Lost then Found

by Valerie Wilde

  Or maybe it was because this guy was really starting to creep me out. His words didn’t sound like a threat…but there was something in his tone, in way that his eyes stared, fixed and unblinking, that made me feel something was wrong.

  He stepped back, finally lowering his hand and giving up on trying to touch Jack. With a quick smile, he abruptly changed conversation.

  “I suppose you met Aidan through work, you do work from IBA, don’t you?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Aidan said the two of you were close,” he said, his eyes glinting and his smile widening.

  I had the strangest sense that something was wrong. But it didn’t make any sense. This was Aidan’s brother. Aidan had even told Marcus about me! Why was I getting such a strange vibe from him?

  It had to be me. I had to just be imagining it.

  “Well,” I said, adjusting my grip on Jack. “We dated a few years ago.”

  “You must know each other really well,” he said, looking at me intensely. There was something odd about that look, and then it struck me! I had seen this man before! He had been at the wedding!

  He had been the stranger that had stood at the back of the church.

  Aidan had reacted really weirdly when he’d seen him. They’d shaken hands, but it hadn’t seemed friendly. I remembered that I’d been struck by how everyone else in the room seemed happy for us, but that stranger had seemed almost angry. The rest of the guests had avoided him completely.

  Of course, I hadn’t been paying complete attention to his face. I’d just got married!

  I’d thought that the stranger was just one of the many associates that any billionaire has. At the time, I’d made a note to ask Aidan about him later - but then so much had happened since, that it had totally slipped my mind.

  “You were there, weren’t you?” I said. He had seen us get married, so why was he asking if the two of us were close?

  “There? I’m afraid, my dear, that you’ll have to be more specific,” he said, smiling greasily.

  I got the feeling he knew exactly what I was talking about. It was like he just wanted me to say it out loud. And why was he calling me ‘my dear’?? I most definitely wasn’t his dear! My protective instincts were going into overdrive. I needed to get out of there.

  “I’m sorry, I should be going. I, uh, didn’t realize it was getting so late,” I said, not that I was even wearing a watch. I just wanted to get away from Marcus. There was just something about him. That creepy smile that just lingered on his face wasn’t helping.

  I needed to leave now. Then Aidan and I needed to have a little talk.

  21

  Aidan

  Jack ran up to me, waving his arms to be picked up. I swung him up into my arms, turning him around in a circle. His legs swam through the air and he threw his head back laughing loudly.

  “So,” Erica said sharply, her tone making me pay attention

  I looked up with a frown.

  She was wearing the rings that I’d given her and the gold necklace that I’d bought her in New York. I smirked at the tendril of satisfaction that I felt, seeing her wear my jewelry.

  “I guess you’ve been keeping more secrets from me.”

  “I haven’t kept anything from you,” I told her honestly.

  “Oh, really? Then how come your brother, who I didn’t know even existed, just introduced himself to me?!”

  There are very few things that I fear in this world. But, at her words, I felt a shiver run through me.

  “Marcus spoke to you?” I asked, pressing Jack to my chest.

  “Yep, he recognised me. He said you had a photo of me that you showed him?”

  “I would never show Marcus a photo of you.”

  My mind was working quickly. Trying to piece it all together. Marcus must have followed us here. Though I have no idea how.

  When Marcus’ mom first married my dad, he had looked up to me. I was only a few months older than him, but that sort of thing means a lot to kids.

  Unfortunately that admiration didn’t last long. After his mother died, Marcus became warped. He became obsessed with the idea that Dad didn’t love both of us equally, or that I was somehow getting preferential treatment. Over time his anger and frustration had turned toward me, and the company.

  He had become a director within the IBA as well, but it wasn’t enough for him; he wanted to inherit the company and become the President. He wanted all the power. He wanted to punish my father and I.

  Foolishly, it had taken me years to finally see the truth.

  I’ve been involved in IBA since I was a teenager. The company was my life…and that left very little time for anything else. I just never had the room in my life for serious relationships.

  That didn’t bother me until, five years ago, I met Erica.

  She was intelligent and fun and with a body that I couldn’t resist. She was everything I hadn’t even known I’d wanted…and I had to have her.

  Erica broke down my walls.

  I needed to make her mine.

  Even as our lips first met, my body overwhelmed by the urge to press her down and fuck her until I was the only man she could even think about, until I’d claimed her sweet pussy and ruined her for other men.

  I fell for her hard. She was beautiful, fun, and she loved the company almost as much as I did. I was in love…

  And then Marcus found out that I was seeing someone.

  Suddenly, he dropped all his business in the Askovian office and turned up in New York.

  I honestly didn’t think anything of it, at first - travel is part of the job. I like to know what’s going on in the different offices, so I just assumed that Marcus felt the same way. But he didn’t seem to care about how the office was running. All he cared about was finding out about the woman I’d started seeing, bombarding me with questions: what was her name…where did she live…

  It made me uneasy, but, even then, I didn’t suspect him. I told him Erica’s name, but not much else…And yet he seemed to know all sorts of extra details about her. Things that should be impossible for him to know.

  He knew her last name, when I had never mentioned it. And then he knew what school she had gone to, the names of her parents. It made my skin crawl, knowing the amount work that he had put into digging into Erica’s past.

  I knew he must have hired an investigator to find things out about her, though I couldn’t prove it. But it didn’t end there. He knew everything, ever detail of her schedule, knowing what clothes she was wearing every day, where she liked to get take-out and what her order was. When it all became too much I told the Askovian office to call him back. Get him out of New York and away from Erica.

  And then the threats began; Marcus would come into my office, sprawl himself over one of my chairs, his legs propped over the arm of the chair and tell me how dangerous life can be in New York. The threats were subtle at first. I didn’t even realize they were threats, until I started to see the pattern.

  One morning, Marcus had been talking about how dangerous the traffic in New York can be…and then a few hours later, Erica had remarked, offhand and casually, that the taxi she’d taken to work had nearly been in an accident. Another car had almost side-swiped them, and it was only because the taxi driver was able to swerve away, that there hadn’t been a crash.

  Another day, Marcus had told me that there was a rise in the number of muggings in New York. Then later that day, Erica had told me that a man had been following her as she walked to the store. She’d been upset, but she hadn’t thought much of it. To her it was just an upsetting experience, but just a once off.

  I knew better.

  Of course, I was furious with Marcus, a fiery anger that made me want to wrap my hands around his throat and squeeze and squeeze until he never endangered Erica again. But, getting angry with Marcus, threatening him, hitting him, none of that stopped him from being a threat to Erica.

  I didn’t know what his game was, what had driven him to such length
s. But the only way to stop Marcus threatening Erica would have been to kill him…Or to stop seeing Erica. I came close to choosing the first option.

  That last morning in New York, Marcus had a bruise blossoming on his cheek from where I’d hit him the day before. He laughed at me and started talking about how there had been a rise in the number of home invasions in the city.

  I couldn’t let anything happen to Erica. I’d never forgive myself.

  So I folded. I understood that he wasn’t going to stop until I left Erica. So…for her own protection…I did.

  We never spoke again. Until he turned up at my wedding.

  It tore me up, leaving her without even being able to say goodbye. I never even had the chance to see her one last time, to hold her in my arms or to kiss her farewell. But as much as it hurt, I knew that it was better for her to be safe and single, rather than with me and perpetually at risk. I knew that Marcus had people watching her. I couldn’t risk talking to her again, even to explain myself. Besides, there was always a chance she would persuade me to stay, and that wasn’t an option.

  Of course, I hated Marcus for what he’d done. I thought he’d wanted to split Erica and me up simply out of hatred for me - that he couldn’t stand to see me happy and so he had to end it. But it wasn’t that simple.

  The years past, and I never stopped thinking about Erica, wondering what she was doing, if she was happy, if she was angry with me for how I’d left so suddenly. I hired a new assistant, Felix. Part of being a great assistant is knowing what your boss needs, even if they don’t know it themselves. Felix was that type of assistant. As part of familiarizing himself with IBA, he read through all the old by-laws of the company and he stumbled upon a long forgotten clause that was written into the laws of the IBA, hundreds of years ago.

  That’s how I found out about the married-heir clause.

  Everything snapped into focus. Marcus’ behavior suddenly made sense to me. He didn’t care about Erica, or that she made me happy - he was worried that I might marry her! As long as I remained single, I was unable to inherit the company. Leaving Marcus as the sole, legitimate heir.

  I could see, with perfect clarity, how Marcus’ plan would have unfolded. After Dad’s death, I was due to become President, but Marcus would step in with this technicality that meant I couldn’t be President - he would have to be made President instead.

  I toyed with letting that happen. I would have given up everything just to be with Erica! I didn’t care about the money, the job, not if it meant losing her!

  But then I heard the rumors. He was going to break up IBA once he gained control. Destroy the family company and sell the pieces off to the highest bidders. There would be nothing left. All the people who had trusted us with their money, their homes, would find their new banks far less friendly than the IBA. Banking was one of the largest industries in Askovia thanks to us. The damage to my family and my country would be huge.

  The idea sickened me. How could he hate the company, his own country…his own family, so much??

  So, I came up with a plan. I would get married.

  The obvious choice was to ask Erica to be married to me for a short time. That meant I was married, and able to inherit the company. All I had to do was to keep my marriage a secret from Marcus.

  That plan was shot to hell when I saw Marcus at the wedding ceremony.

  Fortunately, I’d already made arrangements to spend our honeymoon at sea. The yacht was the perfect place, she was safe, isolated and totally out of Marcus’s reach. The only downside was that taking her on the yacht meant that I was missing time with Dad.

  Every day, I’d talk to his nurse, check on how he was doing. Ready to fly home at a moment’s notice, leaving Erica and Jack on the yacht. They were supposed to be safe here!

  But somehow, Marcus had managed to tracked us down, and now I had to get Erica away from him as quickly as possible.

  “Listen, I’ll explain everything later. But right now, we have to leave. Immediately.”

  22

  Erica

  I’d never seen Aidan like this.

  He might say that he’d explain later, but the truth was that, once again, he wasn’t telling me what was going on! This was another secret! Another one! It made me so mad I could scream! Didn’t he trust me?

  I just turned my back and took Jack down into the yacht. As I headed down to the master bedroom, muttering to myself, I thought I heard footsteps following me. I turned quickly, but there was nobody there.

  I snorted to myself. I was angry and I was hearing things! It was strange to be in the yacht with the engine turned off and all the staff and crew ashore. It was too quiet. It was eerie but I knew that it was just my imagination playing tricks on me.

  “Mommy’s being silly, aren’t I?”

  “Silly Mommy,” Jack chirped happily, as I helped him up onto the bed. I looked up sharply, there was a noise in the hallway, just outside the door. That must be Aidan, coming to apologize. Slowly, the door handle turned, and the door swung open and there, standing in the hallway with a gun in his hand, was Marcus.

  It wasn’t aimed at us, but pointed down at the floor by our feet.

  I let out a noise, part surprise and part fear that came out as a stifled scream. My blood ran cold as I grabbed Jack, trying to get ahold of him and somehow keep my body in between Jack and the gun.

  “Hello again, Erica.”

  Marcus smiled at me, his voice clear and peculiarly calm.

  Earlier on the docks, Marcus had creeped me out. But now, looking into his eyes, I knew that he was insane. There was a fire in his eyes, manic and crazy. I knew there was no reasoning with him, no getting through to him.

  Did Aidan know that Marcus had come aboard?

  God, I wished Aidan hadn’t sent all the crew to shore. For the last few days the yacht had been full of people, but now it was completely empty. Marcus had been able to walk around the yacht with a gun! And there was no-one to stop him!

  Where was Aidan?

  If he knew that we were in danger then he would do anything to rescue us. I’m sure. Had Marcus shot him already?

  No. I hadn’t heard a gunshot.

  “What have you done to Aidan?”

  Marcus smile grew, stretching wide as he raised the gun, pointing it straight at me.

  “Oh, that’s very sweet of you. You’re so concerned about your husband, aren’t you? But you don’t need to worry about him any more. No. What you should be worrying about is that cute little boy of yours!”

  “Don’t hurt him! Please! I’ll do anything!”

  “Yes,” he cocked the gun, still keeping it aimed right at my face. “You will. Now, move. We’re leaving.”

  I nodded, trying to keep him calm as Marcus made a motion with his gun, telling me to start walking.

  “Mommy,” Jack whispered, pulling at my sleeve. “I’m scared.”

  “I know, baby,” I told him, we were closer to Marcus now and for one mad second I thought about trying to reach for the gun. I’ve seen people in movies do that. How the hero of a movie overpowers the person waving a gun at them.

  Except, in the movies, the hero is never carrying their four year old kid.

  I looked away. I was just going to do as Marcus said, because I couldn’t risk Jack getting hurt.

  Where was Aidan?

  I felt cold dread, deep in my belly.

  No, I couldn’t think like that. I had to believe that he was OK.

  Something warm and wet smeared against my shoulder. I looked down and saw that Jack was crying. He was so scared that heavy tears were streaming down his face.

  I hated Marcus. I hated him for threatening us and for whatever he’d done to Aidan, but most of all I hated him for making my son cry. I swore to myself that I’d make Marcus pay for what he was doing, for hurting my Jack like this.

  “It’s OK, Jack. This is just a game,” I said gently, stroking his back and trying to sound as reassuring as I could.

  Marcus
laughed, waving his gun at us.

  “Yes, Jackie. This is a fun little game where I make sure that I get what I deserve and that no interfering woman gets in my way. Hurry up now, down to the docking bay.”

  I walked forward, knowing that there was a gun aimed at the back of my head. But I kept on looking around. There had to be a way to escape Marcus. Or maybe I would see some sign of Aidan come to rescue us. There was nothing.

  “What are you going to do to us?”

  “Don’t worry, my dear. As long as you do exactly what I say, then you and little Jackie are going to be fine. Open that door, let’s get out onto the deck.”

  I opened the door in front of me. It was such a bright sunny day. Only a few hours earlier I’d been enjoying the sunshine, but now I was terrified.

  The docking bay was the part of the yacht where another boat could dock with us. It was on the other side from the pier. No-one was going to see Marcus, herding us at gunpoint, out onto the deck.

  Then I saw why Marcus was making us come out here. Moored to the docking bay was a small yacht that I had never seen before.

  “You’re kidnapping us?”

  I felt something hard and cold, forced into the back of my head. I froze. I just knew that was the muzzle of Marcus’ gun, digging into me. He was so unstable that I had no idea what he was doing. Was he about to kill me? What would he do to Jack??

  “Lower your voice,” Marcus whispered harshly. I whimpered, not able to hold back my fear any longer. “Shut the hell up, and get onto my boat.”

  I took another step forward. My body was screaming at me, not wanting to move.

  If Marcus had already killed Aidan, then that would have meant we were completely alone on the boat. There would be no reason for Marcus to tell me to lower my voice. So…that meant that Aidan was still alive. He was still on the yacht somewhere.

  Maybe if I just yelled loudly enough, he would hear me. He might save us!

  Except, with the gun pressing into me, I hardly dared move. I couldn’t risk shouting for help.

  I felt so powerless and I hated it. I hated Marcus with every fiber of my being.