Hang Em' Up: A Bad Boy Sports Pregnancy Romance

by Ashley Stewart

  He took me inside the house; it was amazing. The back of the house was a wall of glass overlooking a tiny path that led to a small, private beach. Off to the left were two of the smaller islands. If I hadn’t been a prisoner here, I would have thought I’d died and gone to heaven. I thought of Adrian again, and the time we spent on the water in the Bahamas.

  “I’m glad you like the view.” Victor said.

  “Yes, well, I guess if I have to be held hostage, a mansion is better than a basement…”

  “Of course, my dear! You are far too beautiful to be hidden away in the dark, and far too important.”

  “What do you mean? Why am I important? What circumstances? Do you know me? Why did you kidnap me?” I wanted answers, and I wanted them now.

  “Of course I know you, Danisha, and you most assuredly know me.”

  “Sorry, but I don’t know you! I’ve never met anyone named Victor in my…” I stopped. I didn’t know any Victor, but someone else did. Victor smiled as he watched me piece it together.

  “Adrian…”

  Chapter Two

  I hadn’t slept more than a few hours in the last three days. All I could think about was Victor and whatever hell he was inflicting on Danisha. I knew he was a scoundrel, but to resort to kidnapping just to get back at me… What else was he capable of?

  I needed a plan.

  No cops, that was a given. Victor was right about one thing: he could disappear with Danisha in a heartbeat if he got one whiff of the authorities. He might not even bother to take her with him. He might just… I didn’t dare to finish the thought for fear that I would break down. Danisha needed me right now.

  I had asked a close friend who was a private investigator with some important connections to put a track on all of Victor and Danisha’s phone numbers and credit card transactions. I never accepted less than the best, and he was the best. He was also someone who I could count on to keep this quiet.

  Christian told me that the phone Victor had called me from was a burner phone, a dead end. Nothing had come up yet, but he was combing through Victor’s past purchases to try and find a trail. I didn’t think Victor would be so careless as to leave clues, but I had to check everything.

  I had never been so lost—I didn’t even know what I would do if I found them. Victor wanted something big. He wouldn’t put himself at risk like that unless he could get something out of it. The question was: what? Probably money. Victor never had enough money. He spent it the same way he made it: reprehensibly. That he could hurt me using Danisha was just a bonus for him.

  My cell phone rang. It was Christian, hopefully with some good news about what he’d found. I snatched up the phone.

  “Hello, Chris? What did you find out? Do you know where they are?”

  “Take a breath, Adrian. Unfortunately, no. I haven’t found them. Your friend Victor is a hard man to locate.”

  “He is not my friend,” I growled.

  “Sorry. I just meant that he knows what he’s doing. He’s gone completely off-grid.”

  If Christian couldn’t find Victor, then I didn’t know who could. For the first time in my life, I had no options left. I couldn’t give up, though. If I had to trek the entire Earth by foot, I would do it for her.

  “Thanks, Chris…I know you’ve tried everything. Please keep looking.”

  “Well, wait, Adrian. I said I haven’t found them. But I have found something.”

  “What is it?” I demanded.

  “I checked a list of properties against one of Victor’s known aliases: mister Vladimir Von Kovas. Nothing came up, so I widened my search to similar names and found someone named Vlad Vonovas who owns several pieces of land. There were a few of them in the States. I took the liberty of ruling them out for you. He’s also got property in Russia and France, and he owns a small islands chain off the coast of Fiji.”

  Fiji. That must be it. He would have known how Danisha and I met and want to make it as painful as possible for the both of us. I thanked Christian, told him that I would investigate the properties myself and asked him to keep looking in case these properties would come up empty. Immediately after I hung up with Christian, I called Jackson and gave him the coordinates of all Vlad Vonovas’ properties so he file a flight plan.

  “Of course, Mr. Ardic. When would you like to leave?”

  “Immediately.” I could plan in the plane.

  If I acted blindly, I might never see Danisha again.

  “My apologies, Mr. Ardic, but I will need several hours to fuel the plane for such a long trip. Could we perhaps wait until tomorrow morning?”

  “Fill the two-seater for this trip, Jackson. We need to be able to fly low. Once we get in the air we can call ahead to refuel along the way. I want to be wheels-up in two hours.”

  “Yes, Mr. Ardic.”

  I went to my bedroom and swiftly packed an overnight bag. Reaching in the back of my closet, I pressed a hidden button underneath the shoe rack that revealed a secret compartment. Inside, there were twenty-five thousand dollars in cash, a camera with a telephoto lens and my passport, which I quickly shoved into my bag. I heard my phone ring from the other room. Thinking it might be Christian with more information, I hurried to answer it.

  It was Sally. I didn’t have time for this right now.

  “Hello, Sally. Did you need something?”

  “You haven’t changed, Adrian, You still don’t have time for pleasantries.”

  I groaned inwardly. “Sally, this is not a great time. I’m very busy right now.”

  “No doubt you’re off on some business trip.”

  “I don’t see why you care if it was.” I heard her sigh on the other end.

  “I’m sorry, Adrian. The reason I called is because…well, I noticed your little girlfriend hasn’t been around anymore, and I felt bad that it might have been because of what I said to her. Looking back, I wasn’t the most welcoming as I could… as I should have been.”

  “To be perfectly honest, Sally, you were part of the reason she left. She is also much younger than us, and I think she needed some time and space to reconcile her emotions. Thank you for your concern.” I was struggling not to reveal anything. I didn’t want anyone to know about what Victor had done in case I had to resort to drastic measures.

  “Well, perhaps when you return from your business trip, we can have dinner to take your mind off things.” I imagined that Sally had a very specific plan on how she might occupy my mind.

  “Perhaps. I really must go now. Goodbye.” I hung up and returned to my closet to retrieve the bag. I reached into the compartment, took my handgun, and put it in my holster. Victor was clearly willing to do whatever it took to get back at me, and I was willing to do whatever it took to save Danisha.

  Chapter Three

  “You’re that shady crook Adrian told me about! Oh my God, I thought you were just some rich lunatic who kidnapped random girls, but this… is this about getting back at him?”

  “This is about getting him to listen,” Victor said.

  “Yeah? Why would he listen to you? He told me about how you tried to steal his clients! I know people like you. I run into them in my line of business all the time. You’re bitter because you’re not smart enough to come up with your own ideas, so you try and take someone else’s. When that doesn’t work out, you blame everyone but yourself. Face it, Victor, you’re just a sore loser.” I probably shouldn’t be challenging my abductor, but I was steamed.

  “Oh he told you about that, did he?”

  “You bet he did!”

  “Did he tell you that we used to work together?”

  “Wait, what?”

  Victor looked at me pityingly. “I didn’t think so.”

  “So what?” I shrugged. “We have better things to talk about than thieving kidnappers.”

  “‘Have’? I thought you left him?” He raised an eyebrow.

  “How… how did you know that?” I blurted out.

  Had Victor been spying on us? For h
ow long? Just what exactly was he planning?

  “It doesn’t matter. Anyway, yes, Adrian and I worked together several years ago. He was my mentor, actually. Back then, he was a senior partner at one of the top American importers, Polyverse Inc. I was in school in Moscow, and I applied for their internship abroad. When the internship was over, Adrian was so impressed with my work that he hired me on the spot. ‘I have to have the best, and you’re the best,’ he told me.”

  Victor paced as he talked, like he had bottled the story up inside for so long that words weren’t enough to get it out.

  “I learned everything about negotiations from him. Watching him was like watching a shark hunt in the ocean. Under his tutelage, I rose to be a junior partner within five years.”

  I listened intently. I knew very little about Adrian’s life before we met, which was why I ended up leaving him. He had this whole story and identity that I knew nothing about, so this story was fascinating. If nothing else, Victor might let something important slip. In movies, villains always reveal their big plan during a long monologue.

  “I had just landed the company a big client from France, a fabric exporter. It was rumored that I would be made a senior partner within the year. Then one morning, I turned on the news to see the client being arrested. A police raid discovered that she was a part of a human trafficking ring who abducted children for slave labor. The more names she offered the police, the more time they took off of her sentence. She named me.”

  My jaw was on the floor. I wished I had a phone to call Marisol; she would never believe this.

  Victor began to pace faster. “I tried to tell Adrian and the other partners I was not involved in the crime ring, but they didn’t believe me, even after I was found not guilty of all charges. Adrian said that I should have looked into the company’s background more thoroughly and that I’d tarnished its reputation. He fired me and then dissolved Polyverse Inc. to work independently. After that, no one would hire me. Adrian told everyone that he would never work with them if they worked with me.” Victor closed his eyes. He was clearly upset.

  I couldn’t believe it, but I was actually starting to feel bad for Victor. Even if he made a mistake, he didn’t deserve to get fired for it, and Adrian certainly didn’t have to smear his name. I knew that Adrian accepted nothing less than the best, but if he asked for perfection, he was going to be let down.

  Victor’s eyes suddenly snapped open. “So if I am accused of shady dealing or stealing clients, it’s because I have no other choice! Adrian made sure that anyone of good reputation refused to work with me, so I am left with the rest.”

  He took my hand and pulled me to sit on the couch with. “Danisha, you asked me what I want. I want Adrian to lift his client ban from me. I want to compete for the business fairly, even if I must achieve that in an unfair manner. I truly apologize for the distress I’ve caused you, but I love my work. Surely, you can understand that?”

  He still held my hand in his. I looked into his dark eyes and thought about EyeRead. What would I do if someone took that away from me? I’d do anything to get it back. I still didn’t trust Victor, but I thought I might be beginning to understand him…

  ***

  I could scarcely believe it: the silly girl was eating the story right out of my palm. It was almost too easy. My tale of Adrian unjustly firing me was true, but I didn’t kidnap the girl to make peace with him. I wanted revenge.

  “Are you okay? I can tell that this has eaten at you for a long time,” she said. I could barely contain my laughter. She may be a tech-genius, but the young girl didn’t have a clue about reality. I hid my smile with one hand and smoothed it into a frown.

  “Yes, thank you. Please, allow me to show you your accommodations. I hope they are to your liking. I took great care in the hope that you will, perhaps, forgive me for the horrible manner in which we met.” I stood up, offering Danisha my hand to help her up.

  I let her walk in front of me so that I might have a moment to hide my enjoyment. I didn’t just want to take Adrian’s clients. I wanted to take everything dear to him, starting with Danisha. If she came to me willingly, well then, so much the better.

  Chapter Four

  “Thank you, Jackson. Please deliver my bag to Lisa; she’ll take care of it.”

  “Of course, Mr. Ardic.”

  I opened the folder of photos and documents I had collected over the past two days, shuffling through them as I walked towards the house.

  “Mr. Ardic?” Jackson called me.

  “Yes, Jackson?”

  “Are you going to take another trip soon? It doesn’t bother to me, of course, but if so, I can have the plane ready for you as soon as possible, if you like.”

  “Thank you, Jackson. Please do.” I turned to leave again.

  “Um… Mr. Ardic?”

  “Yes?”

  “I don’t mean to overstep my bounds, but might I ask what it is that we are doing? When you said you wanted to go to Fiji, I thought you meant to go on vacation because of Miss Carter, but you had me fly over the same spot for over six hours…”

  “Jackson?” I said.

  “Yes, Mr. Ardic?”

  “You overstep your bounds.”

  Several hours later, I was sitting in my study with files spread all around me when there was a knock on the front door. I had all of the security cameras linked to my phone so I could see who it was without having to stop working. I looked and saw Sally waving to the camera with one hand, and a bottle of wine in the other.

  “Hello, Adrian.”

  “Sally, how are you?” I said as I opened the door, remembering our last conversation.

  “Oh, I’m fine. To be honest, I saw that you were back and I thought that perhaps you’d like to have that dinner we talked about a few days ago.”

  “I’m actually in the middle of something.”

  “Oh, Adrian! I can tell you’re starving. When did you last eat today?”

  My stomach rumbled traitorously at the mention of food, and Sally laughed. I laughed, too.

  “All right, come on in, but I warn you, there isn’t much to work with in the kitchen. You’d have to be a wizard to make a meal out of that mess.”

  “You know that I always was a magician in the kitchen.”

  It was true. Sally was a wonderful cook. When we were married, she would prepare a delicious meal every night and would make the most delectable feasts on holidays. We went on a camping trip in the Australian Outback for our tenth anniversary and Sally made the dried food packages taste like five-star cuisine. I had been to plenty of five-star restaurants to make the comparison. Cooking was an art of hers, and I was a willing consumer.

  “Yes, I remember. The kitchen is right around the…”

  She waved her hand, dismissing me. “Yes, and I remember where the kitchen is —as well as everything in it. It’s just another benefit of having your ex-wife cook for you!”

  I took the bottle of wine from her. It was a Cabernet Sauvignon. I was more of a white wine drinker, but it was a good brand, so I got two glasses from the bar and poured one for both of us. Sipping my wine, I watched as Sally bustled around the kitchen, grabbing an ingredient from here or there while throwing out teasing admonitions for the sorry state of the place.

  It was almost like being married again. She was always annoying, but she had been with me through it all, thick and thin. Even when I was just a lowly salesman at my uncle’s general store some thirty-five years ago, Sally saw the greatness in me.

  I set the table as she served Alfredo pasta with an aroma that made my mouth water. Partially out of habit and partially because of good manners, I pulled a chair out for her and we sat down to dinner.

  An hour later, both our plates were clean and I was pouring the last drops of the wine into our glasses.

  “Thank you, Sally. That was trés magnifique.” I kissed my fingers.

  “You’re welcome. I forgot how nice it is to cook for someone else.”

  “Wel
l since you cooked, I will clean.” I picked up the plates and set them in the sink. I saw Sally smile. She and I both knew that Lisa did all of the cleaning around here.

  “How do you feel about dessert?”

  I sighed. I knew this was coming. Deep down, I still loved and missed Sally, but sometimes love wasn’t enough for two people. It hadn’t been enough for Sally and me, and I doubted it would be any different the second time around.

  “Sally, thank you for dinner, but I can’t-”

  She cut me off, pressing her lips against mine. I found my arms encircling her waist in spite of myself. She felt good, as good as she did when we got married. What’s more, it felt natural. I pulled her tight against me, and she moaned.

  Danisha… I thought.

  I jumped away from Sally feeling guilty as hell.

  “Adrian? What’s wrong?”

  “I’m sorry, Sally, but I’m afraid I must ask you to leave.” I could tell Sally was disappointed, but I was even more disappointed in myself. Taking a break from work to refuel was one thing, but making out with my ex-wife while Danisha was out there somewhere, probably locked in a basement, was more than I could bear.

  Thankfully, Sally left without much protesting. Unfortunately, that left me alone with my thoughts, which were more jumbled than they had been in my entire life. I had always seen my path clearly, and it always led me to success. Now… Danisha still needed to be rescued, of course, but what came after?

  Would she regret leaving and want to come back? Would she be angry that my business put her in jeopardy? We had known each other such a short time that there was no way to tell.

  And now this with Sally… Based on how my body reacted to her, I knew our story was not over yet…

  Chapter Five

  That night, I waited in my bedroom until I was certain Victor was asleep. Earlier that evening, I had stolen a laundry bag from one of the bathrooms. I also managed to steal some food and a kitchen knife. I shoved this all into the bag and crept out the door that led to my balcony.