Sacrifice: Book 3 of The Dark Paradise Trilogy

by Isadora Brown

He started pumping inside of her, slowly at first until it became steady. Keirah’s eyes had rolled back, breathing and moaning, mewing and gasping. Noir was notoriously quiet during any sexual experience–it frustrated Keirah to no end which was why he kept mum in the first place; it was another way for him to have power over her–but even he couldn’t help himself.

  “Touch-ah yourself for me. I want you to, hum… pleasure yourself for me.”

  Keirah didn’t wait and pressed her fingers down to her clitoris, wagging them back and forth against the engorged nub until she was already at her peak.

  “I’m going to…”

  “I know.”

  And she came hard and fast, as flowing as a waterfall. When she finished, Noir began to thrust even harder, until he finished as well, releasing himself into her slick heat. He all but collapsed on top of her, but made sure their bodies were still connected, even as he went soft inside of her. It might have been Keirah’s imagination, but he seemed almost as breathless as she was.

  “It’s so good to uh, well, to see you, my dear.”

  And they both passed out in each other’s arms.

  25

  Jack Phillip was at the Ivy again, this time dressed for dinner. To give the man credit, he really did try to pay attention to whatever Vanessa was saying that was not at all business related, but every time he focused, his mind pulled him in a completely different direction. What was Andie doing at that moment in time? Was she all right? Was Burr trying to hit on her? Most definitely. Face it, Jack. She may not see it, but your girlfriend is a knockout. This, of course, caused him to grit his teeth and try and focus on Vanessa once again.

  But it was hard.

  Andie was the sort of person who stayed on his mind even when she was with him. Even though they both liked to have their independence, he couldn’t easily rid her from his thoughts, and he really didn’t want to. Whenever Jack was away from her, he wished she was with him, or, considering tonight, he wished he were with her. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but he really didn’t like Andie dining with Burr alone. The guy, while seemingly normal, always seemed to rub Jack the wrong way. Jack wasn’t sure why, but it was true. He cocked his head to the side, completely unaware of what Vanessa was saying except that she was moving her mouth, which meant she was still talking.

  What if Andie was enjoying herself? What if his whole feeling about Burr only applied to him? What if Andie found him… charming while Jack found him disturbing, at times? They had gotten into fights over the man a couple of times, and it was always because she was defending him. That infuriated Jack to no end. It wasn’t exactly because of Andie, but the fact that Burr put on a show for her and the fact that she believed him –

  The loud shrill of his cell phone interrupted his thoughts, and after offering Vanessa an apologetic smile, glanced down at the device to check the caller identification. Beverly. Jack pushed his brows together as his lips curled downwards into a frown. Why would Beverly be calling him when his aunt knew he was in an important business meeting?

  Something’s happened…

  “Excuse me,” Jack said, standing up, “but I really should take this.”

  The man left the table and walked outside where there were fewer diners due to the cold. “Hello?” Jack greeted, trying to keep any impatience out of his voice. He got impatient when there was something he didn’t know, but should. And the reason why Beverly was calling him was something he really needed to know.

  “Jack?” Beverly replied on the other end. “Forgive me for interrupting your meeting, but it has come to great importance that you return home at once.”

  “Why?” Jack asked, making an effort to keep his voice down. The diners had been looking at him anyways, and for them to see him upset might get him in the tabloids again. “Is everything all right?”

  “I…” Jack’s blood ran cold when he heard Beverly hesitate. “I really shouldn’t tell you over the phone. I promise that to explain everything to you when you get here.”

  “Beverly,” Jack said, the worry in his tone clearly evident in his voice. “Is it Andie?”

  There was a long pause on the other end, and Jack felt as though his heart had stopped in that moment of time. It was almost as if Beverly was debating with herself to answer. Finally, the older woman said, “Yes. It is.”

  It took Jack seven minutes and twenty-seven seconds to get back home. He probably should have told Vanessa he was leaving, but the thought never crossed his mind. All he could think about was Andie. Something must have happened to her for Beverly to call him out of a business meeting. If Burr had hurt her in any way… Let’s just say Burr’s face was never going to be as pretty as it was now.

  When Jack reached the gates of the manor, he immediately noticed the two police cars in the driveway. He threw himself out of the car and sprinted up the steps until he reached the doors. When he entered, he didn’t even realize if he was out of breath or not; he was searching for her, and when he realized she was not in his direct line of vision, he felt his heart clench together painfully.

  “Jack?” Beverly said, noticing Jack’s presence from the kitchen.

  “Where is she?” he asked, his jade green eyes snapping in Beverly’s calm green ones.

  “Jack, there–” Beverly tried to explain as Jack headed toward her.

  “Where is she?” he asked, cutting his aunt off.

  When Jack reached the kitchen, he stopped walking, noticing two police officers with notepads flipped open. They were probably talking to Beverly about everything. Reese was there as well, dressed in one of Andie’s outfits. She must have had to change out of her Masked Beauty–a term of endearment he referred to her as–jumpsuit and throw on clothes, lest anyone got suspicious. Which meant Reese had saved Andie. Or something along those lines.

  “Mr. Phillip,” the one with Barnaby on his label said, greeting the billionaire with a curt nod. “I’m Officer Barnaby, and this is my partner, Officer Spacey.” Jack pressed his lips together while gritting his teeth, but managed to nod once. He glanced over at Reese, the question still in his eyes.

  “She’s sleeping, sir,” Beverly answered. “She’s had a rough night.”

  “Rough?” Jack asked, feeling his heart beat erratically at her choice of words. He threw his gaze back over at the Reese. “What do you mean, rough? What does she mean by rough?”

  “Sir,” Spacey said, his dark eyes pooling with concern. “My partner and I would love to tell you everything that happened, but we need you to calm down.”

  “How do you expect me to calm down when something has happened to my girlfriend?!” he exclaimed just as Beverly entered with a hot cup of tea for him. Jack took it with shaky fingers and managed to get one sip in, but the hot liquid didn’t calm him down like it usually did.

  “Miss Shepherd was dining with a Mister Lucas Burr and his son at Dorsia’s restaurant at around six thirty,” Barnaby began, his blue eyes skimming the notes he had scrawled on his pad. Jack pressed his lips together once again, but this time, it was to prevent him from asking any questions until he had heard everything. To help him focus, he tightened his grip on the teacup while staring intently at the two officers before him.

  “Mister Burr was a few minutes late,” Spacey continued, looking at the statement Andie had given him. “When he showed up, he had flowers with him for her – roses, heathers, and sun flowers.”

  Jack’s heart stopped. Flowers? Burr had gotten her those particular flowers?

  “Miss Shepherd mentioned that she had received such flowers before from an anonymous sender,” Barnaby added. “At first, she said she thought they were from you so she wasn’t concerned about not having a note, but when she realized who was sending them, that was when she started to get worried.” He flipped a sheet of paper over so he could continue. “She also said he admitted to calling her and hanging up. She said he told her he liked to listen to her breathe.”

  It took all of Jack’s control to not say or do anyt
hing. Instead, he pressed his lips tighter together and all but glared at the officer, indicating that he continue.

  “The next part may be hard for you to listen to, sir,” Spacey warned Jack.

  “Just,” Jack snapped, but managed to grab a hold of himself. His tone slowed considerably when he continued, “tell me… Please.”

  Spacey nodded, clearly intimidated by the billionaire. “Here, Miss Shepherd stated that Mister Burr told her he wanted to show her something. She agreed, following him outside. Before she realized it, he grabbed her wrist and forced her into a nearby alleyway.” He paused, hesitating, causing Jack to muffle an impatient growl. “Yes, well, according to Miss Shepherd, she was ambushed by his son. Gabriel pushed her up against the wall and kissed her. She managed to knee him in his groin area, causing him to let go. She tried to escape, but he managed to latch onto the sleeve of her dress, pulling her back, causing the back of her head to hit the wall. From there, Miss Shepherd says she managed to punch him across the face, which seemed to infuriate the man. The last thing she said she remembered were his fingers closing around her neck.”

  “A patrolman happened to be walking by at that time,” Barnaby said. Jack glanced sharply at Reese who nodded her head once or twice. “He detained Mister Burr immediately while his partner went to check on Miss Shepherd, but she was already unconscious.”

  “When they realized who it was, they called the manor,” Spacey explained. “By the time the officers brought her here, Ms. Phillip had a physician waiting for her here.”

  “Why didn’t you just take her to the hospital?” Jack asked, narrowing his eyes at Reese.

  “We weren’t sure what you wanted, sir,” Barnaby said.

  “And we thought the manor had the best resources,” Reese said, her tone strained.

  “What I want is for my girlfriend to be all right,” Jack growled. He didn’t care if he lost it on these officers; she should have been taken to a hospital. “You wasted time. what if she, She could have died, for chrissake! I don’t care if this ends up in the papers, the tabloids, I don’t care what they say about me, It’s just her! That’s all I care about!”

  “I think it’s time for you time leave, gentlemen,” Beverly said quietly but firmly. “Thank you for your efforts.” She turned to look at Jack, but the man had already disappeared up the stairs.

  Shadows cascaded across the bedroom and criss-crossed Andie’s sleeping form. As Jack entered the room, he noticed that she was wearing one of his old t-shirts that was too small for him now, but managed to cover her slim frame quite well. Her hair was pulled from her face in a loose ponytail, probably due to Beverly’s insistence; Jack knew Andie didn’t like sleeping with anything restricting her, including elasticity. As he stepped forward, he noticed a good bruise across her face, but besides that, he couldn’t see anything. He had to grit his teeth from growling out loud, seeing her hurt in any way. The fact that it was caused by a man he thoroughly detested caused him even greater frustration. However, since Andie seemed to be sleeping, he had to keep everything in check so he wouldn’t wake her.

  Sighing heavily through his nose, he moved to stand by the side of her bed, his eyes trailing over every contour of her face. Jack reached out and gently placed two fingertips in a caressing manner on her bruise, furrowing his brow that it was decorating her skin in the first place. He should have known something like this was going to happen. He should have canceled his meeting with Vanessa and gone with her. He should have –

  “Hey,” a soft, strained voice whispered, causing Jack to snap out of his thoughts and to look down.

  When he saw that Andie’s eyes were opened, he immediately dropped down into a kneel and placed one hand on her shoulder that happened to be covered by blankets. “Hey,” he said, all anger vanishing from his features as his eyes met hers. When she flinched under his touch, Jack pulled his hand away as concern pooled onto his face. “What’s wrong?”

  Andie forced a tiny smile onto her face, and managed to shrug. “I – he grabbed my shoulders,” she told him.

  “And your neck,” Jack said through a clenched jaw, his eyes having narrowed in that particular direction. Bruises shaped like fingers seemed to be stained onto her skin, causing Jack’s anger to reappear once again.

  “Hey,” Andie said, reaching out from the bed to cup Jack’s face into the palm of her hand. Jack pressed his brow up, trying to control his raging emotions as he looked his girlfriend in her eyes. Her lips curled up when she recognized she had his attention. “This is not your fault. At all. You know that, right?”

  “I should have been there, Andie,” he murmured, wrapping his fingers around her wrist and pulling it so now she held onto the back of his neck rather than his cheek. “I should have been with you, and this probably would have never happened. This is…” -

  “Not your fault,” Andie reassured him once again. “I love you. I know this is not your fault, and you should, too.” She paused, and her face took on a knowing, almost dry look. “Promise me something, Jack.”

  “Anything,” he told her, his fingers caressing the skin that made up her forearm.

  “Don’t do anything stupid,” she said flatly, though an amused grin touched her lips. She pulled her arm from his grasp, suddenly looking incredibly tired. “Come to bed soon, hmm?”

  “Of course,” he told her, standing back up and touching her cheek with his lips.

  He left their room and headed downstairs, hoping to talk to Reese more about the events that had happened. Luckily, the police officers had already left, and Beverly had probably headed to bed. The first thing Jack noticed when he walked into the kitchen was a new cup of tea sitting on the polished surface of the counter, steam rising from the cup. Despite his dismal mood, the right corner of his lip curled up, and he slipped his fingers through the handle before raising the cup to his lips. No matter what he was feeling, tea always managed to soothe him.

  “How’s she doing?” a voice called from behind him. Jack didn’t have to turn around to know Reese was walking up to him, and in a manner of moments, she was in front of him. Though her clear, grey eyes always seemed to hold secrets, they were thoroughly troubled right now. It took Jack by surprise.

  “You know Andie,” Jack murmured before taking another sip of tea. He set the cup back down before running his fingers over his cropped locks. “She was telling me not to worry about this, or do anything stupid.”

  Reese smiled at that, though the action didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Yes,” she said, nodding once. “Yes, I imagine she would be the one calming you down.” She paused, taking in the obvious worry and frustration collecting in the furrow of Jack’s brow. “You know this is not your fault.”

  Jack chuckled mirthlessly. “Yeah,” he said. “She told me that too.” A sigh slipped between his lips and he took another long sip of the hot liquid. “But it doesn’t matter,” he began, once he had finished swallowing. “It doesn’t matter. I still feel as though it is my fault. I should have been there, Reese. When I found out Burr rearranged his meeting with her, I should have rescheduled my meeting with Vanessa.”

  “You can’t be with Andie every single minute of every day,” Reese told her ward with a firm twinkle in her eyes. “In fact, before I got there, she put up quite the fight.”

  A more genuine smile slid onto Jack’s face and he cast his jade green eyes over at Reese. “Really?” he asked.

  Reese smiled in return. “Really,” she told Jack. “In fact, it was brought to my knowledge that she kneed Gabe right in his balls before punching him across his face. According to the officers, she put a decent bruise on his face.”

  “Good,” Jack said, clearly pleased at this information. “Thank you. For being there when I couldn’t.” He ran his fingers through his hair again.

  “How was your meeting with your… business associate?” Reese asked delicately.

  Jack immediately saw what Reese was doing and hid an amused smirk by placing one palm over the lower half
of his face, and rubbing his chin as though he were deep in thought. “I can’t even remember, really,” he murmured, before sighing through his long nose. He glanced over at Reese, and had the urge to get his meeting with Vanessa off of his chest. “She wanted to go to the Ivy again, so I met her at the restaurant, and we discussed prospective catering and invites and everything that had to do with this get-together we’re throwing for the shelter.”

  “If I may,” Reese said, once she realized Jack was finished. “Why, exactly, do you continue to meet with this woman when all you’re discussing is the planning of this party?” She paused here, but wasn’t finished. “You would have more time focusing on your work, on getting other investors, on your family, if the two of you decided to only meet when your actual business required you to do so.”

  “Vanessa says that it’s important for her to get my input on these things because it’s my company,” Jack told her. He wasn’t sure why he was sharing with her, but didn’t question it. If Andie trusted her, he did, too. “She says it’s important for a businessman to make sure that he’s involved in every aspect of his company in order to be certain of its portrayal to the general public.” He knew Reese didn’t believe what he was saying, and to some extent, neither did he.

  “Does she know that she ultimately represents Andie and not you?” Beverly asked in her serious tone.

  “I highly doubt that, Reese,” Jack mumbled, refraining from rolling his eyes at the suggestion. He shrugged then. “Listen, I know that it sounds off-base, but if this is what I have to do to put money into my company to make sure Andie succeeds, then I’m going to do it.”

  “And what does Andie think about all of this?” Reese asked, perking her brows slightly.

  The question threw Jack somewhat off-guard. Andie rarely gave her opinion when it came to Vanessa, which was odd unto itself; Andie always had an opinion about something. “She thinks that Vanessa might want something more with me than just a business relationship.”