“What the hell is going on?” he whispered.
“Now’s not really a good time, Jackson,” I whispered back.
Adrian slowly backed away from Victor, keeping his gun pointed at him the entire time. It was only once Jackson started the plane that Adrian pulled his door shut and put both guns in the compartment in front of him.
Victor didn’t move. Even as we flew away, I could feel him standing on the beach, watching us.
Chapter Six
Jackson flew Adrian and me to an international airport in Fiji where we swapped the water plane for a much roomier private jet. It had been an incredibly long, stressful, terrifying day. I was grateful for the opportunity to stretch out and sleep.
I woke up slowly, unsure what time zone I was in. I checked the screen in my armrest. We were flying over California. It was 3pm. I had been asleep for ten hours. I stood up and stretched.
Adrian was in a seat near the front of the plane, examining some files. I guessed they were from the nightmare we’d just escaped.
I sat across from him. This felt natural to me. It felt right. I couldn’t believe I’d ever thought I didn’t want to be with him. He finally looked up at me and I smiled.
“Thank you, Adrian. What you did was amazing. You saved my life,” I said.
“Of course, my dear. I never could have left you there.” We both stood up and hugged. I breathed in his scent.
I reached up on my tiptoes and kissed him deeply. He hesitated briefly, and then kissed me back. I grazed his lower lip with my tongue.
“Do you think I could get my ticket to the mile high club?” I asked lustily.
Adrian pulled my arms from around my neck and held my hands in his.
“Danisha, we need to talk.”
Oh my god. Those were the worst four words in the history of language. That phrase, “we need to talk,” never led to anything good.
“After you left, I slept with someone else…” he started.
I knew that was a possibility when I had left, but that didn’t mean it hurt any less to hear.
“I slept…I have been sleeping with Sally,” Adrian continued.
My heart felt brittle and dry, like a fallen leaf.
“I see,” I said quietly.
“Please understand, Sally and I…we had a life together. I owe it to her…to myself…to see if anything is still there. I care about you, too, Danisha. I love you, but I don’t know if that love can be enough for us. You said yourself that you needed time to sort out your feelings—well, so do I.”
How could I tell him that I wasn’t confused anymore? That I had sorted out my feelings and they all pointed to Adrian in huge, neon letters? I loved him more than anything?
But he was right. He deserved to figure things out with his ex-wife. I couldn’t take that away from him. I was devastated, but I nodded anyway.
“I understand.” I said.
I sat by a window and stared as the country passed below. I had imagined us landing in Colorado to start our life together, but instead I watched the mountains go by beneath me. Eventually, we landed in Boston. Adrian hired a limo to take me back to school.
We got off of the plane and Adrian walked me to the exit where the limo was waiting. He opened his mouth to say something, but I didn’t want to hear it right now, so I turned and left. I got into the limo, grateful for the dark windows that let me watch Adrian without him seeing me.
He stood there until the limo drove away.
***
As I watched her limo drive away, I couldn’t help wondering if I was doing the right thing. I got back onto the plane.
“Wow, you’re really letting her go?” Jackson asked from the pilot’s seat.
I poured myself a strong glass of whiskey. “We cannot have our cake and eat it, too, Jack.” I sat next to him in the co-pilot’s seat.
“What does that mean?”
“It means you have to end one story before you can begin another.”
“That’s a vague answer, but hey, if you don’t want to talk about it, you can always tell me what that mess was back in Fiji. You owe me, after all.” Jack grinned over his aviators.
Had he been this irreverent when I hired him? I gave myself a mental pat on the back if so. His attitude shook me out of my depressing thoughts about Danisha.
When I got home, Sally had a glass of red wine and a delicious smelling filet mignon waiting for me.
“Sally, this looks wonderful, but before we eat, I wanted to talk to you,” I said.
She set her wine glass on the dinner table and we sat on the couch together.
“These last few weeks have been…hectic for me, to say the least, as I am sure you have noticed.”
Sally nodded.
“Something happened that I wasn’t able to tell you about before because it was too dangerous, but I can tell you now. I haven’t been taking work trips. I want to tell you where I have been because I’m still in love with you, Sally. I want us to give this relationship a chance again. That is, if you do.” I realized I had never considered the possibility that Sally was perhaps just taking a trip down memory lane by staying with me. She might not be looking for something as serious as I’d just suggested.
“Oh, Adrian! I was hoping for something like this, but I never expected you to be so poetic about it. I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but I like it!” Sally’s arms encircled my neck and she pulled me in for an enthusiastic kiss.
As we continued to kiss, our clothes seemed to fall off of our bodies, and we eventually made our way to the bedroom, dinner and explanations forgotten.
Chapter Seven
It had been two weeks since I had last seen Adrian. School was about to start back up again, and I was grateful for the distraction.
Marisol was almost completely fed up with me at this point.
“Danisha, now you’re just starting to depress me! You cannot spend the rest of your life boo-hooing over one rich old man.”
“Jeez, Marisol, it’s only been two weeks. I think I still have the right to be upset. A little sympathy would be nice.”
“You know what they say: nothing like the next guy to help you get over the last guy,” she quipped.
“Even if I were looking for that kind of sympathy, I don’t think Raphe would be particularly interested after how I dumped him.”
“Not anymore, anyway,” Marisol muttered to herself, smiling.
I raised an eyebrow at Marisol, who was suddenly very busy looking for something in her closet.
“What was that?” I asked her.
“Uh, I just meant you’re right. He wouldn’t be interested anymore after you dumped him like that,” she said, still digging deep in her closet.
“Marisol… did you sleep with Raphe?”
“Ugh, fine. Yes. I did. Happy?” she asked, exasperated, one shoe in hand.
I rolled my eyes. This was so typical of Marisol. She was always either trying to steal my boyfriends or sleep with my exes. She needed to find her own type.
“Whatever. Like I said, I’m not looking for someone right now anyway, so go have fun with Raphe.”
I went to my room to bury myself in working on the EyeRead.
Another couple of days passed and suddenly it was the first day of classes. I was utterly frustrated. Though I had barely done anything else besides work on the EyeRead, I’d made zero headway on it. My thoughts were completely preoccupied by Adrian.
Last semester I hadn’t gone to class often because I preferred to work on the EyeRead, but maybe I needed a breather from it for a little while. Class would provide the perfect distraction.
I was leaving my third class of the day when I ran into Raphe.
“Hey Danisha,” he said.
“Hi Raphe,” I replied. I wasn’t upset that Marisol and Raphe were sleeping together, but it didn’t exactly make me excited to see him, either.
“So I guess we have another class together this semester.”
“I guess so,” I
said as we walked across the campus towards my apartment.
Raphe clearly wanted to talk to me about something besides our new class, so I let him beat around the bush until we got to my place.
“Well, Raphe, I’m home, so unless there’s something else you needed…” I prompted. He needed to hurry up and get whatever it was off of his chest. Raphe and I had never worked out because he wasn’t aggressive enough.
“Oh, I was hoping I could, um…Could I come in?” he asked.
“Now’s not a great time, Raphe. Could you just ask whatever it is you need to ask?”
I had never seen someone literally twiddle their thumbs before, but Raphe did.
Finally, he opened his mouth. “I heard things didn’t work out with your Colorado guy, so I was wondering, if, um, if you wanted to go out tonight.”
Before I even had the chance to respond and tell him absolutely not, my apartment door flew open. Marisol had apparently been on the other side and was clearly unhappy with what she overheard.
“What the fuck, Raphe!?”
Raphe looked horrified, like he really thought Marisol was going to kill him right then and there. He didn’t say anything to her.
Marisol looked at me.
“I can’t believe you. He’s back one day and you’re already inviting him back to the apartment? You’re such a slut, Danisha,” she spat, shoving between us and storming off, slamming the door behind her.
I was totally shocked. She’d overheard the conversation, so she had to know Raphe had asked me out and not the other way around. Marisol must have terrible insecurity issues if she was in such obvious denial. It was probably why she always tried to steal my boyfriends.
“Wow…what a bi—”
I held up my hand to cut Raphe off. “She’s clearly got some problems, but she’s still my friend. Don’t talk about her like that.”
“Sorry,” Raphe said. “So, um…can I come in then?”
I looked at him incredulously. “No! Get out!” I opened the door and then slammed it in his face.
The nerve of him! After what had just happened with Marisol? He had more nerve than I gave him credit for.
I milled around the apartment.
Raphe, Marisol, classes, the EyeRead…I couldn’t think of anything else but Adrian. I couldn’t eat, couldn’t sleep and couldn’t focus. I was going to go insane.
I sat on the couch and aimlessly flipped through channels for a half an hour before throwing the remote aside. This wouldn’t do. I couldn’t live my life like this for one minute longer.
If I wanted Adrian, I needed to go to Colorado and fight for him.
Chapter Eight
“This is wonderful,” I said as I hugged Sally from behind.
She was in front of the mirror, putting her hair up to go jogging. She turned around and hugged me back.
“I couldn’t agree more,” she said, kissing me.
“What would you like to do today, my dear?” I asked.
“Don’t you have to work?”
“With my biggest client gone, I have lots of free time,” I told her.
“Good.” Sally said, punctuating the thought with another kiss.
“Besides, I want to enjoy it while it lasts.”
“What do you mean?” She asked.
I hadn’t been able to tell anyone about this part of my plan yet, but I figured I had waited long enough now.
“The contract I signed with Victor said that he would be the sole agent for Andris in importing the X3000 solar panels, right?”
“Right…” Sally nodded slowly.
“I spoke with Andris before I left for Fiji; he’s got plans for the X4000. He wants to release the X4000 to the public market next spring! Victor will have Andris as a client for less than a year.”
Sally’s eyes widened. I could tell she was impressed.
“That’s…that’s amazing, Adrian, but won’t Victor be mad when he finds out? He kidnapped Danisha…Aren’t you worried what he might do now that you’ve pushed him even further?”
“Relax, Sally,” I squeezed her tight. “I’ve outsmarted him time and time again. He can’t come to the States because he’ll be arrested if he does. You’re safe here.”
“You’re right. Well, time for my jog.”
She laced up her tennis shoes and was off. I peeked out the window to watch her. I sighed happily to myself. Sally worried too much.
Things always had a way of working themselves out.
***
I sat in my office looking at the moon through my new skylight.
I had just finished familiarizing myself with all of my new clients and was now reflecting on the deal I made with Adrian. The deal itself was less than I wanted but more than I dared to hope for, given the extremity of the situation.
The incident with Danisha and the guns was regrettable; I thought for sure the bitch was mine, but I didn’t care. Andris Ozolinsh was going to make me an incredibly wealthy man. I could buy ten Danishas to keep on the island if I wanted.
My satellite phone rang. There was only one person who could be calling me right now.
“Hello, Sally.”
“Victor, how are you?” she purred.
“Well enough. Are you alone?”
“Of course. He thinks I’m jogging. I made sure to wait until I was out of sight,” she said.
“Excellent. Now, what did you need, Sally?”
“Can’t I just call to talk?” She asked.
“You know I enjoy our chats, but we need to keep them brief,” I told her.
Sally told me about her conversation with Adrian and Andris’s plans for an X4000. I couldn’t believe it. How dare he?!
Sally was also unhappy with the turn of events. She had assisted me in kidnapping Danisha in hopes of winning Adrian back. I didn’t understand the desire these two beautiful women held for that man.
Sally and Adrian’s marriage crumbled due to his workaholic tendencies, and Sally thought forcing him to hand his largest clients over to me would free up a lot of time for the two of them to reconnect. His business killed their marriage, so, in order to revive it, she would kill his business.
Once Sally planted the seed of doubt in Danisha’s mind, she watched to see when Danisha was leaving and tailed her all the way to the highway to let me know her location. Sally even damaged Danisha’s car so it would break down and she would require assistance.
“What are we going to do?” she asked after explaining everything.
I wasn’t sure. Finding out that Adrian managed to out-maneuver me enraged me, but the war was not over yet. I would need to be more cautious than ever if I would have my vengeance.
“Nothing. For now, we wait…”
The Billionaire’s Dark Escape Book 4
Bella Rayne
Chapter One
I drummed my fingers against the leather steering wheel of my Jaguar as I listened to Sally sing along with the radio. It reminded me of when I lived in my uncle’s guest bedroom while I was working at his general store. Sally and I spent lots of time in my car back then because it was the only time we could be alone. Of course, back then I was driving a beat up old pick-up with some room in the back.
I spotted a secluded area just off of the highway. I slid my hand up Sally’s leg to squeeze her thigh. She looked at me and I nodded toward the approaching exit. I raised an eyebrow, wordlessly asking her.
She giggled and squeezed my thigh back.
I pulled over and kissed her.
“It feels like being a kid all over again with you, Adrian,” she said.
“I’m so happy with you, Sally,” I said. I brushed her hair behind her ears and kissed her again.
A little while later we were back on the road. We had just come from the park where we’d eaten a picnic Sally packed for the two of us. We were spending a lot of time together since I returned from my negotiations with Victor.
If someone had asked me then if I could ever spend so much time with one person I
would have laughed, but I couldn’t get enough of Sally. I barely thought about work and our sex life was…animalistic. It was like I had fallen in love with her all over again.
That night, Jackson came over. He was thinking about brewing his own beer at home and wanted my opinion on which flavors to incorporate. This meant drinking beer, so of course I said yes. We shot a round of pool in the basement while we sampled different kinds of beer.
After about an hour of kicking Jack’s ass, I heard Sally coming down the stairs.
“Who’s winning?” she asked.
“I am,” Jackson and I said simultaneously.
Sally laughed and kissed me on the cheek.
“I just came down to say goodnight. Goodnight, Jack,” she said as she went back upstairs.
“Night, Sally,” Jackson called back to her.
I raised an eyebrow at him as I sipped my beer.
“Just being polite,” he said, shrugging.
I set up my cue for the next shot.
“Are you going to marry her again?” Jackson asked.
Shocked, I almost ripped a hole through the felt.
“Jesus, Jack! What? Did she ask you to ask me that?” I said. I thought my heart would jump out of my chest.
“Just curious,” he said, shrugging again. He lined up to take his shot and neatly sunk the next two balls in their holes.
I was fairly sure that Jack had only asked me that to try and screw up my shot, but the question wormed around inside my head. Sally and I were getting along remarkably well. We had been married before, and for quite a while. All the signs pointed in that direction, and yet…
I didn’t really want to get married again, at least not to Sally. Once she and I had gotten married, it was as though there were suddenly all of these expectations that I hadn’t agreed to. If Sally and I got remarried, would it happen all over again?
This was ridiculous, Sally and I hadn’t even been together for a month. There was no way to know if she was even thinking about marriage. Jackson was just trying to shake me, and I was letting him.
Lining up my sight, I called my shot and sunk the 8 ball to win the game.
Hang Em' Up: A Bad Boy Sports Pregnancy Romance Page 71