“So many questions, so many questions. If you must know, this is my failed wind farm.” He said it matter-of-factly and waved his free arm in a wide arc that encompassed everything she saw around her.
“It doesn’t seem like a failure to me, just unfinished.” She tried her hardest to sound cheery, hoping to placate the maniac from doing anything crazier than he already had. He seemed to have a lot to get off his chest, and hopefully keeping him talking meant he’d be too busy to maim, rape, or kill her. The construction site didn’t look to be the safest place possible. Any of the large structures, even those unfinished pieces laying on their sides, were high enough to be excellent spots to throw her from and would certainly ensure a painful death, regardless of whether it was quick or slow. She gulped, trying desperately to lubricate her parched throat. “It’s probably not even your fault that it’s not finished. I mean, where are all the workers? They’re the ones who are supposed to be building this, not you.”
“Oh, no. That’s my fault too. You see, instead of paying the workers, I redirected those funds toward other project-related expenses. I figured, hell, I’m the one in charge of the project, so my personal needs should be included as a business expense.”
“That’s pretty clever,” she said.
He set her down on the ground, leaning her against the crane, and pulled a cell phone out of his pocket. “Yes, I thought so. And this is something you might appreciate, being a do-gooder and all. The money all went toward a good cause, namely paying off a few bookies to keep these legs of mine from being broken. Stress is also a terrible thing, so I invested the money in a few quiet parties with me and a number of choice whores.”
“Prostitutes need good jobs, too.” Madeline forced a smile as she looked up at him, his face silhouetted by the lowering sun.
“I like the way you think.” He climbed onto the crane into the operator’s cab and lowered the jib. Once it reached the ground, Vincent jumped out of the cab with a large bundle of rope hanging around his shoulder.
He proceeded to hastily hogtie her, and her joints and muscles screamed as he pulled her hands and feet together behind her back. The pain in her knees and shoulders was nearly unbearable, especially considering how constricting the position was for breathing in her already too-tight dress.
“If I do say so myself, you look quite lovely tied up, and I’m sure you’ll look even better suspended on that crane.” He paused a moment as if to admire his handiwork. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a phone call to make, and it’s nearly impossible to get reception out here. But when I come back, I have big plans for you before my imbecile brothers get here with my helicopter and money.” He cackled with laughter and walked off out of earshot.
Chapter Fourteen
Dalton checked his watch again. Madeline was running late, which was unusual for her. He hoped she was not having any second thoughts about coming tonight. Garrett passed him again, pacing around the entrance to the ballroom when he should have been smiling at all of their guests who started arriving a few minutes ago.
The ladies were resplendent in their cotillion attire, and their dresses and diamonds glittered and shone brilliantly in the light like fireflies at dusk. Their husbands and escorts followed the women wherever they went, and Dalton realized that the men from Male Order did it out of habit. They liked being within touching distance of their women at all times. He thought about Madeline and how he wanted to be able to have access to her whenever he wanted, but he also liked being closer to her because he wanted to protect her, to make sure that any son of a bitch who wanted to hit on her or, God forbid, try to hurt her knew that he and Garrett would kill him before they let him lay a finger on Madeline’s precious skin. Women were important here. They were the heart and soul of their families, their homes, and, most of all, their men. The women were what men revolved around, and Male Order men liked things just the way they were. Dalton’s gaze rested on all of the elaborate masks everyone wore—ones with feathers, with jewels, elaborate painted designs. His thoughts drifted to what Madeline was wearing, how the dress fit her, how her mask would rest on her cheeks in just the perfect way to bring attention to her lips. He was sure Madeline would look beautiful, too, even though she would be too shy or too damn blind to realize it. How that woman of his did not realize how beautiful she was astounded him.
Garrett stopped pacing and stood at Dalton’s side, his body alive with tension. “Where the hell is she?”
“I don’t know, Garrett. She’s never run late to anything.”
Garrett grunted and started scanning the crowd. “It’s our crazy sister’s influence.”
“I’m not crazy. You’re just boring,” Bea said from behind them.
Dalton and Garrett spun around and faced their sister, who looked resplendent in her beaded gown, but Dalton refused to feel guilty for her overhearing them. This time. He had other things to worry about right now—namely where Madeline was.
“Bea, where’s Madeline?” Garrett asked.
She rolled her eyes and planted her hands on her hips. “Yes, Garrett, thank you so much for your compliment. I thought I looked pretty, too.”
Dalton sighed as he looked at his little sister. “We don’t have time to tell you that you look beautiful—”
“Oh, thank you!” Bea gushed.
“Bea, focus,” Dalton said. “Do you know where Madeline is? She’s not here.”
Bea’s face fell. “What do you mean she’s not here? I thought she was coming with you two.”
“That was the plan, but Madeline isn’t answering her phone and neither is Charles. We sent him to pick her up almost an hour ago.”
“Oh, God, Dalton.” Bea’s hand flew to her chest. “Charles is always on time. Always. Even when I’m running half an hour late, he somehow always gets me to where I’m going.”
“And that’s why we’re worried, Bea,” Garrett said, obviously trying to be patient.
“Let’s all just calm down,” Dalton commanded. Then his phone started vibrating in his breast pocket. He pulled it out and checked the caller I.D. “Charles, it’s about damn time,” he bit out. “Where are you?”
“She’s gone, Mr. Ellis. I don’t know where she went.” Charles’s voice sounded panicked and strangely breathy, as if he had just run a few miles.
All of Dalton’s senses went on red alert. “Charles, I can barely hear you. Slow down,” Dalton said.
“I just woke up. And she’s gone. She’s not in the house, Mr. Ellis. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
Dalton gripped the phone harder. “What do you mean she’s not in the house? Is her car there?”
Charles’s breaths took up the air space for a few moments. “I–I got here at seven twenty-five, so I stayed in the car for five minutes since I didn’t want to rush her.” More heavy breathing. “At seven-thirty, I got out and started heading toward the door to pick her up and escort her to the car, and then something hit me. Just slammed into the back of my head. I woke up face-down on the sidewalk, and her neighbors and the paramedics standing over me and asking if I was all right.”
“When? What time did you wake up?”
“Just now, Mr. Ellis.”
Fuck. Almost half an hour had gone by since then. He gritted his teeth against the panic flooding him.
Dalton met Garrett’s gaze. Garrett’s lips tightened, and he pulled out his phone, dialing Madeline’s number, no doubt. But Dalton knew that was pointless. Something was terribly, horribly wrong.
“Are you all right, Charles?”
“I’m fine, sir,” the man responded. “I’m so sorry, Mr. Ellis.”
“It’s not your fault. I need to figure out what the hell is going on. Please stay in touch and let me know if you need anything.” He hung up before Charles could respond. Wild, uncontrollable panic bubbled inside him. Dalton took a deep breath and started pacing around.
“Dalton, what the hell is going on?” Garrett’s hard voice made Dalton stop and turn around to face his
brother, who looked like he was about to jump out of his skin.
“Madeline’s gone,” he answered, voice tight. “Someone attacked Charles when he went to pick her up and when he woke up, she was gone.”
Bea’s hands flew to her mouth.
Garrett’s face paled. “Jesus Christ.”
Dalton’s phone vibrated in his hand, and he brought it to his hear immediately. “Madeline?”
The silence on the other end stretched and thickened, making the buzzing and bustling in the ballroom creep into Dalton’s very skull. He was on alert, everything inside him primed to spring into action. Something felt wrong, very goddamn wrong. And Madeline was at the center of it.
“Dalton,” the male voice said silkily, “how funny you should mention her.”
He knew that voice. He recognized it but could not place it. Primal rage flared to life inside him, and he fought like mad to control it.
“Who the hell is this?”
“I’m surprised you don’t already know, Dalton. Especially since we have so many things in common. So many things. Take Madeline, for example. I think you, Garrett, and I have a few things in common. We all find her extremely appealing, yes? Her spirit is very alluring.”
Dalton gripped the phone so hard the plastic protested.
“She’s a fighter,” the voice continued. “I’ll bet she’s quite demanding and feisty in bed. I might have to give her a go.”
“You will not touch her,” Dalton growled between his teeth.
“Now, Dalton, this isn’t a board meeting. You’re not in control here. I am.”
Dalton’s chest constricted. “Vincent?”
Garrett’s head snapped up. His eyes narrowed, and his cheekbones looked like daggers under his skin. Dalton had never seen his younger brother so angry. Garrett spun around and started stalking back and forth, a raging animal trapped in its gilded cage.
Vincent chuckled softly. “You finally figured it out. I was wondering how long it would take the exacting and ever-observant Dalton Ellis to figure it out.”
Dalton breathed in deeply and pivoted on his heel and walked over to a dark corner of the room so as not to be seen. Garrett followed close on his heels. “Vincent, just what the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“I’m teaching you a lesson by taking away your best chance of happiness. Our failed project would have worked had you given me more time or a second chance. But you were always heartless, Dalton. You only look out for your own interests. And your family’s, too. I’ll give you that. Some people would call that being loyal to your family, but I disagree. You were never loyal to me.”
Dalton’s worry for Madeline grew ten-fold. Vincent had snapped. Completely lost it. He was going to hurt her. “Vincent, just let her go. This is between you, me, and Garrett. Let Madeline go.”
Silence. Then, “I don’t think so. Not until I get what’s owed to me, Dalton. It’s really too bad things ended this way. We could have been one big, happy family.”
“Family? Vincent, what—”
“Your sweet mother didn’t tell you?” Vincent’s high-pitched laugh sounded like a squeal. “I hate to be the one to break the news but—no, who am I kidding? I love it—when your mother was eight months pregnant with her first child, I was born. It could’ve been quite the scandal if it got out that Daddy Andrew had been fucking around on his precious wife and even got some waitress he met in Vegas pregnant.”
“What the fuck are you talking about, Vincent?”
“Do I have to spell it out for you? You’re not the oldest Ellis brother, Dalton. I am.”
Dalton felt like he had jumped into a frozen river, the undercurrents of it dragging him under the ice forever.
“I am the first-born of the Ellis children, and I demand my share. I feel that I have a right to all the material benefits you and my other siblings are privy to. But what I mostly want is to make you and Garrett feel what I felt every day when I was growing up and watching you in the limelight. The Ellis brothers. The magnificent duo who would take over the multi-billion dollar corporation that was their birthright. Do you know how it felt to be living off my father’s little monthly checks, knowing that he could afford much, much more? Daddy Andrew gave me a pittance.”
Dalton listened to Vincent’s fevered voice as he spoke. Christ, all the secrets, all the lies his parents had left. He felt as if he never really knew them, not after this.
“As ransom for your little girlfriend here, I demand ten million dollars in cash, unmarked, in two separate duffle bags. At first, I thought I should demand one-third of the corporation’s assets—it’s only fair to keep things in the family, after all—but then I figured it’d be much nicer to take the cash, head to the Caribbean and be done with the whole lot of you. Also, I’ll need one of our fine corporate helicopters. And one more thing, if I realize that you’ve alerted the authorities, I will make sure Madeline will suffer the consequences. You’ll find us at the wind farm.”
“Vincent—”
The line went dead.
Dalton squeezed the phone in his hand and resisted the urge to throw it against the wall. Dalton looked at Garrett, his fury taking over his terror that something would happen to Madeline. “Call up your pilot friend, and tell him to get one of our goddamn helicopters ready. I know where she is.”
“I’m already on it.” Garrett fell into step with him, and together they started for the exit. “Who was that? Where did they take her?”
Rage welled up inside him, and his desperation to get to Madeline fueled it and built it higher. “It’s Vincent,” Dalton spat. “And he took her to the wind farm.”
“What? Why?”
“He mentioned something about it being his failed project. That sick bastard can’t let anything go.”
Without another word to anyone else, Dalton and Garrett ran out of the grand building and into the growing darkness. Jesus, they had to get to her quick. He had no idea what Vincent had already done or planned to do to her. Just the idea made Dalton itch to wrap his hands around Vincent’s neck and squeeze the life out of him, to see the light go out from his eyes. He embraced his murderous rage as he and Garrett sprinted to their car and Dalton got behind the wheel, not even waiting for Garrett to close his own door before spinning out of the parking lot.
* * * *
Madeline wracked her brain trying to figure a way out of this. She had no doubt in her mind that Dalton and Garrett would come for her, but would they get to her in time? She writhed on the ground, trying to loosen her bindings.
She arched her back, stretching her arms behind her until she could reach her feet. When her fingers grazed the nylon ropes, brushing against the knot, it was as if the Heavens parted. Vincent had only tied a simple double knot, otherwise known as a granny knot. Who knew that watching her men tie those intricate knots would pay off so huge? Hope filtered through her, steeling her strength and courage. She gathered everything in her and made one big stretch until the tips of her fingers latched on to the knot. Tugging on a humped loop, she worked the amateur knot until it loosened and came apart. Then she worked it again, wiggling around on the ground. The tension that had connected her limbs finally disappeared. Struggling to sit up, Madeline bounced to get her arms underneath her ass and under her legs. Every muscle and tendon stretched and ached beyond belief. She felt a few seams popping in her dress as she fought to get her arms, bound at the wrists, under her thighs, then past her knees. She shimmied her way past the tattered pouf of material on her mermaid-cut dress, and finally, blessedly, she had her hands in front of her again.
Lifting the ropes to her teeth, she easily unknotted it and then quickly untied the ropes around her ankles. The next thing she would’ve liked to have freed was her body from the dress, but then she’d be running around naked except for a pair of pantyhose.
Madeline’s heart raced as she looked around, trying to conjure up some plan in this turbine-littered wasteland. She knew there were lots of places to hide, but hidin
g would do no good. Who knew when her men would ever arrive and what would she do if Vincent found her. No, she wouldn’t put herself in a position where she could be cornered like a caged bird.
She tried to find a weapon, something to defend herself with. Her hand absently grazed the necklace she wore. Initially surprised she still had it on, she realized the strong, complicated lock likely prevented Vincent from taking it from her.
Good.
She hopped into the crane and closed the door behind her. Peeking out the little window, she could see Vincent talking animatedly on the phone just beyond a turbine part lying on it side. Perhaps he was calling her princes to come save her. Well, this princess was about to save her own damn self.
Vincent’s head briefly disappeared behind the tall turbine as he walked around it. The fast-approaching sound of gravel crunching told her he was near. Her mind searched frantically for a way to protect her, and she fiddled with her necklace as she thought. Then it hit her.
Well, what do you know? Maybe diamonds really are a girl’s best friend.
She reached back and undid the clasp. Buford had said the necklace was strong. If her plan worked, there’d be no doubt in her mind that the Ellises had gotten their money’s worth. She held it in her hands and steadied herself, ready to pounce out of the crane and onto this man who would take everything away from her. Well, that wasn’t fucking happening.
Vincent cursed when he got to the spot where he’d left her. Just as he was about to turn, Madeline lunged, wrapping the chain of sapphires and diamonds around the mad man’s neck and pulling as tightly as she could. The sharp edges of the marquis-cut stones bit into her hand, but she didn’t care.
* * * *
Dalton and Garrett reached the aircraft hangar at their family compound in a quarter of the time it usually took to get there, thanks to Dalton’s driving. The car screeched to a stop, and they both got out and ran to the custom Sikorsky S-92 that was already primed up and ready to go. Connor, one of Garrett’s college buddies and more importantly a former Special-Ops Marine, sat in the pilot’s seat. When Garrett and Dalton jumped into the helicopter, Connor just gave them his signature nod and took the chopper up without any preamble. If there was anything Connor was, it was single-minded and focused.
Mitchell, Ava and Holiday, Sydney - A Bride for Two Tycoons [The Male Order, Texas Collection] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 11
