Unleashed

by Jacob Stone

  Further disappointment! How much could one man take? Alex peered over at the alarm clock. It was only few minutes after ten and their engagement party wasn’t until two. Well, he’d have to use his smooth-talking skills to change her mind and remedy the situation. His health was in danger, after all!

  He carefully maneuvered himself off the ridiculously expensive king-sized Swedish-made bed that Jill’s parents had given them as an apartment-warming present. Brett, his future father-in-law, had told him at the time that nothing was more important than a good night’s sleep. Alex murmured something in agreement, but in his mind nothing was more important than going through life with Jill at his side.

  Thanks to his current predicament involving the aforementioned tent pole, he shuffled in a hobbling gait to the bathroom located outside the bedroom. His gorgeous fiancée was seated in front of the mirror, tweezing her eyebrows—not that they needed any tweezing. Jill really was gorgeous in a blond, wholesome cheerleader sort of way. He groaned, seeing that she had already put on lipstick, eyeliner, and blush. She had also slipped on silk stockings and her recently purchased and very expensive designer dress that was quite stunning on her, although almost anything she wore would’ve been stunning. Jill could’ve grabbed the first dress she saw off the discount rack and still turn heads. Alex knew immediately the situation was near-hopeless but not impossible. Clothing could always be taken off and put back on. While she was also wearing her flawless one-and-a-half carat engagement ring, a strand of pearls, and a pair of matching earrings, none of that would be an issue. They’d made love plenty of times in the past while she was wearing jewelry. It was the makeup that was going to cause him problems.

  “How long have you been up?” he asked.

  “Since eight.” Without losing her focus, she yanked out a blond eyebrow hair. “This doesn’t just happen all by itself, you know.”

  “Jill, darling, your eyebrows are already perfection, as is the rest of you. In fact, you’d be every bit as stunning without a drop of makeup. I like the au naturel look on you. Why don’t you wash it all off?”

  “Nice try, buster, but no dice.”

  Alex grimaced noticeably. “Can’t you see I have a dire situation happening?”

  She glanced at the pitched tent in his pajama bottoms, her eyes opening wide, as if in shock.

  “I see that I have grossly underestimated Mr. Winkie,” she said, straight-faced. “But unfortunately, my love, I’m on a super-tight schedule and have to leave in ten minutes. And I’m not smudging my makeup, especially not my lipstick!”

  Sulking, he asked, “Why ten minutes? The party isn’t until two.”

  “I have an appointment with Roxanne to blow-out my hair. And one of us has to be at the hotel by noon to make sure all the arrangements are handled properly.”

  “Let’s talk about being handled properly…”

  “Sorry, sweetie, I’m not risking you leaving a stain on this dress. You’ll just have to wait until tonight.”

  More exaggerated sulking. If there was a rock nearby, he would’ve kicked it. “You might be asking the impossible here.”

  Jill reached up and touched Alex’s cheek. “I have faith that you’ll find the strength, somehow. Or take a long, cold shower.”

  “You’re not being at all helpful. And you realize this is your fault.”

  She arched one of her recently tweezed eyebrows. “How’s that?”

  “You’re the one I had an erotic dream about. And quite a lovely one, at that. It involved you lying naked on the bed, a gallon of hot fudge, a large tub of whipped cream, and a jar of maraschino cherries.” His sulk turned into a frown. “It was a messy dream that tired out my tongue. It also got me both horny and hungry.”

  “I’m flattered, of course,” she said with a wicked grin. “But my hands are tied.”

  “Not yet, but they could be.”

  Jill rose from the seat and reached over to kiss Alex chastely on the cheek, being careful not to disturb her expertly applied lipstick. “I must get going. I can’t help with the horny, but I can help with the hungry. There’s quiche lorraine from Madeleine’s in the fridge. Heat it at three-fifty for seven minutes in the toaster oven. And don’t use the microwave. You’ll ruin it!”

  “What a gyp,” he complained, hating that he was sounding like a five-year-old about to throw a tantrum. “I don’t even get to see you naked!”

  She patted him on the spot on his cheek where she had kissed him. “Tonight, my love, I promise. And I’ll take extra-special care of Mr. Winkie then.” She started to turn away, but stopped to give him a stern look with hands on her slender, but beautifully curved hips. “You’ll shave, right? And you’ll wear the suit that I picked up at the cleaners yesterday? And the shirt and tie I left on the bureau?”

  Alex nodded sullenly, knowing that he was beat. “Yes, dear,” he said obediently.

  Jill squinted at him as she tried to make sure he’d do as asked. Satisfied, she left the bathroom so she could finish getting ready. Alex grudgingly accepted his fate and squeezed his eyes closed and forced himself to think only about the marketing plan he was working on for the Hillsborough condominium project. Once his penis had shriveled and the pitched tent in his pajamas was gone, he emptied his bladder into the toilet, quickly washed his hands in the sink, then headed to the kitchen for some coffee and quiche. He caught Jill just as she was about to leave. She blew him a kiss, her face glowing with excitement. He waved back, forcing a goofy smile and trying to hide his earlier disappointment. He waited until the apartment door closed behind her before walking into the kitchen.

  What a jerk he was being, pouting like a spoiled brat just because Jill was too enthusiastic about their engagement party to have a tumble with him this morning. She really was a wonderful person, and one of the many things he loved about her was how enthusiastic she got about things. She and her mom had been running around like nuts over the last month planning this engagement party, making sure to get every detail just right, and he was going to complain because she didn’t have time to blow him this morning? Part of the problem was he didn’t want an engagement party or a fancy wedding, for that matter. He would’ve been quite happy for the two of them to just drive to Vegas and elope. But he kept quiet about that. Their engagement party and wedding were important to Jill, and it wasn’t for the presents and attention (although there was nothing wrong with either of those), but because she wanted to celebrate their love. How could he fault her for that?

  Alex poured himself coffee from the pot Jill had left warming on the coffee maker. He had wanted to buy a single-cup brewer that used different flavored pods, but Jill insisted those were bad for the environment. That was something else that mattered dearly to her that he never would’ve bothered thinking about. After a long sip, he moved to the refrigerator and retrieved the quiche she had left for him. He took it out of the paper bag (Madeleine’s used plastic containers for takeout, but Jill would always insist they put her orders in a paper bag instead—again, the environment) and laid it on a tray so he could reheat it in the toaster oven. Jill really was a wonderful person, thinking of every little detail to make their lives better. His life, really. He was ashamed to admit that he had considered briefly extorting her this morning. That if she didn’t have sex with him, he’d skip the engagement party. Gawd, what an asshole he was to even think of that, even though he had dismissed the idea almost immediately.

  He grimaced over that thought.

  That would’ve been the biggest dick move of all time. He adored Jill. How could he even have had that impulse? All because he was so damn impatient. So he would have to wait until tonight to enjoy Jill’s lovely nakedness. Not the end of the world.

  He’d live.

  The timer dinged, indicating the quiche was ready. He grabbed an oven mitt, removed the tray from the toaster oven, and slid the quiche onto a plate. He took a bite of it. Delic
ious. Once again, Jill was thinking of him, since she wasn’t touching quiche or anything else fattening, not willing to risk gaining as much as an ounce before the wedding. He took another sip of coffee and smiled as he thought about his future wife. Soon his thoughts involved peeling off her dress and panties, but he forced that image out of his head. He didn’t want a reappearance of an alert and erect Willie Winkie.

  At least, not until tonight.

  Chapter 4

  Duncan brought a gift-wrapped box with him when he returned to the hotel, so he wouldn’t be crashing the engagement party empty-handed. To give the box some heft, he packed it with two coffee mugs decorated with a cartoon drawing of a young boy and girl kissing, surrounded by a flurry of hearts and the caption World’s Cutest Couple. Yeah, it was a tacky and incredibly cheap engagement present, but as far as Duncan was concerned, an appropriate one. Anyone catering an affair at this ritzy Bel-Air hotel already had enough money without needing an expensive gift from someone like him.

  Earlier that morning, he had driven to a half-dozen luxury hotels in the Bel-Air area and studied their daily event boards. Each of them had weddings that night, but this one had an engagement party starting at two. Duncan figured he had nothing to lose by checking it out.

  He parked on the street and walked up the drive to the hotel’s entrance. While the Eldorado was a Cadillac, it was worth less than five grand and was hardly a classic. A noticeable difference from the Mercedes, BMWs, and Jaguars that other guests were bringing to the valet station, and if he left his car with the valet it would draw the wrong kind of attention. Before stepping inside, he saw a Rolls-Royce driven by one of the beautiful people pull up to the hotel. Yeah, he’d made the right decision.

  He checked his phone. Twenty past two. The Alex Frey and Jill Kincade engagement party was scheduled to start at two, and he figured they’d have a half hour or longer for cocktails before a sit-down lunch, which would give him enough time to pop in and see whether they were the ones he needed. Whichever way it was, he’d leave right afterward. He had their names and it wouldn’t be a problem to track them down if it came to that.

  A sign had been placed in the lobby to direct guests for the engagement party toward the back of the hotel and to a large outdoor patio. A man wearing a tuxedo, who was either a hotel employee or private security, was guarding the door to the patio. He gave Duncan a quick look, but if he was suspicious that Duncan didn’t belong, he didn’t show it.

  Duncan asked, “Is this the Frey-Kincade engagement party?”

  “Yes, sir.” The man nodded toward the gift-wrapped box. “I’m safeguarding the presents for the couple.”

  Duncan handed it over, glad he wasn’t handing over an empty box. The man brought it into a small room off to the side of where he was standing, and Duncan continued on to the patio area. That was the first time in his life he’d been called sir. The novelty of it wore off quickly as he saw all the food and bartender stations and the flower decorations. Tables had been set up, each with antique linen tablecloths, vases stuffed with red roses, and some seriously solid-looking glistening silverware that must’ve been the real thing, but nobody was seated at any of them. The guests, maybe as many as 150, were instead milling about in groups, all of them looking well-heeled, most of them with either wine, champagne, or cocktail glasses in their hands. A classy affair that included a quartet playing jazz, the music muted and unobtrusive. If Duncan had come to rob the place, he would’ve done nicely. But that wasn’t why he was there.

  A waitress carrying a tray of appetizers appeared and asked if he wanted one. Why not? he decided. He hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast and he could feel his stomach rumbling. The waitress showed some interest in him with the way she smiled, but he wasn’t there to flirt or have anyone remember him, so he grabbed what turned out to be a piece of grilled lobster wrapped in bacon, and then headed to a nearby food station, where a chef was slicing up prime rib. After that, he grabbed a glass of champagne from a waiter, which he emptied quickly. He’d had champagne a few times in the past with Julia, but nothing like this stuff. But eating gourmet food and drinking champagne that was far better than anything he had ever had wasn’t why he had crashed the party. He did, though, need a drink in hand so he’d appear less conspicuous. He worked his way to the front of the line at one of the bartender stations, and when he asked for bourbon, the bartender handed him a menu. A quick count showed over twenty choices, and he picked one at random and asked for it with ice. It didn’t matter to him which one he drank, as long as he would look like he fit in. Whichever one it was, it would be a far cry from the bottom-shelf brands he usually drank.

  It didn’t take him long after that to spot the engaged couple. Two of life’s privileged most-lucky people—Alex Frey looking like he could be a GQ model and Jill Kincade a movie star. Not necessarily one of those glamorous stars, but instead a blond, bubbly pretty one that guys secretly daydream about. They were making their way through the patio area, chatting with guests, beaming in their happiness—or at least that was true of Kincade. Frey seemed to be trying to project a ho-hum, nonchalant affectation, as if this was just a typical day for him. When Duncan caught a look the two of them exchanged, he knew he had found what he needed. It was the type of look that spoke volumes. The type you’d only see from two people who were deeply, madly in love.

  He found himself mesmerized by them and couldn’t leave after that. It was partly a compulsion to keep feeding the rage that was now burning so furiously inside his chest, and partly a growing obsession to learn more about them. The thought of walking out, as he had originally planned, no longer seemed possible. And so he stayed, making sure to always keep a drink or a plate of food in hand as he stood near different groups that had coalesced, so he could listen in on their conversations. He’d wander over to the next group whenever necessary to make sure he kept a good distance between himself and the oh-so-in-love couple.

  He was good at blending into the background and eavesdropping. While he had never crashed a party like this, it was still a skill that served him well when he used to hang around bars and racetracks so he could find targets with money to burglarize or rob. Now, as he eavesdropped on conversations, he learned about how Frey and Kincade met, their bright futures, and the spectacular apartment they shared in Marina del Rey. He even learned the address of their apartment, which saved him the trouble of having to discover it on his own.

  He had moved over to a group of rich frat boys who had to be Alex Frey’s friends and was listening in on their crude frat-boy talk when a hand clamped down on his shoulder. He turned to see a thick-bodied man in his fifties offering him a plastic smile. The man extended his hand to Duncan. He took it.

  “I’m Brett Kincade,” the man said. “Jill’s dad.”

  Duncan said, “Your daughter and her fiancé seem very much in love.”

  “Yes they do. How do you know them?”

  “I don’t.”

  Kincade’s eyes dulled, his suspicions confirmed. Duncan had been expecting this since catching Jill Kincade giving him a puzzled look five minutes earlier.

  “Why are you here, then?” Kincade demanded.

  Duncan had worked up a story earlier in case anyone confronted him: He was a guest at the hotel and when he saw there was party on the patio he thought he’d crash it for a drink. He had even decided to offer a hundred dollars for the happy couple. An innocent-enough story, but it was no longer needed after his earlier eavesdropping. He nodded toward a plump, but cute, redhead on the other side of the patio who was engaged in a heated bit of gossip with her friends.

  “I’m Marci’s boyfriend,” he said. “Well, not really her boyfriend. We hooked up three weeks ago after her breakup with Brad, and four more times after that. She asked if I’d come here with her, and I didn’t have the heart to say no. Anyway, really great party. Thanks for having me.”

  Kincade’s expression softened as
he bought Duncan’s lie. He smiled apologetically and confided, “If you can believe it, I’ve already kicked out three scumbags who thought it would be fun to crash the party.”

  “The nerve of some people.”

  “It takes all kinds,” Kincade agreed. He lowered his voice and his tone turned confidential as he added, “Marci has been one of Jill’s best friends since high school. A sweet girl with a lot going for her. You could do worse. Just saying.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Kincade clapped Duncan on the back before walking off, his gesture far friendlier than when he had earlier clamped down on his shoulder. Duncan watched as Kincade joined his wife, no doubt explaining to her that it was only a misunderstanding. Kincade would be wondering about him later, but Duncan wasn’t worried about it. First of all, the police wouldn’t be convinced that the perpetrator was someone who’d been at the engagement party, even if there were suspicious people like Duncan seen there; and second, Kincade would be in a state of shock when the police came to him, and he’d have a hard time remembering much of anything at first. When he started remembering about this afternoon, Kincade would first think about those three others who admitted they had crashed the party. Duncan had also made it a point, when he switched his drink from his right hand to his left before shaking hands with Kincade, so that the older man would notice Duncan didn’t have a tattoo on his wrist, and certainly not one of a snarling wolf.

  No, there was no need for worry. Still, Duncan decided it would be best to leave. The rage that had ignited inside him had become something icy and barren. He searched the crowd and spotted the happy couple, and he gave them one last, long look before heading for the door. He’d have plenty of time with them soon enough.