by Bobbi Brattz
After picking up a small carton of milk, some bread, and a few essentials, she walked to the counter and stood in line.
“That looks just like her. Doesn’t it?” A woman whispered behind her.
While she waited, Rae stared down at the magazine rack.
“Hey, she’s even hotter in person.” This came from a man in the next aisle.
Rae looked up in shock as she realized he was looking directly at her, leering before offering a wink.
“Would you like to go out tonight, honey?”
A woman to her left gasped and put her hands over her child’s eyes, throwing Rae a look of utter disgust.
What is going on?
That’s when she looked down and realized what everyone was staring at. Emblazoned on the front page of a number of tabloids was an image of her having sex with two men! The main parts of her anatomy were blocked out with black squares, but her features were unmistakeable, her head thrown back and eyes closed in the throes of passion. The title was Love Shark Takes Canadian Bait.
Another said, New Porn Star For Love Shark and the next one, Two For One Hawaiian Special. Yet the one that damned her most was, Local Travel Agent Catches Big Shark Tail!
With a gasp, Rae left the cart and raced out of the store. Once the doors of her car were locked, she struggled to breathe through the stress of the moment, before she suddenly noticed reporters with cameras swarming the street around the building.
“Oh no, what have I done?”
With a quick turn of the key, Rae took off like a shot for home as fast as she could go without chancing a ticket. Every time a streetlight turned red, she cringed and scrunched down in her seat to keep out of sight. With sunglasses perched on her nose, she cried out for the light to turn green.
“Oh, my god, oh, my god, oh, my god! I’m ruined!”
When she arrived at the apartment, there was already a large crowd of reporters and gawkers at the front door. Her plastic key card for the parking garage didn’t work, so she had to leave the car on the street.
With her head down, her purse clutched to her chest, she shoved her way past the group of people and put out her hand to stop anyone from entering the building with her.
“Miss, did you enjoy the threesome? I’ll give you thirty grand for an exclusive on Dr. Love Shark.”
“How many men does it take to satisfy you?”
“I’ll offer forty grand! Was it the Hawaiian heat that made you do it?”
“What is it about the Love Shark that made you so horny?”
“I’ll raise that to fifty thousand dollars if you give us a little demonstration of his techniques in bed.”
The noise level rose to such a degree the voices blurred as her ears rang. She finally shoved the door closed tight behind her and rushed to the elevator. It moved slower than molasses in winter before finally opening at the same time as the ding sound announced its arrival. Thankful that no one was inside, she pressed the close button and gasped for air as while her heart pounded so hard she could barely hear her own breath.
Tears built up behind her eyes as reaction settled in. Rae had no idea what she could do in the face of the situation and focused on getting into the apartment. Neighbors stood in the hallway as though waiting for her, their faces full of curiosity, anger, confusion, and even sympathy.
Once the door was closed and locked tight, she slipped down the panel and sat on the floor.
“What am I going to do?” she cried.
“You could start by explaining yourself!”
She screamed in surprise as a dark figure stepped forward from the shadows near the curtain.
* * * *
“Lance! What the hell are you trying to do, scare me to death? And how did you get in here?”
He held up a key, which she recognized as that from her apartment. “Give it back to me!” she cried, holding out her hand as she climbed to her feet on shaky legs.
Ignoring her demand, he snapped, “I want to know what the hell you were doing screwing two men’s brains out while for five long years you acted like a dead fish in bed with me. Rae, I wanted to get back together with you. I gave you money, picked you up at the airport, and made sure you got home safe, and this is what I get for it?”
She was amazed that he expected something in return for asking for a simple loan. “Get out of my apartment!”
“You own me an explanation, Rae.”
“I own you nothing. Now leave!”
“I’ll go for now, but I want you to think about this. He grabbed her and hauled her up against his chest, kissing her with cool wet lips. She felt the urge to gag, but used the sudden spurt of energy to shove him away.
“Get out!”
His eyes narrowed in anger, Lance cupped her chin with his hand and held on tight. “You and I will talk later. I have an interview with the local TV station in a few minutes. They want me to tell them about how hot you are in bed. Imagine that. I have to lie for you while you lied to me for five years. Strange, isn’t it?” Once he released her bruised chin, he left, the door closing behind him.
She slammed the bolt closed, but there was immediate knocking on the door from the other side.
“What!” she cried.
“It’s the landlord. I want to speak to you.”
Groaning, she wondered what else could go wrong and opened the door a crack with the chain still in place.
He slipped an envelope through the opening and growled, “Consider yourself evicted. You have until noon tomorrow to vacate the premises.”
“What? I’ve paid up for the next two months. You can’t do that!”
“You have until noon. I’ll give you one month’s worth of rent back, but you have caused such a disgusting display on my property, the police are outside trying to calm the crowds. You whore!”
“How dare you!”
“No, how dare you! You really had me fooled. I thought you were a nice woman.” In a huff, he turned and walked away, anger in his every movement.
Rae slammed the door closed once more and only took a few steps back before there was more knocking. She had no intention of opening it, not unless it was the madhouse coming to take her away in a straitjacket. She felt like she was going crazy!
“What am I going to do now?”
* * * *
Holed up in her room for hours while people kept pounding on the door in intermittent sessions, Rae curled up into a ball and lay there dry-eyed. She’d gone on vacation, leaving her perfectly boring life only to find out that it was to be gone in a blink before she could breathe the city’s polluted air.
Her stomach rumbled, forcing her to get up and find something to eat.
There were a few cans of soup that required milk and a box of stale crackers left in the cupboard. That was it.
“Why didn’t I stock up on dry goods?”
I have no money to buy anything, no credit cards, no home, no nothing, thanks to Mateo. I curse the day I ever met him!
For a moment she turned on the TV, but as soon as she saw her face plastered all across the screen, her jaw dropped open.
“A Toronto woman was seen by a guest at the resort having sex with the famous Dr. Love Shark and an unidentified man at his resort in Hawaii. The eye witness told a source that the doctor shared the woman with another man to allow her to pay for an extended stay at the tropical paradise.”
“Oh! Damn you, Mateo! Look what you’ve done!” Her shriek of anger was brief as she punched the power button to turn the TV off.
A loud, swishing noise sounded close to the building. As she looked toward the balcony, a helicopter hovered nearby and she saw a man with a camera perched on his shoulder trying to capture her image. She screamed and closed the curtains.
It was all she could do to sit in a chair and gather her knees close to her chest as she trembled in hopeless defeat.
Between the door being pounded on by fists and the sound of shouting in the hallway, Rae was beside herself with fear. She had no
idea how to get out of the mess she found herself.
“What next?” The moan sounded like a wounded animal to her ears.
* * * *
The apartment was surrounded by reporters, crowds of shouting people, and police officers trying to keep order in the chaos. There was hardly room for Mateo to squeeze through the group with the two men who followed him.
“Look, it’s him! It’s the Love Shark.”
“Dr. Love Shark, what do you have to say about your conquest? This is the first time we saw actual pictures of what you do behind closed doors.”
“Can you give us an exclusive, Doctor? Was she that good in bed?”
“How much do you want for an interview about the woman and the other man in your bed?”
“Are you bisexual?”
He kept walking, pushing the microphones out of his face as he went.
“You should be ashamed of yourself, young man,” an elderly lady shouted, waving a cane at him.
Just to piss her off, he winked and blew a kiss. She gasped and faded into the crowd while a throng of other women cried out for similar responses from him.
“What do you plan to do now, sir? Will you be having another orgy in her apartment?”
Mateo stopped cold. “You are out of line, Mister. What I do with my fiancée in the privacy of my home is my business. Whoever claims those images are of me will be facing a number of charges in court.”
“Come on, Doctor. You can’t tell us it wasn’t her. We saw her face as clear as day, as well as a few other amazing parts of her body.”
“I have no further comments.”
“You say she’s your fiancée. Does that mean you plan on making an honest woman of her because of the photos being released?”
He turned to face the lady reporter with narrowed eyes. “She is already an honest woman, Miss. I thank you to keep your opinions to yourself. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”
Once he’d pushed past the excited crowd, he was let into the apartment building by a burly cop who prevented anyone else from going through the door. A nervous man stood in the hallway and frowned at him.
“You! I think you and that woman should get the hell out of my building. She’s a disgrace. Just look at the mess she’s brought to my door. Both of you will be out of here by noon tomorrow, do you understand me?”
Muscles tensing in anger, Mateo leaned in close, nearly touching noses with the man, and growled, “We’ll leave when we want to. It’s necessary by law to give an eviction notice thirty days in advance.”
“Oh, she’s evicted all right. I gave her the documents not an hour ago, legally signed by my lawyer on the grounds of causing such a massive disturbance. I’ll have the cops escort her out if you won’t do it.”
“Follow me.” With a shake of his head, Mateo turned his back on the man and punched the elevator button. He knew exactly where she lived and what had gone on in the past few hours because he’d had a private investigator waiting for her at the airport. The man explained how she’d been picked up by another man and driven to the apartment, though he didn’t stay. The photos identified the man as her ex-husband, Lance Hooper.
After she’d left him cuffed to the bed and walked out on him, Mateo had only wanted to chase her down and return the favor, but now that he knew the way she was being treated, he had other plans.
When watching the news, he’d found out she’d tried to purchase a pregnancy test and made a quick call. He had an offer for her she couldn’t refuse, one he hoped would not only give him his revenge but also would bind her to him until he tired of her.
And I will tire of her, no doubt in a short time.
When he arrived on her floor, the hallway was packed with people, the media pounding on her door. Mateo put up his hands when they noticed his approach.
“I suggest you all leave the premises, or you’ll be charged with trespassing. Now leave and don’t bother the occupant of that apartment again. You won’t be told a second time.”
People began to clear the hallway, some daring enough to take shots of his face, even when he glared at them. The landlord had tagged along in a huff, angry and trying to talk to Mateo, who ignored him. Mateo pushed his way past the angry crowd and stood beside the door. When the others backed away from his furious glare, he nodded at the landlord. “Open it.”
“I will not! You have no right.”
“I do have a right to protect my future wife. Now open it. The sooner you do it, the sooner I’ll get her out of this building.”
The hesitance of the other man lasted a moment before he finally nodded and opened it, but the chain was on the door.
“Step aside,” Mateo growled. Without another word, he shouldered the door and broke the chain.
There was a scream from inside, and he rushed toward the sound
Chapter 13:
Cornered
When Mateo opened the door at the end of the short hallway, he found Rae huddled in a corner against the wall in her bedroom, her eyes wide with fright. It seemed so unlike the woman he’d come to know over the past week that Mateo was shocked.
“It’s just me. You’re okay. No one is going to come in here, Rae.”
The shudders that wracked her body as he moved toward her disappeared as soon as he reached down to take her arm and help her to her feet.
“Don’t,” she shrieked. “Don’t you dare touch me!”
Mateo squatted down in front of her, maintaining a mask of calm he didn’t feel.
“Honey, it’s okay. I won’t let anyone hurt you, I swear.”
“You swear?” Her voice rose to a hysterical shriek as Rae shoved at his chest and knocked him backward. Mateo landed on his ass and watched in amazement as her expression changed from fear to fury. She leapt to her feet and stood over him, chest heaving, hands clenched into tight fists while her eyes flashed fire. He’d never seen her look more stunning.
“You have ruined my life! How dare you break into my apartment? How dare you follow me to Canada?”
“Rae, you and I have unfinished business between us.”
“Like hell we do. I left you in Hawaii and told you I never wanted to see you again. I still mean that.”
“So tell me then, why were you going to purchase a pregnancy test?”
Her eyes widened even further, her jaw dropping open in shock.
The vein in her long neck throbbed suddenly. He could practically see the wheels turning over in her mind as she sought an answer to give him.
“I never bought one.” Her tone was just above a squeak.
“Perhaps not, but you left one in your shopping cart this morning, and it’s all over the news that you’re having my baby.”
“It’s a lie! I wouldn’t have your baby if you paid me to, you…you letch!”
“I beg to differ, Rae. It’s my understanding that if a woman doesn’t take her birth control pills for a week, has unprotected sex with a man…or two, then the chances of her getting pregnant are high. You and I had sex without a condom at least twice.”
She turned to face the window, trembling head to toe. “I’m not pregnant. I’m on my period.”
He could tell by the slight uncertainty in her tone that she was lying through her teeth.
“Oh, really. Let’s see about that.” Mateo left the room for a moment and walked across the hall to the small bathroom. As he’d expected when he picked up the waste basket, it was empty. He carried it back to her room to confront her.
“Funny, not one used feminine product in the garbage. How is that possible if you’re on your period, Rae?”
“Maybe I disposed of it in the garbage chute!” Though her chin rose up a notch in defiance, he could see the lie in her eyes.
“Nice try. Come to the front room with me.” Without waiting for her to agree, he took her wrist and dragged her along with him until she gasped when she saw the two men who waited for them.
“What’s going on here?”
“Hello, Ms. Hooper. I’m P.J. So
nders, attorney at law. I’m here at Dr. Mano’s request.”
“Are you suing me?” she cried, staring up at Mateo with a horrified gaze.
“No. I’m here to marry you.”
“Marry me? Over my dead body!” She laughed out loud in near hysterics and tried to pull her wrist free.
“Yes, you’ll marry me. Sit down and I’ll explain the details.”
“No! Get out of my apartment.”
“I said, sit down!” His growl and frown were enough to make her plop down hard on her sofa. Mr. Sonders sat beside her and pulled out some files from the briefcase he had beside him then spread them out on the coffee table.
“Who are you?” she asked the other man.
“I’m an ordained minister. I’m here to perform the ceremony.”
“What?” Before she could rise to her feet, Mateo held her down with a hand on her shoulder.
“I said sit down, and I mean stay there. Sonders, explain to Ms. Hooper what the contract entails.”
“Yes, sir. You and Dr. Mano will be married today and stay married for the duration of twelve months. The day after the time frame has ended, you will receive eight million dollars and be permitted to go your way. However, you must live with him as his wife at the resort in Hawaii during that time.”
“You’re paying me to marry you? Are you out of your mind?”
Her outrage amused him. “No. I decided that I want a family, and you will provide me with my child.”
“Get with the millennium, you idiot! I’m not marrying you or anyone else. Besides, how do you know it’s even yours…assuming there is a baby? I could have slept with a dozen men during my vacation. I could have been pregnant before you and I met.”
“We’ve been in contact with your friend who spent the entire two weeks with you. She said you and she never left each other’s sides and you had no private dates. You can’t get pregnant drinking out of the same glass as someone else, Rae. I’m sure it’s mine.”
“I’m not pregnant!” Her shout of outrage was ignored by Mateo as he nodded at the lawyer.
