Beneath Deception: An Unbreakable Series (Romantic Suspense)

by A. L Long

  Tessa’s must have gone down wrong, because soon she was coughing and rubbing her nose at the same time. “I guess I need to learn how to drink a shot,” she stated as soon as she was able to speak.

  Finishing our drinks, it was time to leave. We decided to take Jonathan’s car since it would be easier for Tessa to get in and out of as her dress didn’t have much room to maneuver in. One of his security men offered to drive, allowing Tessa and I to sit in the back together while Jonathan sat next to his man. Heading down the dirt road, it wasn’t long until we were on the freeway and minutes away from Colin’s home.

  Pulling through the gate and driving down the driveway, I could see that this was a bigger event than Colin had led us to believe. A few investors, my ass. There had to have been at least fifty cars parked along the long drive, in some of which the chauffeurs were still seated behind the wheel. Holding on to Tessa’s hand, I squeezed it gently and said confidently, “Everything will work out fine. I am not going to let anything happen to you.”

  With a worried look she took her sight from our mingled hands and looked at me. “I know, Xavier.”

  Kissing her on the forehead, the driver pulled up to the front door and waited for us to exit. Getting out first, I held out my hand, helping Tessa get out of the car. The minute we walked up the steps, there was a gentleman with graying hair present to greet us. Colin sure went through a lot of expense to have a little party. It felt more like a big celebration, given the number of guests and how formal everything felt.

  The only words that the man at the door spoke were to tell us where we could take our coats and where the main festivities were being held. Since none of us wore a coat, we headed to the back of the house where everyone was directed to go. The back doors were open, and music and laughter could be heard down the hallway all the way to the great room, which led to the outside patio. Colin really outdid himself. The backyard was completely lit up and there was even a band set up on a stage in one corner of the large patio. Several waiters and waitresses were milling around carrying trays of champagne and hors d'oeuvres.

  As I scanned the area, many of the men were with younger women who appeared as though they were there only to be shown off like prized possessions. Some of the women were barely more than half the age of the men. “What kind of party was this, exactly?” I thought to myself. Something didn’t feel right. Walking closer to Jonathan, I leaned over and asked, “Is it just me, or does something seem a little off to you?”

  “I smell trouble and I have a funny feeling that these men are more than just investors,” Jonathan concluded.

  I couldn’t have agreed with him more. Pulling Tessa closer to my body. I made it very clear she was to stay by my side. Waking further into the crowd, a waitress came by holding a tray of champagne. Tessa was about to grab a flute when I asked the waitress, “Can you please bring us some sparkling juice instead?”

  Nodding her head, she bypassed the rest of the guests and headed back inside the house. Tessa squeezed my arm and voiced, “One glass of champagne wouldn’t have hurt.”

  She was probably right, but I needed to know that she would be alert in the event something happened. When the waitress came back with our drinks, I handed one to Tessa and kept one for myself. Her hand reached out and took hold of mine. I guess it was her way of feeling secure. When the grip tightened, I knew something had her attention. Looking over the crowd, gauging what she could have been looking at, I spotted Colin talking with an older man. He hadn’t seen us yet and all I wanted was to get Tessa further away from him.

  Moving in the other direction, I spotted an empty table and suggested that we take a seat. It was out of the way, and most importantly, out of Colin’s line of vision. As we headed to the table, Jonathan suggested, “I’ll try and keep him busy for a while. Maybe I can find out who these men really are.”

  I knew that Jonathan cared for Tessa deeply and he would do anything to keep her away from Colin as long as possible. Looking through the crowd to where Colin had been moments ago, the space where he stood was now occupied by a young woman who couldn’t have been any older than twenty. The man Colin had been talking with placed his arm around the young lady as he whispered something in her ear. I would have loved to hear what he might have said to her.

  Losing sight of Colin, Jonathan went to find him, while Tessa and I continued walking over to the empty table. As we took our seats, there was no longer any reason for Jonathan to find Colin since he was moving towards us. We didn’t have the time we needed to move when his eyes fell upon us. Our only option was to sit tight. The last thing I wanted was for him to think we were avoiding him.

  Towering over us like a vulture stalking its prey, he placed his hands in his front pockets and said arrogantly, “My sweet Tessa, you are more beautiful than ever.”

  His words were as sharp as ice and I could feel Tessa’s uneasiness as she adjusted her position, moving closer to me. Her arm wrapped around mine, giving Colin the indication that she was now mine.

  Before, I could respond to his comment, his eyes focused just past our heads, causing me to turn to see what had his attention. Standing not more than two feet behind us were two men, which I presume were his. With a cocky smile he said, “I think we should go inside and chat.”

  “There is no way we are going anywhere with you,” I hissed, even knowing that there was a reason those men were so close to us.

  “Let’s not create a scene, London,” he suggested as he removed his hands from his pockets and open the jacket of his tux, showing the gun he had tucked away on his side.

  With no other choice, I stood from my seat and assisted Tessa out of her chair. Following Colin, with the two men close behind, we entered the house. The only people who knew what was really going on was us. All I could think about was where Jonathan might have been. Then it dawned on me that Tessa had a tracker in place and his men would know where to find us. Hopefully, we didn’t end up getting separated.

  ~Twenty-Four~

  The one thing that I prayed wouldn’t happen, happened. I didn’t even see it coming. Now all I could do was pray that Jonathan’s men found Tessa and got her to safety. There was nothing I could do as I looked around the room, wondering where it was that they had taken me. My head hurt like hell, but I could clearly see that I must have been in the basement of Colin’s home. The light above my head was dim, but I was able to make out the door to the room.

  Standing to my feet, I walked over to the door to see if by some slim chance it would be unlocked. Checking the inside of my coat pocket, I checked to see if my cell was still inside, knowing that it would be gone. Placing my ear to the door, I tried to listen to any voices or anything that might let me know what was going on. Nothing but silence filled the space between me and what was on the other side. The only thing I could do was wait and hope that Jonathan would find me, or at least one of his men.

  There was one thing bad about being in a semi-dark room with no windows: there was no way of knowing what time of day it was or how much time actually passed by. Taking a seat on the floor, I leaned my head against the cold wall, concentrating on how I was going to get out of here. As I looked over to the door, I examined it from where I sat. Noticing that the hinges weren’t fully secure, I got an idea. Removing my shoe, I walked over to the door and began pounding upward on the pin, hoping that it would be ejected from hinge.

  It couldn’t have been that easy. The pins came out with no problem. Lifting the door, I was able to move it far enough to slide between it and the door jam. Taking a cautious look around, there was no one in sight. Heading to the left, which seemed to be the best option since the other direction didn’t look to lead anywhere, I only wished I had the gun that Jonathan had given me to use when we first met up with Colin. Without any protection, I was pretty much a sitting duck.

  When a set of stairs came into view, I took each step slowly, knowing how basement steps tended to creak. The door at the top of the steps was closed, so I al
so needed to be careful when opening it so I didn’t draw any attention. Thankfully the door opened to a long hallway and there was no one in sight. As I slowly moved, I tried to figure out which part of the house I was in so I could find Jonathan to let him know that Tessa was taken.

  Walking down the long hallway, I heard several voices, which told me that I was getting close to where most of the guests were. Making my way back to where the party was taking place in the back yard, I kept my eyes centered on the guests, hoping that I wouldn’t run into Colin before I found Jonathan.

  It was no use. There were too many people, and if I wanted to save myself from getting caught, I needed to lay low. What I really needed was a cell phone so that I could contact Jonathan and let him know what was going on. Just as the thought crossed my mind, I spotted an attractive young woman looking at her cell leaning against the wall. The best part was that she was alone, and it would be easy to convince her to let me use it to make a call.

  Closing in on where she was standing. I kept my eyes on her and when she looked up at me with a smile, I knew I had her. Standing in front of her, I slid my hands in my pockets, tipped back and forth on my heels, and asked with my best smile, “Can I borrow your phone to make a call? I seemed to have misplaced mine.”

  At first, she was hesitant, but then she handed it over. “Only if you promise to add your number to my contacts.”

  Taking the phone from her hand, I responded, “Sure thing, gorgeous.” Little did she know that the number I would be entering would be for the closest pizza place. It was the only number besides Tessa’s and Jonathan’s that I knew from memory.

  Moving just far enough away from her to keep my conversation private, I punched in Jonathan’s number and waited for him to answer. It dawned on me that he might not answer, especially since the call was coming from a number he wouldn’t recognize, but I had to take a chance that he would.

  Just about ready to give up, I heard him say, “Hello.”

  “Jonathan, it’s London. Where are you? We have a problem.”

  “I’ve been looking for you. I’m at the front entrance,” he replied.

  “Don’t move, I’ll be right there. Notify your men that Colin has Tessa.”

  Saying what I did left me with the worst feeling in the pit of my stomach. It wasn’t the information I wanted to share, especially since I broke my promise to Tessa. I would give my life for her knowing she was safe.

  Handing the cell back over to the attractive woman. I thanked her before working my way back through the guests. All I needed to do was get to Jonathan without being seen by Colin or his men.

  ~*~*~*~

  Just as he said, Jonathan was waiting out front, sitting on the brick ledge a few feet from the front door smoking a cigarette. Walking up to him, I took a seat beside him and said, matter of factly, “You know those things will kill you.”

  Dropping the cigarette to the ground and putting it out with his shoe, he looked out past the grounds and said, “So will staying here any longer.”

  I couldn’t have agreed with him more, but there was no way in hell that I was leaving without Tessa. “Were your men able to get a location on Tessa? We need to find her and get the hell out of here,” I stated anxiously.

  “Yeah,” Jonathan replied as he pulled an app on his phone resembling some sort of tracking software. “Looks like she is on the second floor of the house. We just need to figure out a way to get up there without being seen.

  Knowing Colin’s house somewhat, I remembered there being a side entrance that the staff used. There was also a set of stairs that led to the second floor from the kitchen. Standing to my feet, I looked down at Jonathan and said, “I know where we can enter without being seen. Contact your men and let them know what is going on.”

  As we walked toward the side of the house, Jonathan was already on the phone with the main security guy explaining the situation. Come to find out, they were already inside the house, blending in with the rest of the guests.

  When we got to the door leading inside, it was already open, and caterers were entering with several boxes of champagne and food. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect as we followed them inside. No one was paying attention to us, so it wasn’t difficult to ascend the stairs.

  Keeping his eyes focused on the tracking software, Jonathan had no problem leading us to the room where Tessa was presumed to be held. There was one slight problem. A burly-looking man, whom I hadn’t met but knew was one of Colin’s cronies, was guarding the door. Staying put on the staircase, we put our heads together to try and figure out what we were going to do. To my surprise, Jonathan took the lead and put on his best Dean Martin impersonation and walked up to the guy.

  As I watched him stumble and sway as he walked down the hall, I couldn’t help but laugh at his drunken character. If I hadn’t known better, I would have thought he had one too many. When he got to the burly guy, I could hear his slurred speech, but was too far away to understand what he was saying. Looking around the corner from the stairs, Jonathan was definitely a man of mystery as he wrapped his arm around the guy’s neck and gave him some sort of death grip. Before I knew it, the guy was on the ground and Jonathan was waving me to come his way.

  I didn’t have to be told twice as I hurried to where he was standing. Walking over the guy’s body, which was sprawled out on the carpeted floor, I stood in front of Jonathan, taking over the situation. He may have helped me out by taking out the only obstacle to get to Tessa, but now it was my turn. Opening the door, I saw Tessa was sitting on the bed, looking even more beautiful, if that was even possible. The minute she saw it was me who had opened the door, she was up on her feet and moving towards me. I couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief as I took her in my arms, knowing that she hadn’t been hurt.

  Holding her at arm’s length, I looked her over, just to make sure she was okay. Pulling her close again. I asked softly, “Are you okay, baby?”

  Nodding her head, she stated in a shaky voice. “I knew you would find me.”

  Kissing her, I replied, “I will always find you. You are my life now.”

  I could hear Jonathan clear his throat behind us, letting us know that we needed to move if we wanted to get out of here before the guy on the floor woke up. Carefully walking over his body, we headed in the same direction that we came. Soon Colin would find out that I was no longer in the room in the basement and that we had taken out the guy keeping guard.

  When we got to the bottom of the steps, just feet away from the side door leading outside, I thought for sure we were in the clear. I wasn’t sure where Colin came from, but when I heard the click of his gun, I knew our luck had run out. “Not so fast, London. We still have some unfinished business.”

  Turning to face him, I saw there was one thing that Colin didn’t plan on. The lead guy working for Jonathan was standing behind him, with two other guys taking cover in the doorway. Lowering my hands, I glared at Colin and asked, “Are you sure about that?”

  With the gun so close to his head, Colin dropped his weapon and lifted his hands in the air. Pulling his hand behind his back, the security guy slapped on a pair of handcuffs on Colin’s wrist. As we walked past him, there was a small chuckle from Colin as he said, “This isn’t over.”

  ~Twenty-Five~

  As beautiful as Tessa looked in her dress, she was even more beautiful with it off. The night had been very wearing on her and with everything that had happened, I wanted her to be as relaxed as possible, especially for what I had planned for her. Even though Jonathan insisted that we stay another night at his cabin, the only thing on my mind was getting Tessa home, and that meant my home.

  The air in the bathroom was filled with her favorite scent of cherry and vanilla as I watched the bubbles begin to form in the tub. Testing the water to make sure it was hot enough, I went back to the bedroom to let Tessa know that her bath was ready. She was in the middle of taking off her silk stockings and even though I had helped take off her dres
s before starting her bath, it wasn’t enough. Moving toward the bed where she sat, I ran my hand down her leg to where the lace began at the top of her stocking. Gliding my finger between the silk and her thigh, I slowly began sliding the stocking down her leg until I could easily remove it. Doing the same with the other leg, I changed it up by placing kiss after kiss down her leg until her stocking could be removed.

  I decided I could really get used to this as I worked my mouth up her leg, leaving light kisses from the middle of her calf to the apex of her thigh. I wanted to take her so badly, but a little foreplay never hurt anyone, not even me. Slipping a thumb under the thin strap of her panties, I slowly lowered them down her legs, throwing them on the floor when they were completely off her. Taking her hands in mine, I pulled her to a standing position, wanting to see all of her as she stood before me in only her garter and nothing more.

  Reaching around her waist, I unhooked the tiny clasp and, in an instant, lifted her from where she stood and carried her to the bathroom where her tub full of bubbles was waiting for her. Setting her gently in the water, I began removing my own clothes, thinking how easy it would be for me to become a bath person. Tessa’s eyes were glued to mine as I began to take my place behind her. She showed she knew me too well as she scooted forward in the tub, allowing me to enter the water. Pulling her body close to mine, I knew that she would be able to see the effect having her this close was having on me. I wanted so badly to plant myself deep inside her warmth, but for now all I wanted was this. Holding her in my arms, I listened to nothing more than the swishing sound of the water as she brought it up to her body for warmth.