by Ashlee Price
“Oh, nothing.” The blonde puts her hand on her hip. “We just dropped by to collect on a debt.”
My eyes go to the thick file case she’s hugging to her chest. There’s a bag hanging from Scott’s shoulder as well. It looks like it’s heavy, and something gold is sticking out of it.
“That’s the Oscar!” Sam shouts from behind me.
“Yes, it is,” the blonde confirms proudly. “And I’m taking it. It’s actually small compared to what I’ll be taking from Hector Davis next, but I’m rather fond of it.”
My eyes narrow. Was she the one who threatened Hector?
I pull Sam towards my side and swallow the lump in my throat. “How did you get in here?”
“Scott has a key,” she answers. “Thanks to you.”
I look at Scott, who looks away from me.
“He stole your key and made a copy,” the blonde goes on. “Oh, he was the one who put the cameras and recording devices on your clothes, too. He had plenty of opportunities.”
I place my hand over my mouth as I gasp. It can’t be true.
“And he did it all for me,” she adds as she touches Scott’s cheek.
He grabs her arm. “That’s enough. Let’s just go.”
They walk past us while I stand there, still too shocked to move.
Scott was my friend. He was a nice guy. I trusted him.
And he betrayed me. He used me.
He was just using me to help his girlfriend get back at Hector.
“Stop!” Sam shouts after them. “You can’t take my dad’s Oscar!”
The blonde stops. “Did you say dad?”
“Let’s go.” Scott pulls her arm.
She wrenches it free from his grasp. “Are you Hector Davis’ daughter?”
I grab Sam and hide her behind me. “Leave her alone.”
The blonde grins. “Scottie, darling, get that girl.”
“What?” Scott looks at her in surprise.
“I said get that girl.”
“But we already have what you need,” he tells her.
“What I need is that girl. With her in my clutches, Hector will give me whatever I ask. I can make his life even more miserable than mine.”
I place my arms protectively around Sam. “You will not take the child.”
The blonde lifts her eyebrows. “No?”
I stick my chin out. “You’ll have to go through me first.”
“Fine.” The blonde cocks her head to one side. “Scottie, darling, shoot her and get the girl.”
I cast Scott a pleading glance. “Don’t do this, Scott. You’re better than this. You’re better than her.”
This time, he meets my gaze. His jaw clenches as he lifts his shirt and pulls a gun from his waistband.
My heart pounds. “Scott, no. You may be lost now, but you can still find your way back if you do the right thing.”
“What is she saying?” the blonde asks.
He points the gun at me.
I shake my head as my cheeks pale.
“Shoot her,” the blonde urges.
Scott stays still.
“I said…”
“I heard what you said, Olivia.” Scott turns to the woman. “And I’m not listening. Not anymore.”
He throws the gun away and it lands in the hallway between me and Olivia. Then he puts down his bag.
“I’m done with you.”
He looks at me, then turns on his heel and walks away.
“Scott!” Olivia calls after him, but he doesn’t listen.
“Run and hide,” I whisper in Sam’s ear.
She nods and runs off.
Olivia turns back. “Oh no, you don’t. If Scott won’t do it, I’ll do it myself.”
She drops the file case she’s holding and dives for the gun at the same time I do. I get to it first, but she kicks it away.
“Why, you—” She punches me in the face.
I punch her back and kick her off, then crawl towards the gun.
Olivia comes after me, pulling at my hair. Then she kicks my back.
I let out a cry as I feel the old cut open.
She kicks me again and I feel the other stripes threatening to gape and bleed.
Olivia laughs. “My pain tolerance is higher than yours. After all, who do you think Hector trained before he found you?”
My eyes grow wide. Olivia used to be Hector’s submissive?
She goes after the gun but I pull her leg. She falls to the floor but kicks me in the jaw.
My lip bleeds and pain explodes in my face.
Shit.
Olivia laughs as she stands up.
“Stop!” I hear Hector’s voice.
I turn my head and see Hector standing there with a gun. Kaleb and Reilly are right with him.
Reilly’s eyes grow wide with worry. “Dani?”
Suddenly, Olivia grabs me by the neck and hauls me closer. She picks up the gun, which she points at my head as she drags me to my feet.
“Drop the gun or she dies,” Olivia threatens.
Hector shakes his head. “It’s over, Olivia. You’ve lost.”
“No. You’ve lost,” Olivia says. “By tomorrow, everyone will be listening to that file.”
“No, they won’t,” Hector says. “We saw your boyfriend outside, and he was kind enough to give me the original file in exchange for me letting him go.”
“What?”
I, too, feel surprised.
Scott gave Hector the file?
Just then, I notice Kaleb slowly moving closer to me from the corner of my eye.
What is he planning on doing?
“You’re all alone, Olivia, and you’ve lost,” Hector goes on. “You were bound to. You’ve always been foolish.”
Olivia presses the barrel of the gun against my temple. “Maybe so, but you’ll still lose your new toy.”
I close my eyes and hold my breath as I prepare for the bullet, but it doesn’t come. Instead, I’m knocked off my feet along with Olivia. The gun falls from her hand.
Kaleb catches me but lets Olivia fall.
“Don’t move!” Hector shouts as he walks toward her, his gun pointed at her.
Olivia starts sobbing.
“Are you alright?” Kaleb asks me.
I nod and turn to Hector. “Sam’s alright. She’s hiding somewhere.”
Kaleb lifts his bloodstained palm and grimaces. “You’re bleeding.”
“I’m fine,” I tell him as I let out a sigh of relief.
Sure, my back is bleeding again and my lip hurts, but I have a feeling everything is going to be alright now.
Chapter Thirty
Kaleb
“Are you sure you’re alright?” I ask Dani as I sit beside her on the stairs of her back porch a few days later.
“Yeah.” Dani nods, her gaze on the horizon.
She does look alright. The cut on her lip has healed, and the bruise on her cheek is already fading.
She looks stunning as ever.
“I’m more than alright, actually,” she adds as she rubs her knees. “My sister called and said that Zeke is making some progress.”
“Wow. That’s good to hear.”
“Zoe loves Switzerland, too. She’s settled into her new school. They all seem happy.”
“That’s good.”
“Yeah, it’s good.”
She smiles, and yet I can hear a sadness in her voice.
“Did you tell them about what happened to you?” I ask her.
“Of course not.” She tucks her arms over her belly. “There’s no point making them worry now that it’s over and there wasn’t any harm done.”
I draw a deep breath. “I was worried about you, you know, back there when that woman had that gun to your head.”
I look at her. “I was afraid.”
Dani turns her head toward me. “You were?”
I nod. “I thought I was going to lose you.”
“You acted like a cool action hero, though,” she says with a g
rin.
“Yeah. I learned that move from one of my movies. Who knew it would be useful in real life?”
She falls silent, then reaches for my hand. “Thanks, Kaleb, for saving me.”
I look into her eyes. “I’d do it again.”
“Because I’m your fiancée?”
“No.” I shake my head. “Because I care about you.”
She pulls her hand away.
“Dani, I’m sorry,” I tell her. “I’m sorry for kissing you and putting you in an awkward situation. I’m sorry for not thinking of something better than Tom’s plan to remedy it. And I’m sorry that I’ve been so busy lately that I’ve taken you for granted.”
She shakes her head. “I’m just your fake fiancée, after all. You don’t owe me anything.”
“Maybe.” I go down the stairs and stand across her. “But you’re an amazing woman, and I shouldn’t have treated you like that. It was wrong of me. This is all wrong.”
I take a deep breath. “So I’m making it right.”
Dani lifts her head and looks at me expectantly.
“You don’t have to be my fake fiancée anymore,” I tell her.
Her brown eyes grow wide. “You’re serious?”
I nod. “Because I want you to be my real fiancée.”
I go down on one knee. “Danielle Hoffman, Dani, will you marry me?”
She places a hand on her chest. The other one rises to cover her mouth as she gasps.
“I know I haven’t known you that long,” I go on. “But I do know that you’re the most amazing, most real woman I’ve ever met and what I feel for you isn’t pretend. It’s real. You brought out the real me, and so as the real me, I’m asking you to marry me. For real.”
Dani stands up and walks over to me. She takes both my hands in hers.
“You say this is real, but it feels like a dream.”
“Isn’t it possible for it to feel like a dream and still be real?” I ask her.
She smiles. “Are you sure Tom didn’t put you up to this?”
“Would you like me to call him so you can ask him yourself?”
Dani shakes her head.
I glance at her hand. “I’d give you a ring, but it seems like you already have one. It’s a good one, too.”
She chuckles and takes off the ring. She places it on my palm.
“Would you like me to put it on you again?” I ask her with eyebrows creased. “I could do another take.”
She shakes her head and pulls me to my feet. “You’re sweet, Kaleb. You have a good heart under that tough exterior and all those muscles.”
I grin.
“And it seems you’ve got a brain there, too, since you’ve come to your senses.”
“Ouch.”
She touches my cheek. “But I don’t think I’m ready to get married, not even to Kaleb Wilson. I’m sorry.”
I hold her hand.
A voice in my head tells me I should persuade her to change her mind. But I stay silent and kiss her palm before putting the diamond ring back on it.
“This is yours,” I tell her. “Just as my heart is.”
Her shoulders droop. “Kaleb…”
I hold a finger to my lips. “Just keep it and take care of it.” I plant a kiss on her forehead. “And be happy.”
I walk back up the stairs and into the house, emerging at the other end. I keep walking until I get to my car. Then I glance back. Dani is standing by the window with a sad smile on her face.
I feel the same—sad that she said no, and yet somehow happy that I’ve done the right thing—and so I return that smile and get inside my car.
There, I grab the contract that’s in my glove compartment and tear it up.
Dani is free now, and it’s only right. After all, even though she thinks I saved her life, the truth is that she saved mine, which is why she doesn’t have to apologize for anything.
Chapter Thirty-One
Hector
“I can’t apologize enough for getting you involved in all this,” I tell Dani as she sits in front of my desk.
Until now, I still can’t believe that Olivia did all that just to get back at me, thinking I ruined her life. I still can’t believe I almost lost Sam… and Dani.
“It’s not your fault Olivia did all that,” Dani says. “That was her choice, although I must admit I’m curious as to what pushed her to do it.”
I take a deep breath. “She wanted to be an actress. She was willing to do anything for it. She offered herself to me and I decided to make her my submissive. That was my mistake. I took her out on dates, too, and I introduced her to some people. She landed a few bit roles, but she wanted more. She wanted me to produce a movie just for her. When I didn’t, she threw a fit in public. I got rid of her, but she just kept coming after me. She kept saying I promised her a movie. She kept saying I just used her. She just went crazy.”
“All because she wanted fame?”
“Some people can’t handle it. I had to silence her by telling the media to publish a story about her. I guess that ruined her life.”
“But she ruined her own life.”
“She doesn’t think that.” I sit back. “Anyway, I’m sorry you got involved, and I can’t thank you enough for saving Sam’s life.”
Dani shakes her head. “I didn’t do any such thing. I just told Sam to run.”
“You sent her away from danger.” I clasp my hands on my desk and sit back. “Danger that you should never have been involved in. And you stayed behind to face it, to keep her from it. If that’s not saving her life, I don’t know what is.”
She shrugs. “I only did what I thought was right.”
“And to think you were even injured.”
“Yeah.” Dani nods. “It’s weird. I don’t have a child, but I guess I must have some kind of maternal instinct, because at that moment, I didn’t think of myself at all. I only thought of keeping Sam safe.”
I open my drawer. “Sam made a thank-you present for you.”
I pull out the homemade card and hand it to her.
A huge smile forms on Dani’s face. “She made this for me?”
“You’re her hero and her new best friend, or so she tells me,” I tell Dani as I close the drawer. “She wanted to give you that herself, actually, but she’s busy right now.”
Dani hugs the card to her chest. “Please tell her thank you and that I will cherish this.”
“You can tell her yourself.” I peel off a Post-it from my desk and scribble something on it. “She said she wants you to follow her on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.”
Dani grins. “She sounds like a star.”
“Well, she’s an amazing kid.” I hand Dani the sticky piece of paper.
She sticks it on the back of Sam’s card. “She’s not unlike her father.”
My eyebrows go up. Dani thinks I’m amazing?
“I will definitely reach out to her,” Dani promises.
“And she also wanted me to tell you something,” I add.
“Okay. Is being Sam’s secretary your new job?”
I grin.
“Is that a smile I see?” Dani teases.
I wipe off the grin and clear my throat. “Sam said she wanted you to know that I let her keep the Oscar and that you can borrow it when you see each other again.”
Her eyebrows arch. “You let her keep it?”
I shrug. “I don’t really use it for anything.”
Dani snorts.
“Besides, I have a feeling I’ll have another one soon.”
“Really?” She nods slowly. “Well, good luck with that. And I’m glad you let Sam keep it. She really looks up to her father.”
I stand up. “Like I said, she’s an amazing kid. Smart, too.”
She grins.
“I have something else for you.” I hand her the envelope on my desk.
Her eyes grow wide. “This is a letter from that hospital where my nephew is…”
“Exactly,” I interrupt. “I co
ntacted them and I told them to give your nephew the best treatment possible and I’ll pay for it.”
She lowers the piece of paper. “You didn’t?”
“I did.” I sit on the chair across from her.
She faces me. “Why would you do that?”
“To thank you for what you did for Sam.”
She puts the paper back in the envelope. “This is too much.”
“On the contrary, I have one more gift.” I get the envelope that I’ve tucked in the inside pocket of my jacket.
“Another gift?” Dani gives me a puzzled look.
“A final gift,” I clarify.
She looks even more puzzled.
I sit back and fold my arms over my chest. “Open it.”
She opens the envelope and gasps. “This is a check.”
“Yes. You can encash it and go live in Switzerland with your sister.”
“I…” Her eyebrows bunch up. “What did you say?”
I get off the chair. “I’m canceling our contract. You’re free to go, and I’m pretty sure you want to go to Switzerland.”
Her jaw drops as her eyes grow wide. “I… I don’t know what to say.”
“Thank you would be nice,” I tell her. “Or you could say you’re going to miss me.”
Because I sure as hell am going to miss her.
She wasn’t just my yoga instructor or my submissive. She’s one of the bravest woman I know.
A warrior, not a slave.
“Well, I will kind of miss you,” Dani admits.
A fire simmers beneath my cheeks. “You can always come back. You’re always welcome here. Besides, Sam would want to see you.”
She nods. “Yeah. I’ll come and see her and you.”
She stands up. “So this is goodbye for now?”
I nod.
She offers me her hand. “It was a pleasure meeting you, Hector.”
I smile as I shake it. “I’m glad it was.”
She smiles in turn. “Now, that’s a smile.”
I shrug.
“And good luck on your movie. I’ll be sure to watch it when it comes out.”
“I’ll send you a ticket to the premiere.”
“That would be nice. Bye.”
“Bye.”
I lean on my desk and watch Dani walk away. She gives me one last smile at the doorway, then the door falls shut.