Beyond Ransom (The Ransom Series)

by A. T. Douglas

  Ruiz writes some information in the book, and with each movement of his hand I see our opportunity to get the book slipping further away. I make a decision, perhaps a stupid one, but I make it nonetheless.

  The moment Ruiz clicks the tip of the pen shut, I move around the desk and practically throw myself at him, straddling his thigh between my legs and rocking back and forth on it.

  I see the bodyguards move toward us in my peripheral vision, but Ruiz lifts both hands to stop their advance. He looks at me, directly in my eyes as I grasp his shoulders with my hands and begin to lift myself up and down on him slightly, pressing into him, bringing the tops of my breasts within inches of his face.

  “It would seem your woman could not help herself,” Ruiz says with a laugh, looking around me to Phillips. I need to see what Phillips is doing and check on the black book, so I quickly turn around and continue to grind against Ruiz.

  Phillips is staring at me, wide eyes, open mouth, and all. I glance down at the black book still sitting on the table.

  “I’m not opposed to sharing,” Phillips says casually. “Why don’t you have a go at her, and I’ll wait outside?”

  My heart drops. This is not what I had in mind when I made a move on Ruiz. This is not the improvised plan I just came up with that Phillips is supposed to easily understand. The whole point of this was for me to distract Ruiz and his men long enough for Phillips to swipe the black book without anyone seeing, and now Phillips is abandoning me.

  He has to see the fear and concern in my eyes at what he’s doing, but he still stands up and walks away from me toward the door.

  Ruiz has his hands on my breasts now, easing them out of the top of the dress that barely contained them before. The last thing I see before I close my eyes is Phillips disappearing through the doorway.

  “Leave us,” Ruiz instructs, and though I would have been the happiest person ever to have the bodyguards leave five minutes earlier, I wish they were still here now to prevent what’s about to happen.

  I’m on my own.

  Ruiz’s breaths become heavy. “Turn. Let me see you.”

  I cringe at his words but slowly and reluctantly turn around on his lap so that he can see my face and the full extent of my breasts that he spilled out of my bra.

  “You are perfect,” he says, grasping them in his palms and squeezing slightly.

  This is wrong. It’s all wrong. I’m losing this game I initiated just moments before. I need to regain control and slow this the hell down.

  Snatching his hands away from my breasts, I move them to my hips where he quickly finds my ass, cupping me and squeezing me there even harder while I rub my chest against him and work my hands over his smooth head and neck.

  My fingers curl around his chin and force him to look up from the rest of my body to stare into my eyes. “Let me freshen up before we continue,” I suggest, scooting back from him slightly. “I want to be perfect for you.”

  “Remember what I said? You are already perfect. We should keep going.”

  I shake my head and reach behind me to grab his hands. I pull them to his lap between us and press them down firmly on his cock that is clearly ready to work its way out of his pants. I force him to rub himself, and his breathing quickens with short gasps in between. He’s thoroughly distracted and enjoying this development even more than I could have hoped.

  “Five minutes,” I whisper with one final push against his hands before I slip off his lap.

  In the moment it takes me to regain my footing and turn around toward the door, I snatch the little black book in a discrete sweep of my hand over his desk and pull it tightly to me. It seems impossible to keep my cool in these heels with this book in my hand, but somehow I’m managing it. I tuck my breasts back into my bra with my free hand as I walk. I’m almost to the door, within feet of being home free.

  “Stop.”

  Heavy footsteps pound against the floor behind me, and I throw myself at the door handle, turning and pulling on it with every ounce of strength in my free hand but with absolutely no results.

  Strong hands grasp my sides and spin me around, pinning me to the door. Absolute rage covers every inch of Ruiz’s face and radiates off his body. He glances at the book in my hand before letting go of my waist to grab for it, clawing at my arms with his nails in his attempt to get the book from me, but I’m quicker than he is, managing to keep it out of his reach.

  My small size compared to Ruiz plays in my favor. I slip underneath his arm and away from his grasp, and before he can turn around to find me, I see the gun tucked in the back of his pants. I snatch it and move the few extra feet I need to have perfect aim and extension of the gun toward him.

  For a moment time seems to stop. Ruiz bursts into uncontrollable laughter that after only few seconds is already making his eyes water when he returns to look at me. “You should put that thing down, girl. That is a man’s toy.”

  With an effortless flick of my fingers, I turn off the safety. I divert the gun away from him for only the length of time it takes to fire one deafening round of the Springfield 1911 Operator into the floor before training it on him again. He’s no longer laughing.

  I motion the gun toward the desk. “Sit down.”

  “Crazy bitch.” He continues to curse under his breath at me until he finally situates himself back in the chair.

  The gun remains fixed on its target while my heart races around wildly within my chest. Any second now that door will open from the outside and a horde of men will come in to protect their boss after hearing the gunshot.

  I need keys. Ruiz surely has them, but how would I possibly get them from him when he’s three times my size?

  There’s a loud crashing sound at the door, rhythmic, one sound after the other until the splintering wood at the door handle gives way and the entire door flings open. Phillips is standing there looking at me as I hold the gun on Ruiz with one hand and hold the black book in the other hand. He’s in absolute shock while I find myself feeling instant relief.

  “Let’s go,” I say as I kick off the pumps I’m wearing and quickly walk backward to the door, the gun remaining fixed on Ruiz the entire time.

  I follow Phillips in my bare feet as he pulls me through the building to a side exit that bypasses the sentry at the front door. We burst out into the sunshine together, running as fast as possible up the sidewalk to the parked SUV. Phillips throws open the back door for me to get in before he jumps in the driver’s seat. He wastes no time starting the engine and peeling the vehicle out onto the street.

  Gunfire explodes from behind us, and on the third shot the back window shatters and Phillips and I both duck down reflexively. The gunshots quickly become quieter in the distance behind us the further we get down the road.

  “Fuck. Mark didn’t say you knew how to use a gun.” Phillips steals a glance back at me, and only then does it hit me that I’m sitting in the back of a car with one of Mark’s men behind the wheel and with a gun in my hand. All I’d have to do it raise it up and threaten him, and he’d probably do whatever the hell I asked if it meant keeping a bullet out of his head. I’m the one in power between us, and it feels fucking fantastic.

  “Morgan,” Phillips says warily, almost fearful.

  It’s an interesting situation I’m in, a strange choice before me, but I know what I have to do even before Phillips asks me. I hand the gun and black book forward to Phillips who reaches back and takes them from me. I grab the blindfold, securing it over my eyes.

  “Next stoplight, tie my hands,” I say, and Phillips looks at me through the rear-view mirror as if this is the first time he’s actually seeing me.

  Maybe it is. Maybe this is what I’ve become in the time since I was taken. This really is the new me, though whether it’s an improved version of me or not has yet to be seen.

  27

  Tomorrow

  The familiar echoing space is noticeable even before Phillips cuts the engine and opens his door. We’re back home, if that
’s what I’m calling it now. It’s all I have, and Leo’s here, so I guess it is home.

  Phillips opens the back door and helps shuffle me out of the vehicle. We haven’t spoken a word the entire rest of the drive back, and he makes no attempt to speak to me now.

  I was grateful for the silence. It gave me time to think, though in all my reassessments of my life and reevaluations of my decisions while in the SUV, I couldn’t come to a clear conclusion. Do I like who I’ve become? Is this risk-taking, scheming girl the person I’ve been all along, hidden somewhere deep inside me all these years?

  I feel like I’m in a catatonic state as Phillips leads me through the innards of the building to Mark’s office. Even without seeing, I know when we’ve arrived. My attempt to commit the route between Mark’s office and the garage to memory proved successful.

  “Ah, Phillips. Morgan. You’ve returned,” I hear Mark say cheerfully. I’m sure he’s been waiting this whole time for us to come back with nothing, looking forward to having an excuse to berate or abuse us for our failure.

  The quick scuffling of feet approach in the hallway from behind us and abruptly stop. “God, Morgan.”

  It’s Leo, and his hands are already around my stomach holding my back to his chest. He holds me there only briefly before untying my hands and the blindfold. He spins me around and kisses me with enough passion to make up for days of being apart instead of just hours.

  By the time he pulls back, he looks overwhelmed. He can’t seem to speak or do all the things he wants to do fast enough. “You’re okay? He didn’t hurt you?”

  “I’m fine.” I smile at him, and relief floods his face.

  He pulls me into a tight embrace. “Thank God. That was excruciating, you know.”

  “Okay, okay,” Mark interrupts, physically separating us with his hands. He looks directly at me, and it takes all the willpower I have not to look away. I won’t let him make me feel weak. “Do you have something for me?”

  Phillips steps in, offering the black book to Mark as if it magically appeared.

  “Well then.” Mark sounds genuinely surprised. He’s takes the book and inspects it as if still determining its authenticity. His skeptical look morphs into a wide and devious grin as he flips through the pages. “This is gold. Pure gold.” He puts his arm around Phillips and shakes his hand. “Well done.”

  “Actually,” Phillips says as his gaze meets mine in a mixed look of embarrassment and respect, “this was all her. She got the book. I got her out of the room.”

  All three sets of eyes turn on me at once, and I refuse to back down from their gazes.

  Leo looks the most confused of all of them. “How the hell did she… how did you pull this off?”

  As he glances up and down my body, I know exactly what he’s worried about. “It’s not what you think,” I reassure him.

  Phillips pulls the gun out from behind him, offering it Mark. “She used this.”

  Mark laughs hysterically. “She did what?”

  “I pulled his gun after I swiped the book, and I fired a warning shot,” I say confidently. “Phillips broke down the door to get me out after the shot fired, and we got away.”

  Leo instantly turns to Phillips, completely irate. “You left her alone with him? You stupid fuck.”

  “It’s fine, Leo.” I grab for his arm and pull him to me, taking the moment to ignore the other two men in the room to focus on calming him down. “He barely touched me. I got away from him in time.”

  Some of the worry works its way out of his face, but the anger is still there. He turns to Mark. “I’m taking her upstairs.”

  “Some well-deserved alone time,” Mark says with a knowing smile. “Treat her like a queen, son. She did well today.”

  Leo guides me by the lower back out the door, completely ignoring Mark’s response while I’m swimming in the pride of it. How fucked-up is that? I’m happy to have pleased and earned a tiny bit of respect from the man who stole my life and brutalized me and violated me until I had almost nothing left. But he’s also the man who introduced me to Leo and the man who holds our fates within his fingers. If there is anyone in this world I should be trying to please with my actions, it’s him.

  Leo scolds me softly the entire way up the stairs and down the hallways to our apartment. The few men we pass by do a double-take at the tight black dress I’m still wearing, but I don’t even care anymore. I’m so used to the stares and glances. Perhaps the next time they look at me they’ll see me for more than just my appearance. I want them to know what I’ve accomplished today, to see me as one of them even though I’m the furthest from them.

  Or am I? Am I really that far from them now?

  This question plagues me by the time we reach the apartment, and I’m no longer even paying attention to what Leo is saying. I’m consumed by the thoughts that flood my mind. Trying to reconcile my past with my present is like trying to put a square peg in a round hole. There seems to be no right answer, no explanation for why I’ve chosen this life over my family and what I had before. Why do I have such a need to please the man who did so many horrible things to me?

  “Morgan.” Leo’s voice is calling for me, but I’m so far away. “Morgan?” His tone grows increasingly concerned. He grasps my upper arms firmly and forces me to look at him.

  In an instant I snap out of it and whisper the first words that come to mind. “I’m so scared.”

  “Fuck. I knew Ruiz did something to you. Tell me the truth. Tell me what he did.” Leo pulls me down to the bed, leaning me across his lap like he did for me at the prison when I woke up in a similar position on my first day there.

  “It’s not him. It’s nothing he did,” I say quietly. Tears fall from my eyes now. I can’t hold them back any longer. “It’s me. I’m afraid of what I’ve become. I don’t know who I am anymore.”

  Leo leans down, and I pull up just enough to make our lips meet in between, his hand slipping behind my neck to support me as he works his tongue further into my mouth. He seems desperate to show me what he’s feeling and thinking through our touch and not through words.

  I reach my fingers around his neck, gripping his skin as I pull myself up completely to him. His hands wander more now that I’m sitting up. He pulls down the strap of my dress and runs his thumb over the healing wound in my shoulder from Mark’s bullet.

  Leo pulls back from my lips, observing the wound for a moment before looking back at me. “You’re strong, beautiful, and confident. You’re amazingly brave and selfless for what you did to be here for me. Though I didn’t want you to do it, you made a difficult sacrifice for me, and I will be forever grateful for that.”

  I’m quickly enveloped by Leo’s arms, his hands and fingers grasping me tightly, keeping me grounded and reminding me just why I’m here.

  “I miss them,” I whisper, and a sob immediately escapes me. “My parents. They were controlling and unreasonable all the time, but they loved me.”

  “They still love you,” Leo counters. “They’re out there loving you right now and you’re here loving them back and loving me.”

  I can’t help smiling, and I already feel my tears subsiding at Leo’s words. Pulling back enough to look at Leo’s eyes, I ask the questions that I’ve been afraid to ask since the moment we arrived here. “Do you think we’ll ever get out of here? Will we be free, Leo?”

  “I’ll get you out of here someday.” I’ve never seen such determination in Leo’s eyes. “I don’t know how or when, but it’ll happen someday, and you’ll never have to question your decision to be here again, because you’ll have it all. I’ll give you everything I can and help you live and thrive and we’ll be together away from all this bullshit.”

  Though his words are idealistic, I find comfort in them, smiling and nodding my acknowledgement of what he’s trying to tell me.

  A shift occurs in Leo, something drastic that I can feel in his body against mine. His touch becomes tighter and more frantic all over my back. I feel him wor
king at the zipper on my dress.

  Leo’s lips brush my ear. “I don’t want you to think about that anymore. Not right now.” He places a line of kisses down my neck and over my shoulder while unzipping the dress at an agonizingly slow pace. “I want to show you just how much you mean to me. I want to prove that you’re mine.”

  The fabric of the dress leaves my upper body. Leo lifts me up just enough to slip it off me. He unclasps my strapless bra, letting it fall to the floor. His hands are immediately on my breasts, caressing them softly in his palms before he takes my nipple in his mouth and sucks it hard.

  Leo lifts my leg over so that I’m straddling him. My hips start to move against his body, responding in kind to these actions that I’ve been trying to elicit from him the last two weeks. I grasp his shoulders and close my eyes as he splits his attention between my chest and slipping his fingers down into my lacy black underwear. I’m already wet and ready for his touch as he works me in circles and throws my body into a fit of pleasure.

  When Leo’s gaze returns to mine, I can feel the heat of his skin against my cheek. He’s breathing hard, just barely holding on to his control.

  “I can’t wait a second longer,” he breathes into me. “I need to be inside you. I need you to feel me, Morgan.”

  He doesn’t wait for me to respond, already working my underwear down my legs before I can even catch my breath. In a quick movement, he flips me on my stomach onto the bed. The anticipation as I wait for him to put on a condom is excruciating. I want desperately to turn around and watch him, but I want the surprise factor more.

  Firm hands grasp my hips and pull me backward, sliding me effortlessly onto his firm cock. I gasp as his full length fills me, a perfect fusion of pain and pleasure the moment we’re fully connected. His movements are slow at first, easing me into this and letting me savor the feeling of him inside me. He reaches underneath me to knead my breasts while he’s moving within me.