by Sheila Grace
I rushed to the door and peered out the peephole. The bodyguards or thugs—whatever they were—were standing with their backs to the door. I swung around and saw another door that must have led to an adjoining room. I slipped off my heels, ran over, and jerked the handle. It was locked from the other side.
I could feel my eyes begin to burn. The fear was eating me alive. The thought of James’s father walking through that door was making me physically ill. On a table nearby there was a silver bucket of champagne and two flutes sitting next to it. It turned out James and his father had one thing in common—expensive taste in alcohol. I wondered bleakly if I could use the champagne bottle as a weapon.
I walked the perimeter of the room and found a bedroom just off the main living area. My eyes focused on a large silver attaché case sitting at the center of the king-sized bed. I walked over to it and nervously flipped up the buckles so I could wrench open the case.
“Oh, fuck. Oh fuck. Oh fuck. Oh fuck.”
It was a full-on S&M kit. Metal handcuffs, a leather riding crop, alligator clips, a ball gag, black mittens of some kind, rope, a black hood, anal beads. I had read about this stuff, but always in a pseudo-romantic context—not from the perspective of being trapped in a hotel room waiting for a psychopath to show up.
My breathing sped up, and I backed slowly away from the bed as James’s father’s words rang in my head.
… these jewels should be the only things you’re wearing when I join you in my suite tonight.
There was a loud knock at the door. Then another, like someone had kicked it. When the door burst open, I held my breath, prepared to make a run for it. My breath left me when I saw James. He was by my side a second later. He caught me around the waist and pulled me toward the door. As soon as we stepped out of the suite, I heard a familiar voice.
“Really, mates? And you call yourselves security. For shame.”
I turned and saw Jasper Blake standing over the two now incapacitated men. He handed me my phone before James began pulling me toward the elevator with Jasper flanking my other side.
“Thank you,” I gasped
Jasper took my hand and kissed it.
“I’m well compensated for my heroism.”
We walked quickly to the emergency exit. Suddenly alarms sounded as Jasper opened the door. In the stairwell, James bent down and lifted me into his arms. Without pausing, he started down the nine flights of stairs. At the lobby, James set me down. The space was in chaos from the alarm.
“Now you owe me, McDevitt,” Jasper said before melting into the crowd.
James tugged me toward the exit, where I saw the Tesla already waiting at the curb. James pulled a stack of bills from his jacket and handed it to an extremely excited-looking young valet.
“Good job, Nick,” James said as the valet opened my door for me and helped me fit the dress into the front seat.
By the time the valet closed the door behind me, James was in the driver’s seat. He pressed the accelerator, and as we took off silently, I burst into tears and covered my face with my hands. I shook my head when James gently tried to pull my hand away from my eyes.
“It’s okay, lovely.”
“No, it’s not,” I sobbed. “He said he would—”
My throat closed up as I started choking on my own fear.
“Cass, it’s okay. You’re safe now. It’s all right. I told you to trust me. Everything is going to be okay.”
I gripped my hands together, trying to stem terror rushing through me. I had seen the face of evil tonight—I was sure of it.
“Your father is the Devil,” I whispered.
“He can’t hurt you, lovely.”
I shook my head again, because James didn’t understand where my fear was coming from; he couldn’t possibly understand.
“I’m not afraid for me—I’m afraid for you,” I said through my tears. “H-he said he would hurt you.”
When James kissed my hand, I bit down on my lip and tried to rein myself in before I said anything I would regret. The thought of anything happening to him was making me sick. Even if he didn’t feel the same depth of emotion for me, it didn’t change what I felt for him.
“How about we get out of here and have a drink? What do you say?”
I laughed through my tears, but I was afraid that no matter how far I ran, with James or by myself, his father would only be steps away. Turning, I stared out the window. When music started playing, I pressed my forehead to the window.
“The Partisan? Seriously, James? Could you have picked anything more depressing?”
“You know Leonard Cohen?” he laughed.
I reached up and pinched the bridge of my nose.
“I love Leonard Cohen. The problem is his songs make me a tad suicidal.”
The music changed, and I recognized a song that had been playing in the club the other night.
“Thanks,” I said.
By the time the car came to a stop, I was less surprised than I had been the day before to see that we were at the airport with a jet waiting on the tarmac. The only difference was that, this time, the jet was much bigger. Not the size of a commercial jet, but close. James got out and walked around to my side of the car. As he helped me step out, I frowned down at what I was wearing.
“I need to get out of this dress and then burn it.”
“I’m sorry, Cass. I never meant for you to be exposed to my father. It’s my fault.”
I shook my head at him and pursed my lips.
“It’s not your fault your dad’s a monster. Although, I am kind of surprised you turned out the way you did now that I’ve met him.”
“What do you mean?”
I smiled crookedly.
“Well, how did you end up not being a complete psychopath?”
“Some would argue that I am.”
“Then they don’t know you very well.”
He took my hand as I started climbing the airstairs. When I got to the top and stepped inside the empty plane, I turned and gave James a quizzical look.
“Are you going to tell me where we’re going?”
“It’s a surprise, lovely. Go ahead and get settled. I’ll be right there.”
I nodded and began walking. Then I stopped. The cabin of this “plane” looked like a hotel room—an incredibly fancy hotel room. There were two cream-colored leather couches facing one another and enough plush leather seats to fit another six people.
I continued walking until I reached a closed door. Feeling a bit like Alice in Wonderland, I turned the handle and walked into a full-sized bathroom with a shower and a vanity.
Quickly I took my phone from the clutch and typed James McDevitt and Christopher Hanover into the search bar. I clicked on the first search result—an article from a financial newspaper from two years ago. At the top, there was a picture of Chris Hanover wearing jeans and a T-shirt and grinning at the camera. In a suit and tie, James stood several steps behind his business partner with a serious expression on his face.
Hanover Tech, Dark Horse of Silicon Valley, IPOs for $40 Billion
“Oh my god.”
I locked my phone and backed out of the bathroom in a daze.
“Good. You found the bathroom,” James said from behind me, causing me to jump.
When he slipped his arm around my waist and kissed my bare shoulder, I turned my head and looked up at him.
“You’re in a good mood for just having your life threatened by your own father,” I said, trying to recover from my revelation that the man standing behind me was a billionaire I had met in a strip club off I-80.
“I have more reason than I’ve ever had to be in a good mood. I’m on a plane, about to head into the sunset with a beautiful woman.”
I looked down. I was so raw right now that I couldn’t help hearing a demoralizing subtext behind his words. A beautiful woman. And next month another “beautiful” woman would take my place. All I had was right now. I twisted in his arms and reached up to touch his fac
e. When I rose up on my toes to touch my lips to his, he bent down.
My cheeks heated, and when James grasped my hips and pulled me closer, I nipped his lower lip with my teeth. He growled and pulled me tighter when I tried to draw back. I moaned against mouth as I felt the length of him pressed against my stomach. When I tugged harder, he finally released me, his hands still resting on my hips as I stared up at him.
“You’ve just gone and made the next hour and six minutes incredibly painful. Would you mind telling me what that was for?”
I smiled miserably and shrugged.
“Nothing. Are you going to tell me where we’re going?”
“It’s a surprise, remember?”
I smirked and started walking back to the seats as a voice came over the intercom, telling us to fasten our seatbelts. James took the seat across from me and pointed across the way.
“Your bag is right over there. You can change as soon as we’re in the air.”
I nodded and sat back as the plane began to taxi. I had been serious about wanting to burn the dress. It didn’t matter how beautiful it was. The fact that James’s monster of a father had given it to me made my skin crawl. I sat back and tried to think of destinations an hour away from San Francisco by plane.
There was L.A. to the south. Portland, Oregon, to the north. I was pretty sure it took longer than an hour to get to Phoenix. Oh … shit.
“You’re not—I mean, we’re not going to Vegas, are we?”
“What’s wrong with Vegas?” James asked cheerfully.
“Everything!”
James laughed. Unfortunately, Vegas happened to be the one memory I had of my father. I had been five, and for whatever reason, he had shown up out of the blue—and taken me to one of his business meetings. In Vegas. All I remembered was being left in front of the slot machines by a strange man who kept telling me to call him “Dad.” Then security had shown up. Within a few hours, my mom had come to pick me up. And that was the first and last memory I ever had of dear old Dad.
“Don’t worry. We’re only stopping off for a drink.”
I threw my hands in the air.
“What was wrong with a drink in San Francisco?” I laughed.
“I thought it best not to stay in the same state as my father, at least for the time being.”
My stomach sank, and I nodded.
“Vegas it is then.”
When the plane stopped climbing, the copilot announced over the intercom that we had reached cruising altitude and could now move about the cabin. I unbuckled my seatbelt and stood. Then I turned away from James.
“Do you mind?” I asked, gesturing toward the back of the dress.
I felt his fingers skim along my bare skin.
“Absolutely not.”
When he undid the back of the dress, I let it fall, leaving me in black-lace boy shorts and a matching strapless bra. I stepped out of the dress but left the heels on as I walked over to the black overnight bag sitting across the aisle.
“If the copilot steps out of the cabin, he’s going to have a heart attack,” James said darkly.
“What about you, McDevitt?”
I looked over my shoulder at him and froze when I saw his expression as his eyes traveled over my body. I straightened up and swung the bag over my shoulder, trying to seem relaxed even though my heart was slamming in my chest. I started to walk by him.
“I am being exceptionally well-behaved by my standards.”
“Your loss, then,” I smiled.
Before I stepped into the bathroom and shut the door behind me, I heard his last words.
“But not for much longer.”
I looked in the mirror, disappointed that he hadn’t followed me. Then I shook my head. I didn’t know what I was doing. I wanted him, but I knew it would wreck me when it ended. An image of the blonde woman from earlier cut into me. Who was she? Another one of the many no-strings-attached companions of James McDevitt?
When I unzipped the bag, I found a toiletry case and a beautiful cream-colored embroidered sheath dress with a low back. There was also a matching silk purse. And shimmering satin high heels. Finally, I pulled out a small box containing a white silk thong with a little bow and a seamless front-close demi bra with adhesive cups.
“He thinks of everything, doesn’t he?” I muttered.
I checked the bag for anything resembling jeans and a T-shirt. Of course not. By the time I got dressed and touched up my makeup, the flight crew was announcing our descent. I walked out of the bathroom to where James was sitting. He turned and stared at me.
“You are absolutely beautiful.”
I blushed.
“It helps when someone supplies couture for every waking moment.”
James shook his head.
“It’s all you.”
I sat across from him and fastened my seatbelt.
“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, but I was wondering …”
When I stopped, James raised an eyebrow.
“You can ask me anything, lovely.”
I nodded and looked down, twisting my hands in my lap.
“Who was the woman you were with tonight?”
“An acquaintance whose presence I had hoped would cause my father to lower his guard.”
I frowned.
“I don’t understand.”
“My father’s entire purpose in life is to outmaneuver his competitors and enemies. I needed to distract him—to make him feel confident that he had the upper hand.”
“How did you do that?”
“By sending you alone and showing up with another female guest. I wanted him to believe that I was trying to deflect his attention away from you.”
I looked down.
“Oh.”
James touched my knee.
“You don’t understand, Cass. By convincing him that I was trying to protect you, I allowed him to think I had played my hand—that Madison was my decoy, end of story.”
“I’m still not following.”
James smiled.
“Lean forward.”
When I bent toward him, he reached around and unclasped the enormous necklace I was still wearing.
“Thank you.”
Shuddering at the thought of what James’s father had said to me, I reached up to take off the earrings as well.
“What do you suppose we should do with my father’s generous gift?” James asked.
I didn’t hesitate, even though the jewelry was probably worth enough money for me to buy a small island.
“Donate it to charity.”
James set the necklace on the table in front of him and turned it over. Then he removed a small pocketknife from his jacket and pulled out a pair of needle-nose tweezers. I watched as he lowered the tweezers to the back of one of the enormous jewels. He pulled it away and held it up to me. There was a tiny piece of metal clipped between the pincers.
“What is that?”
“A bug and a transponder.”
“That thing is the size of a pinhead.”
He smiled.
“Smaller. Witness the genius that is Chris Hanover.”
“He designed it?”
“Yes. Well, technically Hanover Technologies’ research and development team did—but Chris is the genius behind the operation. Thanks to him, I have a recording of every word my father said to you. Evidence that would destroy my father is now sitting on a secure server in Tucson.”
“So, you bugged me without telling me?” I asked.
I wasn’t sure how to feel about this new piece of information.
“Again, I needed my father to drop his guard—and you were the perfect bait. It was better if you didn’t know. Madison was only there to help sell the point that I had overplayed my hand.”
I blinked and looked down when my eyes started to sting.
“She’s like me, then? No strings attached?”
“Cass?”
I squeezed my eyes shut for a second before lookin
g up at him.
“She’s nothing like you,” James said seriously.
“But you’ve slept with her.”
“Yes.”
I nodded. It wasn’t like I could hold it against him. No matter what I felt for him now, it didn’t change the reality that I had only known this man for a week. What did I expect—that he had never slept with anyone before meeting me?
“You looked good with her,” I said.
James unclipped his seatbelt and sat forward so fast that I barely saw him move. His hand slipped around the back of my neck, and his eyes burned into mine.
“Don’t do that.”
I held his gaze.
“I was being honest. She was very beautiful; you looked good with her.”
His other hand came up and brushed my cheek. Suddenly the plane lurched as the wheels touched down on the runway. James let go of me and sat back in his seat as we taxied to the terminal.
When the plane came to a stop, the copilot came out of the cockpit and began preparing the doors. James stood, and I unclipped my seatbelt as he held out his hand. By the time we reached the tarmac, there was a limo waiting. The driver opened the door, and James held out his hand for me to step in. He slid in after me, and within thirty seconds, we were moving.
“What about the bags?” I asked.
“We don’t need them.”
“We’re not staying?”
“Only long enough for a drink.”
I frowned and nodded. A stopover in Vegas for a drink. Of course! Because that makes perfect sense—in his world, I thought. The drive to wherever we were going was less than ten minutes. James stepped out when the driver opened the door, and I took his hand. I looked around. Judging by appearances, we were standing in front of a fancy hotel—but there was no one else around.
“Um … Where are we?”
“Private entrance.”
I bit my lip when I remembered the part about the forty-million-dollar IPO. James definitely lived on a different planet than the rest of us mortals. Instead of walking into a lobby teeming with crowds and slot machines, we were met by man in a suit who escorted us to an open elevator. I stood silently as we rode up to the thirtieth floor. When the doors slid open, we were greeted by another man. James had a brief conversation with him before we were left alone in an enormous multi-level Vegas suite with marble floors.