by Ashley Jade
The panic is too overwhelming.
First things first- I need to figure out where he took me.
I rush over to the window and pull the curtain back.
Beyond the steel bars that hold me captive, I notice that the ground is covered in nothing but white as far as the eye can see.
Holy...it's...it's snow. I'm obviously a long way from home because when he took me it was almost the start of spring.
I glance down and notice that I'm still wearing the same blue dress from the gallery. I couldn't have been sleeping for that long.
I look out the window again.
Holy shit...is that a glacier?
Where the hell am I?
I need to get out of here. I need to tell someone that he took me.
Problem is...I don't know anyone who would even care.
Wait a minute...I do now! I have Aaron and Nathaniel.
I know they'll be willing to help me.
They'll get the police involved and maybe I'll actually manage to make it out of here alive.
I quietly exit the bedroom and tip toe down the long and narrow hallway.
It's eerily quiet...quite creepy really.
I enter a room that looks like an office of some sort. That's when I notice it.
A phone. Perfect.
I drop down behind the desk in order to make myself more inconspicuous.
Not that it really matters at this point, but I'm tired, groggy and it makes sense at the moment.
I dial Aaron's number and he picks up on the second ring.
“Hello? Who is this?” he answers, obviously confused by the unknown number.
“It's me. Dev.”
“Hey honey, is everything okay?” he asks.
“No, it's not. I need your help Aaron. Tristan is holding me captive. He's taken me to some sort of house or cabin surrounded by snow and glaciers, I think," I whisper.
I hear him chuckle on the other end. “Stop bragging you lucky girl.”
I clear my throat. “Aaron you don't understand. I'm serious. I'm really in trouble...”
The line disconnects.
I look up to find Tristan glaring down at me.
A white towel is hung low on his hips and tiny beads of water are dripping down his perfectly sculpted abs and that beautiful v-cut of his.
Dammit, how can a monster be so gorgeous?
He gives me a look that makes me want to cower away in fear, as well as rip my panties off and tell him to take me right here on the desk. Oh that's right...I'm not wearing any panties.
“What the fuck are you doing Dev?” he screams as he holds up the telephone cord that he's clearly just ripped out of the wall.
I don't answer him.
Instead, I stand up and kick him as hard as I possibly can and bolt for the door.
He catches up to me seconds later and wraps the telephone cord around my wrists.
“Jesus Christ Dev. Would you stop freaking out for one goddamned second. I am not going to hurt you,” he says as he hauls me back to him.
I motion to the cord wrapped around my wrists that he's currently tugging on. “Sorry, but I find that a little hard to believe right now."
He sighs as he loosens his grip.
“I'm only doing this right now because you tried to run away from me. Do you know how fucking dangerous making a telephone call from here is?"
“Seeing as you're the one holding me captive before you kill me...I'd say that phone call was more dangerous for you then it was for me.”
He spins me around to face him then. “Dev don't you think if I wanted to kill you, I would have done it by now?”
I shrug. He has a point...I suppose.
He continues. “Don't you think that if I wanted you dead I would have pushed you off the damn roof when we first met? Do you think I would have spent months with you? Do you think I would have gone out of my way to protect you from fake cops at clubs or burglars in your apartment? Do you think I would have fallen in love with you if I had any intention of killing you?"
I open my mouth to protest...but nothing comes out.
Logically...I know he's right. He's had plenty of opportunities to kill me.
That only leaves me wondering one big unanswered question.
Why the fuck did he bring me here?
Chapter 3 (Tristan)
I seriously underestimate this woman. When I left her she was sound asleep.
I figured it would be the perfect time to slip away for a few moments.
Then all hell breaks loose.
I know it was my fault. The only land-line phone in the place and I forgot to disconnect it.
I'm so off my game. Its been three years since I had to think like some kind of mobster and anticipate my victims next move before they do.
“Why did you bring me here then?” she whispers, interrupting my thoughts.
Fuck.
“I'll explain everything to you, I promise. First, I would really like you to go back to your room, take a hot shower, and try to relax. Everything you need, including clothes are in your room," I say as confusion spreads across her face.
“You promise you're not going to hurt me?”
I untie the cord from around her wrists and pull her into my arms.
Then I throw her down on the desk and plant a kiss on her so intense I feel her nipples harden underneath me.
She hesitates at first, but when I tease her bottom lip with my tongue she opens her mouth and lets out a low moan.
I pull away and give her a cocky smirk. “Did that hurt?”
She opens her mouth to say something, but pauses.
The resonating slap across my face with the palm of her hand throws me for a loop.
“Don't you fucking touch me again until I get some answers asshole,” she says as she pushes me off of her and pries herself from the desk.
I rub my cheek and stare at her in awe. God, I love this woman.
She walks towards the door as I watch her curvy ass sway before she stops abruptly.
“Can you at least tell me where we are right now?”
I proceed to ignore her as I walk in front of her and right out the door.
I'm sure as fuck not telling her a damn thing until she drops it down from the level 10 that she's at right now.
“Please,” I hear her call out from behind the door.
Damn this woman.
“Alaska.” I say finally.
“Alaska!” she screams as I continue walking down the hallway.
Chapter 4 (Dev)
I can't believe I'm in freaking Alaska right now.
Although, that now explains the glaciers.
I begrudgingly walk into my room and head for the shower.
I strip my dress off and sigh as the warm water streams over me.
I exit the bathroom and start pulling random dressers open and grunt.
Did he really think that buying me a whole new wardrobe would make me forgive him?
I slip into a pair of yoga pants and pull a big cozy sweatshirt over my head...because well, I'm in freaking Alaska right now.
“I did pack your favorite cozy robe,” Tristan's voice interrupts me.
I look up as he holds my favorite hunter green fleece robe out as if it's some kind of peace offering.
I walk over and snatch it from him while giving him an evil glare.
He takes a deep breath as he motions for me to sit down on the bed.
I sit at the end of the bed as he pulls a chair out in front of him and faces me.
He takes out a manila folder and closes his eyes.
I know the hammer's about to drop.
He opens his eyes, looks at me, and I feel the static in the air reverberate through me.
In this moment I know that everything will change.
I want to run away but I know I'll never forgive myself if I do.
He has the answers that I've been seeking for as long as I can remember.
He's the gatekeeper and I
need to pass go and collect the pieces of my life.
“Duncan Blake is your father Dev,” he says cautiously.
Random memories from the last night in New York come back to me as I nod my head.
“Why do you have his last name then? Why did you have me believe he was your father? Who's my mother?”
I have a million more questions, but the look in his eyes tells me that I'm really not going to like the answers that he has for me.
“I have his last name because it's his alias and he gave it to me in order to protect me. He posed as my father in order to protect me,” he says as I see a mix of anger and hesitation flash across his face.
Something tells me the anger isn't for me.
Then I realize. “Was he the one who did all those horrible things to you?”
He shakes his head. “No, but I don't want to focus on me right now. I'm trying to go slow because, it's a lot Dev, and I don't want to push you past your breaking point. We can talk about me and my life later, after we talk about you."
I don't know if I should be frustrated or thankful. I decide the latter because it's obvious that he's trying to take my feelings into consideration. Which, considering our present circumstance, is more then I expected from him.
I nod as he takes another deep breath.
“Your mother's name is Camilla. Unfortunately, she's no longer alive.” He looks down before he continues. “She was a great woman Dev. She was so sweet and kind, she saved my life and my mothers. I wish more then anything that you could have met her- but true to form, that couldn't happen because she was trying to protect you."
I'm conflicted.
On one hand, I want to morn the loss of never getting to know a sweet and kind woman, who happened to be my mother. On the other hand, can you really morn something you've never known or had?
I don't exactly know what to do with all these emotions that are hitting me with warp speed at the present moment, but I know I want him to continue talking.
“What was she trying to protect me from?”
A moment passes, then another. Tristan looks up at the ceiling and swears under his breath before he looks at me.
“There is no easy way to say this Dev, but your parents were hitmen for the mob.”
I must be hearing things. What the actual fuck did he just say?
In one breath he tells me that my mother was sweet and kind, and the next he tells me she was some kind of killer?
Like mother, like daughter I guess.
I wait a beat to give him a chance to tell me that what he said was some kind of sick joke before I decide to clarify.
“Um...did you say hitmen for the mob Tristan?”
“Yes Dev.”
“They killed people...like for a living?”
“Yes Dev.”
“Shit,” I breathe, as the room starts spinning.
He reaches underneath his chair and gives me a bottle of water.
I nod thankfully and take a swig.
He studies my face like it's under some sort of petri dish. “Are you sure you want to hear the rest right now Dev. I can wait and give you some time to let this all sink in."
I answer with no hesitation. “No Tristan, please tell me everything. I really want to know. I've waited forever for this.”
Chapter 5 (Tristan)
She took the first part of the conversation better then expected.
Unfortunately I have no idea how I should proceed from here on out.
I can't let her know about Alex but I have to tell her the truth.
How the hell am I going to skirt around this?
I decide to just rip the band-aid off, I'll think of something as I go along.
“So yes, they were hitmen. That's why they couldn't raise you Dev. They wanted to protect you. They knew it would be too dangerous. Especially after all the money they stole."
She arches her eyebrow. “So they were thieves as well as killers.”
I nod my head and wait for it.
She's smart, she's going to connect the dots.
I see the wheels spinning in her head, and all I want to do is hold her and tell her that it will all be okay.
But I can't...because I just don't know.
All I know is that I'll risk my own life trying to protect hers.
I can literally feel the question lingering on the tip of her sweet tongue.
She's figured it out. Well, at least a small part of it. She just doesn't want to ask and I can't blame her.
She exhales and looks at me. I nod and a tear falls from her striking green eyes.
She quickly wipes it away as anger contorts her beautiful features. “Those assholes,” she spits.
This is not quite the reaction I expected, but I can understand it.
In the blink of an eye it becomes clear why Duncan never wanted her to know the truth. It was for protection as well as what's happening at this present moment.
“My life was put in danger because they were nothing but murderers and thieves and they didn't even have the audacity to stick around and raise me."
Fuck. I don't really care all that much what she thinks about Duncan. I have my own twisted feelings when it comes to him to deal with, but Camilla.
It kills me that she feels this way about her.
“Oh my god Tristan, the money. That's why Diego thought I had it or knew where it was, isn't it?” she asks.
Not had baby...have.
Fuck, this will make her hate them. I'm sure of it.
I hate myself right now because I know the real truth. Alex could care less about the money. That's not why he's after her, but for her own safety I can't disclose that.
I can't let her know anything about Alex. There's just too great a risk that she wouldn't believe me and she would try running away again.
Love is Dev's kryptonite. Her love for Alex makes her delusional.
I figured that out right after she told me what happened, but still tried defending him.
If Alex ever got her hands on her, then he would get her right where he wants her.
Especially since she's spent the last 13 years thinking he was dead.
I have to let her think that the reason she's in danger right now is because of her parents...it's the only way.
“Yes it is. Your parents hid the money Dev. ”
She scrunches her face.“Why would they steal money and hide it? Why wouldn't they spend it?”
Her confusion is perfectly understandable. “They were going to spend it. They had every intention of spending it. Unfortunately they got caught after someone ratted them out."
“Who?”
“My mother.”
She drops her gaze to the floor and swallows. She's feeling nervous, unsure and awkward because, let's face it...this is certainly not an everyday conversation.
Not by any means.
I can only imagine what she's going to think after I tell her my next statement.
“In retaliation...your parents kidnapped my mother and I.”
I watch her mouth drop open and she puts her hand over her heart. “Tristan, I'm so sorry.”
“Don't be baby. They did us a favor.”
She raises a brow. “How so?”
Time to give her a version of the truth while leaving one very important element out.
“My father is a very bad man.”
She nods her head in understanding, no doubt thinking about the handiwork that he left on my back.
“However, your parents took care of us. Your mother stayed with us in Texas and protected us before her death, as well as Duncan from time to time. They treated us very well. In fact, your mother and my mother even became friends. My mother never intended to tell my father that they stole the money, but he beat the ever living shit out of her until she confessed to what she had seen and suspected.”
“Oh my god.”
“Are you sure you want me to continue?”
“Yes Tristan, please.”
“O
kay, well, that's how I ended up with your parents.”
“How old were you when they took you?”
“I was only a baby. My mother was my fathers mistress. He had a wife. His wife was Diego and Alex's mother.”
She closes her eyes at the mention of his name and it only further proves my instincts not to tell her the truth about him.
“So what happened to my mother? I know what happened to Duncan obviously,” she pauses as the thought hits her. “That's why you had me take care of him in the hospital, isn't it? You knew he was dying and you wanted me to see him before he passed, didn't you?"
I swear she must be part psychic, either that, or we really are so tightly bound to one another. I'm thinking the latter.
This woman is embedded in my very soul and I wouldn't have it any other way.
“Yes. I had only found out about you a few hours before we met. I was never supposed to tell you who you were, I promised him I wouldn't...but I wanted to give him and you some kind of comfort. I wanted to attempt to do the right thing in some way. That's also why I didn't take him off life support. I didn't feel that it was my place to make that decision. I almost caved and told you the truth a few times. Unfortunately, he passed and there was nothing I could do. I'm so sorry Dev.”
She reaches over and squeezes my hand. I take it and pull it up to my lips to kiss it. She quickly pulls her hand away and gives me an odd look.
“It wasn't real was it? What you felt for me wasn't real. My father told you to look out for me or something, didn't he?”
Without thinking, I quickly utter my next statement. “Yes, he wanted me to marry you but I absolutely refused. I told him I would never marry you."
Shit, I could have worded that better.
Her mouth drops open again and it's as if she doesn't know whether to be insulted, relieved, or to reach over and strangle me.
“I don't feel that way now though Dev. I didn't know you then. I didn't know that I would fall head over heels in love with you.” I'm literally tripping over my words as I watch her face relax a bit.
Now, here comes the hard part.
“My father murdered your mother. I watched the whole thing happen. She wouldn't tell him where my mother and I were. She protected us right until the very end."
I see another tear roll down her cheek.
