by Nic Saint
Dad’s face fell. “My God. You’re in love, aren’t you?”
Scott nodded. “I guess I am. The thing is…” He didn’t know how to put this, so he decided to be blunt. “Dad? Have you ever had an affair with a woman called Jackie Moonstone?”
To his surprise, his father gave a rich chuckle at this question. “My boy, that’s the weirdest thing anybody’s ever asked me, and trust me, I’ve been asked a lot of weird stuff.”
“Dad? It’s important. Have you?”
“Of course not!” suddenly bellowed his old man. “You know well enough that your mother was my one and only true love.”
“There’s never been anybody else?”
His father rolled his eyes in exasperation. “No!”
Scott’s face cleared. Then he remembered something else. “Then why do you have a tattoo of a fish on your ass?”
“What? How do you know about that?”
“I saw you once when we were playing pool volleyball. Your trunks slipped and…”
The old man impatiently waved his hand. “Yeah, yeah. You don’t have to draw me a picture. So what if I have a tattoo? Doesn’t everybody these days?”
Scott decided to come clean. “Look, it’s this way, dad. The girl I met? Anna? She came to New York looking for her father. Apparently some guy knocked up her mother back in the day and then dumped her. The only thing she knows is that he was rich, had a tattoo of a fish on his lower back and carried the nickname Filou. So naturally I assumed—”
“That it was me?” His dad shook his gray head sadly. “What little confidence you have in me, son. Do you really think I would do such a thing?”
“Well… no, but…”
His father offered him a sad smile. “Trust me, son. I may be accused of a lot of things, but never of playing fast and loose with a woman who is not your mother.”
Scott felt a great weight roll of his back at these words. “You just saved my life, Dad,” he simply said.
“Well, you just shaved ten years off mine, so now get the hell out of here before I kick you out.”
“Sure thing,” said Scott cheerfully, then planted a big wet kiss on his father’s head, and was off and running.
His heart leapt. Anna wasn’t his sister! Nothing stood in their way now. He would love her like she needed to be loved. He would show her that there were still decent men in this world. Men who could love a woman and worship the ground she walked on. And he was just about to phone her and tell her the good news, when his phone started to chirp. Glancing down at the display, he was dismayed to find it was his big brother.
He had half a mind to ignore the missive, but then decided to pick up anyway. He just hoped Roland wouldn’t give him a hard time again about Anna.
“Yello?” he said.
“Better get over here quick, little brother,” Roland said. The seriousness of his tone immediately sobered Scott.
“Why? What’s wrong?”
“It’s Anna,” said Roland. “She’s in trouble.”
It took Scott all of ten minutes to reach the alley behind The Capital, where he found Roland eagerly awaiting his arrival. Leaning against his BMW convertible, Roland walked over to him as soon as Scott exited his car.
As was his habit, his brother had been checking up on Ty and the rest of the Montesquieu brood when he saw Anna traipse into the club. The minute he saw Ty throw her to the mercy of his bodyguards, he knew something terrible was about to go down.
“What did that bastard do to her!” cried Scott.
“You don’t wanna know,” Roland told him calmly. “Let’s just hope it’s not too late.”
“Too late for what?”
Just then, the back door to the club was slammed open, and three men walked out, dragging a body between them. They quickly made their way to a black van parked near the exit.
Scott’s blood ran cold when he recognized Anna. Blood was smeared all over her face, and her eyes were closed. Furthermore, she was completely naked. An anger flared inside him like he’d never known before.
“Anna!” he loud-whispered. He looked up when Roland pressed something hard and cold into his hands. Staring down, he saw that it was a gun. He quickly cocked it.
“Let’s do this,” whispered Roland, displaying his own weapon.
The two brothers, treading lightly, jogged over to the van, where the men were busy shoving Anna’s body inside. One of the men had hopped into the driver’s seat and was starting up the van, while the two others crawled into the van with Anna’s body.
Roland, calmly walking up to the driver, punched the man’s lights out with the butt of his gun. The burly guard dropped onto the steering wheel.
Scott, yanking open the van’s sliding door, surprised the others. Using this element of surprise, he landed a roundhouse punch on the first guard’s face, taking him out, but couldn’t prevent the other one from jumping him.
They toppled to the alley floor, and the man had landed a vicious punch to his eye before he could recover. There was a loud thumping sound, and the man slumped on top of him. He quickly kicked him aside.
“Thanks, Roland,” he panted.
“Let’s get out of here before more of Ty’s goons show up,” said Roland. The two men reached into the van, and carefully picked up Anna’s lifeless body. Scott’s throat constricted when he saw her beautiful face streaked with blood. He quickly pressed a finger to the inside of her wrist, and was relieved to find a pulse.
“She’s alive,” he said.
Roland quickly shrugged out of his coat, and draped it over Anna’s naked form, then the two brothers carried her over to Scott’s car, and carefully placed her on the backseat. Scott slipped behind the wheel, pressed the ignition switch, and his car roared to life.
“Take her to John,” said Roland. “He’ll keep her off the grid.”
Scott nodded. John Reid was the family’s concierge physician, and a top man in his field. He reached out and pressed Roland’s forearm in a tight grip. “Thanks, Roland.”
“No sweat, little brother. Now get the hell out of here.”
Scott pulled Roland in and hissed, “I want to see Ty suffer for this.”
“Don’t worry. He will.”
The two brothers shared a long hard look.
Ten minutes later, Scott had traversed Manhattan.
Another five minutes later, he was carrying Anna aboard his yacht.
Chapter 15
Anna drifted in and out of a coma. The only thing she was aware of, was the presence of Scott. Watching over her. Guarding her. Protecting her…
She discovered they were on a boat when the rocking movement awoke her. It was dark out, and she heard the water lapping at the bow, projecting its spray across the window. The noise startled her, and she let out a soft whimper. In the dark, she half expected the men to return. Take her once again like they had before. She liked it rough, but they had really hurt her. She’d known she wouldn’t survive the night the moment they’d taken her downstairs. She was already more dead than alive by then, only fleetingly aware of her surroundings. They’d carried her into a van—the hard floor unyielding when they unceremoniously dumped her inside. That’s when she’d lost time again, only to regain consciousness when the sound of rushing water awakened her.
“Scott?” she said in a reedy voice she didn’t recognize as her own. “S-Scott?”
“I’m here, honey,” his comforting baritone sounded in the semi-darkness. The next moment, he was beside her on the bed, cradling her head and pressing tender kisses on her burning brow. She was shaking, in the throes of what could only be a fever.
“What happened? Where am I?”
“You’re safe,” he said. “No one can harm you here. I’m taking you to a doctor.”
Her eyes fell closed as he rocked her in his strong embrace, and when she drifted back into a feverish sleep, she knew not to worry. Scott would take care of everything. Perhaps he even loved her…
***
Scott
hated seeing Anna like this. She was a mere shadow of herself. Gone was the effervescent, playful woman he’d fallen in love with. Ty and his goons had taken that girl and beaten the life right out of her. Not all of it, however. She was a fighter, and had more spirit than they’d given her credit for. He knew she would recuperate. Her body, at least, would regain its former strength. What he was most worried about was her spirit. He feared the cruel treatment at the hand of de Montesquieu might have broken her jubilant soul.
What he just couldn’t figure out was why she’d returned to Ty’s club, when she knew what kind of animal he was. She’d suffered at his hand before, and now she’d consciously, knowingly, returned there for more of the same. Why? What was it in her psychological make-up that compelled her to seek punishment? To seek out men who abused her?
More than a doctor, she needed a shrink to figure those things out.
As he sat and watched over her while Enrique skillfully steered the yacht to its final destination, he wondered not if she was right for him. He wondered if he was right for her. Perhaps he was a ladies’ man, like Roland kept insisting, but he felt instinctively that those days were over. Now that he’d met Anna, he simply couldn’t go back to those frivolous days of his past. But was he good enough for her? It was obvious from the one and only time they’d made love, they were sexually incompatible. He bored her, with his tenderness and gentle approach. She abhorred his sweet kisses and gentle caress. What she yearned for was a man who took her hard and rough. A man who slapped her around and took her with no regard for her desires. A man who sought only his own pleasure and used her simply as a tool for his sexual needs.
He didn’t think he could be that man. He’d never raised a hand against any woman before in his life, and he simply couldn’t imagine raising a hand against Anna, the sweetest, most wonderful girl he’d ever met.
He pondered all this and more, and his mood grew darker by the minute, until they finally arrived at their destination, the telltale powering back of the engine indicating Enrique had started mooring procedures.
Careful not to wake her, he easily lifted Anna’s body from the bed. Her brow was bedewed with sweat, and she felt hot and clammy to the touch.
He feared the worst, and once again vowed to take revenge on Ty de Montesquieu. The hate he felt for that man, mingled with the love he felt for Anna, fueled him.
Enrique, a hulking dark-haired Puerto Rican who’d been in the family’s employ since Scott was a boy, helped him carry Anna to a waiting ambulance. They laid her on the stretcher, and two male nurses took it from there. Scott accepted a bear hug from Enrique, and hitched a ride in the ambulance to the private facility where Dr. Reid was eagerly awaiting their arrival ever since Scott had put him on high alert.
***
Anna awoke from her nervous slumber when a bright light shone into her eyes. When finally her blurry vision cleared, she found herself gazing into the handsome face of a man not much older than herself. Thinking for a moment she was back at The Capital, she yelled, “Nooooo!” and thrashed wildly about her.
The man reached out and held her down.
“No! No more! Please!” she screamed.
The commotion brought more people to the room. Ty’s goons!
It was only when a familiar voice spoke in her ear, that she realized she wasn’t back at the club but among friends. To her relief, she recognized the voice as Scott’s.
“Scott?” she cried feebly, trying to see his face.
“I’m here, Anna. You’re safe now.”
He hovered over her, and she took his face in her hands, wanting to make sure he wasn’t a mirage.
“Scott,” she murmured. “You’re really here.”
“Now lie still, honey,” Scott insisted. “Doctor Reid here is going to examine you.”
She glanced over to the handsome man, and only now saw that he was dressed in doctor’s scrubs.
“Where am I?” she said, confused. She had a vague recollection of a boat.
“You’re in the hospital, Anna,” the doctor said, slowly and emphatically. “Just relax and everything will be fine.”
His calm voice and Scott’s presence reassured her. Exhausted, she slumped back onto the examination table.
“Thank you for saving my life,” she whispered, and then the lights went out and she fell into a deep sleep once again.
Chapter 16
Scott’s mood plummeted when Doctor Reid told him the results of his examination. They were seated in John’s small office.
“She’ll live,” was the first thing the doc said, steepling his fingers and fixing Scott with a serious look in his eye. “And we should be thankful for that. From what I know about Ty de Montesquieu, you and Roland arrived just in time. Anna could have died tonight, Scott.”
“I know,” said Scott through gritted teeth. His jaw was so tight he thought it would snap. He so wanted to get back at that SOB.
John turned to his laptop and studied the scans he’d taken for a moment.
The doc and Scott went way back. In fact, it was Scott who had convinced John to set up shop in The Hamptons in the first place. The family was always in need of medical assistance, and rather than entrust themselves to one of the regular hospitals, they preferred a private doctor dedicating his services almost entirely to their care.
John, a former army doctor, had grown tired of working within the military system and had wanted out. In exchange, they’d handed him the bill for his medical training, which was steeper than he’d feared. So he’d turned to his buddy Scott, whose reputation was already well established by then, and they’d proposed a deal to Scott’s dad: pay off John’s debt, and set him up as their concierge doctor in The Hamptons.
In his private facility, John now took on other patients as well, most of them friends and relatives of the family, but they paid the bills, and made sure he had possession of state-of-the-art equipment, the best-trained staff and more money than he could ever hope to make if he should choose to set out on his own.
More than money, though, it was John’s loyalty to his friend Scott and his family that drove him to stay in The Hamptons and not pursue a lucrative career elsewhere.
“What worries me most, is her mental state,” the doc was saying, and he yanked his attention back to the present. John leaned in, placing his hands on his desk blotter. “What kind of person puts herself in harm’s way knowingly and willingly? I’m afraid I’m going to have to recommend you put her on suicide watch, Scott.” His kind eyes bored into Scott’s. “Anna went in there because she has a death wish. She went in there because she wanted to die. You know this girl, Scott. Can you explain to me how that’s even possible?”
Scott stared off into the distance. “Her father dumped her mother before she was even born. Could that have something to do with it?”
John nodded. “It might. I mean, I’m not a psychiatrist, Scott, but that girl has some serious issues that need to be addressed.” He paused. “What’s your involvement with her? Is she your friend, girlfriend, what?”
Scott hesitated. He had no secrets from John—they’d been best friends since attending the same private school together. He finally decided to come clean. “I’m in love with her, John.”
The doc raised both eyebrows in astonishment. “In love? You?” He barked a curt laugh. “Buddy, if that’s the case, then you’re in for a shitload of trouble. That’s one messed-up girlfriend you’ve got in there.”
“I know,” said Scott softly. “I’m part of the reason she’s so messed up in the first place.” He held up his hand, then corrected himself. “No, that’s not entirely true.” He sighed. “Look, just before this happened, she told me her father has a tattoo of a small fish on his lower back, and used to be called Filou by all his girlfriends. Thing is, my dad has a tattoo just like that. So for a moment there, I thought she might be my sister.”
The doc whistled softly. “Your family never ceases to amaze me. Soap opera is the only word that comes to mi
nd, buddy.”
“I know,” said Scott. “But I talked to Dad about it, and he swears he’s never been unfaithful to Mom.”
“And you believe the old rascal?”
“Actually, I do. It’s just that I may have pushed her into Ty’s arms by walking out on her this afternoon. She came on to me, you know. Wanted to have sex with me. And I ran out on her.”
“You did what?”
“I-I panicked. I figured she was my sister, and…” He buried his face in his hands. He would never forgive himself for what happened. Ty’s animals had almost killed her, and only because he had brutally rejected her.
“Hey. Scott!”
He looked up into John’s soft gaze.
“What happened tonight? It’s not your fault. They did this to her, not you. So don’t you go blaming this on yourself, you hear? You’re the one who’s going to nurse her back to health, so stop the blame game, all right? I need you mentally strong and collected. She needs you.”
Scott nodded. “Yeah, I get it. It’s just that… She loves it rough, you know. I had sex with her before, and she told me to stop. Said I didn’t ring her bells.”
John snorted, and Scott looked up in surprise. “That must have been a first for you.”
Scott grimaced at the painful memory. “It was.” He sighed. “You know, I think she might really care for me, but at the same time, she has this… pathological need to be treated… like a whore.” He gesticulated wildly. “And I’m not like that, John. I’m not Ty. I don’t slap women around. I’m not a vicious rapist. But that seems to be what she wants—what she needs!”
John looked thoughtful. “Like I said, I’m not a shrink, but if you love this woman?” He tapped his desk. “You better figure this out before she throws herself to the wolves again. Because the next time? It’s game over, buddy. She won’t survive her next run-in with Ty.”
Chapter 17