Discretion was paramount for Patricia, and she was already wondering if the media would notice the veritable swat team patrolling her house. Her publicist was a brilliant man and he would be able to spin it if they did find out, probably in a way that made her look noble, sympathetic, or competent depending on what the polls said she needed to be.
If it weren’t for Adam’s tortured demeanor, she would probably be angry. But when he wasn’t in a rage lashing out at Gustavo, he looked so despondent, like a little boy lost in the woods. That team of computer geeks obviously hadn’t found whatever they were looking for, and their faces looked even whiter as they were escorted from the premises while Adam hurled obscenities toward his head of security. Gustavo shot her an apologetic look as he rounded up his men, making sure nothing in her home was out of place.
Patricia was reluctant to go see why Adam was still in his study an hour after they had all left. She called her publicist, Ryan, and told him what had happened. He hit the roof as expected, demanding details that she couldn’t give him. It had all happened so quickly and the entire experience was so surreal that she hadn’t thought to peek outside and look for camera flashes. It wasn’t an election year, so the vultures weren’t looking for dirt, though they could never be sure.
It was getting late and Patricia was ready to go to bed, but she was anxious because Adam was still in his office. He had said that he was leaving tonight, but that didn’t seem to be the case. Noticing that the door was cracked slightly, she crept up to his study intending to ask him if he needed anything. She poked her head inside and saw him slumped over in his office chair, his head in his hands. Was he crying? It certainly sounded like it, but she couldn’t be sure. She had never heard it before.
Her curiosity was rapidly turning to concern, but it would be out of place for her to go comfort him. Patricia made her way upstairs but found herself unable to sleep. The sound of a car door slamming roused her suspicions and she got to the window in time to see Adam’s car backing out of the driveway. She wondered if she would ever see him again.
Leah’s hands were shaking too much to tie on her boots so Thomas, letting out a sigh, did it for her. Then he grabbed her by the arm again and dragged her down the stairs. She looked over her shoulder at Ramira as they crossed the threshold. It looked as if she had changed positions, but Leah couldn’t be sure.
The moon was full, washing out the stars and brightly lighting the rainforest homestead that had just recently begun to feel like home. Leah’s eyes darted around, searching for any sign of activity in the cabanas. For all she knew the security team had been murdered. Thomas gave her a harsh shove when she slowed down outside the doctor’s hut. What had become of her? Was she lying paralyzed on the floor like poor Ramira? Leah’s lips started to quiver and tears welled up in her eyes as Thomas let out a cruel laugh and pushed her toward the running Jeep.
Leah saw her chance. She knew this forest better than he did, though she couldn’t really be sure. The jaguars and poisonous spiders would probably be better than whatever this bastard had in store for her. She was dressed now, with shoes, and that had been the only thing stopping her before. Stepping over a raised tree root that would easily trip a person who didn’t know it was there, Leah waited to hear Thomas curse and drop her arm. She ran toward the trees as fast as she could, her heart pounding in her ears.
Thomas shouted after her, but she was already yards away from the truck. If she could just make it into the forest, she might be able to hide in the darkness of the jungle canopy. Blackness surrounded her as she breached the tree line and she had to feel her way around as her eyes struggled to adjust to the light. She stifled a scream as she drove her hand into a tree trunk covered with sharp thorns, but kept moving. The sounds of men shouting seemed to be right behind her as she realized there would be more than one person to hide from.
She could see a little better, but it was still so dark it was hard to tell what she was grabbing. Those blasted thorny trees that were so easy to avoid in the daytime had scraped the flesh from her palms and fingers. Leaving a bloody trail was less than ideal, but she didn’t have much of a choice. She found a tree with a branch just low enough for her to reach. Gripping the bark with her mangled hands, she pulled herself up and off of the soft forest floor. Images of hornets’ nest and coiled snakes filled her mind as she climbed, but she pushed them down and forced her way higher and higher.
A gunshot rang through the forest, and Leah heard the startled calls of all the animals that surrounded her. She made herself as small as she could in the tall tree and squeezed her eyes shut.
“Leah!” Thomas’s voice taunted her. It was faint and she wondered how it could carry this far into the jungle. “We are going to find you, sooner or later.”
He sounded strange, muffled and amplified at the same time. There was an electronic squeal at the end of his sentence, and Leah realized that he must have a megaphone. Perhaps they had anticipated this. There was a rustling sound in the lower layer of the forest that was getting closer to her. She hoped it was a jaguar, but knew she couldn’t be that lucky.
“How much do you care about Ramira?” Thomas said menacingly. “She’s still alive, you know. But not for much longer if you don’t come out.”
Leah looked down and saw lights coming toward her. They were shining upward, searching the trees. She tried to position herself so that something would obstruct her from below, but the best she could do was a thick branch that probably wouldn’t conceal her if she were directly illuminated.
“I’m going to shoot her in the head right now, Leah.”
“Leah, don’t-” Ramira’s voice was groggy, but it was definitely her.
“And then I’ll kill the doctor. You like her too, don’t you. I bet you’re pretty fond of anyone that Adam’s let you talk to since he abducted you.”
Leah felt sick to her stomach as she weighed her options. The baby was her first priority and she knew she would let everyone die if it meant she could save her child. But chances are she would be found and they would die for nothing. It was unlikely that they would give up easily and it would be much easier to find her in the morning. Even if they didn’t, they surely wouldn’t leave the homestead.
“And after I’m done with them, I’ll massacre that entire village if you don’t come out right now.”
As much as she wanted to keep her baby safe, it was beginning to look like a lost cause. If she did survive, she wasn’t sure she could live with the weight of all those lives on her conscious. Originally, she had hoped to make her way to the tribe deeper in the forest, but Thomas and his men apparently knew about them so that wasn’t an option. She would only make it a few days in the jungle at most.
“Up here,” she called down to the men searching below her.
She was instantly bathed in light. One of the men got on a radio and told Thomas that they had found her. Leah started to climb down but her arms and legs were so shaky she almost fell. Two men were climbing toward her and she started to panic and regret her decision.
Adam would find her. She kept repeating that to herself as the first man got to her and threw her over his shoulder. Adam knew who Thomas was and was looking for her this very moment. Branches scraped across her face throughout the decent. When they hit the ground, the group of men laughed and congratulated each other. Her captor kept a firm hold on her thighs as he carried her out of the jungle and back into the clearing.
“I must admit, that was pretty brave.” Thomas grinned at her triumphantly. “I didn’t think you had it in you.”
Leah glared at him hatefully and Thomas’s eyes narrowed. He dragged his fingers across her jaw line before pulling his hand back and slapping her across the face. Ramira let out a gasp and struggled against the man holding her arms behind her back. The pain stung Leah badly and she brought her hand to her face, her palm leaving a bloody smudge on her cheek.
Thomas pulled out a gun and pointed it toward Ramira. Before Leah could scream, he pull
ed the trigger and the kind housekeeper’s eyes rolled back into her head before she dropped to the ground. Leah cried out hysterically and threw herself towards Ramira, but one of Thomas’s goons started pulling her toward the truck. There was no blood, just a bright red dart sticking out of Ramira’s chest. Relief washed over Leah as she grasped that it was just a tranquilizer gun.
Adam would find her. That’s all she could think about as she was fastened into the seat and the truck drove away from her jungle home.
9
Adam thought about the last time he was sitting in this office. It seemed like a lifetime ago. When his friend first told him about Madam Carlyle’s service, he didn’t believe it. How could a place like this possibly exist? They had to be breaking a hundred laws, not that privacy meant very much these days.
He wasn’t the usual client, not looking for the usual thing. The last thing most of these guys were searching for was a family. But Adam knew that he needed more than just a typical, run of the mill submissive. He had been there and done that. Those secret clubs were fun for a while and had gotten him through his sham of a marriage, but it just wasn’t enough anymore.
Ironically, it was Patricia that had pushed him over the edge. Adam had never cared about her affairs nor she about his, but when he realized how serious things were between her and Ryan, he got jealous. Not because Ryan had his wife’s affections, Adam had never had them to begin with and didn’t really desire them. It was what they had. Real love, real commitment, based on something deeper than money and status. The way they looked at each other was maddening.
Adam didn’t think it was fair, even though he knew life seldom was. Why did Patty get to have it all? When she brought Ryan on as her publicist, they had a legitimate reason to spend so much time together behind closed doors while Adam had to sneak around. He respected Patricia and had even grown to love her in a familial way. She was a brilliant politician and a good mother. She deserved to be happy, and Ryan gave her that.
Being married to someone at least as controlling as he was had always been difficult for Adam. She ran their lives like a business, which was fine up until they had children. Taylor and Ella were the best thing that had ever happened to him, but he didn’t get to spend enough time with them. Patricia shipped them off to the best boarding schools when they were only seven. It would make them independent and disciplined. They would form bonds with other affluent children that would help them in the future. And it had worked out, as much as he hated to admit it. By the time his kids were in high school, they were practically adults and incredibly talented.
Despite how proud he was of his children, Adam still regretted the way they were raised, even if it had been the best way to prepare them for their world. It was standard procedure for children of immensely wealthy families. Adam and Patricia had grown up that way and she had loved it. Adam, on the other hand always wanted more of a connection to his family, a desire that only grew stronger when he started his own. His kids had taken after their mother and were perfectly happy. It seemed like Adam was the only one that felt alone.
He didn’t have the time or the luxury to fall in love, get married, and have a baby because everything had to be done in secret for the sake of his wife’s political career. Adam was also starting to feel old and wanted to be the active father that his future children deserved. Madam Carlyle assured him that she would be able to find someone whose personality and desires would be compatible, despite his unusual requirements.
When he first saw Leah’s picture, he skipped right past her file on to the next one. Adam wasn’t a big fan of red hair because it reminded him of his mother. When none of the other girls stuck out to him, Madam Carlyle insisted that he take another look at Leah’s file.
She was perfect, almost too perfect. How many other submissives with a strong maternal instinct that shared his dream of living in the jungle of Brazil? Her face was beautiful, with large green eyes and a kind, friendly smile. Though the red hair was a kind of a deal breaker, he could always have her dye it. He was pleasantly surprised when they first met to see that it wasn’t nearly as bright as the picture, more of a warm gold. It seemed like such a stupid hang up in retrospect. He’d give anything to be running his fingers through it now.
When he looked back on it, he couldn’t believe that he had been so bold, desperate really, if he was honest with himself. His gut instinct told him that she would be happy with the life he had planned for them, but it was still a crazy move to just kidnap her like that. He thought about being upfront, but knew that she would say no, as any reasonable person would. Once she was in the forest, the place that she needed to be so badly, even more that he did, she wouldn’t be able to refuse.
He hadn’t expected to develop feelings for her. In fact, he specifically didn’t intend to and fought against it tooth and nail. Perhaps it was the lingering business mindset from his upbringing and marriage, but he thought it would be better to keep things professional. As soon as she was carrying his child though, his protective nature took over and he realized that he would do anything to make her happy, genuinely happy.
All he had wanted from Leah in the beginning was the baby and to be a good mother. That, and complete submission in the bedroom of course, but that seemed to come natural to her. It seemed like a fair trade and he thought they would make good parents together. She could have anything her geeky, bird loving little heart desired as long as the kids came first.
Emotions would just complicate things, so it was best if they kept them in check. As time went on, it became clear to Adam that was going to be a lot easier said than done, though he’d never actually been able to say it to her. There was never any way to phrase it that he could be sure wouldn’t hurt her feelings. That should have been his first clue. Her smile was infectious, her enthusiasm irresistible, and she was so sweet and tender it was wearing his guard down. She wasn’t supposed to love him; he didn’t expect her to. But it seemed like she did, even though he knew that was too good to be true.
Apparently it was, because she wouldn’t be there when he came home. Gustavo was the best money could buy, but Adam could tell that he was worried they didn’t have enough to go on. Plus, he was the one that had put together the security team in Brazil, the one that was so incredibly incompetent they may as well have not even been there.
The worst part was, other than this strange hollow feeling competing with the tightness in his chest, that he had no idea what the hell Thomas wanted. He had said it so surely, like Adam would immediately know, but he didn’t get it. Money, most likely, but how much? Why didn’t he say the amount, or how to transfer it? Adam had a feeling that it was something else, but he couldn’t remember how he had fucked Thomas over, though he was sure that he had. Whatever he had done, it was so long ago that it was lost, just another wrong he had committed to get ahead. There were so many, and he didn’t like to think about them so he did his best to forget. That had surely backfired now. If Thomas knew that Adam didn’t even remember the offense that had driven him to this extreme, it would probably push him right over the edge.
Gustavo was working on that too. It was strange to have your own security team investigating you. Adam just had to wait now and Gus wanted him to say Stateside. It wasn’t in Adam’s personality to do nothing while his world was unraveling, so he decided to pay the good Madam a visit. That bastard had Leah’s file, and the only place he could have gotten it was right here.
10
Leah had never been in a helicopter before and this wasn’t how she pictured it. Adam had promised to take her after the baby came. She had been so excited, not only about the ride itself, but more because she didn’t even ask. It had been his idea, one of the first fun things he suggested that they do together without the baby. One of the first things that gave her hope that maybe he wanted something more too.
The sunrise was even more beautiful seen from this high up, with swirls of pink and purple grazing the turquoise waters below. They had been trave
ling all night and she was exhausted. It was only when she saw the ocean that she realized how far from home Thomas had taken her. Home. Now that she had been ripped away, it was so clear to her that’s where she had been.
A group of tiny islands emerged from the mist and Leah felt the helicopter descending. Her heart started to thud in her chest. Whatever was going to happen to her was about to happen. Somehow she had been able to push it out of her mind on the ride here, but now the uncertainty of her very near future was inescapable.
The island they were approaching looked so peaceful, like a postcard you get from a friend on vacation that makes you jealous. The palm trees were blowing around from the wind coming off the blades as the helicopter landed in a clearing. Leah didn’t see any buildings, in fact the island looked utterly deserted. Except for the men with huge machine guns surrounding the makeshift landing pad.
Running would be pointless because it would soon turn to swimming, something Leah wasn’t very good at when she wasn’t pregnant and tired. Thomas grabbed her by the arm and pulled her out of her seat, dragging her away from the helicopter. They were approaching a group of men, all of them eyeing her hungrily except for one. The suit he was wearing was out of place on the island. His hair was light blonde, nearly white, but his eyes were practically black.
“Congratulations, Thomas,” he said cheerfully, annunciating each syllable.
“I told you I could get her here.” Thomas pushed her towards the man in the suit. He grabbed her by the wrists and looked at her bloody hands that were finally starting to scab over.
“She was supposed to arrive undamaged.” The man glared at him.
“She did that herself, running into the jungle at night like a lunatic.” Thomas shrugged, a cruel smile on his face. “I kept the brutes you hired off of her. I thought that was the main thing.”
Captured by the Billionaire (Omnibus Edition) Page 7
