The Mistress Deal

Chapter one

I sat in the back ofthe taxi, enjoying a moment of having nothing to do but wait, as it took me the fifteen-minute drive to my brother Liam’s house. Normally I walked or rode my bike, but it was getting late and I didn’t like walking in the dark alone. One of the pitfalls of being a woman.

The taxi pulled to a stop out the front and I made my way up the front stairs, noticing it was unusually quiet. Liam always had the television going with the volume turned up loud so he could hear it in any room of the house.

As I opened the door, letting myself in, I felt a wave of pure fear course through my body and my breath caught in my throat. I could feel my heart beating hard and fast, and my mind couldn’t seem to process what I was seeing in front of me.

Liam was sitting on the lounge, his eyes wide and scared. Blood was dripping from his nose and his shirt was ripped open. There were two tall, muscled men dressed head to toe in black standing over him and there was another man sitting casually in an armchair to his right. This man looked even more frightening than the two larger thugs.

Even though the man in the armchair was sitting down, I could tell he was well over six feet tall, with a strong, solid body and broad shoulders, all wrapped up in an expensive dark grey suit. He had dark, wavy brown hair, and dark, dark brown eyes, which looked surprised to see me, but it didn’t lessen their nasty glint.

The devil in a Prada suit.

I realised with a shock that I recognised him. It was Liam’s boss. Billionaire businessman, famous womaniser, Nathan Davenport.

“Well, well, Liam, who do we have here? I know it’s not your wife,” the man in the armchair taunted. His voice was smooth and calm, which only seemed to add to my fear.

One of the larger thugs grabbed me by the arm and pulled me inside, slamming the front door behind me. Every fibre in my body began to tremble.

“Don’t you dare touch her,” Liam bit out, the strength in his voice surprising me. He went to stand up, but one of the men pushed him down, hard. “Let her go, she has nothing to do with this.” Liam’s tone changed to pleading and I could see nothing but defeat in his eyes.

“Liam, what... what’s going on?” I asked, my nerves making my voice come out small and scared. I wasn’t a soft person normally and I hated the fear that was consuming me, making me sound weak.

“It’s all right, Rosie,” said Liam. “This is my boss, Nathan Davenport.” He looked at the man in the armchair, then up at the two other men. “And these two are his hired henchmen.”

“Liam, you didn’t answer my question. Who is she?” Nathan Davenport asked, his silky-smooth voice cutting through the air.

Liam hung his head down but not before I saw the shame in his eyes. “Rose is my sister.”

What was happening? Why would Liam’s boss want to do this? My head was swimming.

Nathan’s dark eyes openly slid up and down my body, taking in every single inch, and I watched as a sly smile began to form at his lips. “Really? Well, I’m sure your sister would love to know what you’ve been up too, hey?” Liam’s head hung even lower. “Don’t want to tell her? Don’t worry, I will.” Nathan turned to face me, his eyes so dark and intense. “You see, Rose, your brother has apparently a bit of a gambling problem. Did you know that?” he asked, his voice casual, like we were chatting about the weather. It sent a chill down my spine. There was utter darkness underneath.

I did know about the gambling, all too well. I’d been helping Liam out with money for years.

“What does that have to do with you?” I asked, nerves zinging through my body as I wringed my hands in front of me. “Does he owe you money? I can pay you some...”

“Really? Three-hundred thousand dollars?” Nathan asked, raising an eyebrow.

I felt the blood rush to my head and I knew I was close to fainting. Lucky the man was still holding onto my arm. Three-hundred thousand dollars?

“As you know, Liam is my gardener,” Nathan continued. “He has access to everywhere on the grounds of my home. It’s been brought to my attention that your brother deliberately left open one of the windows to the garage where I keep all of my vintage cars. He later ‘broke’ into the garage, stole one of my vehicles, and sold it on the ‘black market’ to pay off some of his gambling debts.”

I felt sick to my stomach and the room began to spin. “Oh Liam, why?” He looked up at me and I could see the shame all over his face. “Isn’t the car covered by insurance?” I asked hopefully, my blue eyes pleading with Nathan.

Nathan laughed, clearly unaffected by my plea. “Of course it is. But that car was a classic, it could take years to find another one in such mint condition. And besides...” He leaned forward, his face turning cold and hard, anger suddenly radiating from every part of him. “Nobody steals from me.”

My mind was racing, I couldn’t think of a solution. I certainly couldn’t come up with that sort of money. “So what are you going to do?”

Nathan leaned back in his chair and looked at Liam. “We were just about to discuss that when you walked in. I thought we could start by breaking his legs and then my men could just go up from there.” The anger in his voice was terrifying and I felt my whole body start to shake with uncontrollable shivers.

The two men smiled and Liam tried to stand up again, but they pushed him down hard. One of them walked over to the corner of the room and grabbed a cricket bat.

“No, wait...” I screamed and I grabbed the guy on the arm. He pushed me away like I was nothing and I landed on the wooden floorboards with a hard thud.

“Alright. That’s enough,” Nathan called, stopping everyone in their tracks. He stood up, grabbed me by my arm and pulled me roughly to my feet. I couldn’t help but flinch at his touch. “Hmm, Rose, you smell nice.” Nathan leaned down and put his nose in my long honey-brown hair. I could feel Nathan’s frame press against my own, causing a strange heat to flow throughout my entire body. I caught a breath of his cologne. If sin had a smell, it would smell like him.

“Don’t you dare touch her,” Liam bit out as he tried to stand up. The two men grabbed him and held his arms behind his back as he struggled and cursed, trying to get to Nathan and I.

“I really don’t think you’re in the best position to be making threats, do you, Liam?” asked Nathan, his tone becoming darker with every word.

“I don’t care what you do to me, Nathan, but don’t you dare lay a finger on my sister.”

I was surprised by the forcefulness in my brother’s voice. Liam was usually a calm man, a joker not a fighter. Even when we were growing up, I never saw him get angry.

Nathan let me go and moved so he stood right in front of Liam. “Maybe I won’t touch her.” His smile was dark. “How is your wife, Liam? Still pregnant?”

Liam’s face went red and he lunged towards Nathan. One of the men pulled Liam back and threw him down on the lounge, causing his head to hit the wall behind him. I cried out and went to help my brother, but the other man put his arms out and stopped me from reaching him.

“Sit down, Rose,” Nathan said, his tone firm. He moved away from Liam and grabbed me on the arm, pushing me softly down into the armchair. “We’re not getting anywhere. Have you thought of a way to pay me back?” Nathan’s voice had calmed down, but he was beginning to sound impatient. He turned his dark eyes to Liam.

“Apart from helping you to find another car, what can I do?” Liam sighed. I could see the fight had gone out of him and now he just looked exhausted.

Nathan turned to look at me and a sly smile slowly formed at his mouth. I felt fear run right through my body to my very core. “Maybe you can’t help me, but I think your sister can.”

“Me?” I asked, wondering what I could possibly do to help. “I don’t have much money and I really don’t have any knowledge of cars. I don’t even own one.”

“I don’t want your money.” Nathan looked me right in the eyes, unflinching. “I want you.”

I really didn’t like the sound of that. I felt my stomach lurch and my throat went dry. “What...what does that mean?”

“Exactly that. I want you. I want you to come and live with me, be with me...” He smiled sheepishly. “You know exactly what I want, Rose.”

I felt the room start to spin again. A feeling of sick started to rise in my throat. I did know exactly what he wanted and it wasn’t someone to do his cooking and cleaning. I could hear Liam call out in protest, but it sounded like it was a million miles away.

“For how long?” I asked, not bothering to hide the shake in my voice.

Nathan shrugged. “Until I get sick of you. Months, years even.”

“This is not a reasonable request.” I heard Liam struggle to get the words out.

A furious look swept across Nathan’s dark features. “I don’t care. As far as I’m concerned you have three options. One, I have my men break every bone in your body. Two, I tell the police and you go to jail, or three, Rose comes to live with me in my mansion, where she’ll live a life of luxury... as my mistress.” Nathan shrugged. “I think the latter is a good deal for everyone.”

“Fine, call the police. I’d rather go to jail.”

“Liam, no,” I cried. “You’re about to become a father. Charlotte isn’t going to be able to do this on her own.”

I thought about Liam’s wife, Charlotte. She was spending the weekend at her parent’s house. She was a soft, quiet little thing. Every time you were in her presence you felt like you had to protect her. Charlotte was one of the sweetest, kindest, most beautiful people you could ever meet. I would never help Liam out with money if it weren’t for her. Even when he gambled his entire pay check in one night, the way he had many a time. Charlotte was eight months pregnant, the furthest she’d been to term after two miscarriages. The pregnancy was really taking its toll on her and I didn’t think she could deal with the pressure of all this, especially if Liam went to jail.

“I’ll do it,” I heard myself whisper. I had no choice. I glanced up and I thought I saw a microsecond of surprise flash across Nathan’s face.

I glanced at Liam and watched as a tear slid down his cheek. “No Rosie, you can’t. I won’t let you.”

I could hear the shame in his voice. I knew this was hurting him beyond belief. He wasn’t a bad person, and now he was torn between what was best for his pregnant wife and what was going to happen to his sister.

I flashed Liam a weak smile and shrugged one of my shoulders. “Sure I can. Who doesn’t want a life of luxury?”

“Fine then, that’s settled.” Without wasting a second, Nathan grabbed me by the arm and pulled me to my feet. “Let’s go.”

“Right now?” I asked. But Nathan ignored me, it was like he didn’t want to give me the chance to change my mind. Without even a goodbye, he led me outside to where a big black SUV was waiting on the other side of the street. I hadn’t even noticed it when I arrived.

“There are a few things I need from my house,” I said as Nathan lightly pushed me into the SUV. I was using all my strength not to cry.

“It can wait until tomorrow.”

“But...”

“But nothing.” He sounded as if he was talking to a child and I felt a fission of anger shoot through me. “I said it can wait.”

We sat in silence as the car started up and took off down the street, one of the thugs in the driver’s seat. My mind was racing with a thousand thoughts, but I couldn’t seem to make out a single one. My head felt like it was made of jelly and my stomach was full of butterflies.

What had I done?

We arrived at Nathan’s mansion and had to go through a set of big, black iron gates. Like a jail, I thought grimly as they slid open. Nathan all but dragged me out of the SUV. I didn’t even have a chance to have a look around when we got inside. Nathan led me straight upstairs to what I guessed was his bedroom.

“You’ll be sleeping in here with me,” Nathan stated simply, as he took off his jacket and tie and placed them on the end of the bed. “The bathroom is in there.” He pointed to an adjoining door in the luxurious bedroom.

The whole room started to spin, I couldn’t seem to make out a single word he was saying. I couldn’t take in my surroundings. It was too much. Too fast.

And then I completely blacked out.