by BWWM Club
Nathan felt helpless. He felt like he was floundering in water and no one was there to help him. Now he knew how someone had managed to take a picture of Jack and attack Christina. The perpetrator had been in the house all the time. And none of the alarms had been set off when Josh left with Jack because he knew the codes.
The door opened and Leo came in. His expression was grim.
"Sorry, Nate, but I thought you needed to know. Chris has gone."
Nathan's heart dropped.
"What?"
"Chris hightailed it out of your place shortly after we left. Clive is following her right now and she was picked up by the car your brother drives outside that place where you had the garden party."
Nathan didn't need three guesses as to what Christina had done. She had gone after Josh herself and sacrificed herself for Jack. But he had a feeling Josh wasn't going to let her go.
There was no way he was going to lose the two people he loved most in the same night.
*****
Christina winced as Josh made a sharp maneuver around another car that dawdled in the outside lane and passed it, putting his foot to the floor. They had been driving for the past twenty minutes and she had no idea where they were going.
When she had made the call for the trade she had hoped they would meet and Jack could be let go and she would go with Josh for the ransom. But Josh had pointed a gun at her head and told her to get inside. Then he had driven off like a madman, heading straight for the freeway.
Jack was in the back, on the floor between the seats. He was trussed up like a chicken, a blindfold over his eyes and a gag over his mouth, leaving his nose free for him to breathe. Christina had wanted to undo the bindings and let Jack sit up but Josh had warned her he wouldn't hesitate to shoot her prematurely if she even tried.
Christina glanced at Josh, who was staring out the front windshield.
"What are you going to do now?" She whispered.
Josh snorted. He looked completely different. Christina was used to seeing him calm and collected, nothing out of place. In short, a younger version of Nathan. But now his hair was a mess, his tie was askew with his collar undone, and his eyes were wild. Whatever had happened had tipped Josh over the edge. He looked like he was losing the last shred of his sanity.
"You are really stupid if you don't know that by now, Maudsley." He sneered.
"I know what's going to happen to me. I meant when are you going to let Jack go? That was the trade agreed."
"I'll trade him when I get my money as intended." Josh glanced at her. "You I'll keep hold of. I want to see what fascinated Nathan before I kill you. I've never had a black woman."
Christina would rather had a bullet in the head before she let Josh touch her like that. In the back Jack whimpered. She leaned between the seats and touched his cheek.
"It's okay, Jack. Chrissie's here. It's okay."
"You really don't care if you live or die, do you?"
Christina looked up. Josh was looking between her and the road, a curious expression on his face. She sat up, putting her hands in her lap.
"Not really." She admitted. She might have said otherwise a few hours before but not now. "My husband and son are dead. I have no one."
"What about my brother?"
Christina snorted, pushing back her misery at Nathan's cold shoulder.
"Nathan doesn't love me." She said bitterly. "I'm just another woman."
Josh laughed humorlessly.
"It's always the way. Nathan had to have all the women. They queued up to have him fuck them every way to heaven. But with me they looked the other way. Whoever did sleep with me did it for my money, not for me."
Christina felt sorry for him. Josh had been living in his brother's shadow all his life. He got Nathan's cast-offs and wasn't able to compete with him.
"You're a handsome man, Josh. You would have found someone soon."
"Don't patronize me." Josh growled. Then his voice softened. "I did find someone, if you must know. Katie was sweet, pure and beautiful. We clicked straightaway. She was my world." His lip curled. "Then Nathan waltzed in and took her away from me. She married him and got pregnant." He slapped the steering wheel with the gun. "Jack should have been my child! Nathan didn't deserve her." Then he smirked. "He doesn't have her now, though, does he?"
Christina began to have an awful feeling she knew something was wrong here. She remembered reading an internet article that Katie Gilmore had been killed in a hit-and-run the year before. The driver had never been caught.
Realization dawned and she shook her head as she stared in horror at Josh.
"No. Not you. You didn't run her over?"
"She refused to come back to me." Josh said bitterly. "Even laughed in my face, saying if she was going to be married to money at least she should be married to the better-looking brother." He snarled. "I was apparently a stepping stone to getting Nathan Gilmore. The best at everything. If I can't have Katie then Nathan is certainly not having her."
Christina's heart was pounding. She had originally thought Josh didn't have the ability to kill anyone. He might hire someone else to commit that crime but he wouldn't get his hands dirty. Her estimation of him was well off the mark.
"What about Jack?" She asked quietly. "What will you do with us?"
"I was having a thought just now. Maybe I shouldn't let the boy go. He's a good kid but he's also Katie's kid." He glanced at her, distaste in his face. "And Nathan has a genuine attachment to you. You had to be blind to see it when he looked at you. I might just kill the pair of you and dump your bodies for Nathan to find. He loves the pair of you and that will hit him hard."
Christina eyed the gun nervously. She toyed with the idea of taking the gun off him and forcing him to stop but she didn't want to risk Jack's life. It was too dangerous.
"What will that achieve?"
"He'll withdraw into himself. He'll be so overcome with depression that he'll step down as CEO. Then I, as natural successor, will step in and take over." Josh smirked. "If Nathan gives me any trouble, I could easily leave a lot of pills nearby. Or maybe a gun. Make it messier. Then everything Dad built for us will be mine and Nathan will have nothing."
Christina was expecting a maniacal laugh to emanate from his mouth. It didn't but it didn't stop Christina from feeling cold all over. She had to find a way to get out. Jack's life was at stake. She had to figure out how she was going to get him away from his uncle, who seemed to be slipping deeper into insanity.
Then she heard sirens. They were coming from behind. Looking around, Christina saw what seemed to be a fleet of cars coming towards them, scooting in between the other cars. She allowed some hope to take hold.
They were going to be safe after all.
If only Josh would stop.
*****
Nathan grabbed hold of the back of the driver's seat as Clive swerved the SUV in and out the non-police cars. He growled as they straightened up.
"Can't you get this to go any faster?" He snapped.
"We're not a law enforcement vehicle, Nathan." Clive responded. "We're lucky we were allowed to be at the back as it is. You just need to be patient."
"How can I be patient when my brother has Jack and Chris?"
Knowing there was a tracker in his brother's car, as there were in all their vehicles, had given them vital seconds. When they saw his car on the freeway on its way out of the state the police and FBI had stormed out to their cars and taken off, sirens blaring. Clive was managing to keep up with them but Nathan wanted them to go faster. He needed to be ahead so he could get to Josh first and throttle the life out of him.
He couldn't believe it of his little brother. He had loved him, cared for him and made sure he wanted for nothing. And this was how he repaid him.
"Clive's right, Nate." Leo said from the front passenger seat. "Let him drive and let the law do their job."
Nathan didn't like it. He wanted to be more productive. Instead he was sitting there like an impot
ent part. Jack needed him. Christina needed him.
But deep down he knew Leo and Clive were right. They weren't the law; capturing Josh and recovering Jack and Christina was their priority. Leo and Clive were there to make sure Nathan kept out of it and was there when his son and his woman saw him.
He felt bad for the way he had treated Christina. She hadn't deserved that but Nathan had lashed out. He needed her to know that. The moment he was allowed he was going to tell her how he felt.
Then he was going to make sure Christina never left him again.
He saw Josh's car suddenly swerve and his back end began to jack-knife. Nathan leaned forward.
"What's happening? His driving's all over the place."
Then he watched in horror as the car began to spin, sliding across the tarmac and tipping over onto its side. It skidded towards the central barrier and smacked its roof hard, metal flying everywhere.
"No!"
Clive pulled the car up on the grass. Nathan was out before it had stopped and he was running across the freeway. Several police officers were getting into the car through the windows, the car now having settled on its roof. There were shouts but with the blood pounding in his ears Nathan couldn't understand what they were saying.
"Nate!"
Leo and Clive grabbed him before he got too close and pulled him back. Nathan struggled, desperate to get to the wreckage. The car was a write-off. There were going to be serious injuries, maybe even a fatality.
Nathan didn't want to believe he had just lost the two most precious people in his life.
Leo held him as he sagged to his knees and let the tears fall.
*****
"Knock, knock."
Christina looked up, her heart pitter-pattering when she saw Nathan in the doorway. Even with stubble dusting his cheeks, hair standing up on end and clothes dusty and slept in he was the most delicious sight she had ever seen.
"Nathan." She sat up, wincing as her back complained. "What are you doing here?"
"I went to see Jack and I thought I'd come and see you."
Christina was confused.
"But I'm right at the other end of the hospital to the children's ward."
Nathan smiled and entered her room.
"The walk was worth it." He took his arm around behind his back and revealed the huge bouquet of flowers. "These are for you."
"Oh, Nate, they're beautiful."
Christina took the flowers and took a sniff. There was a smattering of everything in there, creating a beautiful collection of smells. Nathan had chosen well with his collection.
"I didn't know which flowers you liked so I went with everything."
"It's lovely. Don't worry about it." Smile fading, Christina lowered the flowers to her lap. "I'm so sorry about Josh."
At the time of the crash, Josh had lost control of the car and it had flipped. Somehow there were no serious injuries. Jack had only received a few cuts and scrapes. And Christina had bruises where her seatbelt had held her in place and a bandage wrapped around her head from where she had hit it against the window.
Josh hadn't been as lucky. He hadn't worn his seatbelt and had been thrown around inside like a rag doll. He was alive but in intensive care with internal injuries. Because he was unconscious he hadn't been formally arrested yet but there was an armed guard outside his room.
Nathan sighed and sat on the edge of the bed.
"I had no idea he thought like that." He said morosely. "If I'd known about it, then maybe..."
Christina laid a hand over his. She had just got over the idea that Josh was even capable of these crimes. She couldn't imagine how Nathan was feeling knowing his own brother had tried to kill his family.
"You couldn't have helped him, Nate. He was long past help."
That was the sad part of it. Josh had taken a leave of his senses. His hatred for Nathan had overtaken him and chances were standing for trial would be slim if his lawyers demanded a psych evaluation.
Christina couldn't bring herself to hate Josh. Even after what she had been through.
"Speaking of gone," Nathan looked at her, "Are you?"
Christina blinked.
"Am I what?"
"Gone. As in gone from my life."
Christina realized what he was asking. She closed her eyes and took a breath.
"My job contract has finished." She said slowly. "There's no need for me to stay."
"What if I want you to?" Christina opened her eyes to see Nathan looking at her earnestly. He sighed and looked ashamed. "I shouldn't have treated you the way I did, Chris. But I was angry at myself. You didn't deserve that."
"You had every right. I was as much in the wrong as you were."
"No, I didn't." Nathan closed his eyes and let out a shuddering breath. "I had just found the woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with and I pushed you away."
"What are you saying?"
Christina could guess what he was saying but she needed to hear it out loud and in simpler terms. She didn't want any misunderstandings later on.
Nathan opened his eyes. The love in his face was clear to her. He cupped her cheek in his hand and kissed her gently.
"I love you, Chris." He whispered. "Among everything we've shared you have given me the most important thing of all."
"What's that?"
"A second chance of having a family. Since Katie died I've felt incomplete, like there was a hole in my life. When you came, you effortlessly filled in that hole. You complete the family I've been looking for." Nathan sighed. "I know we're from different backgrounds and that might be a barrier for a while but could you see yourself becoming my wife and living my lifestyle?"
If she had been asked that when she had first met Nathan Gilmore, Christina would have laughed and said there was no chance. But now her opinions and feelings were different. She smiled and brushed a kiss across his lips.
"Could you see yourself growing accustomed to my more down-to-earth attitudes? I will never be one of those rich women who flaunt about with expensive clothes and jewelry."
Nathan laughed.
"If you turned into that sort of woman I'd be scared. I'm expecting your down-to-earth behavior to keep me grounded. Level me out." His look became mischievous. "And don't forget Jack comes as part of the package."
Christina grinned.
"Of course. I wouldn't want less than that." She brushed her fingers across Nathan's cheek, running a thumb across his lips. "I love you, Nate."
Nathan growled. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her thoroughly, thrusting his tongue into her mouth. Christina welcomed it eagerly, feeling lighter than she had done in the last forty-eight hours.
Then Nathan pulled back and stared down at her, hunger and love in his expression.
"Marry me." He said gruffly.
That was him all over. Demanding as usual. Christina laughed and drew him down for another kiss.
"Yes."
The end.
Controlled By The Billionaire
A dark BWWM romance
A complete story, brought to you by top selling author Tyra Small.
Mel has had a hard life.
Growing up in a foster home and abusive environment, she works in a local bar, pursuing her dream of becoming a successful recording artist on the side.
So when she meets billionaire and CEO of Powers Records Tristan, she knows she needs to do what she can to record with his company.
But Tristan himself has a dark past, and despite the two soon discovering a mutual attraction, he isn't going to give up a recording contract easily.
In fact, he wants Mel to become his sub, and submit to him in the bedroom during their working period together.
But after her album is made, will Mel be able to enjoy normal life without her new found role under Tristan?
And will Tristan, a man who's used to moving from girl to girl, be able to forget about Mel as easy as he did the others?
Find out in this smoking hot dark
romance by best selling author Tyra Small.
Suitable for over 18s only due to dominating sex scenes and themes of an adult nature.
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 1
Mel Fairbanks watched the tall, sexy, dark haired man as he mingled with the other bigwigs at the record label party from her post behind the bar. He was sexy, she’d give him that, but that’s not why she was staring at him. Tristan Powers was not only a person of stature in the record label, he owned it. That meant he had something Mel wanted; a record contract. Playing guitar and singing at open mic nights were one thing but Mel wanted to make it big. She deserved to make it big. Especially after…no she wouldn’t think about that right now, she had work to do, and she didn’t mean serving drinks to drunken, handsy, rich men.
Mel watched Tristan circle the room, smiling and shaking hands with everyone while his body language was rigid. She wondered what he had to be so standoffish about. Shrugging with resignation, Mel grabbed her tray, tugging the tiny skirt down to cover her ample bottom, and rounded the bar. Plastering a fake smile on her face she sidled up to two men in their fifties, handing them each a cold bottle of beer and pocketing the tip they gave her in the small apron over her skirt. At least this job was good tips. Mel snorted; it was a small price to pay to have her ass ogled by strangers if she could walk out of here with enough money for two months rent.
The next two hours went by quickly, and before Mel knew it she only had a small window of an hour left to make her move and talk to Tristan Powers. She needed to do this, to get her head out of her ass and make something of her herself. Waitressing, open mic night and other tiny gigs at small bars weren’t going to pay the bills for long. It was her dream and she had to at least give it a shot. Finally a window of opportunity opened when a man; a very sleazy, slicked back hair, rapist looking man, who was talking to Mr. Powers asked her to get him a drink. Then tried to slap her ass. Luckily for her, Mel was quick and was out of his arms range before he made contact. She made the decision right then and there that after delivering this man’s drink she would talk to Tristan. This was her only shot. Nerves caused her stomach to clench as she walked the extra fruity drink back to the sleazy guy but she took two deep breaths and forced them back; now was not the time to chicken out.