by Jenika Snow
Falling Under
Jenika Snow
Sam Crescent
Contents
Copyright
Falling Under
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
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Epilogue
Newsletter
About the Authors
Also by Crescent Snow Publishing
FALLING UNDER
by sam Crescent and Jenika Snow
CRESCENT SNOW PUBLISHING
Copyright © January 2017 by Sam Crescent and jenika Snow
First E-book Publication: January 2017
Editors: Editing by Rebecca
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: The unauthorized reproduction, transmission, or distribution of any part of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.
This literary work is fiction. Any name, places, characters and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or establishments is solely coincidental.
Please respect the author and do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials that would violate the author’s rights.
Sometimes falling under is the only way to reach the top.
Olivia has lived a life of privilege, but she’s always stayed grounded and known she’s no better than anyone else. Used as nothing more than a status symbol for her family, she’s always been alone in the world.
Mason has one priority: get enough money to make sure his sister lives. He’ll go to the very depth of depravity to ensure the one person who means everything to him keeps breathing...even if that means taking Olivia and ransoming her off.
But now that he has Olivia, he realizes it isn’t as cut and dried as he thought it would be. He’s starting to care for her, and he can see in her eyes that she’s right there with him.
Their lives colliding might not have been in the traditional sense, but it’s exactly what they both needed.
They are exactly what the other needs.
Mason has no problem going to hell and back to get vengeance on the ones who took everything he’s ever cared about. Blood and violence are what he’s good at, after all.
1
Olivia Redman’s routine was exactly the same. Every morning, seven days a week, she volunteered at the homeless shelter until twelve. From there she went to the animal shelter and then on to home to have dinner. Considering her father was a billionaire businessman, he was somewhat surprised by how nice she was. She rarely shopped, and she had few, if any, friends. This would make his life easier.
It had been too easy, really.
The little blonde didn’t have a clue what he had planned. She was a beautiful woman too, if you didn’t count the scar going from her cheek back to her ear from a car accident years ago. Of course, not many people would care since she wasn’t newsworthy. She was the forgotten daughter of a billionaire, less than perfect to look at, yet she was the kindest one of them all.
He needed to do this. There was no other choice, and he’d exerted all of his options.
Mason Cromwell smiled as Olivia climbed into her expensive car and did the customary ride down to the homeless shelter. He followed her, knowing there was going to be a point where he would be able to take her. Everything was ready. His cabin out in the woods— where no one would see or hear them for miles— was standing by to take the pampered princess. Okay, so maybe she wasn’t all that pampered but he didn’t completely know her. For all he knew it could be a front for the cameras.
For the next four hours, he waited as she did her duty, helping the homeless and feeding them. No one stopped her as she moved around the people, and Mason found himself getting angry. She wore a simple yellow sundress, showing she didn’t have anything with which to protect herself.
Why didn’t she think she needed to?
Tapping his fingers on the steering wheel, he gritted his teeth as he waited for the time to pass. The van he drove while keeping tabs on her was a rental, and right now he was in his own truck, so if anyone was to see surveillance footage over the last few days, they wouldn’t pick out his van as the one he used to track her was a rental, and that had already gone back to the shop. He’d paid the kid extra so he didn’t have to put his name down on any forms.
You shouldn’t be doing this.
You have no choice.
As usual, he was torn about what he had to do.
She climbed into her car and took off toward the animal shelter. While he waited for her to finish at the shelter, he’d debated the decision he was about to make. She was an innocent in every way. She didn’t deserve what he was about to do. But he’d do it anyway. He didn’t have a choice.
The money was what eventually drove him to climb out of his van and walk across the parking lot. He spotted her car, and in one quick move, he dropped his phone and knelt by her car, messing with his phone. At the same time, he took out his knife and pressed it into the tire until he heard the hiss of air leave it.
Part of his plan was accomplished. Next, he went back to the van and sat waiting. Sipping at his stale coffee, he watched as the sun went down. The vet came out with Olivia. They were chatting, and Mason had parked his van as far away as he could.
“Leave, asshole,” he said under his breath, watching as the vet kept on talking. Seconds passed, then a few minutes, and he was shocked when the vet climbed into his car and drove off before Olivia even made it to her car.
Didn’t anyone give a fuck about this woman? No one was watching her, taking care of her, or anything.
Works out to my benefit that way.
She spotted the tire— a look of frustration crossing her face— before she grabbed her cell phone.
This was his cue.
Pulling his van into the parking lot, he put it into park and climbed out.
“Are you okay, sweetheart?” he said.
She turned toward him. “Excuse me?”
“I was just pulling away. I saw you looking a little frazzled.”
“Oh, my tire is flat.”
He nodded. “Would you like me to take a look?”
“You’d do that?”
“Yeah, I can. If you’re not comfortable though, I can back off.” He held his hands up pretending to be concerned about her. In the back of his mind, he was pissed that no one seemed to care enough to protect her from men like him.
“I’m not going to complain.” She pocketed her cell phone and stepped back.
Leaning forward, he stared at the tire. “I can fix this if you have a spare?” She nodded and opened her truck to reveal the spare.
It was too easy.
He went over to his van, opened the back door as if he were getting his tools, and grabbed a rag and chloroform. He left the doors open to have easy access to get her in the back. She had her back to him, focusing on the tire, when he came up behind her. In one quick move, the cloth was against her nose and mouth. She didn’t
have time to put up much of a fight, but wouldn’t have stood a chance against his strength anyway.
Olivia collapsed into his arms only seconds later. Carrying her to the back of the van, he eased her inside.
Climbing into the van, he drove off, heading toward the cabin.
The plan was to leave her car vacant with her tire slashed so they would know she’d been taken.
Glancing in the rearview mirror, he made sure Olivia was still okay even though she was passed out in the back. Her yellow dress had ridden up, showing off her full thighs.
He focused on getting to the cabin without killing either of them. He was still pissed that no one had cared enough to keep an eye on her. What kind of asshole did that?
Why am I even fucking thinking about this? She’s a means to an end. She’s my paycheck.
He had to do this. If he didn’t, his sister was going to die, and he’d made a promise to his father to protect her.
2
This weightless feeling covered Olivia; it made her feel as if she were floating, moving without a body or even a purpose. It wasn’t unpleasant, but it was strange and something she didn’t care for. When she opened her eyes, the feeling intensified for only a second, and then a wave of nausea slammed into her so powerfully she knew she wouldn’t be able to make it to the bathroom.
Before she could do much else, she rolled to the side and threw up. Because she didn’t have much in her belly, the dry heaves soon took over. Her abdominal muscles ached, and her throat burned. After rolling onto her back once more, Olivia closed her eyes, breathed in and out slowly, and tasted the metallic, sharp, and burning flavor of her vomit covering her mouth.
God, what was wrong with her? She tried remembering what had happened and what could have caused her to feel like this. But her mind was black, her thoughts confused, jumbled together. She opened her eyes, blinking past the haziness, the blurry vision that assaulted her, and the wave of sickness that slammed into her. The room was dark, but despite not being able to see anything she felt something…someone. Exhaling and inhaling, tying to settle her stomach, Olivia tried in vain to remember what in the hell had happened.
Where was she?
How had she gotten here?
Why was she sick?
The last thing that she remembered was her car and a flat tire, she thought.
There had been a man. Yes, a man, very handsome in a dark and mysterious way. He’d been nice, but there had been this tingling in the back of her head, something that she’d taken notice of, but had ignored.
And as her vision cleared, her heart rate picked up, and she realized she shouldn’t have pushed that feeling away.
The large looming figure right in front of her, the very male presence that came from the person, had fear moving through her like a living entity.
“Welcome,” was all he said.
Her throat was tight, dry, and she licked her lips as she stared at him.
“Where am I?” Her throat was raw and her voice hoarse. She cleared her throat and shifted on the bed, but a tugging on her feet stopped her. Her heart slammed hard against her ribs when she looked down and saw rope tied securely around her ankles and attached to the bedposts. She had just enough room to lift her legs slightly, but other than that, she was restrained.
Sweat started to form along her brow, and her throat closed up farther. “What’s going on? Where am I?” She felt panic rise in her. Staring at her kidnapper, she realized he wore a mask that covered the lower half of his face. The skull design on it made him look even more ominous. Tears threatened to spill down her cheeks, but she pushed them back.
She needed to be strong.
Or at least feign it.
He moved closer, and she tried pushing herself up on the bed, farther away from him.
“You’re afraid of me,” he stated with this calm, apathetic voice. “Good, because you should be.”
Despite all the fear that filled her, and the horrid images of what he might do to her, Olivia was proud of herself for not breaking down at that moment.
He reached out and touched her ankle, and she jerked back. But he griped her flesh, and it felt like fire licked up her leg. He moved his thumb back and forth along her anklebone.
“You’re here because I need you, Olivia.”
She tried jerking her foot back, but he had a tight hold on it.
He exhaled loudly. This man was built like a mountain, and any thought of trying to escape, of trying to get away from this nightmare, was met with what his big body could do to her much smaller one.
“Are you going to hurt me?” Nothing hurt except her head, but that didn’t mean he didn’t plan on harming her later.
Why else would he have her here?
3
“That depends on if you’re going to be a good girl or not.” Mason didn’t like the fact that she looked terrified of him. She lay on the bed shaking, and all he wanted to do was comfort her. Damn, this was supposed to be easy. He wasn’t supposed to feel anything toward her. He stood at the base of the bed near her feet.
She was his captive.
“I don’t know what I’ve done. Please, you have to let me go.”
She released a little whimper, and he continued to stroke her ankle.
“Calm down.”
“Why? I don’t get it.”
“You don’t need to get it; you just need to accept it.” He released her foot and stepped back from the bed. He had a plan, and he intended to finish what he’d started. Storming out of the room, he slammed the door closed and let out a breath.
You can do this.
He had no intention of harming Olivia or letting anything bad happening to her. All he wanted was the money that he needed in order to help his sister. He’d thought about this long and hard, and he was determined to succeed. Olivia was his only hope.
Locking the door, he then made his way up from the basement to the door that led into the kitchen. Removing the mask, he held it in his fist while he got his breath back. He was alone, which was how he’d been for several years. There was no woman to speak of, and if he wanted release, all he had to do was find a woman and a wall and fuck her hard.
Standing in the doorway between the basement and the kitchen, he heard her screaming, begging him to let her go. Shutting the door closed, the sounds disappeared. He’d spent a lot of time soundproofing the basement and putting in two doors: One at the base of the stairs and another leading into the kitchen.
Mason had no choice but to see this plan through. He was fucked either way, and it angered him.
Pacing back and forth, he moved toward the television and turned it on. It was three in the morning, and he wanted to see if anyone had discovered her missing. Flicking to the news, he watched the ten-minute preview, and was a little bit sickened that she hadn’t even made it to any kind of news on the television.
Maybe they hadn’t discovered her missing yet.
Putting the remote down, he stared at the mask. His plan included letting her leave, not knowing anything about who he was or where she she’d been. The entire basement was dark apart from one single light, which didn’t glow all that brightly. He’d blocked the window up and provided plenty of blankets for her to be warm. With the way he had taken her, he hadn’t injured her, and so far, he was happy with everything he’d done.
Turning the television off, he knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep, not for a long time. Letting out another breath, he started to pace his sitting room. This was not part of the plan where he cared, where it mattered what he’d done. He’d never kidnapped anyone, and he hadn’t anticipated these feelings rushing around him.
Go and talk to her.
Putting the mask back on, he made his way back to the basement door. Opening it up, he headed down the stairs to the door and opened it. Her screams silenced as he entered the room.
“I don’t know who you think I am, but I’m no one. I swear. I can’t help you.”
“You don’t give yoursel
f credit.”
“I mean it. I don’t know what you think—”
“Your father will pay handsomely for your safe return.”
That made her pause.
Seconds ticked by.
The silence was deafening. He wanted her to speak.
Finally, he was rewarded.
“A ransom?”
“Yes. If your father ever hopes to see you again, he will provide me with a handsome reward.”
“You think my father will pay for me?”
“You’re his daughter.”
“I’m the scarred mess he has to deal with. You’ve got the wrong girl. My father will never pay for my safe return. He can’t even stand the sight of me.”
Mason stopped a few feet from the bed.
“You’re his daughter.”
“That won’t matter to him. He’s probably at home right now praying that you kill me so he doesn’t have to deal with me.”
He grabbed a chair and sat down. She turned her head to look at him. “What are you doing?”
“I never anticipated this when I took you.”
“What?”
“This little pity party you have going on.”
She rolled her eyes and looked away. “I’m tied to a bed. You’re a complete stranger who kidnapped me when I really thought you were going to help me. I’m stupid for even believing that I could trust you.”
Mason stood and leaned over her. “I may have kidnapped you, but I have yet to hurt you. Think about that.”
He stared down into her amber eyes, seeing them glisten with her tears.
Licking his lips, he stared down at her and wondered what she was thinking about. “You really don’t think your father is going to pay the ransom?”
“I doubt it.”
“But you can’t guarantee it?”
“I don’t know for certain what he’s going to decide to do. I want him to pay the ransom, but I know I’m not like him.”