Chapter 3
three
I wasn’t cut out for this life. I may have just spent the afternoon wishing my life back in Coral Gables was a wee bit more exciting, but after this night, I decided I was never going to complain about dull again. A boat ride at ten pm would have been fun, but considering I had my hands tied behind my back with my own bathrobe tie, the circumstances were less than ideal. I couldn’t even question what the hell was going on because the engine was too loud and neither of the two men present were even looking at me. Which was good, because the way they had me tied caused my breasts to jut forward, escaping the collar of the robe. I was dangerously close to a nip slip.
Sniffling, I kept blinking as my hair repeatedly whipped across my face, poking me in the eye and sticking to my lip. My butt and thigh hurt from my hard landing on the fiberglass seat. I would have given everything I owned for a pair of underwear.
This was all Wester’s fault. If he hadn’t seduced me, I wouldn’t have hid in the pool house. I would have been kidnapped right off the pool deck, where there were lights and cameras and Ricardo’s men would have seen it go down and they would have saved me from whatever was about to happen. So really this was totally his fault for being so ridiculously good- looking and for saying “I want to kiss you.” God, what a line. And I had totally fallen for it.
Now I was on a boat speeding who the hell knew where and I was trying to be optimistic. They wouldn’t kill me. I didn’t think. But then again, I had no idea why they had kidnapped me, so there was so telling. I shivered from the thought and the cool air. The ride was mercifully quick and we were pulling up to the dock of a private home within fifteen minutes. I had no sense of where we were exactly, though downtown Miami was behind us. Which told me exactly nothing. All the islands were in the bay. We could be at any one of them. I wished I had put my cell phone in the pocket of the robe but I’d been too pissed off at Wester to grab it. I’d just run for the pool house as fast as possible.
Rough hands yanked me off the seat and lifted me onto the dock. I gave a light curse when I stumbled a little, desperately trying to cover my breasts. The bigger man glared at me. He was huge. Tall and broad. He was dressed in track pants and a T-shirt but he had a gun in his hand. It made me shiver to see that so close to me. His eyes were too far apart and it only added to the menacing quality he displayed. The other guy, the one who had grabbed me from behind under the window, was slim, wiry, and he was grinning, his eyes on my body, not my face. In a way, he felt more menacing because he was attracted to me. The big guy just found me to be an annoyance.
“Walk up the steps,” the big guy said. “And don’t fuck around.”
I nodded and started dashing up the steps in my bare feet. The house was huge, though substantially smaller than Ricardo’s. It was modern architecture, sheets of glass jutting out over the water. It didn’t look like a bad place to be held against my will. Nor did it look particularly private or secret. Surely Ricardo would know where to find me.
Once in the house, I was pulled down a short flight of stairs and into a room about the size of a hotel room. There were no windows, only a bed, table, and an en-suite bathroom. Something about it instantly felt claustrophobic and I balked in the entryway. The big guy shoved me forward. The second the door closed behind me and I heard it lock, I forgot about not freaking out and started pounding on the door. “Let me out! Please let me out!”
When I was six, I was trapped in a straw maze for almost an hour. It was the kind you had to crawl through, on your stomach, and there was nothing but yellow blocks scratching my arms, my head, the dirt under my gut cool and rough. Every corner turned into more straw and I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I ended up frozen in the middle until an older boy hauled me out by my clammy hands, just dragging me to the end.
This was like that—I couldn’t breathe. The walls were pressing in on me and I panicked. I hauled in a painful breath and screamed at the top of my lungs.
The door opened again and I felt intense relief. Until the thin guy said, “Shut the fuck up,” and punched me so hard I fell straight to the ground.
I banged my hip on the table on the way down and landed hard on my shoulder, but those were nothing compared to the pain in my jaw. Any defiance I might have had evaporated. I realized this was some serious shit, and these men just might be capable of murder.
“Benito, what’s up?” I leaned over and clapped my hand in my old friend’s and gave him a guy shoulder bump. “Long time, my brother.”
“Wester Lewiston. Long time is right. How’s your mom?” Benito gestured for me to sit on his white leather sofa. “Drink?”
“My mom is good, thanks.” She had been the one constant in our mutually tumultuous childhood. We had grown up mostly unmonitored, rough kids running around left to their own devices. But my mother had been something of a den mother on our street, doling out cookies and hugs and spankings for anyone who came near our house.
“Give her a hug for me. I’ve been meaning to go and see her, but you know how it is. Business.” Benito was shorter than me, thicker. He had done some wrestling back in high school and he still had good muscle tone. He looked relaxed in his mansion bought by drug money.
“Sure. Business good, then?” It was a dangerous question and I knew it would put him on edge, but I had to get to Olivia and the only way to do that was to press.
His eyebrows went up. “No complaints here.” He looked behind him and nodded to his bodyguard. “Hey, grab me a rum and coke. Lewiston, you want anything?”
“I’ll take the same.” Refusing him would look like a dick move.
“Make it two,” he told the bodyguard. “So what brings you to my humble house. Are you looking for a job? Because it’s my understanding you’ve been working for Ricardo Davis, that silver-spoon, pretty boy.”
“He got me shot and wouldn’t pay my medical bills.”
Benito looked outraged and I had to admit, it made me feel better. I just needed someone to agree with me that it was bullshit what Ricardo had done.
“What, because he doesn’t have a grand? What an asshole.”
I nodded vehemently. “Right? So I figured if he’s not going to pay my bills, I would just fuck his wife.”
That made Benito laugh. “Ah, shit, West, you didn’t.”
“I did.”
“That’s funny.” He took the drink the bodyguard handed him. “Where’s my fucking lime?” he asked.
The bodyguard received the drink back without a word. Watching Benito in his domain was a curious thing. We’d been best friends growing up, but he’d gone dirty and I’d gone clean and that had been that. I’d never seen him here, in his mansion, surrounded by yes-men. I couldn’t reconcile this with the goofy kid I’d known, who was always on the verge of being chubby.
“But here’s where it gets stupid.” This was my con line and I had to play it right. I was good at lying. I’d been lying to everyone, including myself, my whole life. “The problem is, I fell in love with her. She’s my girlfriend. And it’s my understanding that she’s here. I’d like to see her.”
I didn’t think it would be wise to tell him that his guys had snagged the wrong twin. They’d think I was lying instantly and wouldn’t trust me. And if they did believe me, they might just dump Olivia in the bay after putting a bullet in her.
Benito stared at me, long and hard. He sipped the drink that was returned to him, with a lime. “Dude, you should know better than to fall in love with your boss’s wife.”
“Even if my boss is a prick?”
“Especially if your boss is a prick.”
I shrugged. “Trust me, it wasn’t in the plan.” Love was never in my plans.
“How do I know you’re telling me the truth? That you’re not here on Ricardo’s orders? That you’re making up you’re involved with his wife.”
“Let me see her. That will prove it. She’s going to be pissed at me for letting her getting kidnapped out from under me, but give me five minutes and you’ll see she can’t resist the charms of the man she loves.” I gave him a wink.
“God, you’re an idiot.” Benito rolled his eyes. “You were a fucking ladies man at five years old. I hated that about you.”
I gave him a smug expression and pretended to grab my dick. I had to play the game. “You’re just jealous.”
“Yeah, but I’m rich now. I just buy women.”
“It’s more fun to charm them. Like Ricardo’s wife.” I took a swallow of the rum and coke the bodyguard had brought me. Damn, that was smooth rum. I took another sip.
Benito sighed. “Fine. I’m a sucker for a Romeo and Juliet love story. You can see her.” His casual words belied steel in his eyes.
I knew him well enough to be wary.
“But if you’re not fucking her in five minutes, I’ll have to kill you, you know that. And don’t make me be the guy who has to drop your dead body on your mother’s doorstep.”
“I don’t think she’d like that,” I said casually, even as my palms started to sweat. You didn’t get to his position of power by being tenderhearted. I had no doubt he would pull the trigger if he thought I had lied and double-crossed him.
“I don’t imagine she would.” He snapped his fingers for his guard. “Take Mr. Lewiston to the girl.”
“Thanks, Benito. By the way, this house is killer. Really beautiful.” It was. A modern wonder of glass and sharp angles.
“Thanks, bro. I appreciate that.” He looked genuinely touched and proud. “There are cameras in the room she’s in, just so you know.”
I nodded. “I figured as much.” I stood and offered him my hand. “I’ll see you in ten minutes or less.”
He took my hand and shook it slowly. We were both aware that neither of us trusted the other. Beneath my casual stance, I was coiled to spring if necessary, and so was he. It was a damn shame. I really had loved him like a brother.
When the guard led me downstairs and unlocked the door, I heard Olivia crying. That kicked me in the nuts. God, I didn’t want her scared or hurt. When the door was shoved open, she abruptly stifled her sobs. I walked into a very luxurious guest room and found her huddled on the bed, face and eyes swollen and red. She had a bruise on her jaw. But her initial recoil of fear at whoever was coming in the room gave way to relief when she saw it was me. She jumped off the bed and threw herself into my arms.
“Wester! Oh, my God, I’m so glad to see you.”
I pulled her into my arms and gave the guard a wink over my shoulder. He didn’t react outwardly at all, but pulled the door closed behind him and locked it again. I rubbed her back to reassure her and kissed the top of her blond head. “You okay?”
“Wait, why did he just lock you in here? Are you a prisoner too?” She pulled back, looking panicked. “Did you get caught too?”
“No, of course not. I don’t get caught.” The very idea offended the fucking hell out of me.
She whacked me in the chest. Hard.
I rubbed the spot. She’d hit the edge of my still tender bullet wound. “What the hell was that for?”
“How could you let me get kidnapped? God, this is all your fault!”
“I didn’t let you get kidnapped. You got pissed off, locked me out, and then crawled out the damn window.” It would have been entertaining if it hadn’t gotten her hauled off by Benito’s men.
“Well, it’s because you?—”
I clamped my hand over her mouth to shut her up. I didn’t need to rehash this when we were pressed for time. I doubted there was audio in the room but nonetheless I kept my voice down. “You can’t tell them you’re not Eva, do you understand me?”
Her eyes were rebellious, but she nodded.
Dropping my hand, I brushed back her hair, all snarled and needing brushed. She looked angry and scared, and still so very sexy. “Listen to me. The guy who did this, Benito, is an old friend of mine and that’s the only reason I was let in here. I have one shot to get you out and it’s because I told him we’re screwing Ricardo over and having an affair. That you’re my girlfriend.”
She frowned. “Okay. Though I’m pretty sure I’d rather die than date a man like you.”
Even now, she didn’t hesitate to take a jab at me. I fought annoyance. I was saving her ass, after all, at great risk to myself. I slid my finger across her lip. “Give me a kiss.”
She reared back. “Oh, no. I’m not falling for that twice.”
But I held her in my grip, tightly against my chest. I kept a smile on my face for the cameras but my voice was urgent, intense. “Listen to me. They’re going to kill us if we don’t play this right. This is no joke. You have to be my girlfriend. You have to act happy to see me. There are cameras on us.”
Her body stiffened. Fear flashed in her eyes and her breath came out in audible little pants of shock. “What do you want me to do?”
“You have to have sex with me. Right now.”