King’s Ransom

by Ashenden, Jackie

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Imogen

  I ROLLED OVER and blinked as the early-morning sunlight fell over my face.

  Ajax wasn’t in bed with me, but that seemed to be normal with him. He hadn’t been there the past couple of days when I’d woken up either, though I hadn’t woken this early before.

  He must have been up even earlier.

  I slipped out of bed, finding one of his T-shirts on the floor and pulling it on over my head. The cotton was cool against my bare skin and it smelled of the dark, delicious male scent that was all him.

  It gave me a little shiver of pleasure.

  I couldn’t have put into words how happy the past couple of days with him had made me.

  After that day in the kitchen, when he’d said those things to me about Mum and sacrifices, I’d felt lighter than I had in years. And in the days that followed I felt lighter still.

  It wasn’t as if we did anything major. Just...spent a lot of time in bed, talking. Or watching TV. Or swimming in the pool. One evening I’d curled up in his lap in the library, his hand stroking through my hair as we read books together. I hadn’t wanted to move, not once.

  Being with him eased something frenetic inside me. With him it quietened, as if his presence lulled it.

  He still hadn’t talked about himself in any meaningful way, though, apart from that one comment about his brothers. His past and his thinking processes were still as much of a closed book to me as ever.

  Which naturally made me even hungrier to know about them.

  I crept out of the bedroom and paused in the hallway outside, glancing through the open doorway into the office next to the bedroom.

  Ajax sat at the computer, leaning back in his chair, his long legs outstretched. He wore nothing but a pair of running shorts, as if he’d just come back from a workout. His skin gleamed, those incredible tattoos outlining the muscles I’d explored with my hands and my tongue for hours the night before.

  He was so delicious. My palms itched, wanting to touch him.

  You’re never going to stop wanting him.

  I shook my head at the thought. Of course I would. I always lost interest after a while. Sex with him was new and fresh and so it was fascinating to me. Once I’d explored everything he had to offer I’d be ready to move on, the way I moved on with everything.

  Trying not to make a sound, I crept into the room and sneaked up behind him, hoping to surprise him.

  Leaning in, I whispered, ‘Caught you,’ in his ear.

  He didn’t move and he didn’t look round. ‘If you want to catch me, you’ll have to use something to mask your scent. I could smell you the moment you stepped into the hallway.’

  ‘You could smell me?’ I wound my arms around his neck. ‘Seriously?’

  ‘I’m used to people creeping up on me, little one. I’ve developed a few instincts to stop them from surprising me.’

  That made sense. I didn’t imagine he’d had a peaceful life.

  ‘But didn’t your father have guards to protect you?’ I nuzzled against his neck. ‘Like, lots of security? Mine did. I can’t go anywhere without my guards.’

  He was sitting there, apparently relaxed. But I could feel the sudden tension in his body. ‘My father thought I needed to protect myself.’

  There was a note in his deep voice that I couldn’t identify.

  I shut my eyes, brushed my mouth across his powerful shoulder, wanting to ease that tension somehow. ‘Why? Isn’t that what guards are for?’

  He didn’t say anything and it felt like the tension in him was seeping into the silence of the room, pressing in around us.

  This was a painful subject.

  Abruptly I wanted to talk about something else, ask him questions, distract him. I didn’t want to hurt him.

  But, before I could open my mouth, he said, ‘I had to learn what it meant to be Augustus’s son early. I’d always suspected he was a monster, but I had it shoved in my face when I was thirteen.’

  A chill crept down my spine.

  ‘You don’t have to say anything,’ I murmured. ‘Not if you don’t—’

  He put his hand over mine where they rested on his chest and the rest of what I’d been going to say vanished from my brain. It wasn’t a move meant to hold me still. It was almost as if he wanted the touch of my skin against his as a comfort.

  ‘Dad took me to an old warehouse one day after school,’ Ajax said, the words toneless. ‘There was nothing in it but a man tied to a chair. I had no idea what was going on or what the man was doing there, but as soon as Dad walked in the man went white.’

  The chill down my spine solidified into ice.

  I might have been sheltered, but I wasn’t stupid. I knew where this was going.

  ‘I asked Dad what was happening and he said that the man in the chair was an employee of his who’d disobeyed him and then tried to leave. I asked Dad what he meant by “leave”, but Dad told me it would all become clear.’ Ajax paused, his grip on my hand tightening. ‘Then he made me watch while he beat the man half to death.’

  The ice filtered into my bloodstream, chilling me despite the warmth of his hand over mine and the heat of his bare chest.

  His father had made him watch... At thirteen.

  I laid my cheek against his shoulder, fighting the sick feeling in my stomach. My father might have hurt and manipulated me emotionally, but he’d never shown me his violent side. At least not until he’d hurt Cam.

  ‘Dad told me that I needed to see what happened to people who disobeyed him,’ Ajax went on expressionlessly. ‘And those who wanted out. Then he said that I was a King and I’d be one for life, and if I ever betrayed him or escaped, he’d kill me. And my brothers too.’

  I had no idea what to say. Because what could I say? To something as horrific as that?

  So I did the only thing I could. I tightened my arms around him and spread my palms out on his chest, pressing down. Then I turned my face into his strong neck, put my mouth to his skin.

  He’d been just as much a prisoner of his father as I had of mine, hadn’t he? Dad had used my mother’s death against me, while Augustus had taken Ajax’s inherent protectiveness and used that against him.

  And of course it had worked, because if I’d learned anything about Ajax it was that protectiveness lay at the very heart of him.

  It was why he’d kidnapped me. To keep his city safe.

  And by threatening his brothers his father had ensured Ajax’s loyalty.

  It turned my stomach.

  ‘I hate him,’ I said fiercely against his neck. ‘He’s a bastard for using your brothers against you like that. Jail is too good for him. I would have beaten him up first.’

  Strangely, the tension suddenly bled out of Ajax’s shoulders and he shifted, swivelling the chair around and pulling me into his lap.

  ‘You’re fierce, woman.’ His sky-blue eyes met mine, direct and uncompromising. ‘I approve.’

  I settled myself against his chest, in the crook of his arm, and looked up at him. ‘Well, it’s true. And I’m glad you took him down in the end.’

  An expression that I thought was regret flickered over his face. ‘It took me too long.’

  ‘But you had to be careful, right? I mean, otherwise he would have hurt your brothers.’

  ‘It still took longer than it should. And I had to stand by while...’

  I put my hand on his bare chest, feeling the strong beat of his heart, knowing that whatever had made him stop, it was painful. ‘You don’t need to say it.’

  He searched my face for a long time. ‘I had to stand by while Leon was kidnapped and tortured. While Dad used Xander to steal people’s money. I couldn’t do a thing for them, not without betraying myself and all the plans I’d put in place. Taking down my father was more important and I sacrificed my brothers
to do it.’ He stared at me as if I had the answer to a question he’d been dying to know the answer to. ‘What kind of man does that?’

  Grief twisted in my heart, for him and the childhood he’d had. For how his father had used him.

  Was this why he thought he was a monster?

  I lifted my hands to his face, holding him gently. ‘You wanted to save people,’ I said fiercely. ‘Not just your brothers, but all the people your father hurt. All the people your father could potentially hurt too if he wasn’t stopped.’

  A shadow moved over his face. ‘I’m not looking for forgiveness, Imogen.’

  I dropped my hands, unexpectedly stung. ‘I wasn’t giving it.’

  ‘That’s not why I told you.’

  I pushed the prick of hurt away. This wasn’t about me. It was about him. ‘So why did you tell me then?’

  ‘So you understand. The end justifies the means. Every time.’

  I swallowed. ‘Yes, I get it.’

  The hard look in his eyes softened. He brushed my cheek with one finger. ‘I’m not saying this to hurt you and I’m sorry if I did. I just want to be straight with you. You can’t get too comfortable with me. I’m a man with only one goal and I won’t change it. Not for you. Not for anyone.’

  Hearing it shouldn’t have made the hurt go deeper. He was being honest and I appreciated it. Not that I was going to get too comfortable with him in any case.

  ‘That’s good.’ I tried to make my voice light. ‘Because you know I’m going to lose interest in you soon in any case. I always do.’

  His eyes gleamed, though whether it was amusement or something else I wasn’t quite sure. ‘You want to see something?’

  ‘What?’ Automatically I looked down at his shorts.

  This time there was no mistaking his amusement, his laugh deep and rough and sexy. ‘No, it’s not that, not today.’

  My hurt began to ebb, pleased by how I’d made him laugh. I flicked him a glance from underneath my lashes. ‘Is there anything else as interesting?’

  ‘Look at my computer screen and then tell me.’

  I sighed and turned to look at the screen.

  I saw what looked to be a 3D rendering of a building. ‘What’s that?’

  ‘A new apartment block my sister-in-law is designing.’ He leaned forward, gripping the mouse and shifting it, his bare skin and heat teasing my hyper-alert senses.

  The building tilted and turned in response, giving a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree viewpoint.

  Of course. He was in the property development business, wasn’t he?

  I sat up, my curiosity starting to kick in. ‘Is your company going to be building that?’

  ‘Yes. Eventually. If we get the returns we want on the luxury apartment complex that’s going up soon.’

  I reached out towards the mouse. ‘Can I have a look?’

  He nodded and sat back, letting me take control.

  I studied the building from different viewpoints, zooming in, pleased when the inside plans opened up and I could see all the apartments. Simple, elegant spaces, designed to take advantage of the light.

  I knew nothing about buildings, still less about architecture, but this building looked like somewhere I’d want to live myself.

  ‘It’s amazing,’ I said, staring fascinated at the screen. ‘Who’s it for?’

  ‘Families who don’t have homes.’

  I turned sharply to look at him.

  His gaze was as uncompromising as it had been when he’d talked about his brothers. ‘There are a lot of homeless people out there, families with nowhere to go. I’ve been liaising with the state housing officials and we’re working something out. This building is as eco-friendly as it’s possible to get and cost efficient to build, and hopefully will serve as a prototype for more.’

  Saving his city. That’s what he’d said he was trying to do, and not only from people who might threaten it. He was trying to make it a better place for the people who lived in it too.

  ‘Who’s going to pay for it?’ I asked, trying to cover the giant lump in my throat.

  ‘I will. I have plenty of money.’

  ‘You’re not a monster,’ I said bluntly. ‘You’re like... Batman and Captain America and Thor all rolled up into one.’

  He lifted a hand to my face, brushing my cheek. ‘Look at the building again. I want to know if you think there’s anything more I need to do to it, anything I could add.’

  I shivered at his touch. ‘But I don’t know anything about buildings.’

  ‘You have an amazing mind, though.’ His mouth turned up. ‘Time to put it to good use.’

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Ajax

  AS I’D HOPED, Imogen became totally engrossed in the apartment building that Poppy, Xander’s new wife, had designed for me.

  So much so that she barely looked at me when I finally left the room to go and do a few other things.

  I took her coffee and toast an hour later, and this time she didn’t even turn, merely muttering thanks as she frowned at the article she was in the middle of reading.

  I smiled and left her to it, having a shower then going downstairs, yet another message on my phone from her father burning a hole in the pocket of my jeans.

  There were a lot of those, each message more and more pissed-off sounding, demanding I let him see his daughter.

  You’ve been putting it off.

  I pulled open the massive sliding window in the lounge that led to the pool and stepped outside, making sure it was shut behind me. Then I walked over to where the tiled pool area met the cliff that plunged down into the sea. A small stone parapet marked the edge of the cliff and I stood near it, staring out over the sea as I took the phone from my pocket.

  Yes. For the last two days I had been putting this off.

  Because something was holding me back from granting White’s request. And I wasn’t sure what it was.

  It wasn’t the danger factor, not when I’d make sure her security would be airtight. In fact, I couldn’t put my finger on exactly what was bugging me about it.

  Whatever the issue was, I had to ignore it and luckily the conversation we’d had just now, up in my office, had reminded me of where my priorities lay.

  Another thing puzzled me. Why had I told her about Dad and the beating I’d witnessed? About how I’d had to stand by and watch my brothers get hurt? Her comments about her own guards and the artless questions about why I hadn’t been given the same treatment had somehow got under my skin.

  Or perhaps it had simply been the way she’d put her arms around me, her soft lips against my neck. How she’d nuzzled against me, her breath on my skin and her hands on my bare chest. Her warmth and familiar scent had eased a tension I hadn’t known was there. A tension that had nothing to do with sex.

  It made me fucking uncomfortable. Maybe that’s why I’d told her what I had. To make her as uncomfortable as she made me. So she knew I wasn’t a man she could throw her arms around whenever she pleased or treat like someone safe. Who wouldn’t hurt her if she got between him and his goal.

  Like you hurt your brothers?

  The truth shifted inside me, digging in, sharp like a knife.

  Yeah, I wasn’t that man and she had to understand that.

  Hitting the button that would call her father, I waited as it rang once and then White’s furious voice was answering.

  ‘King, you bastard! I’ve been trying to—’

  ‘Next week,’ I cut him off curtly. ‘Wednesday night. I’ll send through the details of where and when to meet.’

  ‘But I—’

  ‘There will be no negotiation. You wanted proof of life, you’ll get it. That’s all.’

  I hit the disconnect button before he could argue further.

  There. It was done.

  Ne
xt week she’d meet her father and once he’d ascertained that I hadn’t hurt her or touched her, he’d leave Sydney.

  And take her with him.

  That had always been the deal. I’d never intended to keep her. My threat to make her mine had extended to her virginity only to ensure White’s obedience.

  I’d let her go and her father would take her to Melbourne or wherever he intended to set himself up, continuing to use her as his tool to build his pathetic little empire.

  You’re really going to give her back to him? What will happen to her if he finds out you touched her?

  I lifted my head, stared out at the sea, at the yachts in the harbour, sailing to places I could never go.

  He wouldn’t find out I’d touched her; I’d made sure of that. But as to letting her go... What other choice did I have? If I kept her, White would make things difficult. My investigations had discovered that he’d built quite the web and I didn’t have the time to take it apart. Not when I had a whole lot of other projects on my plate. Especially that social housing project. It had been on the backburner for a while and I wanted to get it front and centre. Protecting my city was one thing, but doing something good for it was quite another.

  Apart from anything else, I’d spent years dismantling my father’s empire and frightening off other challengers. I wanted to do something meaningful, that wasn’t about banging heads together.

  Putting more distance between him and you? Yeah. Sure.

  I ignored the thought.

  No, I couldn’t keep Imogen. She had to go back to her father in the end.

  I’d tell her about the meeting with her father tonight, and ease the sting by taking her somewhere private, where she could enjoy being out of the house for a change.

  I watched one of the yachts tacking slowly against the wind and smiled.

  I had the perfect place.

  A couple of hours later it was all organised, then I busied myself with finally dealing with my brothers.

  I sent them a couple of texts reminding them I was out of contact and busy. The situation with White’s daughter was being dealt with and they weren’t to concern themselves with it. On pain of me being severely pissed with them.