He gathered her to him. ‘I know,’ he murmured, his lips to her ear, trailing his lips down her neck. ‘I know what it took you to even consent to this. Even if you won’t tell me everything, I can see it in your eyes. Thank you for trusting me.’
Jess wound her arm around his neck and gave him such a sweet smile, he had to have her again right there, on the floor again and again….
Max was wildly relieved when he got a call from Theo – and he heard Jess call out ‘Love you Max!’ over the phone. To think his big mouth nearly cost Theo the best thing that had ever happened to him. Max had needed no more convincing of Jess’s feelings for his best friend than the heartbreak in her eyes when she thought she was just the punchline of their joke. Max would never forget it. He’d scrambled to make it better and when he couldn’t, he had told Theo everything. Max drained his drink. The bar on 9th was one of his and Josh’s favourites – in fact, it had been exactly six years to the day they had met here, both then with other partners. He’d seen the tall Mexican laughing with his friends and fallen, right there. During the night, he’d manoeuvred and networked so hard they’d ended up talking in the same group. Joshua Ruiz was funny, gorgeous and erudite – and by the end of the night, he had Max’s number. Ten days later, they moved in together.
Josh was making his way back to the bar from the restrooms now, stopping to say hi to friends as he went. Max marvelled again at his husband’s lithe body, weaving so gracefully towards him. Max himself was prone to weight gain – just enough that a few extra pounds added back the puppy fat he’d worked so hard to remove. Josh didn’t care at any rate. Max had never doubted his love for a second, such was their connection.
So he couldn’t really blame Theo for falling so hard, so fast. Max got it. The only thing he took pause over was what Theo had said the day he’d nearly wrecked it for him.
‘I think she’s been damaged, Max. I think it’s why at any sign or perceived slight, Jess’s default reaction is mistrust. She runs.’ Theo had been quiet for a while then had said, almost to himself, ‘I need to put this right.’ He turned to Max. ‘How quietly can we hire an investigator – a discreet one – to look into Jess’s family? Not Jess, you must stress that, under no circumstances must she be followed or investigated – just her family. Especially her step-brother. The story’s there, I’m sure of it.’
Max had assured him he could set it up but when he’d told Josh, his husband had raised an eyebrow.
‘Not sure that’s going to do anything but make matters worse. If he is mistreating Jess, Theo might rush in. Things could get very nasty and that girl could be caught in the crosshairs.’
But Max had done as he asked and now, burning hot in his bag – well, that’s what it felt like – was the investigator’s preliminary report. Max had glanced at it quickly and had not liked what he’d read.
The investigator had talked to people from where Jules had gone to school, his college tutors. All of them were reticent to speak about Jules – no-one had a bad word to say about him – but neither did they say anything good. They were scared, the investigator had surmised. Frustrated, he’d finally been put in contact with a local police chief, Bud Clermont, who’d had plenty to say on the subject of Julien Gachet.
‘Is he in trouble with the law?’
The investigator assured him he wasn’t.
Clermont gave a frustrated hiss. ‘Damn, I was hoping you were gonna tell me he fucked up. Finally got what was coming to him. Well, I can’t tell you anything that’ll hold up in a court of law, just that he’s a piece of work. ‘
‘I can tell you what I saw, what I think. Knew it from the second I met him, something wrong in that kid’s eyes. They were dead, blank. First and only time a kid scared the shit out of me. Kept an eye on him as he got older, seems to me, someone like that, they’re gonna escalate from petty crime. Of course, his family’s money made that all go away. Something big happened too, only it was all hushed up and grunts like me never got to know what. Something to do with the step-sister. He was obsessed with her. Pretty disgusting – she was only twelve, I believe. Julien liked to play with knives, loved the sight of blood. I believe he was kept away from home as much as possible. I kept my eye on him. There were complaints from some of the female students – girls who looked just like the sister. Like I said – obsessed.’
Max felt another wave of nausea flood through him. He hadn’t told Theo anything yet and he thought again about Josh’s words of caution. The last thing he wanted was to put Jess in more danger – if that was what she was in.
Josh headed back then and started to talk to him but Max barely listened. He couldn’t shake the feeling that something bad was coming, something very bad indeed…
***
Theo hooked a leg around Jess’s hips and pulled her back down onto the bed. She protested, giggling, but as soon as he started to kiss her stomach, she gave up.
‘I have to go soon,’ she said gently, stroking her fingers through his dark curls. Theo, his lips against her belly, shook her head and she laughed. ‘That tickles.’
He lifted his head and grinned. ‘Why is this dinner so important?’
Jess sighed and sat up. ‘It’s to do with the estate. If it were just me that was affected by the changes in the estate, I’d tell Jules to go to hell but…’
‘But?’
She rubbed her face roughly. ‘When I was younger – and so freaking naive that I believed Jules – he set up several trusts for projects I cared about. Called it an eighteenth birthday present. He’s managed to make it so that if he withdraws that funding – like from my art department – the project will suffer, even have to close.’
Theo was appalled. ‘Jess…that’s blackmail.’
She nodded. ‘I know. But what can I do? Tell him to screw it, I don’t want his money anymore so screw everyone else? Not an option.’
She climbed off the bed and started to dress. ‘It’s not as if he’s…’ and she swallowed hard before looking away from him ‘using it to do anything…untoward to me. He just wants me to be a part of his family.’
‘Paying you to be his sister?’ Theo’s voice was harsh and she winced.
‘If you want to put it like that. Makes him sound pathetic when you say it like that.’ She considered and a small smile played around her mouth. ‘Actually, he is pathetic.’ She turned and leaning over, kiss Theo on the mouth. ‘And he’s not your problem.’
Theo caught her face between his hands. ‘Let me come with you.’
Jess shook her head. ‘It’s an hour, or two, and it’s not even as if it’s at the house. It’s a restaurant with people, he can’t…’ She broke off, realising she’d said too much. She grabbed her clothes as Theo stood, tugging his jeans on.
‘He can’t what, Jessica?’ Theo’s voice was hard.
She could look at him. ‘I have to get dressed.’
‘Jess…’
‘No. No, Theo. I have to get dressed.’ She turned and walked out of the room, leaving Theo to stare after her.
***
Jess walked into the restaurant at precisely eight-twenty-nine to find Malcolm, Jules’s bodyguard and driver waiting for her. He said nothing but handed her a cell-phone.
‘Jessica, change of plan. William has come to the house instead. Malcolm will bring you here.’
Son-of-a-bitch. Jess handed Malcolm the phone, and he guided her out to the car. She couldn’t believe she’d been conned by Jules again. Asshole asshole asshole. She couldn’t protest, not without making a scene and she wouldn’t put it past Malcolm to drag her by the hair to the waiting limo. He’d always scared her, his smug expression, the way he looked he looked at her make her feel sick. He was perfect for Jules, she thought, grimly, settling in the back seat, as far away from the driver as possible.
They drove through the rain-slicked streets and out of the city, towards the place she dreaded. Jess pulled her cell phone from her bag and flicked to Theo’s number – and stopped. No. She wasn’t
the little princess in need of a white knight. She would handle this herself. She glanced up to find Malcolm smirking at her in the rear view mirror. She narrowed her eyes at him and he chuckled darkly and looked away. Why must everything in her life be filled with dread and menace? Jess sighed and leaned her forehead against the cold glass of the car window.
Everything except for Theo. He made everything okay. She glanced back down at her phone then, on impulse, sent him a message.
‘Mr Storm…later this evening, I have a feeling I may need disciplining.’
Her phone bleeped straight away. ‘Miss Wood, I concur. Present yourself to my room, stripped and ready to be chastised. Thoroughly.’
She giggled, a hot rush of desire flooding through her, a pulse beating between her legs. God, he could make her wet just by thinking about him. She closed her eyes and visualised trailing her lips against his strong jaw, pressing them into the hollow behind his earlobe, breathing him in.
Then the car stopped and reality came screeching back. Jules opened the car door and smiled down at her coldly. ‘Jessica, my darling. Welcome home.’
Max waited until Josh was asleep before sliding out of bed and into the living room. He grabbed his phone and called Theo.
‘Yup?’
‘It’s me.’
Theo laughed softly. ‘I guessed that from the caller i.d., buddy.’
Max was silent for a beat and Theo cleared his throat. ‘You okay, Max?’
Max drew in a long breath. ‘I got the preliminary report on Jules Gachet. It’s not good, Theo.’
It was Theo’s turn to be silent for a moment. ‘Tell me.’
Max related everything to him, including what Bud Clermont had told him. When he was finished he waited, listening to Theo cuss softly.
‘What do you think he’s doing to her?’ Theo’s voice broke.
Max really – really – didn’t want to answer that, didn’t want to speculate. ‘I don’t know.’
Theo sighed heavily and told him what Jess had relayed earlier to him.
‘Fucking manipulative creep.’
‘I pray that’s all he’s…’ But Theo couldn’t finish the sentence and both men knew without a doubt, that it wasn’t the full story.
‘What do you want me to do, Theo?’
Silence. ‘Nothing. Jess would freak if I told her what we’d done. I realised today, our relationship is balanced on a tightrope. Until we both can entirely be honest with each other…god.’ Theo sighed. ‘I’ll just have to protect her as much as I can until she’s ready to confide in me.’
After Max had hung up, he sat in the cool darkness of his apartment for a while then went back to bed. As he slid into bed next to his sleeping love, he felt a weight pressing down on him. Guilt. His love was here, safe in his arms, absolutely no secrets between them, complete love, complete trust.
Max prayed that Theo and Jess would one day get there. He prayed they would be free to love without limits, without the threat that hung over them.
Because Max had no trouble believing that Jules Gachet was, if nothing else, evil.
Jess reasoned that at least, Jules had only partially lied to her about the evening. William Corcoran, the kindly family lawyer was waiting for them at the house, and over dinner, discussed the financial status of their family estate. Jess didn’t listen to most of it, certainly she had no idea that William was discussing her until Jules tapped her shoulder rudely and nodded at William.
‘I’m sorry, William, what did you say? She liked the old man very much and smiled at him now.
He flushed with pleasure. ‘Jessica, you are twenty-five in October and as you know, you are due to receive the balance of your trust fund your father set up.’
Step-father, she corrected silently but nodded. ‘Yes. I already discussed with you what I want to do with the bulk of it. The projects, the college, the art societies. You still have my outline for how to split the money, correct?’
William looked embarrassed and glanced at Jules. Jess looked between the two of them, her heart sinking. What now?
‘Jessica, Julien has informed me that he wishes to continue funding your projects indefinitely. In fact, the trust board had indicated that this is the only way they will agree to disperse the money. They feel that if you were given such a large amount, that, due to the history of mental illness in your family lineage, that you could be a danger to yourself. Drugs. Alcohol. Jules has informed me of your…episodes.’
Jess was speechless. More than that, she was sure she was having a nightmare. ‘What…episodes? What the hell, Jules?’
Her step-brother put his hands on her shoulders. A warning. ‘You know how you can get, Jessica. It’s just better this way.’
She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. ‘Are you insane? That money is legally mine…’
‘If –‘ Jules smiled widely, ‘you remain under the conservatorship of the Trust. Father was very clear. After your mother’s suicide, he made sure that if you were to suffer a breakdown like her, then you would be cared for.’
He had her. With a few simple lies to the police all those years ago, her ‘hysteria’ was on record and if she tried to run, everything she cared about would be gone. The art department would close, a women’s shelter…
Jess felt if she would scream. She stood, unsteadily. ‘I need to use the bathroom.’
In the restroom, she sank to the floor, dragging deep breaths into her lungs. She would never be free of him. He owned her. Jess muffled the sobs that forced themselves out of her throat.
She had to get out of here. Too late, she realised she had left her cell phone in her bag in the drawing room.
She clambered to her feet. She would ask William to drop her home but when she got back to the drawing room, Jules was alone. He smiled without warmth, offering her a glass of scotch. She shook her head.
‘William had to leave suddenly,’ Jules explained and Jess knew he had asked the older man to go so they could be alone.
There was a long silence then Jules smirked. ‘So…it just leaves us, Jessica.’ His meaning was revolting clear and Jess lost her temper.
‘There is no ‘us’ Jules!’ Anger rippled through her, overwhelming the fear. ‘Why don’t you get that? Stop trying to tell me what to do with my life.’
She got up but he was beside her immediately, gripping her arms and pulling him to her. ‘Fucking ungrateful little whore.’
She wrenched her arm from his grip. ‘I’m sick of people trying to tell me what they think I should do with my life, especially you.’
‘If I was Theo Storm, it would be a different story. You let him climb all over that beautiful body of yours, fuck you senseless. Do you think I can’t see it on you? Smell him on you?’ Jules’s voice was bitter but underneath that there was something else, something that made her blood pump. A menace. She turned to face him, wary now.
‘I love him. He loves me. He knows me, Jules, he wants to know me. He doesn’t just take and take. We’re not even blood, me and you. Who do you think you are?’
Jules’s eyes narrowed and he stepped towards her. ‘I’m your family, Jessica. Your only family. Don’t you have any loyalty?’
‘Loyalty to whom?’ Jess laughed without humour. ‘You? The man who molested me constantly before I was able to get away? When I was a child? The man who continues to threaten and control my life.’
Jules put his head on the side, a small smile playing around his mouth. ‘Did I threaten you, Jess? Or was it just your imagination? Or your desire?’
Jess sighed. ‘I’m not playing these games anymore, Jules. I’m tired.’
‘I’m the only family you have now, Jessica.’
Jess ’s chin lifted. ‘It doesn’t give you the right to lay claim to me. Let me just go home, Jules. Please. I have to get back.’
‘What if I won’t?’
Her gaze was cold. ‘Won’t what?’
‘Let you go home.’ The terror came screeching back. His smile was humour
less, his eyes fixed on hers. Jess’s hands flexed, she took a deep breath, trying to stop the fear from overwhelming her. In its place was a fire, something burning inside of her, something that overpowered everything else. Anger. Suddenly, she wanted to goad him, pick a fight. Adrenalin surge through her, she could taste metal in her mouth. Reckless. She ignored that thought and returned his cold smile.
‘What do you imagine will happen if you don’t? What do you have planned, Jules? More knife games? More threats?’ She got into his face, ignoring the fear that spiked in her gut. ‘More rape?’ Her voice was a whisper but she hissed the word at him.
He moved too quickly then, slamming her back against the wall. She yelped in pain and he covered her mouth with his hand. ‘If you like, Jessica,’ he hissed, his mouth an inch from her face. He tugged up her skirt and desperate, she struggled with him. She managed to drive her knee into his groin and as hr groaned, she darted away. He grabbed her by the hair and threw her to the ground, spread-eagling himself over her.
The knife in his hand seemed to come from nowhere. Jess felt him press the tip against the thin cotton of her dress and for once, she was furious rather than scared. She looked him straight in the eye, a grim smile on her face.
‘Do it,’ she said, challenging him, ‘Kill me. Run me through. Stab me to death. I’d rather that a million times over than your revolting prick inside me ever again.’
The pressure increased and she felt the nick of steel in her skin. Jules was breathing heavily, his eyes crazed, sweat pouring down his contorted face. Time stopped for a long moment then with a roar, Jules cast the knife aside and started to push her dress up past her hips, tugging at her panties. Jess screamed – no, no, no, no – but Jules was unrelenting.
Then someone else screamed. Jules stopped and Jess, sobbing, pushed him away and clambered over to the shell-shocked, deathly pale Camilla, who stood in the doorway. The older woman enveloped Jess in her arms, staring at Jules as if he was the devil.
Quartet Complete Series: Billionaire Romance Box Set (An Alpha Billionaire Romance) Page 158
