by Jenny Penn
“Fine.” Their mom held her hands up and let the subject drop. Sort of. “I brought your grandmother’s ring. You can give it to Lindsay, but there are conditions.”
“Like?” Nick prodded, unnerved by what might come out of his mother’s mouth.
“Like I had originally expected at least three kids for each of you for a combined minimum of six.” She paused to consider that before graciously offering a compromise. “I’ll let you get away with five but you better get started soon.”
“Well, we haven’t exactly talked about kids yet.” Actually they had and Lindsay hadn’t been enthusiastic. Maybe after her stepfather was handled she’d be more agreeable but five still seemed to be asking for a lot. Apparently their mother didn’t think so.
“Five, Nicholas,” she repeated firmly. “That’s what I want.”
“Yes, ma’am.” There was no point in arguing it now. His mother would get what she got.
“I’m getting my big wedding, too.” She leveled that warning at Cooper. “And I don’t want to hear anything about the cost. Just remember I’m only getting one wedding and not two like I should have whenever you’re tempted to limit anything. Understand me?”
“I think technically Lindsay should be the one to agree with that. After all, it’s her wedding,” Cooper hedge, unable to help inciting their mother’s wrath.
“It’s my wedding. When Lindsay has a child and they grow up, she can have her wedding. Now do we understand each other?”
“I think so,” Lindsay answered, shocking them all into a moment of silence. Never one to let a dramatic moment slip by, she strolled into the kitchen as calm and easy as if she hadn’t just shocked them all into a stupor. “I’ve never dreamt of planning a wedding or of having…five, was it?...kids.”
“It could have been six,” Nick’s mom retorted, unrepentant and unashamed at being caught demanding something so personal.
“Well, it isn’t going to be any until I get a formal proposal,” Lindsay warned their mother as she cast a pointed glance in Cooper’s direction. “And I’m talking on your knees.”
“Uh-huh.” Cooper cast a glance at Nick who smirked.
“Not my problem. I’m doing the Vegas wedding. You don’t go down on one knee for those. You get drunk for them.”
“And you throw really, really good bachelorette parties,” his mom quickly assured Lindsay, making Nick cringe at that blunt reminder that his mother was more than acquainted with Vegas’ decadent offerings.
Before marrying their father, their mother had run off to be a showgirl. Thankfully their daddy had hunted her down and drug back home where she belonged, but their mom had never fully given up the excitements of the brightly lit city. She went back every year on a girl’s trip with her best friends and relations. If there was anybody who got into trouble faster than Lindsay, it would be their mom. Especially when she went to Vegas.
“I don’t know about all that. I—”
“I’m sorry to interrupt.” Ethan poked his head into the room to pin Cooper and Nick with a hard look. “There has been a development.”
“Well, that’s our cue.” Like a desperate man leaping for a thread of hope, Cooper hopped off his stool and shot his mom a quick look. “Are we done in here?”
“Go on.” Their mother waved them away. “You might as well let Lindsay and I get started on the wedding details.”
“Oh, no.” Cooper shook his head and latched onto Lindsay’s arm as he passed by her. “I’m not giving the lil’ bit anymore reasons to tie my ass to a bed. She’s coming with us.”
“Cooper!”
Nick laughed as both women turned a delightful shade of red and followed his brother out the door. Ethan and his men were assembled in the study, which Cooper had given over to them to use as their control room now that they’d taken back the RV. They’d moved some of the furniture so that all their boards, monitors, and other assorted electronics made a ring around the room, leaving all the seating in the center.
Ethan didn’t wait for Cooper to settle down with Lindsay on the couch before he dropped his bombshell. He barely waited for Nick to get the door shut.
“Carl Bryne has been located.” The guard paused, hesitating before correcting himself. “That is pieces of Carl Bryne have been located.”
“Pieces?” Lindsay whispered, going pale in the seat beside Nick.
“We got the head,” Ethan informed her cheerily. “So we got a positive ID.”
“Oh, God,” Lindsay groaned, turning and burying her face into Nick’s shoulder.
He looped an arm around her and snuggled her closer. The gruesome nature of Ethan’s report might have upset her but it also served a purpose. Now, maybe Lindsay understood that what Cooper had done had been for the best and that their intention to shield her hadn’t been based on nothing.
“Do you know who did it?” Cooper asked, not sparing Lindsay a single glance as he kept his focus on Ethan.
“We’ve got it down to three, two of which we’ve already paid off,” Ethan assured them. “We’re having a slight problem with the third one, though.”
“Problem? What problem?” Nick demanded to know. “We agreed to pay whatever anybody demanded.”
“We did?” Lindsay lifted her head to scowl up at Nick. “We’re not paying them back what we owe?”
“There’s interest,” Nick informed her. “And when it comes to your life, we’re willing pay whatever it takes to keep you safe, or do you want to be made into pieces?”
“Point made.” Lindsay held up her hands in defeat. “I don’t want to hear the details about that.”
“Well, you should expect to be asked about it,” Ethan warned her. “It probably won’t be long before somebody shows up asking about your stepdad and possibly your trust.”
“Evan thinks her father’s forced guardianship is going to work in our favor. After all the courts decided that Lindsay wasn’t competent and then she was locked up, makes it hard to pin her as the one who did the laundering. As for returning the money…”
“We’ve got that covered,” Ethan assured him. “We didn’t transfer the money out directly but hacked into the accounts and left an obvious trail. That way the transfers can’t be directly linked back to Lindsay. That should create enough buffer that you’ll win on reasonable doubt.”
“Strangely enough that does not make me feel better.”
“How about the fact that we think Rendell killed your stepfather? Does that make you feel better?” Ethan asked, not sounding the least bit curious.
“No,” Lindsay shot back, giving the guard a dirty look for even bothering her with that question. “Why do you think it was Rendell?”
“Because nobody else has motive,” Ethan pointed out. “Besides if one of the cartels had gotten him they would have forced money out of him and nobody’s touched his accounts.”
“And what is Rendell’s motive?” Nick pressed, not certain he followed Ethan’s train of thought.
“My mom,” Lindsay stated simply, surprising Nick with an answer.
“Your mom?” Cooper glanced over at Lindsay. “What does she have to do with this?”
“She was raped,” Lindsay stated as if it were obvious. “I mean seriously, what woman who was madly in love with a man who just proposed to her goes to the local bar and fucks a bunch of a men in the restroom? I tell you which one, one that’s been drugged. Given that I’m Rendell’s daughter, clearly he was there. He must have been the one to drug her, and I’m guessing he did it for Carl.”
“I think you’re doing a lot of guessing,” Nick suggested, trying to be polite, something that was lost on Cooper.
“I think she sounds paranoid,” his brother muttered, but they were both corrected as Lindsay found herself an unlikely ally.
“Actually, she sounds right.” Ethan sighed and reached over to pick up a folder off of Cooper’s desk. He didn’t even bother flipping through it before he passed it over to Cooper. “It’s all in there. Rendell and Carl were raised togeth
er in the same foster home. Then Carl went off to college on a scholarship and Rendell went into the military, but when he got kicked out he ended back up on Carl’s doorstep. Apparently Carl employed him as a security specialist for quite a while.”
And during the time that Carl was working for Vicky Lynn’s father. Nick, along with Lindsay, leaned over to check out the file as Cooper flipped through it. From what Amos’s men had found out it looked like Carl and Dennis had a lot of history between them. Given both men’s nature, Lindsay’s suspicions about what had happened to her mother seemed reasonable. It also seemed reasonable that Rendell wasn’t done yet.
“You think he’ll come back for Lindsay?” Nick looked over at Ethan, almost certain he knew the answer.
“No telling.” Ethan shrugged. “Only way to know is to find the bastard and that is exactly what we’re going to do.”
Chapter 39
September 2nd
Rendell turned out to be the least of Lindsay’s problems. Over the next two days she didn’t have a moment to spare to worry over him. No, she had to concentrate on Dona and the wedding she was foaming at the mouth to plan. It didn’t even seem to bother Cooper and Nick’s mom that neither one of her sons had actually asked Lindsay to marry them.
Apparently that was a technicality that’d be cleared up soon enough. As Dona explained, proposals only took a few minutes, wedding took months to plan. At least six according to her future mother-in-law, which mean that late spring wedding was doable but summer would be better. Not just in terms of time but the kids would be out of school so the family could really gather and enjoy the celebration.
Sally warned her that could last a week, mostly because when the Coopers gathered they numbered well over two hundred. That meant she was almost contractually obliged to have nearly dozen bridesmaids and multiple flower girls. Nobody could be slighted. That was yet another reason it would take months to plan, because Lindsay was going to have to learn a lot of names.
The whole thing was mindboggling and, truthfully, Lindsay was kind of happy to see Dona leave. As sweet as the woman was and as good a buffer as she’d been over the past couple of days, Lindsay was ready for some alone time with her men.
Strange as it sounded, she missed Cooper and Nick. She barely saw either of them these days. They both disappeared after breakfast and didn’t reappear until well after dinner. Then they’d wolf down some sandwiches and head to bed where they did nothing but sleep. Lindsay began to grow suspicious that they were intentionally ignoring her.
That had better not be her punishment for tying them up. Depressingly, though, she suspected it was. Lindsay had thought, or rather hoped, that when their parents left, Cooper and Nick would get down to some serious revenge. Instead, that night she went to bed alone and uncertain. She woke up with a collar around her neck.
Lindsay lay there staring up at the chain leashing her to the hook hanging from the ceiling. In that moment, two things became instantly clear in that moment. First, she wasn’t in Cooper’s bed anymore and, clearly, neither he nor his brother had spent the past few days working on the ranch. No, instead, they’d built her a cage. Admittedly, it was very nice cage. A very expensive one. Lindsay would know, given she was the one who’d bought it.
The changes they’d made to the RV were impressive. The hook overhead was actually part of a rail system that would allow her to move around on defined tracks. It helped that the home itself was essentially one large tube requiring only one long main set of rails that spanned straight from the hall through the bedroom and into the bathroom.
There was an offshoot over the bed with a pulley system right above her head. Lindsay could see the bars with their cuffs dangling from a custom holder beside the king-sized mattress. No doubt they could be swapped out for the leash she was currently on. Then she could be put into almost any position Nick or Cooper desired. More importantly, she wouldn’t have room to move.
That thought had Lindsay’s cunt pulsing with a wave of heat as she imagined just what the brothers would do with that kind of power. It also had her curious to see just what other delights they had in store for her. Slipping out of the bed, she reached up to pull the leash with her as she navigated her way into the bathroom only to discover that Nick and Cooper had converted it into pornographic playroom.
Mirrors decorated almost every inch of the walls and ceiling. The wardrobe had been converted into a one-stop-shop for all things sexual and deviant. With the doors removed and red mood lighting added, it gleamed with newly installed shelves packed to the brim with everything from toys, devises, and accessories to outfits and what looked to be a home entertainment system that probably linked into the cameras. All those lenses were aimed at one spot.
Lindsay stared at the chair bolted to the middle of the bathroom floor and wondered what asylum they’d stolen it from. It had stirrups and could be reclined. In fact it appeared to have all sorts of segments that could be lowered, raised, and even bent in a variety of ways that left little doubt of the perverse intent of its design.
“You’re awake.”
Lindsay stilled, feeling the heat and hunger in those two words lick down her spine in a slow caress that left her breathless. Her gaze shift to the mirrored wall and the sight of Nick filling out the doorway behind her. Dressed in a snug T-shirt and a pair of faded jeans, he looked good enough to make her heart skip a beat. It missed a few more as her eyes locked with his. He was a man with a plan, and she was in so much trouble.
“And looking sexy as ever.” The dark, sexy growl in his voice matched the lazy stroll his eyes took as they dipped down her length.
Shoving away from the door frame, Nick ambled up behind her with the steady, stealthy gate of a predator cornering its prey. Lindsay held still, refusing to give in to the nervous energy fluttering through her veins as he stepped up close behind her, surrounding her with his heated strength. The intoxicating combination of man, leather, and musk filled her head, melting whatever resistance Lindsay might have mustered as his wrapped two thick arms around her and pinned her to his hard length.
“Now the question is, do you want to talk?” Nick’s lips brushed over the curve of her ear as his tone roughened with an invitation Lindsay was helpless to reject. “Or do you want to play?”
The sight of his tanned hands, looking so thick and rough against the creamy paleness of her tummy held Lindsay transfixed. Nick was so strong, so capable, and she was totally at his mercy. There was probably something wicked about how good that knowledge made her feel. Lindsay didn’t care. All that mattered was that Nick stayed on course. If he looked to be weakening even for a second, she’d just have to remind him how naughty a girl she was.
“Play.” Lindsay made her decision with a smile. “And do you know what I want you to play with?”
She didn’t wait for an answer but laced her fingers through his and began to show him. Sliding one of his hands down over her hip, Lindsay brought the tips of his fingers to rest against the swollen folds of her pussy even as she glided Nick’s other hand up and over the swollen mound of her breast, trapping the puckered tip beneath the callused ridges of his palm.
“I think I got an idea.”
“Mmmm,” Lindsay moaned, her lips falling open as Nick’s fingers shifted through her slit. “Definitely the right idea.”
Her voice broke as Nick found the swollen bud of her clit and trapped it beneath the heavy press of his thumb. He began to roll the sensitive ball of nerve endings with the same precision he treated her tit to. Within seconds he had her twisting within his arms as she began to pant with the pleasurable tension winding through her. It grew slowly into a painful ache as his pace remained steady, his touch too controlled to send her over the edge.
Then again that’s not where he wanted her to go. Lindsay knew better than to waste time begging for what Nick wouldn’t give. Instead she taunted him. She caught him staring in riveted fascination at the mirror at the sight of his dark fingers disappeared into the pin
k fold of her pussy. Sliding her foot up along his leg, Lindsay bent her knee and opened herself completely to his gaze.
“Is the collar really necessary?”
That question drew a deep, slow chuckle as Nick’s gaze lifted to catch hers in the mirror. “You think you know what’s to come? You don’t even have a clue.”
“Then why don’t you give me one?” Lindsay asked, sliding two of her fingers between his and fucking them deep into her cunt.
She arched into the rapture that shot up her spine, indulging herself in the moment before remembering that she had greater decadences to entertain. Thicker ones, no doubt. Lindsay whimpered as Nick’s fingers joined her, driving the pace up to a fast tempo that had her straining toward release within minutes. That’s just when Nick pulled back.
“I would, lil’ bit, but you didn’t want to waste time talking,” he reminded her with just enough amusement lurking in his tone to assure Lindsay that Nick was enjoying his payback. “Now be a good girl and put on the outfit Cooper picked out for you and we’ll be waiting for breakfast in the dining area.”
“Yeah, I just bet,” Lindsay grumbled as she eyed the ensemble Nick gestured toward. While most of the closet had been renovated with display shelves, there was still a section that remained for storing clothes, if that is what the silk and lace outfits dangling from their hangers were. Certainly the two skimpy pieces of fabric Cooper had picked out for her were more costume than everyday wear.
Lindsay eyed the tiny maid’s outfit, wondering if she could actually even fit into the thing. Even if she did, the ruffled skirt wouldn’t even cover one of her ass cheeks. The corseted top clearly wouldn’t cover her breasts. Then again it hadn’t been designed to. The five-inch stilettos that had been set out for her hadn’t been designed for comfort either. The whole ensemble had a porno movie look to it, leaving Lindsay with the feeling that Cooper had modeled this particular fantasy on a favorite flick.
She briefly considered defying him and Nick but that would be too easy and it would only earn her a punishment. Just the thought of what kind of wicked torment they could come up with given all the toys at their disposal may have sent a thrill racing down Lindsay’s spine, but she was out to win the war, not just the battle. It was time to prove just who was in charge, even if her men had put her on a leash.
