Filthy Rich

by Dawn Ryder

  This guy was unstable.

  And he was in her house.

  She forced a half smile onto her lips. “I’m listening.”

  But she wasn’t. Not really. She was trying to see if any of her neighbors were out on their porches. Looking for the blur of a jogger passing by. Anyone to run to for help.

  “I will arrange for a man who looks very much like Nartan to arrive here. A few incriminating pictures should do what I want.”

  Laura fought the urge to throw up. She’d never met someone so evil before. She crossed her legs, hating how the slit in her dress exposed a large portion of her thigh.

  The dress she’d been so happy to put on a few hours ago suddenly felt cheap and revealing.

  “Let me think about it.”

  Caspian’s eyes narrowed. “I require an answer now.”

  The huge guy lurking in her hallway shifted closer.

  “I’m thinking about it.”

  She stood up and took a slow turn around the front room. The muscled guy tensed when she moved, but settled back when she came full circle.

  “I plan to marry Nartan, so I can’t have him slammed in the media…”

  She slowly circled the chair she’d been sitting in.

  “That is acceptable.”

  Laura slowed down as she passed the front door again. It was still unlocked. Her heart was racing but she resisted the urge to look toward the muscled guy.

  “You will have to be nude.”

  Caspian’s demand gave her a reason to stop and she stepped back toward the front door. He lifted an eyebrow at her outrage. The look sickened her but the doorknob was right beneath her fingertips. She closed her hands around it and turned. The hinges groaned just a bit as she pulled the door open and ran out.

  “Stop her!”

  She yanked her evening dress up as she ran. Her thin nylons didn’t protect her from the rough asphalt. But she didn’t stop running until she made it around the corner, her own breathing too harsh to allow her to hear any pursuit.

  Panic was making her hear it anyway.

  The warm Southern California weather came to her rescue in the form of a bunch of college students sitting outside their parents’ condo. They looked up when she came barreling toward them.

  ***

  Nartan groaned when his cell phone went off for the fifth time in a row. Celeste lifted her head from his chest and reached for it. She dropped it in his hand before she rolled out of bed and headed for a shower.

  She hadn’t even stepped into the water when Nartan came into the bathroom.

  “Get dressed. There was a problem at Laura’s.”

  Celeste snapped her mouth shut, holding back the argument that sprang to mind. Laura was still a relative.

  They didn’t have far to go. Nartan went past the construction for the new gate and turned toward the condos. Red and blue lights were still flickering from several police cars when they pulled up. Laura was leaning against one of the cars, two detectives in front of her.

  It was still hard to see Laura next to Nartan. She folded into his embrace for a long moment before she pushed back and started talking.

  A moment later, Celeste felt like absolute crap.

  ***

  “It’s over.”

  “I say when it’s over!” Caspian hissed.

  His new bodyguard shook his head. “She can ID you. Leave the country if you don’t want to end up back in prison. You’re still on parole. I’m heading out of state myself, just in case she got a good enough look at me.”

  Caspian bristled. Rage tightened every muscle of his body. His bodyguard never looked back, disappearing into the night.

  He watched the lights from the police car for a few moments more. A blue Lamborghini pulled into the parking lot. Celeste got out, and a moment later, Nartan had his arm around her.

  It was too much!

  Caspian shook with the rage eating him. It burned away everything else, leaving only one thing. A word or idea. He wasn’t sure which, only that he was consumed by it.

  His!

  ***

  Marcus jabbed a button on his cell phone and dropped it back into his jacket pocket. “The boys say the house is clear. Two more men have arrived. I’ll take care of Laura.”

  Nartan reached out and shook Marcus’s hand. Celeste looked across the parking lot to where Laura was looking lost. A bag was at her feet and she hadn’t changed out of her evening dress. The street lamp made the sequins shimmer, but the dress seemed grossly out of place.

  “Thanks, Marcus,” Celeste muttered.

  “Thank me by staying where my men can protect you,” her boss ordered quietly. He exchanged a quick look with Nartan before he moved off to where Laura stood.

  “Let’s go home.” Nartan reached out and cupped her elbow. “There’s a manhunt on for Caspian. Something tells me he won’t be able to go to ground and avoid getting caught.”

  “Caspian doesn’t know how to do without his luxuries.” At least she hoped that was true. She hesitated, looking back at Laura. “I owe her an apology…” The words were a little dry, but Celeste forced them past her lips. Knowing you had no place to call home was something she understood.

  “Until Caspian is caught, you don’t have time. Neither of you do.”

  Marcus was guiding Laura toward his car, while Nartan steered Celeste in the direction of the Lamborghini.

  “I am sorry Caspian went after her,” Marcus said.

  “So am I,” Nartan stated as he closed the door and sealed Celeste inside before moving around to the driver’s seat. “Because now the police will get him before I can.”

  He peeled out of the parking lot as she gasped.

  He reached over and clasped her thigh. “Don’t argue with me, Celeste. Just let me be protective. It’s the only thing keeping me sane.”

  Okay.

  She didn’t say it out loud, but he tightened his fingers on her knee as though he’d heard her.

  He sped past the gate that had just been lifted into position that morning by a crane. Several large construction trucks were still sitting on the other side of the growing fence line with its sections of heavy iron panels.

  The entire car suddenly slid sideways, the sound of crunching metal and glass filling Celeste’s ears. Nartan cursed and grabbed the wheel, but they were spinning, raising a huge cloud of dust as the Lamborghini made donuts across the bluff toward the cliff.

  Nartan was fighting for control, jamming his foot down on the brake. The car shuddered and stopped.

  “What the fuck?” Nartan shouted as he looked through the windshield.

  One of the gate trucks was facing them. It was only ten feet away. Whoever was behind the wheel turned off the headlights. Celeste blinked, still seeing spots from the bright lights. As her sight returned, she heard the driver shifting the truck into gear. The gears groaned, proving that the driver didn’t know how to handle the manual transmission. He was struggling to get it in gear.

  “Bail out!” Nartan shouted.

  She fumbled with her seat belt and shoved at the door as the engine on the truck revved up. The door started rising, showing her a tantalizing glimpse of freedom as she heard the truck coming toward them. She dove through the door, rolling as the horrible sound of crunching metal came again.

  Celeste rolled over and over to get away from the point of impact. She sat up just in time to see the Lamborghini slipping over the edge of the cliff. A huge dust cloud was choking her, burning her eyes, but she refused to close them. She strained to see if Nartan had made it. But all she could see was the truck.

  There was a horrible crashing sound as the car hit the beach below. A moment later, the gas in the tank exploded, illuminating the truck with a bright orange flare. The scent of burning gasoline filled the air. Superheated air hit her arms and f
ace, raising her fine body hair.

  It also showed her Caspian.

  He stood in front of her, the dust cloud slowly moving with the wind. She struggled to her feet and kicked her heels off.

  “You’ve been a very large disappointment to me.”

  “Too bad.” She looked past him, but the truck was too massive to see around. “Nartan?”

  “I think your lover is dead,” he informed her gleefully. “I hope so.”

  “No.” Her voice was a whisper and she felt like her heart had stopped beating.

  “Don’t worry, I plan to reunite you.” Caspian lifted his hand, the moonlight illuminating the blade of a knife in his hand. “At the bottom of a cliff, they won’t notice a few little holes in you. Especially when your body is burned to a crisp.”

  “Good to know!” Nartan surged out of the darkness behind Caspian. He grabbed the hand with the knife and brutally turned it around on Caspian. There was a harsh grunt as he drove it into Caspian once, twice, and a third time before flinging him away to lie in the dirt.

  “She…belongs to me!” Caspian snarled as he tried to get up. His legs failed him, and all he managed to do was push himself closer to the edge of the cliff.

  “No, she doesn’t.”

  Nartan was moving closer to Caspian, rage in his voice.

  “Nartan!” she shouted.

  He fought to pull himself back, jerking with the effort before he turned to look at her.

  She shook her head. “Let him be. He’s not worth it.”

  In the distance a siren was heard. Caspian shuddered and went limp. Only then did Nartan move toward her. She reached for him, unsure if he was real. The steady chop of a helicopter blade joined the sirens coming their way. A searchlight hit the cliff, aimed at the burning wreck before moving along the bluff to them.

  “This is the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Stay where you are.”

  ***

  “Damn, you’re lucky I’m a good lawyer,” Marcus declared as he met them in the waiting room of the hospital. “I think you owe me one.”

  Nartan walked out of the lobby before ripping the sling off his right arm and dropping it in a trash can. He only shrugged when Celeste narrowed her eyes at him.

  “It’s not broken.”

  Paul and Kevin pulled up to the curb in a black SUV, and Marcus opened the door for Nartan and Celeste.

  The moment it was closed, Nartan looked at Marcus.

  “Dead on arrival,” Marcus confirmed. “There will be an official investigation, but all evidence is pointing toward self-defense. Laura’s testimony will close that deal.”

  “More like premeditated attempted murder on his part,” Celeste said before her body decided to give out on her. The knowledge that Caspian was dead was the last straw. She collapsed against the seat, feeling every scrape and bruise she’d collected rolling across the bluff. Shock set in and her teeth started chattering. Nartan slid an arm behind her and pulled her close.

  “It’s over,” he whispered against her head.

  She settled her hand over his heart, absorbing the feeling of it beating. “Actually”—she smiled at him in the darkness—“it’s just beginning.”

  ***

  Celeste awoke to another helicopter buzzing the house. She groaned as she turned over and rubbed her eyes.

  “Damned press,” she muttered as she stood up.

  “I was about to agree, but on second thought…” Nartan replied from the rumpled bedding. He was enjoying the sight of her bare body.

  “How can you be horny again?”

  “Your fault,” he said before someone rang the doorbell.

  He rolled out of the bed, distracting her. He was just too gorgeous. He stepped into some jeans as the doorbell rang again. The helicopter hadn’t left, so she hurried into some clothing, making a mental note to put in some shades before someone realized how much of a show they could get from the cliffside.

  She wandered down the hallway, intent on coffee.

  “Why didn’t you call me?” Sabra was sitting in the kitchen, fixing her with a hard look. “My best friend nearly goes off a cliff and she doesn’t call?”

  Through the front windows, Celeste got a look at a helicopter with the Nektosha logo on its side.

  “I didn’t call because my phone is at the bottom of said cliff.”

  “I hear you two almost joined it.” Tarak Nektosha was hard to read. He was contemplating her with eyes as hard as black diamonds.

  “It’s his fault.” Celeste pointed at Nartan. “I warned him a relationship with me was going to be troublesome.”

  “She did.” Sabra joined her friend in facing off against her husband.

  “Nice to know Nartan hasn’t lost any of his stubbornness,” Tarak muttered as he accepted a cup of coffee from his wife. “Even if he did go and fall in love.”

  “Don’t start,” Nartan warned his buddy. The house intercom buzzed.

  “You’ve got a truck and horse trailer coming up the drive.” Paul’s voice came through clearly.

  Celeste felt a twist of pain go through her. The loss of the mare was still too fresh. Nartan caught her hand and pulled her toward the front door.

  “Got something for you,” he said.

  “You didn’t have to buy another horse for me.”

  He opened the front door and walked out. A full-size truck pulled up. It was beaten up and at least two decades old.

  “He still won’t let you buy him a new truck?” Tarak asked as the truck pulled up and stopped.

  “I did and he gave it to my nephew,” Nartan defended himself. “Feel free to show me how it’s done.”

  A second truck was following the first—a brand-new model with a young man at the wheel. Nartan pointed at it and Tarak shrugged.

  Nartan’s grandfather climbed out of the cab of the first truck and lifted his hand in greeting. Nartan’s grandmother was sitting on the passenger side of the cab. The younger man jumped out of his truck and ran over to open the door for her. He helped her around to where Tarak and Nartan were greeting their family in Apache. The older woman reached up and rubbed Nartan’s cheek before she pointed at Celeste.

  “Green eyes are good luck,” Nartan’s grandmother informed Celeste when she’d made her way over to her. “My grandson did not like hearing that when I met you. The young are stubborn when fate dictates.”

  The rest of the men had gone to the back of the trailer and swung the tailgate down. It raised a small cloud of dust before the younger man went inside and spoke softly. He appeared again, leading a horse that shook its white mane and sidestepped the moment it was free of the trailer. Nartan reached up and stroked her throat while talking to his grandfather.

  He took the reins from the younger man and led the horse toward Celeste. The rest of the family seemed intent on them both as he got close to her.

  “You make me rich, Celeste. This is a young, strong horse, the sort a bride would expect from a man hoping to marry her. You are worth a hundred more. I am the poorest man without you.” He held the reins out to her.

  Her mouth went dry and tears filled her eyes. She reached out and covered his hand with hers. “Together, we’ll be filthy rich.”

  Tarak let out a yell that the other two men mimicked. Nartan caught her nape and kissed her. Deeply, to the delight of his family. She swatted him in reprimand before Sabra wrapped her in a hug.

  ***

  The wood cracked in the fire pit, the logs shifting and sending a shower of crimson sparks into the air. Celeste snuggled closer, rubbing against Nartan as he held her on the lounge.

  “This is being rich.” Nartan stroked her hair as his words floated over her.

  “This is being loved.” She kissed his shoulder. “But I should warn you…”

  He lifted her chin so that they were look
ing at each other.

  “My birth control pills were in my purse. I sort of forgot about them, with your family being here. Now—”

  “It’s too late,” Nartan finished for her.

  She waited to see what he’d make of it, rolling her lip in to worry. He tugged her chin down to free her lip and stroked across it with his thumb.

  “I told you, nature finds a way.”

  He leaned down and kissed her, filling her with every bit of happiness that she’d never expected to find. And she kissed him back, seeking to return it to him.

  ***

  “Sure you want to sit in the back of a truck all the way home?” Marcus asked.

  Laura nodded and closed the gate of the trailer. Everything she wanted from her Malibu condo was packed and in the back of the horse trailer. The sleek, two-seat sports car she’d been driving was being left behind to be sold. Sports cars and the reservation didn’t mix.

  “Best way to get all of this home anyway,” she said. “Thank you. It was nice to meet you.”

  Marcus watched her for a long moment, but Laura had come to realize that was just his way. She tucked a strand of hair that had escaped her ponytail behind her ear and nodded.

  “Guess it’s time to go.”

  “Not just yet.”

  Nartan appeared from behind the trailer. Celeste was hanging back.

  “I want to say…we want to say we’re sorry.”

  “Don’t be.” Laura raised her voice enough that Celeste could hear her. “I’ll be just fine.”

  Nartan extended an envelope. “This will cover your investment in the condo.”

  Laura felt her insides twist. But she accepted the feeling because she deserved it.

  “You still don’t get it, Nartan. I came here for you. Send me the money when the property sells.”

  His face tightened and Laura shook her head. “Don’t worry about it. It wasn’t meant to be.” She looked past him to Celeste and closed the distance between them. “I’m sorry I was a bitch to you.”

  Celeste opened her mouth, but Laura turned and walked back to the truck where Nartan’s cousin was waiting. She climbed up into the cab without another look back.

  Yeah, she’d been stuck in her girlhood fantasies too long.