“No, I’m staying at Jax’s ivory tower in the sky.”
Okay, crap! My brain-to-mouth filter is not working today. I watch as Jax takes on a perturbed expression and Marco laughs out loud. And with that, we head back to Jax’s. When we get in the elevator, he comes towards me real slow, like a predator. “Ivory tower, eh?”
He grabs my hand, bringing it up to his lips and kisses my wrist. Damn! Why does that get to me? He pulls my hand away from my ear with a growl—I don’t even realize I do it. When the doors open, he guides me inside, still kissing me. He turns on the fireplace and then slowly starts to undress me. Before he can have his way, I’m on my knees, working his cock out of his jeans. He’s hard, and I slip my lips around the head. He’s like silk on my tongue, leaving a trail of his arousal behind. “Take it deep, sweetheart. All the way.” He holds my head, pushing himself in deeper. If I thought I was in control, boy, was I mistaken. He is totally in control now. I work my way around his sac, flutter kisses, and lick all the way around and back up again. I’m back on his cock, and he holds the base to stop from coming. He starts moving again and I bare my teeth slightly, causing him to lose it. He slams all the way to the back of my throat, screaming and coming in a hot flood, and I swallow it all. He pulls out and he’s still hard!
He lies down in front of the fire. My eyes glide down every inch of his magnificent body, “Jesus, you are so beautiful.”
“Sweetheart, you have on way too many clothes.” He tugs on my shirt. I slowly start to remove my clothes and he gives me that crooked smile and opens his arms. “Come here,” he beckons. I crawl onto his lap and wrap my legs around his waist. “Ride me, sweetheart, make me come inside you.”
That’s it, I’m done! I impale myself on his hard cock. He plays with my nipples. I know I’m not going to last much longer, but then he stops and flips me over! He starts slamming me from behind, pulling me back against him.
“Why is it an ivory tower?” Now he wants to talk about this? He smacks my ass. “Tell me why?” I can’t think, let alone answer him. “Tell me,” he growls, and he smacks my ass again; right then left. It’s not hard, just enough to buzz. If I die right now, this is a hell of a way to go. “Tell me, Raven,” he demands, pulls out, and waits. He starts rubbing his cock up and down my ass, spreading my cheeks, and begins to push himself into my ass.
I know what’s coming and I want it. I grit my teeth, “You're up in this glass tower all alone, like something out of a fairy tale.” I’m panting like a crazy woman. “It’s like your hiding from the real world!”
He smacks my ass again. “Push out for me and I’ll give you what I know your craving!”
I push out and he breaks through that barrier. The fullness is overwhelming. This is so new for me, yet I crave the intensity. I can feel my skin flush as he pushes even deeper. I’m there, and I can’t hold it any longer. We are both screaming and coming. It’s so powerful, and then we collapse and I can hardly move a muscle. We lie in front of the fire, in silence, trying to steady our breath. He gets up and gets a blanket from the couch. He covers us, and pulls me close to him.
“Raven, I’m not hiding in an ivory tower. I’m just a private person. The press is always hounding me. If I were just a blue-collar worker, they wouldn’t care. It’s only because I have money that they think they need to know everything about my life.”
I don’t see the logic in hiding. “Maybe if you show them you could care less, they might not bother with you. They all want what they can’t have; you make it a big deal, so it’s a big deal to them.”
He runs his fingers up and down my spine. “Normally, I would agree with you. However, because I’m a billionaire, that puts everyone around me at risk. I’m not prepared to go through that, again.”
My eyes fly up to his. “Jax, what do you mean by, again?”
His fingers stop. “Sweetheart, what are you talking about?”
I lift my face to focus on his expression. “Jax, you just said, ‘you're not prepared to go through that again’. Go through what, again?” I push further. “Jax, your hiding stuff from me, makes me want to run.”
He pulls me close to him, holding me really tight. “Okay, when I first started in this business, I realized I was good at it . . . really good. I can somehow anticipate the next move. I was dating someone and I believed her, when she said she loved me. What she loved was my money and the power that came with it. I started taking some business risks that could have destroyed everything I had built, if it wasn’t done just right.
“During this time, the press was all over her and me because we were together. As it turns out, she was not in love with me. She was a corporate spy out to destroy me. I found out what she was up to and got her blackballed from the business she loved so much. Max and I got the press to agree to bury the story and all pictures of her and me together. I offered them an exclusive interview with access to a day in the life of a corporate raider.
“So, while you think I’m hiding in my ivory tower, I’m actually protecting the little bit of privacy I have left. People think that having money will give them freedom, but it’s just the opposite. My money has put me in chains and the people around me at risk—a risk I’m not willing to take.”
“Did you love her?” I whisper.
He pauses for a moment. “I thought I did. What I learned was, saying I love you is easy, but showing someone you love them is what matters. Those words are sometimes just words thrown out way too much. Raven, I’m not prepared to walk away from you, I need to keep you safe. If something happened to you, because of me, I couldn’t take it.”
I see so much in his eyes—so much pain and worry. I rest my head back down and snuggle into his chest. He resumes stroking my hair and my back with his fingers. He needs me and, at this moment, I let him have what he needs.
MORNING COMES TOO SOON and of course, Jax wants to drive me to school. “Make sure you don’t lose Max, and keep your phone, so I can call you, please.”
Now that I understand his fear, I will humor him. “No worries, Jax. I have two phones and Max. You have a great day. I’ll call you on my break.” I lean in and he gives me that toe-curling kiss. With that, he’s gone.
FINDING IT HARD TO concentrate on anything but Jax all day, I’m about to call him, since it’s break time. However, I stop when I hear a woman call my name. I turn to look at her and I know, in that instant, I am looking at Jax’s mom. She has the same intense eyes, penetrating me. “Hi, I’m Raven, and you must be Mrs. Phillips?” She takes my hand and asks me to sit on a bench in the playground with her. “Are you here to see Michael?”
“No, dear. I’m actually here to meet with you. Please, call me An.”
Why would she want to see me? “Oh.”
Her smile is warm and inviting. “I understand, from my boy, that you and he are getting involved.”
Okay, wow, I was not expecting that, but then again, this whole family just comes right out and says whatever they want. “Um, well, we have been seeing each other.”
She picks up my hand. “My dear, sometimes in life, you have to just trust yourself and take that leap of faith. Fear should never define who we are. As Albert Einstein said, ‘A person starts to live when they live outside themselves.’”
She takes my hand and she stands up. “I’ll leave that thought with you and let you get back to work.” Just like that, she’s gone, and I’m left wondering, what the fuck that was all about.
I call Jax, as promised, but Duke tells me he’s in a meeting. It’s very strange that Duke never puts me through to Jax when I call. I’ll talk to him about it tonight.
I’M TAKING JACKIE’S TURN as playground monitor today while she works one-on-one with a student. I actually enjoy being out here with the kids. Seeing them run and laugh without a care in the world, gives me faith. The bell rings, pulling me out of my thoughts. I get all the kids lined up and we start heading back in.
Within seconds, all hell breaks loose! Two men with guns come c
harging towards us. I’m looking for Max. I see him, trying to fight them to get to us, but they hit him with something and knock him out.
Then I see Mick running to help, but they hit him with their guns! I’m trying to push the kids through the door when they grab Michael out of the line. He is kicking and screaming as they are dragging him towards a van.
I reach him just as they are going to hit him, stepping in front of him. They hit me in the face and I’m dazed just long enough for them to grab Michael and me, shoving us into the back of the van. They toss my cell, but not both of them. Guns are pointed at us; Michael is crying. I try to put him behind me, protecting him from the kidnappers, but they duct tape our hands and feet and threaten to gag Michael to get him to shut up.
“Why are you doing this?”
He points his gun at my head. “Shut up or we’ll gag you, too.”
They all have on ski masks, preventing us from seeing their faces. But I recognize one of the voices as the one, from the other night, outside the gym. The ride is long, and there are no windows in the van. The sounds of the city seem to dissipate. I can feel thumping, almost like we are driving over a bridge. I think we’re in New Jersey. I can hear a bay door go up. They open the doors and pull us out. We are in a warehouse; they were able to pull the van inside and out of sight.
“Michael, we need to work together and stay focused. Can you be really brave for me, please?”
He stops crying and looks at me. “Okay.”
I need to be calm and focused. “We are going to sit back to back, and I’m going to try to untie you.”
After a little bit, I’m able to untie him, and then he gets to work on me. “Michael, when they come in, we need to let them believe that we are still tied up.”
He’s trying so hard not to cry. “Miss Raven, I’m scared. What do they want?”
I see his fear, I need to help him. “I’m sure we’ll find out, soon enough.”
I try to use the spare phone to call Jax, but there is no signal. I leave it on.
Why is this happening to me again? I feel like I’m a little girl for a second, transported back in time. I need to keep it together for Michael. I know what he is feeling, and the fear is real. I can’t let the fear win—not this time. Michael needs me, and I’m not that little girl anymore.
BELLA AND MICHAEL COME storming into my office. Bella is shaking and has a tear-stained face, and Michael looks grim.
“Jax, I just got this.” She hands me a picture of Michael Jr. and Raven, being tossed into a van.
“Have they called yet?”
Michael looks at me. “Where the fuck was Max?” Just then, Max walks into my office, and he is visibly shaken. They beat him pretty good by the looks of his face.
Before I can tear into him, “They shot me with a tranquilizer, so they were able to grab them both. Raven tried to pull Michael away from them, so they grabbed her, too. There were, at least, four of them. Mick was outside the school, and he tried to stop them, too. Jax . . . they beat him pretty bad. They’ve taken him to the ER,” he informs me.
Time seems to stand still before mayhem and madness erupts and then so much starts happening. My office door swings open and a very large man bounds in, announcing that he is Joseph Adessi, Director of the FBI.
He walks up to me. “So, you must be Jaxson James Phillips. “I’ve kept her safe for twenty years and it took you only two weeks to fuck it all up.”
The scene unfolding before me is like something out of a Hollywood blockbuster. One of Joseph’s men brings Marco in here. He looks pale and scared.
“Marco, I’ve been paying you all these years to keep her safe. First, it was the ex-boyfriend. We handled that, but didn’t you learn anything from it?”
I jump up. “Marco works for you?”
Marco doesn’t know whom to answer first, until Joseph bellows, “Marco, pay attention here! What the fuck happened? How could you let him anywhere near our girl?”
Marco looks scared—he should be. “I had no idea who he was until after the charity function, and by then, the photos were already out there.”
Joseph gets in his face, “It’s your fucking job to know who everyone is that she comes into contact with!” he yells.
Max steps in between the two of them. “I think it’s time you filled in all the blanks, if we stand a chance of getting them both back alive.”
Bella loses it. She tries to punch me before she hauls off and slaps Joseph across the face. Everyone freezes. Joseph turns to her, “Ma’am, I’m going to let that go because you’re distraught over your child. Raise your hands to me again and you’ll find yourself very alone, in a cold cell, for assaulting a federal agent.” he warns. Michael grabs Bella before she hits him again. She starts a painful, wailing cry.
Joseph tells everyone but Michael, Bella, Max, and Marco to leave the room. “I have no choice but to tell you everything about my Cara. That’s right. Her name is Cara Josephina Giaconna. She is my goddaughter and my namesake. Cara’s father, Antonio, was a very proud man. He was embarrassed by his family heritage and chose to join the Academy, turning his back on his Chicago Mafia crime family. He moved his wife to Los Angeles. That’s where Cara was born.”
“Antonio’s wife, Gabriella, was a skilled heart surgeon. She was a rising star. She had the tiniest hands and the biggest heart. Gabriella was also doing cutting-edge research. She developed a new method to repair a part of the heart. Before her discovery, the patients could only wait for a transplant, but there was no guarantee that they would get one or that it would work. With this innovative method, she could give them a chance to extend their lives.
“When Cara was seven years old, she was kidnapped. At first, Antonio and I thought it had to do with some high-profile cases we were working on, but then Gabriella was kidnapped, as well. She was told that if she wanted her child returned safely, she had to perform the surgery she pioneered, on a very dangerous criminal. Of course, Gabriella agreed. In the process, Antonio and I were able to rescue Cara, but Antonio was shot. He hung on for two weeks, in the ICU. During that time, he made me Cara’s godfather. He entrusted his family to me. He asked me to try to save Gabriella and protect them, at all cost. Gabriella performed the surgery, but the patient died—he was just too far gone, the years of the life he led, finally caught up to him. The patient’s son held Gabriella a prisoner for two months. He beat and raped her. I was able to rescue her, but the damage was done. Gabriella was pregnant.” He brings his gaze down to the floor, shaking his head before bringing his eyes back up with their sorrowful expression. “She didn’t want the child, but her oath was to first, do no harm. She gave Cara to me and asked me to please raise her as my own. I didn’t know what to do with her. I got her the therapy, she so desperately needed, to help her deal with the trauma. In the meantime, Gabriella gave birth to a healthy boy, but she couldn’t look at him. Everyday she saw that boy, she was reminded of what she went through. She reached her breaking point and Gabriella hung herself. I thank God that I found her before Cara got home. I sent Cara to a private boarding school in England. I put the boy up for adoption, which went through, successfully, to a family in the Midwest.”
There is more to this story than the version that Raven told me. “So why change Cara’s name and put Marco on her?”
For the first time, I see fear register on Joseph’s face. “The man who raped Gabriella was Antonio’s brother, Vincent, and the patient was Antonio’s father. They are the largest Mafia family in the Chicago area.”
All I can do is stare at Joseph. It’s as if he is talking another language. “Why target her now, if she even is the target? Joseph, by Max’s account of what happened, it sounds like Michael Jr. was the target and Raven tried to stop the abduction, so they took her, too.”
Marco stands up. “That would be something Raven would do, always trying to right the wrongs of the world.”
“Damn it!” I yell at Max, “Do you remember anything else from the abduction?”
He begins to pace and I know, he’s running over it again in his head. “They threw her phone out the back of the van.”
“Oh shit, she has a second phone!” I jump up. Every head turns towards me. “I gave her a second phone that was only for me. She kept giving me a hard time about carrying two phones, but she promised she would. If they don’t find the phone, we can locate her from the tracking app I put on it,” I say, feeling hopeful. They all stare wide-eyed at me like I have issues. . “I know, I’m a little over the top, but I guess, right about now, everyone here is a little happy about that.”
Joseph has me write the number down and he gives it to his assistant.
Max turns to Joseph, “Do you know where the half-brother is?”
Joseph’s face turns pale. “When he was adopted, everything about the boy was turned over to the local office in Lansing, Michigan. I never saw him again. They are sending over everything they have on him. We didn’t view him as a threat, and everything has been quiet, until two weeks ago, when Jax stepped into the picture.”
Duke rings me. “I told you, no interruptions.” He informs me that I have a delivery. What the fuck? I go out to his desk. “What’s so important that you had to call me out here?”
He hands me an envelope. “I was opening the interoffice mail and this was in it.”
I grab it from him. “Oh shit.” I head back in my office and hand it to Joseph.
“Who took delivery of this?” he asks.
Michael jumps up. “Who cares? What do they want in exchange for my son?” “It was in interoffice mail which means; it could have been dropped off at any time, and handled by many different people. Max, we can pull security footage to see who has come in and out of the building.”
Michael steps up. “What is it?” He looks and turns pale. It’s a picture of Michael Jr. and Raven with a sticky attached:
“We have the boy and the teacher. The price just doubled, we will contact you soon.”
The Unraveling of Raven (The Unraveled Trilogy Book 1) Page 11