Freeing Her (A Hart Brothers Novel Book 1)

by A. M. Hargrove

  When she got in the car, she asked, “Will you be picking up Kolson?”

  “No, miss. He asked me to let you know that he’ll be working late.”

  “Oh. Will you be taking me to the NA meeting tonight? It’s my night to volunteer there.”

  “No, miss. Eddie will be driving you and bringing you home.”

  “Oh, he doesn’t have to wait. Case can get a taxi for me.”

  “No, miss, Mr. Hart’s instructions were for Eddie to wait for you.”

  “I see. What time did you speak with Mr. Hart?”

  “Around four this afternoon, miss.”

  Gabby gritted her teeth. That was after she’d left him her messages and then tried to call him again. He was avoiding her.

  “And Dr. M.?”

  “Yes?”

  “Sam wanted me to tell you hello.”

  Gabby smiled. “Tell him hello back. By the way, what in the world is your real name?”

  Ovaltine chuckled. “It’s Leroy, miss. But I haven’t been called that since I was a toddler. Wouldn’t drink anything but Ovaltine. Still drink it too. My mother nicknamed me that and it sort of stuck.”

  Gabby laughed. “How about for good measure, you drink some water every now and again?”

  “Oh, don’t worry, miss. I drink that too. When I played football I drank my share of that and Gatorade.”

  “Did Sam play too?”

  “Oh, yes, miss.”

  “I figured as much. With his build and all.”

  “We all played. All five brothers. None of us were good enough to go pro so that’s when we went to work for Mr. Hart. Big Mr. Hart. Then, seven years ago when Mr. Kolson Hart left, he offered us jobs and we went with him, being that we knew him since he was a youngster. Funny thing, Mr. H. never knew I went by Ovaltine ’cause big Mr. H. always used the name Leroy.”

  “What’s he like? Big Mr. H.?”

  Ovaltine shrugged. “Okay, I guess. Sam could tell you more about him than I can. He was the front man and closest to him. The rest of us took orders from Sam.”

  “I know it’s not my business, but Kolson doesn’t get along with him, does he?”

  “Nah, but that’s not my business, either. And I’m not supposed to gossip, miss. Sam would have my head if he knew I’d even told you this much.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry. I promise, I won’t whisper a word.”

  “Thank you. Sam can be pretty scary when he gets upset. But he’s taken a liking to you. He told me no one better hurt a hair on your head while I’m looking out for you or he’d beat my ass good. Oh, excuse the language, miss.”

  Gabby laughed.

  When Ovaltine pulled in front of Kolson’s building, he got out and escorted Gabby inside.

  “Thank you, Ovaltine. Does Eddie know I need him at quarter to seven?”

  “Yes, miss, he sure does.”

  “Thanks so much. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.” She left him with a wave.

  When she stepped off the elevator, Lydia greeted her and introduced herself. Gabby instantly liked her. She showed Gabby the dinner she’d prepared and then left for the evening. Since Gabby had less than an hour before she had to leave again, she decided to change clothes and then eat.

  When she finished, she went on a bit of an exploration of the apartment. Even though she’d spent the weekend there, she really hadn’t checked the place out. It was quite spacious and other than the den, the state of the art kitchen, her plush guest room, and Kolson’s luxurious bedroom, the penthouse had everything one could ask for. Kolson’s office was large, sleek and ultra modern, and there was a small library that Gabby wanted to get lost in because it was chock full of all kinds of books. The penthouse also had another guest room much like the one she occupied, a media room with every kind of video game imaginable, a formal dining room, and a formal living room. Gabby’s head spun with the size and opulence of the place. Her parents’ home in Connecticut was quite grand, but this was in Manhattan where the price of real estate was ungodly. She couldn’t begin to imagine what this place cost to rent. But then she thought again. He didn’t rent this. People like Kolson Hart didn’t rent anything.

  The buzzer sounded, invading her thoughts. She looked around, and then remembered where the intercom was.

  “Yes?”

  “Dr. Martinelli? Your ride is here for you.”

  “Er, thank you. I’ll be right down.”

  She grabbed her purse and entered the elevator code. Eddie waited for her and introduced himself. In no time, she was sitting at the NA meeting, listening to Case, or at least trying to. Her thoughts were still on Kolson and why he hadn’t returned her calls.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Danny gnashed his teeth as he watched Gabby climb into the limo. The driver opened the door for her and off they went. The car was unmarked, so he couldn’t snag the company’s name. Damn her! When was she going to fuck up and give old Danny his break? He had plans, big plans, and Nadine just didn’t cut it for him anymore. In fact, she’d told him to hit the road yesterday. She said he was a sick bastard and she didn’t like his dirty games. Danny did rough her up a bit, but she’d asked for it. By the time he was finished with her, his belt had left her bloody and purple. She wouldn’t be sitting anytime soon, and Danny laughed at the thought of her black-and-blue ass.

  Damn, that should’ve been Gabby. He punched the rough surface of the brick wall and instantly regretted it as his hand throbbed. Looking at the scraped flesh, he cursed Gabby again and decided he would double his efforts to catch up with her. That little cunt was making him miserable and this was one more example of how she was fucking him over.

  # # #

  Kolson read and reread Gabby’s text and listened to her voice message over and over, yet he didn’t respond. He wasn’t quite ready and didn’t know what to say. His past was nasty, every bit as ugly as hers, but in a much different way. And he knew if he were to begin, she’d want to help, want to analyze him and he could not, would not, go there. He wasn’t ready to do that. And the truth was, he wasn’t sure if he ever would be. It was paralyzing to think of.

  The helicopter awaited him and he ran through the rotor wash and stepped aboard. His mind was in the wrong place and he needed to jerk himself together. Another huge contract was at stake and his right-hand man was talking to him. After a pat on the arm, he looked up and then pretended his headset hadn’t been turned on.

  “Sorry, man. I forgot.”

  “You ready, sir?”

  “Jack, I’m always ready for a good verbal sparring.” And that was the truth.

  “Here are your contracts and this is your briefing. I have all the materials you requested here. There will be four people present. But you already knew that. If we can lock this down, it looks like you’ll have all the pro teams from Philly and Boston. That only leaves the DC area.”

  Kolson nodded.

  “This is your last step on the Philly deal and all things indicate it’s a go. They need the motor coaches because they don’t want to deal with their own anymore. Our offer is the cleanest. I don’t want to say it’s a done deal because anything can pop up at the last minute, but with liabilities as they are today, I think you can nail this one down.”

  “Do you have all the statistics and information on what happened after their last incident?”

  “Yes, sir. Their driver is still dealing with the legal issues from the accident. And they’ll be dealing with the lawsuits stemming from that accident for years, I believe.”

  The motor coach that one of the teams used had been in an accident. The driver was intoxicated and several passengers in the cars hit by the bus had been severely injured.

  “They really liked our zero-tolerance policy and drug testing for our drivers.”

  “Yes, Mr. Hart, they did.”

  Kolson was silent as he reviewed the contract and information in the files. Everything appeared to be in order. He paused to think about Gabriella and knew he wasn’t being fair to her, b
ut there wasn’t anything he could do about it now. He forced those thoughts to the back of his mind and centered on what was in his hands.

  Jack’s voice came to him through his headset. “We’re getting ready to land, sir.”

  Kolson straightened his tie, adjusted his cufflinks, and nodded. The helicopter made contact with the ground and the copilot opened the passenger door as soon as the rotors stopped turning. Kolson took off his headset and exited the craft, briefcase in hand. A car waited to drive them to the meeting.

  Two and a half hours later, they were in the air, headed back to Manhattan. Jack looked at Kolson and said, “If you don’t mind my saying so, sir, for a man who just landed HTS’s second largest contract in less than two months, you don’t seem very excited.”

  Kolson shot him a glance. “I’m extremely happy about it, Jack. This is going to separate HTS from all the other transportation service companies in the industry. Make no mistake about that. I have other things on my mind at the moment.”

  “Of course, sir. I apologize.”

  “No apologies necessary.”

  Jack realized that the conversation was over. Mr. Hart was a million miles away, and Jack would not be stupid enough to interfere.

  Kolson’s phone had buzzed several times during the meeting, which he’d ignored, so he checked it now and saw they were all calls or messages from Gabriella. He tried to puzzle out how he would handle this. Usually, he would walk away from women when it reached this point. But that wasn’t an option with her. He was in too deep and he wanted it that way. Things were different with Gabriella; she was different. He craved her … her touch, her kisses, her body, her sex. She had reached a place within him, and turned him upside down. In a good way.

  As far as this thing today went, she hadn’t done anything wrong, either. He knew he couldn’t let this go on, because if he didn’t do something, it would cause a rift between them.

  It was close to dark when they landed on the rooftop of HTS’s headquarters. He went straight to his office and took care of some necessities. An hour later, he left for home. It was almost nine when he pulled into the garage. Though it had been a long day and he was tired, he knew he owed Gabriella an explanation. He hoped she was home from her NA volunteer activity.

  When he stepped off the elevator, the apartment was silent. He walked through each room, checking to see if she was there. When he didn’t find her, he was shocked by the disappointment that coursed through him. He was walking out of his office and back to the kitchen when he heard the ding of the elevator. Then the doors slid open and out she walked.

  “Gabriella,” he said as he practically ran to greet her, surprising both of them.

  “Kolson! Where have you been? I’ve been calling and texting you!” Her voiced had a sharp edge to it he hadn’t heard before.

  “I’m sorry. I had a meeting in Philly.”

  “Philly? Today?”

  “Yeah. This afternoon. It was at four.”

  “And you went there and back after lunch?”

  “I flew.”

  “In a plane?”

  “No. I have a helicopter.”

  What else did she not know about him? Probably a whole hell of a lot, she surmised.

  “Yeah. Can we talk about my methods of transportation another time? I wanted to tell you that I, uh, I apologize for the way I reacted today. It was inappropriate. My reaction was unnecessary and you didn’t deserve it. I should’ve called sooner, but I … it’s a difficult and touchy subject for me. I’m sorry.”

  “No, I realized after you left that it was what I’d said. I’m guessing here, but I’m pretty sure it had something to do with what I said about being born lucky. That’s why I was calling. Then I got angry when you didn’t call me back, but after a while I began to worry.”

  “About me?”

  “Well, yeah. Isn’t that what people do when they care about each other?”

  “You care about me? After I was such an ass to you?”

  “Kolson, maybe I didn’t make myself clear. I don’t sleep around. Especially with men I don’t care about. I know that’s not common these days, but it’s sort of the way I operate.”

  “You amaze the hell out of me. But I’m afraid I don’t deserve you.”

  “You’re not the only one who’s amazed. And maybe you need to let me be the judge on whether you deserve me.”

  He jerked her against him and crushed his mouth on hers. His kiss conveyed everything his words didn’t. Her hands curled around his lapels as she stood on her toes and kissed him right back. When he released her, he asked, “Where the fuck have you been all my life?” He swept her hair off her face. “I wish I’d met you years ago, kea.” He brushed his lips over hers, kissed her temple, and then shrugged out of his jacket as he loosened his tie.

  “Are you hungry?” she asked.

  “Starving. What about you?”

  “I ate right after work. Lydia left us something. Why don’t I get your dinner ready while you go change?”

  By the time he was back, she had his meal ready for him, along with a glass of wine. They chatted while he ate and he told her about the contract he was awarded that day.

  “Congratulations!”

  “That’s also another reason why I couldn’t call. I was stuck in the meeting.”

  “It’s good. We’re good. But please don’t avoid me. Don’t run from me when the subject matter gets tough. If it’s something you can’t discuss, tell me, because I’m not a mind reader. Okay?”

  “Okay.”

  “I also wanted to let you know that I talked to Case tonight and I’m going to take him up on his offer. About moving in. Since I’m behind on my office rent,” she said sheepishly, “I don’t think my landlord will be sorry to see me go.”

  “Kea, that’s the best news I’ve heard. Do you have a date set for that?”

  “Yeah. Two weeks.”

  “Then you’ll have a double move.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Because I locked in an apartment for you.”

  “You did?” She wasn’t all that excited about it for a couple of reasons, but the biggest one was she didn’t want to leave him.

  He wore a sly grin. “I did.”

  “Well?”

  “It’s in this building.”

  “You’re joking. I can’t afford this.”

  “Yes, you can. It’s a studio. And it’s less than what you were paying.”

  She jumped into his arms and squealed. “I can’t believe it. That’s incredible. Wait. Did you make some kind of sneaky deal or something?”

  “No, I did not. It’s the real deal. But the best part is you can still stay here whenever you want. You can even do your laundry here if you want, but you’ll have your own private getaway if you grow tired of me.” He winked at her.

  “You might be the one who grows tired of me. And I couldn’t take advantage of you like that.”

  “Hmm. Maybe I want you to take advantage of me. And if you don’t, I may have to paddle your ass, Dr. Martinelli.”

  “Is that a promise?”

  “It most certainly is. Now get that ass of yours in my bed, because I distinctly remember giving you an order this morning. And if you disobeyed me, a punishment will ensue.” He smacked her on the ass and she scurried to his room with him on her tail.

  # # #

  The next day, Gabby was busy when the mail arrived and she didn’t have time to look at it until she’d finished with her patients. As she flipped through it, she noticed a large manila envelope at the bottom of the stack. Pulling it out, she gasped when she saw it was addressed to Dr. “Precious” Martinelli. Her heart slammed into her chest and her breath seized in her throat. She immediately called Kolson.

  “Can you come to my office?” She fought to control her quavering voice.

  “What is it?”

  “I need you. I’m sorry to bother ...”

  “Gabriella, are you okay? Is he there?”

&nb
sp; “No, I’m, uh I just need you here.”

  “On the way.”

  A few minutes later, Ovaltine was walking inside, checking on her. And not long after, Kolson was there.

  “This came in the mail.” Gabby looked at the envelope and then at Kolson. Her heart banged in her throat because she couldn’t imagine what was inside, but she knew it wasn’t good.

  “Ovaltine, can you wait outside, please?” Ovaltine left and Kolson went to Gabby’s side.

  She held the envelope and her fingers quivered as she tried to slide them under the flap. After several tries, she handed the envelope out and asked, “Will you do it?”

  Kolson took it from her and opened it. He pulled out three large photos and a note. The photos were all of Gabby, of course. She was bound, gagged, and naked.

  Gabby’s hand covered her mouth as she cried out, “Oh, God! Oh, God!”

  Kolson tore the pictures up but not before he saw the bruises across her ribcage. What haunted him the most was the absolute terror in her eyes. He recognized that extreme fear and empathized with it. The note said:

  This is all mine. Every single bit of it, precious.

  Kolson knew they were dealing with a sick son of a bitch. “Come here.” He pulled her into his arms and held her, while she cried. He tried to calm her down.

  “When did he take those? I don’t remember him taking those. He could have all sorts of pictures of me. What if he puts them on the Internet or something?”

  “Sshh. He won’t. He doesn’t want anyone to know he took them. It makes him look guilty as hell. From now on, you’re going to have someone in here with you at all times. I don’t want you in here alone. And in two weeks, you’ll be moving in with Case, so you won’t be so isolated.”

  Kolson could feel the tremors lessening in her body.

  “I’m such a pain. I’ve been nothing but trouble to you.”

  “Nonsense. It’s not like you’ve asked for this. Now let me see that beautiful smile of yours.”