Owen (Undercover Billionaire Book 3)

by Melody Anne

  “You’re going to suck me, and if I feel anything from your teeth, I’ll rip them out, and we’ll do it again,” he said with glee. He let her go and backed up a few paces as he began undoing his pants.

  “If you put anything in my mouth, there won’t be anything left of it,” she warned. Her body had grown cold. She wasn’t going to be able to stop this.

  Chaz looked at her and smiled again. She knew at this point that he was completely out of his mind. He stopped undoing his pants, and suddenly there were flashes of lights all around her as his fist connected with her jaw. Pain seared through her head. She wondered if he’d broken her teeth like he’d threatened. She didn’t care anymore.

  “Be a good girl,” he said.

  Eden opened her mouth and screamed. The sound echoed around them, and Chaz laughed even harder as he reached for his pants again.

  “Go ahead and scream all you want!” he yelled. “No one can hear you.”

  He finished unbuttoning his pants and was beginning to pull them down when there was a noise behind them. Chaz turned, but not fast enough. Owen came flying out of nowhere, rage unlike anything she’d seen before masking his face. He smashed into Chaz, the two of them soaring through the air before landing on the ground. Chaz’s head crashed down hard enough that it should have knocked the man out. Owen gripped it, pulling his head up and smashing it down again.

  “You son of a bitch!” Owen roared. Eden had never seen that sort of look on him before. It was enough to send another shiver through her. He was furious. Chaz didn’t have time to react.

  “You’re both going to die,” Chaz said, but his voice was weak. Owen had his hands around the man’s neck, and Eden feared he was going to kill him. No, she had no sympathy for Chaz. He’d been about to rape her, and he’d have killed her with zero remorse. But she didn’t want Owen to live with the reality of taking the life of another person. He was too kind, too good of a man, and it would haunt him.

  “I’ll kill you for touching her,” Owen hissed, his fingers white as he pushed them harder against Chaz’s throat.

  Eden was trying to find her voice, trying to tell him to stop. She began coughing, and Owen’s fingers eased the slightest bit as he looked at her, allowing a small amount of air to get into Chaz’s deprived lungs.

  “Owen, you have to stop. You can’t do this. Let the law have him. Let the victims of the families see him in court,” Eden said. Her voice was weak. The smoke was growing thicker. It was getting harder to breathe.

  “What?” Owen said, looking as if he were in a daze. “I can’t let him go,” he told her.

  “No, don’t let him go. Tie him up. Let’s bring him down the mountain,” she said. Then she began choking again. She was having a hard time breathing. “Owen, please,” she said, her eyes watering.

  “Did he hurt you?” Owen asked, his hands still against Chaz’s neck, but not pressing so tightly.

  “No,” she lied. “You found me in time.” She smiled at him as best she could, trying to assure him she was fine. But his eyes narrowed as he looked at her jaw. She was sure there was a hell of a bruise forming.

  A spark flew through the air, and Eden looked to her left and saw a bush light on fire. She turned back to Owen with panic.

  “Please untie me. We have to go,” she said. The bush crackled, and it was only a matter of time before they were circled by a ring of death.

  Owen realized the same thing. He let go of Chaz, who didn’t appear as if he’d be going anywhere anytime soon. Owen rushed to Eden’s side and began undoing the knots on her hands. She shook with terror and relief as the knots loosened.

  Owen hauled her into his arms, and she wept. They didn’t have time for this, but she needed to be in the comfort of his arms more than anything else. Both of them had temporarily forgotten about Chaz.

  Another spark landed about three feet from them, and fire exploded. Owen pulled away from her, and they both turned to where Chaz had been. A sound to their left caught their attention, and they saw him running up the hill.

  “We can’t let him go,” Eden said, panic in her voice.

  “He’s running into the fire. He’s not going anywhere,” Owen said. He seemed relieved.

  “But what if he gets away? What if he causes more damage?”

  “He can’t make it out of this in that direction, Eden. We have to go now.” There was urgency in his voice, and the smoke was growing thicker. She nodded, and the two of them began running in the opposite direction of Chaz. They needed to get the hell out of there before they were consumed.

  The two of them never looked back as they made their way down the hill. She realized Chaz must have carried her farther up the mountain from where she’d fallen when it took them longer than expected to escape. She was glad Owen was there, or she never would’ve found her way down.

  But as they descended, the air got a little clearer, and she found her lungs weren’t burning nearly as badly. Her entire throat felt as if it had been scorched, but she was alive, and Owen was with her.

  “How did you find me?” she asked as they continued moving down the hill.

  “Someone saw you driving out here,” he told her. “I saw your car, then walked to the back and saw blood on the ground. It was the worst moment of my life.” A shudder went through him. “Then there was more blood. I followed it. I heard you scream, and blind rage took over.”

  As much as her head was killing her, she was grateful for the injury. Without it, Owen would never have found her. There was no way he could have. That injury had ultimately saved her life.

  The two of them broke through the trees, and only then did Owen stop and turn her, pulling her into his arms again as he ran his hands up and down her back, her arms, the tops of her legs.

  “Where are you hurt?” he asked, as if the words gave him great pain.

  “I don’t know. I know I hit my head, but I’m lucky, Owen. You came just in time. He didn’t get to hurt me,” she assured him.

  “I should’ve killed the bastard,” Owen said as he leaned back and looked at her with such pain in his eyes it was heartbreaking.

  “No, you shouldn’t have. You’re not a killer, and it would’ve haunted you. You’re a good man, Owen, and he’ll be caught, or he’ll die in the fire. Either way, he’ll pay for what he’s done,” she told him.

  There were sirens, making both of them turn. Coming down the road was what appeared to be a fleet of emergency vehicles. Eden looked at him in surprise.

  “Did you call the National Guard?” she asked, amazed she could find any humor in this situation.

  “When I saw that blood . . .” He stopped as he cleared his throat. “When I saw that, I didn’t know what to think. I called Declan and told him to get the damn marines here,” he said.

  “It looks like he might have.” Several vehicles rushed around the back of the building as they saw the two of them. An ambulance was next.

  Owen squeezed her, then gave her a quick kiss before they were intercepted, the two of them pulled apart as questions were fired at them, and she was placed on a gurney. She tried telling everyone she was fine. No one seemed to hear her. She just continued to stare at Owen, who kept his hand in hers as he told the men about Chaz and his last known location.

  “If he’s not dead already, he’ll pay,” a man said.

  They’d found the arsonist. At least that much good had come out of all of this. Eden closed her eyes as an oxygen mask was placed over her mouth. She might need to take a little nap.

  She was relieved when the world once again went black.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  There was a quiet hum of voices when Eden regained consciousness. She kept her eyes closed, not quite ready to wake. Instead, she listened, trying to figure out where she was and who she was hearing. It didn’t take long to recognize Owen’s voice, and then Roxie’s.

  She smiled, unable to help herself. Just a few short weeks ago, she’d been cursing the heavens, the entire universe. She’d
been so angry with everything in this world. And now she felt more love than she’d thought she’d ever feel again after the loss of her father.

  Her eyes opened.

  It wasn’t just Owen and Roxie in her room, but what appeared to be Owen’s entire family. The room was bigger than some hotel suites she’d once cleaned to earn a paycheck. There was a seating area in the corner where Owen was speaking to his family.

  As if he could feel her looking at him, he turned, his lips going up as their gazes locked. Eden loved him so much. But even knowing that, she wasn’t sure what it meant. Was love enough? Their love had nearly destroyed each other time and time again. It had been wonderful on some occasions, and heart-wrenching on others.

  Was love enough?

  “I’ve been worried,” Owen said. He’d stopped speaking in the middle of a sentence and was now by her side. Roxie quickly approached on the other side of the bed. Eden looked from her to Owen and back again.

  “How long have I been out?” she asked. She was surprised by the sound of her voice. It sounded nothing like her. She cleared her throat and realized she had the mother of all sore throats. That was the worst, in her opinion. The flu was gone within twenty-four hours, and a cold was irritating, but a few pills usually took the worst of it away. But a sore throat made it impossible to eat anything, and doing something as simple as swallowing your own spit sent arrows of pain all the way down to what felt like your stomach.

  “Two hours, fifteen minutes,” Owen replied as he looked at the clock.

  “He’s been tracking it, annoying the nursing staff every five minutes when you didn’t wake,” Roxie said. “To be honest, I might have yelled a time or two,” she added sheepishly.

  “I’m okay,” Eden said, though her body felt as if it had been run over by a dump truck, then scooped inside and tossed down a hill.

  “You’re not okay, but you will be,” Owen said. He sat down next to her so he could bring his head closer. “I’m sorry it took me so long to get to you. I’m sorry that man got his hands on you.”

  “I’m just glad you came when you did. My stubbornness and refusal to believe I was really in danger put all of us at risk. That’s unacceptable. I need to be more conscious of what’s happening around me. I had no idea Chaz was part of the drug ring. I didn’t know this fire was a part of that circle. I thought we’d gotten through the worst of it when Ethan was found out. If I would’ve been a better investigator, maybe our homes would still be standing.”

  “Our homes don’t matter,” he told her. “All that matters is you’re okay. And you did a good enough job that you scared the hell out of the criminals. They wouldn’t have come after you so hard had you not,” he pointed out.

  “Was Chaz caught?” she asked.

  He shook his head. “Not yet, but there’s a manhunt the Texas Rangers would be proud of going on right now. We’re going to catch him . . . and make him talk.”

  “Good. I won’t feel at ease until he’s caught,” she admitted.

  “You won’t be alone. You’re safe,” he said, fierceness in his eyes.

  “I should call this in. They were pulling me from this case, anyway, and I think I might want to gloat just the tiniest bit that I solved it,” she said, making Roxie laugh. “Even if it was really more of me stumbling into it and coming close to dying.” The laughter stopped.

  “The investigators have already been notified,” Owen said. “You don’t need to worry about any of that.” She opened her mouth to speak, but he continued. “And you received credit for solving the mystery of how the fire got started.”

  “I don’t need credit. I just wanted them to know I wasn’t as biased as they thought. I thought I wanted it to be you who was guilty because maybe that would help me not love you anymore. But I knew all along you weren’t capable. If the arson investigators had done their job right, they’d have known it, too.”

  Owen was silent for a few moments as he looked down at her. She couldn’t really read his expression, which surprised her. He was normally an open book.

  “We’ve been through a lot in a short time,” he said.

  “We’ve been through a lot our entire lives,” she responded, chuckling a bit, which sent pain shooting down her throat. She accepted the ice water Roxie handed her and took a sip.

  “I’ve messed up so many times, but I do love you, Eden. I want to be there for you the rest of our lives,” he said. It could’ve been just the two of them in the room. Eden didn’t see or hear anyone else. She was quiet as he waited for her response.

  “We have been through a lot, and our adrenaline is pumping fast and steady right now. I think we need to have this discussion later.”

  She was surprised to see hope bloom in his eyes. “I can do that,” he told her, his lips turning up in a wide smile. “Because I have no doubt about the way I feel about you, and I know you love me, too.”

  He leaned down and gently kissed her. There was a low whistle from the other side of the room, and Eden found her cheeks flushing as she looked over to where his brothers wore wide grins.

  “I’m not promising you anything,” she said, hating that they had an audience.

  “That’s okay, because I’ll promise you the world,” he offered.

  She couldn’t look over at his family, couldn’t tear her gaze away from Owen. She was so confused right now. She’d been confused for what felt like forever. She turned to Roxie, who now seemed a bit uncomfortable witnessing this intimate moment.

  “Tell me what the cops have on Chaz,” she practically begged, needing to have a subject change. Roxie was more than eager to share.

  “They went to his house, and, man, did they get a lot of information,” Roxie said. “They are most likely still going through it all.”

  “Like what?” Eden asked.

  “He had a crapload of drugs in there, and a file with a lot of addresses. I really think he was so pompous he didn’t think they’d ever suspect him. There were also all sorts of newspaper articles plastered on his wall of the damage the fire was doing, on the fire department’s activities, and on all the Forbes men. This investigation is busted wide open now.”

  “What about a ringleader?” Eden asked with hope.

  Declan stepped up. “There’s nothing yet, but he’s got to be feeling boxed in. We’ve ruined his operation, and the noose is closing around his neck. He’s mine.” There was such ferocity in Declan’s face that a shiver ran through Eden. She wouldn’t want to be this man when Declan caught up to him.

  “What if Chaz got away? What if he comes back to finish what he started?” she asked, looking once more at Owen.

  He squeezed her hand, and she realized how much she trusted him. It was odd how easy it was to fall back into a pattern of relying on this man. She wanted to not need him, but now wasn’t the time to even think about that.

  “We’ll get him, dead or alive,” Owen assured her.

  “Let the authorities get him. I don’t want you anywhere near the man,” she said. His gaze drifted from hers, as if he didn’t want to lie to her but wasn’t going to stop personally looking for the guy who meant her harm. “Promise me right now, Owen, that you’ll let the cops go after him.”

  Owen’s eyes came back to hers. “Eden,” he said, the sound almost a whine. That made her smile.

  “You’re not five years old and being put in time-out, Owen. I want to save your soul,” she said. She wouldn’t allow him to look away. Finally, he nodded.

  “I’ll do anything for you,” he said. “But I don’t like it.” He grumbled so low he probably thought she couldn’t hear him. She just smiled as she turned back to Roxie.

  “Thank you for being here and for filling me in.” She took another drink of water. Her body hurt all over, but there were no casts, and she had no doubt they’d run every test they possibly could on her. She looked over to the large Forbes clan and spotted Kian in his doctor’s gear.

  “When do I get to leave?” she asked.

  Kia
n stepped up with a smile. “I’d like you to stay at least twenty-four hours, possibly forty-eight. We’ll see how you feel tomorrow. You hit your head hard and have a slight concussion,” he told her. “You’re also lucky your jaw isn’t broken.”

  “Did I lose any teeth? Just be straight with me,” she said with a wince. Her jaw really hurt, probably worse than her head.

  He smiled. “Not one loose tooth,” he assured her as he squeezed her hand.

  She let out a sigh of relief. “I don’t feel all that bad, and I really hate being in these places. They’re too sterile,” she said before looking around the room. “But this is more like a hotel suite than a hospital room. I’d almost be fooled if it weren’t for these dang beeping monitors.”

  Kian laughed as he held tightly to her hand. “This is the VIP room,” he said with a wink.

  “I guess knowing you mooned the middle-school audience during intermission in seventh grade gives me blackmail material, so you upgraded me,” she said with glee.

  Roxie joined in on the laughter. “I can’t believe I forgot about that,” she said.

  Kian smiled big. “I wasn’t the only one who did that,” he pointed out. “And it’s a good thing my parents aren’t here right now. My poor mother would most likely have a heart attack if she found out that incident involved two of her four sons.”

  “Your secret’s safe with me,” she assured him.

  “Not with me. I have permanent blackmail to always get my way,” Roxie said, still chuckling.

  “You already do,” Kian said, adoration in his eyes. The two of them kissed, and Eden realized she’d been totally forgotten for the moment.

  “I’ll stay here with you the entire time,” Owen told her.

  She smiled. “No, you won’t. You’re going to go out there and kick this fire’s ass so I have a place to go when I get out of here. This fire has caused enough damage. I need to find a new home, so make sure the town I love is safe and sound,” she insisted.

  He looked as if he wanted to argue, but finally his shoulders drooped. “I’ll go if that’s what you really want.” He was obviously hoping she’d change her mind.