His face is pale as he looks at me. “You are demanding me to let that son of a bitch do to you anything he wants?”
“He does nothing to me I don’t want.”
With a nod, he gets up. “No,” he simply says.
So, I pull out my big gun. “You sure about that? Because I’m pretty positive that woman who you are calling a doctor is your lover.”
Quickly, his eyes go narrow as he finally looks at me. “Did she tell you that? She’s a liar!”
“No, she didn’t tell me that. I just found it odd that you found an American woman in Greece to treat my drug addiction, an addiction you caused. Two and two came together. It’s much easier now that my mind is clearing,” I tell him and by the way his body is shaking, I know I’m right.
“You know nothing, Tasha,” he says as spit drips off his frothing mouth.
“I know this. Your reign over me is over. Better to accept it, Dad. Fighting me will be a losing battle.”
The door slams against the wall as he throws it open and leaves me alone. My steady heartbeat is confirmation to my brain. His rule is over and my conscience is finally clear about Paul.
The truth feels good!
NICHOLAI
As we get to the dark castle, the first man to get to the door throws it open and shines his flashlight into the darkness. “We're here for the princess!” he calls out.
There is no answer and Nic and I exchange a look. “Where are the people you said guard this place?” I ask him.
“I have no idea. I swear to you there are always three men who guard this door,” he says as we move forward with the large group of people, armed with flashlights.
We go inside the castle to find it empty. Not a thing in the whole place tells me anyone was ever there. There is no bed in the room he said she was in. There isn’t even a lock on the door as he said there was.
“Nic, how could you do this?” I ask him as his relatives and townspeople look on.
“I swear, Nicholai. She was here before I left to come get you.” He falls to his knees. “I swear it to you!”
“Well, where is she now?” I ask as my hand twitches to knock the shit out of the liar.
“I do not know,” is his stupid reply.
“What am I to do with you, Nic?” I ask as my mind goes into a fevered state with being fooled by the man.
This will not end well for him, I expect.
The Beast: Part Six
NICHOLAI
The steady sound of the plane’s engine soothes me as I ride back to America on the first commercial flight I could get out of Greece. I managed to rein in my rage at the young man I thought at first had duped me into believing I would find my Natasha.
One of his brothers got between us before I could lay a hand on the man and we went to get a drink at the nearest bar. I settled down quickly and knew I should get back home to New York.
With the knowledge Natasha is no longer in Greece, my hopes for finding her are falling away, a bit at a time. I think her father will make sure to keep her on the move so I will never be able to catch up to her.
I also think the shrink I saw might be right. How long am I to wait? Forever?
I shake my head and sip on the Scotch I had the stewardess bring me. She’s been eyeing me and I know I could take her in the bathroom and have my way with her. But every time I look her way, I see my Natasha, standing behind her.
Her ghost seems to follow me wherever I go. She’s a part of me and even as I think about how I should move on, I simply can’t. The hope I felt about finally finding her has fallen inside of me. Like a vacuum, it sucks up my emotions. I feel as if I’m perpetually falling and there is no end in sight.
Pulling out my phone, I look at a picture she took of us that morning, the morning after our first night together. After we’d gotten ready to go to work. She labeled it, the first day of our new life together. “Who’s she?” a woman’s voice comes from behind me.
I turn to find an older woman leaning up in her seat. “She’s a woman I’m searching for. She was taken from me about thirteen months ago.”
“She’s gorgeous. You two look great together. Was she kidnapped?” she asks as she looks a little harder at the picture.
I nod. “By her father. He’s an FBI agent. He’s managed to keep her just out of my reach.”
“An FBI agent?” she asks then seems to be thinking.
“Yes, he was investigating my company. My family owns a weapons company. He didn’t want her involved with me.” I put my phone away.
“A weapons company?” she asks then her eyes go narrow. “His name doesn’t happen to be Norman Greenwell, does it?”
“Norman Greenwell is his name,” I answer her with more than a bit of surprise. “You know him?”
“I know of him. Personally, we’ve never met. I’d love to meet the man, though. I have an earful I’d like to give him. He’s stringing my daughter along. He has been for the last couple of years. He keeps telling her he’s on the verge of leaving his wife for her. My brother is also in the FBI, that’s how Greenwell met my daughter,” she tells me, making the wheels spin in my head.
“The man cheats on his wife and has the nerve to judge me?” I ask myself out loud.
“He’s a piece of work, that man,” she says. “I came all the way to Greece to finally confront him as my brother told me he was going there to deal with something and he had my daughter with him when he left New York. I hopped on the first flight out but he and she were gone when I got there.”
“I came for his daughter. And now I suppose what the young man who came for me told me, was true. Only I got there just a little too late to get to her. Did your brother tell you where they were going to go after Greece?” I ask and find myself crossing my fingers as I wait for her answer.
“As a matter of fact, I do know right where they’re going. Nantucket,” she tells me, sending sparks of hope shooting all through me again.
“To where his wife lives?” I ask.
“My brother told me, he’d talked to Norman and that he had some personal business to see to in Nantucket then he’d be back in New York. I have to find my daughter and open her eyes to the man. You see, I’ve found two more women he’s been messing with. My daughter thinks she’s the only one. She’s blocked my calls as she wants me to leave them alone. But I’m not about to do that.”
“Tenacious, aren’t you?” I ask as I think about going right up to their house and knocking on their door once I get back.
“I am. You see, my daughter stands to inherit quite a chunk of money when her paternal grandfather passes away. I think that man is using her for the money she will have one day. Loretta is a doctor and has put that aside to be at that man’s beck and call. A thing I never saw coming from her. She’s too smart to be dealing with a man like that. Once I show her the pictures of him with other women, I hope she’ll see reason and come back home with me.”
“Where does she live now?” I ask as I can surely find the man there if I don’t find Natasha at his home with his wife.
“He keeps her in various hotels. She has no real place to live. Her life is completely uprooted by the man. I have to say, I’ve never hated anyone but I hate that man,” she says.
“Maybe you and I could work together. Your name is?” I ask as I take a pen and paper from the back of the seat in front of me.
“I’m Stacy Holland. And I’d love to help you if you could help me,” she says. “And you are?”
“I am Nicholai Grimm.” I watch her face go pale and wonder why that is.
“Grimm?” she looks at me and reaches out to touch my face. “Are you related to Nicholas Grimm?”
“I’m his son,” I say as I find it even more surprising that she knows my father.
“I went to school with your father. He and I were high school sweethearts. My father was in the military and when he was sent to Germany, we all had to move with him. I lost touch with Nicholas as my letters to him started getting
returned to me. I had no idea why that was. It broke my heart as he and I had planned on me coming back to New York when I turned eighteen. It was merely three years from the time I left. Only he must’ve moved on. We were just kids but that felt like real love. To me at least. I suppose he’s doing well now.”
“Not really. He is married to my mother. It’s a shell of a marriage, though. He’s not what you’d expect, I’m afraid. But it’s interesting that you say you two were sweethearts. Did the man ever tell you that he loved you?” I ask.
She nods. “We’d say it all the time to one another. That’s why it hurt so much when my letters were returned, unopened.”
“He’s never uttered those words to me. My father is harsh and cruel at times. And he doesn’t believe in love. He too is against me and Natasha. If I ever do find her, we have a battle with both of our fathers that is sure to erupt.”
“He’s never told you, his own son, that he loves you?” she asks and shakes her head. “He is most definitely not the same person he was all those years ago.”
“Not at all, it seems. I’d bring you to see him, only I wouldn’t want you to deal with the man he’s become, Stacy,” I tell her and watch as she nods, sadly.
“No, I’d rather have my memory of him when we were young and in love. So, let’s put that little discussion away and make a plan of how the hell we can help each other accomplish these goals we have. Seems we’re both chasing after the same man.”
It seems we are and it seems this woman has knowledge, I desperately need!
NATASHA
The fluids and vitamins have helped me tremendously and I can walk on my own up to my parents’ home in Nantucket. I’ve yet to get anywhere near a phone so I can call Nic but I think it’s about to happen for me.
My father is eerily quiet as we approach his home. Another car came and took the doctor, who came back from Greece with us, away. I asked him several questions about her that he never bothered answering.
His hand touches my arm just before we get to the door. “Promise me you won’t hurt your mother with your stupid notion about that woman, Tasha.”
And just like that, I see I have more leverage than I realized I had. “Sure, Dad. And you butt out of my personal life too.”
He shakes his head and I shake mine. Then his eyes go narrow as he says, “Tasha, I can make shit happen. Don’t fuck with me.”
And just like that, I realize my father has more reach than I do. So, I give in but only a bit as I say, “I’ll keep my mouth shut. No reason to hurt Mom.”
“No, there’s not. Your perceptions are unfounded, anyway. I love your mother,” he says as he unlocks the door.
It’s early in the morning and by how quiet the house is, I think Mom’s still asleep. Dad pushes a code into the alarm system then closes the door and reactivates it. “You seem to be locking us in, Dad.”
“I am. I need rest and I need to know you’re going nowhere. I’ve changed the code to the alarm. The one you knew is no longer. If the wrong code is entered, the alarm will go off. If any window is opened, the alarm will go off. So, don’t even try it, Tasha.” He smiles as he walks away from me. “Go to your old room and get some rest.”
I don’t need to go anywhere, anyway. I just need to get to the phone. He told me he bugged the phone and would intercept any call to Nic’s office and cell phone. But he doesn’t know the home phone at Nic’s house. Technically, neither do I. But I do know how to call information and get that number. All I have to do is let someone in Nic’s staff know where I am and he will come for me.
Making my way to my old bedroom, I go inside and find it neat and tidy. Mom’s been keeping it clean for me, it seems. When I open the closet, I find my clothes that were in the dorm room. Dad must’ve gotten all my things. At least they weren’t thrown away.
I search through the things in the room and find the naughty negligees and masks Nic sent to me are not here. That’s an expected move on my father’s part.
My ears prick at the sound of my mother and father talking as they come down the hallway. “Is she okay?” I hear her ask.
My door opens and Mom pulls me into a big hug. “Hi, Mom.”
“Oh, baby,” she says as she squeezes me. “You’ve lost weight.” She holds me back and looks me over then frowns at my father.
He looks a little sheepish then his cell phone rings and he leaves my bedroom to answer it. I look at my mother and want to cry and beg her to help me. “Mom, I need your help.”
One finger goes to her lips and she gives me a wink. “I’m already on it, baby girl.”
My heart pounds as I’ve finally found the one person who can help me. Mom hasn’t always been proactive in my raising. She’s always maintained that my father is head of the household and his word is the final one. But this time things seem different.
Maybe she’s had some concerns about his faithfulness and is now looking at leaving him. I’d never blame her for doing that.
We hear Dad go into his office as that door slams on the other side of the house. “Wonder what has him so mad,” I say as Mom closes my door.
“Don’t know and don’t care. You see, I’ve been called by a man who wants to give you a job as an intern. It’s in the publishing industry. You’re minoring in publications so it’s a perfect fit for you. I’ve called the college and you can start your classes back up. You and I are going to New York, courtesy of a man by the name of James Hawthorn. He’s a bigwig with Hawthorn Publications.”
I bite my lip as I don’t know how to tell my mother that man is the one man I was told to stay away from by Nic. “Mom, why did he say he was interested in me becoming an intern there?”
“He said one of your professors recommended you and when he saw your excellent grades, he knew you were the one he wanted for the internship. To sweeten the deal, he added in a two bedroom New York apartment for you.”
“Dad will never allow it,” I say as I sit on the end of my old bed.
“I’m not going to take no for an answer. When I found out you were coming home, I called James and told him the good news. He’s in town. He wants to meet with you,” she says as she smiles widely at me.
“Mom, that’s too soon. I’m weak and look like hell,” I say as some kind of excuse not to see the man Nic said I should be polite to but get the hell away from as quickly as I could.
My door flies open and my father looks agitated as he says, “I fucking have to get my ass to New York. There’s been a break in the case against the Grimms. I’m entrusting our daughter to you, Natalie.”
“Good. She’s fine with me, Norman.” She gives me a look that frightens me a little. “You go take care of your business and leave her to me.”
“What kind of thing did you find on their company, Dad?” I ask as I find myself growing worried about Nic.
“Never mind that. Get your head off that fucking man. He’s going to end up in prison anyway.” His words stun me and I find myself feeling more afraid than I’ve ever been.
“Dad, no!” I shout as he turns to leave the room.
I jump up and Mom grabs me, pulling me back to her. “There’s nothing you can do about the things Nicholai Grimm has gotten himself into. You have a new path now with this other company. That company wasn’t a thing you’d learn a damn thing you’ve been to school for anyway. Now take a shower and get yourself cleaned up. James wants to meet with you as soon as possible.”
She leaves me and I find my body shaking. Nic might go to prison!
NICHOLAI
Turning my phone back on as I walk through the airport in New York, I start to call my driver and find I’ve missed not one but fifteen calls from my father. I call my driver first to get him on his way to me and go to sit in a small café to wait for him and call my father back.
“Nicholai!” he answers. “Where the hell are you?”
“I’m in New York. I just got off a plane. What’s the matter?” I ask as he sounds more stressed than usual.
&nb
sp; “Have you seen the news?” he asks me.
There’s a small television above the counter and I see CNN is on and my fucking picture is in the left-hand corner of it. My heart freezes as I read the caption running underneath it. ‘FBI seeks Nicholai Grimm for questioning in weapons deal after informant comes forward with damning information about the man.’
“Father, what’s going on?” I ask as I suddenly feel cold.
“Get to our home, Nicholai. I have our attorneys on their way. This information just came out a few hours ago. I need to know this, were you actually in Greece?”
“How did you know that?” I ask as I see a couple of security officers looking my way.
“Because that’s where the informant said you went to deliver some of our technology to another man who was taking it to some very undesirable people. Tell me that’s not true,” he begs me.
“It’s not true. I was there to get Natasha. That’s all I went there for. Someone is lying to the FBI, Father.”
“I hope so. I hope we can discount what the informant has said. If not, I see you spending time in prison. You are officially discharged from your position as CEO of our company. I had no choice. We cannot afford to be shut down by the government for what you’re accused of.”
My heart is pounding as I see five men in black suits and dark sunglasses coming toward me. “They’re here for me, Father. I have to go now. Bring the lawyers to wherever it is they’re going to take me.”
“Surrender to them but say nothing,” he orders me and I end the call.
Putting my hands behind my head, I tell the men who are approaching me, “I am Nicholai Grimm, the man you are seeking. I am innocent of those accusations and I will come peacefully with you but I will say no more until my attorneys are present.”
“Great,” I hear a familiar voice say and watch as Norman Greenwell pulls his dark shades off and looks at me. “Come on, Nicholai. The jig is up.”
Dirty News (Dirty Network Book 1) Page 62
