Wild Bastard: A Dark Sparrow Novel

by Kells, India

  He carried her down a corridor and she examined her surroundings. As she saw his bedroom, her eyes noticed his office one door down. “Don’t tell me you are a workaholic too!”

  He smiled. “Same as you, I suppose. It’s impossible to achieve anything without hard work and discipline. You are one of the few people I know that applies this very rule in her life.”

  In the dark bedroom, with only one wide window showing the light of the city, Finch threw her on the bed and took fistfuls of her dress, tearing the delicate material apart.

  Almost naked under his gaze, only wearing her underwear, shivering from the cold and fear, Isabel fought against her reluctance, repeating to herself that this was like a scene, and she had done tons of them. Why should this one be any different?

  Finch, his eyes on her like a vicious predator, started shedding his clothes, and the more he did, the more she saw the contained violence in him that was about to burst any minute now.

  Isabel artfully glanced away when he crawled naked over her. A switch turned on in her head, as her movements transformed into a well-known choreographed dance she had practiced so many times before in front of the camera.

  Finch viciously bit her neck as his hands closed on her breasts and squeezed hard. The sound coming from her throat was one of pain, but she prayed he would perceive it as one of arousal.

  His hand pawed at her cold skin, crawling over her belly as he cut off her air with his tongue deep in her throat. The seducer was gone, and the conqueror was out for the prize.

  Isabel squirmed as he pushed her thighs open with his knees and slithered his hand between her legs, under her panties. In desperation, she clung to his shoulders, fighting the disgust and the tears, wishing for this hell to be over quickly.

  Blood thundered inside her skull so hard, it took a moment to realize that Finch was cursing, pushing himself away from her body.

  At first, Isabel believed he had seen through her, but as he put on his pants, he smiled sheepishly. “Give me a minute. Someone is banging at the door. I’ll get rid of whoever it is and come back. Keep the bed warm for me.”

  He fled too quickly for him to see her trembling body. Her skin felt like ice and if she moved too fast, she would probably puke on the expensive rug.

  She lifted her hand to push at her hair when she noticed her watch, remembered some important information. An electric current passed through her bones and she leaped out of bed. As she carefully padded naked out of the room, she heard an unknown male voice coming from the entrance.

  Isabel knew it was now or never. Sneaking inside his office, she saw a laptop and a desktop on the vast office desk. She unclasped her watch and removed one of the decorative charms from the bracelet. Gabrielle had instructed how to put in in the computer, the problem was which one?

  There was no time to lose and she pushed the key in the USB slot of the desktop tower. Someone shouted and Isabel ran back to the room with seconds to spare. She was wrapping the bedsheet around her body just as Finch came back to the room.

  “I’m sorry, my dear Isabel, but it seems that destiny is fighting against us being together.”

  “What’s going on?”

  “There has been an incident at the office. Nothing dire, rest assured. I must go and supervise it myself. May I enjoy your presence some more by giving you a lift back at your apartment?”

  Isabel was giddy with relief but knew better than to show it. “Of course I understand. Do you want me to go to the office with you?”

  He shook his head and searched for something in his wardrobe. “That is the trouble with owning the building. It comes with annoyances like this.”

  He handed her a long trench coat. “That’s the best I can do. Rest assured that I didn’t plan any of this or I wouldn’t have torn your dress to pieces.”

  She wrapped herself in the tan trench and knotted the belt tight, never so happy to be covered in her life. Returning to the living room, she put her red heels back on and the heated shine in Finch’s silver irises flared hot. “I may ask you to dress exactly like that for our next date. If you still want to see where this leads.”

  How she hoped it would be over before he could ask her out again.

  “Your launch party is three days away. Let me focus on that first, and once your handsome face is plastered all over the Chicago news, I’ll gladly agree for you to thank me properly.”

  His laughter boomed as he escorted her out. As expected, his limo was waiting at the curb. When she asked to make the detour to retrieve her clutch that contained her phone and keys, they magically appeared in front of her as Finch had asked his driver to fetch them after bringing them home.

  The drive was short, but Isabel was walking on thin ice, her control fading by the minute. Before he let her out of the car, Finch kissed her languorously, murmuring sweet words she didn’t care to hear. Making him promise to call her if he needed anything, not that she would answer, the driver helped her out and escorted her to her apartment door before driving away.

  The moment Finch was out of sight, Isabel grabbed her keys, but her hands were shaking so much, it took her several minutes to finally get it to fit in the lock. The door opened to her dark apartment and being in her home broke all the restraint and self-control she had maintained until now. Locking the door, Isabel’s entire body collapsed, and she slid to the floor and dissolved into tears.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Isabel knew she should call Kai. Or even Gabrielle. She had to at least call Gabrielle and tell her she was safe and sound in her apartment. The trouble was she couldn’t convince herself to do it. Not yet. Not even after spending an hour straight in the shower. Her very first sex scene hadn’t made her feel as tainted and dirty as she felt right now.

  The mix of stress, panic, and shame mixed into a slimy sensation inside her. She couldn’t imagine how she would have felt if she’d actually slept with Finch. No, fuck Finch was the best definition of what she had avoided by the skin of her teeth. Still, the ghostly sensation of his hands on her wouldn’t go away. Even her skin bore his mark with a hickey on her collarbone and bluish marks on her breasts and thighs.

  Still, she couldn’t find the strength to open her clutch and take out her phone. Even worse, see who had called and left a message. Maybe she could text Gabrielle with her eyes closed.

  Trying to reason with herself, Isabel took out her phone. She had been locked in her bathroom for hours now. Wrapped in a few towels, her comfortable clothes seemed too far away.

  When something shifted inside her apartment, Isabel tensed and looked around for a weapon to defend herself. Maybe Finch had found out about her treachery and had sent one of his goons to take care of her.

  Without a window to escape, the door was the only way in or out. After a moment, someone walked to the other side of the threshold. Frozen into place, eyes on the door, Isabel prepared to bolt when someone scratched softly on the other side.

  “Are you in there, sweetie? It’s me, Gabrielle.”

  The bubble of tears and sobs that rose inside her throat almost made her gasp, but Isabel fought to keep her voice steady. “I’m sorry. I should have called you. I’m sorry.”

  “It’s okay, love. I have a sixth sense with knowing where my Dark Sparrows are.”

  Isabel closed her eyes at the name. She remembered all those years ago when Gabrielle had saved her ass and told her that she owed her one. Isabel had laughed, but agreed. After all, she was grateful for the help with bypassing all the red tape, and even if she hadn’t suggested it, Isabel would naturally have offered her help. And the nickname was badass. Another reason Gabrielle had become a dear friend.

  “You had me scared for a little bit, but as I’m blond, the extra white hair won’t show much.”

  Isabel laughed at Gabrielle’s joke even if she didn’t feel like it. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to worry you.”

  “That’s part of my job, I’m only not worried when I sleep, and even then I can’t guarantee
I don’t. Why won’t you open the door? Are you alright?”

  That was the big question. “I’m okay. But I can’t open the door yet.”

  “That’s fine. I’ll just sit and wait for you here. Take your time.”

  And there was Gabrielle at her best. She had the patience of an angel. Despite time constraints or danger, there was a calmness inside her, and no judgment.

  “Can you tell me what happened, Izzy?”

  “How did you know I was back here? The brooch is broken.”

  Now, Isabel could hear the smile in her friend’s voice. “As if I don’t have tricks of my own. I could brag, but it was simple. When you put the bug in Finch’s computer, it activated, sending a signal. You were the one with it, so it was easy to know that Finch had brought you to his apartment. However, you were both gone when we arrived.”

  “Finch was called to the office he said. An emergency. He dropped me here.”

  “Yeah. I’m the bright one of the bunch because everyone flew to the office, but I knew better. That and the fact that I put a tracker in your watch too. Too bad I had trouble activating it. That’s another story.”

  Kai was at the office, and when he saw she wasn’t with Finch, he would come here. What would she say to him?

  “Izzy? Walk me through it. Tell me everything that happened from the moment the fire alarm went off. One step at the time.”

  Gabrielle’s voice was steady and so matter of fact, it helped Isabel gather her thoughts. She described what had happened methodically, with as much detail and detachment as she could muster. She told her how Finch had brought her to his place, how he’d started flirting, carrying her to the bed and ripping her dress to shreds. She even told her about what happened afterward and when they had been miraculously interrupted by the door. The turmoil rose as she said the words, her mind now not on what had happened, but on Kai.

  “What will I tell Kai? I knew what I signed for when you contacted me. I even considered having sex with Finch if it helped the mission. Even after Finch brought me to his apartment and all I wanted was to flee, I thought that sex could help me get more information, but when it was about to happen, all I could think of was Kai, and how I was betraying him. Fucking hell, Gab. I have betrayed him, allowing Finch to touch me like that.”

  “Breathe, Izzy. He was about to rape you. What you feel is normal.”

  Gabrielle was right, she was feeling out of breath, but she couldn’t stop now, and even started to yell at the closed door. “I’m a fucking porn star, Gabrielle. I fuck for a living, rape is never a consideration.”

  “That’s a lie. You didn’t want to sleep with Finch, you wanted to get information. He played his cards to get you in his bed. Did you know that the fire alarm in the building was a trick to distract Kai so Finch could take you away? He wanted you and got you inside his apartment. Tell me, Izzy, if you’d said a clear no to the man, would he have stopped? You’ve studied the man inside and out, you know his reputation and what he’s capable of. I can’t see you, but I know for a fact that you have bruises. That’s not the touch of a lover. And it’s not the professional acting job you are used to. That was an act of domination, and only sheer luck saved you from it. Part of me wants to hug you, the other shake you until you never ever take that sort of risk again. Do you hear me? The notion of consent is for every woman and man on the planet, including infamous porn stars who are my friends.”

  For a long moment, Isabel let the words sink in. “I almost slept with Kai’s father, Gab. That’s not even on the range of bad ideas. Kai accepted who I was, which is a miracle on its own. There is no way in hell or heaven that he would accept me allowing his father to put his hand between my legs. I’ll lose him, Gab.”

  That last sentence broke her to pieces, and her entire body ached like never before in her life. “I love him, yet I don’t deserve him. I’ve betrayed him in every sense there is. Not only that, but I’ve also signed that god-awful contract with Jenny Anderson. A contract I need to honor, otherwise, everything I’ve worked my ass off for will turn to ashes. Do you see what a fine conversation that will be? More good news for Kai. ‘Hey love, guess what, if ever you recover from this incident with your father, I have a gang bang scheduled next week. What do you think of that?’”

  “I told you that you aren’t making that gang bang video without me, sweetheart.”

  To hear Kai’s deep voice on the other side of the door was like the last dagger needed to carve out her heart.

  He had heard every single thing she had said. Every word.

  She wanted to strangle Gabrielle for playing her, but she also knew her friend well enough that she would plead that she hadn’t been clear enough and hadn’t asked if she was alone or not.

  Isabel closed her eyes, unable to breathe, think, or speak. Kai knew. He may have made a joke about it, but nobody could have that open a mind. Not even the easygoing Kai Jones.

  “Babe, open the door. Please.”

  At that point, Isabel knew it was childish to stand her ground, but couldn’t help it, because when she opened the door, everything would be over. She would see the look on his face, and that wouldn’t lie.

  “I’m fine. I’ll open the door when you are gone. You don’t have to stay, Kai.”

  A low chuckle came from the other side and something slid over the door. “Yeah, right. I’m not going anywhere.”

  “You can’t stay there, waiting for me forever.”

  “I will stay right where I am, waiting for the woman I love to come to grips with what she’s feeling. If I can’t hold her in my arms, I’ll at least offer her moral support. And so will her best friend who’s sitting right here and laughing her ass off at me.”

  Gabrielle snicker could be heard and it was a heart-lightening sound.

  “I’ll stay as close as I can get to you until you forgive yourself.”

  Isabel dropped her head. “If only it was that simple. I wish I could be like you.”

  “Love, I’m still struggling with some pretty intense stuff from my time in the military. There are still days, particularly nights, when I can’t fight the nightmares. I’m not perfect. Never pretended to be. Since you reappeared in my life, I made the decision that I would fight through it if it means I can be with you. I can’t decide for you. But if you want to be with me, we can fight it together.”

  Hope started to churn in her belly. “How?”

  “Babe, just forgive the girl who decided to leave me and accepted the contract to save your mother. You made the best decision at that time. You are right. The surfer I was wouldn’t have understood what you were going through. I would have tried to find a solution, but there was none. You had to find the money. Forgive her, Izzy. Accept that she had the key to give your mother another chance, to build something tangible, giving you the means to obtain your MBA and open your agency. It took guts, strength, and intelligence. I may have been infatuated with the mermaid on the shore, but it’s you I love, Isabel Osborne.”

  Huddled in the corner, Isabel let every word sink in. Damn the man for being right. Once the decision had been made, she had stuck to it and made the best of the cards dealt to her. Kai was right. It wasn’t her former career that was eating at her. Not since Kai had accepted it. After all, he had proposed, knowing what and who she had been. It was that initial decision, the one she’d made at a crossroad, where her resentment stemmed from. Was there another possibility? Isabel was tempted to say yes, but she had been young and without help or connections. Apart from selling her body, porn movies were the next best thing. Would she do it again to save her mother? Hell yes! She was ready to do it now to protect and help Kai.

  That was what hit her hardest, because when she’d put sex into the mix again, after opening her heart to Kai and daring to take his hand in pursuing their happily ever after, she had betrayed him again.

  “I shouldn’t have followed Finch. I knew where it would lead, and thought I could handle it, but I couldn’t. He was too emotionally charg
ed. And dangerous. I was lucky. However, if it helps in bringing him down, it was worth it. I don’t want to do that again, Kai. I can pretend in public, but I can’t be alone with him.”

  “And I wouldn’t let you do it either. I made a mistake leaving you there. I messed up too. The risks are too great. We are close, baby. I know it will be over soon and then we’ll be able to put everything behind us forever.”

  Forever. That word held everything she hoped for with Kai.

  Crawling to the door, Isabel unlocked it and immediately Kai barged into the bathroom and took her in his arms.

  Gabrielle looked at them from the threshold and Kai winked at her. With those two forces of nature, Isabel knew that she would get through it. They were about to take Finch down, and once he was gone, she would never think about him again, as the man holding her in his arms held the key to her future.

  Chapter Thirty

  If tension among the team became even denser, they would all be able to tap dance on it. Kai entered their temporary headquarters to see Lazarus on the phone and Gabrielle examining a set of cameras on the kitchen table.

  “You better have brought food, Jones. If I don’t eat soon, I might succumb to a murderous rage.”

  Kai arched an eyebrow. “We wouldn’t want that. On the other hand, maybe we should just leave you in that state and lock you up with Finch and his goons. That would solve all our problems fast.”

  “Dumbass.”

  “So says the woman to the man bearing food.” The box under his arm, Kai went to the kitchen counter and pushed at the weapons neatly positioned there.

  “Hey! Don’t mess up my things!”

  “Where do you want me to put the food? On my head? You’ve already commandeered the kitchen table and all the chairs. And Lazarus becomes apoplectic if we go near his computers with food.”