by Andie Lea
“Would you be opposed to meeting her now?” I asked as I pulled my phone out of my pocket.
She shook her head. “Not at all.”
* * * *
The second Charlie stopped the car, I climbed out.
She scanned her surroundings once she stepped out. “Wow… You have such a beautiful home.”
“Thank you.” Holding open the door for her, she followed me into the living room.
“Via, we are here!”
Via danced down the stairwell. She couldn’t contain her excitement for the life of her. She strolled over to us, beaming at Miss Benson. “Hello Samantha, it’s so great to meet you. Ryan tells me that you will be crafting my dress.”
Samantha flashed her pearly whites. “I would be honored. That is, if you hired me for the job.”
“Oh, I most certainly will,” Via assured her, nodding.
“I’m sure we will make great business partners. I have not a fucking clue about dresses, but I make up for it. I can conjure up a meal that will make your heart melt.”
My ears perked up at the mentioning of food, a language I understood. “It is true. She does know her way around the kitchen.”
The smile never left Samantha’s face. “Are you planning on making your wedding cake then?”
Via shook her head. “I promised myself I would not add any more stress on myself. Ryan’s mom has taken charge of hiring everybody, except for the dress. It’s the one thing I wanted to do on my own, and I’m so thrilled that you offered to do this.”
“I owe Mister Rayner since he defended me so well today.” Samantha grinned and rolled her eyes. She stared in my direction. “Isn’t that right, Ryan?”
Shit! How in the hell am I going to explain I was out of line in court today?
Throughout all my years of working, I had never once thoughtlessly acted out. Before I opened my mouth to explain this afternoon, my cell phone rang. I walked away, leaving the women to talk about the wedding details.
* * * *
My frustration rising inside me, I tossed my clothes into a suitcase. Via stared at me in confusion as I packed. “I don’t understand why you have to go to Alaska.”
“My other business partner needs my help. I promise I won’t be gone too long.” Stopping what I was doing, I hugged and kissed her. “You won’t even miss me.”
She shook her head, rolling her eyes. “I will be craving you every minute you are gone.”
“You will be too busy having my mother irritating you with every single, to the last drop, detail of the wedding,” I told her as I took in her scent. “You have me for one more night, Miss Johnson. Oh, whatever will you do to me?”
Her eyes brightened hearing these words. She grabbed my shirt and pulled me closer to her. “First, I am going to spank you for how you acted in court earlier. Then I am going to tie you up because I had to receive this news from somebody else. You should never be afraid to tell me everything, Ryan Rayner. You are going to learn this even if I have to beat the living shit out of you!”
I swallowed slower than usual. She wanted to beat me because I couldn’t find a way to tell her, without sounding barbaric, I punched a slime ball in the face?
Note to self: do not ever lie to this woman. She possibly will kill your ass!
Biting her lip, she smirked at me. “Here is the thing, I’m not going to lay a single hand, flogger, crop, or whip on you tonight. Instead, I am going to send you off to Alaska and make you think about what you have done. Not to worry, you will have an ass-beating when you return home.”
“You mean to tell me you are willing to wait to punish me just so I will learn a damn lesson?” I stared at her in confusion.
She grinned as if I had asked her the simplest question in the world. “That’s right. I’m not going to touch you, and you sure as hell are not allowed to touch me without permission!” With that statement, she trotted off to the closet and shut the door behind her. She came back out wearing a light pink lingerie number made of lace. Touché, Miss Johnson, touché!
Chapter Nine
I couldn’t believe this shit! Via had been sitting on her side of our bed, acting normal. The worst thing about it, she looked sexy as hell and there wasn’t a damn thing I was able do about it! She looked up at me and smiled, patting the space beside her. “Come… Sit and talk to me.”
I did what she ordered and joined her on the bed. “May I kiss my beautiful fiancée?” Before she answered, I had already planted a soft one on her cheek.
Smiling, she held on to my face and kissed my lips. She pulled away with a questioning look in her eyes. “What business do you have in Alaska?”
“I invested in a buddy of mine’s gold mining business. It is not something I am involved in. I assisted him monetarily when he started,” I explained.
She nodded as if a light bulb had switched on in her mind. “That would explain the ridiculous sum of money. Your friend must be successful at what he does. Gold mining is a difficult job. My dad is somewhat addicted to reality TV, specifically gold mining shows.”
We spent the rest of the night chatting over everything. I wanted her, but just being able to talk to her and hold her in my arms until she fell asleep. It was the perfect ending to a mind-blowing day.
* * * *
“Thank you so much for being here, Ryan. My mind has been scrambled recently since the old woman had the baby. Between our son keeping us up at night and the way business has been booming, everything has been crazy.” Dean stood up the second I stepped into his office.
I shrugged and shook my head. “I told you I would help you out when you needed it. I just don’t understand why you won’t hire an assistant.”
“I don’t trust people. You know this,” he responded as the crease in the middle of his forehead appeared. “What is this rumor I gathered of you finding a woman desperate enough to marry your ass?”
I rolled my eyes. “Her name is Olivia Johnson and she is everything but desperate. She can be so stubborn and bossy it’s not even funny, but she is also the most loving and sweetest woman I‘ve ever met.”
He held up his hand as if to stop me from talking, “Alright. None of this girly shit. You’re happy, I get it. That’s all I wanted to know.”
“The wedding is in three months. I am sure my mother will be inviting everyone and their brother,” I told him, smiling a tad. “Alright, now that you have me here, what do you need me to do?”
“I just need you to run the place for a couple of days so the wife and I can visit her folks.”
Glaring at him, my lips scrunched. “I’m not watching the rugrat, am I?”
He shook his head. “Oh, Lord—absolutely not! I wouldn’t trust you to keep my goldfish alive. No offense!”
“None taken…”
* * * *
Downtown-Seattle, Washington. Olivia Johnson
Out of all the times for my cell phone to ring, it just had to be while my arms were full of shopping bags. I felt a tad embarrassed when Samantha had to pull my phone out of the front pocket of my jeans.
Before she told me who the name on the ID belonged to, I had my assumptions. She answered it, putting my soon-to-be-husband on speakerphone. “Hey sexy. How was your flight? You are on the speaker!”
I saw Samantha’s cheeks turn a shade of crimson.
“My flight was alright, baby. How is the wedding planning?”
“My arms are full of bags from shopping as we speak. As much as I hate to admit it, shopping for our big day isn’t so bad now that I have Samantha helping me out,” I confessed, winking over at my new friend.
I imagined his heart-stopping grin. It was so fucking sexy when he smiled. I missed seeing those pearly whites of his!
“You’re not leaving my mother out of the loop, are you?”
I shook my head even though he couldn’t see me. “Of course not! She is doing most of the work. Samantha and I just wanted to shop for the honeymoon.” I couldn’t help but giggle.
“Olivia Marie Johnson, please no making the poor woman blush! You have to excuse my bride, she is very blunt and has an issue with thinking before she speaks. She lacks the ability.”
A huge grin appeared on Samantha’s face as my jaw dropped.
“Ryan William Rayner, you are so cocky when you are miles away! I hope you are not forgetting our little arrangement for when you return.”
“I most certainly have not, my queen.”
Samantha’s cheeks were now as red as a tomato. I couldn’t help but bite my lip as I contemplated the things I was going to do to him when he returned.
“As much as I would love to go over the details with you, Ryan, we are busy. We will Skype later.” With that said, I pushed the red button on my touch screen to disconnect our conversation.
“What was that about?” Samantha stared at me in confusion.
Trying not to laugh, I shook my head. “It is just a private joke that we share.”
Charlie waited for us with the trunk of the car open. He took the bags that filled my arms and placed them in the trunk, shutting the trunk afterwards. He then made his way over to us and held the back door open for us.
Samantha climbed inside first. “How are you adjusting to the life of Ryan Rayner?”
I adjusted myself in the seat as Charlie shut the door. “His world is so different from mine. I would like to believe I am adjusting well.”
“You do know about his secret life, right?”
My eyes bulged out of my head.
How in the hell does she know? Did he let it slip? “What are you talking about—secret life?”
She pursed her lips for a second. “I know Ryan fairly well. You see, I may have spent the past few years in California, but I spent the majority of my childhood here. Ryan and I grew up together until we had to move, on account of my father’s job.”
“He didn’t recognize you?”
“He doesn’t know me as Samantha Benson. I changed my name out in California. I’m not going to lie to you. I came back to Seattle in hopes of finding Ryan because I had run into an old mutual friend of ours. She had been giving me a bunch of shit about how she had been Ryan’s submissive. I have no idea what it means. I was hoping you did.” She sat there, picking at her fingers.
Holy Shit! This explains why he had been so accepting of being my submissive. He wasn’t a virgin to this lifestyle! I sat there in shock at her news. “Why are you telling me all of this?”
“Because Ryan isn’t as innocent as you believe. He has a dark past, Via.”
My head nodded. I couldn’t wrap my head around this. How could Ryan not tell me this? Why would he agree to be my submissive if he had been accustomed to dominance? So many questions needed to be answered and he wasn’t here.
Charlie pulled into the driveway and stopped the car a few feet away from the door. I looked over at Samantha. “We should get inside.”
She smiled. “You go ahead. I’m going to stay back and help Charlie,” she said, looking at him with hunger in her eyes.
I climbed out of the car and made my way into the house. The atmosphere of the house felt off and weird. I stood there, frozen in my tracks, as my eyeballs searched around.
Being my usual inquisitive self, I walked around every inch of the house. I stopped in my tracks the second I saw them standing patiently in the room I hardly ever go in without Ryan here—his office. They stared as if they had been expecting me.
“Hello there, lovely Olivia.” One of the burley men spoke with a grin.
Standing there, I went over a playbook in my head about how to make a run for it. I needed to toss off the heels in order for this to work. I stared as my consciousness attempted to persuade my feet to kick off my shoes.
“Who are you and what do you want?”
“We have been waiting on you, darling,” the other one chimed in.
Before I spoke another word, they stood and made their way over to me. One bound my wrists while the other covered my mouth so I couldn’t yell out for Charlie or Samantha.
The one who tied me up dragged me out of the room by my hair.
Agitated, the nicer one hit him upside the head. “The girl is capable of walking. She won’t be a problem. Will you, dear?” He looked at me.
I shook my head and walked when he pushed me. They ushered me to a rusty white van. The asshole one shoved me into the back and stared at the one with more heart. “We need to get out of here. Boss will be wondering if we succeeded.”
This is not the way I had been hoping to be tied. I sat there in the spacious back seat, my heart thumping against my chest. I’m dead. They are going to kill me! The nicer, older man had been kind enough to blindfold me. At least I will not have to witness how they were going to kill me.
Since I could no longer see, I had to rely on my hearing. “Drive faster you moron! We have someone on our ass!” the older one with the somewhat warm touch yelled.
My ears perked up at the thought of Charlie coming to my rescue, but I did not dare to let my excitement show.
I almost fell out of the seat as someone tapped the rear of the van. Come on, Charlie, you can do this!
We must have reached the interstate since the van had accelerated.
“Fuck!” the driver yelled as the vehicle lurched frontward when we were hit with a harder blow this time.
A loud bang sounded and the back left tire ruptured. Seconds later, the opposite back tire did the same. Way to go Charlie! My stomach curled as the van spun out of control.
I felt my head crash into the roof when the vehicle rolled three times before landing on its tires. Everything started to turn into blackness. My hearing even became faint and muffled. My body fell limp against the seat.
* * * *
I woke up to the sound of a beeping heart monitor. Opening my eyes, I saw a doctor checking my pulse. “Welcome back”, he said to me with a friendly smile, shining a bright light in each of my eyes. “How are you feeling?”
I groaned as I sat up. “Sore as hell. Where is Charlie?”
As if on cue, Charlie opened the door. The doctor left the room to give us privacy.
“Miss Johnson, I am genuinely regretful this happened. Is there anything that I can do?”
“Does Ryan know anything about this yet?”
“No ma’am, I am still trying to reach him,” he informed me. “I take full responsibility for this. If there is anything I can do for you at all, just say the word.”
I nodded as I laid my head back on the pillow, since it had been pounding like hell. “What happened to the men who kidnapped me?” I asked, staring back at him. “I blacked out after the van rolled.”
“They stole a car and drove off before I had a chance to get to them. My sole purpose was to get you out and make sure you were still alive,” he informed me, running his fingers through his hair. “I was not about to let you die. Mister Rayner would have killed me if I had left you behind.”
“Thank you for coming to my rescue.”
He shook his head and shrugged. “Just doing my job, Miss Johnson.”
Sitting down on the chair closest to the wall, he questioned, “Did those men look familiar to you at all?”
“I never met them before in my life, but I did notice they appeared to be amateurs and they were working for somebody. The younger one mentioned someone else as their boss. Wait a minute—would Ryan’s big trial case have anything to do with this?” I wondered, the thought making me shudder.
“I will have to dig further into it. I will find who is responsible.” Charlie sighed.
“All I need for you to do now is rest. I will be flying to Alaska to bring Mister Rayner back home. The doctor will be back in to check you out thoroughly.”
Before I rebutted, he disappeared out of the room and shut the door behind him.
At least Ryan would be returning home. Even though there had been a possibility he was the reason for this, it didn’t mean that I had not missed him.
Kindred Hospital-
Seattle, Washington. Samantha Benson.
I paced the waiting room as Charlie tried to reach Ryan on his cell phone. This is my fault! I should have gone into the house with her. Shit! Ryan is going to be so pissed! “Have you gotten a hold of him?”
Charlie shook his head. “I’m not having any luck. I have no choice but to fly to Alaska. Will you please stay here with her?”
“Yes, of course. Just please, be careful.”
He kissed me on my cheek and smiled. “We will be back before you know it. The doctor is examining Miss Johnson. She looked fine when she woke up, but I ordered him to double-check.” With that said, he strolled away.
I tried sitting on one of the chairs, but I was too stir-crazy to. I had always hated this waiting game doctors and nurses play with everyone.
Damn! Who would have the balls to do this to Via? Certainly, it could not have been any of Ryan’s ex-subs. They were married and leading lives of their own, except for Jennifer. However, I knew Jennifer well enough to know she would never do something this drastic just to get Ryan’s attention. She and Ryan had not spoken in almost five years.
Finally sitting with a small notebook, I wrote Jennifer’s name and everything I recalled from my last meeting with her. My gut instincts told me she wasn’t the one behind this, but I had to check in to every possible suspect. It was my duty.
Beginning to pace the room again, I just about jumped out of my skin when a doctor grabbed my shoulder. I quickly turned around to face her. “How is she?”
“She is still sore. A few bumps and bruises, but she will be fine. She is asking for a Samantha…”
I smiled, thankful she was alright. “That would be me.” Making my way to her room, I opened the door and went inside. “There is something I need to tell you…”
* * * *
Juneau, Alaska. Ryan Rayner.
Even though Dean asked me to run the place, I had to get out there and join the guys in digging for gold. I had never been one for physical labor, but this wasn’t as bad as I believed. No wonder Dean had always been interested in this.
Dean’s right-hand field man ran up to me. “Sir, you have a phone call up in the office. It sounds important.”