“I’m not kidnapping you, asshole. I just want to talk to you.”
“We could have talked any time before my plane took off.”
“Yeah, about that. Do you know how to return messages? I have been leaving them for you for three days and not once did you call me back. You left me no choice. I’m sorry I had to stow away on your plane like this, but I needed to talk to you.”
“Well, since I am handcuffed, it seems I am at your disposal. Before we begin, please give me your name.”
“Delta Trinity, with Trinity Construction.”
“Ah, yes, the new construction crew I am looking to hire for my new builds. I must say, Mr. Trinity has a lovely daughter.”
“Trinity Construction isn’t run by my father, asshole. My sisters and I own the company. The very same company you are trying to bankrupt with all of your builds. We have clients, too, Mr. Summerfield, and we can’t fulfill our contracts because you keep buying up all the materials we need.”
“So you think by kidnapping me, you can persuade me to, what, Ms. Trinity, sell you those materials at a discount?”
“I am not asking for any handouts, Mr. Summerfield. I just want to be able to satisfy our current contracts.”
“Then look elsewhere for your materials.”
“I have, at fifty percent increase! That’s robbery.”
“That’s business.”
“You son of a bitch!” Delta screamed just as the plane hit the tarmac. While conversing with Ms. Trinity, Tristan felt the soft turn as his plane headed back to the Treasure Cove Airport. He knew the longer he kept her talking, the easier it would be, and it was. She was totally unaware the plane had turned around. As soon as the front wheels touched down, two crewmen emerged and took Ms. Trinity into custody. Tristan didn’t have to ask if there would be police at the airport, he knew his captain would have already made the call.
Within seconds, the cuffs that were on his wrist were removed and Ms. Trinity was secured. He hated the thought of such a beautiful woman behind bars, but there was no way he could let her get away with what she did. She boarded a private plane, took the owner hostage, and tried to extort supplies from him. He wasn’t even going to think about all the other laws she broke trying to get onto the plane. As it was, it looked as if Ms. Trinity was going to jail for a very long time.
“You bastard!” she screamed at him. “You think you can come here with all your money and power and just push everyone around. You think because you’re God’s gift to women that you can have whatever it is you want. Well, let me enlighten you, asshole, Treasure Cove and Celestial aren’t for sale. It doesn’t matter how much money you have, we will never sell ourselves to you, ever!”
Tristan grinned wickedly and replied, “I’m not asking for your soul, Ms. Trinity. I just want the land.”
The door to the plane opened, and Tristan said nothing as his crew helped Ms. Trinity down the steps and into the arms of the Treasure Cove sheriff. Tristan had met the man once, and though Sheriff Garret Riley was a bit gruff, he seemed capable and did his job diligently. After watching the local sheriff put Ms. Trinity in the back of his squad car, Tristan sat down and sighed. He really didn’t need this delay in his schedule. As it was now, he was going to be late for tonight’s benefit in New York. Of course, after some thought, he wasn’t too upset, because when he really thought about it, he didn’t want to go. But it was for charity and if he didn’t show his face, then what kind of example would he be showing? He sent his secretary a quick text and let her know that he was going to be running late, and went in search of the captain to see when they would be able to take off again.
* * * *
Violet sat quietly in the small closet of the cabin in the back of the plane. There wasn’t a lot of room for her to move around in and she thanked God she was tiny enough to fit in the small confined place. With her legs bent and her arms wrapped around them, she still couldn’t believe that she snuck onto the plane. She didn’t even know where it was going, but she didn’t care. She was finally leaving Treasure Cove for something more. She only hoped that she was able to handle whatever lay ahead of her, whatever that may be.
Closing her eyes as the plane taxied down the runway, Violet sucked in her breath. She hated flying. She didn’t know why, but something flickered in the back of her mind like fear. Laying her head down on her arms, she squeezed her eyes tightly as the plane picked up speed. Her stomach damn near leapt out of her body when the nose of the plane rose up and took flight. Gasping, she mentally counted to one hundred as the plane ascended into the sky. As it leveled off, she gained control of her breathing once more, prying her fingers apart. She’d gripped her legs so tightly, nail indentations were clearly seen on her hands, and she knew come morning, there would be bruises.
Leaning her head against the wall, Violet took a deep breath, trying to calm her raging nerves. She was scared. She’d never done anything so reckless before in her life. She didn’t know if she would be found, and if she was what was the owner going to do to her. The fear of going to jail was too much. Her heart started to race. Did they even throw people into jail for stowing away on a plane? If the owner found her, would he order the pilot to turn around and take her back to Treasure Cove? Oh, God, what would happen if she were arrested? She didn’t have a cell phone. If she called Gabriel, would he come bail her out? What would happen if he didn’t?
This was a bad idea, Violet thought to herself as she sat there in the closet. Of all the stupid, idiotic things she did, this had to be the worst. All because she wanted to make sure Delta was okay. She should have known better. Delta looked more than capable of taking care of herself, unlike Violet, who could barely look at her own reflection. As soon as the plane landed, she was going to come out of hiding and beg the owner not to throw her in jail.
Sitting there, kicking herself for being hasty, she felt the plane turn. She didn’t know why, assuming the jet was heading toward its location. A few minutes later, Violet had just started to relax and settle in for the flight when the plane descended. Before she could prepare herself, a large jolt had her slamming her head back against the closet wall.
She never felt the plane come to a stop.
* * * *
“Tristan!” Sasha shouted, running up the steps of the plane. He was with Gabriel and Alexander when he got word that some lunatic hijacked his flight. It was bad enough that he had to cut his business lunch short with Gabriel. But when the man insisted on coming with him, well, Sasha figured it was better that he did. Because when he found out that Tristan was all right, Sasha had every intent on finishing up their prior conversation.
“Is he here?” Gabriel said, coming up behind him.
“Let me check the back cabin,” Sasha said, walking intently toward the back of the plane.
“I’ll check with the captain,” Gabriel said as Alexander walked in looking around.
“What the bloody hell?” Tristan said, coming out of the cockpit as Sasha stopped just before he walked into the back cabin. Turning, he sighed. “What the hell happened? Are you all right?”
“Never better.” Tristan grinned as he headed over to a small mini bar and poured himself something to drink. “Anyone else care to join me?”
“I’ll have one,” Alexander said.
“Make that two.” Gabriel sighed, sitting in one of the plush chairs. “So you want to tell us what the hell happened?”
“It was nothing, really. Just a woman trying to have her way with me.” Tristan grinned.
“Well, that woman was none other than Delta Trinity, Tristan. You’ve met Charlotte Connelly, right? Well, Delta is the extreme version of Charlie. She can be your best friend or your worst enemy. I fear, good buddy, that you’ve just made an enemy of her,” Alex said, sitting next to Gabriel.
“Well, what was I supposed to do? Just let her get away with kidnapping me?” Tristan argued.
“She didn’t kidnap shit, asshole,” Sasha said. “You are the only person I
know who can get out of a set of cuffs before a person blinks. You weren’t in any danger and you know it.”
Tristan grinned. “Yeah, that trick still comes in handy every now and then.”
“A trick I taught you.” Gabriel chuckled.
“I remember.” Alex laughed and then asked Tristan, “So when are you coming back?”
“I should be back in two days. I have a benefit I can’t get out of and I need to stop by the offices to make sure everything is running smoothly without me. Which reminds me, Sasha, your presence is also requested for the benefit.”
“No.”
“I don’t want to hear it. I started this foundation because you asked me to. It’s only fitting that if I have to be subjected to it, then you do, too.”
“What foundation?” Alex asked.
“Merrick House is a foundation set up for battered and abused women. It’s a safe place that helps women recuperate, get therapy, and offers them the choice of going back to school. It provides housing and a network of help to get them back out into the world. It was set up after Sasha found…”
“It doesn’t matter,” Sasha interrupted before Tristan could finish his sentence. “I’m not going.”
“It’s the five year anniversary. You have to be there.”
Sasha groaned, pouring himself a double scotch. After quickly downing it, he poured himself another. He didn’t want to go to the damn benefit. He had no problems giving them money, but he hated showing his face. He’d set up the foundation after he found his sister and realized what she went through. When his sister didn’t get the help and support she needed, almost killing herself, Sasha was bound and determined that no other woman would suffer his sister’s fate.
“That’s amazing, Sasha. I would love to help support an organization like that,” Gabriel said, raising his glass to him.
“Speaking of abused women,” Alex began. “Tristan, I need your help locating someone. Gabriel and I recently found our last missing sibling. We didn’t know it, but she had been living right under our nose for quite some time and the idiot next to me let her slip through our fingers earlier today.”
“What do you mean?”
“Our sister, well, she had been working for Gabriel for about five years until she handed in her resignation this morning. She had a terrible past and if we’d known she was our sister, we would have taken steps to ensure she was happy living with us.”
“What kind of past?” Sasha asked curiously.
“She was abused mentally and physically by a man who portrayed himself as her Dom. He was nothing more than a son of a bitch who liked to torture her. When she was seventeen, her father sold her to a man. For seven years, this man did unthinkable things to her until Gabriel and Matthias found her and rescued her. She ran away shortly after, until they found her again standing on a bridge. She had cut her wrist and then jumped into the frigid waters below, intent on killing herself. She almost succeeded, too. Gabriel and Matthias got her the medical help she needed, and then brought her back to the Pleasure Cave where they spent years helping her mentally recover. It was only two months ago when her doctor and therapist said she was mentally ready to reenter the world, and she did last night at the Mask. We all knew she was attending, and we all took steps to ensure that her first night back out in the world went smoothly. Yet this morning, before her shift started, she told Gabriel she was quitting and left the club. We need to find her.”
“What’s her name?” Tristan asked, taking out his cell phone.
“Violet Peters, but her real name is Violet Victoria Sexton. She is about five-five, with raven hair. It’s long, almost to her waist and her eyes are…”
Not many things on the earth could distract Sasha and have him dreaming of flowers, but the mention of her name and knowing what she felt like against him had him forgetting that he wasn’t alone on the plane. He whispered, “Such a vibrant shade of violet-blue that when she looks at you, it feels as if she can see right into your soul.”
Sasha was lost in his own little world of secret alters and velvet curtains as three men gaped shockingly at him. He had waited all morning for the beautiful Violet to appear at the receptions desk this morning, and when she never showed, Sasha figured he’d never see her again.
He didn’t blame them for their gasped reactions. He knew he shocked them, for Sasha was never prone to dramatics or words of poetry. Always preferring the forward approach, he never believed in sugar coating anything, and that included women. However, when it came to the stunning Violet Peters, well, he felt it a disservice to be minimal in her description.
Hearing Gabriel and Alexander talk about her past and what she went through lit a fire so strong within him, the compulsion to find the woman and protect her was profound. He worried she left the safety of the Pleasure Cave because of him and what he did to her last night. Was he the reason she resigned? To make matters worse, she was the youngest sibling of two of his best friends. How were they going to react when he claimed her? Would they allow it? Did he really care if they did? Then there was Tristan. Sasha looked at his longtime partner and good friend and wondered if he could share the lovely Violet with him. Tristan was a pain in the ass and selfish most of the time. His vanity ran amok and he could be a bastard when the mood suited him. Then again, so could Sasha, but this was Violet he was thinking about, not some other woman. She was special. She was the one.
“While I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting your sister, unlike my eloquent friend over here, I will do what I can to help you find her,” Tristan said cautiously, looking him directly in the eye. There could be a lot said with one look from Tristan, and though Sasha wasn’t ready to explain everything, he knew that when Gabriel and Alexander left there would be talk.
“Thank you, Tristan,” Gabriel said, getting to his feet, still staring at Sasha as if he’d grown another head. “I am going to Seattle to look for her.”
Now, that brought Sasha out of his stupor. “Why Seattle?”
“Because that was where Matthias and I found her. I don’t think she went back there, but I have to rule it out.”
“Most people suffering abuse never return to the place that they were hurt,” Sasha informed his friend.
“That’s true, but some do. And something tells me Violet would. I’ve been with her every step of the way regarding her recovery and though she’s made marvelous strides, she still sometimes feels as if she should have died that day. That she isn’t worthy of affection.”
“Then she still needs therapy,” Tristan said.
“It’s a form of self-degradation, and though I agree with you, her therapist said, because she was subjected to such mental abuse for so long, that she would always have moments of self-loathing. That’s why Alex and I need to find her. We want her safe. She needs to feel loved and wanted. Having her with us at the Pleasure Cave, we can give her that. She was basically raised in the lifestyle and knows nothing else. Though what she experienced is abhorrent to anyone in the lifestyle, that’s all she knows. I just need to find her and bring her home.” Gabriel sighed, rubbing the back of her neck. “I should have known. I saw the similarities between us, but I never made the connection. So many people in the world look like one another. Hell, almost everyone has a doppelgänger. She is the spitting image of my grandmother. Her eyes alone screamed Sexton.”
“We’ll find her, Gabe,” Alex whispered, standing next to his brother. “We all will.”
Tristan stood and nodded. “He’s right, Gabriel. You have all of my resources at your disposal.”
Sasha looked up at his friends and simply replied, “And mine.”
Chapter Eight
Tristan unbuckled his seat belt for the second time as the captain gave the all clear. Getting to his feet, he stretched, heading toward the mini bar, needing a drink. The impromptu return to Treasure Cove wasn’t on his agenda, nor was the fact that Sasha was stewing as he looked out the window of the plane. He should have known his friend wasn’t goin
g to be happy about the benefit, but there was nothing either of them could do about it. Sasha Merrick was the foundation's benefactor and his presence was required, whether he wanted to be there or not.
“Stop scowling,” Tristan huffed, pouring himself a double scotch. “It’s only for tonight and then you can leave. Seriously, Sasha, you’re being a baby about all of this.”
“I still don’t see why you can’t go and represent me. You’ve done it before.”
“Because the press is going to be there and it’s your foundation. You do have to show up every now and then.”
“I write them a check every month, that should be good enough.”
“Well, it’s not, so get over it.”
“This is just going to postpone my talk with Gabriel. I was finally getting somewhere when I got the captain’s text. That was quick thinking on your part, by the way, about putting the whole conversation on the intercom. The tower recorded everything and the young lady is looking at jail time.”
“I won’t be pressing charges.”
“Why the hell not!”
“Because I found out some interesting news.”
“Which was?”
“The beautiful Ms. Delta Trinity is part owner of the construction crew I need to hire. They have been giving Alex the runaround, so…” Tristan grinned wickedly, and Sasha replied, “You’re going to blackmail them?”
Tristan raised his glass and smiled. “Most definitely, and I am going to get my office building and housing community built for half the cost.”
The Reluctant Submissive: Courage to Change [The Men of Treasure Cove 14] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 8
