“It’s in your best interest to listen to me, monsieur.”
“Is it? Isn’t that interesting? Okay, I’ll play along. What are these demands? And what have you done with my daughter? I’m not even sure I believe you. For all I know she is safe and sound in Nebraska or something. I haven’t talked to her for months.”
“I assure you, like I said, she is safe and in my possession. But she won’t be for long if you don’t adhere to my wishes. I will return Vanessa, safe and sound, without a hair on her pretty little blonde head out of place, after you bring me three million dollars in large, unmarked bills. You will meet me in Malibu at a designated spot that I will inform you of one hour prior to our meeting time. You will not call the police. And I will free your precious daughter.”
“I don’t believe you. I don’t even know who you are.”
“I was afraid you would say something like that.” She pulled her phone out, punched a few buttons and pulled up a picture of Vanessa sitting in a wooden chair, her mouth covered in duct tape and black rope tying her to the chair. She looked angry and confused, but not harmed.
The woman showed the picture to Victor silently.
His nostrils flared with anger, and his mind was filled with regret. Regret for not walking away from Vanessa long ago. She had been the black-sheep of the family from the beginning of her childhood. She was always the one getting in trouble, the one who was an embarrassment to the Valentine name and the one he was always apologizing for. Luckily, her small scandals had fallen under the radar for the most part, and the public had a short memory, so his political career had remained unscathed, but here she was again causing trouble at the worst possible time.
The election was in a month, and he was thick in the middle of the campaign. He had absolutely no time for this. Torn between paying this woman off to get her out of his hair, or walking away completely and hoping for the best for his wayward daughter, he stood there, weighing the consequences in his head, staring at the picture the woman was holding out in front of him.
He cleared his throat, wanting to ensure she heard his every word.
“Give Vanessa my love. And, please tell her to stop these crazy antics, and get a job. I’m sorry, but I won’t help you.”
He turned and walked out the door as quickly as he had come in.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Hawk untied the ropes from Vanessa’s arms, and she reached up, pulling the duct tape from her mouth gently.
“That fucking sucked. I can’t believe you did that!”
“I’m sorry. I had to. It was necessary. It was just for a minute, and to be honest, I’m supposed to have you chained up like that all the time and I’m totally breaking my own rules by letting you walk around free.”
“Breaking the rules, huh?” Vanessa saddled up to him, watching his fingers work at the keys of his phone. She strained to see who he was texting, but he kept the phone from her vision as he texted the picture he had just taken of her to Blackie.
He had known Blackie for twenty years and some things never changed. He was still doing her dirty work after all these years.
When he was done, he put the phone in his back pocket and pulled Vanessa into his arms.
“Yes. Breaking the rules. You have me breaking a lot of rules, actually. It’s not my usual procedure. Despite my occupation, I still have rules of my own.”
“Is this where I apologize? Because I don’t think that’s going to happen.” She smiled up at him, snaking her arms around his naked waist. She had outwardly protested when, after waking her from her nap and making love to her once more, he told her he had an unpleasant task to carry out that included tying her up and taking her photo.
“No, of course not,” he smiled down at her, grateful she wasn’t making too big a deal out of the picture taking. “Although, if you want to take some more pictures, I would be happy to tie you up again. Maybe to the bed frame this time?”
His eyes crinkled as he laughed softly at his own joke. She shook her head, staring up at him as he lowered his head and kissed her gently.
“You don’t have to tie me to the bed to do what you want with me.” She kissed him back, her hands sliding up his smooth, muscular back. He couldn’t get enough of her, and his body seemed to almost catch fire every time he touched her. And touching her was all he wanted to do.
He groaned with lust, picking her up and taking her right back to bed. They had nothing to do but wait.
And he could think of no better way to pass the time than tasting every inch of Vanessa’s succulent flesh. They spent the better part of the day tangled up in the sheets, their lips red and raw from constant kissing, their bodies spent and exhausted as they drifted off to sleep in the afternoon sun.
When Hawk awoke, Vanessa was naked, hot and sweaty. He pulled his sticky flesh from hers reluctantly and slowly, trying not to wake her. Her blonde hair was splayed across the pillow, cascading across her gorgeous, sleeping face and he stood over her, watching her breathe and dream peacefully. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, and he knew by now he was falling hard for her.
What a fool, he thought to himself as he gazed at her, his eyes trailing across the deep curve of her lower back and ass. She was electric. She was smart, beautiful, funny and loving. And she was his job. He had to remember that.
He pulled on his jeans and walked barefoot to the bathroom. His cock was sore and swollen, and apparently insatiable when it came to Vanessa. He had never been so ruled by lust before in his life, and he had quite a sexual history. He was the one in charge of his body, and he fucked who he wanted, when he wanted, but with Vanessa? It was as if his body had a mind of its own. He had never been shy when it came to ladies, and it turned out, ladies liked a man who knew how to assert himself. He peed and as he was washing his hands, his phone vibrated in his back pocket.
Pulling it out, he opened the new text message from Blackie.
“Her father is a prick. He’s not biting. Bring her back and let her go.”
Vanessa’s voice called out from the bedroom, and he quickly closed the phone and put it back in his pocket.
The last thing he was ready to do was let Vanessa go.
How could he give up the pleasure her body brought him? Nothing erased the painful memories like she did, and he was struggling with the idea of never being able to escape them without her.
When he returned to the bedroom, she smiled her sleepy smile at him, her arms outstretched, beckoning him back into the paradise of her body.
Groaning at his once again growing erection, he quickly shed his jeans and wrapping her in his arms, he kissed her passionately as his thighs nudged hers apart and his hungry cock found her center once more, smoothly taking her with one deep thrust, sliding into her slick pussy over and over until she was clinging to him, sweaty and shaking from the very core of her being.
As he watched her writhing below him, he knew letting her go was going to be the hardest thing he had ever done.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
We had drifted off to sleep again, and when Pearl woke me up, I jumped up and threw on Hawk’s jeans, mistakenly thinking they were my borrowed ones, to take Pearl outside before she peed on something else that she wasn’t supposed to.
While I was waiting for her to do her business, I felt Hawk’s phone in my pocket.
I couldn’t resist opening it and reading the last text he received.
“Her father is a prick. He’s not biting. Bring her back and let her go.”
Who was Blackie? I checked the time stamp and it was right before Hawk had come back to bed a few hours ago. So this was about my father. And did ‘he’s not biting.’ mean he was refusing to pay the ransom? Was he really that much of an asshole that he wouldn’t pay for my safe return? My heart sank. I knew he didn’t love me, but this was the final nail in the coffin. Especially considering I was here because of whatever shady shit he was into.
Thank goodness I had been kidnapped by Hawk and wasn’t bei
ng hurt or raped. Or was I? Hawk had received this message hours ago, hours before he had come in and made love to me again. Was that because he didn’t want me to leave, or because he was just using me for sex? It didn’t feel like just sex, but I had to remind myself who he was.
I didn’t know if I felt angry or flattered that he hadn’t taken me home right away. By the looks of his phone, he hadn’t replied to the message at all. I didn’t really know what to think about Hawk. I had actually enjoyed the time we had spent together, and part of me didn’t want to leave either. But I couldn’t live in Hawk’s world, and he couldn’t live in mine. The chances of things going any further than this job of his were slim.
It was true, though. My father was a prick. It was just like him to turn the other cheek and avoid doing anything at all. If Blackie, whoever he was, had come to me, I probably could have told him that before they wasted all the time and energy to kidnap me. My father was heartless, I had learned that long ago. As much as this hurt, it was still no surprise.
If you wanted to get to my father, you had to aim straight for the heart. And not many people knew him well enough to do that.
The sound of Hawk’s footsteps by the front door jolted me and I quickly put the phone away, but not before he saw it.
“Is that my phone?” he asked as he walked out into the sunshine, his hair shimmering and wispy around his face.
I nodded solemnly, pulling it from my pocket and handing it to him.
“So you saw the message, I take it?”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry, honey. And I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner, Vanessa.” Wrapping his arms around me, he kissed my lips softly. “To be honest, I’m not ready to let you go.”
I gazed at him, trying to read his eyes, looking for any trace of deception, and I saw nothing but gentleness and sincerity.
“Hawk, I know how to change his mind.”
He pulled back slightly, cocking his head inquisitively.
“What do you mean?”
“My father. He refused to pay the ransom, right?”
“It appears that way.”
“Yeah, well he’s a prick, and he hates me. All he cares about are his career, and my precious, perfect sister, Kate. But I know the big, family secret. He’d do anything to keep it from getting out.”
“Why are you telling me this, Vanessa?”
“Because I want to help. With the ransom. You give the information to your client, my father pays up, and we split the money equally.”
“Are you serious, Princess? You want to assist in your own kidnapping?”
“Listen, my father probably already thinks I’m behind this anyway. He thinks I’m a lazy hippy that doesn’t want to work and that I want everything handed to me.”
“I don’t know about this, Vanessa.”
“Why not? When I tell you this family dirt, you’ll see that it’s foolproof, he would do anything to keep this information under wraps.”
“Well, then tell me.”
“Only if you promise to take it to this Blackie guy, and only if he agrees to the money split before you tell him the information. We can split the money and go on with our lives.”
“Why aren’t you mad at me, Vanessa?”
Why wasn’t I mad at him? That was a very good question. But then I remembered the caress of his hands on my skin, the way he kissed me and made me forget the world existed, and the way he made love to me like it was the last thing he was ever going to do…and then I knew the answer.
“Because I’m falling in love with you, Hawk. And I really fucking hate my father.”
His eyes widened and his face broke out in a huge grin. He kissed me hard, his hot mouth capturing mine, possessing it as held me tightly.
“I’m falling in love with you, too, Princess.”
I smiled up at his gorgeous face, not knowing how this was ever going to work out between us, but determined to try.
“Let’s go inside. You can tell me everything over dinner.”
He grasped my hand, his fingers lacing into mine as if we had been lovers for years.
As he was cooking, I sat in the kitchen watching him, with Pearl sitting in my lap.
“Okay, so here’s the deal,” I explained. “My sister Kate isn’t really my father’s daughter. My mother had an affair early on in their marriage, but my parents covered it up. When I was ten, I heard them talking about it late one night in their bedroom. When I confronted them about it, they insisted I never tell another soul, including my sister, saying that it would ruin my father’s career. He had huge aspirations, even back then, for a while he thought he might run for president. He has long since forgiven my mother, but only under the condition that it remains a secret forever. He was too concerned with ‘appearances’ to ever let the truth get out. He’ll be devastated to know I told anyone.”
“Well, that is some very interesting information, Vanessa.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Hawk left the next morning after setting up a meeting with Blackie. I stayed in the cabin alone, waiting with Pearl and trying not to bite my nails to the quick. I had attempted to eat breakfast, but I was so nervous that it proved impossible.
Pearl stayed close to me the whole day, sensing my anxiety and fear. I knew what I was doing was risky. By telling Hawk our family secret, there was no doubt my father would know I had given them the information. The only people who knew were me, my mother and my father. And they would have never told anyone else.
We had stayed up all night talking about it, discussing how my father might react to a stranger knowing his dark secret. Hawk still wouldn’t tell me who Blackie was, but I figured at this point, it was probably better that I didn’t know. I was pretty sure my father would never get the police involved but if he did, the less I knew the better.
I didn’t feel bad, though. Whatever my father had done to piss off Blackie, whoever he was, he probably deserved it. And a few million dollars, or whatever the ransom was - Hawk said he didn’t know when I asked - would just be a small drop in the bucket for my father. If there was a risk it would sabotage his election, he would take whatever steps necessary to make sure that didn’t happen.
Apparently, his youngest daughter perishing in a hostile kidnapping didn’t seem to hold that risk for him. But if that didn’t move him to action, I was sure the revelation I had confessed to Hawk would.
By the time Hawk returned the day was almost over. I was lounging on the front porch, drinking one of his cold beers when I heard his bike rumbling in the distance. I watched it approach, first as a small speck on the horizon and then as he rode up the long driveway, his long hair falling out of the bottom of his helmet and flapping in the breeze.
Hawk had been amazing. I wasn’t mad at him in the least. In fact, I was grateful that if I was going to be kidnapped, that it was by him. It could have been so much worse, and as I watched him turn off his bike and walk over to me, I realized my body was still singing from his expertly mind-blowing skills under the sheets. In fact, I couldn’t wait to get the business of the day over so we could get right back under them.
I absolutely could not get enough of this man.
And how could I hold it against him anyway? He was just doing his job. It wasn’t personal. I didn’t know Blackie, and Blackie didn’t know me. Hawk was just the middle person, who was hired to protect me.
I preferred to think of him as a bodyguard.
“Hi.” He stood over me, unzipping his leather jacket and removing his helmet.
Speechless, I stared up at him before he took my hand and lifted me to my feet.
He put his arms around me, holding me close before kissing me gently.
I kissed him back, then pulled him into my body for a hug, all of my senses coming alive at his presence. His eyes were shining brightly and his smile lit up my heart from the inside out.
Inhaling him in deeply, the familiar scent of leather filled my nostrils…but there was something else there. Someth
ing familiar and distant. A trace of lilac? Something else I couldn’t quite put my finger on at first. I wasn’t sure, but I kept sniffing, and then it dawned on me. There was only one thing in the world that smelled like that.
Genevieve!
I pulled away quickly, taking him in, still hesitating to believe what my mind was telling me.
“Where have you been?”
“What do you mean? You know where I went. I went to talk to Blackie.”
“Blackie? Right…” None of this was making sense. What the fuck did Genevieve have to do with this?
“And what did Blackie say?” I asked him cautiously.
“Blackie said no, Vanessa. I passed on all the information you gave me, but it’s just too risky. Blackie said that after meeting with your father the first time, there’s just no way anyone believes he would give up the ransom just for some family dirt if he wouldn’t do it to get you back.”
“Why are you lying to me, Hawk?”
“Lying? I’m not lying.”
“Who the fuck is Blackie, Hawk?”
My mind was spinning, trying to put this all together, but none of it made sense. How did Genevieve fit into this? Slowly, it began to come together.
Hawk had found me on a date that Genevieve had sent me on. As far as I knew, nobody had been looking for me, and the first person Drake would have called would have been Genevieve.
But Genevieve had tons of money, and she was my friend, she cared about me. Why in the world would she set me up like this?
“I told you, Vanessa. I can’t tell you.”
“How do you know Genevieve?”
“What?” The color drained from his face as I said her name.
“Genevieve Marchand. My boss. My friend.”
“Why are you asking me that, Vanessa?” He looked completely uncomfortable. Clearly, I had hit upon a nerve.
“Nobody in the world smells like Genevieve. She has her perfume custom made and shipped from France. You smell like Genevieve, Hawk.”
RECKLESS AND WILD: MOTORCYCLE CLUB ROMANCE BOX SET Page 25