“How did you know she promoted me?”
“I imagine you gave her your notice?” I said. “She gave you an offer you couldn’t refuse.” Because Omani was Helete’s favorite and she wouldn’t want to lose her.
“Have you spoken with her about me?” Omani swapped a wary glance with Henry.
“No. Sure you don’t want to work for Cole Tea?” I gave her a warm smile as I leaned back casually.
“We’ll double your employer contributions to your 401K,” added Henry.
She stood beside the desk. It wasn’t enough.
“Get me into this—” I gestured to the computer, “and I’ll give you a hundred K.” Any higher and she wouldn’t believe me.
She narrowed her gaze. “What if Helete finds out?”
“She won’t,” said Henry. “We promise.”
I slid away from the desk so she could get closer to the keyboard. She paused, suspicion in her gaze. This was taking too long. The thought of Mia in distress caused my blood to boil, but if I snapped at Omani to hurry and lost her trust my only way to find Mia could be lost.
“I can’t thank you enough,” I said softly.
She moved the keyboard closer so she could type. “What is it that’s so important on here?”
“Helete has kidnapped my fiancée.”
Her flickering eyelashes revealed her surprise at my honesty. “Why?”
“Because Helete does not like me.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
I smiled. “Because you may be young, but you’re not immune to bullshit.”
“I’m not as dumb as people think.”
“They probably assume you’re naïve. I don’t.”
“I was once. Before it all happened…”
“It all happened…?” I gestured for her to continue.
“I was happy in France. I had to leave.” She used the mouse to enter the password. “This place is not what I thought it was.”
“Why don’t you go back?” asked Henry.
“Helete offered you money to stay?” I realized.
“Not as much as you. Anyway, where would I go? My old master bored of me.”
“Master?” Henry’s brows were halfway up his forehead.
Omani stared at him, realizing. “My boyfriend.”
“What happened?” I drew her attention back on me.
Pain flashed across her face, but she continued typing. “I got an email telling me not to come home. I was no longer wanted.”
“Where were you living?”
“Paris.” She stood back and pointed to the screen. “There you go.”
France was the country stamped on her passport, I recalled Shay telling me this. So she’d been there before she’d met Helete, perhaps?
“I really appreciate this, Nadia.”
“I don’t want to do the glory hole thing again. I don’t like it. Can you tell her?”
“Sure,” I said. “I’ll call her.”
Henry’s eyes narrowed as he tried to work out what that meant, and then his expression turned to horror.
I raised my hand so that he wouldn’t respond to her sensitive confession. Omani had just admitted men had fucked her through a hole in the wall, and I wasn’t in the mood to ask her if it had happened here or back in Paris.
“I mean,” she stuttered out, “I speak five languages. I play the piano. I’m more than they say.”
“No one will touch you again…in any way.” My stern glare set that as a promise.
She gave me a thin smile. “The day I came into the spa with you and your friend and you walked out on me. You didn’t… ”
“I remember.”
“I’m not used to that.”
I gave a nod. “You have my word we’ll protect you.”
Her expression changed and she looked as though her memories had taken her back to a painful past, to experiences that could not be unlived.
“We have offices in London and Los Angeles.” Henry closed the top cabinet drawer. “Helete will never find you.”
“Promise you’ll leave today,” I said. “I can have a car pick you up.”
She looked unsure.
“Think about it.” I wrote my number on a post-it note and handed it to her.
I grabbed hold of the mouse and opened up Helete’s Gmail account, locating her outgoing mail. My gut wrenched when I saw an email titled blonde, an exchange between her and Galina. Scanning faster, I read the details of a flight plan for a jet out of New York. The destination was Paris Le Bourget Airport.
The trail of messages swapped between them ended six hours ago with a final email from Helete:
“Present Mia to Master Lucas Chastain directly upon arriving at the house. Tell Chastain’s men to have her marked with the society’s brand upon arrival. That way she won’t forget our gift.”
Helete had added a final line of instruction:
“Leave her there. Return. Tell no one.”
Hell opened up and swallowed me whole.
They were going to tattoo an “H” on Mia’s wrist—like the one on Omani.
I’ll kill the man who brands her.
Two weeks ago, I’d bumped into Lucas Chastain at The Ritz Carlton, while having dinner with Mia. I’d had a bad feeling seeing him then. Recalling our interaction, I tried remembering how cordial I’d been.
He was a monster.
Our past included a fight that had left us enemies—him with a broken nose and me with a bruised ego. My say had carried no weight back then. Lucas had turned a fun game, which I had created with Danton for that secret French club, into a reckless pursuit that most of the woman didn’t want to take part in. The hunt for our submissives through the woods no longer ended with a master claiming his slave. Now when caught their fate was being brought back to the house and given to the members—all of them.
The very reason I’d left.
And Lucas had another grudge to bear. He’d hated what I’d had with Danton. If he even got a hint that Mia and I were together…I drew in a sharp breath and felt my face go pale.
“What is it?” asked Henry.
Shay came in. “How we doing?” He frowned when he saw my expression.
“She sent her to Hillenbrand.”
“That’s not possible,” Shay’s voice broke with emotion.
“Where the hell is Hillenbrand?” Henry sounded distant.
“She might not like it,” said Omani, proving her knowledge of the place.
My world spun and my flesh went cold.
“What’s the address?” I begged Omani with my eyes.
“Don’t know.” She shook her head, but I could easily tell she was lying.
Because this place was so secret, those who reveled in its existence were threatened with a ruined life if they spoke out.
I broke my gaze from hers and stared at Shay. He nodded to let me know he’d get me on the next plane out of New York.
“I need you to leave.” I shot Henry a glare.
“Why?”
“Out you go,” snapped Shay.
Henry threw a wary glance at Omani. “I’m staying.”
“Go, now!” I wasn’t backing down.
“Jesus.” He stormed out.
Shay closed the door.
It was time to slice through this delusion. “Omani, obey.”
She fell to her knees and peered up at me through heavy lids, slipping into subspace, her breaths short and sharp; those telltale signs of arousal proving she’d been conditioned.
“You like being submissive?” I stepped closer.
“Yes, sir.”
“You like being bought nice things?”
“Yes.”
“What happened to your master? Did he give you to Helete?”
“No.” She glared. “But he no longer wanted me. It was over between us.”
“Explain.”
“I left the house and went to Paris to shop a little. He’d given me money to spend.” She shook her head proving
the memory still hurt. “He sent me an email saying not to bother coming home. Not to try to contact him.”
“Hillenbrand?” I said softly.
“He didn’t want me to come home.”
I knelt to better read her face as I realized her master had left her out in the cold.
“Luckily, Helete was in France and she reached out to me. I met her at the Pantheon and she told me she’d help. I had no more money, you see. No job. Nothing. Just the clothes on my back.”
“I see.”
“I don’t know why he stopped loving me. Why he didn’t tell me in person. I suppose that is why he sent me away.”
I reached for her chin and tipped it up. “You are marked.”
From the way she responded I knew she’d been primed by the very best. The greatest tragedy was when a sub lost a master they had a hard time bonding with someone new. And the bastards had left her with a tattoo with no chance of forgetting. She was exquisite, a perfect submissive. It didn’t make any sense; Omani would have been a jewel in Hillenbrand’s crown.
“Tell me about Hillenbrand?” I asked gently.
Omani dragged her teeth over her lips. “If you fuck me, I’ll tell you everything you want to know.”
“I made a promise to you,” I kept my tone firm.
Her gaze slid over to Shay.
“SIT DOWN,” SNAPPED GALINA.
Despite feeling disoriented, I’d shot out of my seat like getting off this plane was possible. For much of the flight, I had slipped back into sleep. That stuff was still in my system.
Despair washed over me.
Galina reached over and yanked me down.
I held back my anger, resisting the urge to yell. I wanted to accuse her of drugging me. My tongue felt wedged to the roof of my mouth. I needed to brush my teeth.
I shouldn’t have let Henry persuade me to remove my watch. Hell, I should never have mentioned it to him. I should have packed my things earlier and hurried up to the executive suite and found my new office. The one where I’d have been safe.
“Where are we going?” My wrist stung from the strength of her grip. Foggy thoughts made it impossible to think straight. “Where’s Helete?”
“Obviously not here.”
She could have been in the cockpit, but something told me she’d distanced herself from whatever was going on here.
We’d have to go through airport security. I’d get my chance then.
“Why is this happening to me?” I asked.
Her eyebrows rose. “As long as you are agreeable, you will be safe.”
The time on her watch signaled 1:00 A.M., which meant I’d been out for hours. I couldn’t remember getting out of the car.
Cameron would know I was missing by now. He’d be searching for me…using all his resources. I was sure he’d handle this the way he handled every detail in his life, with calm, controlled intensity.
Where was she taking me?
A sudden realization hit me. “How much money did Helete offer you? I’ll double it if you turn this plane around and take me back.”
She peered out at the view. “We’d need to refuel.”
“So…you’re open to the offer?”
I need her to see reason.
Her expression changed to unreadable. “Let’s discuss it when we land.”
Okay, good. Galina was motivated by greed, unless this was her way of keeping me quiet.
Helete and Cameron had clashed when it had been revealed she’d misled her husband, Lance, into believing it had been Cameron who’d threatened his daughter at that private club in L.A. Their rift went deep and now I was being used as collateral to avenge him. Or that’s what this felt like.
I considered screaming so loud the pilots would hear and accuse her of kidnapping—though I didn’t want either of us to make any impulsive decisions.
Her intelligent eyes flitted to me and then back to the window.
If I was going to survive this ordeal, my attitude would have to change. I had to center myself, think what Cameron would do; he’d be strategic and unpredictable.
I leaped to my feet and hurried toward the front of the plane. What I needed was to rehydrate and caffeinate. I needed to get focused.
Galina caught up with me. “What are you doing?”
“I’m thirsty.” I grabbed two cans of Coke. These would be safe to drink.
She stepped to the side and gestured for me to get back to my seat.
I sat down again and chugged the sweet liquid. Bubbles burned my throat as I quenched my thirst.
“If you do that again…” She reached into her Hermes handbag and pulled out a taser. “I will zap you.”
Eyeing the taser warily, I assumed it was the same one Helete used on Barret. If it was powerful enough to put a man of his size down…
“I won’t be a bother,” I said softly, hoping she’d believe the lie.
She tucked the taser back in her handbag. “Do what I say.”
I popped the lid open on the second Coke. “Sure.”
The plane banked left and, as I peered out the window, I saw lights glinting through the ominous dark clouds. A brightly lit cityscape came into view. “Where are we?”
“Everything you do from now on is very important,” she demanded with an even tone. “Should you cause any trouble, I’ve been instructed to make things very uncomfortable for you.” She spoke her threat calmly, fastening her seatbelt before pointing to mine. “We’re landing.”
The view had become bleak and there were no landmarks to give away our location.
When the wheels touched down we bounced on the runway and then continued toward the lights of an airport. Tears welled up in my eyes. I felt so vulnerable.
This woman knew how to open a plane door. A burst of cold air rushed in. She peered down at the metal steps that were shoved against the plane by some unseen airport employee.
She led me down onto the tarmac. A man in overalls gave a nod of thanks as he accepted a package she shoved at him. I turned to look back at him, but she gripped my arm painfully and pulled me away. It was dark beyond the central lights and I strained to see any clear landmarks that could pin down where we were.
I’d be ready to scream once we entered the terminal.
Only she was leading me directly toward a car. Two burly men exited the vehicle behind it, and closed the gap between us.
I broke away from her grip and bolted toward the terminal, my heels wobbling on the asphalt.
A strong arm wrapped around my waist and dragged me backwards. I elbowed him, striking hard muscle as I struggled to get free.
“Careful with her,” Galina yelled.
“Get her in,” ordered another voice in the dark.
They shoved me into the backseat of a car and I scrambled over to the other side. Before my hand reached the handle the locks clicked shut.
Through the glass partition that separated the front and back seats, I saw Galina settling in next to the driver. She spoke to him, but I couldn’t hear what was said. Not that I’d have understood either of them if I had. Turning in my seat to peer out the back, I saw the two men get in the car behind us.
I was jolted back as we sped off, my panicked gasps echoing around me, my heart pounding fast.
As we approached a highway, I spun around and read a sign. We were leaving Paris Le Bourget Airport.
We weren’t even in the States.
They won’t find me.
The Russian kept her focus ahead. My eyes stung from the tears I held back. A nagging tiredness scratched at my raw nerves. Rubbing my eyes, I stared out at the dawn landscape, watching as sporadic homes and other buildings whizzed by, along with a few cars and the occasional foreigner.
Where the hell was she taking me?
Up ahead, a middle-aged couple were out walking their dog. I banged on my window to get their attention.
We flew past them.
The partition was lowered.
Galina twisted in her seat and gla
red at me. “I will put you down if you don’t be quiet.”
“Why are you doing this?”
“This is all his fault.” Her eyes narrowed with rage. “Cameron should never have interfered with our club. He shouldn’t have come after her. She belongs to us—” She stopped herself and spun around to face the front.
The glass pane rose once more to divide us.
Who had Cameron come after? Helete?
Her haunting words made no sense: She belongs to us.
I’D BEEN SWEPT UP INTO a nightmare that had no end in sight. All I could think of was Mia…she was in every deliberation, every intake of breath, every cell of my body burned for her.
Shay and I had spent the entire flight contacting everyone we knew who might have a connection to Hillenbrand. It was virtually impossible to get information, because very few men would admit to any knowledge of the place. Our last hope was Scarlet, but she’d gone to bed and I imagined her phone was on silent.
Outside the oval window of our private jet, grey clouds billowed around us. Now and again the sky lit up with lightning. The European weather greeted us with little regard for our safety.
We were about to pull the same trick Galina had and land with no trace of our arrival in a country with strict immigration laws. This was a diplomatic coup like no other. The flight would be recorded as carrying cargo only. It made me wonder if this was how Galina had smuggled Mia into France.
We’d be mingling with some of the world’s most influential men. Entering the house at this point was going to be challenging. We needed strings pulled.
I hated landing in the rain, but this time I was willing to risk lives to get on the ground and be closer to Mia. It had been difficult to sit still for the seven hour flight.
The thought of her being imprisoned within Hillenbrand…Jesus, I didn’t want to contemplate what they’d do to her.
Would either of us recover? Was I looking at the final deathblow to our relationship because I’d failed to protect her? Would Mia ever forgive me for exposing her to this trauma? These people…these fucking people.
Don’t think about that now.
I didn’t want to believe the gossip I’d heard in the darkest corners of Chrysalis, where whispers had carried from those who’d stayed in Hillenbrand. Stories of the wildest parties that went on for days and the cruelest games at a sub’s expense, where pleasure for them was never entered into the equation.
Enthrall Climax Page 19