It’s hard as hell to keep my mouth shut but I manage as I’m taken by the men to a waiting black Tahoe and placed in the back of it. No handcuffs are used on me and no one has read me my rights so I know I’m not under arrest. That has me breathing a bit easier but not much.
Natasha’s father is in another car. And my mind is on where she is right now. I suppose in Nantucket but I really don’t know that for certain. Neither the driver nor the passenger is looking at me so I take my phone out and look up the Greenwell’s home phone number and find it easily on the internet. “May I make a phone call?” I ask them.
“Sure,” the passenger says.
I press the button to make the call and pray someone is at their home. The phone rings and rings but no one answers. It occurs to me her father may have my number blocked somehow. I need to actually go to the house to see if Natasha was taken there.
It seems my time will be taken up somewhat today by the damn FBI and their questions. But I do have a witness in Nic, back in Greece, to attest to what I was really doing in Greece. I was never without him at my side.
Then I recall that I did go back to the airport alone and that would be enough time to meet someone and deliver information to them. I am in the tightest jam I’ve ever been in and can only pray my attorneys know how to fix this shit storm.
NATASHA
Right in my parents’ living room, I sit on the sofa across from the man who came into the bathroom after me that night after that initiation ceremony in New York. He’s acting as if he’s never seen me before which I find fascinating.
When my mother excuses herself to give us some privacy, I find myself speaking more freely to the man than I was with her in the room. “I know who you are,” I tell him and watch a smile move over his handsome face.
“Good, so I don’t need to pretend about what it is I want,” he says with an even tone. “I despise games, anyway.”
Mom made me wear a blue dress to bring out my eyes and she straightened my hair for me and helped with my makeup so I’d look pretty for the interview. I watch his dark eyes which closely resemble Nic’s as he looks at my exposed legs.
“Nic told me you are a dangerous man and I should stay away from you, Mr. Hawthorn.” I catch his eyes as they dance back up to meet mine.
“Call me James, I insist. And that’s the pot calling the kettle black, isn’t it?” he asks with a grin. “I am no more dangerous than he is. Did you catch the news, Natasha?”
I shake my head. “I’ve been indisposed until recently. Why do you ask that?”
“Your Nicholai Grimm is headed to prison it seems. He’s dabbled a bit too deeply into illegal activities and he’s been picked up by the FBI. I’m surprised your father didn’t tell you anything about it,” he says as he looks at my breasts.
I move a bit as I’m uncomfortable with his constant observation of my body. “He told me something about it. I doubt it’s true.”
“He just returned from Greece,” he says then looks into my eyes again. “Were you aware of that?”
“I’ve been aware of nothing as my father had me tucked away in an abandoned castle to keep me away from Nic. You should know my father, if not aware of your membership in the BBC, will quickly become aware of it when he does a background check on you, which he will do. So, if you’re thinking about you and me being anything more than employer and employee, then you’re in for some major disappointment.”
“Is that what you think I want, Natasha?” he asks with yet another grin on his handsome face.
I nod and cross my legs at the ankles. “Am I wrong? And remember, you don’t like to play games and neither do I.”
“Come to lunch with me,” he says, purposely not answering my question. “I have a proposition for you.”
“It’s a waste of your time, I’m afraid. You see, my heart belongs to Nic. You should understand that. And to be frank, I won’t be taking the internship with your company either.” I watch amusement spread throughout his face.
“Come to lunch with me. I think you might just change your mind when I explain things to you. You see, I get what I want and I want you,” he tells me, sending chills through me.
The man is handsome in the same way Nic is. Dark, brooding good looks, are accentuated by his muscular build. He is built better than Nic and he’s a good two inches taller as well. He’s a magnificent male specimen for sure. But another man holds my heart in his hands and I have no physical want for the hot as hell man who sits across from me, looking at me as if he’d love nothing more than to devour me.
I stare at him as I shake my head. “I don’t care what you want. I am taken.”
“You are not. I’ve checked at the BBC to see if you two have a bond. You don’t. That makes you available. Nicholai is in deep shit and it is you and you alone who can get him out of it. So, come with me and I will explain how you can stop what will surely happen to the man you claim to love if you don’t do as I tell you to.”
My skin is beginning to prickle with nerves as I watch the look on James’ face turn sinister. “Look, James. I know I was in the club and I know you saw me at the museum at that event but I’m not into that lifestyle. Not really. You see, Nic and I were about to make great changes. He was quitting the club. Our plans were normal ones. You’d really hate me. I’m not one to conform, you can ask Nic if you want to about that. I’m not a woman who can be treated the way you want to treat me.”
His eyes go to look over my shoulder and he smiles. “Mrs. Greenwell, I need to get something to eat and your daughter’s company at one of your local cafés. It would be wonderful if you’d allow me to take her with me.”
“Oh! Well, go right ahead. The interview must be going well then,” she says.
I don’t know what the hell to do. Being alone with the man is a definite no-no. “Mom, I’m not sure.”
She stops me as she says, “I meant to tell you, that Nic man has been taken in. He’s in some deep trouble, Tasha. It’s a good thing your father got you away from that man. It looks like he’s about to go down the drain, and in a hurry.”
“Pity,” James says then stands up. “Shall we, Natasha?”
I have no idea what I’m getting myself into but I have to find out what he can do to get Nic out of the mess he’s in. So, I get up and go with the man I was told to stay away from.
I hope I’m making the right decision!
NICHOLAI
Hours upon hours of interrogations about things I know nothing about have my head pounding. All I can think about is getting to Natasha but I’m stuck here, listening to my lawyers argue with the FBI agents who say some person has told them things about me.
Things that could have my ass locked away for treason!
One of my lawyers leans over and whispers, “This is not going well.”
I nod in agreement and listen as someone walks into the room. A note is given to one of the agents and a frown fills his face. “Bullshit!” He gets up and leaves the room.
The other agents, including Natasha’s father, leave the room, one by one, until only one is left. My lawyers are as confused as I am. “What’s going on?” I finally ask the only agent left.
He shrugs and gets up to go find out. Just as he gets to the door, it opens and it’s Greenwell who walks in and walks right up to me. “I’d love to know what angel is watching over you, Grimm. The man who made the accusations made a phone call to tell us he’d lied. Seems his morals came back around and he saw fit, to tell the truth. He’s not a U.S. citizen so he can’t be punished by our government for his lies. You are free to go.”
“I told you it was a lie,” I say. “I want to see Natasha.”
“That’s up to her,” her father says then walks away.
I find it amazing he said that and hurry out of the room to get to Nantucket as fast as I can. I pass her father in the hallway as my attorneys and I leave. The look he gives me has me wondering what in the hell has him smiling.
“Have you taken her
somewhere, else, Greenwell?” I ask him as I stop and stand in front of him.
“Nope,” he says and looks me in the eye. “I have not done a thing with her. But I did get a great phone call a couple of minutes ago. She’s found a new job and has promised me she will not be seeing you anymore. So, I’m happy.”
I’m filled with anger but let it go as I think she has to be misleading him on purpose. With a nod, I turn around. “I see.”
“You will respect her wishes, won’t you, Grimm?” he asks me as I walk away.
“Of course. But I will hear it from her lips that she no longer wants me before I let her go completely,” I let him know before I go.
“Fine,” he calls out after me. “That’s all a man can ask for.”
I hear him whistling as he goes off in another direction. His lightheartedness agitates me. She can’t really mean she’s not going to see me anymore. She can’t!
One of my lawyers drops me at my home and I go inside and use the house phone to call her parents’ home phone again. “Hello,” I hear a woman answer after only one ring.
“Hello, is Natasha home?” I ask.
“Hmm,” the woman says. “Is this Nic?”
“Yes, it is,” I say and wait as I tap my foot on the hardwood floor.
“Well, this is Tasha’s mother. You see, she’s gotten a new job and her employer has set up her college courses to be finished with online classes. He’s also set her up in her own apartment in New York,” she says, making my insides turn to jelly.
“Is she there?” I ask and find my voice quivering. “I really need to talk to her.”
“I’m afraid she left with the man who she now works for. You know, since her father has it in for you, you should do yourself a favor and let our daughter go. She will only cause you more trouble, I’m afraid,” she says with a sympathetic tone.
“I love her,” I tell her. “Does she have a cell phone with her? I really have to talk to her.”
“Not that I know of, she doesn’t. You really should move on. I overheard her talking to her father just before she left. She told him she would not be seeing you again. She promised him,” she tells me.
“Who is this man who she left with?” I ask as my hand balls into a fist.
“I can’t tell you. He said not to,” she says. “Tasha told him about you two, I guess. He wants no trouble with you, is what he said. So, I can’t tell you his name or where she’ll be working either. Sorry about that. You have to understand the man.”
“Who would come all the way to Nantucket to offer her a job? That makes no sense,” I say as I look up at the ceiling, battling tears. “Something isn’t right. Can’t you see that?”
“The man said one of her professors recommended her to him. He’d called a long time ago to set up an interview with her. But she only got back home this morning. I called him last night when I found out she was on the way back from Greece. He was here early to meet with her and he was impressed by her. I’m so happy for her. The place she’s going to be working makes so much more sense for her career than your company ever did. That made no sense at all, really,” she says.
“Please ask her to call me, when you talk to her again,” I say as I try to wrap my head around what is happening to my life.
“I will give her the message, Nicholai. Bye.”
I put my phone in my jacket pocket and fall on the sofa. I have no idea what I’m supposed to do now. None!
My cell rings and I pull it out, praying it’s her but I see it’s my father. “What the hell happened? You should’ve called me!”
“Whoever said those things about me lied,” I tell him. “Do I have my job back or not?”
“Of course you do,” he says. “What kind of enemies are you making that would do such a thing to you, Nicholai?”
“I have no fucking idea. All I know is is that it’s over. Thank God whoever it was decided to call the FBI and tell them they were lying.”
“An angel is watching over you, that is for certain,” my father says. “Come to the club, son. Relax for a while. You need to get rid of your stress. Come back to the man you were.”
“Speaking of that. Do you remember a woman named Stacy Holland?”
He goes silent then whispers, “Why do you ask that?”
“I met her on the plane on my way back from Greece. She said you two were sweethearts in high school,” I tell him to try to get him off the track of me going to the damn club I have no desire to go to at all.
“Yes, she is telling you the truth. Did she tell you why she never wrote me like she promised me she would?” he asks and I hear a tremble in his voice.
“Actually, she told me she wrote to you only her letters were all returned and you never wrote to her,” I tell him.
“I did write to her and I never got anything in return. I thought she’d lied about loving me.”
“She thought the same thing,” I say. “You don’t suppose your father or mother had anything to do with the letters not being sent and sending hers back, do you?”
“My father might have. He wanted my head in business, not that girl. She was my one love.”
“So love does exist, huh, Father?” I ask as I get up off the sofa and make my way to my office with an idea.
“I didn’t say that. Tell me, did you happen to get her phone number?”
“I did,” I say as I stop and pour myself a drink from the bar. I need something to knock the edge off my headache.
“Text it to me, will you?” he asks with a soft voice.
“Okay,” I say. “Talk to you later. I’m calling it a night. I’m beat.”
“Okay, bye.”
I put the phone back in my pocket and think about what Natasha’s mother said about the place she’d be working being a better place for her career. She was majoring in mechanical engineering with a minor in publications.
Taking my drink and making my way to my laptop in my office, I decide I will look up companies in New York where those degrees would be of importance. That should help me figure out where to start looking for her.
I have to find her!
NATASHA
James keeps his hands to himself as he sits right next to me in the back of the town car his driver is taking us to New York in. My mother was overjoyed when he told her he was very well off and had furnished the apartment he rented for me with everything I’d need. Including clothing. I didn’t need to bring a thing.
It reminded me of what Nic had told me. Bring my body and nothing else.
Only this bond is not a thing I can negotiate. I gave James everything to gain Nic’s freedom. I had to sign the bond in the back of his car then he made one phone call and a short time later I talked to my father on the phone. He told me someone had called in and confessed to telling lies about Nic. He was set free and then James prompted me to tell my father I wouldn’t be seeing Nic anymore.
After that call was made, James put a leather slave collar on me along with a leash he attached to it. “Just in case you think about jumping out of the car, Natasha,” he’d said.
The bond is brutal. He will be my master in all ways. I will have no free will at all. Even now, I cannot ask him a thing. I am to speak only when he tells me I can.
I don’t dare disobey him or he will make sure Nic is charged with something else. I’m racking my brain with what the hell I can do. At the very least I’ll be in New York. Closer to Nic and maybe, just maybe, he’ll find me.
In the bond agreement, I am not to have access to a phone or any other means of communication. James will oversee me when I use the computer to access my classes online. I have to wear an ankle monitor that will let him know if I try to leave the apartment.
I will have no job at his company. I will be a secret he has. If he requires my services, he will come to me. I will be a captive. No pretending. No acting. This is all very real!
He wants it that way. Craves it that way. And I already hate him.
“You and I will have
your initiation on Christmas Eve, Natasha. Won’t that be something?” he says as he turns his head to look at me.
I quickly look up and meet his eyes as rule number seventeen states. I nod and he nods back. I avert my eyes again, looking at the floor.
“I have the whole thing planned out already.” I snap my head up to look at him again. His lips part a bit as our faces are close. The back of his hand grazes my cheek. “I will not touch you until we are on that stage, Natasha. For the next three days and nights, you will be completely alone in the apartment. Then, on Christmas Eve I will come for you and take you to where our ceremony will be. Only then will you feel my whips upon your luscious flesh. Only then will you feel my cock buried inside of you.”
“May I tell you something, Master?” I ask him with a reverent tone to my voice as rule number thirty-five states.
“You may,” he allows.
“I am not on any type of birth control. I know that is rule number five,” I tell him, bringing a frown to his face that I once thought of as handsome but now think of as devilish.
“I will give you a female condom to wear for the night of the ceremony. I will send my doctor to the apartment to administer the depo shot to you in the morning. I will not take you again after the ceremony until the doctor assures me you are safe to take.”
I nod and move my eyes to the floor again. The leather collar is tight as hell. It’s already chafing my neck and the weight of it is making my neck hurt. But I dare not speak a word about that to him.
The man sitting next to me is the real fucking deal. Not a man who knows what the lifestyle is really about. This man is evil to his core. I can feel it oozing off him. There’s an energy around him I didn’t notice before I got into the car alone with him.
Alone, he is anything but charming. He is demanding and in complete control. I find it nothing like the way I felt with Nic. Nic had an entirely different demeanor and effect on me. I am terrified of what this man will do to me. And he is well aware of that and seems to thrive on my fear.
He’s tapping away on his phone then stops and sits back, putting his arm along the back of the red leather seat. “I just sent the invitations out to all of the BBC members to attend our ceremony.”
Dirty News (Dirty Network Book 1) Page 63