Billionaire to One (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Kris Royce

  The woman who helped them said that she didn’t know what the drug was but that she had used a clean syringe every time. She also told them that the man who had beaten her and tried to rape her had been stopped before he could. She told Max who the man was. He was the same man was had been found dead in an alley two days ago by the police. That was the reason the woman had told them. She had been forced to give Tegan the drugs, but she had no part in the kidnapping. She had freaked out when the man was murdered in front of her. She also told them she had heard the men mention Marsh’s name and how he had wanted Tegan or some shit about her being his, but then someone had hurt him, and he was in the hospital. Max had turned the woman over to police custody. The officer was a friend of Max’s, and he would make sure she was protected.

  Ash turned around when Thomas Ryann started shouting, demanding to see his daughter. Ash had had enough and ordered his men to take him to the car and hold him there until he told them otherwise.

  “Gag him if you have to.”

  Max, who was charge, just grinned at Ash while he and his men dragged a protesting Thomas out. Neither Tina, Tegan’s mother, nor Marc said a word. The nurse he had been yelling at just gave him a grateful smile and blushed before walking away.

  The doctor came out and motioned for Ash. They spoke in private for several minutes. The doc explained that they had to sedate her because she was going through severe withdrawals before they had checked her out and cleaned her up. She had been beaten, but it looked worse than it was, and she was already healing. The good news was she had no broken bones or internal injuries. She hadn’t been sexuality assaulted in anyway. There was no heart, liver, or kidney damage, which had been a big concern. All her blood tests had come back clean with just the trace of drugs still in her system. She was dehydrated and had lost weight because of the drugs. Her body and her hands would heal in time, but the withdrawal from drug was going to be the hardest on her. The doctor wasn’t even sure if she would remember much of what had happened to her because she had been drugged.

  The doctor suggested a facility in upstate New York or perhaps some of her family could take her to take care of her. The doctor warned Ash that it was not going to be an easy process. She would beg for the drug because of the pain it would cause her to be without it. She would have severe mood swings, and sometimes she would be emotionally out of control until her body healed from the addiction and the drug was out of her system. He told Ash in his professional opinion that he felt like Tegan would make a full recovery. It was just going to take time to get her through this.

  Ash was taking in all that the doctor was telling him, but right now he had to see her, he had to touch her to make sure she was really safe. The doctor seemed to understand and told Ash to follow him. Ash felt no guilt about leaving Tina and Marc or Tegan’s mother waiting while he went back to see her alone. He needed to be alone with her.

  She was lying asleep, appearing so small and pale on the stark white hospital bed. She had IVs and machines hooked up to her. He wanted nothing more than to pick her up and take her out of there, to take her some place where she would be safe, protected, and never hurt again.

  For the first time in years Ash felt tears stinging his eyes, and his throat tightened as he took her small bandaged hand in his own. Even with the dark circles under her eyes and her cracked lips she looked so young and innocent lying there. He could see the yellowing bruises on her jaw and neck. He breathed through rage and his need for revenge.

  “Never again, Tegan. I promise,” he whispered to her. He kissed her cheek and then buried his face against her neck. “I love you,” he whispered against her skin.

  As soon as the words came out of his mouth he tensed, his heart beat a little faster, and a warm feeling came over him. He loved her. He had fallen in love with this sweet little girl from Texas. For the first time in his life he was in love, and he would do anything and everything to keep her with him and protect her. Nothing else mattered but her.

  He kissed her on the forehead and smoothed her damp hair before pulling himself together and getting Tina, Marc, and Tegan’s mother. He made a call to Max telling him to bring Thomas up as he walked out.

  Tina cried while Marc offered his support by just being there. Tegan’s mother cried, too. Then Thomas’s dumb ass arrived. He narrowed his eyes at Ash, but Ash stared him down until he looked away, and he didn’t say shit. The fucker had some sense after all. He did not want to fuck with Ash right now. The thought of having the man disappear and never be found was sounding better and better.

  Ash nodded to Marc when he stepped out of the room to speak to Max. He set two guards outside her door until he could make arrangements for her care. He already knew what he was going to do. He was going to take care of her, and he had just the place to do it. He had people to take care of things here and wasn’t worried about that. They wouldn’t be working for him if he did not trust them. Ash knew that it was not going to be easy, but he was going to do it for her. He knew Tina wouldn’t tell him no, but Thomas was another matter. Ash wasn’t too worried.

  Over the next couple days Ash made all the arrangements to take care of Tegan. He spent time speaking to the doctor about what was going to be needed for her care. He ordered every kind of test possible ran on her.

  He spoke to Max about Marsh, and he called his people to get the ball rolling. He had to be very careful with Marsh because the police were involved. As much as he wanted to kill the bastard he couldn’t, not just yet anyway, but there was another way to bring him down. When Ash was done with Marsh, the man would have nothing left, and he would be spending a long of time in prison.

  Chapter 15

  Tegan woke up in a strange bedroom. Her mind was foggy, and she wondered where the hell she was. She sat up in bed and ran a shaky hand over her face. Her hands hurt, so she looked at it and was surprised to see Band-Aids on her hands. She frowned when she realized that she was wearing a hospital gown and that she was hooked up to some IV.

  What happened began to come back to her. She remembered being taken by some men and thrown in a van. She started to hyperventilate as she threw back the covers. She jerked the IV out of her arm and swiped at the blood draining from the wound before she crawled out of the bed. She tried to stand, but for some reason her legs wouldn’t hold her up. She crawled to the door and finally got it opened after three tries. She was crying by the time she made it across the hallway where there was a wide set of stairs.

  She heard a man say, “Oh fuck.” Then someone grabbed her from behind. She screamed and fought to get free, but strong arms held her tight. It took a few minutes to wear herself out, and the voice that was speaking to get through to her.

  The deep, familiar voice calmed her. Ash. Her Ash had her.

  She didn’t realize she was saying his name over and over as she cried and shook.

  Ash turned her in his arms. Tegan looked at him as she trembled then threw herself into his arms. He held her tight and kept talking to her, telling her she was going to be all right, that he was not going to let anything happen to her ever again.

  They sat there together in the hallway with him rocking her until she stopped crying. When her tears dried, he picked her up and carried her to the bathroom and then back to bed. He lay down with her and just held her until she fell asleep again. Only then did he get up and pull the covers over her. He took the time to wash the blood from her arm and put a Band-Aid over where she had jerked out her IV.

  He stood watching her a few minutes before he ran a hand over his face. He knew coming here and taking care of her and seeing her through this wasn’t going to be easy, but seeing her like this was hard. She had been through so much, and he just wanted to take all of her pain away from her. He wanted his feisty little woman who teased him and gave him shit back.

  An hour later when she began to sweat and shake uncontrollably he was there to wipe her brow with a damp cloth. When she woke up screaming and fighting him he carried her to the bathroo
m, where he stripped her down and dragged her under the hot water. She fought him the whole time. He used his body to hold her against the tiled wall until she calmed down.

  “Tegan, we will get through this sweetheart, I promise,” he told her as he washed her hair and massaged her scalp.

  He eased off her, but she didn’t move, except for the shaking in which she had no control over. He washed her and then turned off the water. She stayed where she was as he dried her off. He helped her out of the shower and then handed her a toothbrush, but he had to help her because she was shaking so bad. He could tell by her blush that she was embarrassed, but he didn’t care. He was doing this whether she wanted him to or not. When she was done he grabbed a T-shirt and a pair of sweats that he put on her.

  So far she had said nothing, and he was worried. She still did not speak as he wrapped her hair in a towel and took her to the bed. He left her there long enough to run out of the room to grab some dry clothes because the ones he had on were soaked from the shower. He came back, sat behind her, and worked the tangles out of her hair. The whole time she trembled. When he was done he sat her in a chair and covered her up with a blanket so he could change the sweat-drenched sheets.

  It had been a week since they had found her. Her bruises were gone, and her hands were better now. The doctor had kept her mostly sedated until yesterday when Ash had her taken from the hospital to his private plane. He had brought her to a secluded cabin where no one could find them. Ash had made sure the cabin was fully stocked before they arrived. He also had everything he needed to get Tegan through this no matter how long it took.

  “Come on, Tegan. Let’s go get you something to eat.”

  She didn’t say anything but looked up at him with big blue eyes of hers. He moved the blanket and helped her stand. He wanted to punch the fucking wall at the lost look on her beautiful face. The doctor told him not to coddle her, so he let her walk on shaking legs to the hall before he picked her up and carried her downstairs.

  Tegan sat quietly watching him as he made them something to eat. She watched him the whole time. She just stared at the plate of food he set before her but didn’t make an effort to touch it. Ash watched her as she licked her lips and glanced up at him. He ignored her and took a bite of his own food not wanting her to be uncomfortable. She slowly reached for her fork but dropped it because of her shaking. She tried again, and this time she managed to pick it up. She ate a couple of bites, and she even picked up the glass of juice and managed to take a drink without spilling it.

  She looked at Ash.

  “T…they drugged me,” she said in a whisper as a tear slid down her cheek.

  Ash was watching her face and knew the second it hit her. She was breaking his heart. Her words cut through him like a fucking knife. He could barely swallow the lump that formed in his throat.

  He pushed back his chair, stood, went to her, and pulled her from the chair and into his arms. She clung to him.

  “Yes, kitten. They drugged you with some really bad shit that is going to take a while to get out of your system, but you don’t have to do it alone. I am here for you. I am not going anywhere. We will do this together. I will take care of you, Tegan.”

  For some reason that she didn’t understand, a slow rage was building in her. She felt like ants were crawling all over her skin. She tried to ignore the slight ach in her body, but it was hard to do. She didn’t understand what was happening to her. Why did she felt like this?

  “I feel strange, and I hurt. I don’t understand any of this,” she told him.

  “I know, kitten, I know,” he told her, smoothing her hair and rubbing her back.

  Ash had noticed that there was something about her eyes when he had looked at her as if she were still drugged. He fucking hated that. There was no sparkle there like there had been before. He was determined to see that sparkle once more that she used to have when she teased him.

  Visions flashed through Tegan’s mind of being in that room, of strange woman shooting her up with drugs. She vaguely remembered being attacked and the man hitting her as he ripped her clothes.

  “Hold me, Ash. Please just hold me,” she begged as she cried.

  He scooped her up, carried her to an oversized chair, and sat. He just held her and spoke softly, reassuring her that he had her and that she was safe. Her small body shook in his arms.

  When her grip on him loosened he knew that she was asleep, and he carried her up to bed. He held her for a long time before getting up and going downstairs. He put one of the syringes of pain medicine the doctor had given him for her in his pocket so he would have it when she needed it.

  An hour later when he went to check on her she was tossing and turning and moaning in her sleep. He knew she was hurting. Her hair and body were soaked with sweat. He leaned over to wake her to give her a pain shot when she sat up screaming. He could tell by the expression on her face that she wasn’t seeing him when she looked at him.

  “Tegan,” he said firmly, grabbing her arms to make her focus on him. It didn’t work. She was still screaming, and she won’t stop. Then she started fighting him and yelling at him. Her fist caught his mouth.

  “Don’t fucking touch me, you fucking bastard. Let me go,” she screamed.

  Ash didn’t know she had such a colorful vocabulary. She screamed what he was sure was every cuss word she knew at him and fought him like a little hellcat.

  He used his weight, took her to the bed, and pinned her down as she tossed her head and screamed and yelled. Then he flipped her over and used his weight to keep her there while he grabbed her hands and jerked them to the center of her lower back. He used one hand to hold her wrists together and the other to tug down the sweats she was wearing as he threw a leg over hers to keep her still.

  It wasn’t easy, but he managed to get the syringe out of his pocket and then used his mouth to take off the cap. He gave her the shot in her plump ass cheek and then tossed the syringe across the room. He kept her there until the medicine began to work, and she stopped yelling and totally relaxed under him. Only then did he let her go and moved away. She was still breathing hard, but she was out.

  Ash stripped her sweat-soaked clothes off, wiped her whole body down with a warm wet cloth, and put her in a clean shirt and covered her up. He disposed of the syringe.

  Hours later she woke up with him beside her. He could tell she was still groggy, but at least she wasn’t freaking out on him and knew who he was.

  He finally got her to eat this time. After they ate he cleaned up while Tegan lay on the couch and dozed a little. When he was done, he lay behind her.

  “Where are we?” she asked after a few minutes.

  “A cabin in Colorado,” he told her.

  “Where is Tina?”

  “I made her stay home. I brought you here to take care of you. We will stay here as long as it takes,” he told her.

  She turned in his arms to look at him. She gave him a small sad smile.

  Neither mentioned what happened earlier, and he wondered if she even remembered. He was more than pleased that she seemed to be doing better. She had yet to ask him about them finding her and he was not going to mention it unless she asked.

  When she fell back asleep in his arms he left her alone long enough to run up and change the sheets once more.

  “I want to talk to Tina, and I probably should call home and let them know I am alive,” she said after she woke.

  He picked her up and sat her in his lap. “No, not yet. Maybe tomorrow.”

  “Are you serious, Ash?”

  “Tina and your parents know that you are with me and that you are safe. Just leave it at that, Tegan.”

  She didn’t say anything. She snuggled closer to him and stared at the flames before dozing off again.

  They had another episode during the night when the pain medicine worn off, and again she screamed and fought him. He was forced to give her another shot and she slept.

  For the next two days she was staying
awake longer and she was eating more, but she didn’t talk much. He felt like she was pulling away from him. He fucking hated it. When she went to sleep he called the doctor and talked to him. He reassured Ash that she was doing fine, and he even offered to come there and check on her, but Ash refused.

  Almost two weeks had passed since they had found her. Ash was getting worried. Tegan had suddenly refused to eat, and that pissed Ash off. She still wouldn’t talk much, and he felt like he was losing her.

  They had just sat at the table to eat breakfast when Tegan told him she was not hungry.

  “You need to eat.”

  “What do you care?” she snapped at him.

  He narrowed his eyes at her, took a deep breath, and blew it out before he spoke. “I want you to get well, Tegan.”

  He stood, walked over to her chair, and pulled her into his arms. He held her, but she did not hug him back.

  “Why?” she asked.

  He drew back and looked at her. “Why what, Tegan?”

  “Why are you here? Why are you with me? Are you doing this as a favor to Tina? Because you know what I don’t need her fucking pity and I damn sure don’t need yours,” she said, shoving him away and walking off.

  Ash had a “what the fuck” moment before he grew angry. He stalked across the room and caught her before she reached the stairs. There was no fucking way she was going to distant herself from him. He would not allow it.

  He spun her around pulling her into his arms. He grabbed her around the waist and palmed the back of her head. Before she could speak Ash was kissing her hard and thoroughly. It took her a few seconds before she tried to fight him but soon gave up and melted into him. He growled low in his throat and deepened the kiss when she fisted his hair and kissed him back. Fuck, he had missed this. She was his and he was going to make her understand that even if he had to tie her to his fucking bed until she agreed. He had planned to wait until she had fully recovered to take her again. What he now had planned for her withdraws and mood swings was far better than any painkiller he could fucking give her.