by Roxy Sloane
I try to hide my fear. “Pleased to meet you too, Mr. Ridley.”
Those shark’s eyes register shock. He covers with a chuckle. “I thought I was anonymous.” Ridley shoots Carter an annoyed look.
“I’ve done my research.” I fake a smile. “After all, the future of Ashcroft Industries is on the line.”
“How thorough.” Ridley nods. “So, what can I do for you? We have an important meeting at three.”
“Yes, it’s about that.” I pause, looking over at Carter. “Can we talk in private?”
Ridley shrugs. “Why not? Go take a walk,” he tells Carter, who looks pissed, but follows the order.
The door closes behind him. We’re left alone.
“Drink?” Ridley offers me.
“Just water, thanks.”
I take a seat on the couch and carefully cross my legs. So far, it’s going to plan. I concentrate on taking even breaths and wonder how I can possibly turn the conversation to twenty-five years ago.
Ridley pours me a glass from the crystal jug on the bar. I take it and sip. Then he sits opposite and regards me with that cutting stare.
“I suppose you’re here to beg for a cash deal like your brother did,” he says with a faint sneer. “What’s your price for rolling over and acting nice for the board?”
“Brent is not my brother,” I say harshly. “And I’m not here to beg. I have something of value to you. That makes it a negotiation.”
Ridley slowly smiles. “You’ve got some balls, walking in here and asking for anything. The vote’s already sewn up.”
I hold his stare. “That’s because they don’t know you’re behind the bid. I wonder what the board will say when they find out Ashcroft’s former partner is trying to buy them.”
Ridley stops. “He told you about me? I thought the old man wrote me out of the history books.”
I think fast. Ridley doesn’t know Ashcroft kept his secrets -- or that we barely spoke about the company before he died. Maybe I can use it, call his bluff.
“My father told me everything,” I lie, my heart racing at double speed. “Before he died, he explained everything that happened with you, and Jack Vaughn and the company. He wanted me to be prepared. He knew you’d be back to try and finish the job.”
Ridley’s scowl deepens. He gets up, and starts pacing.
“So why are you here? If you know everything, why haven’t I gotten a visit from the cops?”
I watch him, my excitement growing. He’s rattled. I just need to push him into revealing what really happened, so we have it on tape.
“I figure it might be more valuable to keep it to myself,” I say. “If you make it worth my while.”
Ridley gives me a sharp look. “So that’s what you’re playing at. You’re just like Brent, after all.”
I shrug, and try to look like a spoiled socialite. “Hey, I’m just looking out for my future. I’ve gotten a taste of the good life. I’m in no hurry to go back to filing and fetching coffee.”
“You’re playing a dangerous game.” Ridley steps closer. “You know what I do to people who stand in my way.”
“Is that why you threatened my mother and Jack Vaughn?” I ask, crossing my fingers at my side. “You needed to keep Ashcroft in line?”
Ridley grinned. “That’s the number one rule of business. Find out what someone cares about, and use it against them.”
I feel a flash of anger. So many lives destroyed, and he’s bragging like it’s a good thing. I fight to stay cool. We still need a confession.
“You did that well,” I say, trying to sound impressed. “But then Ashcroft sent them away. That kind of screwed your leverage.”
Ridley scowls again. “He was too self-sacrificing for his own good. All he had to do was turn a blind eye and let the shipments through. Good money for nothing, but he had to take the high road.”
Shipments? I take a wild guess. “Drugs, wasn’t it?” I say casually.
“Yeah, coke and meth too. I had the trucking network all there, a couple of big deals and I would have owned the whole region.” Ridley shakes his head. “But your father found out I was using his drivers to move product. He shut the whole thing down, threatened to go to the cops.”
“So you hit back and threatened the people he loved most,” I say quietly.
Ridley nods. “Thought I had the upper hand too. He wasn’t going to shop me to the cops. They would have seized the company, tied the whole thing up in investigations ‘til we went broke. But then he set the fucking IRS on me instead. I was lucky tax evasion was all they got me for. A few years in a country club jail upstate. I did the time and planned my next moves.”
“And now here you are.”
“Here I am.” Ridley grins, a cruel smile. “Outlived him, after all. Shame,” he snorts. “I’d like to see his face now, when I take control of his precious company.”
My heart is pounding. We have him on tape now confessing to drug trafficking, but will it be enough?
“And what about Jack Vaughn?” I say.
Ridley narrows his eyes. “What about him?”
“It was pretty convenient, wasn’t it?” I ask. My hands are shaking, so I grip my water glass tighter. “The suicide, I mean. He was the third partner. He had access to everything. You didn’t know if he’d uncovered your plan. Once Ashcroft fired him, he could have gone straight to the cops, he didn’t care about the company’s reputation anymore. You don’t seem like the kind of guy to take the risk.”
I’m bluffing like crazy, saying the first thing that pops into my mind.
Ridley’s face darkens. “You’re sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong.”
“Yes, but it’s true though, isn’t it?” I push him, holding back my fear. There’s something dangerous in his eyes, but I have to know the truth. I need it, for Vaughn, for our future. “Jack Vaughn went crazy after he left the company. He was erratic, depressed. Who knew what he’d say?”
“Lady, back off,” Ridley growls, advancing. “You’ve already taken one tumble. I can send Carter to get it right this time.”
Carter was the one who pushed me? I’m shocked, but I can’t stop. Ridley’s close to the edge, I can see it. But I need to push him over.
I get to my feet, my heart racing. “You did it before, didn’t you?” I continue, “With that witness. I heard the stories, it was just the same. A shotgun in his mouth, no note, nothing. They all believed it was suicide, but it wasn’t was it? And neither was Jack Vaughn.”
“What the fuck do you want me to say?” Ridley snapped. “That I killed him? Sure, I took out the Vaughn fucker. He was a threat, and so I put him away. And you better shut the hell up about this unless you want to find out exactly what I do to people who stand in my way.”
He grabs me by the throat and shoves me back. I try to scream, but he’s cutting off my air. I gasp for breath, but there’s no time to think before the door slams open with a crash and then Vaughn is on him, dragging him back with murder in his eyes.
16
VAUGHN
I choke the son of a bitch with everything I have.
“What did you do?” I yell, shaking him. “What did you do to my father?”
His words to Keely spin around my head, a red haze of anger.
I took out the Vaughn fucker. He was a threat, and so I put him away.
All this time, I thought my father chose the coward’s way out. I blamed him for leaving us. I hated him for everything.
All this time, I was wrong.
“You killed him!” I pull back my fist and slam it into Ridley’s face. It smashes against his bone with a satisfying crack. “I’m going to make you fucking pay!”
I throw him down against the ground. Keely screams, but all I hear is the roar of blood pounding in my skull. I kick him hard in the gut, then drag his head up to meet my fists again.
Ridley is no match for my fury. He can’t even put his hands up before I’m whaling on him again. I rain down angry blows into hi
s face and torso, hitting him with twenty years of anger and pain. Bones break, blood pours from a gash on his face, teeth fly out. I don’t stop.
“I’ll kill you,” I vow, closing my hands around his throat. I squeeze hard, crushing his windpipe, making his eyes bug out in fear. “I’ll fucking kill you!”
“Vaughn!” Keely is screaming behind me. “Vaughn, please stop!”
I squeeze harder, watching him gasp for his last breaths. That’s right, bastard. See how you like it now. I won’t let you go quickly, like my father: one shot and his brains painted over the back of the garage. No, you’ll die slowly, struggling for every minute.
I want to make it hurt.
“Vaughn!” Hands close around my body, trying to drag me back. Keely pulls at me, begging. “Please, let him go. Don’t do this!”
“You heard him,” I pant, hanging on. “You know what he did.”
“And you’ll be just like him!” Keely is sobbing now. She goes on her knees beside me, forcing me to look at her. Her eyes are filled with tears, begging me. “Vaughn, you have to let him go. I can’t lose you too. I can’t watch you throw your life away like this!”
“But my father...” I’m dizzy, clinging to the only thing I know for sure. Vengeance, hot in my veins. Demanding justice for all Ridley’s crimes.
“Your father would want you to move on,” Keely pleads. “Not spend the rest of your life rotting in jail for murdering a man who doesn’t deserve the time of day. Vaughn, listen to me. I love you!” she cries, “Please, don’t leave me!”
Her words cut through the haze of fury. I look down at Ridley, thrashing weakly on the ground. “But I can’t just let him go.”
“You won’t.” Keely insists. “We’ve got him now, the confession. He’ll go back to prison, just like he should have all along. But if you do this, then you lose everything. We both will.”
I stare at her. She’s holding out her hands, trying to pull me away. To save me from making the worst mistake of my life.
Because it would be. Fuck. If I do this, he still wins. He still controls everything. He’s still calling the shots.
I release Ridley. He falls down with a wheeze, motionless and bleeding.
“I want to kill him,” I growl, shaking. “I want him dead.”
“I know, baby.” Keely pulls me into her arms, holding me tight. “I know you do.”
I feel a rush of emotion, breaking me wide open. All the bitterness, all the anger, it finally falls away. Everything that’s made me numb all these years.
“I love you too,” I tell Keely harshly. I grip her body to me, so fucking thankful that she’s here. She’s safe. “I swear I’ll never let anyone touch you again.”
“It’s OK,” she whispers, shaking in my arms. “Everything’s going to be OK.”
17
KEELY
The cops come to take our statements. The ambulance wheels Ridley away.
“He’ll be sucking through a tube the rest of his life,” I hear one of the paramedic mutter. I just hold tight to Vaughn, still not sure he won’t break away and try to make good his promise.
“Just a few more questions,” one of the cops says, but Cam interrupts.
“You’ll talk to them later, with a lawyer present. Mr. Vaughn was intervening to protect Miss Fawes. The audio recording will back up their statements.”
Cam ushers us downstairs and into a car. “Wait,” I say. “What about the board vote?”
“They haven’t heard yet.” He grins. “Brent is over there now, waiting to start. I figured you could tell him yourself.”
“Thank you,” I say. “For everything.”
“Hey, I’m just doing my job. See you tomorrow, boss?”
“Make that next week.” I give Vaughn an anxious look. He hasn’t said a word since the cops arrived. “I think we need some time.”
“Just give me a call. I’ll hold down the fort.” Cam nods.
We get into the car, and I instruct the driver to take us back to the offices.
“Are you OK?” I ask Vaughn softly. I take his hand, pressing it against my chest. “I know that was tough for you back there. But thank you, for listening. For stopping when you did.”
Vaughn takes a deep breath. “I would have done it,” he says quietly. “I couldn’t think straight. All I knew was that I had to make him suffer. I’ve never felt a violence like that before.”
“But you stopped,” I remind him firmly. “You didn’t cross that line.”
“But what if I had?” Vaughn looks at me bleakly. “What kind of man would that make me?”
“You’re a good man,” I argue. “You stopped. You did the right thing. I knew you would.”
He cradles my face. “How do you always see the best in me?” he asks, his voice ragged.
“Because you make me better too,” I whisper.
With a groan, Vaughn pulls me into his lap, claiming my mouth with a hard, desperate kiss. I fall against him, not caring about the driver on the other side of the partition. All that matters is right here: the lips possessing mine, the arms crushing me against his body, the thick hardness pressing into my hips.
He pulls back, gripping my face. “I need you,” he growls, “Fuck, Keely, I need everything.”
“It’s yours,” I swear, feeling a rush of wetness between my thighs. I reach between us, unbuckling his belt and unzipping his pants. His cock surges, hot and hard in my hands, and I feel a bolt of pure hunger claw deep inside. I close my hands around him, pumping along the thick shaft.
“Fuck,” Vaughn groans. He yanks my skirt up around my waist and shoves my panties aside, burying his fingers deep into my wetness. I cry out, arching back to thrust against his hand. He thrusts his fingers higher, leaning in to suck at my breast through the fabric of my blouse. His lips close around my nipple, he bites down and I gasp.
“Now,” I demand, shocked at the need that’s racing through me. “I need you, right now.”
A smile curls at Vaughn’s lips. God, he looks so good, so dangerously hot. “What are the magic words?” he teases, withdrawing his fingers. I whimper.
“Please!”
Vaughn circles my clit with swift, deadly strokes. Oh God.
“C’mon baby,” he urges, breath hot in my ears. “You know what I want to hear.” He rubs his cock against my lips, drenching them in my juices. I hang onto his shoulders, spreading my thighs wide.
“Fuck me,” I gasp, bucking at him desperately. “I need your cock deep inside me. I need every inch of you, buried all the way to the hilt. Fuck me hard, Vaughn, the way I like. Make me scream!”
“That’s my girl,” Vaughn groans. “My gorgeous, dirty girl.”
He grips my hips and then thrusts up with a roar, impaling me on all nine inches of his magnificent cock. I cry out, split wide open, feeling him fill me, so fucking thick. I rock down to meet him, clenching hard.
“Fuck!” Vaughn slams up into me again, so hard my breasts bounce with the force of his thrust. “Keely!”
I gasp for air, grinding down on him, needing every inch. I lift myself up and down on his cock, whimpering at the friction, God the way his cock rubs against my walls, it’s driving me crazy, pleasure crashing through me at every thrust.
“I’m coming,” I gasp, sinking down on his cock as he slams it up inside me. Pressure hits my clit, just right. Vaughn grips me tight, pinning me in place as his dick drives deep inside me. “Oh God, I’m going to come!”
“That’s right, baby.” Vaughn rocks his hips, plunging deeper, faster. “Because you can’t get enough of my dick. Your greedy little cunt wants it all. Take it, Keely, fuck me!”
I bounce faster, crying out with every stroke. The pleasure is curling tight between my thighs, I need release, God, I need it now!
“Look at me,” Vaughn demands, grabbing my face. He holds tight, just inches away. “Look at me, baby. I want to see you.”
I stare into his eyes, the dark, hot depths. They’re black with lust, full of fi
erce possession. The man I love.
Mine.
My climax rips through me with a scream. Vaughn grips my hips tighter and jerks up, spurting hot and deep inside me. “Fuck!” he yells, thrusting over and over, riding out my orgasm with new waves of pleasure until we’re both collapsed, spent in each other’s arms. “God, baby, you’re going to kill me,” Vaughn chuckles against me.
“Not if I die of pleasure first.” I breathe fast, my heart racing.
His voice comes low in my ear. “We’ve got the rest of our lives to test that out.”
Heat floods me, satisfaction and joy. “Promise me it’s over,” I whisper, “All the drama and pain.”
“Nothing but blue skies ahead.” Vaughn tucks me against him, the space in his arms I was made to fit. “Well... except for a couple of last loose ends...”
* * *
I have Brent and Carter fetched from the boardroom and sent to meet me in my office. “You tell the board the vote is off,” I instruct Cam, smiling. “Tell them their bidder is getting wheeled off on murder charges.”
“My pleasure.” Cam leaves, and I take my seat behind my desk, my heart racing.
“You look good back there.” Vaughn grins. “Like you belong.”
“I guess I do now.” I stroke the smooth cherry wood, looking around my office. “Who would have guessed that I’d wind up here, with you?”
“Your father did.” Vaughn crosses to stand beside me. He leans down to kiss the top of my head. “He made some mistakes, but in the end, he knew what he was doing, trusting you with this place.”
I blush. “And you,” I remind him. “He wanted you here beside me all along.”
There’s a noise at the door. Carter and Brent stride in, looking confused and pissed as hell.
“What the fuck’s going on?” Brent demands. “What is this, some kind of last-minute Hail Mary? I told you, we’ve got the votes locked down. Ridley won.”
“Ridley is currently in surgery with five broken ribs,” Vaughn growls, “And you better shut the hell up if you don’t want to wind up in the bed next to him.”
