“That won’t stop them trying to get it,” Dante says.
“Whoever is in charge at Vacso just wants to know she’s gone,” Carter says. “Whether she knows anything or not.”
“Vacso is going to find out is that Hannah is safe and anyone who tries to cross us is not,” Dante says. “We’ll be sending a pretty warning back to anyone who wants to come at us again.” He’s referring to our special message, as we call a box holding a few recognizable body parts. “Who do you have working upstairs tonight?”
“Joshua,” Carter says with confidence.
At the sound of the name, Dante relaxes. Josh set up the tech in the Village. He’s kind of a savant when it comes to computers.
We’re interrupted by the opening of the door. Several Brothers escort the men into the room. The grinner sits down first.
The man who was on the right of the boat, the loudmouth, sits, speaking first. “The name’s Avery. Give us what we want and we leave in peace. Remember... no sudden moves. As per our conditions to meet, our active bombs have been placed right outside this house. Anything happens to us and the units blow. Taking your pretty white mansions and loved ones with them.”
Carter says, “We’ve been warned. Tell us, Avery. What is it that you want?”
Avery sneers. “Your pretty little blonde. The one you’ve been protecting for the past three years.”
Carter raises a brow to me that makes Dante smirk. “Three years?”
John asks me, “I thought this was a new love interest?”
I wave my hand in the air, giving a casual smile. “Long story.”
Would a Bachman man let a woman like Hannah out of his sight, unprotected?
When Hannah left the first time and wasn’t returning my calls or my texts I respected the fact that she didn’t want contact. I left her alone, didn’t stalk her or harass her. But that didn’t mean that I wouldn’t protect her.
As soon as Adrianna’s town car dropped her off at Columbia, two Brothers were close behind. Can I help it if Nico and Andre wanted to get a degree while serving the Brotherhood? Who am I to stop a man from pursuing his dreams of higher education? Hannah’s mind lives so far in her work she never noticed two incredibly built guys shadowing her.
Did they report back to me?
Of course.
Did I respect her privacy, only asking of her safety, knowing she didn’t belong to me?
Of course.
Did I take solace in the fact that in those three years, they never saw a man enter or leave her apartment?
Hell, yes.
Nico and Andre never gave me intimate details, never spied on her, just kept an eye from a distant. So distant in fact that when they were wrapped up in their end of year exams, they didn’t even realize she had left Columbia to come to the Village, or that she was moving to LA. Meeting her in Gotcha’s was a head fuck. I had no idea she’d be there. Of course, the slip will come out of Nico and Andre’s paycheck, but it was still a wonderful surprise.
Why did I have her tailed? Because after she left I couldn’t bear the thought of anything happening to her. Later, when I found out about her father, I rested even easier in my decision to have her protected.
One day, I’ll have to confess to her.
I hope she understands my reasons.
Avery’s getting agitated. His knee jiggles up and down as he taps his foot on the floor. “Can we cut the crap? She’s getting in the way of our business. Threatening our income. If the roles were reversed, you’d do the same.”
My blood boils. “On the contrary. Women are revered and protected in our world.”
He sneers at me. “She’s worth nothing.”
Before I make a move, Dante’s arm locks around me. “Not yet, Nick.”
The creepy smile has left the grinner’s face. He looks as if he’s pissed himself. Avery only gets angrier. “What do you mean, not yet? Did you not hear me say if you laid a finger on me, this whole place would be blown up?”
Carter looks at his watch. “I think we’ve wasted enough time.”
Dante asks, “Josh done?”
Carter nods.
Avery flies out of his seat, his chair toppling behind him. “Wasted enough time? We haven’t even begun negotiations! I swear if you don’t bring the girl in here in the next three minutes, we’re all going to die. I’ll murder us all.”
Carter yawns. “Is that so?”
Avery ignores him, turning to me. His gaze is dark, cunning. “There’s no way lover boy would have his girl far from him. If I was a betting man, I’d say she’s right here in this same building as us. Maybe even upstairs, right above our heads.”
She is. Where I know she’s safe.
Avery says, “I can see we’re getting nowhere. It’s time to do what I came for and if we all die in the process of me getting rid of her, so be it.”
“And how do you plan on doing that?” Carter asks.
“I’ve planted the detonator under my skin. Right... here.” With dramatic pause, he reaches over to press a lump rising out of the skin of his left forearm. When no one goes to stop him, his brow knits together. “Do you understand the imminent danger you’re in?”
Carter’s fingertip goes to his ear. He stares down at the table for a moment. Then looks to John. “Mission complete.”
John says, “Excellent.”
Avery’s confident sneer starts to dissolve. “What mission?”
Carter looks him square in the eyes. “To deactivate your bombs.”
Avery takes a step backwards. Fury builds in his eyes, but perspiration is forming at his hairline. “Deactivate? Impossible. You’re just a bunch of dumb thugs. Pretty boys with muscles. There isn’t a brain among you.”
“Graduated top of my class at Villanova but you’re right... I can’t stop what you brought. From what I’ve just heard in my earpiece it was pretty impressive. But an elite mafia like ours is sure to have a member of the National Gendarmerie Intervention Group trained to deactivate much more intricate technology than yours.”
Avery’s wild eyes look around the room like a caged animal.
Dante gives me a nod. “Go ahead, Nick. He’s all yours.”
I’m glad for these soundproof walls. I’d hate for Hannah to hear the screams that echo through the room as my knife tears through the gut of this greasy bastard.
Death comes quick for them both. I breathe a deep sigh of relief knowing that the two main men who were after Hannah are done. Their bodies being packed up and shipped back to the head of Vacso as a warning.
I shower and change in the locker room of our basement. I join Dante and we go upstairs to the girls. A couple of the Brothers are entertaining them with dice games at the bar in the kitchen. As soon as Hannah sees me, she rushes into my arms. I tuck her head beneath my chin—the fit is as perfect as a puzzle piece—and smooth her hair.
“Oh, Nick! I was so worried. Are you alright?” Her brown eyes search mine. “Was it... terrible?”
“It was nothing.” Killing was nothing if it meant protecting her.
She studies my face another moment. What she sees there leaves her satisfied. With a sigh, she leans back against my chest.
I wrap my arms around her. Hold her tightly to me. Never wanting to let her go.
Killing two men in cold blood, watching the life drain from their eyes and knowing it was me who stole it from them—that wasn’t hard. But the image of Hannah walking away... one more time... it rips my heart from my chest. Twists a knife blade in my gut.
I don’t know if I’ll survive her leaving me again. I breathe in her scent. Hold her to me. Feel her heart beating. Knowing mine belongs to her alone.
* * *
We dress for dinner on the yacht. I wear a white button-down beneath my dark suit. Hannah looks breathtaking, her hair swept up, a black gown hugging her curves. Pride wells in my chest. I can’t wait to show her off. Dante and Adrianna join us on the dock and we walk to Carter’s together. When we arrive we find
the place buzzing with energy.
We Bachmans love to party.
Carter’s sassy wife Sasha comes sprinting over to us. How she manages it in her floor-length black evening gown, slit up to her thigh, I have no idea. Toned and tanned, with flowing dark hair, she’s the image of a seaside princess.
Adrianna squeals at the sight of her and quickly closes the space between them. “Sasha! It’s been too long.” They tangle arm in arm and dip off to a quieter part of the room to catch up.
I look to Hannah, who’s gazing after Adrianna. “You alright?”
She nods. Gives my arm a squeeze and shoots me a grateful smile. “I’m used to it. Adrianna’s an extrovert. She gets her energy from being with other people. I’m an introvert. After having a lot of interaction, I need time alone to recharge. Which always worked for our friendship since she had way more friends than I did... except—” Her sentence trails off and her brow crinkles as she studies me a moment. “Except when I’m with you. Being with you seems to give me energy. I never need a break.”
My face beams. “That’s quite a compliment. Especially coming from you, someone who’s spent a million hours alone studying in the McAuthor Bookstore.”
She laughs but the sound quickly dissolves. “Hey—I never told you I went there. It’s off campus. I only just discovered it my final semester of school. Come to think of it, I hadn’t mentioned it to Adrianna, either...” An accusatory look clouds her features.
Time to come clean. “I have a confession to make.”
“You’ve been trailing me, haven’t you?”
I place my hand over my heart. “I haven’t.”
She unlinks her arm from mine, placing her hands on her hips. She pronounces my name in three slow syllables. “Nicholas...”
“Yes. I had you trailed. But I never stepped foot on your turf. And the Brothers that were keeping an eye out were legitimately enrolled in classes. I promise.”
Her head is shaking in disbelief. “That’s a complete invasion of my privacy! Being watched... all the time... for how long, Nicholas? How long?”
“Three years.”
Her jaw drops to her chest. “No way. Uh-uh. You wouldn’t do something like that... would you?”
“I felt so much for you, even after that first night, I couldn’t let you go without ensuring your safety. And thank God I did. Turns out those men were looking for you the whole time—”
“It’s still not okay. You had no idea I was in danger. You didn’t know my backstory when you sent the Brothers to Columbia. I was just a one-night stand to you—nothing more. You had no right—”
I clasp her chin between my forefinger and thumb. “You were never just a one-night stand to me.”
Her eyes shine and my words give her pause. Then something in her snaps. Her eyes flash fire and she rips her face from my hold. “Nicholas Bachman. You crossed a line. Big time.” She turns on her heel, her back now facing me.
My hands tear through my hair. How have I managed to fuck this up so royally when I was doing what was right?
She starts to leave.
My heart tears from my chest, I shout, “You know me. You know it’s in my blood to protect the ones I love!”
She stops dead in her tracks. I suddenly realize my words have echoed through the large room, quieting the crowd. A pin dropping on the marble floor could be heard for miles.
I’ve finally made the confession that stands to hurt me the most. “Fuck.” My hands hang at my sides.
She hasn’t moved an inch. Hasn’t even turned around to face me.
The Bachmans haven’t moved an inch.
Everyone stares at us; the few feet between Hannah and me feel like a chasm. Through the silence I hear her soft words. “You... love me?”
I can’t hold it in any longer. I can’t hide it anymore. I don’t even want to. I’m exhausted, trying to pretend I want to spend anything less than eternity with this girl. So, fuck it. If she leaves me again, at least when she does, she’ll know how I feel about her. “I love you, Hannah. I’ve always loved you.”
“You love me.” It’s words she’s whispering to herself, but the entire room can hear them. She sounds as if she’s finally found the answer to her life’s work when she repeats them. “You. Love. Me.”
She turns.
Tears stream down her cheeks. Her head is shaking side to side. A smile stretches over her face as she says again, “You love me. You love me!” And she’s running to me. Leaping into my arms.
I catch her and I hold her and if it were up to me I would never let her go. I wish this moment would never end. She takes my face in her two hands and she lays a kiss on me so deep it feels like the first real promise she’s ever made.
With that kiss, I know for certain, she’s not going to leave me.
A cheer erupts from the crowd. I laugh, spinning her in my arms. When I stop, we stare in one another’s eyes. She smooths my hair. “I love you, too.”
We kiss again and another cheer roars through the hall, my heart bursting.
My Hannah loves me.
We dance the night away. As I twirl Hannah in my arms, I can’t believe how much my life has changed. How much joy she’s brought me with her return. Yes, there will still be hell to pay for the secret service bodyguard bit—she’s made that very clear—but the look of love that’s in her eyes tells me I’ll be forgiven.
Tonight is for love. And expensive wine. And fresh foods grown right here in the sandy soil beneath the sun. Fish caught a rock’s throw from where we stand. Musicians play, beautiful people hold one another, dancing to the melody. The sea breeze flows through the room, the beautiful soft white globe lights sway as if they are dancing too.
I love Hannah. And she loves me.
And the rest we can figure out tomorrow.
We spend a week in the Parish. Swimming and sunning. Chasing the children on the shore. Dining with family. When it’s time to leave, we bid our farewells with a heavy heart. There’s a welling in my chest I must fight back. My place is in the Village now.
Adrianna weeps openly saying goodbye to her friend Sasha. The two seem more like sisters than friends. Hannah whispers to me that she feels a pain in her own heart for Adrianna’s sadness.
We four walk to the dock and board the Aphrodite. Stand on the deck and wave until we can no longer see the Parish.
Adrianna and Dante go below to rest. Hannah looks to me and asks me what I’d like to do.
“I want to take you down to our room and do all kinds of terrible things to you.”
She giggles as I scoop her up in my arms and carry her toward our room.
I growl in her ear, “You want to play a little?”
“Play what? Doctor?” She giggles again.
“I could give you a very thorough exam.” I slide my fingers beneath her dress, pressing that sweet rosebud over the fabric of her panties and sending shivers through her body. “Or you could be a bad, bad schoolgirl. At a private school. Wearing a crisp button-down white shirt and a red plaid little skirt. White knee socks and white panties. Sent to see me in the principal’s office for being naughty.”
Her eyes widen, glinting mischievously. “Oh, what did I do?”
“You sassed the teacher. They sent you to come see me so I could lay you over my lap. Pull up your skirt and spank your bottom over your white panties with my wooden ruler. Then I hold your hand and walk you back to your classroom. Where everyone will know you’d been spanked by the principal. You’d have to sit down on your punished bottom on those hard wooden chairs, your face stained with tears.”
She’s squirming in my arms. I catch the faintest scent of her arousal. Her hands go to the collar of my shirt, ready to tear it off. “I hope this place is soundproof.”
I give her a look. “It was built by Bachmans.”
“So, it’s soundproof?”
“Of course.”
Shyness creeps into her voice. “Tell me more. What else could we play?”
I
carry her into the room, kicking the door shut behind us. I drop her on the bed, sit close beside her. “I could be your banker. You’ve overdrafted again and it’s the end of the month. You don’t want your husband to find out so you agree to me punishing you for your overspending. I’d bend you over my desk. Plug your pretty little bottom. Then make you stand in the corner. You’re so embarrassed, your skirt is tucked up into its waistband. Your bare bottom is on display to me, a stranger, the handle of the plug peeking out between your ass cheeks. You count down the minutes, waiting for your punishment to be over. Only to find out I’ve called your husband. And he’s come to punish you himself. He’s going to bend you back over my desk and give you a taste of his belt. Lucky for me I get to play the part of the banker and the husband.”
“I’m sure you’d be good at both.”
“I am.”
“What else?”
I creep my fingers up her thigh. Find her earlobe, nibbling and biting as my fingers sneak beneath her skirts. I lightly press the cleft of her pussy lips over her panties. “We could pretend we were on a first date. Riding a train into the city. It’s a crowded place—people everywhere. I drape my jacket over your lap. You feel my hand slip between your legs. At first you try to push me away, you’re afraid of someone seeing. But it feels so good you don’t try and stop me.”
“Mmm... and it does feel so good.” She places her hand over mine, pushing my fingers further between her legs. I give her what she craves, sliding my finger underneath her panties. She spreads her thighs, letting out a soft sigh. I enter her, gathering her juices. Find that swollen little bud that gives her so much pleasure. Rub and caress. Her hips begin rocking. I slip a finger back inside of her. Then another. She moans.
“Someone is watching you. They see that look on your face. How your eyes are closed. Your head lolling backwards. They know how naughty you are, letting your boyfriend finger you like this right out in the open. They watch you, getting turned on by how hot you are, how much you’re enjoying this.”
“Ah... ah... I’m going to come soon, but I don’t ever want this to end.” She’s trying to hold off the orgasm that’s building within her, but it’s no use. Her muscles tighten around my fingers. Her voice rises. Her hips go in circles, grinding into the bed.
Surrender: A Mafia Billionaire Romance Page 13