by Ashlee Price
“Yeah, I got the name, Elie. Do you know where he’s staying?”
“No, I need you to find out and just hold tight until you talk to me.”
“Why?” This wasn’t the way these things usually went. I wasn’t sure why I was going to need pictures, but I had a feeling that it was going to be best to have them. I wanted Mariah to see firsthand that she was going to be okay. She may have claimed that she didn’t want violence, but she did. All women did, in their own way. They wanted to feel safe over everything else.
“This isn’t going to be like one of the normal jobs I have you do, Donnie. I need you to take it slow and send me some pictures of where he’s at when you find him. Let me know when you have and then we’ll decide what to do from there. I’m going to try to reason with the man. I just need to find an angle.”
It was the exact same thing that I’d said about Mariah. All I needed was an angle and everything was going to be okay. It was safe to say that I’d gotten the angle that I needed, so now I just had to get the other guy out of the way. What was it with this woman that made every man around her go a little crazy? I could feel it happening to me as well, and even though I realized it, it didn’t seem like I was able to stop it. I was hooked as well.
Chapter 18 – Greg
Mariah didn’t want to see me, and even though I wanted to respect her wishes, I wasn’t going to stay away from the woman I loved. She was everything to me, and even though she was going down this dark road, I didn’t want her to think that she was lost. She wasn’t. Just like time when I had to help her before, I was going to be there for her, even if no one else was.
She looked as good as I remembered, maybe even a little more so now that she had this great amount of confidence that she hadn’t had before. The fact that she was still innocent was a testament to what was supposed to happen. I couldn’t believe that she was still intact, but it was still all that I could think about. I’d wanted her since the moment that I wrapped that warm blanket around her years back when I got called in on a job.
Mariah had been so helpless and so scared that she’d clung to me when I found her in her old childhood home. The chaos that must have gone on there would never be spoken of out loud, but it didn’t have to be because the horror of it was clear in her eyes. She may not have been killed that night, but something inside of her had died. I’d been trying ever since then to bring that part of her back to life.
This was just another step in her recovery, and I felt like if I went home without her, I was going to be failing Mariah. I’d told her that I was going to help her, and leaving her wasn’t an option. She was running because we were getting closer, I was sure of it.
I played the day before in my head and mused on the fact that I would see Mariah again soon. All of the time that I’d spent on that website made me realize how much I missed her physically. I missed her company as well, but Mariah was talented, and I missed the types of things that we used to do together. There was no way to replace a woman like her, and I hadn’t even tried.
The clock said it was two in the morning and I couldn’t sleep. How could I sleep when Mariah was so close, yet still not in my arms? I’d given her a day to figure out what she wanted to do, to decide and make the right decision, but I was not above dragging her back home. It was where she belonged and it was where she was going to end up.
After lying down in the bed and looking at the ceiling much longer than I had any reason to, I pulled out my phone and went to the website that I kept telling myself I didn’t want to see. Mariah was on my phone soon enough, and I was left trying hard to breathe. My hand moved to touch myself and I closed my eyes, imagining that it was Mariah touching me. I missed her so much. I was close to coming when I heard a noise at the door of the motel I was staying in.
I wasn’t expecting anyone. No one knew that I was there. Mariah knew I was around, but I hadn’t told her where. I’d figured that I would go see her tomorrow at her house and take care of all of this. All I had to do was make it through the night. No one was going to be welcome, so I didn’t even bother getting up to answer the door. It just didn’t matter who it was.
When the knocking increased, it was more of an annoyance than anything else. I wanted to know what was causing someone to break into my quiet time, but it still wasn’t enough for me to get up. It was probably someone who was looking for someone else and just had the room number wrong. I was sure that was what it was. There was no reason to think anything else.
“Greg?”
When I heard my name in a rough, gravelly voice, then I started to take notice. It wasn’t someone here for someone else. He was here for me. The fact that I didn’t know anyone in town was a good indicator that I wasn’t going to like this meeting. Wracking my brain with the possibilities of who was on the other side of the door, I was slipping my boxers back on and slowly opening the drawer in the nightstand next to me.
My gun was in that drawer, and I’d just wrapped my hands around it when the door in front of me splintered open and two men started to walk through the newly opened threshold. My gun went up with my hand, pointed at the dark-haired man closest to me. He looked surprised that he wasn’t the only one with a weapon – and that the one he was holding wasn’t as deadly as mine.
“What do you want?”
The one holding the knife was silent for a minute, and then he moved it to his side.
“Are you Greg Bellam?”
“Yes. Who the hell are you? You can’t just barge in here.”
“We’re here to deliver a message.”
The man didn’t seem to fully appreciate the situation he was in. I was in no mood to have a discussion with him, and I certainly wasn’t apt to listen to anything that the two of them had to say. It was clear what kind of message he was trying to send me.
“Who do you work for?”
The two men looked at each other and then back at me with faces that were hard to read. They weren’t going to tell me who had sent them, not willingly, anyway, and I was okay with that.
“Why don’t the two of you come in here? Since the door is already open, I’ll let you let yourselves in.”
***
It didn’t take much to get the information that I needed. The two men were goons for the Fetish Club, and it wasn’t hard to see where this was pointing. The only thing that I didn’t know was how much Mariah knew about their job. I knew what it was before they even said it. They were there with a message to leave town and to leave Mariah alone. It wasn’t something that I was going to do, though, not even close. I was here for Mariah and I was leaving with her, no matter who liked it or didn’t.
After I got all of the information that I needed, I had an urge to go find Mariah and ask her what was going on. I’d given her an ultimatum when I’d gotten frustrated at her reaction. She wasn’t as happy to see me as I was happy to see her, so I’d slipped and threatened a bit. Now I saw that she’d gone to this Elie and was trying to get him to take care of me.
It was either that or he’d decided to do this all on his own and now I had to give him my own message to help him understand the situation. There were two scenarios with two very different endings. I needed to know which one it was, but I trusted a man in pain more than I could trust whatever came out of Mariah’s mouth. I was going to have to go to Elie and straighten all of this out before he found out what had happened to his men.
I went to the club and found that no one was there. It was almost five by the time I got there, and it appeared that I was at least an hour late for catching up with anyone. It changed my plans as to the where, but not the what. I left determined to find Elie before the sun was all the way up. I wanted to catch him before he went to bed. I didn’t want him to have any good dreams today.
Elie’s house wasn’t hard to find, especially since he was on several websites that were linked back to an address a few miles away. I didn’t know the city, so I hired another taxi to take me around. I was ready for anything, except Mariah
being involved more than just telling him. If she’d somehow set it up, I knew I was going to be crushed. No matter what happened between us, Mariah was always going to be someone I loved. I couldn’t just let her go, and no one was going to stand in my way. Some thug sleaze-ball who ran a place like the Fetish Club was certainly not going to be the one to get in my way.
His house was quiet when I got to it. After having the taxi drive past the place once to get a layout, I got out a block away and made my way back on foot. I had a lot to discuss with the man who’d sent his men to my motel. I wanted to give him my own message about who Mariah belonged to. It wasn’t him. She’d been mine for a long time and that was never going to change. Mariah was always going to be mine, and he was just going to have to come to terms with that.
***
“You’re making a mistake. I did not send anyone to your house. I think that you need to put that gun down so that we can talk about this like adults.”
I shook my head and sat down in the couch across from Elie. He’d been about as disgruntled as I’d been. I’d found him in bed with some dark-skinned woman who looked familiar. He was now in his boxers, sitting in front of me with the gun pointed at his face. This was the only thing that men like Elie listened to and understood.
“I’m done talking. I got the message you were trying to send, loud and clear.”
“Where are Bruno and Lex?”
I shrugged and told him that if he cared he shouldn’t have sent them out to do his dirty work. Elie just smiled at me, and an unsettling feeling came over me. The man was too calm. I watched him a little closer to make sure that he wasn’t going to do something stupid.
“If you’ve done something to them, I’ll…”
“You’ll what? I’m here and you’re there. I’ve got the gun. It looks like you’ve overestimated your position and underestimated your opposition.”
Elie shook his head that he hadn’t. “I never underestimate the person in front of me. You’re the one that doesn’t see what’s going to happen next. You still think you’re in control. Mariah is not going anywhere. She works for me now, and she’ll continue to work for me until I can’t squeeze another dollar out of her worn-out ass. That’s all you need to know about your Mariah. That’s her future.”
The man was unbelievable, so sure of himself that it made me sick. Didn’t he see how it was going to turn out? Didn’t he see what was coming?
I stood up and moved towards him. I was a foot away before I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. I didn’t know what it was until I saw the metal gleam in the lamplight. I wasn’t the only one with a gun, and instead of holding it on me like I’d done for him, he pulled the trigger as soon as it was raised high enough.
My natural impulse was to shoot him, but I’d gotten hit in the chest and the second shot was already ringing out. I didn’t hit the target I wanted, and I watched the bullet glance off his shoulder before I felt the impact of another slug going into my chest. Then another, and another.
“I told Mariah that I wouldn’t hurt you, but you had to be an idiot. Die knowing what I’ll do to her.”
Chapter 19 – Scott
“Are you okay?”
She looked like she was a million miles away. I hadn’t seen her in a week, and I wanted all of her attention. I wasn’t getting it from Mariah lately. She wouldn’t really talk to me – we couldn’t really talk here – so I was left to ask and she was left to answer evasively.
“I tried to call you several times. Did you turn your phone off?”
“I’m not sure what happened, but my phone number was canceled. I had to get another one. It was the weirdest thing.”
I had a feeling I knew who’d done it. I wanted to ask her if she’d gotten the phone through Elie, but I didn’t. We were being watched and heard. It was a feeling that I didn’t like, especially when all I wanted to do was tell her what was really on my mind, what I was really thinking about. I wanted to make it clear to her how I felt. But last time we’d had company, and I’d learned my lesson on doing anything productive in the small rooms provided by the club.
“Are you ready to play, sir?”
I was about as distracted as she was. I wasn’t in the mood to play games. I was in the mood to spend time with her, real time, and find out what was going on. This superficial connection that was allowed here wasn’t enough.
“Why don’t we get out of here? It’s late, and I can’t see you staying here much longer tonight.”
“Where to?”
“I’ll go anywhere with you, Mariah. Just name the place.”
“I’m not supposed to leave with clients, Scott.”
I didn’t like being called a client. I wanted to be more than that to her. I was more than that, so why was she acting like that was all I was? She knew better, and so did I.
“I’m not asking you to leave with a client, Mariah, I’m asking you to come with me. Let me take you out and buy you some dinner.”
“I don’t know. Elie hasn’t been in today, and I don’t want to get on his bad side.”
I wanted to ask her why she didn’t want to. Was he mean to her? Did he hurt her? She had bruises on her, always did, but I didn’t know if it was from work or something else. Was Elie doing something to harm her in some way?
“Come with me, Mariah. I’ll talk to Elie and smooth it all out when I get back. I’ll bring you back here to get your car. It will be a good time out, that’s all.”
She wasn’t convinced, and I wasn’t too sure that I was either. “Come on, if Elie isn’t here, then what’s the problem?”
I whispered the last bit to her. The very fact that I had to speak to her in such a way was beyond me. I was in a whole other situation, and I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do. All I knew was that I needed Mariah, and getting her away from the club for a while was the only way that we were ever going to have a chance to be alone and talk. I could wait on the games, even though I was burning for her. I was in it for the long game, and that included more than a few orgasms.
When she finally agreed, the weight of the world was taken off of my shoulders. I knew that everything was going to work out now. I just needed to get her away from all of this and then we could really be together. It wasn’t something that I’d ever wanted before, but now I wanted it more than I wanted my next breath.
I took Mariah out for something to eat, and even though she didn’t say she was hungry, she ate everything on her plate.
“Long day?”
Mariah shrugged and wiped her lips. I was trying to stay focused on her words, but going so long without her had made me wish that I could have had her first. That was the one thing eating away at me: I needed her too badly to ignore. As soon as she saw that, I was sure that Mariah would come to terms with what was going on between us.
“You have no idea. Since Elie never came in today, I was called in early…” She stopped and I asked her why she did.
“You don’t want to hear about this, Scott. I’m sorry that I even brought it up.”
I didn’t like to hear about her and anyone else, but I was a big boy and I knew that was what was going on. I just had to convince her to leave this life she was leading and be with me. Then she wouldn’t have to do all of those things. Well, not for random people. We could play our games together. I wanted more than just that, though. I wanted to come home to her at night and go to bed with her next to me every day.
“I want to hear about your day. I want to be able to talk to you without someone listening in and us having to be careful with our words. I’m not very good at that. I want to be able to say whatever I want to say.”
“Yeah, I wouldn’t think that you get told no very often, do you, Scott?”
I didn’t. The last time I’d been told no was several years ago, but I didn’t care about that right now. I just cared about Mariah. I wanted her more than I could have ever dreamed was possible.
“Not very much, no.”
“Is that why
you’ve taken a liking to me, sir? Because I tell you no and you can’t have what you want?”
“If that were the case, I would be at the club with you tied to a wall making you call me daddy.”
Her eyes darkened. It was the first time I’d seen that particular look in them. I’d just thrown it out there to be outrageous, but it made me wonder if that was what she wanted. I hadn’t had enough time to really test her kinks and needs, but I was getting there. If I could just get her away from Elie long enough, I would be able to delve into all of the intricacies that she had.
“Why do I get the feeling that you would like that?”
Mariah’s face turned red. It amazed me that after what she did all day to complete strangers, Mariah was still able to blush like a nun. That was the beauty of such a woman. She had so many facets that I wasn’t sure which one I was going to get next. I liked them all, though.
“I guess you’ll just have to try and see how it works out.”
“Does anyone else make you call them that?”
She shook her head that they didn’t. I liked her calling me something that no one else got to hear from her. I wanted our time and everything about it to be special. I already had to share her, something that bothered me more every day. At least now there would be a way to distinguish me from all of the other ‘sirs’ in her life.
“That’s what you’ll call me from now on then, Mariah. I think I like the sound of that. You can be my naughty little girl who will need lots of discipline.”
The blue eyes sparkled, and what I wouldn’t have given to know what she was thinking. She finally agreed, but she still hadn’t said the words out loud. I wanted to hear them, and when she hesitated, I touched her thigh under the table. “What do you say, Mariah?”
She looked around. It appeared that she was worried whether anyone was close enough to hear her. Even though she was plastered all over a fetish website, Mariah was still worried about her image.
“If you don’t do it now, you’ll be punished.”