and their families, are back at Kate’s home for their family cookout. The gathering of the abandoned bastard children, as Kate’s son Bobby had put it to me recently. “I’m sorry,” Kate says after my announcement has sunk in, “but you’re doing what?”

  “Doing? No. Done, yes,” I say, “The Edward Mont Scholarship Fund is already up and running. All of them,” I wave my hands at the group of kids all standing by, “
will be taken care of. They’re going to college, Kate.”

  Single dad of three girls, Troy, breaks down. He sits himself down on Kate’s couch and buries his face in his hands. The kids are all pretty speechless as they crowd together, staring at one another as they contemplate what this will mean for their futures. Bobby, Kate’s oldest, looks pale and teary eyed. Donnie looks just as emotional as Troy as does DJ and his pregnant wife. Even Max, Stacey, Sandra, and Arthur –the childless ones –seem to have gotten choked up. “You’re paying for our kids to go to college?” Donnie says. I picture Eddie Christmas shopping for Donnie’s kids as Donnie had told me had had done. If Eddie could have done it, he would have paid for every last one of them to be looked after. Eddie didn’t have that kind of money, but I do –especially now that Éclair and I have merged.

  Oh, yeah, did I fail to mention that? Shattered Inc. is no more. It’s officially Beauchene-Mont Incorporated; Éclair had been a little cunt about her name appearing first, but whatever –I’m sleeping with her, but she agreed to ditch the pink and silver colors all around the building and restricted the colors just to her office

  “Of course we are,” Éclair says in response to Donnie; she’s here with me. Truthfully, the scholarship was her idea –I would have just paid for the kids to go to college, but setting it up as a scholarship organization sponsored by our company will make for a great tax right off at the end of the year. Éclair is a lot more business savvy than me, but I’ve got the creative genius. We actually make for a pretty rock solid pair. Éclair sways slightly as she is standing there; Kate calls it the “mama sway.” I never had really pictured Éclair like this before –pregnant, I mean. She’s one of those high end business types –always so professional, so the pregnant mom-to-be look is a change of pace for me. It’s a good change though. Éclair smiles brightly. “And there is one more thing,” she says, “Beauchene-Mont is opening up a new factory. We’re going to need a new branch manager,” she looks at Kate, “the new building is going to have a daycare center to cater to working moms.”