by D. A. Young
“I think that’s wonderful that you love your mama so much,” Sidra said warmly. “Thank you for sharing that with me.”
Dominick turned to face her. They were so close that he was invading her personal space. “I shared it with you because you’re special to me. I knew it the moment I saw you at Vivienne’s dinner party, and it was confirmed when I spoke with you. I could feel it, Sidra. Do you know how pissed I was when you left with him and let him fuck you in the garden? I wanted to beat the shit out of him. Can’t you see?! We were destined to meet, Sidra.”
Although she was shocked as hell to find out that her first time with Casey was not a private moment, Sidra stood her ground with his babbling, as red flags went off in her brain. “Dominick, you are in my personal space, and I do NOT like it. BACK. THE. FUCK. OFF.”
Instead, he unbuttoned his shirt and revealed his muscular chest to her. “You don’t get it, do you?! He reached for her and she drew her fist back, but he easily caught it. “Stop fighting and listen to me! I saw it when we were talking, and it’s the reason I touched your hair. LOOK. AT. ME.”
Furious, Sidra tried to kick the glass separation, trying to get the bodyguards attention, but he caught her leg. “Please look.”
And then she saw it on his shoulder by his neck. The little birthmark that resembled a heart with a bite taken out of it. It was just like hers except with her darker complexion, it was harder to discern. From her father’s side of the family. All of the fight left her, and she fell back against the seat in shock.
“How…how…” she couldn’t formulate a coherent sentence.
Dominick fell back against the seat too and smiled sadly at her. Before Sidra could speak, the door was flung open, and Casey took in the scene before him. She knew from how untidy she looked with her dress high up on her thighs from attempting to kick Dominick and Dominick’s unbuttoned shirt that it appeared very compromising. “No! This isn’t what it looks-”
But Casey was livid and not trying to hear it as he dragged Dominick by his hair out of the car and commenced to beating the shit out of him.
***
Earlier that morning…
Casey was in a GREAT mood as he exited his Jaguar and walked to the entrance of his firm’s building. Today, Sidra was going to give Dick her notice, and then the jackass would be out of their lives permanently. This weekend they planned to go to The Row and spend some quality time with friends and family. They’d agreed not to say anything about the baby, which would be damn hard considering how excited he was about Bean. Hopefully, Kat had news on the ring as well. Maybe she’d worked a miracle, and it would already be done. Casey would love nothing better than to propose to Sidra in front of their family, especially knowing he had Granny Evie’s approval. Fuck what Nero and Lena thought. This was their time, and he wouldn’t do anything to spoil the moment for her.
“Good morning, Gail!” he greeted his assistant and then noticed her disapproving frown.
“I’m sorry, sir. She showed up again—unannounced,” Gail replied abruptly as the restroom door opened and revealed a beaming Nina Santos. “Shall I call security?”
Casey grinned at the eagerness in Gail’s voice. “You are a security-happy fool aren’t you?” he whispered with a wink. Aloud, he said, “No that’s okay. She won’t be staying that long. I believe I have two appointments back-to-back, correct?”
“Yes, the environmental one is first. I’ve already prepared the conference room, and they are expected in thirty minutes,” Gail confirmed side-eyeing the younger woman.
“Sounds good, thank you,” Casey said, giving her a warm smile before turning to address Nina.
“Good morning, Nina” he greeted courteously and gestured for her to lead the way to his office. “After you.”
Casey followed her back and had no doubt that the exaggerated swing of her hips was just for his benefit. He deliberately left the door open as he went around to his desk. “Have a seat.”
“Sorry to just drop in like this,” she purred, and now knowing what he did, Casey saw how her every move was calculated to draw attention to herself. The suggestive licking of her lips and leaning in close to him, her hands brushing against him... Now, he knew and was disgusted by it. The women in his life, from his baby to his niece had never put on a pathetic act to score attention. They were just strong, beautiful, and genuine women. He felt sorry for Nina and her sad life.
“Then why did you?” he asked bluntly and watched her eyes narrow at his tone. “From now on, there will be no more dropping by. Call and make an appointment like everyone else.”
“Oh come on, Casey! Surely that’s not how friends treat each other!” Nina tried to mock pout, but Casey shook his head.
“We ain’t friends, Nina. Especially after the way you and your father treated Sidra,” Casey said firmly. “She told me all about growin’ up with Nero in and out of her life, and the way you treated her.”
“Then whatever she told you is a lie!” Nina spat venomously. “I was nothing but good to her! I longed for us to be close to each other, but she turned me down at every turn.”
Casey gave her a hard stare before shaking his head sadly. “That could very well be the most pathetic lie I’ve ever heard. I’ve been to your house and your firm. Neither you nor your father have any pictures anywhere of Sidra! No one has ever mentioned her, and case in point: when she was here the last time you were here, you said NOTHING about her to me. And Nina? Don’t disrespect my woman by calling her a liar. I promise that you won’t like the consequences if you do it again.”
“You would believe her over me?!” Nina asked, outraged by his words. “We’ve known each other for years!”
Casey stood up and walked back around his desk. “Indeed we have, but we’re more like acquaintances than friends. Knowing you doesn’t make or break me, so of course, I choose Sidra each and every time. I wish you nothin’ but success and good health, but it’s time to cut ties, Nina.”
Nina grabbed her purse and stalked to the door Casey was holding open. “I feel sorry for you, Casey. I actually came over here to warn you that I recently had the pleasure of meeting Dominick Harris of Bison Blue and informed him that Sidra was my sister. He seemed so obsessed with her, that I felt that I should let you know, seeing as how they work together in such close proximity. Who knows what he has planned for her?” Joyfully, Nina watched Casey’s eyes flare with anger before he concealed it. She widened her eyes innocently. “Well, I should go. Be careful and watch yourself, Casey. It’s obvious whose side you choose to believe, but her mother also had a way of bewitching people as well. Goodbye.”
Casey watched her leave and then sat down at his desk again. Nina’s words playing over and over again in his mind.
“He seemed so obsessed with her, that I felt that I should let you know, seeing as how they work together in such close proximity. Who knows what he has planned for her?”
Sidra wouldn’t dare do anything to hurt their relationship, but Dominick was a different story altogether. The way he was always staring at Sidra or hovering around. His obvious dislike for Casey was also an issue…
Casey dialed Sidra’s cell, and it rang and rang before going to voice mail. He tried it again and the same thing happened. His frustration was growing, but he told himself to calm the fuck down. Still, there was a little doubt, especially with her giving her notice. Who knew what the slick bastard would try?
He stood up and headed for the door, determined to go see for himself. Then he saw the group of men filing into the conference room and remembered the appointments today. Shit! Dick would have to wait…
***
Three hours later, Casey was finally done with meetings. He called Sidra again but still no answer. Now, he was growing concerned, with Nina’s words mind-fucking him over and over again.
“Gail, I’m heading out for an hour,” he informed his assistant and hurried out to his Jaguar. He stopped in dismay when he saw the damage, rage flowing through him as
he observed the shattered back window. Cautiously, he approached the car and saw the rock laying in the backseat with a piece of paper tied around it. He opened the backseat and grabbed the rock. The note was the same as the prior one.
Be wary of the company that you keep.
The drive to Dominick’s took forever thanks to a five-car pileup on the freeway, but finally, he was there, in Gail’s car. The security guards hired by Darby’s firm recognized him and allowed him access. He got out of his car and was informed that Sidra and Dominick were not there. They’d left a couple of hours ago on an impromptu trip. Casey caught the two guards smirking at each other, and it enraged him even further.
“What’s so funny? I’d like to laugh,” he snarled, and they quickly straightened up. “Why don’t you share the joke with me?”
“There’s no joke, sir,” they hastily reassured him. He stared at them unwaveringly until they looked away nervously.
Casey stalked back to his Jaguar to wait, his anger turning to rage and ready to erupt. It would be another thirty minutes before the gate opened again and the large black Ford Expedition pulled in. He got out of his car and watched the two guards in the front get out, but nobody got out of the back. One of the guards he’d spoken to earlier walked over and spoke with them, but they made no move to open the back doors of the expedition. Casey ran to the vehicle and opened the door before they could stop him. The sight of Sidra laying there with Dick’s shirt unbuttoned turned his heart to ice before the volcano of rage finally erupted and he lost it, snatching Dominick by his hair as he pounded his face, threw him to the ground and viciously whupped his ass.
The guards tried to hold him back but couldn’t as he turned and kicked the big motherfucker’s kneecap back and heard the pop before he went down screaming in pain. Then he turned back to Dick. The second guard got a broken nose when he tried to bear hug Casey from behind and Casey slammed his head back, smiling at the sickening crunch he heard before he was released. Casey pulled a bloodied Dominick up and slammed his fist into his jaw over and over again as Sidra stumbled out of the car.
“Stop it, Casey!” Sidra screamed. “You’re hurting him! Leave him alone! He’s my brother!”
Chapter Twenty-One
Two months earlier…
Glasgow…
Magnus Carlisle was the fucking man, at least in his head. On the outside, the twenty-two-year-old bookstore clerk didn’t look like much with his pale green eyes, acned complexion, gangly build, and blonde hair that turned into a frizzy halo if he didn’t use at least a pound of gel. But the inside was a different story altogether. Magnus was a computer genius who hacked into Scotland Yard at the age of eight. For kicks, when he was ten, he hacked into the accounts of the three richest men in the world and wiped their accounts out for a day.
One of these days, your devilry will cost you, Magnus, his Scottish mother Meredith scolded him constantly, and then he would try to obey her, for he loved his mum above all else. His mother babied him endlessly, and they were each other’s worlds. His father had died in an accident at the factory that he worked at. Even though they’d received a good chunk of money as a settlement and didn’t have to work, they both held down modest jobs. It builds character, his mum had always said until passing away a year ago. Magnus had tried very hard to resist hacking, but his efforts were futile, and now it had cost him his new girlfriend Jackie, a sweet, twenty-year-old barista. She was kidnapped on her way to the flat they shared from work two months ago. For a week, he went out of his way trying to find her, and the helplessness and fear of the unknown drove him mad.
The police knew nothing, and he’d even hacked into Scotland Yard again just to see if they were telling the truth, but there was nothing. Then two weeks ago, he was sent a picture of Jackie. She was tied to a chair and her face was bruised and swollen. Magnus was horrified and frightened at the writing on the back:
It doesn’t pay to be nosy, Mr. Carlisle. We’ll be in touch.
Magnus couldn’t eat or sleep as he waited. It would be another week before he was sent another picture of Jackie, and the sight of her in bed with two men doing unspeakable things to her sent him into a frenzied rage. That night when he came home from the bookstore, he walked into his dark flat and sensed a change in the air. Despite the heat from the furnace, it was sinisterly cold. Magnus paused in the doorway and tried to determine what was different. By the time that he came to the conclusion he wasn’t alone, he heard the small click of a gun.”
“Welcome home, Magnus. Won’t you come in?” The voice was wispy but so icy, Magnus shivered as he stepped inside and fearfully closed the door. He couldn’t tell where the voice came from, but it seemed to be everywhere surrounding him with its menace. “Turn around and face the door until I say otherwise.”
“What do you want?” Magnus demanded as he obeyed the order, but his nerve was soon lost with the mocking titter that filled the air.
“Don’t you want to know about your girlfriend?” the voice taunted, and Magnus stepped further into the darkened room.
“Tell me how Jackie is!” he demanded, forgetting his fear for the moment. “If you’ve hurt her, I’ll-”
“Tsk-tsk, Magnus! You’ll do nothing of the sort,” the voice said soothingly. “And your girl is fine. Terrific actually…I tried her out myself last night.”
“You, bastard! What do you want from me?!” he cried angrily as he spun around the room. “Show yourself! You fucking coward!”
“In good time. There is a list on the coffee table. Pick it up,” the voice commanded and Magnus hurriedly did so. He scanned the names printed on the first sheet and then the second and third.
“Your job is to find out everything you can about each person on that list. Everyone has a secret that they want to remain hidden. You’re going to do what you do best, you little maggot. Find them and then report it to me. You no longer work for the bookstore. You work for me. Pack a bag as you will be relocating. Follow my instructions to the letter, and you will be reunited with your girlfriend.”
“And the...raping?” Magnus choked out, and again there was the soft laugh that left a trail of ice down his back. His next words made the bile rise up in Magnus’s throat and spill.
“Don’t worry. Jackie has been supplied with Ecstasy and Rohypnol before each session. You can’t rape the willing.”
***
Present
Paris…
“It was nice of Romankov to allow us some freedom,” Cruz remarked idly to Holt as they waited in the penthouse suite of the Hotel Leroux. “Are you sure the information is correct?”
“Surely, you’re not questionin’ me? My source is always correct,” Holt answered smoothly as he checked his watch for the third time. Soon.
“So what changed? Could it be a certain Swede’s affection for a stunning jewelry designer?” Cruz inquired politely. “The desire to help her out of a predicament?”
“Don’t concern yourself with my affairs,” Holt ordered as he pulled his phone out and checked the hotel’s surveillance camera. “What’d you bring?”
“Duh, ‘The Butcher’? What do you think I brought?” Cruz rolled his eyes.
“Your favorite butter knife? A spork? How the fuck should I know?” Holt asked sarcastically.
“You show me your toys, and I’ll show you mine,” Cruz suggested slyly.
“Butchers,” Holt sneered at him with contempt. “This is why I work alone.”
“Because Woodsmen are so much better? I don’t think so,” Cruz threw back scornfully. They grew silent for a moment before he asked, “So what’s your plan?”
“To split their sides with my humor and have them lose their heads over my good looks,” Holt murmured dryly. “And you?”
“Not a spot on me,” Cruz boasted. “I have plans to meet with an old flame before we leave. I didn’t bring a change of clothes. What’s your song of choice? I like A-Ha’s “Take On Me”.
“Anything from Beastie Boys’ “Licensed to
Ill,” Holt confessed. “There’s just somethin’ about it that inspires me to really wanna put in work, ya know?”
“It’s the beats and the adrenaline. I hear “The Wolf” likes Lionel Richie’s “Say You Say Me”, Cruz snickered, and Holt cracked a smile. “The Old Heads definitely liked slow dancing with their targets.”
“Showtime,” Holt said quietly. “Incoming of seven. Six guards and the lead. I don’t believe in lingering, so less than a minute. I’m headin’ low first, so go high.”
They looked at the wide-entranced double doors between them, now hearing the group’s approach and slowly inched away from the doors. Holt crouched low, his right hand behind his back and silently withdrew his weapon. The doors slid open and the group walked in. Two guards in front the lead in the middle with a guard on each side, and two more in the back. The doors automatically closed, and the back guards turned to confirm. They were startled to see the two men, and instinctively reached for their guns, but Holt was already moving, across the wooden floor. Silver gleamed in the light as he slid past them. His blade making a clean swipe before he spun around to a stop on his knee, facing them and hearing their anguished screams before they fell apart. Holt watched Cruz soar over the falling bodies and embed a knife in each man’s stomach before pushing the shrieking target forward between the two remaining guards as Holt advanced swinging his arm forward and decapitating them in one fell swoop. Their heads flew through the air and landed by the lead as their bodies dropped to the floor, blood gushing from their necks. Holt heard the sound of a wet splat and turned around to see the bloody remains of the guards Cruz had stabbed.