by J. S. Scott
END
Read more of Julie and Eric’s story in WRAPPED Book 2.
Julie slid a trembling finger across the screen of her phone, picked the message from the unfamiliar number and hit call. The phone rang twice before it was answered.
“Ms. Blake, it’s so nice of you to call.”
In the movies, the voice would have a foreign accent, be cultured or menacing, or at least have some distinguishing characteristic. This wasn’t the movies and the man’s voice on the other end of the line was unremarkable, only noticeable because of the lack of Southern drawl common in the Carolinas. That didn’t stop Julie’s heart from trying to beat its way out of her chest.
“I want to talk to my brother,” she said, clenching the phone in her hand and trying to keep the fear out of her voice.
“Of course you do. And I want my money.”
“I’m not going to talk to you until I know he’s okay.” She prayed she sounded steadier than she felt. She’d been shaking since she opened the message demanding one hundred thousand dollars in exchange for her brother’s safe return. The message she’d gotten when she’d been sleeping in Eric’s arms. She scrubbed the heel of her hand against her forehead and forced herself to push thoughts of Eric and their brief time together out of her mind. She’d walked away from him a decade ago and survived; she could do it again.
“I’m sorry, Julie. I’m so sorry.” Caleb’s familiar voice cut through her thoughts.
“Are you okay? Did they hurt you? My God Caleb, what did you get yourself into this time?”
“I’m okay. For now at least. I had everything under control. None of this was supposed to happen.”
“I imagine not,” said Julie, grateful that he still sounded like himself, a little shaken up but okay.
“The timing just got screwed up and I was really counting on the deposit from the Smithfield job.”
“Don’t you fucking dare blame this mess on me Caleb Blake or I swear to God, I’ll walk away and leave you to deal with this shit on your own.” The temptation to do just that was palpable, a pull so strong she felt it in her solar plexus. Let her brother handle his own mess and go back to Eric and try to convince him to forgive her for the way she left him.
“No, no, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. Listen Julie, these guys mean business. I need you to do what they say or they’re going to kill me.”
“I don’t know what to do. You know I don’t have that kind of money. I can pull some of it out of the business but…” She heard a scuffle and before she could finish her sentence, the owner of the unremarkable voice was back on the line.
“Your brother is correct, Ms. Blake. If you don’t do what I say, we will kill him. It’s bad for business to leave loose ends.”
“I don’t have a hundred thousand dollars. I have no idea how to get my hands on that kind of money.” She ran through everything she and her father and brother owned, adding figures in her head. There wasn’t any money left from the sale of the farm. All of that had gone into her father’s care and into starting her brother’s tech security firm. She might be able to pull some money from the business but probably not more than twenty thousand. If she added in her meager life’s savings, she might be able to get the number up to twenty-five.
Oh God. She dropped her head in her hands, cursing her brother for getting her into this mess at the same time fear that something would happen to him made her pulse race and her stomach hurt.
“I can give you twenty-five thousand, but that’s all I have. Honestly that’s all I have.”
“That’s a start.”
Julie let out the breath she’d been holding. “Okay. It will take me a couple of days to get the money together.”
“You have twenty-four hours. Don’t let me down. I don’t deal well with disappointment.”
She heard the smack of skin against skin followed by a low groan.
“Don’t hurt him!”
“That’s entirely up to you, Ms. Blake. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you how bad it would be for your brother’s health if you involved the authorities. Oh and consider the twenty-five thousand payment on interest, not principal.”
Julie opened her mouth to protest but the line went dead in her hand.
Eric Auxtres scanned the buildings looking for 1412. It hadn’t taken him long to get Julie’s address but he’d had to wait a day to get things sorted out so that he could leave his restaurant for the hour and a half drive south to her apartment. Much of his staff was still on break for Christmas. He ran a skeleton crew until the day before New Year’s Eve, picking up the slack himself so his employees could spend extra time with their families.
It wasn’t a hardship for him. He usually spent the holidays alone anyway. Or he had until this year when Julie walked back into his life on Christmas Eve and stole his heart. They’d had an amazing day and a half together and then she’d run off in the middle of the night leaving a two word note behind.
I’m sorry
J
Well, she might be sorry, but they sure as hell weren’t over. And he’d be damned if he let her walk away from him again. She’d left him ten years ago when they’d been young lovers. He was a grown man now, one used to going after and getting what he wanted. That drive is what helped make him a world renowned chef and it’s what would get Julie back where she belonged. In his arms and in his bed.
They belonged together and Eric wasn’t giving up until she realized it, too.
The funny thing was, he thought she had. Their last night together, when they made love it had been about so much more than the sex. He’d looked in her eyes as he moved inside her and seen the love he felt reflected there. And then he’d fallen asleep with Julie in his arms and woken up in an empty bed. Fucking A.
He gripped the steering wheel of his Jag, his knuckles going white from the effort it took to hold onto his temper. He was so frustrated he almost missed the small 1412 over the door of the nondescript apartment building. Slamming on the brakes and ignoring the horn of the car behind him, he made the turn into the parking lot and swung his car into an open space. He strode into the lobby, grimacing at the lack of security in Julie’s building. Although it served his purpose, it made his jaw tighten to think that just anyone could walk into the building.
Eric glanced at the card in his hand one more time before tucking it in his pocket. Scanning the bank of mail slots, he found J. Blake on 8C. He punched the up button for the elevator, bouncing on the balls of his feet until the doors slid open. He managed to get a hold of himself enough to let the older couple out before he barreled past them into the car and hit the button for eight.
He didn’t know what possessed her to walk away again but he intended to kiss her until she came to her senses and then fuck her until she lost them again. What they had between them was too good to give up.
The doors slid open and he strode the short distance to apartment C, banging on the door with the side of his fist. He sensed movement behind the door a second before it opened and Julie stood in front of him looking pale and beautiful and scared.
“Did anyone see?” she asked, grabbing his arm, hauling him inside and slamming the door behind them. She slid the bolt home and fastened the chain before turning to face him. “Please tell me they didn’t see you. No one can know you’re connected to me, or this will never end.”
Wrapped Book 2 is available on Amazon .
More Books by Evelyn Adams
The Southerland Series
Feel Like Home (Jude and Autumn)
Loving Bailey (Bailey and Trace)
Feels Like Family (Jude and Autumn)
Practical Arrangement (Travis and Summer)
Studio 1247 Erotic Romance Series
Love Unbound
Bound to Please
Bound with Love
The Forbidden Fruit Erotic Romance Series
Love Unlocked
Love Uncovered
Love Unwrapped
Love U
nlocked, Uncovered and Unwrapped Box Set
For the Billionaires Pleasure
Wired
Wrapped
Around
You
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