by Aspen Grey
“You saw that too?”
“Kid’s always creeped me out,” he replied. “You ever get the feeling he might be a sociopath or something?”
“I never thought about it like that,” I told him. “But he’s had his eye on me for a while, I know that.”
I moved the top binder aside to reveal the red one Jamie had indicated to, and saw a small scrap of orange paper poking out the side. I pulled it out and unfolded it to find a handwritten note.
“What is it?” Dominic asked.
“Dear, Mr. Greyson,” I read out loud. It was clearly Jamie’s handwriting. “I would very much like to talk to you about something this evening over dinner. It affects not only you and me, but the future of this firm as well. See you at your place at seven thirty.”
Well, isn’t that something…
“Aggressive little fucker, isn’t he?” Dominic laughed.
“Yeah…” I said slowly. It was strange. This didn’t seem like Jamie’s normal behavior. He wasn’t shy about saying things to me in person, so why the letter?
“The future of the firm?” I repeated. “What the Hell does that mean?”
“It’s bullshit,” Dominic scoffed, getting to his feet and stretching. From the looks of him, he’d had another hard night out on the town last night and was running high on about six cups of coffee.
“He’s just gonna show up at my house again when I already told him not to do that,” I sighed, setting the letter down. “We might have a problem here. This guy clearly doesn’t understand boundaries.”
“Want me to fire him?” Dominic shrugged. Dominic loved firing people. Some people lived their lives to avoid conflict, but Dominic relished it, almost sought it out in his personal life. Nothing made his day like being able to send a substandard employee packing. “Cause I will!”
“No, that’s okay, Dom,” I told him. “I’ll have a talk with him tonight, see if he gets the message. If not, you can have your fun.”
Dom chuckled and threw a few play punches in the air. “You know your problem, Cole, ol’ buddy? You’re too soft.”
“Yeah?” I laughed. “Ask your mom what she thinks about that.”
We both chuckled and Dom headed out to finish up his day, but once he was gone, I sat back in my chair and stared up at the ceiling for a long time thinking. Jamie’s behavior was definitely strange, but was he actually dangerous? Or crazy like Dominic was implying?
He was young, obviously horny and lacking in social graces, but I didn’t think he was a real danger to anybody. But that line about the “future of the firm” was getting to me.
“Fuck,” I muttered, picking up my phone. “Okay, Jamie. One dinner. You fuck this up and I’m gonna sic Dominic on you.”
I wrote a text to Keiran: Jamie’s coming for dinner. Just to let you know. Should be fun…
I held my phone and waited for his reply. Normally he had his phone on him at all times and texted right back, but five minutes went by without a response.
You there? I wrote. Moments later, he replied.
Okay! Should be fun. See you at seven thirty!
“Yeah,” I groaned. “Should be fun.”
21
Cole
Just the sight of my house, and knowing my mate was inside waiting for me, was enough to erase most of the stress of the day away. I parked and took the stairs and opened the front door.
“Honey, I’m home!” I called out, smiling as I kicked off my shoes. “Sorry, I’m late. Bunch of bullshit at work. We’ve only got a half hour until Jamie gets here!”
Loosening my tie, I made my way to the kitchen, expecting to find him hard at work at the stove, or watching a pot simmering, but to my surprise, the kitchen was empty and it didn’t look like it had been touched all day.
“What are we doing? Take-out?” I laughed, heading down the hall to the bedroom. “Babe?”
But the bedroom was empty too. I checked the bathroom. Maybe he was freshening up. But it was also empty. I’d never come home to an empty house before. Maybe he was downstairs with Mikey.
Quickly, feeling my heartbeat starting to increase, I made my way downstairs into Mikey’s room, and what I saw froze me in place.
The entire room looked like it had been ransacked. The mattress was flipped over and leaning up against the wall, the closet door was half off its hinges and some of Mikey’s clothes were thrown around the room at random like someone had been searching through them for something.
And then on the floor...a small bloodstain. My heart almost leapt from my chest.
“Keiran!?” I shouted. “Keiran!?”
I heard the sound of the front door opening. In a flash, I was upstairs, expecting to find the face of my mate, but instead, I found myself face to face with Jamie.
“Mr. Greyson,” he smiled.
“Fuck,” I groaned, checking my watch. It was barely even seven o’clock. “What the Hell are you doing here? It’s not even close to seven thirty.”
“That’s okay,” he said simply. “This time will do just fine.”
What? My eyes narrowed as I looked at him. There was something odd about the way he was acting, and letting himself into my house was a brazen move, even for him. The same feeling I’d gotten at the office came over me as he stared at me. There was something in his gaze that was just…off.
“What’s going on, Jamie?” I asked him. “I’m really busy right now, and I can’t find Keiran.”
“Keiran’s just fine,” Jamie replied. “And if you play your cards right, he will stay that way.”
My fox moved within me. I felt my fangs extend as I realized my situation – Jamie was not my friend. He was not just a harmless guy with a crush. Dominic was right. He was a sociopath.
“Why don’t we go into the living room?” he asked, but didn’t even bother waiting for a reply. He brushed right past me like he owned the place. It took everything I had not to jump on him right there, but I didn’t even know what was happening yet. It didn’t matter what it happened to be, but if he had done something with Keiran, my omega, I needed to be very careful.
“Just what the fuck is going on, Jamie?” I asked him as we came into the living room. Jamie stretched his arms above his head and cracked his neck like I hadn’t just asked him a question. “Jamie!”
Slowly, he turned and looked at me.
“Why couldn’t you have just gone out with me that night I asked you?” he said calmly.
“What?”
“That night at your office,” he continued. “Remember when I told you some of us were going out?”
He stood there waiting for my reply, arms firmly crossed across his chest like he was the most powerful man in the world.
“Yes, Jamie. I remember. Do you remember what I told you?”
“Ah, yes,” he scoffed, sighing deeply and slumping down on one of the couches. “Some nonsense about not wanting to mix work and pleasure or something like that, the typical bullshit.”
I was shocked. Stunned. This was not the Jamie I knew. It was almost as though he had a secret twin or something and that’s who I was talking to. His body language, posture, even the tone of his voice had changed. He was behaving like someone who knew he has power over me.
“What have you done with Keiran?” I hissed, flicking my tongue back and forth over the tips of my fangs. Every instinct inside me was telling me to tear him limb from limb, but I needed answers.
“Mikey has him,” he laughed. “In a secure place. And he will be returned to you once certain conditions have been met.”
My fox was crying out. I was fighting the urge to shift and snap my jaws down on his neck. Keiran was everything – my entire life. Without him, everything was meaningless. The case. The firm. Everything. And now Jamie had done something with him.
“What is this?” I said slowly. “A kidnapping? Extortion?”
“Yup,” Jamie smiled, shrugging innocently. I couldn’t believe the audacity. “I thought I could get in with you the old-fashioned way. Get you t
o like me, maybe be a sugar daddy or something. But you were pretty hard-lined with your work and play rules, so I knew I had to find another way.”
My hands clenched at my sides. Every muscle in my body was taut, coiled and ready to strike. Adrenaline was coursing through my body and my heart was pounding like a heavy bass rhythm.
“You’re going to win this case,” he continued, completely unfazed. “It’s going to be a lot of money. More than you could ever spend. And when you do, you’re going to write me a bonus check for all my hard work. It’s going to be equal to five percent of the settlement. It’ll be enough to last me for the rest of my life. Once the check clears and I am gone from Los Angeles, then, and only then, will I tell you where to find your beloved mate.”
That was it. I lost control. Lunging forward, I snatched the little bastard by the throat and squeezed, lifting him off his feet into the air.
“You son of a bitch!” I screamed as his feet swung helplessly above the floor. “How about I beat the shit out of you until you tell me where he is?”
I hurled him to the floor. He hit hard and skidded across to the other wall. I heard him gasp, but he lay there a moment, then pulled his phone from his pocket.
“See this?” he asked me. “I have to call Mikey and check in every hour to let him know I’m okay. If I’m not okay – let’s just say your omega won’t be either.”
My chest was heaving. Every muscle in my body was on high alert. My mind was racing as I stared down at Jamie with all the hatred in the world.
What the fuck am I going to do?
The smile that came over Jamie’s face made me want to tear his head off. He thought he had me – and he did. But as I stared down at him, I felt my cell phone vibrate in my pocket, and an idea popped into my mind, one that would wipe that smile off Jamie’s face once and for all.
“I have to use the bathroom,” I told him.
22
Keiran
“I can’t believe you!” I shouted across the storage unit where Mikey was slouched in an old office chair. My wrists were cuffed and secured to a hook on the wall above my head. I’d been shouting at him ever since he’d taken the gag out of my mouth, and I knew if I kept yelling he’d put it back, but I just couldn’t control myself. I was feeling so utterly betrayed that I simply couldn’t contain my emotions.
“Be quiet,” Mikey snapped, spinning the key to my handcuffs around his index finger. “I’m not going to tell you again.”
“Cole took you in! He saved you from that alpha at the motel! And this is how you repay him? By kidnapping me?”
Mikey twisted uncomfortably in his chair, still avoiding my gaze. He hadn’t looked at me in a long time, and I wasn’t sure if it was because he was ashamed of what he was doing, or because he legitimately hated me. How could he do this after all we’d done for him?
“Stop being dramatic,” he finally replied. “Cole will give in, pay Jamie and you’ll be back in his fucking mansion in no time.”
“Is that what this is about?” I asked. “Jealousy? You’re jealous of me for living in Cole’s house with him? Jealous of his money?”
He sure didn’t look happy. Whatever was going on, it wasn’t as simple as it seemed. But I didn’t care. The cold metal of the cuffs were cutting into my wrists and I had to go to the bathroom. But as bad as I was feeling, I couldn’t even imagine what Cole was going through.
He had no idea where I was, and if what Mikey had told me was right, Jamie was breaking the news to him right now.
“Mikey, talk to me,” I pleaded with him, maneuvering onto my other side that wasn’t quite as sore yet. The concrete was unforgiving and absolutely freezing beneath me. The storage unit he’d taken me to was climate-controlled, which I guess meant keeping everything below sixty degrees. “Why are you doing this? This isn’t you!”
“Shut up!” he shouted, getting to his feet. I flinched as he stepped over to me, expecting him to hit me, but he just stood there, looking angrily down at me. “You don’t know me, Keiran! As much as you think you do – you don’t! You don’t know what I am capable of, so just do me a favor and keep your mouth shut!”
He turned around and moved back to his chair, slumping down like a man that was at the brink of exhaustion. There was more going on here than I knew, but one thing was for sure, he wasn’t talking.
And who the Hell was this Jamie he’d told me about? The only thing I knew was he was someone who worked at Cole’s office. He’d mentioned him once or twice in an offhand way, saying he’d come onto him or something, but that was it. It seemed like he was just some innocent intern with a crush, and now he was orchestrating some elaborate plot to kidnap me and extort money from Cole?
None of this made any sense.
I’d been washing up and getting ready to start dinner when he’d come for me. He was quieter than normal, but I smelled him from miles away. I figured he’d just been trying to scare me or something, but when I turned around and saw the Taser in his hand – well, I didn’t even have time to react.
Only after I woke up was I able to remember the pain of the shock he’d given me. I’d come to on the floor where I was sitting now, unable to understand what had happened to me. Slowly, fragments of the attack came back to me, and when I saw him sitting calmly in the chair on the opposite end of the unit, I understood what had happened.
Well, I knew what had happened, I just didn’t know why.
Mikey looked miserable, not like a guy who was on the verge of hitting a big payday. This whole thing was like something out of a movie, so I thought about all the villains I’d seen in movies and how they’d behave in a situation like this.
Wouldn’t he be gloating? Arrogant and sure of himself? Just waiting for the call from his partner that would confirm their plan had succeeded? But Mikey was just sitting there. It was almost as though he and I were being held hostage together…
Suddenly, a realization came over me and I sat up the best I could.
“Mikey,” I said slowly, trying not to upset him anymore. “What’s he got on you?”
The key stopped spinning around Mikey’s finger. He sat there motionless for a long time before speaking.
“My mother…” he said. His voice was quivering, like he was on the verge of breaking down.
“He has your mother? Did he kidnap her too?”
“No, it’s not like that,” he replied, shaking his head.
“What is it, Mikey?”
“It doesn’t matter,” he said, sitting back and clearing his throat. He was trying to maintain composure. I was onto something. If I pressed him, there was a chance he’d explode on me, but somehow, I still didn’t think he would hurt me.
“It does matter, Mikey,” I pressed him. “Come on, tell me. Maybe – maybe Cole and I can help you.”
“You can’t,” he muttered.
“You don’t know that,” I told him. “Mikey…I’m pregnant, Mikey! I’m going to have Cole’s baby!”
“You think I don’t know that?” he shouted, getting to his feet again. “You think I want to be doing this? It’s killing me!”
“So what is it?” I shouted back. “Why are you doing this?”
“He found my daughter!” he roared. Tears spilled from his eyes and he collapsed to his knees. His shoulders heaved as he sobbed silently in front of me. Wet dots formed on the concrete where his tears fell, and even though he’d betrayed my trust and done something horrible to me, I felt bad for him.
“Talk to me, Mikey,” I pleaded. “We can help you.”
“I had a daughter,” he said softly, his voice barely audible. “It was a mistake. I got pregnant and I was way too young. I don’t even know who the father is. I could have gotten it taken care of, but I kept her. I just couldn’t do it. I had her, and – and I tried to be the best father I could…”
His voice trailed off, and I saw the pain pouring out of him. Despite what he’d done to me, it broke my heart to see him that way. Maybe I was being stupid, but ev
en after what he’d done, I still cared for him.
“I got into drugs, the life and all that goes along with it,” he went on. “I neglected her, and when she turned twelve…she ran away.”
“Mikey…”
“Or someone stole her from me,” he shrugged miserably, wiping the tears from his face. “But I haven’t seen her since. Do you know what it’s like to feel like a failure as a parent? Of course you don’t. But you’re pregnant. Imagine what you would do if you had your baby, and you completely failed as a father. Can you imagine how you would feel?”
“Yes,” I told him, feeling the tears welling up in my own eyes. “It would be unbearable.”
“Jamie found her, Keiran,” he told me, almost looking to me for support. He needed me to understand. “I don’t know how, but he found her, and if I ever want to see her again, I have to do what he says.”
“We can help you, Mikey,” I told him, inching as close to him as I could. “Cole and I – we can find your daughter and get her back! You just have to let me go and we can help you!
I saw the conflict in his eyes. He was listening to me now. This is why he didn’t want me to speak earlier. None of this was his idea, and he didn’t want to give me a chance to change his mind.
“H – how can you help me?” he asked.
I opened my mouth to respond, but before I could, Mikey’s phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out and answered.
“Yes,” he muttered. I couldn’t hear who was on the other end, but I could guess. “Yes, everything’s good on this end. No, no problems. Okay.”
He hung up, slid the phone back into his pants and hung his head.
“I’m sorry, Keiran,” he replied. I felt my heart sink. “I can’t. I just can’t help you.”
23
Cole
If Dominic hadn’t brought up his private investigator friend earlier in the day, I might not have realized the way out of this.
