His Gift (A Dark Billionaire Romance Part 1)

by Dark, Aubrey

  Then Jake turned to face me, and I felt my cheeks burn.

  I was no better than her. Worse, maybe. Right then and there I would have done anything he wanted. Sucked his fingers, came all over him, I would have sunk to my knees in front of him like a goddamn pet. Just for the way he looked at me with desire in his eyes.

  Was that terrible? He chose me.

  “So you weren’t my gift.”

  “It appears that way,” I said.

  I was trying to be funny, but it’s hard to be funny when your voice is trembling so much you can hardly breathe.

  “This was a misunderstanding,” he said.

  I frowned. He was polite. Too polite.

  “It appears that way,” I said again.

  I didn’t want this man. I wanted the Jake who had shoved me against a wall and made me come so hard I couldn’t see straight. But now, Jake didn’t even touch me as he moved by.

  “But you enjoyed it?”

  He looked at me from under lidded eyes.

  “Enjoyed it?”

  “What I did with you.”

  My core ached at his words, but I pressed my lips together and answered as smoothly as possible.

  “I can take care of myself. I would have stopped you if…”

  The hint of a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. It cut off my words and made me sputter.

  “If… That is…”

  “Excellent,” he said, cutting me off with one wave of his hand. “Then we understand each other.”

  Understand him? I doubted anyone understood Jake Carville. It was only sheer dumb luck that I had come into contact with him, and in a weird way, he had let me see more to him than probably most people would ever see. Those who weren’t escorts, that is.

  We were alone together again. Just him, me, and the artwork. I breathed in deeply. There was probably still time for me to get to work. Probably.

  But I didn’t want to leave him. The way he looked at me sent spasms of heat through my body. Echoes of the best orgasm I’d ever had. My first orgasm with a guy. If I didn’t have work, I’d want to stay here forever.

  “You should go home,” he said, as though he had read my thoughts. “Tomorrow. Eight sharp. Or have I made a mistake in sending my gift away?”

  I shook my head. The lump in my throat tasted like bitter chocolate, the sweet taste hidden inside if only I could get past the darkness. I would come back, I knew it. Even if I had to bribe Andy to take my shift at the restaurant, or beg my boss for a sick day. Even if I had to get Steph to loan me another dress. There was something about him that had an irresistible draw to me.

  “I’ll be here,” I managed to choke out.

  “Excellent. I’ll see you tomorrow morning. Get a good night’s rest.”

  “Okay. You, too. I mean, I’ll see you too.”

  I backed away from the gallery. Away from Jake Carville. He followed me to the door and I picked up my heels in one hand. I wasn’t about to stumble away from this man.

  “Lacey?”

  “Hm?”

  The way he stared at me turned my skin into gooseflesh. His features looked darker staring out at me from the nearly-closed doorway.

  “Tonight was an exception. I broke my own rules. That will not happen again. From now on, you are not allowed to disobey me at all. Understood?”

  My tongue went dry as I thought about the orders he’d given me tonight, and what he might tell me to do tomorrow.

  Chapter Eight

  All of my emotions ran through me in a whirwind as I strode away from Jake Carville. I clutched five hundred dollars in one hand and my pair of high heels in the other. I felt dizzy.

  I glanced at the time as I got into the elevator. It was nearly nine o’clock. Shit. I was going to be late for my second job. I had five minutes. Steph’s place was already five minutes away, and the bar was in the opposite direction. By the time I changed—

  I couldn’t change. I would have to sprint to my new job in these clothes and pray that they didn’t care. Heck, maybe they’d be all about skimpy dresses. When I’d gone in to interview, the place looked seedy as a strip club.

  The elevator plunged down, and I watched the lights of the city rise up around me. Rain pattered softly on the glass, and I realized that I would be running through the rain. The terror I’d felt on the way up was eclipsed by the terror I felt about losing my second job if I was late.

  No. I wouldn’t be late. I wouldn’t.

  I was racing so fast out of the building, I ran straight into Steph.

  “Lacey, what’s going on? I was waiting for you, and then the cakes came out, and you still weren’t there, and it started to rain and I thought gosh, you don’t have an umbrella, I’d better come and see—”

  “No time to talk,” I said, striding quickly down the sidewalk. Steph followed me, unsuccessfully dodging the mobs of people walking by. Her yellow-polka-dotted umbrella smacked a gutter, and she winced. “Come on! We have to run.”

  “Run?”

  “I’m going to be late! Come on!”

  “But your clothes are at my place—”

  “Come on!”

  We were a sight, the two of us. Steph had on a flour-stained apron over a cute pink flowered dress and white Keds, and a gust sent her umbrella inside out as she tried to keep up with me.

  And me? I was trying not to step on any used needles or piles of dog shit, because there was no way I could run in heels, and no way I was going to be on time without running. It was disgusting, but hey, life was disgusting sometimes and you just had to make the best of it. As my mom always said, daisies grow prettier in horse shit.

  The chilly November air tore at my throat as I inhaled and exhaled. My ears stung with the cold. There was a wind coming directly down through Seventh, and we were running against it, making it even colder.

  My boobs flapped up and down as I ran. Oh, the curse of being well-endowed. I pressed one arm across my chest to try and keep them from flying everythere. Huffing and puffing, I threw myself into one last sprint down the block and stopped at the corner.

  “Okay. Okay,” I said, breathing hard. Steph came running up behind me, slowing to a panting stop.

  “My heart… is going to burst,” she gasped. “Oh God. Oh God.”

  “The bar…it’s right around the corner…next to the flower shop…” I said, rasping for breath in between talking. “How do I look?”

  “I don’t know,” Steph groaned. “All I can see are black dots in front of my eyes.”

  “Are you okay?”

  “Oh, God, I haven’t run that many blocks since fifth grade.”

  “Okay, but seriously, Steph, concentrate now. How do I look?”

  “You look… you look sexy,” Steph wheezed. “Who’s your makeup artist?”

  “Am I okay to bartend, you think?”

  “Are you going to take that shawl off?”

  I scowled. “Come on.”

  “I’m coming with you? On your first shift? Isn’t that weird?” Steph asked. “Like helicopter moms, you know. Would I be a helicopter best friend?”

  “We have to talk,” I said, looking at her meaningfully.

  “Oh,” Steph said, understanding dawning on her face. “Oh! Did he like the cake?”

  I opened my mouth and then shut it. I took another breath through pursed lips.

  “Sure. You… could say that.”

  ***

  I walked into the bar and immediately knew that I was dressed completely wrong.

  Steph came up beside me and whistled a low whistle.

  “Wow. You sure know where to pick places of employment, Lacey.”

  I should have come here on a weekend to check the place out, I know. But I hadn’t. And now I was surrounded by a bunch of tattooed drunk dudes looking up and down at the two girls who were quite obviously new to this place.

  “Be cool,” I said. “I’ll slip behind the bar and it’ll be fine.”

  “That guy has a metal stud coming out
of his forehead. His forehead! What is he, some kind of punk unicorn?”

  “Shh, Steph!”

  “Hey! Are you Lacey?”

  A red-haired bearded guy wearing a flannel shirt emerged from the crowd of people. I exhaled in relief.

  “New girl?” he asked.

  “You’re Casper, right?”

  “Casper? Like the ghost?” Steph said.

  “I’m sure he’s never heard that one before, Steph,” I said, rolling my eyes.

  “Like the ghost, you got it,” said Casper, who didn’t seem to care one way or the other. His teeth flashed white from behind his red, bushy beard.

  “So I’m ready to get started!” I said, trying to mask my nervousness as excitement. I was still recovering from the adrenaline rush of our sprint.

  “Who’s your friend?”

  “This is Steph,” I said.

  “Like the princess?”

  “What princess?” she asked.

  “Princess Stephanie. The princess of Monaco,” Casper said.

  “I think you just made that country up.”

  “What? No, for real. Here, I’ll show you.” He pulled out his phone.

  “Oh, come on,” Steph said, pouting and fluttering her lashes. “Can’t a girl flirt nowadays without being called out on her facts?”

  “Ugh, quit it, Steph,” I said, pushing past her. “Come on, Casper, show me the ropes.”

  “Make me an Old Fashioned when you get a chance!” Steph cried out from behind us. Caspar nearly knocked his head off nodding to her that he’d heard. I saw him slick one hand through his coppery hair and check it in the mirror as we went back around the bar.

  Casper and I slid behind the bar as easily as if we’d been working together for years. I took beer orders from two guys who had been waiting, pouring both drafts at the same time. As I slid them over the bartop, he nodded appreciatively.

  “Good head,” he said, giving me a wink. “That’s the most important part of this job.”

  “Let’s hope I get a raise soon, then,” I said, winking back.

  Steph waited impatiently for me to get a moment to myself. I was impatient too—I couldn’t wait to tell her everything that had happened—but this was a job, and I was going to do it right my first day. Fortunately, the other bartender was pretty cool about everything.

  Casper showed me the bar pretty quickly—it was a standard setup, albeit a bit more crowded than I was used to. I’d tended bar before, so it only took a few minutes for him to realize that I would be able to handle the small mob with no problem.

  “As long as you’re my bouncer,” I said.

  “You got it. Oh, and let me show you something,” he said.

  He bent away from the crowd for a moment and motioned me down. I crouched next to him.

  “This is the rubber floor mat,” he said, pointing to our feet.

  I frowned.

  “A floor mat? Really? Is this why you made me crouch down?”

  “Uh, no. It’s… it’s about your friend.”

  “About Steph?”

  Casper looked at me with hope flickering in his eyes.

  “Was she really flirting with me?”

  Chapter Nine

  As soon as the bar cleared out a bit, Steph and I were able to talk. I told her everything. Well, everything except for the part where I smashed her cake. I kind of left that part out.

  “So a billionaire is in love with you?”

  “Shh, no.”

  “But he wants you to come back tomorrow?”

  “That doesn’t mean he’s in love with me, Steph. That means he wants to see me again.”

  “Immediately. He wants to see you again immediately. And for the whole week? What does that mean?”

  “I don’t know,” I said.

  “Oh my God, Lacey, you don’t think he’s going to take you prisoner as a sex slave and keep you locked in his dungeon?” Steph’s eyes were wide.

  “I don’t think penthouses have dungeons.”

  “Penthouses have everything. I bet he has a dungeon where he locks up all of his girls with collars! And whips them and—”

  “Excuse me, could I get the Ballast brew?”

  “Sure,” I said. I poured the drink and leaned back to Steph.

  “So do you think I should go?” I said.

  “What? Of course you should go!”

  “But you just said it was dangerous. That he would lock me up as a sex slave—”

  “Well, yeah, maybe. Or maybe he’ll fall in love with you and want to marry you and then I could make the cake for your wedding and it would be perfect!”

  I blinked.

  “Okay, Steph, you are totally useless.”

  “I’m enthusiastic.”

  “Useless and enthusiastic.”

  “You’re welcome,” she said. “Promise me you’ll let me be the godmother to your billionaire babies.”

  “I promise.”

  “Pinky swear?”

  We put our arms across the bartop and I pinky swore.

  “And if you go missing for a week, I promise to call the police and tell them you’ve been abducted as a sex slave by a sexy billionaire.”

  “Just don’t call them until after the week’s up, okay?”

  “Yes, ma’am! I’ll tell them exactly that.”

  “I think they’d lock you up in the looney bin, Steph.”

  “That’s princess Steph to you,” she said, raising her cocktail and tipping it my direction before quaffing the last sip. “And you’ll be billionairess Lacey!”

  “You’d better go eat a cupcake to soak up some of that gin in your system.”

  “It’s like tiramisu, but tastier. And drunker.”

  “Exactly.”

  I saw Andy at the door and waved to him.

  “Your brother’s here.”

  “Oh, good,” Steph said, slurring a bit. “He can have a cupcake too.”

  Andy came over and helped Steph up off of her stool. They looked nothing alike at first—he was a scrawny bean pole compared to Steph, long and lean—but both of their eyes flashed the same golden-brown laughter.

  “Thanks for coming to pick me up, little bro!” she said.

  “No problem,” Andy said, checking out Casper’s back side as he bent over the ice bin. Great, they could fight over Casper between the two of them.

  “This is where you’re working now, Lace?” Andy asked.

  “Sure is,” I said.

  “Nice place. Okay, let’s go back. You ready to go back, Teph?”

  Steph nodded and I leaned across the bar to give her a hug.

  “Goodnight, princess Steph,” I said.

  “Goodnight, billionairess Lacey!”

  ***

  After Steph left, there wasn’t much to do. People came in, people came out, and the hours ticked by slowly. Casper sat on the side of the bar reading a comic book.

  Soon, it was four in the morning and time to close up. I cleaned down all the tables and started mopping the back. Casper hauled the trash out to the alley.

  “Bathrooms need to be cleaned,” he said.

  “Already did it,” I replied.

  “Are you for real?”

  He wrapped his arms around me in a friendly drunken bear hug.

  “You bring cute girls to the bar and clean the bathrooms without having to be yelled at. You’re an angel. Can you work tomorrow night?”

  “Tomorrow? Oh, um. I’m not sure.”

  Normally I would be jumping at the chance for an extra day of tips, but Jake Carville wanted me back at his place tomorrow, and I had no idea how long I’d be there. The mere thought of those luscious lips and dazzling emerald eyes made me flush. I hoped he would keep me there a while. I hoped—

  “Can I text you later this morning and let you know?” I asked.

  “Sure. No problem if not, but working with you sure makes the night go by easier,” Casper said.

  “Thanks.” I grinned. It was good to be useful, even if useful
only paid minimum wage plus tips.

  I went out to the alley with the last bag of recycling.

  A black SUV pulled into the alley. The headlights were on high, and as the car swung in, the light blinded me. I held my hand up.

  “Hey, come on,” I said, annoyed. It was late, and I was tired, and this alley didn’t even go through to the next street. I swung the bag up into the recycling bin. Then I heard the car door open.

  Then I heard another car door open.

  Instinct made me stop. Fear made me drop the second bag. Before my mind even knew it, my body was preparing for flight.

  As soon as I saw the silhouette of a man step out in front of the lights, I turned to run. The men from the car sprinted toward me at full speed.

  My heel caught in a crack and I cried out as I fell. I didn’t even hit the ground. Four strong arms caught me and pulled me back. The men were wearing all black, with ski masks covering their faces. I wrenched away but they were too big. I was helpless in their grasp.

  “Help!” I shouted, but they were already pulling me into the back of the SUV. One man held me tight in his arms. Another hand covered my mouth and muffled my screams. I kicked out at the driver.

  “Cut it out,” the driver said. “Jesus, how did he ever find this one?”

  “Dunno. Here, put this over her face. That should do it.”

  I squealed as a hand clapped a handkerchief over my nose and mouth. I writhed from one side to the other, trying not to breathe. Soon, though, the ache for oxygen was so strong that I couldn’t help myself.

  I gasped. There was a slight smell of lemon, and then the world around me blurred. I slumped back. Two men, both with black ski masks, leaned over and watched. I reached up, but my arm didn’t move.

  “What—what did you—” My words were slow and heavy.

  They were talking, but none of the words made sense to me. My body was getting heavier, heavier. A seatbelt slid across my chest. I stared down at it, the dizziness overtaking me. Seatbelts made you safe. Was I safe?

  “Safe,” I mumbled. That was the last word I remember saying before I slipped into darkness.

  Chapter Ten

  When I came to, I was blindfolded.

  I was so dizzy that for a moment, I couldn’t tell if I was standing up or lying down. I breathed in slowly, then out. Whatever it was that had knocked me out, it had knocked me out completely. I didn’t remember anything after being put in the car by those men.