“Thank you, Elliot. I’ll see you at dinner.” With a sigh, she hung up and, moving the various pillows to the foot of the bed, laid down to take a nap. The phone buzzed again.
“Yes?” she answered, her voice a bit sleepy.
“So, you’re the new one.” The voice at the other end was raspy and more than a bit confrontational.
“I beg your pardon?” Lois sat up, struggling to wake up entirely.
“The girl who takes my rightful place while I lie, shriveling and lonely, in this cursed bed.”
Lois held her breath, unsure what to say but the voice at the other end sucked in a huge breath and Lois realized she was smoking. “Have we met?” Lois began.
“You’re that Jezzibelle, right?”
“Ma’am?”
“You’re the woman my husband hired to fuck him!” she shrieked and Lois instinctively slammed down the phone. She felt violated, as though an evil had penetrated the room and dumped its sick filth over all the beautiful furnishings.
Lois laid back down and tried to sleep, but her hands were shaking. What had she come to? When she’d begun all this escorting, it had been strictly a professional situation—no sex. She’d had some clients who had stuck to those rules of course, but with others, she had crossed the line. Over and over again she had wound up beneath the covers with men she was supposed to have a strictly professional relationship with.
She thought of Dirk, who’d been the last man she let into her arms and into her heart. A beat of anguish pulsed through her at the thought of how he’d sacrificed his life for hers. And, of course, there was Jet. He’d been the first client she’d gone to bed with, and the one who had somehow become lodged so deeply in her heart that every time she looked at this Jet-lookalike she was with now, she felt as though someone had stabbed her in the chest
And now she knew that he’d lied; his wife was not okay with the situation. He had brought her to this apartment as a kept woman while the woman he’d sworn to protect and cherish languished in a dimly-lit bedroom with nothing more than a telephone as weapon.
It was enough to make her sick and she ran for the bathroom. After dry heaving for a few minutes over the toilet, she took a deep breath and tried to put herself back together. Taking off her clothes, she climbed into the sauna, hoping to steam the anger and humiliation she was feeling from her pores. When the heat was more than she could tolerate, she opened the door and reached for the towel from the rack next to the door. To her surprise, the towel was handed to her. She grabbed it and held it up over the front of herself.
“Who’s there?” she demanded.
“It’s me.” The door opened fully to reveal Elliot standing there in her bathroom. He was completely naked.
“What do you want?” she demanded. “You know the rules.” Palmer always explained the rules to clients. Kissing and touching for the purposes of maintaining a façade for the public was permitted. Anything beyond that was not.
“The rules? Whose rules?”
Feeling trapped in the small sauna, she pushed past him, carefully avoiding touching any part of his naked body. “Palmer’s rules,” she told him, pulling the towel tighter around her. This had never happened before. She’d had clients who’d tried to push boundaries, but once she made herself clear, they always backed down.
The smile he gave her sent a shot of fear down her spine and she struggled to remain composed as he continued. “We’re playing by Jet’s rules, my dear. I know you supplied favors to him well beyond the written agreement. That is what I want from you, my dear.”
She started backing up, edging slowly towards the door to her bedroom. “Elliot, this isn’t going to work. With Jet, that was different… I don’t do that with my clients as a rule. You have a wife, remember? She just called me, as a matter of fact. She didn’t sound terribly ‘okay’ with this whole thing.”
“I paid for you,” he said. “You’ll do what I want. I’ll take what I want. I always do.”
She held up one hand in front of her, inching ever closer to the door. “Elliot, hold on. Let’s talk about this.”
“I didn’t give you leave to speak, you fucking whore. You think that Jet’s the only one in the family who can have the women fighting over him? You think he gets it all? Well he doesn’t! I see to that. I pay attention, you see.” He looked at her like a tiger playing with its prey. “The ones he wants… the ones he gets all gushy over; yes, I get to them and tear them apart. I make them ugly and violated so he’ll never enjoy them again. It’s what I do, dear Jezzi.”
The horror of what was happening began to sink in and Lois felt tears come to her eyes. They only seemed to excite him more. “Elliot… Elliot, Jet doesn’t want me. I-I haven’t seen him in months.”
“Drop the towel,” he ordered.
“What? I just told you—”
“I order you to drop your towel!” His eyes had begun to take on a slightly crazed look, and Lois did the only thing she could think of. She ran.
***
Lois ran through the house, clutching her towel, trying to find a way out. She was trapped. Her keeper was a sadist and a madman. How had she ended up here? Why would Jet have told this psycho about her? She ran to the elevator. Her escape. It would take her to the lobby and then she could find help. But when she pressed the button, nothing happened.
“Oh Jezzi!” Elliot’s voice rang out loudly in the apartment. “Where are you?”
Hide. She had to hide. If she couldn’t escape, then she had to hide. But where?
She could hear him coming down the stairs. As quietly and as quickly as she could, Lois ran to the kitchen. Desperately she searched for a cupboard big enough for her to squeeze into, and finally, she found a large pantry door. Trying to be as silent as possible, she closed herself inside. Wrapping her arms around her knees, she covered her mouth, trying to muffle the sound of her breathing. She could hear Elliot calling for her, his voice dampened by the wood of the door.
“I like games. I always win Hide and Seek.”
He was getting closer. Lois felt tears running down her cheeks, and clamped her other hand over her mouth, sure that he would hear her sobs.
“Where’s my prize waiting?”
She could hear him opening cupboards, making his way towards her. He was getting closer. Bracing herself, Lois decided she wasn’t going down without a fight. She might not have any weapons, but she had surprise on her side. He was obviously used to getting his way, he wouldn’t be expecting her to fight him.
She moved herself into a crouching position, ready to claw at his face the minute he opened the door. If she could only distract him for a minute she could get back upstairs to her bedroom, to her phone.
He was almost to her now. Any second his hand would close around the doorknob and he’d find her.
There was a loud popping sound, and then the sound of something heavy falling to the floor. Lois didn’t understand what had happened. Then she heard the doorknob start to twist, and as the door opened, she rushed out, swinging her fists wildly. They connected with strongly muscled flesh.
***
“Jezzi! Jezzi stop! It’s me!”
Strong hands grabbed her wrists, pulling them down.
Lois struggled, screaming. “Let me go! Let me go!” She thrashed in his arms, trying to break free.
“Jezzi it’s okay! It’s okay, you’re safe! You’re safe!” It was only then that she recognized his voice. Calming in his arms, she looked up into silver eyes, and sagged against his strong body in relief.
“Dirk…” Her legs gave out, and he swept her into his arms. “It’s okay, it’s okay my sweetheart,” he said, kissing her forehead. “You’re safe now.”
He carried her out of the kitchen, and that was where she saw the body. Elliot, naked and on the floor. He had a hole in the side of his head and blood was pooling on the floor. Dead. Elliot was dead.
Men dressed in all black came out of the elevator as Dirk moved to carry her inside. “Clean it.
I don’t want a single trace that anyone was ever here except for that psychopath,” he ordered and they nodded. Some of them had trash bags, others carried cleaning supplies. They were obviously professionals.
Dirk left them to their work, carrying her into the elevator. She closed her eyes, clinging to his neck, her body shaking so hard she thought she might fall apart. He took her to a black Escalade sitting in the parking garage, and settled her into the passenger seat. He grabbed a large coat out of the back, draping it over her. Lois shivered, curling into a ball; she was still damp from her time in the sauna, and all she had was this towel.
Dirk got into the driver’s seat and sped off. “Rest now,” he told her. “You’re safe with me.”
The exhaustion ran into her like a train, all the adrenaline dissipating, and she crashed. She could barely turn her head to look at him. Focusing on his handsome profile, she let her eyes close, and was soon asleep.
***
When she awoke, she was lying in a massive sleigh bed in a room built of heavy timbers. A fire cackled in a stone fireplace beside her bed, and the beams overhead were hand-hewn of old growth timber. They reflected the flickering gold of the fire.
She turned her head and saw Dirk sitting forward in a chair, wringing his hands with concern. A man in a black suit was putting away a stethoscope into a black bag. She assumed he was a doctor.
He smiled at her when he saw that she’d opened her eyes. “I’ve given you something to sleep, dear. What you’ve gone through was extremely traumatic, so take it easy for a while alright? Get some rest.” His voice was calm and soothing and he pulled the blankets up to tuck beneath her chin. He left the room and Dirk came to stand next to the bed.
“You’re alive,” she said, her voice soft.
He reached down and brushed the hair back from her face. “I’m so sorry, my dear. I couldn’t tell you. I didn’t want to risk your life.”
Lois wasn’t sure if the drugs the doctor had given her were starting to take effect, or if she was simply numb from everything she’d been through. But everything felt as if it was happening far away, to someone else. It was as if she was watching this happen to someone else.
She opened her mouth to ask him how he’d found her, but her tongue felt thick, her eyelids were heavy. Sleep was coming, and she didn’t want to fight it.
“Sleep sweetheart. You will be safe here.” He moved to walk away and a jolt of fear gave Lois a moment of strength.
“Dirk!” She grabbed his arm. “Stay with me… please.”
He smiled and nodded, kicking off his shoes, removing his clothes, and sliding into the bed beside her. She burrowed herself into his chest, letting herself relax inside his strong arms. She felt drowsy and safe now. The questions could wait until later. Her eyes closed, and sleep took her once more.
***
In the morning, he brought her breakfast in bed. Lois didn’t have much of an appetite but she tried to force down some of the toast and eggs. It wasn’t long before her questions took precedence over the food.
“What happened?” she finally asked him.
“Are you sure you want to talk about that now?”
“Tell me!” Her voice was unnecessarily harsh. “Tell me…please?” she repeated, more softly.
The muscle in his cheek jerked, but then he sighed. “Where should I start?”
“How are you alive?”
“Remember the night we were together? The night I told you to leave?” he asked in a hoarse voice.
She nodded.
“I knew they would be back. I wanted you out of there; it was going to get rough. They showed up just before dawn. They shot up the house and then set it on fire. I watched it from a bunker on the edge of the property. They thought they had me, but all the coroner could find was a charred body. No dental identification was even possible; the teeth were broken from the bullet impact and scattered into the ashes that eventually washed out in the surf.”
“Who…?” she began.
He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. He wasn’t a good guy.”
Something inside Lois shuddered. He spoke so casually of murder. She knew that was the world he lived in, and after what had happened, she knew she didn’t want to live in that world with him.
“How did you find me?” she asked, changing the subject.
“I called your brother.” Dirk cupped the side of her face in one hand. “I wanted to see you, just one more time, before I had to leave the country.”
Lois took a deep breath, trying to focus. “Palmer knew?”
“He was practically hysterical. Evidently, he’d gotten a bad feeling about that guy. He put in a call to your old escort, Jet Thompson. Thompson told Palmer that he’d never referred that ass to your agency, much less you. He’s crazy about you, sweetheart. He wanted to come for you himself but he’s tied up on location somewhere in Australia and a typhoon has everything grounded. He couldn’t get up here to get to you.
“He knew his cousin was not a good person, but he had no idea that it was this bad. That he was a fucking psychopath.” Anger gleamed in his silver eyes and she could feel his fury making his hand tremble. “To think, I almost wasn’t fast enough… If I hadn’t—” “Shhhh… Dirk, it’s okay. You made it. You saved me.”
“Listen to you! Trying to make me feel better. You’re something special, sweetheart. You should really be thanking Palmer, he was the one who figured it all out. Sharp as they come, your brother.” He smiled softly down at her. “I’m so glad I made that phone call to Palmer. Now I got to see you one last time.”
Lois frowned. “What do you mean? The last time?”
“Sweetheart, you can’t stay here. It’s only a matter of time before they find me. I have to stay one step ahead; far enough that they can’t prove it’s really me. It would be deadly for you, sweetheart. The people after me would make Thompson look like a fuckin’ ant. They’re professionals.”
Tears streamed down her cheeks as she shook her head gently in denial. He couldn’t leave now.
“It’ll be okay. The best thing I can do for you is stay away. You’re not meant for my world.”
Lois shook her head, still in denial. “Don’t go,” she whispered.
“I have to,” he said. “Palmer will be here shortly to take you home.” He leaned down and took her face between both of his hands. “Listen to me sweetheart. I want you to forget all about me. Go live your life. You’re meant to be happy. Jet is coming for you, as fast as he can. That poor boy has it bad for you, he’ll make you happy.”
Lois’ shoulders were quaking with her sobs, but she nodded.
“I’m going to kiss you now, sweetheart. It will be the last time you ever see me. They’ll be watching you. It’s the best way to keep you safe.”
He brought his face close to hers, tilting her chin up. “Kiss me good-bye, sweetheart,” he urged her.
She shook her head in denial, slapping his hand away.
“Jezzi, kiss me now!” he ordered in a desperate voice.
Lois looked into the silver eyes she’d never been able to resist, not since the moment she’d first seen them. She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his neck. She could see the dancing flames of the fire behind him, silhouetting his bulk and strength. She burned the image into her brain, unwilling to let him go.
Dirk bent forward and kissed her deeply. It was not the kiss of sexual excitement, but of a deep longing and protective ownership. He broke it off and drew back. Her hands clutched at him, but he shook his head.
“This is it, sweetheart. It’s too dangerous for you and I would never be able to live if I thought you’d suffered because of me. I want you to look into the fire now and you won’t hear me leave. Take good care of yourself, sweetheart. I’ll miss you. You’re all I have left in the world and the most important treasure I’ve ever had in my life.””
Lois shook her head, crying visibly.
“Look into the fire, sweetheart,” his voice trailed away as
the door closed behind him.
He walked out the door, and she stared after him, her body wracked with sobs. She shoved the tray of food he’d brought her to the floor and curled up on her side. Crying, she waited for Palmer to come take her away but eventually, when the gasping for air that comes with every heartbroken cry surfaced, she stuttered once more and fell asleep..
***
Palmer took her to Jet’s beach house, which came with a private beach, a garden, and—most importantly—private security. It was Palmer who told her the mastermind behind the whole plot had been that Riley woman, the reporter who had it out for her and Jet. Lois had listened numbly, finding it difficult to care about anything. She couldn’t even bring herself to feel glad when Palmer told her that Dirk had handled the reporter too. It was several days before Jet could make it back, and by the time he arrived, Lois thought she was doing better. She’d spent a lot of time taking long walks by the water, and working in the garden. It was calm here, peaceful.
When Jet arrived, she was in the garden, the hibiscus and rows of roses filling the air about her with a tropical scent. She was dressed in a soft, white caftan and wore nothing beneath. She rose to prune a few of her more favorite roses and the fabric swirled about her ankles, leaving little to the imagination as it slid over her breasts and pooled about her feet.
“Hello, Jezzi,” came a voice behind her. She spun around in alarm and there stood Elliot, grinning at her.
She backed up, her mouth dropping open in shock, and her hands automatically rising up in front of her to ward him off.
Jet frowned, taking a cautious step toward her. “It’s me, baby. It’s Jet. He’s gone and he’ll never hurt you again. No one will ever hurt you, I swear to that.”
He reached for her, and gradually, Lois softened into his embrace. His arms were familiar, like returning home. Jet kissed her, all over her face and when the tears of joy began, he kissed those away as well. He lifted her and took her inside, carrying her to bed. He laid down next to her and pulled her into his arms.
It was too potent of a moment and she cried in earnest, her body shaking in his arms. He held her, kissing the top of her head and talking to her in soft tones until she relaxed.
Single And Rich Page 9
