GONE
Part One
New York Times & USA Today Bestselling Author
Deborah Bladon
Copyright
First Original Edition, November 2014
Copyright © 2014 by Deborah Bladon
ISBN: 9781926440118
Cover Design by Wolf & Eagle Media
This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is entirely coincidental. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events and situations either are the product of the author's imagination or are used factiously.
All rights reserved. No parts of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without written consent from the author.
Also by Deborah Bladon
The Obsessed Series
The Exposed Series
The Pulse Series
The VAIN Series
The RUIN Series
IMPULSE
SOLO
Coming Soon
FUSE
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Thank You
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About the Author
Chapter 1
"I'm looking for Lilly. I have her panties."
I hold my breath hoping that when I turn around that the face attached to that voice isn't who I think it is. It's not that I regularly send men my panties in the mail. Who does that? Okay, I do. I have, but it was just this one time. I admit I regretted it instantly though. As soon as he sent me a picture of himself I wished I had thought it through more. He's hot in a boy next door kind of way. I'm looking for more of a hot in a man who can leave me screaming after taking control of my body kind of way.
"I'm Lilly," I say it quickly as I turn on my heel. "You're Parker, aren't you?"
His deep blue eyes rake over my body, stopping on my nametag. "How do you know my name?"
He's older than the picture he sent me. I'd guess by at least seven or eight years. He has a beard now. His hair is different too. "When did you cut your hair? It's not as curly as I thought it would be."
"My hair?" He pulls his hand through his brown hair before he shakes his head slightly. "I asked you a question. How do you know my name?"
"You know how I know your name or are you acting like this because you got caught?" I lean over the counter and whisper the words softly. "Did you leave your email open and your girlfriend saw that picture you sent me of your…" I nod towards his crotch, which is covered by what looks like an expensive suit. He said he worked in the parts department of an automotive store. Every lie this guy told me online wasn't doing him any favors. If he's looking to hook up he just needs to be himself.
"Caught?" His handsome face twists into a scowl. "What kind of game are you playing?"
"I like to be tied up." I lick my lower lip. "You know about that already."
A ghost of a grin catches the corner of his mouth before it disappears in a flash. "You think you know me, Lilly?"
"I know that you like to do the tying up." I take in a deep breath. Maybe sending my panties to a stranger along with a picture of me nearly naked isn't the worst mistake I've ever made after all.
"Who told you that?" His eyes move down my chest to rest on the top of my cleavage.
He must be one of those types who drinks or smokes weed when he's trolling for pussy online. It makes sense given how mysterious he's acting. I should just ask him if he wants to meet after I'm done with my shift. "What are you doing later?"
"You're full of questions, aren't you?" He places the envelope I sent him on the counter.
I pick it up and pull open the edge. There's nothing inside. "You said you have my panties, Parker."
"I do." He reaches into the pocket of his suit jacket, pulling the edge of the white lace into view. "I told you I have them. I didn't say I was going to give them to you."
I take a step back. I wasn't expecting that. "There's no return address on the envelope. How did you know where to find me?"
His hand dips back into the pocket. My eyes are glued to it. I watch as he slowly pulls a Polaroid picture from its depths. "This was my first clue."
I take the picture from his hand even though I already know exactly what it looks like. I offered to send him a selfie online but he insisted on an actual picture. I'm not one to judge another person's kink so I dusted off my old Polaroid camera, opened up my barista uniform, pulled off my bra and snapped away. "My hair looks good in this." I tilt my head to the side.
"Your hair looks good in that. The rest of you is breathtaking." He rests his hand on the counter. "I like redheads."
"Lucky me," I whisper as I stare at his mouth. His lips are gorgeous. They may be the nicest lips I've ever seen on a man. I'd kill for those lips and those eyes. I get complimented on my green eyes every day, but his are a shade of blue I've never seen before. They're vibrant and deep.
I can't pull my eyes from his face as I hear the bell chime on the door signaling a customer has walked in. If I want to keep this job, I need to take care of that. I'm the only one here.
"I'll be right back." I run my hand over the back of his. "Don't run away."
"Oh, I'm not going anywhere, Lilly." His voice is smooth and even.
I don't take my eyes off of him as I walk back to the cash register. "Welcome to Star Bistro. What can I get for you?"
"Lilly? You're Lilly, aren't you?"
My eyes dart up. I grip the side of the counter. It's him. He's younger with the same curls he had in the picture he sent me. He's wearing a green t-shirt and jeans. He's the one. This is the guy I sent my panties and picture to. "Who are you?" I almost scream the question at him.
"It's me Parker. Don't tell me you don't recognize me?"
"If he's Parker, who the hell are you?" I look right at the suit.
He leans back against the counter, holds my nearly naked picture in the air and points at the guy I've been emailing with for weeks. "I'm his worst nightmare."
"What the fuck?" The t-shirt clad Parker's gaze darts back to me before it rests on the other man's face. "What's going on? Did you text me to come here because you found Lilly for me?"
My eyes volley back and forth between the two men. The color of their eyes is the same. The shape of their noses is identical. Even the shade of their hair is a perfect match. Anyone who took a quick glance at them would be able to tell that they're related.
"I ordered you down here because of this." The suit gestures into the air with my picture still in his grasp. "Why did she send this to my place?"
His place? I hadn't questioned the address I was given by the guy I was flirting with online. When I shoved the picture I'd taken, along with the panties I was wearing, into the envelope, I'd taken it a step further before I mailed it. I wrote a note, detailing how I'd blow him. After signing my first name to the bottom, I'd addressed the envelope with the only name I knew him by, Parker. I hadn't given it another thought, until now.
"She couldn't send it to my apartment." The younger, curly-haired Parker slams his hand down on the counter. "I'm trying to get my girlfriend, Elsie, back. What if she saw it?"
"You can't use my condo for shit like this." The man in the suit barks the words out. "I don't care w
ho you fuck, Parker, but you're not doing it at my place."
"Calm down." He shakes his head slightly causing the bounty of curls that surround his face to bounce, making him look even more youthful than he said he was. He told me in an email that he was twenty-four but seeing him in person I can't gauge how old he is. "It's just a picture."
The suit takes a strong step forward, my picture disappearing into a crumpled mess within his fist. "Calm down? You want me to calm down, you little piece of shit? I come to Boston for the weekend and on the desk in my condo there's an open envelope addressed to me with a naked picture of a redhead I've never seen before."
"So what?" His mouth slides into a half-smile as his hand pulls at the neck of his t-shirt. I can see small beads of sweat on his forehead. "It's not a big deal."
"I had a woman with me." There's no mistaking the disappointment edging the suit's words as he shoves my picture back into his pocket. "She found the envelope before I did. You fucked that up for me, Parker."
It's past nine now which means the bistro is officially closed. It also means I can start my very quick clean-up routine before I lock the front door and take off for the night to find a hole I can climb into where I can hang my head in shame all by myself. Judging by the look on the older Parker's face, I'd venture a guess that unless I step into the middle of this, I'm going to end up watching him pound the hell out of the guy I've been emailing. I've already had enough excitement for one night.
"Hey Parkers," I interject. "The bistro is closed. You can take this outside."
They both turn to look at me and I swear it's as if they just realized I'm still standing here. I should have paid more attention to that quiet voice in the back of my head that told me talking to guys online was a mistake. I should have also listened to my roommate who warned me that sending a naked picture to a stranger would ruin my life.
"Give me back the key to my apartment." The older, better looking Parker's hand jumps out to grab the front of the other's t-shirt. "Now."
The sharp bite of a cell phone's ring breaks the palpable tension in the space. The man in the suit shakes his head slightly before his hand dives into the inner pocket of his jacket, pulling his smart phone out. "Clive Parker," he says calmly into the phone.
Clive Parker? Did he actually say Clive Parker? No, please, don't let him be Clive Parker.
"He's not Clive Parker, is he?" I whisper across the counter to the curly haired guy. "He didn't just say he was Clive Parker."
His eyes scan my face as his brow furrows. "He's Clive Parker. He's my asshole of a half-brother. I didn't know he was until a few months ago when my mom told me who my real dad was and…"
"No," I interrupt hoping that one word will change the reality of the situation. "He can't be Clive Parker."
"He's Clive Parker," he repeats. "I'm Parker Jarvis."
I don't care who he is. His name has no meaning to me. Clive Parker's name does. This is the man whose attention I've been trying to get since I got my college degree three months ago. I've camped outside his office in Manhattan for hours at a time desperately hoping to get a meeting with him. I can't count the number of emails and letters I've sent him filled with my ideas. I've waited impatiently for a response from him but there's been nothing. Now, he's standing less than five feet away from me. The only problem is that he's seen my nude breasts, has my panties in his pocket, and has read my handwritten note explaining exactly how I like to suck cock.
I run my hands over my forehead, trying in vain to get my brain to absorb what's happening. "This can't be real."
"What can't be real, Lilly?" Parker's face is mere inches from mine now. He's leaning so far over the counter that I wouldn't be surprised if he hitched his knee over it to lunge at me. "You need to forget about him. Clive is an ass."
Clive is the one and only man in this world who can give me the future that I want. Everything I've done for the past four years since I graduated from high school has been in preparation of my goal of working alongside him. He has been my inspiration. I glance up quickly, my eyes floating across his handsome face as he talks on his phone. How did I not recognize him when I first turned around ten minutes ago? I've seen enough pictures of him online to know what he looks like. I even saw him briefly from a distance on the street outside his office months ago but he was clean-shaven then. The short beard on his face now threw me off. The fact that he's even more gorgeous close up in person is disarming too. How could I have known that Clive Parker would waltz into the bistro with my naked picture in his pocket?
"Parker," Clive says his name just as he lowers the phone from his mouth. "We're leaving."
"I'm not going anywhere." The playful lilt in Parker's voice is completely misplaced. "I'm going to hang out with Lilly."
"No…um, no…" I stammer as I shake my head violently from side-to-side. "You're not hanging out with me. Not now or ever."
Clive's eyebrow darts up as his eyes shoot over my face. "You're smarter than I thought you were."
That's not a compliment. At any other moment in my life, I'd be thrilled to hear those words coming from his mouth, but not now. Right now, he sees me as a sex crazed girl who chases after men online.
"Clive," I say his name before I realize how out-of-place it sounds. "Mr. Parker?"
His face softens slightly as a small smile tugs at the corner of his full lips. "What is it, Lilly?"
"I'm sorry about this." I offer the words not just as a peace offering. I need to do some major damage control if I hope to salvage the career I've long planned for. "I had no idea when I sent that package that you'd see it."
He takes a step towards the counter, scooping the envelope into his hand. "It's Parker's fault but…"
I cringe as I wait for the inevitable lecture that's about to be thrown directly at me. He's more than a decade older than I am. He's cultured, sophisticated and very accomplished. He dates models and actresses. I'm nothing but a silly young woman who works as a barista to him.
"Lilly." His large hand rests on the counter as he leans forward. "How old are you?"
I pull in a deep breath before I answer in an even tone. "I'm twenty-two."
"You're too young." His words are clipped and simple.
"Too young?" I tilt my head back so I can look directly at his face.
"You're too young to see it now, but you're worth more than this." His chin tips towards the envelope in his hand.
I nod unable to find any words that can refute what he just said. I'm humiliated. I'm devastated and I'm considering running away to another country with the small savings I've accumulated.
"I don't know how many men you're sending pictures of yourself to," he pauses briefly. "I'd suggest you stop it, Lilly. You never know where a picture like this will end up."
I stare in silence as he turns on his heel and walks out the door of the bistro with my picture still tucked in his pocket and my pride spattered all over the floor.
Chapter 2
"If you ask me, you're making a big mistake."
I grin at my roommate. She's quietly watched me all morning as I've printed out my resume, booked a seat on the train to New York City this afternoon and packed a few essentials into my overnight bag. Roni's been my often unwelcome voice of reason since I rented the extra bedroom in her apartment more than two years ago. You'd think by now that we'd call each other friends. That would be a stretch. I realized within days of moving in that she's notorious for waving her wand of judgment at me whenever she pleases. It's never been a secret that she views me as lacking in almost every substantial way. I've learned to ignore her castigating glances and embrace the helpful parts of her. She pushed me through my studies when I felt like giving up. She's become the personal, southern, drill sergeant that I never knew I needed.
"Lilly, are you listening to me?" She plops herself down on the edge of my bed, skimming her hands over the skirt of the cream colored dress she's wearing.
I glance up briefly, my eyes rushing over her
face. "I heard you, Roni."
"You've gone down there at least a dozen times." She turns her attention to the unopened stack of mail I have sitting on the desk next to my bed. "You don't actually expect anyone there will see you without an appointment, do you?"
I don't. I can't exactly blurt that out to Veronica Morel, the only person I know who has her entire life organized to the exact minute. I'm flying by the seat of my pants at this point so I offer the one thing I can that will help ease her mind and halt all her incessant questions. "I met the owner of the company last week."
I watch as the furniture catalogue she's mindlessly leafing through falls from her hands. We both stare in silence as it lands with a dull thud on the hardwood floor.
"You met Clive Parker?"
"Yes," I shoot back. "He came into the bistro last Friday night."
"Clive Parker was at Star Bistro?" Her brows rise. "Why didn't you tell me?"
The honest answer to that question is very simple. I'm still reeling from embarrassment over the entire encounter. "We haven't had much of a chance to talk since then."
She leans down to retrieve the catalogue, thoughtlessly pulling on one of the pages. The sheer weight of it rips the corner and it tumbles once again to the ground. "It's kind of a big deal that he was in the bistro, Lilly."
"I know." I don't add anything to the simple retort. I crouch down, tugging the heavy book into my hands. "I'm going to recycle this unless you want it."
She shakes her head briefly. "So you told him about your ideas?"
The question itself would be laughable if it wasn't so disheartening. I'd been trying to secure a one-on-one meeting with the CEO of Corteck for years and the moment that I do have him alone and all to myself, our entire conversation was focused on the semi-nude picture I sent him and my underwear. The lingering knowledge that he read and possibly re-read my handwritten letter detailing how I like to suck cock only made her question about sharing my ideas that much more ironic. "I didn't have a chance but he does know my name now."
Gone - Part One Page 1