‘I’d feel better if Skandar and Hayley were here, safe,’ Ran said quietly, and Nan nodded.
Carter got up. ‘We’ll send a car over for them – has Skandar got security at his house, a physical presence?’
Joel shook his head. ‘He hates being crowded, but it is like Fort Knox. No-one’s getting in there.’
‘Still, I agree with Mr. Mallory Sr. Let’s get everyone here.’
Joel nodded and Ali Bell went to arrange the escort. Carter looked at Jakob. ‘You ready to continue?’
Jakob nodded. ‘Let’s get this done.’
Now…
Skandar awoke at the sound of someone leaning on his intercom. He stumbled out of bed, glancing at the clock and stopped, turning to look at the empty bed beside him. Where the hell was Hayley?
Dread started to spiral through his chest, and when he opened the door and saw the police officers waiting, his heart dropped.
‘What, what is it?’
‘Mr. Skandar Mallory? We’re sorry to disturb you, sir, but we need you to come down to the FBI field office with us.’
Skandar stared at them dumbly. ‘Why?’
‘I’m sorry, Mr. Mallory, we can’t tell you that.’
‘Am I under arrest for anything?’
‘No, sir, not at all.’
Skandar drew in a breath. ‘Look, my girlfriend is due home soon; I’d rather wait for her then I’d be happy to come. I don’t want to leave her here alone at night.’
The officers looked at each other. ‘Hayley Applebee?’
‘Yeah, she’s gone out with a friend, my aunt-in-law if there is such a thing.’
Another loaded glance. ‘The aunt’s name?’
‘Quilla Chen, or Quilla Mallory, that is….look, what’s going on?’
The expressions on the officers’ faces had gone from professional to concern. ‘Okay, Mr. Mallory, I’m going to ask you to come with us now. We’ll leave someone here to bring your girlfriend in later. It is important that you come with us now.’
Then…Twenty Years Previous
‘Dude, to our tenth project together and for making Mallory Fisk the biggest property conglomerate in the world. To us, man,’ Gregor tapped his champagne flute to Jakob’s and grinned. They were standing in the as yet unoccupied penthouse of their latest residential building, and even Jakob had to admit, Gregor had outdone himself on this one.
Yeah, it might be little ways off the vision for cheap, stylish housing that he, Jakob, had, but Jakob wasn’t Randall Mallory’s son for nothing. He had his father’s eye when it came to beautiful aesthetics and this place…damn; Jakob was tempted to buy it for himself. He could afford it now, without even tapping into his trust fund.
‘I’m seriously thinking about taking this place.’ Gregor’s word mirrored his thoughts and Jakob half-smiled but said nothing. ‘Look at that view.’
Mt. Rainier rose out of the gloomy twilight, and the city was a riot of lights, nightlife, and traffic. Jakob could see over to the islands, the ferries moving slowly across the Bay. He loved this city more than anywhere else in the world, and that was saying something.
‘Listen, you want to grab some dinner? Padma said she’d love to see you.’
Padme Khan, Gregor’s stunning girlfriend, was a human rights lawyer. Gregor had been dating her for a year and a half, was crazy about her, and talked about marriage. Padme herself, smart, brilliant, funny, seemed fond of Gregor, her natural reserve making her hard to read. Yes, she was gorgeous and kind…and for the last two months, she had also been Jakob’s lover.
It had been an instant attraction that they fought for over a year until one night; Jakob had been working late at the office when Padme had arrived, looking for Gregor.
‘He’s with a client,’ Jakob had told her. He offered her a drink, and she accepted. He joined her on the couch in his office, their knees touching as they sipped their scotch. Then she had put her hand on his knee and that had been that. A glorious, delirious, adrenaline-filled fuck later and Jakob was lost. They’d met every couple of days since then – Gregor’s assistant Mandy more than happy to cover for them – Gregor had never treated her or any of the Mallory Fisk staff with any respect right from the beginning; the fact they had any staff was down to Jakob and their loyalty to him. So, Mandy, with more than a little glee, would tell them when it was safe to meet.
Padme, with her large dark eyes, soft pink lips, and killer athlete’s body, was an energetic and uninhibited lover.
Both of them felt guilty, but both of them were addicted to the other. They didn’t talk about the future, or make plans, or say I love you. In fact, Padme was adamant. ‘I don’t love you; I just want you,’ she told him and Jakob was fine with that.
He agreed to the dinner that evening but didn’t expect Padme to announce she’d had a job offer in London. Gregor, by the look on his face, hadn’t expected it either. Jakob felt sorry for his partner.
‘So, you’re taking it?’
Padme nodded. ‘It’s too good an opportunity to miss. I’m sorry, sweetheart; I had to make the decision quickly.’
‘Without me?’
Padme’s smile was distinctly chilly. ‘Of course. It’s my career.’
Gregor hadn’t argued, but he had been silent for most of the evening. The next day at work, Jakob went to see him in his office. ‘You okay?’
Gregor smiled, his eyes are distant. ‘Sure. No big deal. I was thinking of breaking up with her anyway.’
Yeah, right, but Jakob nodded sympathetically. ‘Good for you. Moving on.’
‘Pretty sure she was cheating on me, anyway.’
Uh-oh. ‘Really.’
Gregor looked at Jakob was a long moment then the corner of his mouth hitched up in a smile. ‘What do I know? Hey, I could use a drink tonight.’
‘Sure thing.’
That was the first evening Jakob saw Gregor use cocaine.
Now…
‘So even back then, he was using.’
‘Recreationally. Not my concern unless it started to affect the business and actually, he seemed to throw himself even more enthusiastically into the projects we were working on. I struggled to keep up.’
‘So you were sleeping with his girlfriend. His motive for revenge? Seems a little pedestrian for how he’s behaving now. Coke psychosis would go some way…but I’m still not convinced there isn’t something else.’
Jakob rubbed his head. ‘Look, can I take a quick break?’
Carter sat back, tired himself. ‘Of course, take ten minutes.’ As Jakob got up, another officer came in and handed a note to Carter. ‘Jakob, wait. Forensics is telling us there was another person in the car with Quilla.’
Jakob looked shocked. ‘Who?’
‘We don’t know, they’re bringing up something they’ve found, can you wait?’
‘Sure.’
Jakob looked at his family, seated around the table with him. ‘Thank you all for being here, it helps, it really does.’
Nan got up and hugged him. ‘They’ll find her, Jakob.’
Jakob tightened his arms around the blonde woman. ‘From your lips, Nan…’
There was a commotion outside and then Skandar was there, his eyes confused. ‘What the hell is going on? Why are we all here?’
Joel got up. ‘You don’t know?’
‘Quilla’s been taken, Skandar. Her car was ambushed, her driver was killed, shot.’
With all the blood draining from his face, Skandar’s legs gave way. ‘No…god…no….’ Joel caught him before he fell, shooting a shocked and confused look at the others. Trembling, Nan stepped closer, put her arm around him.
‘Skandar, where’s Hayley?’ Her voice broke when Skandar looked her directly in the eye, his pain obvious.
Behind her, a man in a lab coat came in and handed something in a plastic evidence bag to Carter. He held it up. ‘Anyone recognize this?’
Nan screamed; an agonized howl that tore at everyone’s heart, drawings gasps from the
others. Skandar looked up, his eyes heavy and tormented. ‘It’s Hayley’s hat,’ he said in a voice so broken and despairing it barely seemed human, ‘She was with Quilla.
They took Hayley too.’
Now…
Hayley had fallen into an awkward slumber, Quilla’s arms around her. Gregor’s men had brought mattresses into the room for them, but they huddled together on one. Late Fall had brought cold weather, and the thin blankets they had were inadequate. Quill couldn’t sleep. She guessed it was about two or three in the morning by the quiet in the room.
She had already checked out anything she might use as a weapon, but Gregor wasn’t a stupid man. The food they were given was all finger food, sandwiches, fruit, stuff that didn’t require even plastic knives and forks. In the bathroom, the toilet had no lid, either on the seat or the cistern. The shower rod was cemented into the wall. Even the soap was just a plain bar, no bottle that could be filled and used to club someone.
How did I get here? A year ago, I was sketching bridges in Venice and now… She couldn’t believe how calm she was in this situation. She could be murdered any minute and…
Stop it. Close your eyes, think of something else.
Their wedding night. They’d flown to the big Island the day after Jakob had proposed, the day after that incredible, erotic night they’d spent on the terrace. Simple vows and that was that. Married. Two hours later, they’d gone back to their island hideaway and celebrated.
She slid the white cotton dress from her shoulders the moment they stepped inside the villa, and let it fall from her body to the tiled floor. She looked back over her shoulder at him, saw him smiling, obviously enjoying the striptease. He stepped forward to kiss her shoulder, while his fingers expertly popped the clasp of her bra. She let that fall too, and turned to press her breasts against him, her lips seeking his. ‘Take me,’ she murmured against his mouth and with a growl, he swept her into his arms and carried her out to the terrace. It was evening, and the sunset made her honey skin golden in its light.
Jakob laid her down on the sun lounger and began to kiss her, his lips trailing down her body until his face was buried in her belly. She stroked his hair, turned on by the fact she was naked and he was still fully dressed. She was his, his wife, his love. When he looked up, she was surprised to see tears in his eyes, and he smiled. ‘God, I love you, Quilla Chen Mallory.’
She grinned. ‘That’s my name.’ Jakob, his eyes full of love, gently pulled her legs apart and then his mouth was on her, kissing and sucking, tasting and teasing, her sex swelling and reddening under his touch. His tongue made her clit harden, and the sensitive nerve endings scream with pleasure, then he plunged it deep into her cunt, licking and tasting and loving. Quilla moaned, her entire body liquefying under his touch, every cell needing more of him. ‘Let me suck you,’ she pleaded and grinning, he stood and quickly stripped. She gazed up at his perfect, hard body, the wide shoulders, the firm abs, and his cock, so big, so hard. She stroked it upwards from the root and took the smooth tip between her lips, one hand massaging his sac gently, while her forefinger found that sensitive spot behind his balls. Her mouth, wet and warm, enveloped his cock, drawing on him. His hands were in her hair, stroking her tenderly, letting the fine strands fall through his fingers. Jakob groaned as he neared completion, Quilla looking up at him. ‘Come on my skin,’ she said, and he nodded. His cock quivered and lengthened, and he shot stream after stream of hot, white semen onto her skin, her breasts, her belly. Quilla arched back and spreading her legs, running her fingers through the substance and massaging it in and down into her sex. ‘God, Quilla, yes, touch yourself like that…’ Jakob fisted the root of his still hard cock as he watched her masturbate, her long dark hair tumbling down her back, her golden skin oiled with his cum, her cunt glistening with desire. When he couldn’t take anymore, he dropped onto her body and thrust balls deep into her, pressing her legs as far apart as they would go.
Jakob rammed his hips against her, murmuring to her, telling how much he loved her, loved fucking her over and over. Quilla came, one roaring shattering orgasm after another, crying out her love for him. He didn’t let her rest, flipping her onto her stomach and pushing into her ass, wanting to possess her in every way. They fucked long into the night, falling asleep with their bodies tangled just as the sun rose over the island.
Quilla felt sleep come then just as a tear escaped then she was in that semi-conscious state between awake and sleep when the images came to her: Jakob’s face turning from happiness to horror, the pain, her own body jerking and spasming as Gregor stabbed her to death…
She awoke screaming, and it took all of Hayley’s will to calm her down.
Skandar wanted to scream, wanted to howl. If Gregor Fisk walked into this room this very moment. Skandar wouldn’t need a weapon. He’d rip him to pieces with his bare hands.
Hayley. His sweet, young Hayley. He tried to take some comfort that Fisk had taken her, that he hadn’t killed her in the car wreck like he had the driver. He hadn’t needed the FBI agent to tell him why; Gregor would use her as collateral. To bend Quilla to his will. This was hopeful, she was useful, the FBI agent said. But what about when Fisk carried out his promise to kill Quilla? Hayley would have served her purpose, and be of no more use to him. He couldn't help but picture both the woman dead, murdered.
Jesus… He would vomit, but after they’d shown them Hayley’s wool cap, he’d lurched to the bathrooms and thrown up and up, his father not knowing who to console first, his son or his girlfriend Nan, Hayley’s sister. She was a wreck. She’d hugged Skandar, no sign of reproach in her eyes. ‘We’ll get her back; we will,’ she whispered to him urgently.
Skandar knew the fact Hayley would be used against Quilla wasn’t lost on Jakob. In his uncle’s eyes, there was a deep sorrow, a resignation. He thinks they’ll be killed. The thought made Skandar want to howl. He went to his uncle and took him by the shoulders. ‘Don’t give up hope,’ he said to him in a low voice, ‘don’t. If you do, I do, and I can’t live with that.’
Jakob had nodded stiffly.
The field office was filling up now; it was almost eight a.m. Jakob was back in that room with an exhausted looking Agent James. Agent Bell had taken the rest of them to the cafeteria for coffee and breakfast, but no-one felt like eating. Skandar stared out of the window, oblivious to the press pack on the street below them, aiming their cameras at the heartbroken man. He stared up at the dark gray sky that was threatening snow.
Where are you, Skandar thought, sadness overwhelming him, where are you, my precious, darling Hayley? Wherever you are, fight to stay alive. Please…
Fight.
He came for Quilla about lunchtime. With Paul leveling a gun at Hayley, Quilla did not put up a fight when Gregor handcuffed her hands behind her back and marched her out of the room. She turned and looked back at Hayley. ‘I love you,’ she said.
Hayley nodded. ‘I love you.’ As the door closed behind her, Hayley shouted, ‘Please don’t hurt her.’
Quilla choked back a sob, not wanting to give Gregor any satisfaction. It was a relief when she saw both of Gregor’s goons exit and leave Hayley alone. She had seen the one named Paul looking lasciviously at the young woman, and she would die before she let Hayley be assaulted. Gregor led her to a private room, a dining room by the look of it and pushed her into a chair, releasing her hands. He grabbed her head, forcing her to look at him. ‘Christ, you get more beautiful,’ he said roughly and kissed her. Quilla gagged and whipped her head away from him, and he laughed.
‘Still so feisty. And overdressed.’ He yanked her already torn dress open, running a leisurely hand over her breasts, her belly. Quilla squeezed her legs together, but he merely chuckled, gripping her thighs and prizing them apart.
Then he walked away, and she sighed in relief. ‘Quilla, Quilla, Quilla…’ he said, and she gritted her teeth. He pulled a chair up to hers and sat down, studying her. She met his gaze defiantly.
He nodded. ‘Ye
ah, I can see why Mallory married you, keeps you up that gilded cage. You’re exquisite.’
Quilla’s eyes narrowed. ‘And that’s all I am to you, isn’t it? So-called ‘beauty’ and nothing else. Nothing that can’t be cut down with your knife. Maybe that’s your problem, Gregor, not seeing people for who they really are. What gives you the right to take what you want? I’m a human being, not your property, not Jakob’s property, or anyone else’s.’
‘That’s where you’re wrong; I do see you. I want to know you, Quilla.’
She laughed mirthlessly. ‘Before you kill me? Did you want to know me when you stuck a knife in my gut?’
Gregor smiled. ‘That wasn’t meant to kill you, Quilla, just send a message.’
‘You sent plenty of messages, remember? I have to give you credit for your imagination, Gregor, you certainly thought up some pretty horrific ways to kill me.’
He chuckled. ‘Would you believe me if I said I was rethinking that idea?’
Quilla was shocked. ‘Then why are we here? Why did you take me? Hayley?’
‘Your pretty little friend was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.’
‘Then, please,’ she softened her tone, ‘Let her go. Just drop her and make an anonymous call, just please, let her go.’
Gregor leaned back in his chair, his eyes roaming all over her body, obviously enjoying her torment. ‘Well, let me think about it. I’ll tell you what, lovely Quilla, I’ll make you a deal.’
God, she wasn’t going to like this, was she? Quilla swallowed. ‘What deal?’
He edged closer, cupping her breasts, stroking his thumbs across her bra-covered nipples. ‘A week. A week in which, Quilla, you will be everything to me that you are to Jakob Mallory. In every way. At the end of the week, if I’m satisfied, I’ll let the blonde go.’ He cupped her face in his hands, forcing her to look at him. ‘If I’m not satisfied, I’ll let Paul have her before I kill her. And you, sweet Quilla, will wish you’d never been born.’
Montgomery Billionaire Series Page 117