Chapter 12
Istretched out on the most comfortable bed I’d ever slept on. It feltlike I’d had the best night’s sleep on a fluffy cloud, and I didn’t want to move.
But like being struck by a flash of lightning, the memory of Brianstabbing me in the neck with something sharp had me bolting upright, and panic rapidly began to rise at finding myself in a dark, unfamiliar room.
I leaped out of bed, a dull throb in my neck, and my foggy head mademe sway. Nausea churned in my stomach, but after a few deep breaths, my head began to clear fractionally.
My neck still throbbed like a bitch though, no thanks to Brian.
Taking tentative steps, I made my way across the room to the thickcurtains, yanking them open, and hoping to find some clue as to where the fuck I was.
My jaw hit the floor as I took in the magnificent view before me. WhileI’d never been to Las Vegas, the iconic fountains at the front of The Bellagio were easily recognizable, as was the famous Las Vegas strip with its huge hotels, and bustling streets.
From my viewpoint, it was evident I was in a room in The Bellagio, one that towered high above the Vegas skyline. My brain struggled to put the pieces together. Surely, Nash wouldn’t have moved me an entire state while I was unconscious?
But as my gaze roamed over the city, I had no choice but to acceptwhat was right in front of me. Was that kidnap?
Also, why were we in a hotel? Nash had said we were going to hishome, and I somehow doubted he lived in The Bellagio.
As the questions churned around in my head, dread mingledwith confusion, and part of me wanted to jump back into the comfort of the bed, and hide under the covers for the rest of eternity.
Seeing as that wasn’t an option though, I figured there was only oneman who could shed some light as to what in the hell was going on.
I spun, and marched my ass out of the room, ignoring the urge toslow and admire every inch of the luxurious suite I was storming through, determined to find the source of my current nightmare.
As I rounded the corner, bursting into a huge living area, I collidedwith a solid figure, ricocheting off his firm chest. If it wasn’t for his muscular arms shooting out and steadying me, I would have ended up on my ass.
The man mountain grinned down at me. I’d seen his face somewherebefore, but in my confusion that I hadn’t just crashed into Nash, I couldn’t remember where I’d seen him.
“You must be the mysterious Savannah,” he chortled.
I gaped at him stupidly for a few seconds, the ability to speaknowhere to be found, and my mouth going impossibly dry.
He was slightly taller than Nash, broader too. His dark gray suitbarely contained his muscular form. Like Nash, he had tattoos on his neck and chest which were visible owing to the top two buttons of his shirt being undone.
His short, dark brown hair was almost the color of an espresso, andhis sharp jawline was free of any stubble.
Warm copper eyes held mine, and even though I didn’t know who hewas, there was something about him that suggested he wasn’t someone I needed to fear.
“I…erm…I’m sorry. Who are you?” I stuttered, my cheeks blushing.
“Fox,” he replied, dropping my arms but holding out a hand for me toshake. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”
The second he said his name, I remembered where I’d seen him.When Michelle told me who Nash was, and showed me the pictures, there were a few photos of Nash and his business partner together. He was always referred to as Fox, like Madonna, or Prince, whereas Nash was always referred to by both his first and last name.
“Oh, right. Erm, nice to meet you?” It came out like a question as Itook his hand and shook it, my cheeks blushing a deeper shade of crimson as his eyes held mine intently.
He was almost as good-looking as Nash.
He knew the effect he was having on me too. He gave me a dazzlingsmile and a wink, and if it wasn’t for the fact that I was sworn off men, even more so now thanks to Nash, I could have allowed myself to drool over Fox.
“Can I get you a drink?” He dropped my hand and walked into theliving area, heading over to a fully stocked bar in the corner of the room.
“No, thank you. Where’s Nash?” I asked as I finally allowed myself totake in the grandeur of the suite. I dreaded to think how much a place like this would cost for a night’s stay. It was stunning.
“He’ll be back any minute, he had a few things to arrange,” Fox said,distracting me from the beautiful oil painting of a woman housed in an ornate gold frame.
“Why are we in The Bellagio? Is this where Nash lives?” I replied,hoping Fox would share some insight.
Fox busied himself with pouring a cup of steaming hot coffee from thecafetière. The smell of the beans hit me, and I suddenly regretted my decision to decline his offer.
“No, Nash doesn’t live here. But as for why you are here, I think that’ssomething for him to explain,” Fox said. His cryptic answer only added to the curiosity building within me. “Before I forget, Nash wanted me to give you these.”
He rummaged in the pocket of his suit jacket, pulling something out,and holding it for me. I quickly took it, squirming internally when I looked down and saw my birth control pills.
They had been in my apartment back in Brownsville, but I guessedNash must have instructed whoever cleaned out my apartment to get them. Why he couldn’t give them to me himself though, I didn’t know. Either way, I was grateful. With Nash’s warning about doing whatever he wanted to me ringing in my ears, the last thing I needed was to get pregnant.
“Thank you,” I said, shoving the pills in the pocket of my jeansand making a mental note to take today’s pill.
“Are you sure you don’t want a coffee?” Fox replied, holding out thecup he’d just poured.
I was about to reach out and take it, hoping the caffeine would clearthe brain fog still looming in my mind, when behind me, the door swung open.
Butterflies fluttered to life in my stomach as Nash ambled into thesuite. I was accustomed to seeing him wearing a suit, but now he was wearing a black tuxedo, and looking more gorgeous than ever.
Behind him, the smartly dressed concierge carried in two large dressbags, silently walking over to an armchair and laying the bags down at Nash’s instruction, before scurrying away.
“Ah, sweetheart. You’re awake,” Nash said, flashing me a charmingsmile. I couldn’t stop my eyes from dropping to his pants, remembering what it was like to have his cock in my mouth, and once again, my cheeks heated.
“You mean, after you drugged me?” I snapped, tearing my gaze awayfrom his groin, annoyed to find him smirking, no doubt more than aware of what I’d been staring at.
“I vaguely recall discussing business with my employees when youbolted from my room. How could I have made it down to the ground floor to drug you?” he replied, his tone full of sarcasm.
I scowled at him.
Fucking smartass.
“It might not have been you who stabbed me with a needle, but I’ll beteverything I have Brian did it on your orders,” I said, my temper rising.
“Everything you have? That’s not much,” Nash replied, humor in hisvoice, and making my temper rise that little bit more.
“I think I’ll leave you two to it,” Fox said, abandoning his cup of coffee,and patting Nash on the shoulder as he passed. “I’ll see you soon, Junior. Savannah.” He tipped his head in my direction before leaving the room.
Nash and I were silent, with me glaring at him, growing moreannoyed with his smirking face, until the door to the suite closed behind Fox.
Anger bubbled under my skin when Nash walked away, leaving ourconversation unresolved. Following him deeper into the living area, my anger boiled over.
“Why did you drug me?” I demanded, planting my hands on my hips.
“Why did you run?” he countered, spinning to face me, and meetingmy eyes with his hardened ones. “I assume it was because you changed your mind so I took the liberty of ordering Liam’s execution.”
“What?” I gasped, not just at the fateful news he’d delivered, but atthe coldness in his tone as he spoke.
My legs began to buckle, and if it wasn’t for the fact the couch was infront of me to hold onto, I would have ended up in a heap on the floor.
“Please tell me you’re not serious,” I managed to choke out. As hiswords echoed in my ears, an invisible hand reached inside my chest and squeezed my lungs, making it hard to suck in air.
He had to be lying.
Nash’s lips thinned in disapproval. “No. I’m not being serious. Butmay this be a lesson to you,” he said callously.
This time my knees did buckle in relief. Collapsing onto the couch, Iheld back the sob that wanted to escape. Liam was safe, but for how long?
A little voice in the back of my mind answered that question, but Iwished it hadn’t.
For as long as you do everything Nash tells you to.
The hand squeezing my chest tightened as the little voice repeatedover and over the answer I didn’t want to acknowledge. But along with the fear and anguish I’d felt for the few seconds I thought Liam was dead, I was slowly realizing I had no choice but to accept the answer.
Unable to speak any words, I watched in stunned silence as Nashgrabbed a few things around the suite as if he hadn’t just ripped my heart out and stomped all over it, before putting it back together with all the pieces in the wrong place.
“Here, take these,” he said, shoving his palm under my nose wheretwo small tablets lay. In the other hand, he held out a sealed bottle of water he’d taken from the minibar.
“You’re out of your mind if you think I’m going to let you drug meagain,” I said, my voice shaking.
His face twisted into a scowl. “I believe we’ve established that itwasn’t me who drugged you,” he said, his soothing voice betraying the tension radiating from him. “Besides, these are Tylenol, they’ll help with the headache.”
“I don’t have a headache,” I retorted. My head was foggy, but it didn’thurt. Unlike my neck which was still throbbing from the needle.
“Not yet you don’t,” Nash said, dropping the bottle in my lap andgrabbing my hand to tip the pills in. “But as the propofol leaves your system, you’ll most likely get a headache, and I need you to be able to focus this evening.”
My head snapped from the pills in my hand to meet his eyes, findingthem alive with mirth.
“Focused on what?” I asked tentatively, not wanting to know theanswer but unable to resist asking.
“On the wedding.”
“Wh…what wedding?” I stuttered, trying to ignore the weighty dreadthreatening to consume my entire being.
“Our wedding, Savannah. We’re getting married,” Nash repliedcasually, his lips tugging into a devious grin.
The blood in my veins turned to ice, yet every inch of my skin flushedto boiling point. Nausea mixed with the dread, and a tremor began in the tips of my fingers, slowly making its way through every inch of me.
“What did you say?” I replied, disbelief heavy in my voice, thepills in my hand long forgotten.
“Like I despise being asked if I’m joking, I despise having to repeatmyself,” he replied coolly.
Feeling like an ant about to be stomped on with the way he toweredover me, I jumped to my feet, the bottle of water falling to the floor along with the pills.
“We are not getting married,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady,but unable to hold back the despair.
He took a step forward, closing the gap between us. “I assure you,we are sweetheart. In,” he paused to look at his watch before meeting my eyes again. “One hour, so you might want to start getting ready unless you want to get married in what you’re wearing.”
His eyes raked up and down my body, his lips curling in disgust at myfaded jumper and stained jeans. I glared back at him, defiance warring with embarrassment. I knew my clothes were shabby, but I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of making me feel like shit because I couldn’t afford the fancy clothes he wore.
“Why?” I whispered through gritted teeth, horrified at this turn ofevents.
“Because you ran. You got to your knees and convinced me you wereall in, and then you ran. So now you’ll make the ultimate commitment. You will be my wife, and the world will know you belong to me.” His voice was soft, lulling me into a state of incredulity. When he reached up and brushed a finger over the spot on my neckwhere Brian jabbed me, the flash of pain barely registered. “You will never run from me again, sweet Savannah, because if you do, I will find you. There won’t be a place in this world you can hide from me, understand?”
Tears welled in my eyes and spilled over, gracefully sliding down mycheeks. I nodded my head once because in that moment, it was the only part of my body that could move. The rest of me had frozen in shock.
“Good,” he replied, his voice turning stoic as he took a step back.“Now, in those dress bags are a choice of two wedding dresses. Take them to our room and decide which one you’d like to get married in. You have one hour before the concierge comes to get you to bring you to the ceremony.”
He turned, giving me his back and leaving me speechless. My headraced, and as Nash predicted, a headache began forming.
Not giving a shit if the pills were indeed Tylenol or somethingstronger, I crouched down and picked them up, swallowing them with several sips of water, and spilling some down my chin where my hands shook so much. But as I drank, a thought sprung to mind.
“Nash?” I called, stopping him from walking out onto the balcony.When he turned and raised a questioning brow, I summoned up the courage to speak. “What about Liam? If I marry you, are you going to let him go?”
A puzzled look swept over his face, almost as if he forgot he washolding Liam prisoner somewhere. Composing himself, he opened the door to the balcony, the hustle and bustle from outside drifting in.
“As soon as you say ‘I do’, I’ll let Liam go. But mark my words,Savannah, until I’m satisfied you’re not going anywhere, I’ll be keeping a close eye on Liam’s whereabouts, and if you so much as put one toe out of line, Liam will suffer the consequences,” he said, his voice full of threat.
Not giving me the chance to respond, Nash turned and walkedoutside, closing the door firmly behind him.
My shoulder sagged as the weight of the world grew heavier. Afeeling I could only describe as disassociation had taken over. It was like I was floating above the room, watching the horrific scene unfold, and powerless to do anything about it.
I didn’t know how long I stared at Nash pacing on the balcony with hisphone to his ear, oblivious to the turmoil he’d caused, but when he paused to check his watch, he glanced back at me, and the blood rushed in my ears, returning me to the here and now.
Without thought, I turned and picked up the two heavy dress bagsbefore lugging them back to the bedroom. Throwing them down on the bed, I glared at them, refusing to open either one because I knew the second I did, it would make everything seem real.
What the hell was I going to do?