by Alli Sims
Jenna had to bring herself back to reality. “He’s the only man I’ve ever loved ,” she said as she gazed at her friend.
“Come on,” Krista said grabbing her purse. “Let’s get lunch and talk strategy.”
Chapter Three
They walked down the stairs together. Damien was standing by the door as if they’d just left him, his arms behind his back. When he looked up at them, Jenna could feel his eyes drinking her in. She felt heat rise to her cheeks. They were bright red by the time she reached the bottom.
“Come on, Damien,” Krista said with a mischievous grin, “we’re going to lunch.”
“I’ll follow your lead,” he said with a wink at Krista.
The giggle that escaped her lips was more than enough to make Jenna narrow her eyes at the women. Krista was already pulling her out the door. They slid into the car. When Damien joined the driver in the front seat his eyes kept glancing back to Krista. She knew what he was doing, but it still bothered her.
They couldn’t be at Boticelli’s fast enough. As soon as the car semi stopped, Jenna stepped out of the backseat. She slammed the door before she walked into the restaurant. Krista was soon on her heels. They sat together at their favorite table by the window while Damien took a seat several tables over.
“Well, he can be vindictive can’t he?” Krista mused over a tall glass of iced tea.
“Yes,” Jenna said through clenched teeth. “He really can.”
“I’m surprised, you haven’t even ordered a glass of wine, a shot or anything,” Krista commented.
Jenna shrugged. “I think I’m done drinking for a while,” she mumbled.
“Is that because of him?” Krista said nodding in his direction.
She shrugged once more. “I don’t know.”
Her friend grinned, sipped her tea. Everything she didn’t say was still in her eyes. Jenna wanted to tell her to knock it off, but she knew Krista, the woman would do what she liked.
“Come on, let’s talk about anything else,” Jenna begged as she threw a glance in Damien’s direction before turning back to Krista. “I already have to deal with my parents. My mom’s really pissed off at me this time.”
“Can you blame them? I would be angry too. If you end up in the hospital one more time, they’re probably going to put you in rehab again.”
“I know, I know,” Jenna said blowing out a breath. She ran her fingers through her hair. “I’m done with that now, I promise. I still need to get something to smooth things over with my mom.”
“Well, we know she likes shiney things. Buy her some new jewelry. At least she’ll know you’re thinking about her,” Krista said. Their food was placed in front of them. Krista took a bite of her chicken. “Still, you should apologize to her too.”
“I will.”
They spent the rest of lunch jumping from one topic to another. Jenna preferred it that way, she didn’t really want to discuss her mom or Damien. By the time they were done, Krista signed for the check before she sighed.
“I’m in the mood to go to the mall. Want to go?”
Jenna nodded. “I can pick up my mom’s gift.”
They walked out of the restaurant with Damien trailing behind them. Instead of taking the car, they decided to walk the short distance. Ashland mall could be seen in the distance, all glass and steel. Jenna loved the high end mall with its expensive shops. She was a firm believer in retail therapy.
When they reached the mall, she and Krista split up. Krista was off in search of another pair of shoes, that she’d probably never wear. While Jenna headed off towards the jewelry. She peered through the glass at the countless rings, earrings, bracelets and necklaces. On top of that there were diamonds, pearls, rubies and everything in between.
“Buying yourself a little present?”
Jenna jumped. She’d been so absorbed in her thoughts that Damien’s breath tickling her ear was the last thing that she’d expected. She turned to him.
“It’s for my mom,” she said simply. “I can’t remember what she has anymore.”
“Is this how rich people apologize?” he asked as he gazed at a necklace with a yellow diamond shaped like a heart.
“Yes,” Jenna said with a grin. “We can be short on emotions, but something pretty can fix almost anything.”
“How about this one?” Damien said pointing to a silver bracelet laced with diamonds.
“I just can’t be sure what she has,” Jenna mumbled, her fingers playing over the glass.
“Can we look at this one?” Damien asked.
A short, round woman walked over with a smile. It was the tight smile that Jenna had become accustomed to in shops like this. That same smile would change into a sneer if the woman thought she couldn’t afford what was in her shop, Jenna had seen it happen.
“Of course you can,” the woman said as she pulled out the bracelet. She handed it over to Damien.
“Hold out your wrist,” he said.
Jenna did so. He snapped the bracelet around her arm. Even the lights in the store made the stones look brilliant, she could imagine if the sun hit it. She turned the bracelet back and forth before Damien’s hand dragged along her arm and he undid the clasp, letting it fall back into his hand.
“Maybe this necklace.”
The woman handed him the necklace. Damien twirled his finger in the air. When she turned, he swept her hair off of her back before fastening the necklace around her neck. The coolness of the jewels settled against her warm skin. Jenna gazed in the mirror. Damien’s hands gripped her shoulders as he gazed with her.
“It looks beautiful on you,” he whispered.
Jenna gazed not at herself, but him. His eyes were trailing over her skin, his fingers soon followed. He slipped his hands over her shoulders, unfastened the necklace. As it went slack, she could imagine him pushing off her clothes, his fingers raking her flesh. She swallowed hard.
“This one,” Damien was saying as the woman took the necklace back.
What he put around her neck next was a choker. It had three rows of sparkling, chocolate diamonds. A long chain in the back trailed down her spine. His hand went over the necklace, over her throat. She shuddered. The memory of him wrapping his hand around her neck was vivid, her body reacting to the thought.
“This one is perfect,” he mumbled. “I like the way it makes you shiver.”
Jenna blushed. So he’d noticed. She should have known, she thought. The man rarely let anything escape his attention.
“We both know I couldn’t afford it though,” he said roughly as he unfastened the choker. He handed it back to the woman behind the counter. She could see the anger in his face as he stepped out of the jewelry store.
“Damien, wait,” she called.
He didn’t go far, but he didn’t come back either. Crossing his arms over his chest, he stood at the entrance of the shop, not listening to her call him. She turned to the jewelry case, pointed to a pearl necklace.
“Wrap that one for me please. Here, take this” she said as she pushed her card over at the counter. “Just swipe it, I’ll sign and come back to pick it up.”
The woman nodded. When she was done, Jenna walked out of the store quickly. Damien was still scanning the hallway. She placed a hand on his arm, but he shrugged it away as if it were nothing.
“Damien, please. You know that’s not why..” she trailed off, unable to finish the thought.
“Why you slept with that rich guy? Michael, was it? Or was it because he has all of his limbs.”
Jenna gasped at his words, her eyes filling with tears. “I swear, it had nothing to do with you. I did it. I was stupid enough to do it and I wish I could take it back. Damien, look at me.”
“Is there anything else you need to do Ms. Evans?”
Jenna’s heart sank. “Damien, please.”
“If there’s nothing else, we should be going.”
Jenna backed away from him. Her sadness was quickly replaced with anger. She turned on her heels.
The feeling of tears running down her cheeks prompted her to run to the restroom, to at least fix her makeup. She slammed the door behind her.
Glancing into the mirror, Jenna wiped her eyes. She placed her bag on the counter before digging through it. Laying her makeup out, she forced herself to keep it together. She knew that she was letting Damien get to her, letting him break down the walls that she’d so neatly built up for herself.
The bathroom door opened and slammed shut. She ignored the woman who came in as she continued to think about Damien. Maybe if she asked her dad again, he would change her bodyguard. She wasn’t sure how much more of Damien’s cold tone she could take.
A hand came down hard over her mouth. She tried to scream as her eyes glanced up at the mirror, but the woman wore a low hat. Once more, Jenna could feel something press into her side. She was pretty sure she knew what it was when the woman flashed it in the mirror. A gun,this one bigger, silver. Jenna shuddered.
“We’re going to walk out of here nice and easy. Do you understand?”
Jenna nodded. The woman curled a hand around her arm before pulling her to the door. She pushed her through it roughly. Jenna gazed around for Damien, but he was nowhere in sight. The woman pressed the gun against her ribs a little harder making Jenna move faster.
She glanced behind her once more. Barely, she could see one of Damien’s boots sticking out from around the corner. Her breath caught in her chest. Was he okay? Was he alive? She tried to ask the woman pushing her, but it only resulted in the gun being pressed harder against her ribs.
Chapter Four
They exited the mall back into the sun. Jenna’s heart was thudding against her chest. The woman led her to a van before she pushed her inside. Jenna tumbled forward, banging her knee on the hard floor. There were two other people in the back. Both of them wore masks, but Jenna could tell that they were men.
One of them shoved a thick scrap of cloth between her teeth before they tied it tightly. The other man tied rope around her wrists and ankles. A blindfold was slipped over her eyes before they dropped her to the ground carelessly. The smell of the dirty van floor filled her nostrils, made her tremble in disgust.
“Finally got the bitch. Make the call, M,” the woman said as they pulled off.
Jenna’s wrists were already on fire. She tried to wiggle them to readjust, but one of the men put their foot on her arm. She could hear the sound of a gun being cocked.
“Quit wiggling around,” the voice demanded. “Or I will shoot you.”
Jenna went still. She tried to calm herself down. She had to get herself out of this. There was no telling if Damien was even okay. That thought shook her to her core. She couldn’t stop thinking about the time that had been wasted, the two years without him that she’d tried desperately to block his memory out with anything; drugs, alcohol or falling into bed with other people. Now, she wasn’t so sure that she had time to fix that.
The van seemed to drive on forever. Jenna kept track of the turns in her head. Tried to keep the driving time straight as well. The woman hadn’t taken her cellphone. It was still stuck in its usual place in her bra, the sound turned off before her lunch with Krista. She wasn’t sure if she’d ever be able to reach it, but having it close gave her a bit of hope.
When they reached their destination, Jenna was yanked from the van harshly. The hand curled around her arm didn’t seem to care that she was bound, or that she almost fell to the ground. Instead, he yanked her up and continued to walk her further. She could hear heavy doors opening before she was sat down on a metal chair. The coolness of it shocked her skin, made little bumps appear.
“Did you make the call?” The woman asked.
“Yeah,” the voice replied briefly. It was the man who’d handled her so roughly, the one who had barely said two words. For a moment, Jenna thought she recognized the voice.
“Well, get her tied to the chair. What did he say?”
Jenna felt rope going around her arms, being fastened tightly. The rope bit into her skin, made it raw. She could barely move now.
“He said he’ll have the money.”
Jenna could tell the man was trying to mask his voice, but she knew who it was. It was the same voice she’d heard just the night before as she leaned over the railing, staring at the city down below. No wonder he hadn’t wanted her to die, he’d wanted to take her instead.
Against the cloth in her mouth, Jenna cursed rapidly. She kept calling his name, she knew he could understand her. A finger yanked the gag out of her mouth.
“Michael? What’s going on?”
“Damn it. I told you I heard her calling your name,” the woman said angrily.
“What is going on?” Jenna repeated.
She could hear the sound of Michael shuffling around as he sighed. “You weren’t supposed to know it was me,” he said. “I really didn’t think you even paid that much attention to me to notice.”
“Why are you doing this?”
“Your dad’s company is absorbing my father’s.”
“So?”
“So they’ve fired him. Sure, he was skimming a little now and then, but my father built that company. Now, we’re screwed.”
Jenna couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Her father had been right. She shook her head, a derisive laugh leaving her lips.
“What now?”
“Now, after I get the money, I’m going to have to kill you. I don’t think you’ll want to be with me after this.”
“I never wanted to be with you in the first place,” Jenna snapped. “Ah!”
She felt a welt rising where he’d slapped her face. Jenna protested as he slipped the gag into her mouth once more. Anger brewed up inside of her. She could hear the sound of the voices retreating as they left her alone. It hurt, but she began to wiggle her wrists. She knew they’d be raw, but they started to slip over her hands bit by bit.
Jenna wasn’t sure how long she was sitting there, but it felt like hours. Her feet were tingling from falling asleep, but she’d gotten her wrists out of the rope. She still held her arms behind her back, unsure of where the three of them had gone. Occasionally, she heard the sound of footsteps nearby, but they retreated quickly. The silence was getting to her.
“How are we going to do this?” She heard whispered frantically. It was the woman again. “He wants his daughter the same time he gets the money. She’ll identify you.”
Jenna shook her head hard. She felt the gag slip from her mouth again. Coughing, she cleared her throat.
“I won’t say anything. Please, I want to get out of here alive. That’s all I want.”
“You must think I’m an idiot,” Michael said and she could almost hear the scowl in his voice. “We take her, but keep her in the van. Once I get the money, shoot her.”
“You son-of-a-bitch,” Jenna growled.
The ropes were loosened from around her arms. Once more she was grabbed by the arm, hauled out of her chair. Then it happened.
Something heavy slammed into a wall. Jenna thought it was the door from the sound of it. She could hear commotion. Her captors were fighting with someone. Then she heard his voice.
“Jenna. Run!”
The sound of a gunshot rang in her ears. The grip on her arm was loosened. She slipped her arms out of the ropes, yanked the blindfold from her eyes. Bright, fluorescents blinded her a moment, but she didn’t slow down. She ripped the gag from her mouth, threw it to the floor.
Damien had already incapacitated the other man, who was lying on the ground. He was fighting Michael, but the woman was left to her own devices. Jenna saw her. She was leaning from around a stack of boxes, a gun in her hands as she aimed for Damien.
Jenna’s reflexes kicked in. She bent low, running around to the other side so the woman wouldn’t see her. Without hesitating, she rushed the woman, knocking her to the ground. The gun slid across the floor.
Now on the ground, Jenna and the woman fought each other. The woman had a handful of her hair, w
as twisting it around her fist, but Jenna was faster. The adrenaline pumped through her veins. She pulled the woman up before punching her in the nose. She did it again and again until the woman released her, her eyes rolling into her head.
Breathing heavily, Jenna wrapped her hands around the woman’s neck. The woman fought back, scratching her hands, trying to reach her face. Jenna squeezed harder until the woman’s hands went limp. She pressed two fingers to her neck. Unconscious.
There was no time to gloat though. She jumped up, ran over to Damien. However, it didn’t look as though he needed any help from her. He had Michael down on the ground, a gun pointed at his temple. Michael was fuming.