Chapter 9
“Nash?”
Nash Carson, the man who kept popping into my head all the damntime, lifted his head, his mouth pulling up one side into an accomplished smile. “Hello, Savannah.”
From where he was standing, only the top half of him was visible.He’d ditched the suit jacket he usually wore, instead, the top two buttons of his white shirt were undone, and his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, showcasing the myriad of black and gray tattoos covering both muscular forearms.
My heart began to pound harder than it had done momentsearlier. Every time I saw Nash in the flesh, I was reminded of how delicious he was, but also how bad he could be for my health.
And my sanity.
“What’s going on?” I asked, trying to comprehend why he was there. And why I was there for that matter.
Nash stepped out from behind the bar and carried the two tumblersover to the small table in front of the couch. Placing them down next to a brown envelope, he took a seat, leaning back and crossing one long leg over the other.
“You turned my dinner invitation down. Twice. I had to resort to othermeans,” he replied, a hint of amusement in his voice. “Please, sit down. We have a lot to discuss.”
My feet were frozen to the floor, and all I could do was gape at himlike a moron. In the back of my mind, his words registered, and heat began to crawl up my neck at my own stupidity.
“They weren’t FBI Agents, were they?” I said cautiously.
His smile grew wider, only instead of the warm smile I’d seen himwear before, this one was full of deviousness. “No, they work for me. I had to get your attention somehow.”
My brows rose in surprise. Did Nash want to take me out todinner so badly that he’d resort to trickery?
But then…
“But they knew about…” I trailed off, not wanting to mention my ex infront of him. The little alarm in my head was now screaming at me to keep my guard up.
Something was wrong.
Really wrong.
“Liam Olsen?” Nash said, taking the name out of my mouth anyway.
My brain began spinning chaotically, and I struggled to keep up withthis sudden turn of events.
What in the hell was happening?
“How…how do you know about Liam?” I asked, the question slippingunbidden from my mouth.
“Because he owes me $250,000,” Nash replied casually, making myjaw hit the floor once again. “Or, I should say, you owe me $250,000.”
What. The. Fuck.
“Excuse me?” I said, my voice raising by several octaves. “I don’t oweyou shit.”
“Like I said, we have a lot to discuss, so please, come and sit down,”he replied, not fazed by my growing frustration.
Much like it had done four months ago, the feeling of my world being ripped to shreds began to consume me.It didn’t cross my mind for one second that he could be lying.Liam had proven time and time again that he was more than capable of setting me up, and although I thought I’d discovered all of his betrayals, it wasn’t coming as a complete shock thatthere was yet more to it.
“I don’t want to sit down, thank you very much,” I snapped. “This conversation is done. I don’t owe you money, Liam does-”
“So this isn’t your signature on this contract?” Nash said, interruptingme as my rant started to gain momentum.
He reached for the envelope and pulled out a piece of paper, holdingit out for me to see. Unable to resist, and with a shaky hand, I reached out and snatched it from his grasp.
My eyes raked over the contract between the ‘lender’, Carson-FoxResorts, and the ‘borrower’, Liam Olsen, for a loan of $250,000. It was signed by Nash himself, followed by Liam’s signature.
Underneath Liam’s signature were words that made my heart race toan impossible speed.
‘The guarantor agrees to repay any monies the borrower fails topay at the specified time, including interest.’
And whose signature was there in black ink agreeing to act asguarantor?
“I didn’t sign this,” I snarled, thrusting the paper back at Nash, whowas still sitting with his leg crossed over the other, acting as cool as a fucking cucumber.
“So this isn’t your signature?” he repeated calmly, pulling out anotherpiece of paper and placing it down on the table next to where he had laid the contract.
The new piece of paper was a copy of my driver’s license, thesignature of course matched that of the guarantor.
“Yes, that’s my signature!” I bellowed, flinging my hands in the air andunable to hold my temper any longer. “But I didn’t sign your fucking contract! Liam faked my signature on a whole load of loans and credit card agreements and disappeared with the money. Clearly, he’s done the same to you. I suggest if you want your money back, you go and find Liam. And when you find him, tell him from me that he’s a real piece of shit!”
I started pacing, needing to move and expel the energy buildingunderneath my skin. Fucking Liam. Just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse, this happened.
“You can tell him yourself if you like,” Nash said, sitting back furtherin the chair, a superior smile on his annoyingly handsome face.
“Oh, I’d love nothing more than to give that bastard a piece of mymind!” I yelled, trying to stop angry sobs from breaking free. “No one knows where he is though, he’s disappeared off the face of the damn earth, leaving me to clear up his mess.”
I trailed off and stopped pacing, my shoulders slumping in defeat.Now that the shock was wearing off, the same old feeling of helplessness was beginning to rear its ugly head.
All I’d ever done was love Liam. I’d given him my heart, and I thoughtI had his. How could he do this to me? To us? I squeezed my eyes shut and started rubbing my fingers in circles against my temple to ease the pressure building in my head.
“I know where he is,” Nash said coolly, causing my eyes to snapopen.
“What?” I cried, sure I’d misheard him.
Nash shifted on the couch, uncrossing his legs and leaning forward,his broad frame making the large couch look small. “Before I tell you, there are some other things you need to know.”
“Like?” I replied hesitantly. I wasn’t sure I could take any moreshocks, not in this lifetime anyway.
“Sit down, and I’ll show you,” he replied, nodding to the spacenext to him.
His tone left no room for arguing, and despite a huge part of me notwanting to hear what he had to say, I couldn’t stop my feet from crossing the floor, before sitting my ass down next to him.
“Take your coat off,” he ordered, glowering at my coat as if it waspersonally offending him.
“Why? I’m not planning on staying,” I retorted, somewhat taken abackby his demand given the seriousness of the conversation.
“I told you, we have a lot to discuss and I want you to becomfortable.”
I held back a snort. If he wanted me to be comfortable, then why thehell did he drop a bombshell on me like the one he just did?
When he carried on scowling at me, his eyes narrowing, and daringme to defy him, I huffed before shimmying out of the coat. If he knew where Liam was, I wanted to know where Liam was, and if taking my damn coat off got me answers, then so be it.
“Happy now? Where’s Liam?” I said, doing my best to replicate hisauthoritative tone, but failing miserably.
“Much happier, thank you,” he chuckled, earning a scowl from me. Heschooled his features, turning serious. “Do you know why Liam needed the money?”
“No. I didn’t even know Liam was taking the money,” I sighed,remembering the moment I opened the door to the bailiffs and my world came crashing down.
Nash slid the brown envelope across the table, keeping his fingers onit as his gaze held mine. “I’m a big believer in knowing all the facts before coming to a decision.”
My brows furrowed at his words, but he didn’t make any attempt toexplain what he meant about coming to a decision. He removed his hand from holding the envelope, and my eyes fell to it. In an instant, I knew there was something in there that was going to shatter my heart more than it already was.
Nausea churned in my stomach, and a part of me wanted to get upand run away, leave Nash to deal with Liam as he saw fit. Yet, as I stared at the envelope, I knew the bigger part of me was desperate to know the full extent of the chaos Liam had caused. Maybe if I knew everything, I’d understand why Liam had done this to us.
Why he had ruined everything.
Before I could change my mind, I reached out and took the envelope.Holding my breath, I pulled out the contents. Regret, anger, betrayal, and pain coursed through me as I took in the first photo, my blood turning to ice. Now I knew how Trent’s wife must have felt when she received the photos of Trent.
Tears stabbed in my eyes as the image seared into my brain. Thephoto was of Liam, his head thrown back, and ecstasy written all over his face as a woman, dressed in skimpy underwear, had her face buried in his lap. Liam’s hand gripped her hair, holding her in place, and although I couldn’t see exactly what she was doing, it was more than obvious she was sucking his cock.
The worst part? The photo was taken five months ago, or morespecifically, my birthday.
Liam had promised to take me out for dinner to celebrate because I’dbeen upset. It was my first birthday without my mom, and Liam wanted to cheer me up. I’d arrived home from college ready to get dolled up, only to receive a call from him saying he’d had to work late, and he’d make it up to me. I’d spent the night on my own, eating noodles and crying as I poured over old photos of me and my mom.
Bile rose, burning my throat as I swallowed it down. I didn’t want tolook at whatever else was in the envelope, but my hands were acting on their own accord. Putting the photo of Liam and the woman on the table next to Nash’s contract, I took in the next photo.
Liam was sitting at a table, two white lines of powder spread outbefore him. He was hunched over holding a rolled-up bank note to a nostril, the other end positioned next to the powder, ready for him to snort it.
Never in my life had I known Liam to take drugs. Hell, we’d oncebeen offered marijuana by our friends when we were in our early teens, but both Liam and I had declined. Neither of us had wanted to touch the stuff.
But looking at the photo, memories flashed through my mind of thelast few months Liam and I had shared before he went missing.
There were days when he seemed on edge, jittery. Other times, hewas manic, like he couldn’t sit still. I’d always assumed it was the pressure of his job, he often commented on how stressful it was, but had I missed the signs that Liam had started taking drugs?
Figuring I had nothing to lose by looking at the final picture in myhand, I placed the one of Liam snorting what I could only imagine was cocaine on top of the other photo and stared at the last one.
Liam was sitting at a roulette table, his head in his hands, his facecontorted into a look of despair. In front of him was a stack of chips, and whoever had taken the photo, had captured it right at the moment the croupier was about to take the pile away from Liam.
I laid the photo down with the other offending ones and closed myeyes, but it didn’t stop the images from dancing around my head. How did I not know Liam was spiraling out of control? Was I so wrapped up in my grief of losing my mom, and trying to focus on building my career that I missed the signs? What sort of girlfriend did that make me?
“You really had no idea about his addictions?” Nash said, breakingme out of the stupor I’d fallen into. I’d almost forgotten he was sitting next to me.
“No,” I replied feebly, not able to meet his eye. Shame had joined theparty, and I wanted nothing more than to switch off from the myriad of emotions coursing through me.
Leaning forward, I swiped one of the tumblers off the table, not givinga shit if Nash had poured the drink for me or not. In one gulp, I emptied the glass, wincing as the whiskey burned its way down my throat.
“Well, even if that is the case, it doesn’t change the situation. I’m stillowed money,” he said coolly.
My head snapped up from where my gaze had fallen back onto thephotos. “I told you, I didn’t sign that contract,” I gritted out, anger dominating all the other feelings running wild in me.
“And you can prove that?”
“You know I can’t!” I screeched, jumping to my feet. “I can’t proveanything, just like I couldn’t prove it to the police when I reported Liam. But you know what, Nash? It doesn’t matter. I don’t have the money to pay you back, so either deal with Liam and get the money back from him, or report me to the police. Quite frankly, I don’t give a fuck either way. I’m done.”
And I was. Done with this whole damn mess. Done with trying sofucking hard to keep my head above the water, when all I wanted to do was sink to the bottom. I didn’t have the energy to fight anymore. Let the authorities throw me in prison for failing to pay the money back.
At this point, prison seemed like the easier option. At least I’d have aroof over my head, and three meals a day.
“Sit down, Savannah,” Nash said authoritatively.
“No, fuck you.”
He responded by chuckling darkly, before muttering under his breathabout how defiant I was, and that was the final shove I needed to get my ass out the door.
I spun, intending to get as far away from Nash and this wholedamn situation as fast as I could, but before I could get too far, the TV flickered to life, and the image on the screen stopped me in my tracks.
“Liam?” Within seconds, I’d abandoned the path to the elevator, and Iwas standing in front of the huge screen, trying to make sense of what I was seeing.
The image was grainy, but clear enough for me to make out Liamsitting on the floor of what looked like a prison cell. His hair was mussed up, and I couldn’t tell whether the dark marks under his eyes were bruises or dirt.
The same with his clothes, only a horrible feeling crept through methat it wasn’t dirt on his white shirt, but dried blood.
But the state of Liam wasn’t the worst part. Standing in the room with him was another man, his suit tight on his huge, muscular body, and a mean scowl on his face. My heart leaped into my throat as my eyes fixed on what he was holding in his hand.
A gun.
Despite everything Liam had put me through, my heart ached atseeing him. I didn’t think I loved him anymore, months of living with his betrayal had ruined the chance of love for us, but that didn’t mean I wanted him to come to harm. He needed help, not being locked up like some kind of animal.
“What the hell is this?” I cried, turning to find Nash watching meintently.
He slowly took a sip of his own whiskey like he had all the time in theworld before he responded. “That’s my insurance policy.”
“Your insurance policy?” I stormed over to him, hovering over him ashe relaxed on the couch. “What the fuck is wrong with you? What the hell have you done to Liam?”
Nash stood, pulling himself up to his full height and now toweringmenacingly over me. “Would you rather it was you in that room?” My brows shot up in surprise. I didn’t know anything about Nash, but he’d never struck me as a violent man. I opened my mouth to respond, but Nash cut me off. “See, here’s the thing. I interrogated Liam, and he swore blind that you did sign the contract, so either he’s the liar, or you are.”
The bastard!
Words failed me. Even after all the deceit, there was still a little part ofme that hoped Liam would somehow sort out the chaos he had caused. But hearing Nash say that Liam had lied about me signing the contract was like taking a sledgehammer to my hope and smashing it to smithereens.
“I didn’t sign the contract,” I hissed, not knowing what I could do tomake this man believe me.
“Be that as it may, I’m still owed a debt. But I’m willing to offer you adeal, Savannah. A deal as to how that debt is repaid.”
“A deal?” I stuttered, trepidation now kicking in. Whatever deal Nashwas going to offer, I knew it wasn’t going to be good. “What kind ofdeal?”
A devious smile crossed Nash’s face sending a tingle of fearshivering down my spine. “You can walk out of here with your debt to me cleared. Hell, I’ll even clear the rest of your debt for good measure so you can start afresh. But if you take this option, Liam pays with his life. He’ll be dead before you step foot out of this hotel.”
The blood in my entire body turned to ice at his words, and disbeliefrushed through me. Taking advantage of my shocked state, Nash stepped forward until his chest brushed against mine. He leaned down, his hot breath brushing against my ear.
“Or, you can take the other option,” he whispered, and despite howmuch I hated him in that moment, as his delicious scent wrapped around me from how close he was, I couldn’t stop my heart from pounding madly.
“Which is?” I whispered, drawn into him like a moth to a flame.
“I’ll let Liam live to see another day,” he paused as he moved hismouth away from my ear to hover mere millimeters away from my lips. If I shifted my feet slightly, our lips would have met. His intoxicating scent fogged my head, so much that I barely heard his next words. “But in exchange, you will give yourself to me. I’ll own you, I’ll possess you. You will belong to me.”
As he spoke, his lips brushed delicately over mine before hesuddenly took a step back leaving me bereft. But without his nearness, his words began to sink in, and horror seeped into my bones. Before I had a chance to comprehend what he had said, Nash spoke again.
“Make your choice, sweetheart. Your life or his.”