Bound to Billionaires [Doms of Destiny, Colorado 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Chloe Lang

  “Don’t worry about it. I think I’m just hungry.”

  “We’ll be right back, baby.” Scott said. “You sure you’re okay now?”

  “I’m fine,” she fibbed. “Go. Hurry back. I would love a burger.”

  “That’s my girl.”

  “Our girl,” Eric corrected.

  “Agreed,” Scott said.

  The three of them left her alone in the PFS. She heard the lock engage.

  She walked over to the kitchenette. A little water would settle her nerves down. She got a bottle and took a sip.

  Even several minutes after the guys had left, her head was still spinning. There were four very good reasons for that. One, she was hungry. Two, she’d confessed her deepest feelings to her guys. Three, they’d kissed her into submission. And finally, those police photos had horrified her. It would take a while for her thoughts to settle down. She was a complete wreck at the moment.

  “Megan?” she heard Erica’s voice come through from the hidden speaker.

  “Coming.” She walked over to the release button on the wall.

  She wasn’t supposed to open the door to anyone, not even Erica. She shook her head. That was the guys’ rules. They were overprotective of her in every way. What harm could happen with their secretary, especially on this top floor which only a few trusted people could get to? Besides, she could use the company after seeing those horrible photos Jason had brought.

  As Megan hit the button, she heard Erica scream, “Don’t open the door. He’s got a gun.”

  Listening to the sound of the lock disengaging, the last five years came crashing into her mind. Was Kip on the other side of that door? She pressed on the button again and again, praying her mistake could be taken back. But it couldn’t. She should’ve followed Eric and Scott’s instructions to the letter. Too late for that now. As the door swung open, she braced herself to face the monster on the other side.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Megan’s entire body tensed. Please, God, let this be a horrible nightmare.

  The heavy door to the office swung wide open.

  Not Kip.

  A man she recalled seeing in the courtroom her first day in Destiny held a gun to Erica’s head. He was balding and heavy. He wore a crumpled suit, white shirt, and striped tie. Without the gun and in another place, the man would appear harmless. But he was holding a gun and he was here.

  As always, the automatic doors closed, followed by the sound of the locking mechanism.

  Trapped with a monster.

  “Megan, I’m so sorry.” Erica’s panicky eyes multiplied her own dread.

  “Shut the fuck up, Erica.” The horror turned his attention away from the Knight’s secretary and glared at Megan with his dead-looking eyes. “Have a seat, Mrs. Lunceford,” he ordered.

  She did as he said, praying for Eric and Scott’s quick return. “You already know me. Who are you?”

  “My name is Felix Averson.” The madman pushed Erica away from him. His tone changed to a sickly sweet timbre. “Be a doll and go sit on the floor by Megan’s feet.”

  “Felix, why are you doing this?” Erica asked.

  Erica knew him. Did he work at TBK? He must. How else did he get up to the top floor? “Are you selling our stuff to the Chinese, too?”

  The bastard hit Erica hard in the face with his fist. She stumbled back, her hands coming up to the injury.

  “Tsk-tsk. That’s going to leave you with quite the shiner, sweetheart.” Felix was right. The swelling in Erica’s left eye was already present. Better a black eye than a bullet in the chest. “Now, get on the floor like I told you to.” He shoved her down, and Erica landed at Megan’s feet.

  Erica scrambled next to her and they wrapped their arms around each other in a silent attempt at comfort.

  The more time Megan could squeeze out of him the more chance for her protectors to return. “You know each other?”

  “Shut the fuck up, bitch.” Felix glared at her and then turned back to Erica. “I told you in the other room to keep your mouth shut and you didn’t listen. See what that gets you, honey?”

  “Take whatever you want, mister.” Megan’s fear wouldn’t back down but she was able to shove it away some. Not ideal but better than it taking over her whole being, paralyzing her completely. She should’ve been smarter and not hit the button. But she hadn’t been. Whatever the excuse—fatigue, hunger, Jason’s photos—she’d blown it. There was no way she could take that back now. All she could do was move forward and try not to fuck up again. She’d survived so much already and finally found true love. No way was she going down without a fight. She wasn’t the twenty-year-old girl who Kip had deceived any longer, but she still could bleed. I’ve got to be smart.

  “You think I’m interested in money, bitch?” The monster walked over to Eric’s desk and took a seat. He placed the gun on the desktop, which didn’t make her feel better, but she was glad the deadly weapon was there instead of in his hand. “This is about justice.”

  “What kind of justice are you looking for?” Megan asked, unsure if she should remain quiet or keep him talking. Since she didn’t know, she chose the latter. If Felix could think of Erica and her as something more than a target and more like flesh-and-blood people, he might not pull the trigger. She hoped somewhere in Felix was a shred of humanity, unlike Kip, who had no heart.

  “Stupid bitch.” He pulled out some wires and a small device, connecting it to Eric’s computer. Then he typed on Eric’s keyboard. “I know where you live, Megan. I was even in your house.”

  “You’re the one who used my Internet access to get into TBK through the back door.”

  “Right.” He glared at the screen.

  “Why me?”

  “Kip sent me.”

  Kip? She’d believed all along Kip was pulling the strings in this mess. “Where is he, Felix?”

  “In prison, but don’t you already know that? Right. You don’t know where he is.” He turned to her and gave her a twisted grin. “I do.”

  She’d been trying to find Kip for five years to close a chapter of her life she wanted over. Divorce. That was what she’d always wanted. Surviving this was slim, but she was going to try. Stall. “If I’m going to die I, deserve to know Kip’s whereabouts. Tell me, please. Where is my husband?” Of course she knew. Her guys had told her. But Felix didn’t know that.

  “Not a chance, bitch.” Felix turned back to the monitor. “Just like my baby said it would be. The password is their parents’ death date. You Knights are so predictable.”

  My baby? Did he mean Kip? Of course he did. “You and Kip are lovers. Is that why you’re here?”

  “It’s part of the reason.”

  Megan hoped to reach the man somehow. “Felix, you know that our marriage was only for show. I know Kip’s secret.”

  “Shut. The. Fuck. Up. You don’t know his secrets at all. I do. Why do you think he reached out to me after his arrest five years ago and not you? He loves me and I love him.” The monster typed a few more things into Eric’s computer.

  She recalled Eric and Scott telling her about their tracking code. Could the other reason Felix was here be to cover his tracks and free Kip and him from the trap her guys had set?

  “I’m sure Kip loves you, Felix. He never loved me. I know that.” Keep him talking.

  Felix nodded but never turned away from the computer. “You know Kip is a genius.”

  “I know.” A psychopathic genius. “You’re in contact with him still?”

  “No prison can keep him locked up for long. We have a guy on the inside where he is now. Second in command of the entire place. He’s being compensated quite well.”

  “Impressive. You and Kip must make quite the team.”

  “Stop your yammering, Mrs. Lunceford, or I swear I’ll put a bullet in your head right now. I’ll use Erica to be my shield and exit ticket if the two idiot Knight brothers show up. Not the best choice but one I still have. Which will it be?”

  Sh
e didn’t answer, knowing he was on the edge of pulling the trigger.

  “Good choice, bitch. Maybe that’s how you got your claws into Eric and Scott so fast. God, I couldn’t believe it when I saw you talking with them through the window of that burger dive. You’re one slick operator, Megan Lunceford. Hell, even Kip can’t stop talking about you. It makes me sick. When I relayed what I’d seen the day of your hearing, he knew you would be fucking the billionaire boys in no time at all. I can’t understand why Kip is so fascinated with you. He’ll be pissed at me for a few days for killing you.”

  The delusional man had been played by Kip just like her. As terrified as she was at what Felix meant to do to her, she also felt pity for him.

  Kip’s puppet continued, “I think he wants to kill you himself one day. I can’t wait any longer. You have to go. He’ll forgive me. He always does.” Felix hit another key on the computer. “There you are. TBK is about to go bye-bye.”

  And then they all heard the lock disengage.

  The demented man grabbed his gun. “Be smart, bitches. You might live a little longer.” Then he sent them a murderous stare. Megan knew what he meant to do. But she couldn’t let that happen. Not to Eric and Scott. They’d done so much for her. As the door swung open, she screamed, hoping to warn them.

  Gretchen rushed in, carrying a couple of bags. “Everything okay here?”

  “Who the fuck are you?” Felix asked.

  “What in the hell are you doing, Mr. Averson? Don’t you remember me? We’ve met several times over the years that you’ve been with TBK.” Gretchen kept walking forward, dropping the bags. The woman was fearless but also foolish.

  “Now I remember you. You’re the Knights’ stupid servant.” Felix pointed the gun at Gretchen. If she didn’t stop, he would certainly shoot her.

  Megan couldn’t let that happen to Gretchen.

  It would be like losing her mother all over again.

  No.

  She had to save her.

  As Felix aimed the gun at the center of Gretchen’s chest, Megan stood and rushed to her, pushing Gretchen, hopefully out of the line of fire.

  Megan heard a gunshot as she and Gretchen fell to the floor together with a loud thump.

  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Eric and Scott—pistols drawn.

  More gunshots.

  Felix fell to the floor, blood spraying in every direction.

  And then silence.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “You’re staying put and that’s final. Doctor’s orders.” Megan sat on the side of Gretchen’s bed. Eric and Scott, faces full of relief, stood on the other side of the bed.

  “For a flesh wound. Ridiculous.” The Knights’ all-knowing and loving maid—though she was more like a grandmother to them and now also to Megan—stuck out her tongue. Felix’s bullet had grazed Gretchen in her right calf. A few stitches and some rest and the dear lady would be back to normal, at least Gretchen’s version of normal.

  “Don’t push me, Mrs. Hollingsworth.” Megan gave her a wink. “You saw what I’m capable of back at TBK. I’m no pushover.”

  “Indeed, child.” Gretchen’s eyes brimmed with tears. “When I saw Averson with a gun and you and Erica on the floor, I felt my heart stop in my chest.”

  “It didn’t look like that to me. You were so gutsy.”

  Gretchen shook her head. “I was terrified, but I couldn’t let that madman hurt you two innocent girls. I’ve lived a very long life. When death comes, I’ll be ready.”

  Scott snorted. “That doesn’t mean you have to run headfirst into the grave.”

  “You ratted me out to my boys, didn’t you?” Gretchen asked her with a grin.

  Megan smiled. “Told them and the sheriff every minute detail.”

  Gretchen knew what she was doing, walking straight for the son of a bitch. God, the woman had guts. Too many, in Megan’s opinion. Gretchen just might’ve done it, but at point-blank range the woman would’ve walked away with much more than a flesh wound.

  Everyone, including Gretchen, believed Megan had saved her life. She wasn’t so sure, but she was certainly glad that Gretchen was still alive.

  “I guess I’ll have to fix them English breakfasts every day for a while before they are willing again to let me out of the mansion.” Gretchen giggled.

  “Not until Doc Ryder releases you, young lady,” Eric said in a commanding yet cheerful tone.

  “He’s barely out of medical school. I know my body, boys. I can run circles around you right now.”

  “Keep it up and we’ll call Doc Ryder back,” Scott said. “You can deal with him yourself. But we will be looking forward to those meals once he does give you his seal of approval.”

  “See, Megan. If you want to win my boys over, always aim for their stomachs.” Gretchen held up both her hands in a sign of surrender. “Fine. I’ll do as you say, but there’s going to be hell to pay if this house isn’t kept to my standards, young people.”

  “Two days is all he asked from you. I think we can keep The Knight Mansion running for forty-eight hours, Gretchen.” Scott leaned down and kissed her on the forehead.

  “It’s not as easy as you might think, lad.”

  Eric’s eyes sparkled brightly. “We won’t do half, hell, a quarter of the kind of job you do for us.”

  “Right about that,” Gretchen said.

  He leaned down and kissed her on the cheek.

  The dear woman sighed. “My sweet boys. Do your best. I’ll fix whatever you miss when I get up. And don’t you make my precious girl here lift a finger.”

  “I bet I know more about a vacuum cleaner than either of them do,” Megan said.

  “You might indeed.” Gretchen took the cup of tea Megan had brought her and raised her pinkie as she took a sip. “For now, I suppose I’m a woman of leisure.”

  “How does it feel?” Megan asked.

  “It sucks.”

  They all burst into laughter, which felt great.

  “Ethel is coming over in a little bit to sit with you,” Megan told her.

  Gretchen’s eyes widened. “You’ve called in the Irish?”

  “She’s not Irish, and you know it,” Scott said.

  “She’s married to two of them. That makes her Irish in my book.” Gretchen smiled. “Why is she coming over anyway?”

  “We’re taking Megan out tonight.” Eric squeezed her hand.

  Gretchen grabbed her other hand and squeezed. “Thank you, dear. I don’t know what would’ve happened if you hadn’t been so courageous.”

  “We both were brave, Gretchen.”

  “Not true.” The sweet woman’s normally strong voice shook. “This old fool might’ve gotten us all killed if not for you.”

  Megan squeezed Gretchen’s hands back. “Let’s just leave it that we both were foolish and courageous. That’s why we’re still here.”

  “How is Erica Coleman doing?” Gretchen asked.

  Eric answered, “The black eye will heal, but Sawyer and Reed tell me she’s suffering from a big case of guilt. That’s going to take longer to get over.”

  “She’s got no reason to be guilty.” Megan hated that Erica felt that way. She knew what a heavy load that kind of baggage could be. “Erica tried to save me by screaming. She’s the real hero. I pushed the damn button.”

  “Baby, we’ve already gone over that. You did nothing wrong.” The tenderness in Scott’s eyes couldn’t be missed.

  Eric added, “We shouldn’t have left you after seeing those murder scene photos. You were upset.”

  “I was but I wish I’d been smarter.”

  “And if you hadn’t hit that button, Erica and Gretchen might’ve been shot by the bastard.” Eric’s voice softened. “Don’t forget, Megan, Felix had already killed Vicky long before he arrived in Destiny.”

  Megan closed her eyes tight.

  Both Scott and Eric had taken the loss of their longtime employee hard. After the events at TBK, Dallas law enforcement entered Averson’s ho
me and found Vicky’s body. He’d shot the poor woman just to get her TBK badge to use and to keep suspicion off of him.

  Eric reached over Gretchen’s bed and touched Megan on the cheek. “Don’t blame yourself, little one.”

  Scott folded his arms over his chest. “The only motherfuckers any of us should be blaming are Felix Averson and Kip Lunceford. Felix is dead and I plan on dealing with Kip myself.”

  Megan’s jaw dropped. “What do you mean by that?” Eric and Scott had known Kip’s location. Scott had actually gone and seen him in the Georgia prison. She wasn’t angry with them for withholding those details from her, knowing it was their way of trying to keep her out of harm’s way. She just didn’t want that to happen again. They’d sworn it wouldn’t. “Please don’t keep things from me, guys. You promised.”

  “We won’t, baby,” Scott said. “That’s why I’m telling you now. Tonight, we’re going to have our date and forget all about the shit that went down at TBK. I’m going to deliver your divorce papers to the asshole tomorrow.”

  “Shouldn’t I go with you to see Kip?” Megan asked.

  “Absolutely not,” Eric stated firmly. “I don’t want you coming within a hundred miles of that psychopath.”

  “He’s contained now, isn’t he?” she asked, feeling a sliver of worry spring up inside her.

  “Yes, the feds have cut off his way to the outside, thanks to the information you gave them that Felix had told you. They arrested the second-in-command at the prison and beefed up their security around Kip. That still doesn’t mean he wouldn’t try to get into your head if you were face-to-face with him.” Scott definitely meant to keep her safe in both body and mind.

  Eric, too. “You’re strong and capable, but neither of us want you to be put in that situation again. Understand?”

  “Hush, you two.” Gretchen’s wise eyes were filled with compassion for Megan. “I agree with my boys, dear. Do you really think you need to see this monster for some kind of chance at closure? Hasn’t that already occurred for you?”

  Megan looked over at Eric and Scott, the men who had turned her life around in so many ways. She’d never felt safe or secure, always listening for the next shoe to drop, watching for the next disaster to appear, and tasting the bitter dregs of her life after Kip.