On My Knees: The Complete Series Box Set

by C. J. Thomas

  “He can’t.” I giggled.

  “See?” She flipped her hands, palms up. “I feel guilty about it.”

  We both laughed.

  “But really, I owe you one, girl. You know I do. You’ve been through so much shit lately and much of the stress was caused by my decision to pay off your school debt.”

  “It all worked out.” I closed my eyes and nodded compulsively.

  “So if you need a replacement, I’ll be your backup.”

  My eyes popped wide open.

  “Really.” She nodded. “For you, I’d do it.”

  My grin spread ear to ear a second before I leaped into her arms. “Thank you!”

  She hugged me tight and held me like the true friend I knew she could be.

  “Okay,” she released me, “but if I don’t start waddling like you soon, then you’re the one I’m going to blame.”

  I backed away slowly and showed her my palms.

  We both laughed.

  This time, I took the bottle for myself.

  “Where’s Nash, anyway?”

  I looked at the wall clock. “He was supposed to be home by now.”

  My phone started ringing and I moved to the kitchen to answer it. “Alex, this is Wesley Reid.”

  “Hi, Wes.” When I looked at Kendra she wiggled her brows.

  “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I didn’t want you to hear it from anyone else.”

  “Okay?” I drew out the word, long and slow.

  “Are you at home?”

  “I’m at Nash’s place. Why?”

  “Because he’s been arrested.”

  My hand flew over my mouth as I gasped.

  “He’s downtown.”

  “Shit! We have to go!” I panicked.

  “Sweetheart, relax.” Wes remained calm.

  “How can I relax?” I spun around and slapped the palm of my hand to my forehead. “He’s in trouble. We have to get him out.”

  “It’s not that easy.”

  Then I remembered what the detectives told me when I was where Nash now was. “He killed that girl didn’t he?”

  The line went silent.

  How could I be so naïve? He’d saved me from Adrian and I forgot about all the secrets that swirled around him.

  “Wes,” my tone sharpened, “did he kill that girl?”

  I suddenly realized that it didn’t matter who I owed my allegiance to—the Madam or Nash. It didn’t matter. Both of them used me, bought me in some form or another. They had control over my future. I was no longer behind the wheel.

  And not only had Nash saved me from the Madam, he’d also cleared my debt with Mr. Lopez. If he could do all those things, why couldn’t he also murder and get away with it? He certainly had the means.

  “Ted didn’t kill Maria.”

  My heart thrashed in my ears. “What are you talking about?”

  Over the next several minutes Wes explained everything. He broke down Nash’s involvement with Maria. When it started, how it grew, and how it ended. Somewhere along the way, I stopped listening, and all I could think about was Nash and why Wes didn’t seem to be in a hurry to go bail him out.

  When I heard Ted’s name, my ears perked back up. “Ted owed Mr. Lopez lots of money. Alex, Ted knew that you’d found the duffel bag.”

  My mind raced to keep up. Perhaps that was the reason why Professor Fields seemed to always play favorites with me.

  “Ted planned to take that money from you and pay down his own debt.”

  “But that was Lopez’s own money.”

  “Exactly. I guess it was Ted’s way to pull a fast one.”

  “Except I’m not seeing how any of this applies to Nash.”

  “The other night. When he stole you away from the Madam’s client—”

  My blood rushed through my veins.

  “He stopped somewhere on the way home. Do you remember that?”

  My tongue was dry. “I do,” I said in a barely audible tone. I wasn’t sure whose house that was, and didn’t dare ask at the time. But now Wes was making me wish I had.

  It had to be Sylvia’s.

  Did she use the photos against him, the same ones I saw her threaten Nash with? And what were in those photos that could be so damaging? Was that why he was now locked up?

  “That was Ted’s house.”

  “Come to think about it, I haven’t seen him since.” Kendra rested her elbows on the tips of her knees and stared at me, listening, with protruding eyes.

  “It’s because he’s in Europe. Nash purchased his tickets.”

  Suddenly, it made sense why Nash was acting the way he had been. But Wes still hadn’t answered my question. “Wes, did Nash kill that girl?”

  It seemed to take him forever to answer. “No.”

  A pellet of sweat fell from my brow. I caught sight of the bottle of vodka—tempting me to flush my troubles away. “I don’t understand. If Nash didn’t kill her, and Ted didn’t kill her, then who did and why was Nash arrested?”

  “I don’t know who killed her. But the cops think Nash did.”

  BOOK 12

  On My Knees

  The Hollywood Nights Series Vol. 12

  CJ Thomas

  111

  Nash

  I CAST my gaze down to my clasped hands until my eyes blurred.

  The detective sitting across from me asked me another question.

  I didn’t hear him.

  My mind raced and I was growing immune to their constant threats.

  My ears muffled the sound to the point where everything sounded like white noise. I’d kept them closed since they’d locked me inside this small room to question me on a crime I didn’t commit.

  “Did you hear what I said, Nash?” Detective Pierce cocked his head to the side and narrowed his eyes. “We have eyewitnesses placing you in the same vicinity on the night of the crime.”

  My tongue slid over my lips just before my mouth snapped shut.

  I hadn’t said a word, and planned to keep my lips zipped, too.

  At least until my lawyer showed up. Then I’d let him decide what questions he thought I should answer and which were better left for him to deal with.

  The detectives stared at me with their beady, menacing eyes.

  I’d ridden this merry-go-round before and knew enough to trust my gut. To not believe any of the bullshit they were dishing up. They were placing bets that they’d spark enough fear inside me to get me to make a confession.

  It wasn’t going to happen.

  Detective Pierce’s partner was a large, obtuse man, and when he shifted his heavy weight to the other leg, I broke Pierce’s suspicious gaze. I found him closing his eyes as if he was equally as bored as I was with the questions that were going nowhere.

  Round and round we went.

  My stomach growled.

  If I had to guess, I’d place my bets that he’d probably missed dinner, just like I had. By the look on his face, he was thinking this should have been an easy, open-and-shut case.

  Except they underestimated one thing—me.

  “Hey, Frank,” Pierce turned his head to look over his shoulder, “what was the name of that guy this asshole was connected to?”

  “Ted.” Frank licked his chops.

  Yeah, he was hungry all right. It didn’t take a genius to decipher that look on a fat man like him. He had the hunger sweats going.

  I turned my head and wanted to laugh.

  Wes had warned me the cops would take me in. I knew it was coming after I told Ted to skip town and head across the pond. So bringing up Ted’s name didn’t shock me one bit.

  “Ted Fields.” Pierce slid his elbows across the table and smirked. “Care to share how you know him?”

  I leaned back and crossed my arms over my chest just as there was a knock on the door.

  Excellent timing. I couldn’t have planned it any better myself.

  I watched my lawyer walk in and quickly take charge. “Any and all questions you h
ave for my client can now be directed toward me.” He wore a fancy suit and talked like a veteran who’d been down this road before. “You keep your mouth shut?”

  I nodded and smirked at the detective.

  It was because of Wes that he was here. Wes had access to the best, and until recently, I never thought I’d need a criminal lawyer. Skirting the law wasn’t exactly a vice of mine.

  The lawyer peered down on me. “Good.”

  Detective Pierce leaned back and sighed. “So, Nash,” he eyed the lawyer, “when was the last time you saw Maria?”

  I arched a brow and looked at my lawyer.

  He nodded and gave the okay to answer.

  “Six, seven months ago.” I shrugged.

  “And where were you on the night of the eighteenth of this month?”

  “He was with a business associate,” my lawyer interjected. “Like he is most nights. My client, here, is a professional, Detective. Well respected in both his industry, as well as in the community. So unless you have something real to present to my client, we can end this conversation now.”

  After a response like that, it was clear why Wes wanted him on my team. Without him to take charge of the relentless questioning, there would be no way I’d be leaving here before the day was over.

  “You mean, something real, like this?” The detective pulled a stack of photos out from a folder, unclipped the corners, and began spreading each one of them out in front of me.

  Time slowed and my brain fogged. I couldn’t focus on anything but what was inside each of those frames.

  I didn’t want to see it.

  My stomach did a somersault.

  I didn’t want to believe it.

  She actually did it. That little cunt.

  Others were talking, but my eyes were glued to Sylvia’s fuck-face. I remembered the night well. It was the evening I tied and bound her to each of the four posts of my bed. She’d begged me for it, and now, sitting here, getting drilled by the detectives, I couldn’t help but feel that she’d set me up. I knew I should have never agreed to let her document our night.

  I heard the detectives’ questions pick up and my lawyer answer a few of them before I drifted back into the photos.

  Sylvia even snapped pictures of her bruised, purple skin afterward. Like she was victim and didn’t know exactly what she was getting herself into. That she hadn’t asked over and over until I relented.

  I didn’t know about those photos. I wouldn’t have minded except for one thing: They were identical to Maria’s photos sitting off to the left. Take away their faces, and they were identical.

  “You see, Nash, we didn’t just bring you down here for the hell of it.” Pierce paused to sear his gaze into me. “With you purchasing Ted’s ticket to Europe, and with these two women having identical marks,” he slammed his index finger down into the table, “one woman can testify against you and confirm that you did this to her.”

  “It’s all speculation.” My lawyer interrupted.

  The big detective pushed off the wall and leaned over the table. “Except for the fact that your client hasn’t been accounted for on the night of Maria’s murder. The same night that these marks were made.”

  My stomach twisted and tied itself into a tight knot.

  “I didn’t—” I began, but my lawyer sliced his hand through the air and cut me off.

  Maria had a black eye. I’d never give a woman a black eye, or hit them. That wasn’t what I did. Whoever did this tried to emulate me. Why? I had no idea. That was what it felt like, at least. The fact that they made that one mistake might just be my ticket out, leaving the station as a free man.

  I wanted to let my head fall into the palms of my hands. This was more than I could withstand. But I fought through the anguish tearing me up inside and remained stone-faced, trusting that what they were saying was all lies.

  Each beat of my heart went out to both women; Maria and Alex.

  I longed for Alex and hated that she didn’t know where I was. She was probably getting worried, wondering why I hadn’t come home yet. It wasn’t how I wanted to say goodbye.

  There was a tap on the glass and Frank moved to the door. I watched him open it and step outside.

  I blinked, then he was gone.

  Did I just see who I thought I did?

  What was he doing here? Whatever the reason, something told me that it had to be about Maria’s murder.

  I wasn’t the only one being brought in for questioning. No fucking way.

  112

  Alex

  “HOW LONG’S IT BEEN?”

  I opened one eye just as Kendra bent forward, trying to steal of glimpse between my thighs.

  I snapped my knees shut.

  She drew her brows together and gave me a dissatisfied look.

  Kendra didn’t need to see my snatch.

  “That long, huh?”

  “When’s the last time you got waxed?” I let my head fall back to the chair.

  She tapped the tip of her finger on her lip and tilted her head to the side as she clearly put more thought into the question than what it deserved. “Let’s see. Well…since the last time I was here with you…” She laughed.

  My eyes closed. “It feels so long ago.”

  And it did. So much had happened. I felt like I’d grown from a young vulnerable girl into a bright, intelligent woman.

  The sensory music of chimes filled the background as I inhaled and filled my nose with scents of oils, lotions, and herbs. I could get used to this, I thought to myself.

  “All because lover-boy said he wouldn’t fuck you until you were cleaned, fresh, and shaven.” Kendra rolled through a fit of laughter. Even the aesthetician snickered.

  It was impossible to not think about Nash as I was getting waxed. I wanted him home, by my side, and in my bed. All this drama was supposed to be over.

  All night I’d laid awake, praying that this was all just a bad dream and that the cops had mixed up the evidence. Wes promised me that his lawyer was there, with Nash, and that I shouldn’t worry because he was the best. He would do whatever needed to be done to make Nash a free man.

  It was all I had—to trust Wes. Put my faith in him. To pray that he knew what he was doing.

  Because if he didn’t, I didn’t know how I could go on without Nash. In such a short time, he’d become my everything.

  Lunch threatened to come up at the thought of losing him.

  “And now I’m here, again, because the Madam won’t take you if you’re not fresh.” I turned my head to mock Kendra.

  “I’d be here regardless,” she assured me. “I love feeling like a virgin.”

  “How do you even remember what it feels like? It’s got to be ages since you gave up your cherry.” The lady working on me nudged my knees wider and began applying the wax.

  It was strange to find myself actually liking the process of hair removal. I had Nash to thank for that. He was the one teaching me the delicate balance between pain and pleasure, and it was something I wanted to learn more about. There was still so much he hadn’t taught me yet, and now I was wondering if we’d ever get a chance.

  “Oh, fuck yeah,” Kendra growled as her hair roots were pulled from her sensitive skin.

  I laughed. “I should tell you that a man inspected me.”

  Kendra tilted her head in my direction and arched a brow.

  “Not the Madam.”

  Now she had both her eyes open. “No shit.”

  My brows raised.

  “What’s he look like?”

  I should have known she’d want that detail. Though, with her, she could have gone either way. Especially if she found the woman to be attractive.

  I went on to tell her more as I rolled onto my stomach to get my ass waxed. Nash was going to have fun with me when he saw how smooth I was. Just thinking about it had me wet. I hope he comes home soon. I frowned.

  “You think the Madam will let me choose who I’ll date?”

  “Speaking f
rom experience,” she nodded, waiting for the rest of my answer, “not a chance.”

  “What about the man? Do you think he ever bids on the Madam’s harem? I mean, if he’s as hot as you say he is.”

  I shrugged and flexed my abs.

  Kendra never took anything seriously, and I didn’t know why I expected her to now. I mean, she quit her career after hardly taking the time to get a feel for it. All that hard work, the time she put in, tossed to the wind for a chance to go on dates with a few filthy-rich men who were looking for an easy lay. It was just a game to her. And, normally, I wouldn’t give a damn. Except, this time, she couldn’t fuck it up.

  “You can’t fuck this up,” I reminded her. My life was on the line.

  She propped herself up on her elbows and glared. “You don’t think I can do this.”

  “I hope you can—” I put my head back down and rested my cheek on the backside of my hands “—otherwise our plan will backfire and I’ll be stuck to ride out my contract until the end.”

  Her tongue smoothed over her front top teeth. “Don’t worry. I got this.”

  113

  Nash

  THE HOUSE WAS SILENT—AND empty—when I walked inside.

  I wanted nothing more than to see, and hold, Alex.

  The heels of my shoes clacked against the hardwood floors as I moved through the foyer and into the kitchen. Ridding my jacket, I tossed it over a chair and stopped to listen.

  Nothing.

  I rolled my neck and let my vertebrae pop. Fatigue was settling in. It was early and I’d been awake all night without a moment to rest.

  “Alex?” I called out.

  I needed to hear her voice. Feel her hand woven inside mine. Have her head resting peacefully against my chest, quietly reminding me that no matter what might come of all this, everything would be okay. There was nothing to worry about. No reason to lose sleep.

  If only that could all be true.

  I pulled a glass from the cabinet and filled it with water from the tap. I chugged it down and immediately filled it up again. When I was finished, I checked my phone.