by Long, A. L.
Dylan was halfway around Central Park when she was stopped dead in her tracks. “Chloe, that bitch.” Dylan was about to turn around in the other direction when she saw an older woman walk up to her. Dylan wished she was a fly, so she could hear what the two were discussing. Taking a place behind a large tree, Dylan looked over to the two women. Chloe pulled something out of her purse. It looked to be a manila envelope. What surprised Dylan the most was what was inside. Money, and a lot of it. It looked to be at least twenty grand. Chloe and the woman shared a few words and then parted ways, with the woman heading straight for Dylan. Dylan rounded the tree as the woman came closer. Dylan didn’t know why she was hiding from the woman walking towards. She didn’t know her, nor did Dylan know the woman. Dylan decided to follow her and see if she could find out where she was going. If she was in any way associated with the likes of Chloe Dupree, Dylan knew it couldn’t be good.
Dylan followed her until she walked up to silver BMW that was parked in the parking area of the park. As soon as the woman got into the car and backed up, Dylan took a glance at the license plate. She didn’t have anything to write the plate number on, but it wasn’t that difficult to remember considering they were personalized with “#1-DOC” spelled across the plate. Something was definitely going on.
Dylan ran back to the penthouse where she left her phone. She knew there was one person that could help her find out who this woman was and why Chloe was paying her. By the time she opened the door, she was out of breath. Once she was able to catch her breath, she went in search for her phone. Finding it in the bathroom, she dialed Richard.
“Ms. Adams, this is a surprise. Is everything okay?” Richard asked, concerned.
“Yes… yes. I need to see if you could do something for me. I ran into Chloe at the park. She was talking to a woman.” Dylan started. “I wouldn’t have thought anything of it, except she handed her an envelope that was filled with a lot of money.”
“Did you get a good look at the woman?” Richard asked.
“I did. She was tall with blond hair. She couldn’t be more than forty. That’s not all, Richard, I got her plate number. I thought maybe Peter or someone you know could find out who the woman is,” Dylan suggested, knowing that Richard had connections to people that would be able to find out information.
After Dylan gave Richard the information, she settled on the couch. Maybe what Rade had been telling her was the truth. It was beginning to make sense. Her only hope was that Richard would be able find out something with the information she gave him. While she was lost in her thoughts, Dylan’s cell started ringing. As it was still in her hand, she looked down at the screen to see the caller. Debating on whether to let it go to voicemail or answer it, she stared at the picture of Rade.
“Hello,” Dylan said hesitantly.
“Dylan, Richard told me what happened today in the park. Based on your description of the woman you saw in the park, it had to be the OB/GYN at the clinic where I gave my blood sample. We’ll know for sure once the plates are ran. I’m glad you got in touch with Richard; you didn’t have to do that,” Rade said compassionately.
“I didn’t do it for you, Rade. I needed to know the truth. I needed to know what really happened to you in that house. I thought that finding out who that woman was would give me that,” Dylan choked. “I have to go.”
“Dylan, wait…” Before Rade could finish, the line went dead. He tried calling her back, but it went to voicemail. “Dammit.”
Rade’s thoughts were on Dylan and what she must be going through. He never wanted to hurt her, and now the threat of losing her was becoming more realistic. He couldn’t sit and wait until he lost the one thing that meant everything to him. Grabbing his leather jacket, he walked to the garage and hopped on his Ducati. It was time he took back control of his future. The first thing he needed to do was find out about the doctor. Pulling out of the iron gates, he headed back to the city.
Rade knew Dylan would refuse to see him. As much as it pained him, he needed to give her time. He decided to go to his office and put his life back together, but before he did anything, he contacted Peter and told him to meet him there.
Peter was already waiting in the parking garage at RIM Global when Rade pulled up on his bike. Removing his helmet and placing it on his seat, he looked over to Peter leaning against his Camaro as he walked over to him.
“Thanks for meeting me here,” Rade said, shaking his hand.
“It sounded important,” Peter commented.
“It is. Let’s go to my office and I’ll fill you in,” Rade suggested, pushing the button for the elevator.
The office was quiet. No one usually worked on Saturdays. No one except Rade. Taking a seat behind his desk, Rade looked over at Peter, seated in one of the chairs across from him.
“So tell me, what I can do for you?” Peter asked.
“I need you to look into Chloe Dupree’s past. I think you will come up with some very interesting information. I also need you to look into a certain OB/GYN. Her name is Cali O’Brien. I don’t trust her. I think she has a few skeletons in her closet as well,” Rade said.
“Shouldn’t be too difficult to find out what you need. How long do I have?” Peter asked.
“Yesterday,” Rade said sarcastically, unwilling to wait any longer than he had to. As Peter started to leave Rade added, “Oh, and Peter, see what medical records you can find on Chloe Dupree. I want to know everything about her down to the medication she’s taking.”
“You got it,” Peter acknowledged.
If there was anything to dig up on these two women, Peter would find it. Just then, Rade remembered he needed to get in touch with Chris, but he would need to wait until Monday since it was the weekend. He needed a hacker and Chris was the best. He could get into anything.
By the time Rade left his office, he was pretty confident that he had all his bases covered. Peter was looking into Chloe and Dr. O’Brien. Richard was instructed to stick with Dylan, not only to protect her, but also to keep track of her movements. The last thing Rade needed was for Dylan to get hurt by satisfying her curiosity. He knew Dylan all too well. She would never think of her safety first if it meant she could find the answers she needed.
There was one last thing Rade needed to do before he went home. He needed to see his father. As much as it pained him to do so, he needed to see the pictures that Chloe had of him. If he could get his hands on them, maybe he could figure out if they were photoshopped. He had no doubt they were. Chloe was full of surprises. Rade had a pretty good idea what he was dealing with. He wished he’d never set eyes on her.
CHAPTER TWO
Rade pulled up to the Four Seasons hotel shortly after hanging up with his father. His father didn’t seem to be surprised that Rade needed to talk to him, given the circumstance for the visit. When Rade asked where Chloe was, Garrett informed Rade that Chloe was away taking care of matters and that she wouldn’t be returning to the hotel until later that evening. When Rade asked about the photos, Garrett assured him that they were safely locked away in the hotel room safe.
Stepping off the elevator, Rade walked up to his father’s suite. Knocking, he waited for him to open the door. It took everything Rade had not to lay into him when the door finally opened. As much as Rade hated this man, he hated Chloe more. Looking at his father, Rade could see that something was up with him. Wanting to get this over with as soon as possible, Rade walked past him and snickered, “I just need to see the pictures, then I’ll be out of here.”
Garrett looked at his son with remorse. Not only because of their past history, but also because of the guilt weighing on him. “Son, I might have jumped to conclusions. I took another look at those pictures Chloe showed me. I think it’s someone else in them.” Garrett walked over to the small desk and picked up the folder holding the pictures. Holding them out to Rade he continued, “Take a look for yourself.”
Rade went to where his father was standing and took the folder. Taking a seat on
the sofa, he examined the photos. Rade knew something was wrong from the very beginning. Something just wasn’t right and the photos just confirmed it. He saw right away that it wasn’t him towering over Chloe’s body while her hands were bound to the headboard. The man before him did have the same build and hair color, but had something that Rade didn’t. A faint line of a tattoo was evident on the man’s left shoulder. Rade could barely make it out since it was concealed with some sort of make-up, but the closer Rade looked, it appeared the tattoo was some sort of dragon. Looking through all the photos, he could clearly see it wasn’t him. The scenes in the photos looked like they were staged. Even though Chloe’s face looked to be badly bruised, with blood running down her lip, it could have been made up. Rade also saw that her tied wrists had red marks circling them, which could have been self-inflicted. Her naked form looked to be aroused at what the man was doing. His body was hard and displayed over hers. Rade could see that he was fucking her. Chloe’s legs were bent and being held in place by her accomplice. Every picture looked like it was faked. There was nothing real about them.
Before his dad could say a word, Rade looked over to him. “I’m guessing you saw the same thing I did.”
“I’m sorry for not trusting you, Rade. I should have never doubted you.” Garrett took a seat across from Rade, pulling his hands through his already mussed hair. “When she came to me looking as she did, I thought for sure she was raped. Then when she produced the pictures you supposedly took, they looked like you, son.”
“This is so fucked up. How could I have taken them, when the person pretending to be me was in clear view?” Rade cursed.
“I asked the same thing. She told me that you used a tripod and put the timer on so it would take the pictures while you were fucking her,” Garrett explained.
“Oh my God! Are you serious? Do you know how stupid that sounds? I don’t believe this. Alex had control of my phone the whole time.” Rade was becoming infuriated with this bullshit.
Gathering the pictures and placing them back inside the folder, Rade left his father’s suite no happier than when he got there. One thing was for sure, Chloe was done playing games with him. He needed to find out who the guy was in the photos and he needed to find out who took those photos. As he entered the elevator, he pulled his phone from his pocket. He was glad that he was able to retrieve the SD card from his phone he threw against the wall. Looking through his saved data, he could see there were no photos saved or even taken with his phone. That wasn’t to say they weren’t deleted. He would need to ask Chris if there was a way he could get into the deleted memory and find out if there were any photos taken to begin with.
Just as Rade was about to close out his gallery app, a picture of Dylan filled the screen. He remembered taking this picture at the penthouse when she was staring out the window in only his shirt. God, she was so beautiful. Even though it had only been 24 hours since she’d left his house in Hampton Bay, it seemed like an eternity. He missed her so much. He knew he needed to do everything he could to get her back. This was going to be the last time that Chloe would come between them. This time he was going to make sure she would be out of their lives for good.
*****
It was Monday morning and Rade woke with a new purpose. No longer was he going to let people dictate how his life was going to be lived. The only person he cared about was Dylan. He wasn’t about to wait until she decided she had enough time, only to inform him that they were done. He wasn’t about to let that happen. Slipping on his charcoal suit jacket, Rade left his Hampton home to get back what was his. No sooner than he stepped out the door, Richard was there to greet him.
“What are you doing here, Richard? I thought I made it clear that you were to stay near Dylan,” Rade said, conveying his disapproval.
“Ms. Adams is in good hands. Josh is watching her,” Richard replied. “I thought you might want to know that we were able to trace the plate we got from Ms. Adams. The car belongs to Cali O’Brien. But I’m sure you already knew that.”
“I knew. I just needed to be sure,” Rade admitted. “Do you have anything else for me?”
“Peter is still looking into the doctor and Ms. Dupree. Should hear something back from him later today,” Richard said, knowing how much Rade wanted the information he requested.
“Good. I’ve got to get going. I have a meeting with Chris this morning to discuss some computer work I needed to have done. In the meantime, I need you to get back to Dylan.” Even though Rade knew that Josh was more than capable of watching over Dylan, he preferred Richard cover her.
As soon as Rade entered the office, not only was he greeted by Gwen’s bright smile, Chris was also waiting for him. Looking over to Gwen, Rade instructed her to hold his calls. He didn’t want to be disturbed.
Rade and Chris headed to Rade’s office. Once inside, Rade quickly shut the door to make sure they wouldn’t be interrupted. The first thing he needed Chris to do was look at his phone to see if there was any information that may have been deleted. As Rade handed him his phone, Chris took it and plugged it into the equipment needed to retrieve deleted files. Rade was pretty sure he knew what he would find. Absolutely nothing. Chris confirmed Rade’s suspicion. There were no recent photos taken, nor were there any photos deleted from his phone. Chris went one step further to see if there was any software downloaded on Rade’s phone which could access his personal information. Once again, he came up empty. Rade’s phone was clean of any unwanted apps or tracking software.
“Your phone is clean, Mr. Matheson. I’m going to install a tracking device on it. It will alert you if anyone tries to access your phone remotely. I have set it up to alert you on your phone as well as on your computer,” Chris informed Rade.
“Good. I have one more thing I need you to do for me. I need you to hack into Chloe Dupree’s personal computer,” Rade asked.
“You know I could get into trouble if I get caught,” Chris questioned, looking at Rade with concern.
“I know the risks, Chris, but I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important,” Rade admitted. “What do you need to get this done?”
“I would need to find out what her IP address is. If I could get that, then it would be a piece of cake,” Chris answered.
“Well that, my friend, is a little harder to do, if not impossible.” The only way to get the information Chris needed would be to get close enough to Chloe to get it. Rade knew that wasn’t going to happen. His only other option was to ask his father to get it for him. “Is there any other way you can get into her computer?” Rade asked.
“There is, but it could take a while and there is an even a higher chance of getting caught,” Chris added.
The last thing Rade wanted was to put Chris in a situation where he could get caught. The last thing Chris needed was to get into trouble again. Rade had been kind enough to bail Chris out when he was a minor. He did it as a favor to an old friend. He might not be so lucky this time and didn’t want to risk it.
Rade knew what he had to do. He contacted his father. To his surprise, his father agreed to get him the information he needed. His father told him that he no longer trusted Chloe and wasn’t willing to play her games either. There was no way he would be taken by a woman. Rade thought it was funny coming from his father, especially since he was taken by Evan’s mother, and ended up with a son he didn’t even know he had until recently.
It was getting close to five o’clock when Rade decided to check in with Richard. Even though Dylan refused to see him, at least he could make sure she was being protected. It killed him not being able to see her. To hold her. To take in her scent. Ever since the day at the mansion, Rade tried to hold back his urge to knock down her door and take her into his arms. Without being able to see her, the last forty-eight hours were filled with only thoughts of her. Every nerve in his being craved her. He would do anything to get back what they had. He needed to have her in his bed again. He needed to have her beneath him. Pleasuring her. Satisfying her ev
ery need.
Rade couldn’t stand being so far away from Dylan. It seemed like they were worlds apart. Since he couldn’t stay at the penthouse, his only other option was to get a suite at The Ritz. Rade got in touch with Gwen to make arrangements, which would allow him to be closer to Dylan.
Entering his suite, Rade tossed his keys on the coffee table and poured himself a scotch. Even though it wasn’t his preferred brand, it did the job. Before Rade knew it, he had consumed half the bottle. The amber liquid masked the helplessness he felt, leaving him numb in its place. He could only hope that soon he would have the answers he needed. Soon he and Dylan would be together again.
Taking his cell from his pocket, he entered his code and went to his favorite contacts to bring up her name. Looking at her picture, he contemplated giving her a call. He needed to make sure she was okay. More than that, he just needed to hear her voice. Hitting the call icon, he waited for her to answer.
“Hello,” Dylan spoke softly.
“Hey, Sweetness. I know you needed time, but I just needed to hear your voice,” Rade confessed, unsure if he would be talking to dead air or her soft voice. “I miss you. I miss having you near me.”
“I miss you too, Rade. I just don’t know how to deal with this anymore. Every time I think about it, I start to break down. You’re going to be a father, Rade. I thought it would be you….” Dylan broke off. She couldn’t think about the one thing she would never have with this man. “I can’t talk about this, Rade. Not now.”
Dylan hung up on Rade too soon. His heart ached knowing this thing with Chloe was causing her so much pain. He didn’t know how to fix it. All he knew was he needed her. The erection he possessed was proof. His only reprieve was to ease some of the pain. Walking to the bathroom, he turned on the water to the shower. He undressed while the water began to heat. Stepping inside the confines of the small space, he let the water stream down his tense body. Grabbing hold of his hard shaft, he stroked the tight skin. Increasing his movements, he closed his eyes as thoughts of Dylan filled his mind. It was only her he saw as her luscious lips wrapped around his engorged cock. He imagined that it was her mouth sliding up and down his length, coating the taut flesh. He could feel her tiny hand cup his sac as she gently caressed the stretched skin. Unable to hold back his desire for her, he increased his movements, feeling her mouth wrapped around him. His legs started to buckle underneath him when he gave into his release. The minute he gained control, images of her were gone and reality settled in. It had been a long time since Rade had to take care of his own relief. He felt like a horny teenager again.
