Calculated Risk

by Marie James

  “Have all of your work done by four forty-five,” she insists.

  I tap my hand to my forehead. “Yes, ma’am. What’s for dinner?”

  “Me,” she says with a wink, and I love her just a little more when her eyes dart around and her cheeks turn pink.

  She heads into the building, and I’m such a fool for her that I watch her in the side mirror of my truck, so entranced by the swing of her hips in those silky fucking pants that it takes too long for my brain to register the dark sedan pulling up.

  Tires screech as they pull up beside her, and I know I’m going to hear her scream every time I close my eyes for the rest of my fucking life as she’s yanked into the fucking car.

  Chapter 36

  Hayden

  All instincts I ever thought I had fail me when rough hands literally snatch me up, pull me inside a car and throw me without care against the opposite door. I don’t reach for the door handle to escape. My fingers immediately go to the pain at the back of my head instead of kicking at the masked man that settles into the seat beside me.

  I stare at him in shock, mouth hanging open as he slaps the back of the seat in front of him, urging the driver to get them the hell out of there. I can only see the parts of his face not covered by a ski mask when he looks through the back glass to gauge what Quinten is doing. I curl in on myself, sure that my man is going to shoot out the fucking windows and rescue me.

  Surely this isn’t happening. Women don’t get taken outside of their jobs in broad daylight moments after kissing the man that she loves goodbye, and not after spending the most amazing four days planning their future.

  I lift my leg when the car bounces out of the parking garage, the scrape of the underside echoing inside around us.

  “Kick me and I’ll cut your fucking foot off,” he growls. “I’ll send you back to that motherfucker in pieces.”

  I believe him, lowering my leg and whimpering when he reaches for me again. I have no clue what to do. I’ve read that you fight and do everything you can to not be taken to a different location but seeing as the car we’re in is already speeding away from my office building, we’re a few steps past that.

  My thoughts race to my gun, but the police still have that from the shooting. I know that this is somehow related to all the stuff that happened with Chance Harrison. My body begins to tremble at knowing that these guys came back to finish the job, and now they’re going to be angry that I hurt one of their friends.

  “Come here,” he hisses, and I cringe when he forces me to my front so he can tie my hands at my back. The rope that he’s using hurts more than the cuffs the cops clamped on my wrists a few days ago. “Stupid bitch. Ruining fucking everything.”

  Next, the world disappears behind a blindfold. These guys must have really planned this out because I can’t see so much as a splinter of the sun through the dark fabric.

  “You shot my fucking brother,” the guy growls in my ear, jerking me back to him when I try to cringe away.

  “He was going to kill me!” I scream.

  “And if he dies, that’s still going to happen.”

  “Quit fucking around with her, asshole,” the guy from the front hisses, and it makes me wonder if he’s got a decent bone in his body. Maybe I have someone who won’t be as quick to— “She’s gonna fucking die, regardless. We have our orders.”

  And there goes that thought.

  “She’s shaking like a leaf,” the guy says with maniacal joy in his voice. “I bet she pisses her pants before we get there.”

  “I’ll cut her fingers off one by one,” the guy in the front seat snaps.

  I’m trembling so hard, my teeth are clattering together like I’ve been dropped off naked in the middle of Antarctica, and honestly, if that were the case, I’d probably have a better chance of survival than the situation I’m in.

  “Sit back and relax, bitch. We’ll be there before you know it.”

  I don’t know where there is, but the ominous threat of it makes me hope they drive for hours.

  I start to try to track the direction we’re going, counting left and right turns by the pressure the car puts on my body, but we could be driving in fucking circles for all I know.

  Tears leak from my eyes, wetting the blindfold, my nose leaking snot I’m unable to wipe away as I sob as quietly as I possibly can.

  I’m not a religious person by any stretch of the imagination, but prayers race through my head as the car continues to move.

  He mentioned dying if his brother dies, and since that hasn’t happened in the last couple of days since being shot, I have no idea how long these guys plan to keep me. Will it be quick and painless if I cooperate? The outcome seems like it’s going to be the same, but I can’t imagine being tortured slowly, or oh God, what if they plan to sell me to someone? I don’t think I’d want to survive if that happens. The guy up front said I was going to die, and as the car bumps along, I try to come to terms with that.

  The sobs get worse, shaking my shoulders as I think of never being able to look in Quinten’s eyes ever again, of never being able to run my fingers down his beard or fall asleep with the sound of his strong heart beating in my ear.

  I’ll never get married or have babies.

  I’ll never find out what the hell is going on with Parker.

  I’ll never get the chance to tell Quinten that I love him.

  I’ll die, and he’ll never know. He deserves to know.

  But maybe it’ll be easier for him if he doesn’t. Maybe he’ll avenge my death, and that thought nearly destroys me as I think of these guys ending his life the way they plan to end mine. I can’t fathom a world where he doesn’t exist, no matter if I’m long gone from it or not.

  “Would you quit that shit?” A rough hand shoves me, forcing me to fall over on the seat, my head once again hitting the door. Pain radiates behind my eyes. “You’re giving me a headache.”

  I shift away as much as I can, pressing my body against the door and curling in on myself. I hate that I’m such a coward, that all of the bravery I had was used up shooting a man I’d only seen once. I curse Chance Harrison to hell for bringing this down on me. I shouldn’t be anywhere near this situation.

  I should be curled up in bed with strong arms holding me tight. I should be making future plans and looking for a new job, or hell, taking Quinten up on his offer of not having to work at all.

  The car begins to slow, and it ramps up the chatter in my jaw. Every muscle in my body is sore from the terror rushing through my blood, and when the car comes to a complete halt, I want to scream. I can’t find the courage to do that.

  The second the driver’s door is yanked open, so is the one at my side, and I fall out of the car, my shoulder roaring in pain when it meets concrete.

  “Stand up, you stupid bitch.” Rough hands yank me from the ground, and I hate my size for the millionth time in my life. I hate how small I am and how that seems to give people the urge to literally jerk me around.

  Angered, I attempt to twist out of his grasp, but I can’t. Despite my mighty will, my strength is no comparison to his.

  “Nice try, bitch,” he growls in my ear. “I’m just gonna put this bitch down right here and get video so Mr. Pierce knows that it’s done.”

  I cry out again when I’m shoved to my knees, and everything seems to calm. Something is pressed to the back of my head, and I hear a click, the sound I’m now familiar with having spent so much time recently at the gun range.

  This is it. This is the end.

  My eyes have been wide open even though I have a blindfold on, but now I close my eyes, my lips moving in prayer. I whisper my love for Quinten out loud for the first time. I ask God for forgiveness for wasting my life until recently. I pray for strength for the people who care for me. I pray that Quinten is able to move on even though the thought guts me. I pray that Parker finds true happiness and resolves whatever it is she’s been struggling with.

  And then the shot rings out, and death i
sn’t as painful as I’ve imagined.

  Death is noisy and a flurry of activity, and as I fall face first on the ground, I don’t even feel the concrete against my face. I smile, grateful that discomfort is a thing of the past, but then hands grab at me, and I realize I didn’t die, and he must have missed.

  Now is the time to fight. I roll my body as best I can, the strong arms on me pulling away for a second before grabbing me again. I snap out at them, teeth bared and feeling feral. I won’t give up. I won’t leave Quinten to find someone else. I can’t. Things aren’t supposed to be this way. Life isn’t so fucked up that you find love only for it to be yanked away.

  “Hayden! Hayden. Baby, stop. You’re going to hurt yourself.”

  I’m so fucking beyond people telling me what to do. I pull against the ropes at my back, but strong arms wrap around me from behind. Although I’m no longer on the ground, I’m in no better of a position when I’m lifted off the ground.

  “Jesus, fuck!” someone hisses when my foot makes contact with something in my scramble to get away.

  Pain radiates all the way up my leg, but I keep on kicking.

  “Fuck, dude, are you okay?” the man holding me asks, his voice rumbling through my body.

  “Both,” someone moans. “She got both my balls.”

  “I’ll kill you!” I roar, wiggling until the guy behind me holds me tighter, making it impossible to move.

  “It’s Jude,” I hear in my ear. “Calm down and let Quinten take the blindfold off.”

  “You’re okay, baby. Listen to my voice. Hayden, do you hear me? It’s over.”

  The fight leaves me in an instant, my arms and feet dangling loosely.

  Sunlight nearly blinds me when the fabric is pulled free of my face, and I begin to sob the second my eyes are able to focus on Quinten. His face looks as wrecked as I feel.

  “Baby,” he whispers, his arms open to me the second Jude lowers my feet to the ground. I don’t have the strength to stand and Quinten seems to understand because he’s right there to catch me before I fall.

  The ropes are untied from my wrists, and although both arms scream in pain, I wrap them around my man, crying uncontrollably into his shirt. He lifts me, my legs going around his waist, but we don’t get far.

  His face is buried in my neck as he falls to his knees on the hard concrete. Both of our bodies jolt with the force, but we don’t stop holding each other.

  “I love you,” I blurt, because I don’t want to live another second without him hearing it from my lips.

  “Fuck, baby.” He pulls back, his face stained with tears. “I love you, too.”

  “I was so scared,” I sob.

  “Me, too.”

  He pulls me to his chest once again, and when he holds me too tight, making it nearly impossible to breathe, I don’t even complain. I never want to be out of his arms.

  Sirens blare around us, and we just ignore all of it for long moments.

  When we do finally pull away, I see one guy prone on the concrete, face pointed to the sky with unseeing eyes, and another man face down with his hands cuffed behind his back.

  I cringe when I see Brooks, a guy I met days ago at the Blackbridge office with a pained expression on his face and a hand covering his pelvic area.

  “I didn’t mean to hurt your friend.”

  Quinten shakes his head like it doesn’t even matter as his strong hands cup both sides of my face.

  “No more work,” he says.

  “No more,” I agree.

  “Marry me.”

  “Of course.”

  “Soon,” he demands.

  “Tomorrow,” I agree without hesitation.

  Chapter 37

  Quinten

  “You may now kiss the bride.”

  The small crowd roars, the sound echoing around us in the hotel ballroom as I dip my angel and press my mouth to hers.

  I smile against her lips, a promise of all the things to come before my eyes flutter closed and I kiss her for real.

  Hoots and whistles fade away, and I’m seconds from ripping her pretty dress off when a throat clearing reminds me that we’re in public and getting busy with an audience will never be my thing.

  Hayden’s cheeks are fire-engine red when she blinks up at me.

  “Scandalous,” Parker whispers as she hands Hayden back her bouquet of flowers.

  Hand in hand, I walk my new bride down the aisle, scooping her up and carrying her into a dark, quiet room off to the side of the ballroom.

  “Now?” She giggles as I dig through the twelve hundred layers of her dress.

  “Told you I was going to need inside of you the second you became mine.”

  “I’ve been yours for a while,” she whispers, her fingers scrambling to find the hidden zipper of my tuxedo pants. “Did I tell you just how sexy you are in a suit?”

  “Yes,” I whisper against her lips as I position myself at her entrance. “Thirty minutes before the ceremony, right before you dropped to your knees insisting on sucking the nerves right out of me.”

  The bare head of my cock is already leaking with anticipation.

  “God, I love your dirty mouth.” She gasps, her jaw hanging open when I slide inside of her. “Open for me, baby. That’s it. Legs up high. Fuck, I love how tight you are for me.”

  “Quinten,” she moans. “I can’t be quiet. Everyone will know what we’re—mmm.”

  I smile against her mouth, hips moving my cock in and out of her.

  “You made me wait,” I remind her.

  “We had sex this morning… twice.”

  “To marry me,” I clarify. “You made me wait.”

  “Three weeks. Only three—I’m going to come. Shit. I’m going to—”

  I cover her mouth with mine, swallowing her breathy moan as her internal muscles begin to ripple down my cock.

  “That’s it,” I praise. “Milk me dry.”

  I pulse inside of her, my seed unrestricted for the very first time, and let me say, it was so worth the wait.

  “I’m going to do that every day for the rest of your life,” I promise, my lips making a trail down her neck.

  “Prom—”

  I clamp my hand on hers when the door to the room opens. I’m not concerned about getting caught, but I also don’t want my new bride to be embarrassed.

  “Shh,” I whisper in her ear, knowing we’re tucked away in the middle of three towers of stacked tables and chairs. We won’t be seen unless someone is actually looking for us or turns on the light. It’s not like I can exactly hide my frame very easily.

  “This has to stop,” a woman hisses.

  A familiar chuckle rings out around the room, and my ears perk up.

  “I have to stop? I’m not the one seeking you out, Parker.”

  Hayden freezes under me, and all of my suspicions since we ran into Parker in the parking garage at my building weeks ago are confirmed.

  Hayden hasn’t mentioned her friend other than Parker has been distant lately, so I never opened my mouth to voice my own concerns.

  “Nothing to say? If you don’t want to keep this up, then stop showing up at my condo in the middle of night.” Even in the darkness, I can see a large shadow stalk toward another smaller shadow, their outlines lit only by the EXIT sign above the door. “I’m not pursuing you. It’s the other way around.”

  “Like I’d ever—”

  Her words are cut off with a kiss that makes my body respond only because we’re not supposed to be witnessing it.

  A slap rings out, and Parker pushes back out of the door just as Jude’s hand touches a spot on his cheek.

  “Oh my God,” Hayden hisses into my palm.

  A slow smile spreads across Jude’s face as he straightens the lapel on his suit jacket before leaving the room.

  “That explains so much,” Hayden whispers even though we’re now alone in the room.

  “I think you should lie down,” I tell her.

  She slaps at my chest. “We
have guests, you big oaf.”

  “Knees to your chest for thirty minutes,” I insist playfully.

  “Later,” she says with her hand out. “Give me your handkerchief.”

  I pull the fabric from my pocket and pass it over, my cock going rigid again at the sight of my wife wiping my cum from between her legs.

  “Really?” she asks as I begin to stroke up and down my length.

  “Always.”

  “Fine. Once more, but then we have to go dance.”

  I don’t waste another second getting inside of her.

  ***

  The return to our wedding reception is met with knowing eyes, more than one slap on the back, and a couple of winks.

  Hayden and I dance and eat and have a blast, and every second that ticks by is another chance for me to fall in love with her all over again. And I do, over and over and over.

  I’m smiling like a fool, my hands locked at my own elbows as I hold her up to me while we dance. It’s the only way to kiss her and promise her the world without having to bend in two.

  “People are staring at us,” she says against my lips.

  “They’re supposed to,” I remind her. “It’s our wedding day.”

  I hear, “Oh shit!” and I spin us around to the other couple dancing beside us.

  I’ve been trapped in Hayden’s gaze all night, but I’m still very much aware of what’s going around us. I’ve vowed to keep this woman safe, and I plan to keep that promise.

  Deacon is staring at the floor in shock. Anna’s fingers are gripping the front of his jacket.

  “Holy crap, Hayden. I’m so sorry,” my boss’s wife says as she looks up at us.

  “For going into labor?” Hayden smiles wide. “Best wedding gift ever.”

  “We need to go,” Deacon whispers. “The umm… to the umm…”

  “Hospital,” Jude says as he walks up. “How far apart are the contractions?”

  “Don’t know,” Anna says. “I’ve been feeling a little weird all day, but no real pain yet.”

  “Well, the breaking of the amniotic sac puts everything in high gear. Have you been doing the perineal massage? This could be bad if not.”