Chapter Sixteen
Bo
I drive away knowing the plan has been set in motion. My phone rings as if it’s confirming what I already know.
“Hey Daddy.”
“Has everything been set in motion?”
“You know you can count on me. Everything’s on schedule.”
“It’s imperative everything goes smoothly.”
“Dad… I got this.”
“I’m proud of you boy. I know this job hasn’t been easy for you. You’ve proven yourself by putting your people first, even when your heart was on the line. I know what it is—loss. I felt it with your mother when she died. This is a death of sorts for you. You stay strong, boy, and finish this job. Your family’s got your back, and you’ve already proven you’ve got ours. Call me when the job’s done.”
I hang up clutching the package in the seat next to me. Perfect timing as I pull into the post office to overnight it. There’s just one more thing to do. It won’t be easy, and I’m going to have to be on top of my game to pull off the final act of vengeance—the coup de grace to be savored and celebrated. It will be my final act of securing what’s mine. Telling a man like me no is never an option.
Chapter Seventeen
Ashleigh
It’s been great to be back home. What I really need though is a night out with my girl, Stephanie.
I take one last look in the mirror before I make my way out the door to the cab I’m catching. I plan on doing plenty of drinking, and I won’t be driving under the influence.
I settle into the backseat of the cab and watch as neighborhoods turn from suburbs to city streets. I told Stephanie I didn’t want to hit anything but the gay bars tonight. I want to see some drag queen shows, and the last thing I want to deal with is any men.
I’m not in the mood to have my good time interrupted every five minutes by guys wanting to dance, or worse yet, looking for a hook-up.
I tip the driver and decide to get his card in case I decide to use him later. Cab driver or not, I’m not in the trusting men kind of mood. At least if I use him later, I know what I’m getting, and he knows how to get me back home.
“Do you have a card so I can call you to take me home when the evening wraps up?”
“Sure do, ma’am. Here ya go,” he says, handing me his card. I toss it in the large bag I’m carrying—I never can do clutches. You never know when a story might present itself, so I’ve always got notebooks, a tablet and numerous pens. No clutch can carry all the stuff I’m convinced I need. I hand him a large tip, not only because he’s been a great driver, but because it will insure I get him later when I’m tipsy and ready to get home.
“Get out of the cab, girl,” Stephanie bellows out as she jerks open the car door.
“You act like you started without me.”
“You know I did. I’ve got our seats right up by the stage, and the show’s starting. Hurry-up.”
She grabs my arm pulling me out, and I say goodbye to the driver over my shoulder, though I doubt he heard me. No doubt he’s on his way to the next call. It’s Friday night, so I’m sure he’ll be busy—hope I can get him later.
Bo
Watching her when she’s unaware is like going home. It is my drug of choice, the place I belong, and the way I need to feel. I’m in my element standing here in the shadows. I’ve been following them all night, and they’re completely unaware.
I smile when I think about her decision to make the gay bar circuit her choice of bars to party in. Boy… she must really be mad at the male human race. A definite reverse on the misogynistic assholes like her ex-boss she’s had to deal with. I know she’s pissed at me, but she can never accuse me of not loving and respecting strong women. This has just been a fucked up mess for us. Now I just have to make her see things my way. My cock stirs just thinking about it.
She looks so damn good tonight in that black dress she’s wearing. I’d be willing to bet those stockings with the seam up the back of them are thigh highs. Visions of pressing her against the wall, ripping her panties off, and forcing her hands above her head while I fuck her fully clothed, threaten to give me a full on raging boner.
Watching her dance and laugh with her best friend is refreshing. It’s been so long since I’ve seen her smile. Any amount of time seeing her stressed is too long for me. I hate knowing I’m part of the reason for the pain she suffers. It isn’t fair to her that she was thrown in this mess against her will.
Finally, after they’ve hit every gay bar in town, they say their goodnights and Stephanie makes her way out to get a cab.
Ashleigh makes her way to the bathroom and I follow behind her. I find a place in the darkened hallway and wait for my opportunity. This… is going to be fun.
When she comes out of the bathroom she’s holding her shoes swinging them between two fingers. I can tell she’s drunk because she’s staggering a little bit. I wait until she makes her way out the back door, and I follow behind her. It’s a good thing I’m the one stalking her because she’s not paying attention. It pisses me off that she has her guard down. I use the anger to fuel my attack. I grab her from behind and use my hand as a gag, placing it over her mouth and pinching down on her nose to take her breath away. I press down on her carotid with my other hand and she’s out long enough for me to toss her in the van I purchased just for her. I bind her arms and ankles with duct tape and place a strip across her mouth to keep her quiet.
I‘m an hour and a half away from making her mine for good. Playing nice is no longer an option.
Chapter Eighteen
Ashleigh
I stagger against the wall when I come down the darkened hallway. I need to go ahead and call this cab and get my ass home. This liquor seems to have hit me all at once, and though I’m not drunk, I can still tell my faculties are definitely affected. I can feel myself weaving as I head to the back door to make my way out to call the cab. The front of this place is so congested I don’t even think the poor guy would be able to find me, much less be able to pull in and pick me up.
The cool night air feels good hitting my senses and is helping me to get past the fog of too much drinking.
“Not one fucking word!” The hand clamped over my mouth, and the fingers plugging my nose, send panic through me.
“That’s it. Just be a good girl so I don’t have to use this chloroform. We both know what a nasty headache you’ll have in the morning if you don’t comply.” Something in his voice causes me to relax and just shake my head in compliance. I guess he’s not convinced because I feel his finger rest over the vein in my neck. It’s like he pauses for just a second to purposely feel the thrumming beneath his finger. Before I have time to process what’s happening, everything goes black.
When I do wake up, I’ve been thrown into the back of a van, bound, gagged and at the mercy of my abductor. I’m glad about the liquor in my system that’s keeping me from having an anxiety attack. The movement of the van causes me to close my eyes and give into the rocking that puts me to sleep. I know how to handle my abductor—give in to him.
Bo
A weight’s lifted off of me knowing she’s in my possession. Not having her was making me crazy. I’ll never let her go. I don’t care if I have to keep her under lock and key. I will. The sinking ache in my chest of not having her is something I can never go through again—ever.
I’m not worried about my father. If anybody understands taking a woman captive to ensure keeping her—he does. You can’t grow up in a family like mine and not be a stalker. When we love, we obsess. We love like crazy until it gets in our bones, fucks with our minds, and takes over our soul.
I never counted on this—wasn’t looking for it. She came in like a bolt of lightning intent on its target, and I am a man who’s thunderstruck.
Up until now, I fucked who I wanted—when I wanted. It was nothing more than getting laid to meet my needs. Since I met her there’s no one else for me. I have to keep her, I have no choice. She’s in my he
ad like some vice grip holding me in her clutches. My thoughts are centered on her, and my emotions are bound by her—not a chain on me, yet she holds me captive.
The hour and a half ride goes by quickly enough. When I pull up to the cabin, it’s like coming home. I’m in my element now. She doesn’t stand a chance.
I take her from the van and toss her over my shoulder. I lift her dress up and smack her ass just because I can. She’s screaming at me through the gag. I have to tighten my grip on her to keep from dropping her when I unlock the cabin door.
I toss her down on the bed and rip the duct tape from her lips.
“Are you fucking crazy?”
“You know I am, girl. You made me this way. It’s all your fault.” I free up her hands and leave her to the tape around her ankles, while I grab a bottle of wine and two glasses.
“It wasn’t supposed to be like this. This isn’t what we agreed on.”
“You know me… go out with a bang. I couldn’t very well pass up an opportunity to kidnap you. It’s asking too much—the temptation was just too great.”
I make my way back over to her and hand her a glass of wine. “I’m sure you don’t need this, but we have to toast the job we just pulled off. You are one hell of a partner.”
I clink my glass against hers. “To pulling off the best mind-fuck ever.”
“It isn’t over yet.”
“The package is on the way. He redid the books and gave me the old ones. My dad told him he was going to put a hit on him if he didn’t get his name off those documents.”
“There’s still the last stage.”
“Would you stop already? Everything’s going to be fine. If anything goes wrong… I’ll cut him loose in the woods and play with him before I feed him to the gators.”
“Spoken like a true Cajun.”
“Through and through, baby girl. Through and through.”
Ashleigh
I wake up in the middle of the night with his face buried between my legs. He picks up the chain, shaking it to taunt me, and then lays it gently on my stomach.
“Nice chain.” He looks up at me through hooded eyes and then goes back to working his magic. His flattened tongue running over my clit puts every nerve in my body on high alert.
My fingers clench in his hair in desperation when he uses the tip of his tongue to rapidly flick over my clit back and forth. I can feel how wet I am when he slips two fingers inside me. I’m pleading with him to let me come—begging him like my life depends on riding out this orgasm.
“Give it to me, baby. I want it all.” He growls. I can feel myself climbing higher and higher. When I feel like the need in me is so overwhelming that it’s torment, I finally go over the edge, crashing into the satisfaction that only he can give me.
I feel like I’m melted into the bed. He gets up, loosening me from the chain that holds me. He roughly flips me over on all fours, pulling my body to the edge of the bed. My fingers clench into the sheets when he thrusts into me so hard it pushes me down into the bed. My body explodes when he begins rotating his hips in a circular motion, hitting all the right places. This isn’t him making love to me. There’s nothing gentle about it. This is a man who has been denied and now he’s taking what’s his. I’m more than happy to let him use my body to satisfy his lust for me. He falls over me exhausted, and we drift off to sleep exactly where we belong—in each other’s arms.
I don’t know what the future holds. All I do know is, we’ll be facing it together.
Epilogue
“Are you ready? I’m gonna pull it out. It might go spewing everywhere. Hey, that’s an idea. I can pour it all over you and then lick it off.”
“Just open the damn champagne already. This is supposed to be a celebration.”
“We’re the only two people I know who will celebrate a death.”
“Well, at least you can say you were right—Donald Marks got killed in prison. Do you think your daddy put out a hit on him?”
“I know my daddy put out a hit on him. Lozado’s not the man you want to steal from. My daddy wants to know when you’re gonna marry me, girl.”
“Is that your idea of a romantic proposal?”
“Would you marry me?”
“Let’s just get through the aftershocks of all we’ve been through.”
“We’re stable. I’ve moved to Louisville to be with you. My daddy got you that job at Ricardo Ramirez’s television station. I’m still getting used to seeing you on primetime TV. Marry me, girl.”
I watch Bo as he opens a small black box inscribed with Glazov’s Jeweler in gold lettering. The diamond is a huge yellow diamond.
“It’s a canary diamond. Glazov said it’s very rare—rare like you, babe. Marry me.”
The look in his eyes is one I’ve never seen before. It’s a mixture of anticipation and worry. I stick my finger out shaking my head. “You make it hard to say no.”
“Its eight carats baby—the number for new beginnings.”
I never would have thought my life would go this way, but it has, and I have no regrets. I’m ready to forge into the future. He pulls me in, kissing me hard yet tender, and I still get butterflies in my stomach. Yeah… I’m ready to make a life with him. It might be crazy. It might be dangerous. One thing’s for sure: it won’t be boring.
The End.
I eye the shadowy figure looming over me. Everything in me wants to scream out that it isn't fair he knows all of me--so I do. It isn't fair he's had months to stalk me like prey. Like a game of chess, he's calculated every move. I am blinded by the darkness in this place I've come to term as the cellar. Now, I feel as if that same darkness inhabits my soul. I want to scream, to fight, to lash out--so I do. He has robbed me of my freedom and my control. He will never rob me of my will to fight...
Look for Cellar Door, available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Suzanne-Steele/e/B00C9L6YRQ
Vanished (A Born Bayou Novella) Page 7
