Forever Lost

by Laura Morgan

  “Oops,” she mumbled, giving a fake apologetic smile, and Victor groaned in her ear. He pinned her to the bed and pulled down his pants in just a few seconds, his body silently commanding hers, and she lifted her hips up invitingly. Victor quickly accepted her enticing offer and slid inside, holding Cassie’s hips tightly while she pressed her hands against the headboard beneath the pillow, and Victor delivered powerful thrusts to her ready cleft.

  “Time to go home,” he told her when they were finally spent. She groaned and snuggled into him, seemingly not wanting to go back to her imprisonment back in the complex. “I’ll have the swimming pool cleared for you, if you’re a good girl.” He knew how much she’d enjoyed her times in the pool these last few days, and Cassie smiled up at him. “In fact, I might make it so from now on only essential personnel have access to the main house. All of the girls, and my men, will not be allowed inside unless invited. You’ll have complete privacy, and you’ll be free to roam where you please, with Grayson in tow, of course, but otherwise unbound. Do you like the sound of that, baby?” He got his answer right away with the bright smile that took over Cassie’s entire face and lit up her eyes.

  “Would I have free rein of the house at all times, not just here and there?” she asked, and Victor nodded.

  “Anything to keep you happy, my love. You know that.” He kissed her deeply, delighting in her happy vibe. After that, Cassie took no time at all in getting showered and changed to go home. Grayson came in once she was decent and helped her pack up the things before leading her out to the car.

  Victor climbed in the back of the limo, traveling separately, and waved her goodbye. He blew Cassie a kiss, which she returned, and then slid behind Grayson in the less conspicuous second car.

  ***

  “Just you and me again, GG?” she said, delighting in the smile he gave her over the rear view mirror.

  “Yes, Mrs. Sanchez. Your husband is very particular about your security, and would prefer you to travel separately on long journeys where possible. Plus, this car has bulletproof windows and panels, so it’s very safe. Nothing can get in…or out,” he replied, answering her unspoken question.

  “My darling husband really does think of everything,” she muttered, but she settled back in her seat and hummed quietly for some of the journey. They chatted a little here and there, but she was surprisingly relaxed, and even found herself dozing toward the end of the long car ride.

  When they came to a stop outside the mansion, Grayson’s cell phone rang in his pocket. He was quiet with his responses, answering with nothing but yes and no, before he climbed out and practically frog-marched Cassie up to her room and locked the door behind them.

  “We need to stay in here,” he told her, gesturing for Cassie to take a seat on the bed.

  She slumped down, crossing her arms in a huff. “He promised me this would change. Have I done something wrong, GG?”

  “Mrs. Sanchez, please. Not everything’s about you,” he chastised, and Cassie had to resist the urge to send back a snide retort. “Just do as you’re told. Victor will allow you freedom to roam the house when he decides the time is right. In the meantime, sit tight and he’ll let us know his plans when he’s ready.”

  “Yeah, yeah. I’m going for a bath,” she replied, heading for the bathroom to freshen up.

  Chapter 31

  Down in Victor’s office, Leonardo Solomon sat across from his Mexican associate. He watched him with a forced smile, faking gratitude as he accepted a glass of vodka on the rocks. The two men had barely spoken to one another yet, but the air was thick with the many things Leo wanted to say, and do. He could barely contain his anger, feeling it bubbling beneath the surface with every smug smile Victor shot his way, but he forced himself to stay calm.

  Leo knew he was pushing his luck turning up unannounced. But, after all, Victor had done the same to him, so he’d had no qualms about returning the gesture. He had been disappointed, however, to find Victor alone in his limo when he returned to the complex. He’d spent the entire buildup to his visit hoping for at least a glimpse of Cassie, but Victor had somehow been one step ahead.

  He’d invited Leo inside with a warm smile and a friendly pat on the back, but had offered no information on the whereabouts of his prisoner. Victor had even enquired after his and Tina’s health, acting as though he was not the reason for their wounds, and Leo just sneered and replied nonchalantly.

  He maintained that he was here solely to rekindle their business relationship, and nothing more. Leo had seen his email that morning when his private jet came in to land. He had been so enraged he’d trashed the bedroom suite of his plane before downing a stiff drink and smoking a joint to help calm him down. Leo never used to partake in his merchandise, not until Cassie tore his world apart, but now he regularly used both cocaine and weed.

  He knew she would be disappointed in him for using, but highly doubted she’d ever know. Leo got the sense Victor would keep her well hidden, so he wouldn’t have to answer for his substance abuse anytime soon. He hoped in time he could move on and let Cassie go, but forgetting all about the woman he’d failed so miserably was proving to be far from easy.

  Part of him wanted nothing more than to carry on like he had before, cold and heartless, without a care in the world, but he was still struggling to find his way back to that man he used to be. He knew it was the guilt of Cassie’s decision weighing him down, and that was exactly why he had come here. If he could see that she was truly happy with Victor, Leo told himself he would walk away and never bother with her again. Or, that was the plan, at least. So far, he’d yet to lay eyes on Victor’s new wife, and something told him she was being kept away on purpose.

  ***

  “So, how are you, Leo? I must admit, you look like shit.” Victor eyed the bags under his visitor’s eyes with a feigned look of compassion. He noticed right away that Leo couldn't quite focus his eyes on anything too long, seeming jittery and distant, and Victor knew he was using. He watched him for a while, noticing how Leo had tried his very best not to stare at the wedding photographs Victor had already had printed and encased in stunning silver frames. His men had dotted them around their home, and what had started as a surprise for Cassie was now acting as a constant kick in Leo’s metaphorical teeth.

  Victor very much enjoyed the effect they were having on him. Having Cassie’s happiness shoved down his throat at every turn was clearly antagonizing Leo’s demons, and he couldn't seem to drown them in vodka quickly enough, or mollify them with the many drugs in which he was obviously indulging.

  “I’m getting there. It’s been a hard couple of months, you know, with getting shot and all,” he retorted angrily. Victor shrugged, watching as Leo forced his calm manner to return. “Let’s make sure things never get so far out of hand again, Victor,” he added, his tone indicating admitted defeat, and the Mexican grinned.

  “Of course not. I got what I wanted, and as long as you are not planning to try and steal what belongs to me, there’s no reason for us to have a problem continuing our business partnership.” He fixed him with a hard, ferocious look. “So, I have just one question, Leonardo Solomon. I know you are a man of your word, so can I trust you not to try and run off with my wife?” Victor sat forward with a stare he bore right into Leo’s skull.

  Without hesitation Leo climbed forward in his seat, eyeing Victor like a tiger ready to pounce, and he reached out his hand for him to take.

  “I promise. I have no designs to try and win Cassie back. She’s yours. She made her choice and has become your wife, rather than harbor any old feelings toward me. Any part of me that once yearned for her has gone, and you can trust me never to try and take her away.” He spoke eloquently, and with a determined tone.

  Victor reached forward and shook Leo’s hand with a firm grip, having been ready to fight for her if necessary. He’d been like a coiled viper, poised for attack, but in an instant both predators sedated their vicious sides and snapped back to the friendly w
ay they’d always had with one another.

  “In that case, allow me to introduce you to some of my girls. You’re a free man, after all, and I would hate for you to go away unsatisfied.” Victor grabbed two cigars from the box on his desk and stood, indicating for Leo to join him. “They are no longer permitted in the house, I’m afraid. Wife’s orders,” he added with a smirk. He led Leo out of his office and through the quiet house, before heading out toward the dorm rooms that housed his best whores.

  The men walked through the bustling grounds, smoking their cigars and talking quietly. The conversation felt forced, but their business-heads were back on, and soon Victor began negotiating a deal he had in place for a new, purer line of crack cocaine.

  They eventually stopped at the smaller of the complex’s two pools, the larger one to the back of the main house now out of bounds to the whores. An array of women sat lounging around and sunbathing, while their guards kept watch nearby. Each of the girls grinned broadly as their employer approached, and he knew they were hoping he’d discarded his lover in preference for his old ways. He hated to disappoint them, and relished the girls’ pouts as he turned them away. He was only here to keep his guest occupied, and to see for himself that he was over his former flame.

  Victor walked Leo around the pool, giving him the girls’ names and describing their best talents, before he insisted his visitor take his pick. Appearing as though he didn’t want to be rude this time around, Leo made his decision and led a tall blonde away. He followed her to her room while Victor stayed behind, lapping up the attention from the women who worked for him. He didn’t take any of them away, though. He finally understood why Leo had said no during his last visit. After being with Cassie, these girls were nothing. Much to his surprise, he wasn’t interested in any of them anymore.

  Victor contemplated sneaking up to see his wife while Leo was being kept busy, but thought better of it. She was best kept completely out of sight and mind right now, even though he’d made her promises to the contrary. He knew she might not be impressed when he finally went to her.

  Chapter 32

  Cassie worked on her drawings all day, quietly sketching the lovely town where she and Victor spent their honeymoon. She carved out the faces of the people she’d met there in pencil, adding every small detail she could while it was all fresh in her mind. She drew elaborate scenes depicting their wedding and the reception that had followed, and of her dancing with the other women at the restaurant. The swimming pool was next, the azure water overlooking the red desert, and her floating inside it, free. Cassie thought back over the last few days with a smile. The house they’d rented for their wonderful time away from her boxed-in home in the complex became her mind’s retreat from its prison.

  Cassie’s hands moved effortlessly over the pages. This was her version of keeping a journal, never having been one for words. Her mind was alive with all the wonderful pictures, and she truly enjoyed capturing them on the page. She had to force herself to take breaks, resting her weary eyes, before eventually falling into an exhausted sleep once the light became too dim to keep working.

  Grayson woke her the next morning with the usual coffee and cake. She tried to get him into conversation regarding her husband’s whereabouts, but he wouldn’t tell her what was going on, and she quickly grew frustrated again.

  “Fine, be an arsehole,” she spat with a pout. She then laughed at how posh her curse sounded in her accent, and Grayson joined in. “Ass,” she tried in her best American inflection, grinning.

  She let it go, not wanting to be too pushy, and drank her coffee. After devouring her banana muffin, she slid back under the covers in a huff and treated herself to a lie in. Cassie figured if her husband was going to keep her locked up here in her tower, she deserved an extra few hours’ sleep, so she didn’t care if he approved of her long snooze or not. After all, Victor hadn’t been by to tell her otherwise.

  It was almost noon when she woke again, finding Grayson by the door reading a newspaper, and he looked up with a cocky smile.

  “Finished sulking yet?” He tucked the paper beside him and then he began talking to Cassie in Spanish, asking her how her wedding was, and if she’d enjoyed her banana muffin. They were basic sentences, and she knew he was trying to get her to respond in her struggling dialect.

  “Sí, muy bueno,” was all she bothered with, and Grayson shot her a stern look. She rolled her eyes and worked at it again, managing to sound out the words in a simple vernacular at first, and he pressed her harder. He was a strict teacher, pushing Cassie to perfect her pronunciation, and she spent the next few hours lying in bed while practicing her Spanish speaking skills.

  Only when he was satisfied did Grayson leave Cassie to get ready. He grabbed her an early dinner of chicken stuffed with feta cheese, and a huge salad, and she grinned at the sight of it, her stomach rumbling loudly. The food was delicious, but Cassie hated eating in her room alone. After their first few days together as husband and wife, she’d really begun to enjoy Victor’s regular company and found herself missing him.

  “What’s going on, GG?” she asked her minder later that night. They’d been left up there all day again, but Grayson just shook his head, clearly unwilling to tell her. “At least tell me if he’s okay. I don’t understand why he’s locked me in here without coming to see me.” She looked down at the picture she had drawn of him before their wedding, and realized she was actually worried for him.

  “He’s fine, just got business to take care of. Then he’ll come and see you,” he replied, smiling across at her, his stern expression fading.

  “Is he fucking someone else?” Cassie found herself asking. She felt paranoid and jealous, and she hated it. She wanted to kick herself for feeling this way, but it was the only reason she could think for him to stay away. Grayson’s hand rested gently on her shoulder, the contact making her jump, and Cassie looked up into his warm brown eyes.

  “Absolutely not, you’re everything to him. That’s exactly the reason why you’re up here, he’s keeping you safe.” Grayson handed her the sketchpad and took his seat by the door again, leaving Cassie to her drawing.

  ***

  Victor plied Leo with drugs, alcohol, and numerous women during the first twenty-four hours of his visit. Neither of them slept, and Victor enjoyed watching the broken man try to find himself at the bottom of a bottle, or in the bed of a whore.

  By the second night, Leo lay exhausted on one of the poolside loungers. His mind and body seemed to have had enough, and Victor helped him inside the main house to sleep it off in one of the guest rooms. Once he left Leo, he monitored his guest via the hidden camera in his room. Leo undressed and slid under the covers, falling off to sleep quickly.

  Victor called his right-hand man, Eduardo. “Lock the door and keep watch over my fragile minded friend, will you?” he asked, knowing his top man was aware he was being asked to stand guard, rather than simply keep watch.

  Victor made his way upstairs to his own room. He tinkered with his laptop, his knowledge of both the computer systems and electronic circuitry marching through his mind. Within minutes he’d carried out his desired task, to send the live feed from Cassie’s bedroom directly into Leo’s.

  He checked the monitor, watching as the television mounted on the wall beside Leo’s sleeping form flickered to life and showed him his lost lover. Leo slept on for a while, missing nothing but Cassie climbing under her covers and turning out the light, the screen then changing to a green contrast that recorded through a night vision lens. She tossed and turned for a while, seemingly unable to settle, and then she startled and flicked on the light.

  ***

  “Where’ve you been, baby?” Cassie asked Victor as he entered her room via their shared bathroom. He’d made her jump at first, but she quickly recovered when she realized it was him. “I’ve been going crazy up here.” She climbed onto her knees on the bed and pouted at him.

  “Oh, baby. Did you think I’d forgotten all about you an
d your sweet pussy?” Victor teased, stepping closer and trailing his hand up her thigh. “I’m sorry I neglected you. Let me make it up to you. I wanna make you scream and cry my name, baby, I need to hear you moan.” A sly grin curled at his mouth.

  She trembled at his words and the stroke of his hands against her body. Now, though, her shudders were not out of fear. They were in anticipation of his touch. She groaned and leaned into his hold when his fingers found her clit and began rubbing gently. Her kisses were vehement, full of need for her lover, and Cassie began stripping him of his jacket and shirt. Her nightdress went next, followed quickly by her panties, and Victor ordered her to lay back on the bed.

  He moved her to the left, seeming to be positioning her in some way, but she had no idea why. Before she could ask, he leaned over her quivering thighs and sucked her swollen nub between his teeth. Victor teased her for what felt like forever, sucking and lapping at the tender spot, and she groaned loudly. Cassie ran her hands over her breasts, rolling her hard nipples between her thumb and forefingers to appease their need. She stroked her hands downward and ran them through his dark hair, crying his name as an epic orgasm had her seeing stars.

  Victor more than made up for his absence that night, focusing all of his attention on his wife’s pleasure. It was as though he was hell bent on orchestrating her most pleasurable night ever, and she didn’t hold back when she cried out for him over and over.

  When Victor had finished with his deep and wonderful thrusts inside of her, he still didn’t stop. He pulled Cassie up onto his lap, where he kissed and stroked every inch of her body while she writhed on him, Victor’s fingers inside her wet crevice. Cassie came again and called his name as she unraveled for him. She slept in Victor’s tight grip afterward, and woke the next morning with a satisfied stretch, disappointed that her salacious husband was gone again.