by Mia Michelle
“Thank goodness you came for me.” I say, keeping my voice even.
Show no fear, Skylar. He can smell it. Relax.
He tilts his head, but doesn’t answer me. It’s like I’ve caught him completely off guard with my words. Swallowing the huge lump in my throat, I look around the room again.
Use this place to coax him along! You can do this!
“Did you do all of this for me?” I ask, smiling.
His brows furrow for a moment, but then relax. I hope he is fucking buying this routine because it’s making me sick.
“Yes. I did. Do you like it?” he asks, his voice softer.
“It’s beautiful, Brandon. The flowers, the candles… it’s perfect.” I swallow the bile in my throat.
“I wanted a special place for us. It isn’t where I want us to be permanently, but for now it will do,” he says.
I can sense some of the anger returning in his voice. Think Skylar! Think!
Taking a chance, I move off the bed. He watches every step I make through the loft like a hawk would. Open and spacious, he’d thought out every last detail to make this a home. A tall wooden bookshelf catches my eyes. He has lined it with books and puzzles. Does he plan on me being here that long?
Shaking his head, I watch him slap his face. It’s like he’s fighting with himself.
“You think you are going to distract me, but I’m smarter than that. I know you are pregnant, you lying bitch!”
Think Skylar! Think!
“The baby isn’t important, Brandon. You’re what’s important.”
“I’m important?!” He screams. “You let that son of a bitch shove his dick inside you. You let him fill you up with his seed. Now look at you! You’re fat and disgusting! You’re nothing but a whore!” He chunks a large lamp in my direction, barely missing me.
“I did this for us! You don’t understand!” I scream, desperate to make him calm down.
“What? For us? Are you kidding me? Explain just how the fuck having another man’s kid is for us?”
“I always knew you were smart enough to get out of jail. I’d just hoped you still felt something for me when you did. You do still feel something for me. Don’t you, Brandon?”
“Y-yes. Of course I do. I never stopped feeling for you. Every goddamn day in that prison I thought about you,” he says.
You’ve got him Skylar, now work on him.
“I hate you had to go to jail in the first place. You’d just caught me off guard that night. You scared me. Sebastian was just jealous and made a big deal about it.”
“I don’t blame you. I blame Thorne for all of this. He had to butt in and interrupt our fun,” he says, moving towards me. His hand gently touches my face, his finger slides across my lips. “You are so fucking beautiful.” He breathes across my mouth, and I fight the urge to slap him. I have to get his guard down. I have to make him trust me.
Pushing me against the cold concrete wall, he kisses me hard. Without warning, I feel my throat burn from the tight grip he places on my throat. Firmly pressing his weight against me, I’m powerless to fight him.
“Do you have any idea how much I love you? And you go and fuck him? I ought to end you now!”
He’s going to kill me.
“Don’t cry… I’m sorry. You do love me, don’t you?” he says, wrapping his arms around me. The smell of him makes my stomach heave. I won’t ever be able to erase the memory of that smell away.
“Yes… yes, I do love you, Brandon.” I lie with a raspy voice from his earlier attack.
“It’s why I did this,” I say, rubbing my stomach.
“I don’t understand how that fits in.”
“Don’t you see? I married him. I’m having his kid! I hold the power to his money. I hold the power to everything with him. He’s got no clue what I’m up to.”
“You mean you did all of this for me?”
“Yes, I did everything for you, for us. I don’t care about him or this kid.” I lie. God, I hate myself for saying all of this.
“You mean you don’t love him? I’ve watched you for weeks now. You were all over each other.”
“NO! I have to make it look convincing. Every time he touches me, I only think of you.”
He moves in front of me, cupping my face.
“You don’t know how long I’ve waited to hear you say that.” His hand trails up to cup my breast. “I want you,” he whispers against my skin as he kisses my neck.
I feel like I’m going to vomit.
“Not now. We have to think of another plan,” I say, trying to distract him.
“A plan can wait. I need to be inside of you,” he says, inching up my dress.
Oh, God! Think! This is backfiring. THINK!
“You don’t want my body right now. Look at me. I’m disgusting. You don’t want in me while this is inside of me.”
“Fuck!” he roars, biting at my skin.
I can feel his hardness pressing into me. I’d rather die before I let him take me. My skin is crawling from the horror of his touch.
“Be patient. I promise to make it worth your while,” I say, smiling.
“You’re right. We have all the time in the world now. I can’t wait to make your husband pay.”
Please, Sebastian, hurry!
Sebastian
“Calm the fuck down!” Lucas says while Harrison holds my arms back.
“Let me go! I can’t stand here and do nothing!”
“Listen to me! Do you think this is easy for me, you fucking prick? I love her, too, you know!”
“They’re going to kill her if I don’t get to her!”
“They’re going to kill both of you if you don’t get your head on straight. We’ve got to wait for Maverick to make the next move. “
“Call the police! I’ll turn myself in! If that’s what he wants, I’ll do it! Anything to bring her home.”
“Involving the police now is suicidal. You know it and I know it.”
“Then call the bastard! Find out what he wants!”
“It’s not that simple, Sebastian! Men like him don’t work like that. If you go rattling off demands, he is going to end up hurting her. You don’t want that. God knows I don’t want that.”
“What am I supposed to do? Sit here and wait patiently by the phone? FUCK! I’m going out of my mind here!” I say, yanking the crystal vase off the shelf and chunking it against the wall. Dropping to my knees, I feel the glass sink into my skin. I don’t care. I welcome the pain.
“I should have never let her talk me out of putting her on that plane this morning. If I’d just insisted that she go on to LA, then she’d be safe right now.”
“You and I both know she has a way of convincing others.”
“I should have never left her at that doctor’s office. I should’ve seen that this had all been a trap.”
“None of that matters now. We have to wait for him to make the next move.”
My cell phone chimes sending me in a panic.
“He’s just messaged me,” I shout, trying to open the text.
“What does it say?” Lucas demands impatiently.
Swiping the screen, I feel my heart drop. The message is a picture, a picture I will never forget if I live to be a thousand years old. Maverick’s text consists of an ultrasound picture with a knife shoved straight through it. Everything goes black, and I fight to reach for the chair.
“NO! NO!” I scream.
Lucas scoops the phone off the floor, and then his panicked eyes find mine as he hands off the phone to Harrison. The phone chimes with another message, but this time, Lucas snatches it away to read.
“Give me that fucking phone!”
MAVERICK: Now that I have your attention, it is time to pay. Await further instructions.
I’m finished texting the fucker! Dialing back his number, I hear breathing on the other line.
“I’ll do whatever you want, Maverick. Anything you want, I’ll make it yours. Just don’t hurt her… Please!
” I beg with everything in me. “Answer me! What do you want?”
Laughter fills the other end, and then the line goes dead. I try calling him back, but there is no answer.
“Can’t we trace his phone, Harrison?” I ask, desperate for any lead.
“I’ve already tried, sir. He’s too smart. There are repeaters built into his phone. It bounces his signal all over the city. There is no way to pinpoint him.”
“That’s it? What the fuck do I pay you for? It was your incompetent men that got her taken in the first place.”
“I don’t know what happened with Calvin, sir, but I think it is safe to say that we are dealing with a psycho. Clearly, his focus must have been on watching the building. He must have just been caught off guard from his attack.”
“Obviously. Now Maverick has her and I have nothing to go on.”
“I’ve dealt with these men for years Mr. Thorne. They don’t play around and when they attack, they go for blood. He is going after the one thing that makes you vulnerable. If you have any chance of bringing her back home, you have to play by his rules. We have to wait.”
“Wait? How am I supposed to wait when he has everything I’ll ever love in his hands?”
“You’ll wait. We both will.” Lucas says, sitting down beside me.
“We’re going to do whatever it takes to get her back and if that means we wait on word from him, then that’s just what we do!”
Holding my hands up to my face, I begin praying.
“Please, God, bring them back home to me safe.”
Lucas
Sebastian is too strung out in his own grief to notice me leaving. I lie and tell Harrison that I’m going to get some shuteye. This is all my fault and there is no way I can wait until Maverick decides to let me in on his plan. It may be suicidal, but I’m heading into Larson territory. It’s a little after 1:00 am when I pull up to the building. Larson’s penthouse is on the top floor of this high rise in downtown Austin. I have no way of knowing whether or not he is here, in fact, he’d be downright stupid to bring her back here, but I need answers and I’m willing to wake the dead up to get them.
The doorman of course gives me hesitation, but that is fine. If I am persistent enough, then that means it draws attention from his goons upstairs. One way or another, someone is talking to me.
“I demand to speak to Mr. Larson!” I shout again at the short, bald doorman.
“Mr. Larson is not seeing guests at this hour. Now I must ask you to leave. I won’t have you disrupting our other guests.”
“Then ring Mr. Larson! Trust me, he’ll want to see me!” I scream, jerking the phone up and handing it to him. I can see the tiny vein pop up in his neck. Good! I’m making the little dick upset. Now maybe we’ll get somewhere.
“Sir! That is uncalled for! Mr. Larson won’t see you!”
“What in the hell is going on? Who won’t I see?” I turn to face a guy around my age with dark hair and tattoos all over his neck. This must be Michael, Maverick’s oldest son. Two skanks in short, tight spandex dresses are latched onto both sides of him. Releasing them, he swats their behind.
“Go on upstairs. I’ll be up in just a bit.”
“Hurry, Mikey, we’re horny.” The tallest skank whines, pouting her ruby red lips.
“Then go get ready for me. I won’t be long,” he says, winking. Once they get on the elevator, he turns to face me with an angry face.
“Who the hell are you and what do you want?” he barks, pulling me to the side. It’s obvious he doesn’t want the doorman to hear anything.
“I need to speak to your father, it is urgent!” I demand.
“What’s so fucking urgent? My father’s out of the country on business.”
“Your father and I’ve been working on taking down Thorne Enterprises. Hundreds of millions of dollars are at stake in this deal. I’ve got Sebastian Thorne by his balls and it’s time we make our move. Yesterday, your father texted me to meet him, but he never showed up.”
“He’s still out of town, so something must have held him up. I’m sure he’ll be in touch soon. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got pussy waiting for me upstairs.” he says, turning around. I have to do something. I can’t let him leave without answering some questions.
“If this deal goes south, your father’s going to be pissed. I’m telling you, it’s urgent! Can you see if you can get him on the phone?”
“Fine,” he says, digging out his phone and dialing a number. When he doesn’t get an answer, he hangs up and looks at me.
“Look, I don’t know what to tell you. My father left both my brother and me in charge until he gets home. If the deal you made with him is that urgent, you need to speak to him.”
“Where is your brother anyway? Maybe he knows how to get up with him.”
“I don’t know where he is. I haven’t seen him today. He’s got himself a new girl and said he’d be staying with her for a few days. You know how addictive new pussy is.” He grins.
“If you hear from your father, have him to call Lucas Drake immediately. Tell him it’s an emergency.”
“Yeah, yeah, look, whatever,” he says, throwing his hands up and walking away.
As I walk out in the cool night air, my brain starts to race. Everything starts making sense. No phone calls, only text messages… Brandon is involved in all of this, I can feel it. When I find him, he is a fucking dead man.
Sebastian
It’s been twenty-five hours, fifteen hundred and three minutes to be exact since my life hit pause. Everything around me moves in slow motion and I struggle to function. All night long, I’ve sat in this chair in our bedroom looking at her side of the bed. Her sweet intoxicating candy scent still lingers in the room, ripping my soul apart that much more. I’ve desperately clung to my phone all night praying I’d get the call from Maverick.
The last instruction I’d been given was to back my men down and remain in my home. He stressed that no phone calls were to be made to any authorities. I’m certainly not one to ever play by the rules or take orders from someone else, but when he’d sent me the text with the knife in the ultrasound picture, I realized that I am dealing with a monster. A monster that doesn’t hesitate to kill for the pleasure it will bring him, and the torture it would his enemy. Harrison’s been on the phone all night with his contacts trying to get as much info on where Maverick is, but so far, no one has any clue. It’s obvious he’d been planning this for quite some time to set all of the alibis up that he has in place.
It’s killing me to know she’s out there somewhere, scared and all alone. This is all my fault. I’d failed her. The only treasured thing in my life and I’d failed to protect it. I’d gladly give my life up just for her to come home safe. However, Maverick isn’t interested in ending me; he’s interested in seeing me suffer. He knows the company and money mean nothing to me, so he went for the one thing he knows that will bring me to my knees. Skylar. In order to beat someone like Maverick Larson at his own game, you have to be a hundred steps in front of him. Right now, I’m a thousand steps behind and hanging on his mercy.
Suddenly, the door to my bedroom flies open, slamming against the wall. Lucas comes barreling into the room, looking like fucking hell. With his wild hair and wrinkled clothes, it’s obvious he’s just as devastated by her absence as I am. Maybe on a different day I’d be jealous, but right now the only thing that matters is getting Skylar back home safe. I know he wants that just as much as I do right now.
“What the fuck?” I scream, standing to face him.
“I don’t think Maverick doing all of this.”
“What are you talking about? Of course, it’s him!”
“Think about it Sebastian! When’s the last time you spoke to Maverick?”
“Yesterday! You already know that!”
“No, not text messages. I mean when is the last time you physically spoke to him on the phone?”
“I called him last night, remember? He just laughed and hung up
the phone.”
“But he never actually spoke, did he?” Lucas asks.
“What’s your point, Lucas?”
“Last night, something didn’t sit well with me, so I decided to pay him a visit.”
“You went to see Maverick? Are you fucking insane? He’ll kill her!” I say, charging at him. I’m going to rip his fucking throat out. How can he be so damn stupid? I reach for his shirt and his hands slam into my chest shoving me back.
“Wait! Goddamn it, Sebastian! Let me finish!”
“Go on with it then!”
“Maverick wasn’t at his penthouse and the bell boy pretty well indicated that he’d not seen him in a while. I was pressing him for more information when Michael, Maverick’s oldest son, came in with some girls. He witnessed me making a scene and demanded to know what was going on. When I told him that I needed to speak to Maverick, he told me his father was out of town on business.”
“How can he be out of town unless… Do you think he’s taken Skylar somewhere else then?”
“At first, I thought that, but when I asked him to explain the texts I’d been getting from Maverick’s phone, I knew I’d made a point. He even tried to call him while I was standing there and couldn’t get him to pick up the phone. When I asked where Brandon was, he said he was staying with some new chick. Brandon’s got Skylar, Sebastian. I just know it!”
“Why would Maverick involve Brandon on all of this and not Michael?”
“Trust me, he wouldn’t! It would be too risky, and Brandon would be the last person he’d involve. I think Brandon killed Maverick, and is posing as him. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”
Everything slows down around me. Lucas’ words echo in my ear.
Brandon has her.
My knees go weak. Images of the knife in the ultrasound picture flash before my eyes. Our baby. My chest feels like the air has been knocked out of my body. Dropping to the floor, I fight to breathe.