by Joyce Jordan
Seduction
Book Four by Joyce Jordan
Copyright © 2014 Joyce Jordan
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
To contact the author:
[email protected]
Acknowledgements
Everything is possible through the almighty.
Many thanks to all of you who have bought my books and encouraged me to keep writing. I honestly started writing as a trial, not even sure if what I was writing was that good. Or that I would take the writing this far. I know I have made many mistakes along the way, but would like to think that I have learnt a lot along the way and still continue to learn.
For those who provide me with feedback, please be assured that I do take it seriously and will always try to find ways to improve.
Many thanks to all my fans who read the first Seduction book and encouraged me to write the second Seduction book and here I am with the fourth one. In my mind, I had thought I’d write two, three at the most. Wow. I am still amazed.
I would like to call out two of those fans - Barbara and Tonya. They offered to help look for mistakes and have been awesome. Thank you!
I hope you all enjoy book four!
xoxo
Joyce Jordan
Table of Contents
Chapter_One
Chapter_Two
Chapter_Three
Chapter_Four
Chapter_Five
Chapter_Six
Chapter_Seven
Chapter_Eight
Chapter_Nine
Chapter_Ten
Chapter_Eleven
Chapter_Twelve
Chapter_Thirteen
Chapter_Fourteen
Chapter_Fifteen
Chapter_Sixteen
Chapter_Seventeen
Chapter_Eighteen
Other_books_by_Joyce_Jordan
Note_from_the_Author
One
Ana almost pushed Gabe away as he shook her awake. She quickly remembered that her friend Kelly was in hospital and she needed to be there. She knew Kelly would want to be out of that place sooner rather than later. It was one thing to work there, but another to be a patient at the same place you worked at.
How many hours had she slept? Sleep certainly hadn’t come easily.
She took a few minutes to read what her programmes had uncovered while they had been asleep. None of the brothers were going to like what the pages in front of her were telling her. Rafe was going to be livid.
Already Gabe had been upset last night when she had told him about Brad’s shady past. Most of it had been child’s play. Even Tom could have uncovered the little she had seen last night. Ana had deepened and widened her search, making sure she left no stone unturned. This after all was her bff.
On their way to the hospital, she gave Gabe a brief rundown of what she had uncovered. He swore the whole way and Ana was glad she wasn’t at the receiving end of his anger. It was amazing how some people could still be called human beings, and coupled with the word doctor. What was the world coming to?
“Let me finish looking at the rest of the information when we get back then we can tell everyone including Lester and her parents.”
“Okay, I can set up a meeting for later this afternoon. I’m sure by then Kelly will have been released and everyone will have settled down.”
Ana agreed.
He pulled her next to him and placed a kiss on her forehead.
Gabe got a call that his driver had just picked up Kelly’s parents. They had just arrived at the hospital and were making their way indoors. The guards outside Kelly’s door let them inside. It was strange but necessary. Very necessary.
Kelly was still fast asleep, but Rafe was wide awake and was watching her sleep. Ana realized Gabe did the same with her sometimes. She would wake up and find him gazing at her face. At times he would admit he had been at it for hours, other times he would kiss her, then slowly make love to her and she would forget what her question had been.
“Take a shower, bro. Kelly’s parents will be here soon,” Gabe said to Rafe as he handed him the bag of clothes.
“Morning Rafe. How’s Kelly?” Ana asked him as he took the bag Gabe was holding out to him.
“Morning Ana. And thanks for the clothes,” he answered opening the zipper. He looked at Kelly and sighed. “For the most past, she slept fine. I think they pumped her full of drugs, so she’s not feeling much pain for now.”
Gabe moved next to Ana. “Did something happen?”
He tensed and looked at Gabe. “Just one or two nightmares.” He swore and clenched his hand. “Gabe, I need that fucker nailed.”
“I know Rafe. We’ll talk about it later. You need to hurry before her parents get here. You don’t want to look a mess.” He grinned at Rafe. “Mum will have your hide if she were to find out.” Then he went on to mimic Eva.
Rafe snickered, and when he couldn’t contain the laughter, he rushed out to the attached bathroom and quickly closed the door before his laughter woke Kelly.
Gabe took a seat and asked Ana to sit on his lap. “I just need to hold onto you, please,” he said extending his hand.
Ana curled up on his lap and let her head rest on his chest.
Gabe hugged her and let his head rest against hers.
They remained silent, each thinking about the events from yesterday, and the events from several weeks ago, on the train. Ana sat watching over Kelly and second guessing herself on whether the move to New York had been a good idea. Maybe they should have stayed in California or moved to Texas. Maybe Kelly wouldn’t have been in this situation.
“Don’t Ana,” Gabe whispered in her ear. “I know you. I know you are blaming yourself and regretting decisions the two of you made together.”
“Gabe…”
“No, baby. It could have happened anywhere. Fuckers like Brad are a dime a dozen. New York, Texas, Utah, Florida, even Alaska. They are there and some are easy to identify, but others hide behind smiles and good boy acts. So don’t.” He lifted her chin up and looked into her eyes. “Baby, I know that what happened to Kelly, none of us wanted it to happen to her, but in a twisted way, with him behind bars, and this finally going on his record, we might finally help other women out there who could have suffered at his hands. And even those who have suffered before and have been too scared to press charges.”
Ana kissed his lips and smiled. “Thanks for reminding me. I know that’s what Kelly will want.”
“I love you, Ana. And I swear to always do anything and everything within my power to protect you.” He kissed her. “And that extends to those that you care about too.”
“I know. And I love you too, Gabe.” She sighed and closed her eyes, leaning her head against his chest.
Rafe walked out of the bathroom looking fresh, despite the lack of a morning shave. He kind of looked sexy, Ana thought as she looked at him. He took the opposite chair to Kelly’s bed and took her hand in his, and squeezed lightly, then let it go.
Ana rested her head back on Gabe’s chest and let the brothers talk. They spoke softly so as to avoid waking
Kelly up. Ana was almost dozing when a nurse came in to check on Kelly. She told them the Chief Physician was scheduled to come and see Kelly again in a few minutes. Rafe nodded his understanding and thanked her, then she left.
Not long after that, David and Julie Andersen walked in to see their daughter. Ana got off Gabe’s lap and walked over to greet them. After they had exchanged greetings with both Gabe and Rafe, who Julie confirmed she remembered from her last visit, they both walked over to Kelly’s bed.
When Ana told them that the Chief Physician would be by shortly, they decided not to wake her up until then. They all stood around Kelly’s bed as Gabe, Rafe and Ana recounted the events from the previous day.
The Chief Physician, Dr. Richard Jones, walked in with Dr. Eli Simmons and a woman who was introduced as Mary Truhill. Ana thought she was either a lawyer, or the assistant to Dr. Jones.
Since the hospital needed to avoid negative publicity the board had agreed to terminate Brad Johnson’s internship with the hospital with immediate effect. They were meeting later that morning to sign the necessary documents, but due to the witnesses who had come forward and the fact that this had happened on hospital property, they didn’t feel like they needed to wait for the trial before they reached a decision.
Ana saw Kelly smile slightly and take a huge sigh of relief. In fact the whole room sighed with relief.
Dr. Jones apologized to the Andersen’s and assured them that their daughter would continue to receive any future medical treatments suffered at the hands of Brad, and paid for by the hospital. Kelly was given a week to rest and to return for a check up at that time and then it would be decided if she was well enough to return to work.
Ana was glad that Kelly was being released. Her release paperwork was signed and after that everything happened at supersonic speed. She was dressed and they were out of the hospital before the ER came to full bloom of life. They got to Rafe’s penthouse and found his housekeeper, Mrs. Sanchez making breakfast. It was just after nine. She looked in Kelly’s direction and when Kelly nodded, Ana was glad she was going to eat breakfast.
Hopefully her agreement was because she knew how important it was to eat and take medications. Doctors made the worst patients, but Ana was hoping Kelly wouldn’t be one of those. It was rare to see her sick, so she didn’t have much to go on.
Gabe and Rafe left after Eva and Evelyn had joined them an hour later. Ana asked Gabe to have one of the bodyguards bring her laptop so she could finish off her work. He had set a meeting for two that afternoon which gave her slightly more than four hours to assemble her information and be able to give a detailed and correct timeline of Brad’s movements up to the time he moved to New York.
She took over the use of Rafe’s office and left Eva and Evelyn to sit with Kelly’s parents. Kelly had gone to sleep after breakfast. Ana was in her element as she gathered her information, printed the pages for Rafe’s files and another set for the lawyer. She saved the files and made backup copies for future reference.
Once she was done with that, she started searching for any new information for Jeremy Maynard, her missing attacker. Nothing came up. The guy was like a ghost since a few days after the attack. He seemed to have really gone underground. Maybe he had moved states. Ana could only hope, but then realized he would probably commit the same crime unless he got punished for his crime. Not that it was a guarantee he would change, but at least being incarcerated might change him.
By 1:30pm everyone except for Stefano was accounted for. As a new employee he couldn’t afford to ask for time off. Besides, it wasn’t really critical that he be there. Lunch was served, buffet style and the family seemed to be in a better mood than less than 24 hours earlier.
Ana sat next to Evelyn and they talked about how their weekend had started somewhat somber, then had taken on a nice turn when they all went to the club and then lunch at Eva’s home. Topped off by wedding preparations, and now this. Life was surely a cycle of ups and downs.
Ana realized she had received an e-mail from Jes but had not been able to respond. She quickly took out her phone and shot a quick e-mail to Jes, apologizing for not responding in a timely manner. When Jes heard about Kelly, she asked to pass by and bring her something to cheer her up. Ana wasn’t sure if Kelly was up to visitors with the whole family already fussing over her. She finally agreed to get back to Jes the next day after seeing how Kelly was feeling then.
“Are you telling me that piece of shit has already done the same thing to three other women before? And he’s not sitting in jail?” Rafe was mad, and everybody was mad too, so they understood when he shouted, to no one in particular, after Ana had given them that piece of information.
“Witnesses suddenly recanted their stories on the one girl, and the other two didn’t have any witnesses to corroborate their stories,” Ana said. “Besides, they came too late and there was no evidence of any beatings on their bodies.”
“Ana is right,” Mitch told them. “This is similar to rape victims. Without the rape kit, it usually is next to impossible to prove rape.”
Lester nodded in confirmation.
“Anyway,” Ana continued. “Those were the only three that reported their cases. From what I gathered, there seems to be more women, only that they never came forward.”
“Brad can be intimidating when he chooses to be, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he frighted them before they even came forward,” Kelly told them. “He talks in a nice level voice, sometimes even smiling, yet what is coming out of his mouth at that time, are the most vile words imaginable.”
Rafe took Kelly and moved her to his lap. “I’m sorry baby. Sorry you went through that with him.”
Kelly sighed and squeezed his hand in apology too. “I know Rafe, and I’m sorry too. But now I’m glad that this time he will pay for what he did to me, and hopefully to all those other girls as well.”
Evelyn looked towards Lester James, the family lawyer, “Can we make him pay for his other crimes, Lester?”
“I’ll consult with our criminal division. This is great information which will reduce the amount of man hours, trying to dig all this stuff. We’ll see if they are even willing to testify or file their own suits in their home states,” Lester replied. “I don’t know if this,” he said pointing to the paperwork he was looking at, “has statutes of limitations or not. But these are answers I can have for you within 24 hours. We’ll research each state laws and see what options we have in each state.”
“If the other women don’t have representation, this is something the family is prepared to pay for them,” Gabe told him.
“Thank you all for the support you are showing Kelly. And please don’t take this the wrong way, “ David said standing. “Julie and I love our daughter, and we’re grateful that she found a loving family in this crazy city.”
David looked towards his wife, then he looked around the room and saw the way his daughter was being held lovingly on her boyfriend’s lap. “I’m not going to refuse your help, in whatever way you choose to help, but know that we as her parents, do have the resources to pay for Kelly’s legal representation, and the other girls’ too. Like you, we need to see this scum of a human being behind bars. And we are willing to move heaven and earth to see that happen.”
Kelly stood and hugged her dad. “Thanks dad. I love you.”
Her dad teared up and gave her a gentle pat on the shoulder, then she moved to her mum and hugged her too, telling her she loved her.
“Me too, baby girl. Always and forever.”
There was a knock on the door and when it was opened, Ana was surprised to see her mum and Matt. They hadn’t even told her they were coming. She teared up at their appearance. The meeting then broke up with the mums siting together and talking about their children, the men bandied together and Ana, Evelyn and Kelly went to sit on the balcony to enjoy the warm weather.
Two
It was two days later when Ana said goodbye to her mum and Matt who were taking Gabe’s jet bac
k to Dallas. It had been interesting to see her mum finally give in to Gabe’s insistent refusal to have them fly coach. She rolled her eyes when he said it, as if it was a foreign thing.
She had spent a lot of time with Matt who had been staying with her and Gabe at Gabe’s penthouse. They had even visited her new office and she had shown him around and introduced him to Tom, the teenage hacker boy she was mentoring. He had had to help in other departments during her absence, but she promised to give him some work to do so he could start learning some of their work.
Her mum had opted to stay with Kelly’s mum at Rafe’s apartment, so she hadn’t spent that much time with her, except when she had come over to visit with Kelly. Jes had visited and Ana had introduced her to her mum. She had left them for a few minutes where Jes had given her a brief rundown of some Mother of the Bride tips.
It was going to be interesting on how they were going to pull this long distance with her family and close friends and relatives being in Dallas while organizing all this in New York. And also wanting the venue to be in New York. Suddenly Ana didn’t fault those that did quick getaways to Vegas to be married. It was sounding more and more like a good idea. But Ana knew that it wasn’t for her, as much of a good idea as it sounded.
She wanted the planned wedding with all the trimmings involved. It didn’t have to be expensive, but it had to be something that took months to plan and then people showed up and had a good time. And most of all, the marriage lasted.
A few months back, she would never have pegged Gabe as a possible partner for her. Today, she couldn’t think she could go more than a day without him in her life.
“Hey Kels. How’s it going?” Ana asked taking the seat next to her friend.
“I’ll pay you any amount of money if you can get my mum to get back to work.”
Ana laughed. “That bad eh?” She remembered when she had been out of the hospital and her mother had fussed over her too.