SOLD: Jagged Souls MC

by Naomi West

  And there was no way Abby was going to go down for this, especially not after everything she'd done for him. He couldn't let the woman he loved take the fall for him. What kind of man would he be?

  # # #

  Abby

  “I don't know about this,” Jackie murmured, her words slurred a little by the wine. Thankfully, she'd switched to water to try and give her body a little recovery time. “Zed might think you'll be in the clear, but you know how public opinion is. They might just flip on you because your name's up front, Abbs.”

  Didn't she know it? Abby chewed on the back of her knuckle, thinking of another way out of this. The problem was, she was in one hell of a trap—one that had been built specifically for her. “I can't see any other way, Jackie,” Abby said, after a long while.

  Zed was busy trying to get Kara Singh on the line.

  “And what's the deal with that?” Jackie asked, jerking her thumb at Zed. “What's going on here? Why does he have that reporter's phone number?”

  Abby sighed and looked away, trying to come up with something she could tell Jackie. She certainly couldn't mention that he'd kidnapped her and held her hostage for the last week. But, she could at least tell her part of it, couldn't she? “Remember how Zed showed up at the office last week?”

  “Just before the car accident?” Jackie asked, a perplexed look on her face. “Yeah, right, I remember.”

  “Well, he wasn't there for a business meeting. He showed up to bring something to my attention. His brother, Kai, is in prison for a murder he committed while he was taking Dimalerax. He wanted my help with bringing out the truth and with getting some evidence about what Pharma knew about the medication, to see if he could somehow exonerate him.”

  “Woah, there,” Jackie said, as she set her glass of water on the table. “Hold up. You've been working with him to get evidence?”

  Abby shook her head, then sort of shrugged. “Not up until now, really.”

  Zed finally got Kara on the phone right about then. Both women glanced up at him as he said hello to her, then got up to leave the room. They watched him go, then returned to their conversation.

  “Look,” Abby said, leaning forward, hands clasped in front of her, “I thought it was kind of bullshit at first. Zed had some pretty wild claims that he was making. But, as I started to dig into the files and look at the paperwork, I realized they're valid. I wanted to stay loyal to Pharma—I really did—and see if I could make the changes the company needed from the inside. Then, all this happened, with Mark and the board being in on the whole thing and trying to scapegoat me.”

  Jackie collapsed into the chair Zed had just vacated and braced her head against a balled-up fist. “What now, then? Do I need to find another job?”

  Hell, Abby would probably need to find one soon, too. She’d need a lawyer, too, with the way all this was turning out. She shook her head. “I don't know. But it's not looking good, Jackie. I mean, I certainly can't go back there. I'm a hard-nosed bitch when I need to be, but I refuse to be part of something this unethical. It's just not right to hurt the people we're trying to help, all while we're bleeding them dry for medications that don't even work.”

  Her assistant sighed.

  “Besides,” Abby continued, “I refuse to go down for something that piece-of-shit Letterman did. He deserves to be hung out to dry for this, not me.”

  Both women turned their attention back to Zed as he came back into the room. His face was longer than Secretariat's. More bad news.

  “We've got a problem,” he said, his voice sunken low. “Kara won't run the story.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Abby

  “Pharma-Vitae's been complaining about harassment,” he continued. “Now her editors are telling her to back off, or they'll start pulling ad dollars and getting their industry partners to do the same. Worse than that, they're threatening lawsuits in court if she even makes a peep.”

  “So, that's it, then?” Jackie asked, a frown pulling her mouth down at the corners. “More wine anyone?”

  No, this wasn't how it was supposed to work. This wasn't the way that things were supposed to go down. They had the evidence, so why couldn't they just get it out? She'd be damned if she was going to be crucified in the court of public opinion on this. “We can go somewhere else,” Abby suggested. “Some other reporter, maybe? I mean, I'm the CEO, and we have the documents. Why can't I just blow the whistle myself?”

  Jackie shook her head. “Think some other board would pick you up then? You might get out of this, but you'd never work for another pharmaceutical company in your life, and you know it. Who would hire a manager that's going to go running to the press the moment things look slightly off?”

  “Then social media,” Abby suggested. “I could release all the work there and hope some bloggers pick it up?”

  “They'll just think you're crazy,” Jackie said. “PV would spin it so hard it'd look like a vinyl record. Besides, it'd still be career suicide, Abbs. You'd be throwing your whole life away. And who would believe you, anyway? Stop being so arrogant!”

  Abby sat back in surprise at her assistant's words. They were like a slap in the face. Arrogant? Was she really acting that way? She quickly thought back over her actions for the last week, starting with her board meeting with Mark. She'd thought her position as CEO was the final word, and that Letterman would bend to her will without question. Look where that had gotten her, though.

  She'd believed she could just brush Zed away like a crumb from her jacket, a piece of lint that would just disappear with a flick or her finger. Boy, had she been wrong about that one!

  She had thought she'd be quickly rescued from his clutches. Instead, here she was, sitting with him and her assistant, having deeper and more confused feelings than she'd ever had for any man.

  Finally, she'd believed her spot was so secure at Pharma-Vitae and that they'd brought her in because they desperately needed someone with her talents. She'd convinced herself that she was too invaluable to lose. She was irreplaceable.

  Jackie was right. Abby was being an arrogant bitch. And, if she wasn't careful, she'd bring them all down with her.

  Her assistant spoke up when Abby didn't say anything for a long moment. “Abbs? I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way.”

  Abby shook her head. “You know what?” she asked. “You're right. You're completely right. I have been arrogant about all this, and I'm letting it get in the way of my decision making.”

  Her friend smiled hesitantly at first, then more broadly. “I'm glad I didn't hurt your feelings.”

  “No,” Abby said, laughing a little, “you did. But sometimes we have to hurt if we want to grow.”

  # # #

  Zed

  Zed walked into the room, his head full of half-cooked, crazy plans. Abby was still his hostage, after all, wasn't she? Maybe he could use that to their advantage in this whole thing. Or not. He didn't know for sure, considering how everything was happening so quickly.

  “Jackie?” Zed asked. “Do you mind if we're alone for a little while? We need to figure out our next move, and it'd probably be better if you weren't involved. If we do decide to do something, we don't want it to reflect poorly on you.”

  “Yes,” Abby agreed. “It would probably be best if you weren't involved from here on out.”

  Jackie looked back and forth between the two of them, shocked. “You guys can't just boot me out of the club now!”

  Zed held up a hand. “We're not booting you out. We’re just protecting you.”

  “Right,” Abby said. “Look, Jackie, I've got money set aside. I can take of myself, but you need this job and a good work history. If you get mixed up in all this, it won't look good for you. Like you said, no one's going to hire a whistle blower CEO. Same goes for a CEO's assistant, don't you think?”

  Jackie sighed and looked away, then turned back to her water and finished it. “Fine, I'll go. But, just so you know, it's under protest. And, if you guys are going
to completely destroy the company or something, could you at least give me a heads-up?”

  Zed nodded. “Yeah, of course.”

  “Jackie,” Abby said, “I wouldn't leave you out in the cold. You know that.”

  She nodded. “Yeah,” she said, a little downcast. “I know.”

  That done, Zed followed her back into the living room so she could get her purse, then he and Abby escorted her back to the front door to say their goodbyes.

  When she was safely out the front door, Abby turned back to Zed. “What now?” she asked.

  Zed's thoughts turned inwards, to the plans he'd been making as they were convincing Jackie she needed to leave. With Abby still in his hands, he had leverage. Lots of leverage, and more than one way to get the information out.

  He could ask for the ransom money, just like he'd planned earlier.

  No, that had been a dark path, one that he'd pushed aside in favor of working with her. And, up until now, that had seemed to be working. He thought back to her threat from the first day, about how he'd end up in a cell with Kai at the end of all this. If he kept going down this ill-conceived road of self-destruction, beside Kai was right where he'd end up.

  But, on the other hand, this was the closest he'd come to helping his brother since the murders. His pursuit of vengeance, while not necessarily healthy, had gotten him this far. Hadn't it? He had the evidence in hand—proof of Pharma-Vitae's conspiracies.

  At what cost, though? Besides just having a date with prison, what kind of man was he becoming? The drinking, the violence, the things he'd almost been willing to do to Jackie. All because of what? His desire for revenge?

  He shook his head and, without saying a word, went back into Abby's study.

  “Zed?” Abby asked in a concerned voice, as she followed behind him. “Are you okay?”

  If he dropped this quest for justice, no matter how sick it was, it would be like he was abandoning Kai. Sure, Zed could probably walk away from this a free man. But what about his brother? He'd rot for another few years, until his appeals ran out, then he'd be in the gas chamber, or at the end of a needle.

  He couldn't abandon him. Not his brother! He was the only one who'd ever stood by Zed through all these years. How could he even consider that?

  No, he needed to hold onto Abby. And he needed to hold onto the evidence. If he had one, and not the other, he was just going to end up with a losing hand at the end of this bizarre game.

  Yes, he'd have to keep her. She was still going to have to be his.

  Besides, how could he abandon her, especially when they were so close to making a real breakthrough?

  “Zed?” Abby asked again, gently touching his back. “Sir?”

  His hand went down to his belt, and he began to unbuckle it. He slid it out of the loops, with a hiss of leather on wool.

  “Sir?” she asked, her voice a trembling whisper as he turned around and looked down into her eyes. Her blue gaze held fear. Fear and . . . something else, Zed realized, as she bit her shaking lip.

  It was anticipation.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Zed

  “What did I go to deserve punishment this time, sir?” she whispered, as she lowered her eyes a little.

  He took the belt in his hands and gripped it tightly in both hands. He folded it over into a leather strap and stroked it down her cheek. “This isn't a punishment,” he whispered, his voice already filled with lust and need. “It's a reward.”

  She shivered and closed her eyes, a little sigh escaping her lips as the belt passed over her smooth, porcelain skin. She bit her lip, still shivering, and held as still as possible. She was waiting for his first command, he knew.

  “Strip,” he said, walking around behind her.

  She slowly began to strip out of her clothes. Soon, she stood on bare feet in the middle of the office, naked as the day she was born. Naked as the day he'd brought her home.

  Zed stroked the end of the folded belt over her firm ass, loving the way she groaned at its touch.

  “What are you going to do to me, sir?” she asked over her shoulder.

  He stepped behind her, one hand encircling her arm, the other still holding his belt. He brought the belt up around in front and looped it around her throat.

  She sucked in a surprised breath, groaning as his free hand snaked around to her front and found her breast. She arched into his touch as she pushed back suggestively against his crotch with her bare ass.

  She wanted this, and he knew it. She wanted to feel the pain, the pleasure, and a mix of the two in such a heady, paradoxical union that it wiped away everything else. Belt still pulled taught across her throat, he guided her to the floor, onto her hands and knees.

  She whimpered as he ran his hand over her body, appraising what they both knew belonged to him.

  “Spread your legs.”

  “Yes, sir,” she whispered, as she parted her thighs for him. She groaned as he stroked a finger over her wetness. She was dripping in anticipation.

  He circled a wet finger around her clit, producing a sharp breath from her and a groan of pleasure. She pushed back into his hand, wordlessly begging for his touch. He pressed two fingers into her and she groaned as she met him with her own thrusts. She picked up her pace, moving more quickly on his hand, and he could tell she was close.

  “Not yet,” he growled, as yanked the belt, pulling her head back and removing his hand. “You can't cum until I give you permission.”

  “Yes, sir,” she nodded. “Yes, sir. Anything you say, sir.”

  He slapped her ass, hard, laying his bare hand right across her.

  She yelped in surprise, lurching forward into the belt and groaning. “Please, sir, don't stop.”

  He slapped her again, her ass going a beet red as he spanked her harder this time.

  His little slut groaned and cooed, her hips wiggling and pushing back to meet each slap, a stream of moans flowing from her mouth. “Oh, sir, yes.”

  He reached down to his crotch and stroked his cock through his slacks. He'd never been this hard before in his life, and he knew her reaction was getting him even harder. “Stay,” he commanded, as he dropped the belt onto her back, but kept it around her throat. His shirt was halfway unbuttoned by the time he was to his feet.

  “Sir?” she panted. She looked back over her shoulder and caught his eye as he finished undressing. She licked her lips and bit her plump bottom one as she her eyes settled on his cock.

  “Did I say you could turn around, slut?” he hissed.

  She turned back around, her ass still wiggling in the air, clearly hoping for more punishment. “No, sir,” she whispered quickly.

  He walked back in front of her and picked the belt back up, unlooping it from her neck and letting it hang beside him like some cruel taskmaster's whip. “On your knees.”

  She rose to her knees with a groan of anticipation. She looked up at him from beneath blonde bangs, her eyes half-lidded with rampant lust. She still bit her lower lip, and he knew she was eager to please her master.

  “Get me ready,” he said, his cock pointing at her mouth.

  She went to lift her hands, bringing them to his manhood.

  He stopped her. “But only with your mouth.”

  “Thank you, sir,” she said, then licked her lips one more time before tentatively stretching out her tongue to encircle his purple crown.

  He lay his head back as his free hand found her hair, his fingers knitting themselves into her locks. He pulled her mouth forcefully onto his cock, making her gag as he hit the back of her throat. “Play with yourself,” he growled, as held his cock in place.

  Abby half-whined, half-moaned as her hand dipped between her legs and she began to rub her clit. Her tongue swirled around his shaft as he mercilessly fucked her mouth, the saliva streaming down her chin as she continued to moan.

  He took the belt in his hand and lightly, but not too lightly, slapped it down her back, the tip of it just barely reaching her ass. He
crisscrossed red stripes down her back, each time producing a groan of approval from her shapely lips.

  She moaned around his cock, her head bobbing faster as he struck her again and again, alternating sides.

  He could feel himself building to a quick climax, so turned on was he by how wonderfully compliant and responsive she was being. He didn't want to go off too quickly, though. “Lower,” he growled as he redirected her mouth down to his heavy balls.

  “Yes, sir,” she whimpered, her hand still flying between her legs, worrying away at her clit. She sucked first one ball, then the other into her mouth, moaning as he stroked himself.