by K. J. Dahlen
Mikial snapped his head to look at her. She was staring at Flynn but he could see the resolve in her face. Resolve and fear. Mikial could feel her tremble but she didn’t take her eyes off Flynn.
Flynn continued to stare at her then he very slowly, lowered the gun. Holding his hand out to her, she placed her hand in his. He pulled her out of the car and when she was standing next to him, he turned his cold gaze back to Mikial. “Your lady has guts my friend. She just saved your driver’s life. Now you save hers and do as I ask.”
“You hurt her and I’ll kill you myself.” Mikial growled. He didn’t move from where he was sitting but searched Pepper’s face for a moment. He watched Flynn grasp her upper arm and begin to pull her away.
But Pepper fought him briefly. She pulled her arm from his grasp and squatted down beside Mikial. Raising her hand to his jaw, she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. When she broke the kiss she whispered, “I love you.” Then before he could respond, she stood up and went back to Flynn.
Mikial was stunned as he watched them walk away. His heart was pounding in his chest and her taste was still on his lips. None of that really mattered right now though, all he could think about was the fact she finally said those three words he’d been waiting on. She told him she loved him.
Just then, Kosta groaned.
Mikial reached forward and put his hand on the other man’s shoulder. “Try not to move man. I’ll be with you in a minute.” Mikial got out of the car and went to the driver’s door. Wrenching it open, he reached into his pocket and got his knife out. Popping the air bag, he helped Kosta out of the vehicle.
Kosta had a cut across his forehead and half his face was covered in blood. He seemed confused and woozy and Mikial helped him lean against the hood of the car while he phoned Yuri.
When the other man answered the call, Mikial wasted no time in explaining what just happened. “Yuri, I need another car to pick me and Kosta up at Jessie’s old house. Kosta is injured and Pepper was taken hostage.”
Yuri began to swear in Russian. “Fuck. How bad is Kosta?”
“He’ll be fine.”
“And Pepper? Is she still alive?”
“Da, she’s still alive.” Mikial growled. “Flynn and I made a bargain. If he keeps his word, she’ll be back day after tomorrow.”
“What happens before then?”
“He’s waiting on a shipment. If nothing prevents it from coming in and it’s turned over to him, he’ll let her go unharmed.”
“Do you believe him?” Yuri asked softly.
“Da I have to don’t I?” Mikial said bitterly. “I told him if he fucked this up and hurt her, I’d hunt him down and kill him slowly.”
“My men will be there shortly,” Yuri assured him. Pausing he asked, “And you? Are you all right?”
“I won’t be all right until she’s back in my arms,” Mikial told his friend.
“I hear you my friend. I hear you,” Yuri said. “We will do everything we can to find her and bring her back to you.”
Chapter Thirteen
Pepper allowed Flynn to push her into an old van parked just at the edge of the woods.
When he closed the door, he nodded to the driver and the driver took off. Flynn managed to sit in the seat next to her and when they took off, he took a moment to stare at her.
After a moment or so, Pepper shifted in her seat and glared at him. “What?”
Flynn just smiled. The glee didn’t meet his eyes however. “So you love the Russian bear huh?” he asked.
Pepper stared at him for a moment then nodded. “Yes, I do.”
“And how does Leon fit into this equation?”
Pepper sneered. “He doesn’t fit in at all. I hope he likes hell because that’s where he’s headed.”
Flynn nodded. “Yeah, he don’t much like you either.” He paused still staring at her. “Why is that, do you suppose?”
Pepper snorted and fidgeted in her seat for a moment then looking him in the eye she stated the facts, as she knew them, “While he was married he had an affair with my mother. I was the result of that affair. They continued said affair until I was four when my mother told him he was going to be a father again, only this time, she wanted to be married when her child was born. Imagine her surprise when he told her he was already married. At the time, he had one kid and his wife was pregnant with his second. So instead of marrying her, he murdered her and set her trailer on fire to cover his crime. He dragged me out of the fire and god only knows what he was going to do with a kid but I escaped. He told the press I was dead at the hands of my mother and that he thought the fire was her way of escaping justice for my death. He thought he was free and clear until a few days ago when I showed up, still alive and kicking.”
Flynn listened and raised an eyebrow at the end of her story. “And why didn’t you come forward as a child?”
“I couldn’t remember what happened.” She shook her head. “The trauma of the fire on top of the murder blanked my memories. When I saw him on the street, I didn’t know him. It’s only recently that I’ve begun to remember things. I couldn’t even speak for two years after I was found.”
“You do realize his wife is my cousin don’t you?”
Pepper shrugged. “Yeah, I was told that. What about it?”
“I’m just wondering why you would tell me about his history when you knew we were somewhat related.”
Pepper rolled her eyes. “I realize you aren’t a stand up business man and all that but you might want to get some better friends. Or maybe you just don’t care what kind of man he is and that’s your right. You can hang out with whomever you want. Leon makes a living hiding his secrets from everyone. Maybe I just wanted someone to know the truth about him.”
“Yeah well, your boyfriend and his friends have told the world Leon’s secrets. He’ll be lucky not to be sent to prison.”
“I hope they managed to do just that,” Pepper stated. “He needs to go to prison and when he gets there, I hope some big fat guy makes him his bitch. I hope he lives a very long painful life behind bars.”
Flynn chuckled. “You are a vengeful little bitch, aren’t you?”
“My mother didn’t deserve to die, not at his hands. Her only mistake was in caring for a man who didn’t deserve her.”
“What about you? He is your father after all.”
Pepper shrugged. “As I’ve never met the man, he doesn’t mean anything to me. And I mean even less to him. He’s made it very clear he hates me and that’s fine with me. I don’t much care for him either.”
“What do you mean you’ve never met him?” Flynn frowned.
“He never spent time with us as a family, he would sneak in after dark and he and mom would go to her bedroom, so I never got to meet him. My mother never even told me his name. I was supposed to finally meet him the day he murdered my mother and set fire to her house. I was in shock that night so I don’t remember seeing his face at all. When I snuck out of his car, I hid so he couldn’t find me. It was days later when the police found me. By that time, I had no idea who I was nor could I remember what happened.”
“Damn he really is a bastard isn’t he?” Flynn mumbled under his breath. He peeked out the window and finally noticed they were approaching his warehouse. He didn’t say anything when they pulled inside. He helped her out of the van and pulled her along behind him all the way to his office.
Only when they were inside with the door closed behind them did he look at her again. He went over and sat down in his chair behind the big desk in his office. He motioned for her to sit down and when she did, he stared at her and asked, “So what do I do with you now?”
Pepper wet her lips with her tongue. “You said I would be safe with you until after the shipment came in. If you lied to Mikial, he will kill you.”
Flynn nodded. “And you will be safe. I asked because McKenna is my cousin. Out of every family member I have, she was the only one who stood beside me when everyone else turned their bac
k on me. She was the one who understood what I was going through as a kid. I may not like the bastard she married but I love her. I told him if he even cheated on her, I would make him wish he’d never been born. She told him the same thing, that if she ever caught him with another woman she’d kill him. She’s not going to be happy that you even exist. She called me early this morning. She was pissed that Leon was in trouble. I don’t know what she’s going to do about this.”
Pepper leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest. “You know something? I didn’t ask to be born. I didn’t ask that Leon be my father. I don’t know what my mother saw in him and I don’t know why he cheated on his wife. The fact that I exist is not the problem here. The problem is Leon Knight exists. He’s a liar as well as a cheater. Plus, he is a murderer too! With everything the guys found out about him, he is not a good man and never has been. I don’t know your cousin or any of her children but I hope she has her own money because by the time the police get done with him, he won’t have a cent to his name. He’s going away and I hope it’s for the rest of his life.”
“Damn baby, you got balls, I’ll give you that.” Flynn chuckled. “My cousin has been busy moving her money around, so it couldn’t get seized. She’s kept most of it separate all these years on my advice since they’ve been married so she and the kids would be all right in any event. I told her years ago that her man was no good.” He shrugged. “But she says she loves him. I don’t know what she’ll do when she hears about you.”
“Does she have to? Hear about me I mean?” she shrugged. “I have no way of proving to a court of law who I am. My birth certificate has no father listed. According to a newspaper article, Leon claimed I died eighteen years ago at the hands of my mother and that the fire that took her life was suicide because of what she’d done to me. A blood test would be the only way to prove he’s my father and I’m not sure he would even do one.”
“What about your mother’s estate?”
“The one you’ve been stealing from? That estate?” She glared at him.
Flynn’s eyes grew cold. “Leon assured me there were no survivors to that estate. Jessie was gone and so was her kid.”
“Imagine that, he lied again? I’m shocked. So how much money did he get out of the deal?” Pepper leaned forward. “How much money did he make on the back of my mother? He sold off most of her paintings after he killed her.” Tears rolled down her cheeks. “Did you know he murdered Cullen Brandt as well? Wasn’t he also your cousin? After he died, Leon somehow put himself in charge of my mother’s estate. Only he and God knows what he did with all that money.”
“What makes you think I care about any of this shit?” he asked her. “We all have our weaknesses, Leon isn’t any different than anybody else.” He shifted in his chair. “But to answer your question, yeah I have to tell her about you. Maybe this will finally wake her up to the fact the Leon is scum.”
“So what are you going to do now?”
“What the hell do you care about what I’m going to do?”
Pepper shrugged. “I don’t care about you or Leon. I just want to survive this nightmare.”
“Well, since your boyfriend nixed the idea of working with me, I’ll have to move my headquarters won’t I?” he told her. “I have two days to work on a new plan and get it set up.” He leaned forward in his chair and reached for his phone. “But first, I have to tell my cousin about you, so she can make her own plans for the future.”
An hour later, the door to his office was thrown open and McKenna Knight walked inside.
Pepper had gone to one corner of the office and was sitting on the floor with her back to the wall. She watched as McKenna stalked up to Flynn’s desk. “What the hell was that phone call all about Tim?” McKenna demanded laying her hands on his desk. “Today has been a day from hell and it isn’t over yet. The police are confiscating all of our assets and Leon is waiting on a bail hearing. I have to get to the courthouse to post his bail before five o’clock tonight.”
Timothy Flynn sat back in his chair and watched his cousin for a moment, then said, “You might want to hold off posting the bastard’s bail.”
McKenna sighed. “Look Tim, I know you may not like him but Leon is my husband, for good or bad, I am married to the man and have been for twenty seven years.”
Flynn turned his head and stared at Pepper for a moment.
McKenna turned and frowned as she stared at the other woman. “Who the hell is this?” Looking back at her cousin she asked, “What is going on here?”
Motioning at her with his hand, he informed his cousin, “Kenny, this young woman is Pepper. Her mother was the artist Jessie Carter. Her father’s name is Leon Knight.”
McKenna sat down hard in the chair on the other side of Flynn’s desk. “What?” she whispered. “What did you say?”
“You heard me,” Flynn told her. “And you know in your heart that it’s true. She’s only twenty four years old. You can do the math as well as anyone.”
“What happened to her mother?” McKenna asked still unwilling to look at Pepper.
“The girl claims Leon murdered her when she told him they were having another child together.” Flynn shifted in his chair again, then added, “That would have been eighteen years ago. Jessie Carter and her unborn child died eighteen years ago.”
McKenna closed her eyes at his words. When she opened them again, Timothy Flynn saw the rage explode inside her. He knew well what she was feeling. They both shared that particular trait. The only difference being McKenna all too often controlled her rage whereas he didn’t.
McKenna slowly turned her head and glared at Pepper. She got to her feet and walked over to where Pepper was sitting. Without warning, McKenna drew back her hand and with her fingers clenched into a fist, she slammed her fist into Pepper’s face. Before Flynn could move, she hit Pepper three more times.
By the time he could get to his feet and reach his cousin, Pepper was balled up into a ball with her arms stretched over her head. Flynn wrapped his brawny arms around his cousin and threw her out of the way.
McKenna screamed at him. “Why? Why would you protect this bitch?”
“Because I need her in good condition, so I can trade her back to the Russian for my shipment.” He growled at his cousin.
“I don’t give a flying fuck about your business deal!” she screamed at him. “I want her dead. I want Leon dead.”
Timothy’s arms came around her. He pulled her into his arms and pressed her head into his chest. “I know you do Kenny, but that can’t happen, not yet.”
“I want his balls on a silver platter,” she whined.
“I know but I need the girl alive. She belongs to one of the Russian’s and we made a deal for her safety.” He told her. “You do whatever you want about Leon but the girl is mine until the shipment comes in. This is too big a deal to forget it.”
“Did Leon know about this girl?” she asked her cousin.
Flynn nodded. “But he never had anything to do with her. She says they never even met.”
“How is that even possible? You told me her mother was pregnant again eighteen years ago.”
“He lied to her. He never told her he was already married until the night he killed her,” Pepper told the other woman as she sat up. Blood ran down her face from the hits she’d taken. There was a cut at her temple and just under her right eye where McKenna ring caught her. “He only ever came around in the dead of night when they would disappear into my mother’s bedroom. He’d be gone after a few hours. So no I never met the bastard.”
“You’re the bastard’s bitch,” McKenna snarled. “At least my children have the benefit of being legitimate.”
“Hardly my fault,” Pepper scoffed. “I didn’t ask to be born.”
“Ladies, please you can both argue this another time?” Flynn insisted.
“Why did you bring me down here, Tim?” McKenna asked. “Just to show me what a bastard Leon is?
“That was
one reason but the real reason was so you could protect your kids. If what she says is true, Leon is going to lose everything he owns. Everything the two of you built together will be forfeit once everything comes out. She told me Leon was responsible for Cullen’s accident as well. That’s going to tear our family apart. If I was the black sheep of the family, Cullen was the white sheep. Once everyone knows it was Leon’s fault if you don’t get your ducks in order, the family will shun you and yours. I don’t want to see that happen. You are going to need everyone standing beside you rather than against you.”
McKenna nodded. “You’re right I will need family standing on my side. Leon can rot in jail for all I care now.” Turning her head, she glared at Pepper. “What are you going to do with her?”
“Told you cousin, she’s business.” Flynn chuckled. “Strictly business.”
Half an hour after he called his brother, Yuri was waiting for Mikial to arrive. The others were there waiting as well. The fact that Timothy Flynn took Pepper right under Mikial’s nose was not a good thing.
When Mikial and Kosta arrived, Yuri demanded to know what happened. “What the hell went on today?”
“We didn’t run into any problems when we first got there. We were there for about half an hour when Kosta noticed another vehicle sitting on the road. We got into the car to come back and the bastard shot out the front tire. Kosta ended up running into a tree. His airbag went off knocking him out. We were thrown around the back seat and before we could get out Flynn was there. He took Pepper with him. He told me he would trade her back to me in two days when a shipment came in as long as his man picked up the shipment and was allowed to leave.”
“And you agreed to this?” Roman asked.
“It was either that or watch the bastard shoot Pepper and Kosta,” Mikial grumbled. “He needed me alive to sign for the shipment.” Shaking his head, he looked at all of them. “Pepper made her own deal. She would go with him and behave herself if he let Kosta live. He had the gun at the back of Kosta’s neck and his finger was on the trigger. I don’t know what’s in that shipment but it’s worth more than he’s willing to admit. He really wants it bad.”