Chapter Eleven
Chantilly
As I walked along the beach with a breeze tugging at my high ponytail and the fabric of the gray T-shirt Valentino had given me, I’d never been gladder of my short stature or of his height. It meant the hem of his T-shirt fell just shy of my knees and I didn’t have to worry about anyone seeing my butt.
It hadn’t worried you yesterday when you’d deliberately worn your white mini-skirt.
I grimaced. It was amazing how quickly things had changed from the moment I realized Valentino was in charge. He was too dominant and assertive in his ways. Not even great sex and stimulating banter would place him under my thumb.
Either way, it didn’t matter. There was no one around, only an endless ocean and a long stretch of beach that stopped at some boulders and a rugged cliff face ahead. Yellowed grasses had taken a foothold in the many cracks and holes in the vertical rocks, the tips of the grass waving in the wind.
“Believe it or not, civilization is just around that corner,” he said, his fingers entwined with mine and my hand lost in his huge grip.
“I’m not sure I do believe it,” I muttered, sizing up the rocks ahead and wondering if I’d have the strength to climb them and get help.
He snorted as he followed my gaze. “You’d need decent climbing shoes, a harness and rope, not to mention a helmet and all the other safety gear before you’d even consider tackling a climb like that.”
I looked up at him, the sun picking out the little specks of gray in his hair and beard and making them glimmer. I blinked. How old was he anyway? He could be anywhere from his late thirties to forties. I was twenty-three in a few short months. He probably saw me as some na?ve infant, but I’d lived through a lot in my short life. “Perhaps you’ll supply the gear for me?” I asked mock-sweetly.
“Or perhaps I’ll just keep you here with me.”
I wanted to scream my defiance at him, slap him over and over until he listened, but I knew it’d be pointless. It’d be like a butterfly attacking a bear. That longing also tore through me was just an added scrape to my nerves. But then he did fill out his black T-shirt and gray pants to perfection.
He could have just about any woman he wanted. He certainly didn’t need me. And wasn’t that the sticking point? I had to make him need me so he didn’t kill me, yet it was instinctive for me to want to fight against him every step of the way.
I didn’t see much of that happening when you were underneath him.
I narrowed my eyes. “I guess I don’t have any say in the matter.”
His hand tightened around mine. “No, you don’t. While you’re with me, you’re safe from Sean.”
“Until you kill me?” I said bitterly.
His jaw tightened, just as his cellphone beeped. He frowned as he plucked it from the pocket of his pants then read whatever text had been sent to him. I glared. No doubt it was his next job…his next victim. That it was just as likely to be for him to update his don about the last job and victim—me—made me shiver and mentally withdraw.
I didn’t want to know.
I looked away from him and out to sea, my stare landing on yet another fishing boat. If only it was closer to shore I’d take a chance and run toward it while Valentino was preoccupied.
I slumped a little. He’d still catch me in a couple of strides. And my punishment would no doubt be severe.
I turned back to him as he stuck his cell back into his pocket and focused on me, his mood dark and his voice terse. “Looks like I’ll have to cut our walk short.”
No apology, no explanation?
“Duty calls?” I asked scathingly.
His frown deepened. “Yes, it does.” He pivoted around and, with his hand still clasping mine, I had no choice but to turn and follow him, my feet sinking into the sand back along our long trail of footprints that went the opposite direction.
The fresh air had been enjoyable while it’d lasted.
He took the steps to the balcony and I dutifully followed. It was only once we were inside and he took off the chain from around his neck that I realized what the key was actually for as he locked the balcony doors, then pressed a button that was barely discernible on the key. A beep sounded, the security system armed.
“I guess I’m not going anywhere,” I said tightly.
He shook his head. “I’m afraid not. The good news is you’ll be safely locked inside where no one can get to you.”
“You haven’t heard of rocket launches?” I asked scathingly.
He snorted. “Sean doesn’t know you’re here, but even if he did I doubt very much he’d use military weapons to get you back. He’d want to torture you for escaping him, not blow you to pieces.”
“Good to know,” I said sarcastically.
If he cared, he didn’t show it. Instead, he stalked into his study. I couldn’t help but trail along behind. I was at his office door when he inserted the same key into a tiny hole that was all but invisible in the wall. A safe door swung open and I peered inside the safe as he shoved in his hand to grab two revolvers and some bullets.
There were more guns and bullets in the safe, along with some bags of coke, dozens of stacks of money and a small black bag I’d bet was filled with diamonds. But none of that mattered, I was becoming consumed by his latest mission.
He pushed the safe door shut and it made a whirring sound, followed by a distinct click. I swallowed hard. “Where are you going?”
He chuckled darkly as he checked his guns. “Do you really think I’ll tell you?”
“What happens if you’re killed? I’ll be locked up here until I die.”
“You’re concern for your own welfare is touching, it really is, but don’t worry, I’ll be back. I don’t die easily and I have no intention of doing so anytime soon.”
Satisfied with both his firearms functionality, he holstered one at his chest and one at his hip, then pushed a small knife into a special pocket inside his right shoe. I shivered. Wherever he was going, there was killing involved. I only hoped he didn’t become one of the victims.
I imagined his ending me would be quick. I didn’t want to slowly starve to death. That a part of me also didn’t want him dead, despite what he planned for me, was all kinds of fucked-up.
Shrugging on a gray suit jacket, which had been slung over the back of his office chair, he stepped toward me. Then clasping my chin in one hand, he lifted my face up until my eyes grudgingly met his. His dark stare searched mine. “Don’t be stupid and try to escape,” he murmured. His voice deepened. “I’d hate to have to discipline you.”
My core throbbed in synch to my racing pulse. “So I guess that means you’re not planning on getting rid of me anytime soon?”
His eyes flashed, then his head swooped low before his mouth crashed against mine, consuming my breath, my sanity. When he finally stepped back, he said huskily, “I can’t promise you that.”
Then he stepped out of his study and stalked along the hallway. I heard his tread on the stairs before the engine to his jeep fired up. The roller door slid up with a faint whirr before he reversed the vehicle out of the garage. Only once the roller door descended did he accelerate away, until the noise of the jeep’s engine diminished and all I could hear was the faint crash of the waves against the shore and the palms rattling their fronds in the stiff breeze.