Chapter 20
CHAPTER TWENTY
NATASHA
E lla was offering me the one thing I truly wanted above all others, but the cost…
I rubbed my forehead to ease a growing headache, then reached for Dante.
Leaning against my legs, he whined and licked my hand as memories of Ronan Doherty intruded into my head.
With ginger hair, warm brown eyes, and an infectious smile, he was everything a young girl swooned over.
And stupid fourteen-year-old past me had a crush on him before I knew what he truly was.
In comparison, Lachlan was a fucking saint.
Although he’d never touched me, even the memory of Ronan’s gaze on me made me feel like I was covered in slime. I didn’t dare allow myself to think about what would have happened if he’d managed to convince my sperm donor to let him have me.
Things were different now though. I wasn’t an abused little girl anymore. I had choices and skills Ronan would never dream a woman could have.
And all I needed was a way in.
“Here,” Lachlan said softly as he curled my fingers around a steaming cup of coffee. “Nobody will force you to do anything you don’t want to, Natasha.”
Fuck my life. He was as handsome as ever, and I would have sworn my ovaries started pushing out eggs at the sight of him holding a baby.
Worse, he was right. He twisted words, but he’d never lied to me.
When he told me I wouldn’t regret marrying him for a single moment, he was right.
I regretted marrying him for all the moments.
He said we’d have an al fresco lunch when I asked if we could walk on the beach. There were several outdoor meals—overlooking the sheer cliff face leading down to the ocean. I knelt in the grass while he ate from a china plate.
The things he promised to have delivered when he showed me the dressing room were my collar and tail.
Although the personal cost had been high, marriage to him got me Dante and my father dead. I supposed I owed him for that. If nothing else, I should probably thank him for teaching me not to be so damned trusting.
“No, but I’m not above bribery,” Ella said. “You haven’t read your contract, but it stipulates you’ll receive sixty percent of the assets belonging to confirmed kills. Ronan’s estimated net worth is close to a billion Euros.”
“Tempting.” I considered it for a moment, then shook my head. “But I don’t care about the money.”
Then again, that kind of wealth would set me up as one of Ella’s competitors. The idea wasn’t entirely displeasing, but considering we were after pretty much the same thing, we wouldn’t actually be in competition. Besides, it was more efficient to work together.
Or… I could retire and buy that volcanic island.
Still didn’t mean I wanted to partner with Lachlan.
“Then donate it.” She shrugged and moved her baby to her other breast. “Or give it to his victims. Seem to recall Lachlan giving you Steve’s.”
“Why are you even still talking, Goat?”
“Because you haven’t said yes, Spider.” Smirking, she laid her baby on her shoulder and patted her back, making the infant let out a prodigious belch. “You know you wanna.”
I rolled my eyes and hid a smile, unwilling to encourage her. Ella aggravated the fuck out of me, but despite myself, I liked her.
“You’re actually getting off lightly,” Daniel said as he encouraged me to sit and laid my barely touched plate on the table in front of me. “She threatened to steal my entire army out from under me unless I agreed to work for her.”
“And now you’re rich, happily married to the love of your life, and have another baby on the way.
Stop whining.” Softening her tone, she smiled at me.
“As much as you hate the idea, Lachlan is your best shot at getting to Ronan. I want him almost as much as you do, and you’re the only chance we have. ”
“Please, Natasha,” Cristian murmured. “We wouldn’t ask if we didn’t think you were our best hope of eliminating Ronan.”
“What else can we give you?” Ella asked. “What would make you say yes?”
I sipped my coffee, then ate a bite of spanakopita, which was indeed as delicious as Ella claimed. After considering my answer for a few moments, I said, “I want a guarantee from you that I can kill Lachlan if he decides to be stupid and tries to cage me again.”
“Done,” Cristian replied. “In fact, I’ll do it myself.”
“I’m not finished. I also want Italian citizenship and a house of my choosing as close to the Swiss border as I can get.”
“Done and done. To sweeten the pot, I’ll keep Lachlan’s sister as insurance for his good behavior.” Ignoring Lachlan’s growl of displeasure, which made me shiver with trepidation, Ella pulled her phone from her pocket and tapped the screen to put her call on speaker.
The call was answered by a woman with a thick Scottish brogue and I almost choked on my food when I realized who I was about to talk to. “Oy, dairy goat! Give Lelia many kisses from Auntie Gabby.”
“All the kisses.” Ella chuckled, her blue eyes sparkling with humor. “Guess who I have in my house right this very minute.”
“The more important question is whether your guest is still breathing, mo chridhe.”
“Definitely still breathing, but you have to guess first.”
“Well, you couldn’t have caught Natasha Ashland. I can’t even find the naughty girl, and I’ve looked. Even Sean couldn’t track her down after she gave him the slip in Phoenix.”
Grinning impishly, Ella winked at me. “Say hello, Natasha.”
My face heated until I was sure I looked like a tomato, but I smiled. “Hello, Natasha.”
“Bloody hell!” Dr. Knox exclaimed. “You caught her! How many mercs did you lose? Oh, my goodness, this is brilliant! Wait until I tell Zandy. She’ll scream. Put Natasha on video because I need to see!”
Warmth blossomed in my chest at her infectious exuberance. Never, not once in my life, had so many people been happy to see me, and I’d never been told I was the one person who could do a job. It was…
Hell. I didn’t know how I felt. Part of me said I should be happy, but the wiser, more distrustful part said there was a catch.
Then again, I already knew the catch, and he never stopped looking at me.
I guess the real question was whether I trusted Ella enough to let me kill Lachlan if he decided to play nasty again.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have an answer, but I didn’t need one.
Whether she agreed or not, I’d end him if he dared try anything I didn’t want.
Maybe it was more that I didn’t trust myself not to willingly kneel for him. God help me, I wanted to. I wanted to put the piercings back in my tongue and suck his cock just to listen to his pleasured groans. I wanted his hands in my hair and his dick in my pussy, and…
I shut the thoughts down and locked them into the mental box with the rest of my bad memories.
Ella turned her phone to face me, pulling me from my uncomfortable thoughts. “See? Natasha Ashland, live and in color, but don’t tell Zandy yet.”
Dr. Knox looked just like the pictures I’d seen, with rainbow-streaked hair, several facial piercings, and colorful tattoos covering both arms. Sean, her husband and the man who gave me the Caroline’s card, stood behind her and gave me a warm smile.
“Aww. Why not?”
“She’ll tell Nicky, and Nicky will tell everyone. Besides, I haven’t managed to coax Natasha out of the bushes yet.”
“Well, I’m sure Ella offered you scads of money to complete our project, so what else do you want, Natasha?”
I repeated my wish list, then added, “And I want signed copies of all your games, plus Ella’s autograph.”
To my shock, Ella grabbed a pen, then lifted up my skirt and scrawled her name across my thigh. “There. Autograph accomplished.”
“And you can expect a pressie overnighted from me,” Dr. Knox promised.
I glanced at Lachlan and smirked. “One last thing. I’ll need a disposal crew for Lachlan after I kill Ronan Doherty. Oh, and someone needs to get Dante’s cat from my house in Santa Cruz. He misses her.”
* * *
LACHLAN
Natasha was a beautiful woman by anyone’s standards, but I’d never seen her truly happy.
She simply…blossomed under the praise.
The sight of her soft, slightly embarrassed smile nearly stopped my heart. It was the same expression she offered me on our wedding day, and fuck me, but I wanted it back. More than that, I wanted to have never lost it in the first place.
I’d complimented her, of course, but you suck my cock so well didn’t compare to you are the only one who can help us .
Knowing what I was about to say would probably end with my execution, I caught Ella’s gaze and shook my head. “No.”
“No to the cleanup crew?” she asked. “Or no to partnering with Natasha?”
“I’m saying no. I won’t allow you to put Natasha at risk. I’ll take care of Ronan.”
“Allow?” Ella murmured. “You might want to rephrase in a manner that doesn’t end up with you fertilizing my rosebushes. I don’t think you understand who you’re dealing with.”
I knew exactly who I was dealing with, and I didn’t fucking care. “I’ll take being plant food over putting my wife in danger.”
“Goodness, but that’s a bloody decent declaration of undying devotion,” Dr. Knox said as Natasha blinked in shock. “I’ll be trotting off now, but we’ll meet in a few days to discuss logistics.”
The call dropped and Ella rolled her eyes. “Did they teach you drama in high school? It’s wasted on me. Can you guarantee your ability to get Ronan alone?”
“I—”
“Do you have the resources to obtain blueprints for his house? Or make the kill without his guards hearing it, then get out without being caught?”
I gritted my teeth and glared at her, trying to stop myself from throttling her. “And you’re asking me to assume my wife can? You want to send her into a dangerous situation as a slave, without an exit plan. How am I supposed to think any of that shit is okay?”
“Yes, Lachlan, I can, and I truly don’t care what you think.
” Natasha rose from her seat and stood between me and Ella.
“I already have the blueprints, and paid a fortune for his security system schematics, including the locations of his cameras. All I need is a way inside and enough time to make him believe I’m helpless. ”
“You will be helpless, Natasha.”
“Oooh,” Ella murmured. “I’m just gonna hide behind this couch before the blood spray starts.”
Paying no attention to her words, I took Natasha’s shoulders and shook her gently but let go when she backed out of reach. “You’ll be barely dressed and shackled.”
“I don’t need clothes or a weapon to kill a man.” She smiled, baring teeth. “I could always demonstrate if you don’t believe me.”
Closing my eyes, I prayed for patience before I gave in to the urge to turn her over my knee. “Are you seriously telling me you’re considering this?”
“For a chance to kill a man responsible for selling hundreds of people into slavery and get paid enough to buy a private island? You bet your ass I am.” She returned to her seat and finished the last of her food before opening the thick folder on the couch next to her.
“If you all will excuse me, I’ll need a few hours to look over my new contract. ”
What the hell did she want with a private island? “Natasha, we’re not done.”
She slammed the folder on the table and glared at me. “Why do you even care? Is it the money? Fine. I’ll split the payout with you. Happy?”
“Christ, woman!” I scraped my hands through my hair, ignoring Ella’s amused gaze on us as she mimed eating popcorn. “I don’t give a fuck about the money. It’s you I care about. I can’t even think about letting you get hurt. Not when I can stop it.”
“Aww.” I heard a soft thump followed by a male grunt. “Why don’t you say stuff like that to me, Cristian?”
“Let’s leave them alone, Cicci.”
“Oh, yeah, I forgot I just got thrown out of my own house. Come find us on the pool deck when you’re finished with your…” Ella smirked. “Discussion.”
She, Cristian, and Daniel left us, closing the door behind them.
I didn’t bother asking permission and sat next to her. Dante growled softly, but Natasha’s hand on his head stopped him from lunging for my throat. He very much did not like anyone close to her, but I felt the same and didn’t fault him for it.
“I haven’t needed protection in months, Lachlan.” She sighed and got more snacks from the cart, then returned to sit next to me. “If nothing else, you taught me not to expect it from anyone, least of all from you.”
“I’ve never wanted to give it to anyone.” Taking a risk, I tucked a silky brown curl behind her ear. Her hair almost reached her shoulders, and I wondered if she was letting it grow out. “Just you.”
Giving me a delicate snort, she ate a bite of phyllo-wrapped pastry. “Then why didn’t you protect me in the first place?”
“In a way, I did,” I murmured. “How many of your ribs did I break?”
She opened her mouth, then shut it with an audible snap and glared at me. “Asshole. That was low, even for you.”
“I didn’t expect you to take it well.” I turned to face her and took her hands. “I’m not justifying my behavior, Natasha. I know I fucked up, but I need you to know that it wasn’t personal. I didn’t…”
I let the words trail off and released my hold on her hands. Personal or not, I should have gotten the truth before I married her, but all I could see was my own need for revenge.
“You didn’t…what?” she asked.
“I never expected how much you’d come to mean to me, or how much hurting you would consume my soul.” I gazed into her brown eyes and decided to throw my chips on the table. “Please, give me another chance. Let me do what I should have done in the first place and keep you safe.”