Billionaire at Sea 2

by K. L. Middleton

  “Bring Mia, if you’re still seeing her by then.”

  I grinned. “I don’t know how she feels, but I’m planning on seeing her at least a few more times. If she’s still interested.”

  He chuckled. “Time will tell.”

  “Yes, indeed.”

  “I’d better let you go. I’ll call you in a few days. We’ll touch base.”

  “Sounds good. Thanks again for your support and help, Ransom. You’re a great friend.”

  “You, too. I’m just glad that everything worked out in the end.”

  I thought about Simon. “Almost everything.”

  He sighed. “Shit happens. It could have been a lot worse.”

  “Definitely.”

  “Have a good night.”

  “You, too.”

  After hanging up with Ransom, another call came in. It was from Detective Garrison.

  “We never recovered Marissa’s phone,” he told me. “We need it as evidence.”

  “Mia must still have it.”

  “That’s what I’m thinking. Is she home now? We’ll send an agent out to her place to retrieve it.”

  I was actually curious as to what was on the phone myself. “I tell you what, I just left her place and she looked wiped out. I’ll go back and get it from her and then meet you somewhere. That way she can get some sleep. You mentioned that you had a few more questions for me anyway, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Okay, I’m almost to my home. I’m going to drop Jake off there and head back to Mia’s. Once I have the phone, I’ll call you.”

  “Sounds good.”

  We hung up.

  ***

  Forty minutes later, I pulled up to Mia’s in my truck. As I was about to ring the doorbell, I heard someone crying out in the house. It sounded like Ridley. Then I heard a man’s voice. It sounded angry.

  Fuck.

  Instead of ringing the doorbell, I tried looking in the living room window, but didn’t see anything. I rushed to the side of the house and peered into the kitchen. What I saw made my blood run cold. It was Marshall and he had his gun pointed toward Ridley and Mia.

  39

  Mia

  “You were involved in this all along? How could you do this to your own cousin?” asked Ridley, staring at him in disbelief.

  “Because he’s a rich, arrogant asshole who has had everything handed to him on a silver-platter,” Marshall said angrily.

  “So, you’re saying that you did this because of jealousy?” I replied.

  He ignored me. “Damian’s mother and my mother were sisters. Did you know that?”

  We both shook our heads.

  “Another thing you wouldn’t know is that Damian and I aren’t just cousins. We are half-brothers.”

  I stared at him in horror. “What are you talking about?”

  “When my mother was on her death-bed, she told me that Damian’s father, Edward, was the one who got her pregnant with me. Not the man who I’d been told all my life was my father.”

  “So, they had some kind of affair? Your mother and Edward?” asked Ridley.

  “They were together for one weekend. You see, my mother worked for him. That’s how Edward and Damian’s mother met in the first place. Anyway, my mother was his secretary. They went out of town together once for a business trip, and things happened. Nine months later, boom, I was born.”

  “Are you sure you’re really Edward’s son?” I asked.

  “She claimed that during that time, she and my father didn’t have marital relations. That they’d been separated. Funny thing is, I’m surprised he didn’t find it strange that I was conceived during a time they weren’t together,” he replied.

  “Maybe he didn’t want to know,” I said, feeling sick inside. It was like one big soap opera. Sometimes real life was stranger than fiction.

  “Does Damian know?” asked Ridley.

  “Not that I’m aware. I told his grandfather, after my mother died. He didn’t believe me. He became angry and accused me of trying to claim part of the Stryker family fortune.”

  “Maybe you could have had some kind of a blood test taken?” I replied. “To prove you were brothers?”

  “A DNA test? Not possible. Edward had been dead for many years and the truth was, I didn’t want to hurt the man who raised me,” he said.

  “Is your father alive today?” I asked.

  “No,” he said.

  “Could you imagine how hurt he’d be if he knew what you did?” I said.

  His face darkened. “I’m due some of the money that Damian has inherited. It’s my birthright.”

  It was then that I noticed Damian creeping around the corner behind Marshall. His eyes told me to keep him talking.

  “You should have spoken to Damian about it,” I said, quickly. “Instead of having his son kidnapped. Maybe if you told him what your mother had told you, Damian would have reacted differently than his grandfather. He’s a reasonable guy.”

  “Are you kidding? Even Damian isn’t that reasonable. Not when billions of dollars are at stake. Although, I really don’t have any other options anymore. It’s obvious that his son is going to be guarded twenty-four hours a day from this day forward,” said Marshall.

  Damian rushed him from behind. He knocked the gun out of Marshall’s hand and both of them went down to the ground.

  “Oh, my God!” cried Ridley, moving close to me, as the two men began to wrestle. “What do we do?”

  “Get out of here!” Damian growled up at us as he tried putting Marshall in a headlock.

  “Leave and I’ll blow his brains out!” hollered Marshall, reaching out and retrieving his gun.

  Ridley and I looked at each other helplessly.

  40

  Damian

  When I overheard Marshall, I felt sick to my stomach. I couldn’t believe he was involved with the kidnapping – and all because of greed. As far as him being my brother, I hoped to hell he wasn’t. Mainly because it would break my heart even more.

  “Drop the gun,” I ordered, getting my arm around his neck.

  “I don’t want to kill you,” he said, struggling to get out of the headlock.

  “How could you do this, Marshall?” I growled. “I loved you. Jake loved you.”

  “He wasn’t supposed to get hurt. Neither were you. That’s why I helped take back the ship,” he replied, elbowing me in the stomach.

  I grunted in pain, but didn’t release him. Instead, I let go of his neck and tried taking the gun from him. He elbowed me again and scrambled to his feet.

  I got up and scowled at Mia and Ridley. They were still standing there.

  “Dammit, Damian. Why are you here?” he said, looking like he was on the verge of tears. “You weren’t supposed to be here. The limo left. I saw it.”

  I raised my hands in the air. “Put the gun down.”

  “I swear to you… it was never my intention to hurt Jake. John was supposed to go back and kill Marissa and the others. Then he’d give you back your son once the money was wired.”

  “Why did you help me take back the ship if you were in on this?” Damian asked.

  “To throw off suspicion, for one, and because we didn’t want to split the money with Chuckles and the others,” he said. “It was just going to be divided between myself and John. We needed the other men initially, though. To help kidnap Jake and later take the fall.”

  “But, John screwed up by taking me,” Mia said.

  “Yes. He wasn’t supposed to. I had no idea that he was going to do that,” said Marshall. “Anyway, the only reason I’m here is because Mia has the cell phone and the record of me texting Marissa.”

  “People died,” I snapped. “All because of your greed. Your selfishness.”

  “It’s easy for you to talk about others being greedy and selfish when you’re rich. You had everything you ever wanted. Do you know that there were times when my parents could barely afford to put food on the table?”

  “I’m sor
ry about that. But, Marshall, at least you had your parents,” I replied angrily. "I barely remember mine. Do you know that I would have given everything I had to grow up with them? I would have given up my inheritance, if that would have been an option. I used to cry myself to sleep, wishing that my parents were around.”

  “Yes, in your grandfather’s million-dollar mansion. Poor little rich boy. My heart bleeds for you,” he said dryly.

  The contempt in his eyes pained me. He’d been my cousin and my best friend. I felt so betrayed.

  “So, now what?” I asked, nodding toward the gun. “You’re going to kill me?”

  “I have no choice. I’ll go to prison if I don’t,” he said.

  “You have a choice. There’s always a choice,” I said.

  Mia, who was hunkered in the corner of the kitchen with Ridley, started pleading with Marshall. “Don’t do it. Jake has already lost his mother. Don’t take his father away, too,” she said.

  “His mother,” replied Marshall, a disgusted look on his face. “Jake is better off without her. Do you know she spread her legs for anything that moved? She even came on to me.”

  I just stared at him.

  “I didn’t take her up on the offer. She disgusted me. She was a whore,” he said.

  “Instead, you fucked me,” I said.

  “I… you had more than enough money. This would have hardly put a dent in your piggy bank,” said Marshall.

  “Does Kendall know about this?” I asked him.

  “No. She doesn’t even know about your father and our mother,” he replied. “I think it would break her heart.”

  “The FBI is going to find out about this,” I told him. “They’re going to check Marissa’s phone records and link the number to you. In fact, Agent Garrison knows that I’m here and that Mia still has the cell phone.”

  I could tell by the look in his eyes that he was starting to panic.

  I continued. “If he finds us murdered, it won’t take long for them to come after you. Didn’t you realize that they’d see your phone number on Marissa’s log?”

  “I only sent her a couple of texts, to try and warn her. I was going to erase them before they were ever viewed,” he said quickly. Marshall nodded toward Mia and Ridley. “Unfortunately, those two were nosy and now, everyone has to pay.”

  “Nobody has to. Put the gun down,” I told him.

  He was so upset now that he was sweating profusely. “Dammit. This wasn’t supposed to go down like this! The only people who were supposed to die were the ones who hijacked your boat and the people holding Jake hostage,” he said.

  “Give me the gun,” I replied holding out my hand. “We’ll figure something out. We’ll do it together. As a family.”

  “No. Nothing is going to be figured out,” he said, a wild look in his eyes. “Kendall will never understand. Jake’s going to hate me. I didn’t want that. I didn’t want you to die, either. Hell, I didn’t really even want them to die.” He started crying. “I’m sorry, Damian.”

  Before I could stop him, Marshall raised the gun to his head and pulled the trigger.

  41

  Mia

  Three months later

  “Mia,” said Jake. “Don’t forget the glass of milk.”

  It was Christmas Eve and we were in the kitchen, putting together a plate of cookies for Santa Claus along with something to wash them down with.

  “Oh, I almost forgot it,” I said, opening the refrigerator. I grabbed the carton of milk and poured it into the Santa cup Jake had given me to use. The same one that Damian used as a child. “Okay, are we set?”

  He nodded and then yawned.

  “Come on, let’s go and put them by the tree,” I said, yawning as well.

  I followed him out of the kitchen, through the hallway, and into the large drawing room, where the main tree stood. It was seventeen-feet tall and it had taken us an entire week to decorate. The results were breathtaking. Then there was the rest of the room, which was also adorned with holiday decorations. There was even a miniature train track, with a running choo-choo train, that trailed throughout the room, which Damian had spent hours putting together. A Christmas in the Stryker home was truly magical.

  “You have everything ready for Santa?” asked Damian, who was seated at the grand piano.

  “Yes,” said Jake, setting the plate of cookies down on the fireplace next to the tree. “Can you play one more song before I go to bed?”

  “Actually, let’s have Mia play the song she’s been practicing,” he said.

  Jake’s eyes lit up. “Okay!”

  “I don’t know. I think we should let your father play another song instead,” I replied. The song I’d been practicing was Silent Night. It still sounded choppy when I played it.

  “Nonsense. We want to hear you. Look, I’ve already found the song for you,” he answered, smiling brightly. Damian stood up and moved away from the piano.

  “Play it, Mia! You said you would,” exclaimed Jake.

  I sighed. “Fine. It’s your ears.” I walked over to the piano and sat down. Taking a deep breath, I played the song for them, thankfully only messing up on a couple of keys.

  “Bravo!” said Damian, clapping his hands.

  “That was great, Mia!”

  “Thank you,” I said, getting up from the piano.

  “I think it’s time for you to be tucked into bed. Santa is going to be coming soon,” said Damian. “And if you’re still awake, he might not leave any presents.”

  “Okay.” He turned to me. “Mia, will you tuck me in?”

  I stared at him in surprise. He usually always asked his father to tuck him in. “Uh, sure. I’d love to.”

  “Goodnight, Dad,” he said, throwing his arms around Damian’s waist. “Don’t stay up too late. You might scare Santa.”

  “Don’t worry. Mia and I will be heading off to bed very soon ourselves,” he said.

  “Okay.”

  “I’ll be back,” I said to Damian, as Jake pulled me out of the room.

  “Take your time,” he said loudly.

  As we walked through the sprawling mansion, we met up with Garrick, who was now Damian’s head of security. Although he was the size of a football player and usually had a brooding look about him, Garrick was a big softy around Jake.

  “You’re not in bed yet?” asked Garrick, approaching us.

  “We had to get the cookies ready for Santa Claus,” explained Jake.

  “Ah… of course. You don’t want to forget those. Santa has a hearty appetite. He needs all the sugar he can to keep his energy up,” replied Garrick.

  “I know, right?” said Jake. “Cookies wake you up. They won’t let me eat any for breakfast. If Santa can, I don’t know why I can’t.”

  “Because you are a little boy who needs real nutrition, and not a temporary sugar rush. Anyway, I’m sure Mrs. Claus fixes him a very healthy meal before he heads out to deliver packages,” I said.

  Garrick smiled. “She’s right. And if you want to have big muscles someday, you’re going to need to eat the healthy stuff first before the cookies, kid.”

  “Is that what you do?” asked Jake, who idolized Garrick. Especially since he knew that the man was in charge of keeping him and his father safe.

  “Every day,” he replied. “That’s how I keep sharp and strong, both in mind and body.”

  I knew if Ridley were here, she’d want to see proof. She’d met him last week and had almost tripped over her tongue.

  “I ate all of my asparagus tonight,” said Jake proudly.

  “Good. How was it?” asked Garrick.

  He frowned. “It was okay. They let me put that hollandaise sauce on it, so it tasted better. Did you know that asparagus makes your pee smell funny?”

  Garrick laughed. “A small price to pay for a healthy body.”

  Jake yawned.

  “We need to get you to bed,” I said. “Before you’re too tired to walk to your room.”

  “Yeah. Goodnight,
Garrick,” said Jake.

  “Goodnight, kiddo,” he replied.

  I smiled at Garrick and we began climbing the long, spiral staircase to the top floor.

  “It’s too bad your grandfather never put in an elevator,” I said, a little out of breath when we reached the top. Damian had inherited his mansion and although it was a luxurious home, it was also insanely huge. I’d even gotten lost in it a couple of times. As impressive and elegant as the place was, it was too much for me. I could never see myself living there.

  “There’s one but it’s on the other side of the house. By my grandpa’s old office.”

  “I was going to say… he must have been in good shape just to walk from one end of the house to the other,” I mused. “He obviously ate all his veggies, huh?”

  Jake nodded.

  We walked down the hallway, passing Damian’s suite, until we reached his. I waited for Jake to open the door, but he just looked at me.

  “Can you go in first?” he asked.

  Damian had mentioned that ever since he’d been kidnapped, Jake had been anxious about entering his room. He thought someone or thing would be waiting for him inside.

  “Of course I will,” I replied.

  I opened the door and flicked on the lights. As usual, the bedroom took my breath away. Not only was it huge, but magical. From the castle-themed loft bed to the dragon playhouse that featured a slide made out of the creature’s tail. Not to mention that Jake seemed to have every toy imaginable. I couldn’t believe Damian had found gifts that the boy didn’t already have, to put under the tree.

  “You’d better brush your teeth and use the bathroom before you get into bed,” I told him.

  He groaned. “Can’t I just miss doing it tonight?”

  “Is that why you asked me to tuck you in?” I teased. “Because you thought I’d be easily manipulated?”

  His eyes became serious. “No. I just wanted to you because my mother usually does that on Christmas Eve,” Jake replied and then his lip began to tremble.