by Emelia Blair
“Do you want us to give you a minute so you can cry this out?”
Oliver’s sardonic words snap me out of my stunned shock and I toss him a heated glare. “Fuck you.”
But his words do the job.
They make me focus on the real situation. “If he’s this vindictive, for whatever reason, he won’t leave Elise alone.” My blood runs cold. “He’s been running a long game. He won’t go down, quietly.”
My hand is reaching for my phone without thinking and I dial Elise’s number.
It goes straight to voicemail.
I try two more times before giving up and call her father.
Richard Smith picks up on the second ring.
“Where’s Elise?” I demand.
He sounds startled. “She went to pick up her things an hour ago. She should be on her way back. What’s wrong?”
“Who went with her?”
“She wanted to go alone but I sent her in a car with my chauffeur.”
“Find out where he is and if he’s outside, he needs to go in and stay with her until I get there!”
I don’t listen to his alarmed questions and simply toss the phone to Lana to deal with.
I can hear the three men on my heels as I rush out, aiming for the stairs.
Elise’s apartment has never seemed so far away as I hop into my car with Caleb and Oliver on my heels.
The sleek black car is distinctive in front of the building and the slumped man on the ground outside stands out even more.
Oliver takes his pulse, stating grimly, “He’s alive.”
“That’s the chauffeur.” I glance up at the building. “There is a fire escape in the back. It has two entrances to her apartment. One from the kitchen and there is one from her room. Both windows are sealed shut so—”
Oliver takes out a sharp army knife from his jacket. “Don’t worry about me.”
Caleb just gives me a faint half smile.
We’re not going in at the same time. If Darren/Payden is inside then I want to cut off all his escape routes.
When I get up there, the door to the apartment is open.
Of course it is. That’s never a good sign.
My head is calm, fear for Elise making my movements slow and deliberate. One wrong move could cost me my whole world today.
I push open the door, softly, really glad it doesn’t creak.
The door swings back to reveal Elise sitting in the center of the room on a chair, the coffee table pushed back, almost as if she’s on display. Her face is white as a sheet but she looks calm.
We stare at each other and I note that her hands and legs are free, no marks on her aside from the fading bruises. “Elise, come here,” I say, quietly.
Her jaw is tense and she shakes her head, croaking, “I-I can’t.”
I don’t panic, keeping myself together. “Why not?”
“Because she’ll stab herself if she does.” Payden exits the kitchen, a cola in one hand, and a gun in the other. “I wasn’t expecting you to show up today. Maybe in a few days when you realized your little girlfriend was missing. And then of course, either you’d find her dead or half dead.”
I take in the gun and notice it’s cocked and has a silencer.
I circle the room.
Payden doesn’t move, amusement in his eyes. Once I’m in a position where I can see the back of the chair, I realize that there are two bands around Elise’s waist that are hooked onto some mechanism and a sharp pointed knife at her back. The end result is that if she tries to even stand, the knife will pierce her back, slicing through her heart.
Fear is a tangible emotion that’s making my mouth dry. However, as I look towards Payden, a glance in the mirror behind him shows me that my face is impassive, not a trace of emotion on it. “And just how do you expect to get out of this situation scott free?” I ask, my tone neutral. “If not me, then the police will come for you.”
A broad smile grows on Payden’s face. “Why would the police come for me when I have a rock solid alibi. I’m spending some quality time with my father at the movies.” He takes a step forward. “No, no. You stabbed Elise because she rejected you and then you committed suicide because you couldn’t bear to live without her. And then I’ll take the brat. She’ll spend the rest of her life paying for the humiliation that her slut of a mother brought on me.”
Elise, who has been motionless for the most part of his speech, has a terrified expression on her face at the last part. “You think my parents will let you anywhere near my daughter?” Her words are fierce.
Payden just scoffs. “I’m the kid’s birth father. Do you think some elderly demented folks can stop me? If they protest too much, they’ll meet the same fate as you.”
I laugh at this. “For a few minutes there, I actually thought you were smart. You might have done a lot of research on me but you clearly haven’t done enough on Elise. Her father is Richard Smith, the business tycoon.” There’s a trace of mocking in my tone. “You really should have picked a low profile target.”
Payden’s face stiffens. “You’re lying.” He glances at Elise.
Her lips are pressed together.
He screams, “You’re lying!”
“He’s not. And my parents know everything from what you did to me to your threats. They will never give you Sophie.”
I can see the gears in Payden’s head whirling and then he relaxes. “So, I don’t take the little brat. You two will still be dead.”
From the corner of my eye, I see Oliver standing in the doorway of the kitchen. He’s behind Payden and I slightly shake my head to tell him to wait. “And then what? We die. How does that affect you?”
“Call it revenge for what you did to my family and our father.”
Seeing that I don’t react to this, his eyes widen and he laughs. “Oh, you already figured that part out, did you? That we’re half brothers.”
Elise looks shocked. “Lucas?”
I don’t look at her but tell her a broken down version of it, “Leon knocked up his mother and extorted her for years before I put a stop to it.”
“And also blocked my source of income. Dad and I always split the money forty sixty. And then you went and ruined my family.”
I tuck my hands in my pockets. “I sued them on behalf of a client. And for someone who’s seemingly involved in his mother’s extortion, you certainly care a lot about your family.”
Payden bares his teeth. “My mother was always a bitch. She went on and married that fool, Henry. She only ever loved my siblings. I was always the dirty one. So, why shouldn’t I take the money that she paid for the crime of birthing me. It was my right!”
“So, you had a bad childhood. Boo hoo.” I roll my eyes.
Payden’s eyes flash with unconcealed rage but he composes himself in a heartbeat. “You think you’re so smart, Lucas?”
The sound of a thud comes from the kitchen as I see Oliver crumple to the ground with a groan.
“Look what I found,” comes a familiar voice from behind and my father steps out, holding a large baseball bat in his hand. He wears a cocky grin on his face.
Payden steps aside and I get a clear view of an unconscious Oliver.
“Not so tough now, is he?” He laughs.
Elise moans in grief at the sight.
My jaw just clenches. “We wouldn’t have really gone after Elise if you hadn’t had that little display of affection in the morning at the office. Dad saw you and we realized that she was your biggest weakness. She and the brat, of course. You were such a love struck fool. The more she hurt, you hurt.”
Elise doesn’t give me a chance to say anything because she glares at Payden, “You might get away with some of this, Darren, but not for long. My parents will know it was you and they’ll hunt you down.”
Payden walks over to her.
I stiffen.
He caresses her face with his gun almost gently. “We won’t be here long enough. I’ve been selling company secrets for a whole yea
r now. I’m loaded with cash. We’ll be far away before anybody will even think of us.” Then without a warning, he raises his hand to hit her with the gun.
The sound of air whistling whirs in the room and he lets out a howl, grabbing his hand, his gun falling to the ground. “The fuck?” There’s something sharp stuck in his hand.
I jump into action. Propelling myself using the couch, I leap over it and quickly grab the gun.
My father is older and slower and before he can reach me, I already have it cocked and aimed at my half-brother’s head.
Payden is staring at me hatefully with a vicious gleam in his eyes as he reaches for Elise as if to pull her towards him. But before I can so much as move, Elise, without moving her upper body, launches her right leg and kicks him in the chest, hard.
Payden goes down with a cry just as I hear Oliver’s angry voice, “I don’t think so!”
I wrestle Payden to the ground and look over to see Oliver towering over Leon, the bat no longer in his hands.
“Are you okay, Elise?”
To her credit, Elise is relatively calm. “Yeah. Yeah.”
“Well, it looks like you two have everything under control.” Caleb strolls in through the front door, nonchalantly.
Making his way towards Elise, he says, calmly. “Stay still.” He studies the mechanism and then without hesitation, rips out the knife. “How did he get you to sit long enough for him to set this up?”
Elise jumps to her feet, trembling, and to everyone’s surprise, she turns around and kicks Payden in the face, making the man shout out in pain. “He chloroformed me! The second I walked in. He was waiting for me and Sophie.” She raises her foot again.
I see the unrestrained fury in her eyes and pull her back. “Okay, okay. You don’t want to kill him now. Leave something for the prison inmates, love.”
“You’re going to go away for a very long time,” she vows at the angry man, her eyes glittering with rage. “And every day in your cell will be hell for you. And I hope it is!” She staggers into me.
Catching her, I lean down and grasp the sleek silver pen that’s embedded in Payden’s palm, and I yank it out. Ignoring his howl, I toss the pen to Caleb. “Thanks.”
He wipes the blood on the pen with a handkerchief before placing it back into his pocket. “Let’s call the police then.”
The rest of the day is blur of sirens and plain-clothed detectives questioning everyone.
Payden and Leon are taken away after we find out that Payden had sought Leon out in the first place. Since both men had similar disturbing tastes, they’d bonded and then it was my actions of destroying the video Leon held and then driving Payden’s family into bankruptcy that had them both devise this plan.
“Drink some more soup, Elise.” My mother hovers over her. “It’ll help with the shock.”
“She’s right, Elise.” Fayleen looks anxiously at her daughter who hasn’t let go of Sophie this whole evening.
Everyone has gathered at my house, aside from Debra. But my mother and Elise’s parents.
Her father has been in a temper since he got here but he keeps hovering over his daughter almost as if he’s afraid someone else is going to snatch her from him. “You need to take a vacation,” he tells her. “Why don’t you go to Europe? Travel for a bit.”
Elise shakes her head. “I’d rather stay here. I don’t want to go anywhere.”
“We can take Sophie to Disneyland,” I suggest.
Elise rolls her eyes, her lips twitching. “Don’t use Sophie as an excuse just because you want to go there.”
I put my hand over my heart, adopting a tragic air. “I would never.”
The atmosphere lightens and it’s when everyone is finally about to leave that Elise finally says, “I’m going to stay with Lucas, tonight. I want to be with him and Sophie.”
Richard looks to be on the brink of arguing but his wife pinches him and he begrudgingly says, “All right.” And then he glares at me. “You had better make an honest woman out of her soon or I’ll shoot you.”
“He doesn’t use that shotgun anymore,” Fayleen tells me, sweetly.
I suddenly fear for my life.
My mother is the last to go, hugging me tightly. “I’ve told Debra not to come. The danger has passed but do give her a call.”
“Okay, Mama.” I kiss her cheek, affectionately.
I come back to see Elise sitting in the armchair and Sophie trying to crawl on the carpet.
Elise has been unnaturally calm since this whole thing and I can’t say I’m not worried. “Elise.”
She looks at me and then draws a shuddering breath and her calm countenance shatters as if made of the finest glass. She holds out her arms to me.
I go to her.
“I was frightened out of my mind,” she confesses, her voice unsteady. “At first, I thought he was going to kill me, but a part of me just knew that if anything happened to me, you’d be there for Sophie.”
Her confidence in me humbles me, and I tighten my arms around her.
“But then, you came and the idea of losing you, I can’t bear to think of it!”
“I’m not that easy to get rid of. I’m like a cockroach.”
She’s silent for a little bit and then she says in a curious voice, “Of all the things to compare yourself to, why a cockroach?”
“Because they’re hard to kill,” I say, smugly.
A short laugh is torn out of her. “You’re a weird man, Lucas Black. And I love you because of that. And I’m glad we’re here together.”
I kiss her on her forehead. “Lucky for you, I love you, too.”
“I won’t sleep with a cockroach, though.”
“Hey!” I protest, insulted.
She laughs.
It is the most beautiful sound I’ve ever heard.
Then as my house fills with Elise’s teasing voice and Sophie’s insistent babbling, I feel like I’ve finally found my home in these two.
Epilogue
“Seriously, Lucas. Stop being so dramatic. Let me see!” I don’t know what I’m walking on but it sure is soft. I’m blindfolded with a silk tie.
The sun feels pleasant on my face and I hear Sophie gurgle happily in Lucas’s arms. The wind is cool and it playfully flirts with my hair making me smile in spite of my wariness.
“What’s the point of a surprise if you won’t let me surprise you?” Lucas asks, not at all deterred by my deliberate complaining. “Now shut up before I dunk you in the water.”
I know him well enough to know that he will. I frown. “What water?”
He just chuckles. “Your mom’s being a bad girl, Sophie!”
“Ba – ba!” Sophie shrieks.
I smirk, knowing that Lucas will be wincing at the volume.
He’s been very mysterious since two weeks ago. Avoiding me, working late, going out at weird times. Considering how overprotective he’s been since the whole incident with Darren and his father happened, six months ago, this space to breathe is actually a relief.
And now he’s dragged me out on a Saturday in the midst of doing laundry.
I mournfully think of the soaked shirts in the sink.
I had planned an afternoon of lazing around after I was done with work and maybe coaxing a foot massage out of my handsome looking lawyer. If I played my cards right, I could have gotten slow lazy sex on the couch that would leave me as a boneless lump.
Then Lucas showed up, insisting I get dressed and blindfolded me.
“If you kidnap me, I will get my father to find the best lawyer there is and sue your pretty behind,” I threaten half-heartedly.
That earns me a slap on my ass that has me jumping.
“Lucas!” I cry out, glowering at him and blushing all the while.
“I am the best lawyer there is, babe,” he scolds me.
I mutter something uncomplimentary under my breath.
For a few seconds, I think he hasn’t heard me until he says in a leery voice, “Why don’t you
say that to me, tonight, in bed?”
I bite my lower lip, knowing he’s going to make me pay.
The man is too creative in bed and a complete sadist. I said no to the sex swing but yesterday I saw him staring at it online again, and I know that in a few days to come, he’ll talk me into it.
I smile.
Lucky me.
My new apartment, forced on me by my father, is a penthouse, a five minute drive from their house and my father has chosen part time retirement because he wants to spend more time with me and Sophie…mostly Sophie. My little girl has both her grandparents wrapped around her little finger.
It’s an adorable sight, usually, but I often have to end up putting my foot down.
Especially, when they got her three different swing sets of different Disney princess designs.
Of course, they hadn’t been pleased when I made them return two. I know for a fact that they never did and simply put it in the large attic that they think I don’t frequent. Now that Sophie has begun walking slightly, she’s made it her life’s mission to reach every dangerous place she can. And that includes spending an entire afternoon clambering up the steps to the attic before sitting on the top stair and wailing loudly because she doesn’t know how to get back down.
With Lana now expecting much to Oliver’s delight, she seeks every opportunity to babysit Sophie, which in turn, gives me more time to spend with Lucas. If there’s one thing I’ve discovered about this man is that he loves taking me dancing.
He’s got two left feet but he will dance until he drops and I absolutely adore it.
Caleb and Kendall’s wedding last week was surprisingly a small event. Lucas took Sophie and slow danced with her in his arms and my heart has been overflowing ever since. Watching the man I love, his heart so huge, as he made my daughter giggle and twirl.
The wedding surprisingly made me feel a yearning and ever since then I keep glancing at my own left hand which is bare. Lucas has never brought up the subject of marriage after the fight we got into and sometimes, when I study him, unobserved, I feel a sharp pang of regret in my heart.
“Lucas, how much farther?” I ask from behind the blindfold. I know I’m whining but I’m twitching with anticipation to see the surprise he’s leading me to.