44. Chapter 44
Chapter 44
Victor
I can’t get the image of Trinity Novak’s blood on the pavement out of my mind. Not when I know it was supposed to be Liliana’s.
I pace my office after arranging dinner for the girls. The adrenaline of the day’s events is wearing off, and I can’t bring myself to join them in the bedroom for fear I’ll fall apart.
My phone is ringing off the hook, and I’m ignoring it unless it’s Matteo or one of the other club owners.
I’m ready to hurl it out my window.
Owen’s name lights up on my screen and I answer with a shaky voice.
“You sound like shit, mate. Are you OK?”
“Fuck off. I’m fine.”
Regret settles in my stomach, and I immediately correct course. “I’m sorry. It’s been a long day. I’m not fine. But I’ll get there. Do you have any updates?”
“Trinity is finally in surgery but it’s going to be a long night. Hunter isn’t leaving her side, but he’s on the warpath.”
“With good reason. I’m ready to get out there and join him as long as he’s not going to blow my head off.”
Owen snorts. “There’s no guarantee. It’s a miracle I still have a job. I’ve scoured footage and phone logs and everything else I can find. My best guess is someone inside the attorney’s office made a call. Do you think Liliana could identify them?”
My hands shake as I rearrange papers on my desk. “I can ask her. She’s resting right now, but I’ll wake her.”
“I hate to ask you to do that, but we need this information as quickly as possible. Even just the names of everyone in the room would be helpful. I’ve got a binder of employee photos I can send you for her to flip through.”
“Send it. I’ll go talk to her now and call you back.”
“It’s on its way. And Victor?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m glad she’s OK.”
I end the call without saying anything else. Thinking about Lili not being OK is too much right now. The very thought puts my stomach in knots.
When the email from Owen with the pictures comes through, I pull it up on a tablet and go to the bedroom.
Grace is sitting next to Lili who is asleep on my side of the bed.
“She wanted to fall asleep with the scent of you,” Grace says quietly when I crawl onto the bed and sit next to her.
“Thank you for sitting with her. Sorry it took me so long to get back.” I kiss her gently, and tears stream down her face.
“Grace, sweetheart. Everything is going to be OK. Right now, we need to wake Lili up because Owen needs her help identifying someone.”
“I’m awake,” Lili says softly, rolling over to face us.
She sits up, and I pass her the tablet with Owen’s email up.
“He wants me to identify staff from the attorney’s office and see if I recognize the shooter?”
I nod. “If you can. No pressure. But you’re the one most likely to have seen the shooter before if he came from Phineas, and you were in the room with everyone at the attorney’s office today.
She scrolls through the images and identifies the three paralegals who were in the office.
“This one was a little anxious. Nervous almost. It could be nothing, but I would start with her.”
I text Owen the names while she moves to the photos of the shooter. Surveillance caught him climbing onto a nearby roof, and one of Hunter’s guards took him down, so there is also a photo of his dead body.
Lili’s hand flies to her mouth when she gets to that image, and Grace buries her face in my chest.
“I’ve seen him before, but I don’t remember his name. He’s been with my husband at the mayor’s office a few times. Former military if I remember right.”
“That would make sense if he’s a sniper.”
“How is Trinity?”
“Just going into surgery. Owen says it’s dicey.”
She blows out a breath. “I pray she’s OK. If she survives, I’d like to visit her.”
“If Hunter is willing. He’s pretty pissed at all of us right now. Feels like we put her in danger by not coming to him immediately.”
“He’ll come around. The man just watched his wife almost die, and if the tabloids are to be believed, that woman is the most important thing in his life. He would be willing to give up every last bit of his business to keep her safe.”
She reaches across Grace and picks up my hand. “This isn’t your fault, Victor.”
“I’m trying to tell myself that. But what if that paralegal didn’t make the call until she saw me coming to your rescue when you had the panic attack?”
“Lili had a panic attack?” Grace says, her voice going up an octave at the end. “Why didn’t you say something?”
“Things got a little crazy, butterfly. I’m sorry.”
“Victor was close by, and he came to help. I’m fine, sweetheart. I promise.”
She nods. “I’m glad.”
“It’s late, but dinner will be here any minute. I’m going to go touch base with Owen once more, and then we’ll eat together.”
I kiss Grace and then lean across her to kiss Lili before I take the tablet and head back downstairs to call Owen and wait for the food to arrive. Technically, I live too far out for delivery, but I talked Tyson into sending us a care package.
Today I almost lost a woman I just met but care for deeply, and I don’t like how much it’s affecting me.
Do I need to put an end to this before it gets too far out of control?
I don’t know what the right answer is, but I have to figure it out soon before someone else gets hurt.
Grace
I’ve been filled with stress, fear, anxiety, and about twelve other negative emotions all day. I’ve grown so close to Lili in the past couple of weeks, and when I heard a sniper tried to take her out I completely fell apart and tried to leave the house and go after them. The guards kept me from it, and I’m glad they did. I would not have been safe on the road.
I’m waiting for Victor to hear about it and lose his shit, but so far that hasn’t happened.
Lili is dozing beside me on the bed again, and Victor is checking on dinner.
The door opens, and Victor steps in, setting bags of food on the dresser.
“Have you eaten today, Mariposa?”
“Yes, Sir. I promise.”
“Good. Dinner can wait a few minutes. Let Lili sleep and come with me, please.”
I assume he’s been told about my attempted escape and I’m about to find out how pissed he is.
I crawl off the bed and follow him out into the hallway.
He slips his hand in mine, and we walk toward his office hand in hand. I’m not sure if I’m supposed to be scared or comforted by the tender gesture.
Inside, he shuts the door and flips the lock. Yep. I’m in trouble. He sits on the edge of the desk and pulls me so I’m standing between his legs.
He cradles my face in his hands and seems to be searching my eyes for something.
“Today’s been pretty rough, hasn’t it?”
I nod. “Yes, Sir. I definitely don’t want to repeat it.”
“How are you emotionally?”
I shake my head. “I’m shaken up still, but I’m getting there.”
“Good. I had a talk with Todd, one of the guards. He told me you got a little spooked and tried to leave.”
I try to drop my gaze, but he holds my face firm. “Yes, Sir,” I whisper. “I’m sorry. There was just so much panic. I had to do something.”
He drags a thumb across my bottom lip. “I get it.”
“Did you bring me in here to punish me?”
He kisses the tip of my nose. The tender gestures and lack of stern demeanor are freaking me out. It’s possible he’s doing it on purpose. Victor is the king of the mind fuck when he wants to be.
“Do you think you deserve it?”
It’s not clear what he’s aiming for with this conversation, so I’m honest. “I’m not sure, Sir. I suppose I broke your rule about leaving the house and I put myself in danger.”
He nods. “You did.”
“Do you want to punish me?”
He wraps his arms around me in a tight hug. “I want to know that you understand why it’s so important for you to listen right now.”
The worry in his voice rips at my heart, and tears land on his shirt. “I understand, Sir.”
“We can go have dinner with Lili, or you can choose an implement, and I can give you a well-deserved spanking.”
“What are my implement choices?”
He raises an eyebrow. “You want a spanking?”
I chew my lip. “I want… something normal. Does that make sense?”
He gives me a lopsided smile and twists one of my curls around his finger. “It does, Mariposa. I can give you that. You can choose the belt, paddle, or tawse.”
“Belt, please, Sir.”
“I want your dress up around your waist and then you’ll straddle the arm of the couch with your bottom all the way out.”
Something about this still doesn’t feel right. This isn’t Victor.
“You’re not being you. You’re being… nice,” I say as I raise my dress and move to the couch.
“It seems like self-sabotage to complain about my kindness when you’re about to get the belt, butterfly.”
“I know. That’s not what I mean to do. I guess I’m just trying to make sure that you’re OK, too.”
He stops me before I can climb on the arm of the couch and pulls me into his arms for a harsh kiss. When he releases me, he pulls my dress completely off. I have no bra or panties on, so now I’m naked.
He pinches both my nipples until I squeal.
“I’m getting there, butterfly,” he says, pointing to the couch. “In position.”
I climb on the couch and shift myself toward the edge until he tells me I’m in the right spot.
“We’re going to find our normal together, Mariposa. Remember your safewords, I intend to welt your ass from top to bottom so you might need them tonight.”
“Yes, Master,” I say, my body already betraying me as moisture pools between my thighs.
The rattle of his belt buckle as he pulls the thick leather free of his slacks makes me shudder, and he drags the end of the belt down my back.
“How many do you think you can handle before you say red?” he asks.
“Let’s find out,” I say, trying to bring an air of playfulness to the room.
He chuckles. “That’s my girl. But I don’t want you taking more than you can handle just because you’re trying to impress me.”
“Yes, Sir,” I murmur.
Victor steps back and folds the belt in half before he brings it down against my skin for the first time.
The searing pain grounds me, and I grip the back of the couch.
“Count, Grace.”
He doesn’t usually make me count, so I’m caught off guard for a moment.
“I said count, Mariposa.”
“One,” I whisper.
The belt lands against my skin again and I manage to squeak out the next count. “Two, Sir.”
“Good girl,” he murmurs as he pulls the belt back again.
“Three,” I cry when the belt hits me again.
At twenty-three, I’m barely able to get the number out and Victor drops the belt and pulls my hair.
“Are you taking more than you can handle, Mariposa?” he growls. “You won’t come for a week if you are.”
“I was going to take two more and then safeword,” I cry. “I promise.”
His teeth sink into my neck. “Why two?”
The question takes a minute to filter through the fog of lust and pain, but I let out a chuckle when it registers. My reason is silly, and I know it. “I don’t like odd numbers unless it’s a multiple of five.”
Victor throws his head back and laughs. “Back in position then, Mariposa. Let’s get to twenty-five.”
He picks up the belt again and puts a hand on the small of my back.
The belt lands just as hard across my ass and I hiss through the searing heat. “Twenty-four.”
“One more. And I’m putting this one on your thighs. Take it like a good girl and I’ll reward you.”
I grip the back of the sofa and close my eyes. The belt hits my thighs, and I stomp one foot as I grit my teeth and spit out the final number.
He tosses the belt to the side, sits on the couch, and pulls me into his lap.
“I’m proud of you, butterfly.”
“Can we go find Lili?” I whisper.
“Don’t you want your reward first?”
I tighten my hold on him and shake my head. “I just want all of us to be together again. You can give me my reward later.”
He chuckles. “You got it, butterfly. Let’s go.”
He stands, lifting me, and I wrap my arms around his neck.
“Thank you, Victor. For helping me find my normal. I’m lucky to have you.”
“It is I who is lucky, Grace. Far more than you know.”