by Laura Bailey
“Tara. You’re safety is my primary concern.”
She threw her head back over her shoulder. The intent in his eyes was in clear contradiction to the statement he had made. This was nothing like her interactions with Damien. Where there had been aggression in Damien, and threat, the sparks of sexual attraction had been so visceral between them from the outset, from the moment they laid eyes on each other. It was nothing like this man. She felt that she should she seriously fear him. He hadn’t actually done anything, but as he walked behind her she felt he was like a vulture, aware of the vulnerability of its prey.
She walked past his Ferrari. She didn’t hear him start it up, and heard his continued footsteps instead behind her. As she turned the corner onto the street she glanced over her shoulder. He was behind her, coming up fast.
This wasn’t normal behaviour, by any means. She crossed at the junction as did he moments later. Without thinking she fumbled in her handbag for her phone. She dialled Damien’s number. It went straight to voicemail. She didn’t leave a message; she didn’t know what to say.
“You’re not being very accommodating Tara.”
He was shouting to her, his tone mocking.
What the hell was going on here? He was practically stalking her. She’d shared a drink with him, but she had given him no indication that she was interested in him. She’d said she was spoken for and had left. He was imposing himself on her and he knew it was disturbing her, frightening her.
The next street held a row of shops and cafes. All she could think of doing was to walk into a coffee shop, in the hopes he would walk on by and leave her in peace. She didn’t want him following her all the way home, and she couldn’t see a taxi she could jump into.
She wanted to turn around and confront him, but he scared her. She entered Starbucks and ordered a coffee at the counter. He stood outside the entrance looking in directly at her. The place was busy with people. Surely she was safe in here? As she waited for the coffee he entered, taking a seat near the door.
She stormed over to him, her anger getting the better of her suddenly, and figuring on safety amongst a room full of witnesses.
He held his hands up in a peaceful gesture, laughing at her.
“I’m just looking out for you.”
“Really?”
“You never know when you might be in danger.”
“You keep saying that. Are you trying to tell me someone is after me?”
“They could be a lot closer than you realise.”
“Try it,” she said to him, though she was shaking inside. His eyes seemed at that moment pure evil. At a loss what to do, she walked in a daze toward the back of the coffee shop. She had nothing to back her response up with. She took a seat at an empty table right at the back. Could she call 911? What could she say if she did? Why hadn’t Damien answered? Though they didn’t have the kind of relationship where they phoned each other she tried his number again anyway. She needed help. Marc was staring at her. She turned her face away from him.
Damien picked up.
“Tara, I’m a little busy right now.”
“Well, sorry about that!”
“Can I call you back?”
“No! Please, I need to talk to you!” her voice was getting frantic.
“What’s wrong?”
“Please help me. I don’t know what to do. There’s a man called Marc Chambers from the Club.”
“What about him?”
“He’s following me. I think he’s threatening me.”
Damien went silent for a moment.
“Is he there now?”
“Yes. He won’t leave me alone. He keeps saying how dangerous it is for me. I don’t understand what’s going on but he seems to be threatening me.”
“Where are you?”
“In Starbucks on Pennsylvania.”
“Listen to me very carefully. Do not approach him. Stay away from him. I’m coming. Stay in the coffee shop, around people, but away from him.” She could plainly hear the concern in his voice, she could hear him moving as he talked, hearing his footsteps.
“What’s happening Damien?”
“I’m not far away. I’ll be there shortly. Just stay put.”
“Do you know him? Why is he doing this to me?”
“I do know him; very well. This is about me Tara, not you. But he will snap your neck in a second. Don’t get anywhere close to him, I’m telling you.”
He was running now, she could hear his breath as he exerted himself.
“Stay calm. Don’t let him see your expression. I’m going to hang up now. Pretend to be speaking to a friend on your phone, look unconcerned; don’t tip him off.”
The blood had drained from her face but she concentrated on doing what Damien had told her, her hand shaking as she started speaking again into the phone, having an imaginary conversation with an imaginary friend. She was terrified. Though surely he wouldn’t attack her in front of everyone in the cafe. He could force her outside. She could scream, shout, get everyone’s attention, but if he had a knife she would be too frightened to do so; besides which, he didn’t need a knife; he could kill her with his bare hands according to Damien. She couldn’t stop shaking.
Chapter Fourteen
Minutes passed as she waited for Damien, until with huge relief she saw him through the glass windows of the shop. As he came in, he went straight over to Chambers. He said something to him that Tara couldn’t hear from where she sat. Then he came down to Tara, grabbed hold of her hand, and took her with him, past the tables, past Marc, whose expression held utter hatred. Damien led her to his car parked right outside the shop, opening her door for her and pushing her inside. He started the Jaguar, pulling away slowly, calmly. She looked over at his face. His jaw was clenched tight, the muscle flexing at the side of it.
“Thank you for coming Damien.”
“I had no choice.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know what else to do.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“He was really frightening me.”
“With good reason. You have no idea what that man is capable of.”
“What do you mean?”
“Love, he kills for a living.”
“Oh my God! What does he want?”
Damien looked over at her but didn’t say anything.
“Does he want to kill me?”
“Yes.”
“Why? What have I done?” Her whole body was trembling.
“It’s revenge. A very powerful motive. He’s using you to get to me. And have no doubts; he would carry out his threat. He’s done worse.”
“Why?”
“It goes way back. We served together in the Military. It stems from there. Things got worse once we got out. He always was a sore loser.” Damien laughed.
“It’s not funny!”
He knew it wasn’t. It was gallows humour. He knew how deadly Marc was.
“Don’t worry. You’re safe now.”
Tara was shocked at how he could be so calm.
“By the way, he was the one that persuaded Mike to steal the money. There are others he involved too; I’m still getting to the bottom of it.”
“What did you actually do with Mike?” “Why? You missing him?”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“You sure about that?”
“You actually think I could fake what we do together, you and I?”
He looked at her, a long hard scrutiny.
“Mike has gone down for a few years. That’s the least of what he deserves. I went very easy on him. He’s extremely fortunate I didn’t get his ass dragged back to D.C. and hand out some personal retribution. But then, I had other things on my mind; I had you to deal with, didn’t I?” His smile was warm and mischievous.
She loved that even in such dire circumstances he could soothe her. That he had the strength and confidence to deal with such things. It showed his strength of character, and she realised there was so much about him
that she respected and admired.
“Chambers has been out to cause havoc for a long time. He has a grudge, to put it mildly. But he’s obviously getting increasingly worse.”
“Why?”
“I didn’t like the way he did some things in the Special Forces. I made it very clear to him that his behaviour was unacceptable. He’s never forgotten it.”
“What did he do?”
“I can’t go into details; suffice it to say; and this is never to be repeated Tara, but he used excessive force on innocent people.”
“My God. That’s terrible!”
“I know.”
“Damien, you can’t take me back to my apartment. He knows where I live. He drove me home.”
“When? What are you talking about?”
Damien’s brows knotted together, his eyes full of disbelief.
“The night before, when you didn’t show at the Club. He came over when I was in the Bar waiting for you.”
“And? ”
He was clearly extremely angry with her, his eyes tearing into her.
“I said I was waiting for someone. I told him I was spoken for. He wouldn’t take no for an answer. He ordered champagne.”
“You drank champagne with him?”
He laughed, but this time there was a horribly bitter tone to it.
“I talked with him for less than five minutes then said I had to leave. He followed me out. He said he would give me a lift. I kept telling him no. In the end...”
“You just got into his car. A stranger. A man you picked up in my Club!”
“I didn’t pick any one up, I was waiting for you; you didn’t even bother showing up, you didn’t even bother to reply to my txt. I thought you would show up at the Club.”
“Oh, so when I didn’t, you thought you’d found the perfect replacement. A fucking psychopathic killer. Great choice Tara.”
“I didn’t fucking pick anyone up. He imposed himself on me.”
“I’m sure he did. How was it Tara?”
The sarcasm in Damien’s voice was horrible.
“He didn’t touch me!”
Damien’s hands were gripping the steering wheel like he wanted to break it off.
He pulled out his phone. “Todd, get a team to my house asap. I’ll explain later. As quick as you can ok?”
He put the phone in his lap. The silence in the car became unbearable.
For another ten minutes or so Damien concentrated on driving. The air between them could have been slashed with a knife.
Finally, they arrived in a residential street of very large houses, widely set apart from each other with huge gardens. He pulled the car into a long drive and turned off the engine.
“Get out.”
Tara knew better than to speak right now. She followed him up the path as he walked ahead of her fast. Opening the front door, Tara followed him inside, into a large marble floored hallway, plainly and tastefully decorated in cream and black. They passed rooms on either side; a Library, a Study.
He turned into the next doorway and entered a large day room, with dark leather sofas, fine art paintings on the walls, and deep wine coloured floor to ceiling curtains, setting a warm tone to the room. A huge mirror hung on one of the walls.
“Stand in front of the mirror Tara. Take a look at yourself. Do you like the slut you see?”
She turned sharply to him.
“Why would you call me that?”
“So quick to offer yourself to Marc Chambers.”
“I told you nothing happened!”
“Be quiet Tara.”
She approached him and slapped him viciously across the face. He didn’t even flinch. In fact, it made him smile, amused by her feistiness. There was nothing worse to him than a woman who would not stand up to him.
“We seem to get to this point each time. Now go back and stand against the mirror, facing it. Put your hands flat against it.”
“No.”
“Just do it Tara.”
“For god’s sake Damien!”
But she did as he said, knowing she was clearly unable to win this round. She watched him in the mirror. Slowly he removed his suit jacket and began to roll up the sleeves of his white fitted shirt until they were above his elbows, his forearms displayed.
“I should keep you chained up; that seems to be the only way to keep you out of trouble.”
He came up behind her, intimidating as she watched him in the mirror, but she wanted nothing more than his fierce touch on her right now; his reassurance that everything would be ok.
He pushed her dress up from behind.
“You think you can give yourself to other men Tara? Is that what you think?”
“No.”
“You’re mine. Look at me.”
His eyes blazed into hers in the mirror. “You’re mine.”
His hands lifted the back of her dress higher and his fingers pushed aside her panties. He felt between her legs, running his hand against her.
“This is mine; to do with as I choose. For as long as I say. Do you understand?”
His pushed her thighs apart.
“Answer me.”
“Yes.”
“And you know what I’m going to do you Tara. You know perfectly well that I’m going to take what’s mine.”
His hand came around to her mouth and as she watched in the mirror he placed his finger over her lips.
“Don’t say a word.” His voice was menacingly seductive as his hand covered her mouth. With his other hand he unzipped his trousers. She felt his erection hard between her buttocks. He thrust against her, pushing himself tight between her cheeks, pumping his cock up between her buttocks and the sensation aroused her incredibly.
“I should fuck you up the ass for your betrayal, but you know where it’s going to go don’t you. Deep in that pussy of yours. And something else is going to go up that tight ass of yours. Your punishment for being such a slut.”
His pulled his cock from between her cheeks, and as his fingers pulled open her pussy lips he entered her deep in one thrust. As he started fucking her, she felt his fingers rubbing the entrance of her ass.
“You’re going to get double fucked Tara. It’s the least you deserve.”
She wasn’t sure this was what she wanted him to do; although with his cock going hard in and out of her she was loosing the ability to want to stop him. In the mirror she could see clearly the fire in his eyes. Slowly, he pushed one of his fingers inside her ass and she gasped as she felt it going deeper; a sensation that she liked, the pressure of it pressing against his cock inside her, making her feel even fuller, even more stretched. It felt incredible.
As he started to fuck her ass with his finger, his cock drove in and out of her fast, both of her holes getting pounded.
He reached around for her breasts, pulling them out from her bra and squeezing them. His eyes never left hers and in that instant she fell in love with him again from the possession that his eyes held for her.
Shuddering to a climax that had her pressed hard up against the mirror as he came inside of her, he pulled out of her quickly, spanking her ass a couple of times before walking over to a drinks cabinet and bringing out a decanter. He poured the liquor into a glass and handed it to her.
“Drink it. It will help you with the shock of today. This is my home. You’re staying here until the situation is resolved. Make a list of anything you need in a minute, text it to me. I will get it picked up. I have to go. Do not open the door for anyone. Do you understand me? No-one. There’s a very good security system here. Stay inside. Do not go anywhere. This man is a black ops assassin. Do you understand me?”
She nodded. She was not going to do anything but follow his instructions in this situation.
Chapter Fifteen
Alone now, Damien was enraged that Chambers had crossed the line. The man had broken the one rule that all men of honour stood by. They would never target one another’s families, but then Chambers had no honour. Tara w
as not his family but she was the closest thing to that. She was an innocent in this long standing feud. Chambers had gone too far this time, and it was not something he could come back from. It was unconscionable. There was no room for forgiveness, no possibility for absolution. Chambers had signed his own death warrant.
Damien started up a Mercedes car he kept outside and drove away from the house. Why would Chambers push him like this? It was a suicide mission on Chamber’s part. He knew Damien well enough to know what would happen next; and whilst the man was a formidable opponent, Damien would never back down now. He did not consider his own safety in this. He went into operation mode, as though it were a mission to be accomplished like any other he had carried out. Chambers would have some strong back up; he was known to hire mercenaries with no real allegiance to any cause other than the dollar.
His phone rang.
“Ok, thankyou. Look after her for me. Stay alert. Chambers’ has set his sights on her. He just played his hand clearly in front of me. He wants her.”
“Ok boss. What about you?”
“I’ll be fine.”
“You need back-up too? Want me to meet you with some of the others?”
“No, I want you at the house Todd. Keep her safe for me please.”
“You got it.”
“Thank you.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I need to go get some things.”
Damien knew he could trust Todd. He had saved Damien’s life on more than one occasion, putting his own on the line doing so.
He drove for thirty or so minutes in the late morning traffic. Damien still found it hard to believe that Marc had lost control so dramatically. Over the years, he had often appeared unstable, had several times tried to ruin Damien’s business, in the hope of destroying his reputation but he had failed to do so. He had never issued personal threats as such, although maybe that was because, for years, Damien had refused to get close to anyone. He had closed himself off from developing any feelings for a woman, protecting himself from that, knowing he could not commit to anyone, knowing he could not stand to lose anyone and unwilling to take the risk.
And then Tara had come along; had thrust into his world, with her pale fragile beauty and her fiery nature, and he had become lost in her, drowning in desire and something much deeper.