Tempted Heir

by Michelle Heard

  “I’m here, and your car is parked across the road, but there’s no sign of her. Did you reach her?” Mom asks.

  “I’m on my way,” I say as a fist of worry clamps around my heart.

  She’s fine. Stay calm.

  Rushing to Danny’s car, I slip behind the steering wheel. It’s hard keeping to the speed limit as I navigate the vehicle through traffic. I keep trying Dash’s number, and with every unanswered call, it feels as if the grip on my heart tightens.

  Coming down Beverly Boulevard, I see my car up ahead and park behind it.

  Getting out, I glance up and down the street, but there’s no sign of Dash. I walk to my car and trying the driver’s side door, by blood chills when it opens, and I see Dash’s handbag on the passenger seat and the key in the console between the seats.

  I grab her bag and opening it, I find her phone.

  Fuck.

  “Christopher?” I hear Mom call. Glancing over my shoulder, I watch as she crosses the road.

  “Still no sign of Dash?” I ask.

  She shakes her head, and it has me looking up and down the road again. It’s already been an hour.

  She wouldn’t leave the key and her handbag in the car.

  Fuck, something happened.

  Pulling my phone out, I dial my brother’s number.

  “This is a surprise,” Tristan answers.

  “Dash is missing.” Just saying the words out loud makes my stomach churn and my heartbeat speed up. “I need you.”

  “Where are you?” Tristan asks.

  “7415 Beverly Boulevard,” I give him the address.

  Ending the call, I climb into my car to check the dashcam. I press the button to get the playback menu, and then I watch as the car comes down the road.

  “Christopher,” Mom whispers, her voice tight with worry.

  “Give me a minute,” I mutter, my jaw tense as I watch my car come to a stop. I hear Dash move, and then she gasps, ‘What the hell?’

  My muscles tighten as I hear a muffled scream, and then the footage stops.

  It becomes hard to breathe, and then I hear Mom say, “Carter, you need to come right now. Something happened to Dash.”

  I can’t take in anything else and closing my eyes, I try to process what happened.

  Feeling caged in, I get out of the car, and glancing up and down the street again, panic bleeds through me.

  Where the hell is Dash?

  Lifting a hand, I rub over my face as the realization that she’s been kidnapped shudders through me.

  I’m going to kill whoever took her.

  God.

  Dash.

  Mom wraps an arm around me. “Dad’s coming.”

  I nod, unable to process the fact that Dash is missing, that she was taken.

  I have no idea who would take her.

  Is it to hold her ransom?

  When Tristan’s car comes to a screeching halt behind Danny’s, I stalk to him.

  The instant he’s out of the car, he asks, “Do you know anything?”

  “She was taken here, but the dashcam footage doesn’t show anything.”

  “Let me check. She was probably followed.” He pulls his phone out, and then I hear him say, “Alexei, can you get me any CCTV footage near 7415 Beverly Boulevard for the past two hours?” A couple of seconds later, he mutters, “Thanks.”

  “We should call the police,” Mom says.

  I shake my head. “Once we call them, our hands are tied.”

  I climb back into the driver’s side while Tristan gets into the passenger side. We go to the footage of when Dash left Indie Ink.

  Chapter 15

  DASH

  Coming to, there’s a slight pounding in my head, and I feel disorientated. I try to search my memory, but the last thing I remember is driving to meet Aunt Della.

  “Finally,” I hear a man grumble, and it makes my eyes snap open. It takes a moment for my sight to focus, and then a frown forms on my forehead as I stare up at Josh.

  “Josh?” I slur, still feeling out of it. “What happened?”

  “You don’t get to talk,” he growls at me. When my eyes connect with his, and I see no emotion in his irises, fear ripples through me.

  Shit. Shit. Shit.

  Scared of what’s going to happen next, I struggle into a sitting position, which makes my head spin.

  Josh slowly walks around me, like an animal stalking its prey.

  Oh, God. This is bad.

  My survival instincts rear to life, but in one swift movement, he kicks me in the stomach. My body falls to the side as intense pain sears through my insides, robbing me of my ability to breathe and making me cry out in pain.

  “Shut up!” I flinch at the hollow sound in his voice, and then he whispers to me. “Shh… not a sound.”

  Shit, he’s insane. I haven’t seen him in five years. What the hell is going on?

  I glance up at him, but before I can see his face, he kicks me again. So hard, it lifts my body from the floor before I slump down in a heap of heaving pain.

  I can’t make a sound, even if I wanted to. I’m still battling to get some air into my lungs when another kick is delivered to my side.

  I want to beg him to stop, but I can’t get any words out. I try to roll away from him, but he follows me and delivers another hard kick to my back. With the last kick, a sharp pain shoots through my torso, and I cry out, “Stop. Please!”

  Josh hunches down in front of me and swipes one of my tears from my cheek. In horror, I watch him lick it from his finger. Then he hisses, “You fucking betrayed me.”

  I gasp for air, my body an aching, trembling mess.

  He leans in closer, his eyes lifeless and harsh. “Did you really think I’d let you go?”

  I manage to get enough air into my lungs that I’m able to say, “It’s been five years. God, what are you talking about?”

  He tilts his head, his mouth set in a grim line. “The only reason I allowed you to live your life was because you stayed loyal to me. How dare you cheat on me, with Christopher of all people?”

  What the actual fuck?

  Josh lifts his arm, and I let out a shriek right before his fist connects with my cheek, and then everything blacks out.

  Waking up in an empty room, the air around me has a thick, musty smell to it. I can’t hear anything. No traffic. No bustling of city life. There’s only dead silence. Glancing around me, I notice I’m in a cabin of some sort.

  Oh, God.

  I have no idea where I am. I could be in the middle of nowhere for all I know.

  If that’s the case, Christopher will never be able to find me.

  Fear and hopelessness begin to war in my chest, making my heartbeat speed up until it’s hammering against my ribs.

  I start to get up, but the ache in my stomach has me moving slower. Standing on trembling legs, I wrap my arm around my waist and try to breathe through the pain.

  Knowing it’s up to me to save myself, I begin to search for anything I can use as a weapon for when that insane bastard returns. When I see my blouse ripped to pieces on the floor, I realize I’m only standing in my skirt and bra.

  “Shit. Oh, God. This is bad.” My voice trembles with the absolute horror I feel rising in my chest. I stumble to the door, but when I try to open it, it doesn’t budge.

  No. No. No.

  I hear a car. Tires crunching over gravel.

  God. No.

  Lifting a trembling hand to my mouth, I gasp for air as absolute terror engulfs me. Stupidly, I glance around me, looking for a place to hide. There’s only a simple-looking kitchen, an empty living room, a door leading to what looks like a bathroom, and another room, which is probably the bedroom. I quickly look for a window I can crawl through, but they’ve all been boarded up.

  There’s no other exit.

  I hear a car door slam, and silence follows in which I can only hear my own rapid breaths. I glance around wildly again while I backtrack to a corner, my heart racing in m
y chest.

  I have no idea what Josh plans on doing to me.

  Kill me? Rape me?

  The thoughts alone are enough to make me nauseous and paralyzed with horror.

  The knob on the door rattles, and then Josh comes in. Just seeing him makes my stomach churn painfully.

  “What are you doing, Josh? This is kidnapping. Assault. You can’t possibly think you’ll get away with it. Let me go,” I say, trying to sound sure of myself – brave even – but my voice comes out raspy and quivering. I hate that he can hear I’m scared.

  He locks the door behind him and pockets the key, then his dark eyes settle on mine. “I’ll give the orders.”

  Lunging at me, he slams the full weight of his body into me, along with his fist to my stomach, knocking the air from my lungs. He shoves me hard against the wall as pain vibrates through me. I can only manage to wheeze while my vision blurs from the attack.

  When he steps back, I slide down to the floor, and I want to lie there, but I’m scared he’ll start kicking at me again. I struggle to my feet, using the wall as support, but then he grabs me by the neck. His fingers tighten around my throat, and he shoves me up against the wood until I’m barely able to stand on my toes.

  I don’t want to, but I can’t help looking at him, meeting his eyes. I can’t find any sign of emotion shining in his eyes, and it scares the hell out of me. They’re empty, devoid of life.

  “Why?” I gasp while trying to breathe past his tight grip.

  “You deserve the punishment,” he sneers. “Once you understand you can’t defy me without suffering the consequences, we’ll be able to restore what’s left of our relationship.”

  What the hell?

  He lets go of me, and I lean heavily against the wooden wall. I bring a trembling hand to my neck. My movement draws his attention to my hand. Again, he lunges, yanking my engagement ring from my finger with a painful twist. He throws the ring to the other side of the cabin.

  With an incredulous expression on his face, he snaps, “I can’t believe you got engaged to him. What the actual fuck? You seriously think you can do better than me?”

  I can only stare at him, my mind struggling to catch up with what’s happening. It feels like I’ve been thrown into the twilight zone. Nothing makes sense.

  A cruel sneer pulls his lips back from his teeth. “You need to realize I’m the best you can do. I’m the only one who understands you. You need a firm hand to control you. Look what’s become of you.” He waves an aggressive hand over me. “The slutty clothes, the weight you put on, the excessive makeup, and your hair hanging all over the place, it all stops.”

  My mind is spinning. What the hell? How am I supposed to make sense of this?

  Terrified, I watch as he walks to the kitchen. When he pulls a rope from one of the drawers, my eyes widen. Not hesitating, I run for the door.

  Josh darts for me, and before I can grab hold of the doorknob, he grabs me around the waist and drags me back. I let out a helpless cry, and then he drops me to the floor. Crouching beside me, he growls, “Try that again, and I’ll kill you.”

  I believe every word, and it makes me freeze. There’s not a word to describe the fear flooding me. It makes me feel like I’m stuck in a frightening trance, my body a shivering mess.

  Josh throws the rope over one of the wooden beams by the ceiling, and when he reaches for me, my survival instincts flood back. I try kicking at him. I claw at his arms and face. I let out a feral scream as he delivers a dizzying punch to the side of my head, my body slumping back to the floor.

  Josh is much stronger than me, and dazed, I feel helpless as he begins to tie the rope around my wrists.

  “No,” I whimper. When he hoists me up into the air, I try to fight with every bit of strength I have left. Josh throws me back down to the floor and wraps his fingers tightly around my neck again. This time he squeezes hard, cutting off my air supply. I try to take a breath, but nothing gets past his hold on me. I claw at his hand and arm, then try to yank it away, but I’m not strong enough.

  He narrows his eyes at me and shakes his head. “Calm down, or I’ll fucking choke you to death.”

  A deep chill creeps through me, and I force myself to stop fighting. He yanks me up again, and when he ties the rope tightly around my wrists, I can’t stop the whimper from escaping my lips.

  “Look what’s become of you,” he spits the words through his teeth. “You never would’ve dared to question me. Now you’re trying to fight me? Enough is fucking enough!”

  My body is tugged into the air, and I end up hanging inches from the floor, shaking violently.

  I’m not going to survive this.

  I do my best to switch off, to not think or feel.

  I try not to care about what’s going to happen.

  I try, but I fail miserably as anguish and hopelessness fill every corner of me.

  Devastated, I sacrifice my pride, and I beg, “Please, Josh. Let’s talk about this. Tell me what to do so I can make things better between us.”

  He stares at me for so long, it makes my skin crawl, then his lips curve up in a triumphant smile. “You can hang there for the night and think about what you did. Tomorrow I’ll consider accepting your apology.”

  I clench my teeth to keep from sobbing as he walks to the door, and then I’m alone as he locks it behind him.

  I gasp, and then a sob explodes over my lips. After I hear the car leave, there’s only silence. It intensifies my fears, my pain, my despair.

  I wish I could feel Christopher’s arms around me.

  Desperately, I latch onto the thought.

  Christopher.

  CHRISTOPHER

  God, I’m going to lose my mind. Not knowing where Dash is and what she’s going through is killing me.

  We’re all at Alexei’s house. My eyes jump from Aunt Leigh, where she’s sitting with Mom holding her, devastated by what happened. God only knows what’s going through her mind.

  Dad’s standing next to Uncle Jax, both their gazes glued to the screens where Tristan and Alexei are doing their best to find Dash. They were able to find out she was shoved into a black SUV with no plates, no identifying markers. Using CCTV footage, they tracked the car until we lost it on the other side of Ojai Valley because there were no cameras in that area.

  What the fuck is the use of having all the money in the goddamn world, and it can’t help me find Dash?

  God. We have no way of finding her.

  My hands shake, and the fist on my heart squeezes all the life from it.

  Unable to just stand here and do nothing, I grab my keys and stalk to the door.

  “Where are you going?” Dad asks.

  “To search for Dash. I can’t just do nothing,” I snap.

  “I’m coming,” Uncle Jax says.

  When I steer the car away from the mansion, silence fills the cab. I drive toward Ojai Valley, and we check every road and glance into every driveway as we search for the SUV.

  “Dash could be in any of these houses,” Uncle Jax mutters, worry weighing heavy in his voice.

  It’s been nine hours since I saw Dash. Nine fucking hours. Pulling the car over to the side of the road, I tighten my grip on the steering wheel and close my eyes. I try to breathe through the chaos inside me.

  Dash.

  Where are you?

  A physical ache spreads through my body, making me shudder and gasp for air.

  God, she’s in pain. I can feel it in my gut. Whoever has her is going to kill her.

  There won’t be a call for ransom.

  Is this personal?

  “Christopher,” Uncle Jax murmurs, placing his hand on my shoulder.

  Pushing down on the gas, I make a u-turn while saying, “Get Tristan on the line.”

  Uncle Jax makes the call, then puts the phone on speaker. “Did you find anything?” Tristan asks.

  “I think it’s personal. We need to look at anyone she’s had contact with,” I say, my breaths coming fast.<
br />
  “Clients at Indie Ink?” he asks, knowing we all have the same friends. “Has she met anyone new?”

  “No. Grant Sullivan is the only client I can think of.” My mind races for anyone else. “He’s the only one I can come up with right now.”

  “I’m on it.”

  Tristan ends the call on his side.

  “Do you really think this could be personal?” Uncle Jax asks.

  “Yes,” I grumble. “It’s either that, or we’ll get the call for the ransom soon.”

  Hopefully.

  God, what are the chances of Dash surviving?

  Would whoever took her kill her?

  The thoughts shudder through me.

  Please, let me find her.

  I just want her back.

  Flashes of Dash fill my mind. Of her smiling. Of her eyes filled with love as she stares up at me.

  I was supposed to protect her.

  God… I didn’t protect Dash.

  The guilt rears through me until I feel sick to my stomach.

  Chapter 16

  DASH

  I keep dozing off only to jerk awake. My hands and arms are numb with pain, and my body feels as if it’s about to tear in half.

  At first, I cried, but in the early morning hours, my tears dried up. It feels as if I’ve slipped into some sort of zombie state. It’s as if my mind is shutting down and going into self-preservation mode.

  Chills keep raking over my body, causing me to continually shiver even though it’s not cold. It’s still hot, the air stale, my skin clammy.

  The sound of the door opening has my head snapping up.

  “Morning, Dash,” Josh says almost cheerfully as he sets a paper bag down on the wooden counter. “You must be sore from hanging all night.”

  My mind struggles to catch up to the friendly tone in his voice.

  As he walks toward me, my body tenses painfully. Wary as fuck, my body begins to shake violently when Josh unties me.

  There’s a smile around his lips. “I’ve brought you some breakfast. Nothing big, seeing as we need to get your weight under control again.”