by E. M. Gayle
“Are we done fighting?” I asked.
“Yeah, we’re done.” His voice sounded heavy and that worried me.
“Long day?”
“Long day,” he repeated.
“We both work too hard I think.”
His low rumble of laugher vibrated through me. “You’re probably right. All the more reason for us to be together here, don’t you think?”
My stomach tumbled at his words. The idea that he wanted me here all the time was actually kind of sweet once I thought about it. I’d jumped to conclusions and that sucked. I wanted to be honest about my feelings, but it wasn’t easy. I’d been an idiot once before and I struggled with the fear of doing that again.
Alex isn’t Bill, I told myself. Not even remotely.
But the truth was, despite my big plan for a free night of sexual adventure, this had turned into something so much more.
“I think I’m falling in love with you,” I blurted without thinking. “And that scares the hell out of me.”
I felt his reaction instead of seeing it. His body stiffened next to mine. His fingers stilled where they brushed my arm. And I was almost positive I’d heard a sharp intake of breath.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. What had I done?
Chapter Eighteen
Harper
I stared up the full height of the metal and glass twenty-five story building towering in front of me like a bearer of doom. I imagined Alex hidden away in his elegant home office with his Bluetooth headset glued to his ear as he handled the myriad details someone in his position took care of.
As CEO of some real estate conglomerate I didn’t begin to understand, he spent an inordinate amount of time conducting business on the telephone. In between today’s important business calls he had attempted to reach me more than once.
My hand tightened on the cell phone I’d yet to answer for fear I’d say something I couldn’t take back. Not that seeing him in person would make any of this any easier, but after everything I owed him more than a phone conversation.
The insistent buzz of another voicemail vibrated in my hand, shredding my nerves even more.
Like it or not, this night had been coming for weeks now. Tonight I would ask Alex to unlock my beloved necklace and release me.
Tears burned at the back of my eyes and the constant pain in my chest tightened. The thought of telling the man I loved that I didn’t want to see him again made me sick to my stomach.
Although not as sick as the night I’d confessed my true feelings to a room that turned so silent after I spoke the ill-timed words, anyone could have heard a pin drop.
I growled in frustration and wiped frantically at the lone tear that had escaped onto my cheek. No. This wasn’t going to happen this way. I had more backbone than that.
Somewhere.
My eyes slid closed as the memory of that night overtook me. There were so many other things I could have said in that situation that might have made things go differently. I could have asked him about his work. Or about his security. That question still bugged me. Why did I need it too?
Or maybe if I’d drank less wine with Zia, I would have kept my guard up better. I could have avoided the confession that screwed everything up. He wasn’t ready. Hell, I wasn’t ready. Sober I knew that. Drunk not so much.
Thank God his phone had rung right after that and he’d been forced to answer it. I’d sat there for a while drowning in the dread of his imminent return. I’d racked my brain for a plan on how to take it back.
Instead I’d heard my mother’s words in my head.
Sink or swim, baby. That’s how life works. It throws chances at you when you least expect it and you often have to jump in blind. Sink or swim. Those are your choices.
Well, I’d sunk. That’s for sure.
After an hour, Alex had not returned and I’d lost all hope. Fair? Probably not. Real? Absolutely. My pleasant buzz had turned into a vicious headache and I had to lay down. After that I must have passed out because I remembered nothing else until the next morning when I woke up in bed alone.
My shoulders sagged.
Oh there had been a note and a story of urgent out of the country business that could only be handled in person. I didn’t doubt it was true, but the timing couldn’t have been worse. I was deflated.
I had told him I loved him and he hadn’t responded. Minutes, hours, days. It didn’t seem to matter. I was a fool. Our relationship had been about sex. That much was clear. I should have clung to that knowledge from the beginning and maybe I wouldn’t be in this position now.
Not that I blamed him per se. He had huge responsibilities and he’d been careful not to make promises. But there had been slips. We both made mistakes. His demanding I live with him had given me the wrong idea. That was on me.
I had to admit things had been a little on the surreal side for a while. Which had gotten me thinking about things I had no business thinking. Like long term type things.
On a deep sigh, I wrapped my arms around my stomach. Lately my thoughts had wandered well beyond business and into the realm of crazy. As in maybe it was time to think about a family and marriage—again.
Those thoughts actually haunted me.
I loved Alex and with the treasured way he treated me when we were together, I’d dropped my guard. Despite all my best efforts not to let it go too far, I’d begun to believe in something more permanent.
So lost in my maudlin thoughts as I stood there staring at Alex’s building while too afraid to go in, I’d failed to hear anyone approach until it was too late.
“Ms. Allison?”
I jerked at the sound of my name and whirled to face whoever had spoken it.
Behind me stood two men in black non-descript suits with expressions on their faces to match.
My stomach twisted.
“Harper Allison?” The man repeated.
I stood there mute, unable to respond as shards of fear stabbed into me from every available angle. The feds had found me.
I’d run to the biggest city in the continental US, changed my name and broken all ties to my past.
And they’d freaking found me.
One of the men reached in his pocket and pulled out his badge. I stared at it mesmerized, still shocked they’d found me after all this time. I’d thought all of this was behind me now. It was supposed to be over.
“You need to come with us.”
I shook my head. “I—I can’t. I haven’t done anything wrong.”
“Technically that isn’t true. You were called to testify in court—”
“No!” I took several steps back and both men advanced on my position in response. “Bill is the one on trial, not me. I didn’t know anything. I told you people I couldn’t help.”
“You were found to be in contempt of court in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina and we’re here to return you to the case.”
“You can’t!” I was shrieking now and I could see Charlie, the doorman from Alex’s building, heading down the sidewalk in my direction. I had about twenty seconds to make an escape or my sins were going to spill into the streets of New York City.
One of the men grabbed my arm in a tight grip and tugged me towards a dark SUV sitting at the curb. I jerked at the bite of his fingers deep into my skin.
He glared at me, a less than friendly look on his face. “You can either accompany us to North Carolina now or we’ll escort you to the local precinct and let them process you there. It may take them a while to get the paperwork to process though so you can wait in a holding cell until everything goes through. It’s your choice, but either way you are going back to North Carolina to deal with the contempt charge.”
“Ms. Allison,” the doorman called. “Are you okay? Should I contact Mr. Woodman?”
Those shards of fear dug deeper into my skin at the thought of Alex finding out about me this way. Even worse if the press got a hold of it. He would be humiliated. I would be humiliated.
“No. I’m fine,” I rea
ssured him.
I quickly turned back to the two agents knowing full well I had no choice but to cooperate this time. “I don’t want to go to jail. What do I have to do?” I hissed at them.
Both men nodded and without saying another word, led me to their vehicle and placed me in the back seat. The locks on the doors clicked down and my stomach cramped with unease. I glanced at both men in the front seat and tried to remember if I’d taken a good look at either of their badges.
The driver leaned forward and his jacket slid up his back revealing the weapon attached to his side. I didn’t know jack all about guns, but that monstrous thing with what looked like a silencer on the end didn’t resemble anything I’d expect from a field agent. Or any other kind of cop.
Until then I’d been too scared to look back at Alex’s building, but as the car started and proceeded from the curb, I couldn’t resist one last glance.
The doorman stood on the sidewalk, concern etched across his face, a phone pressed to his ear. He was already talking to someone on the other end.
I pressed my palm against the glass as the first tear dripped onto my cheek. It was too late.
I’d screwed up again.
Bill Bennett, the man who I thought was my husband, the sick bastard that had convinced me at eighteen that I would be his beloved wife, was finally going to get his last and final wish.
My death.
Alex and Harper’s story concludes in Alex Takes and is included in this collection. Continue reading for the conclusion.
Harper is missing and Alex is going to burn down the city looking for her.
He’s also going after the man who dared to take her, just as soon as he figures out which one did.
Her past…his family…things are about to get crazy!
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If you enjoyed What Alex Wants, you’ll love the sensual and exciting New York Times Bestselling Purgatory Masters series. (and Harper’s Ex - Bill Bennett made his appearance in that series.)
The first book TUCKER’S FALL is available to one-click now!
And if you haven’t read the Purgatory Club series that started it all, the first novella ROPED is FREE to one-click!
Katie has a desire for rope and she’s had her eye on riggers Leo and Quinn for quite some time. Week after week she goes to the club and watches them tie up women from afar, while she imagines their rough rope against her own skin.
Now the two hunky men have decided to make their move. But is plus-sized Katie ready to turn her fantasies into reality?
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Alex Takes
What Alex Wants Duet Part 2
ALEX TAKES
What Alex Wants Duet
Copyright © 2018 E.M. GAYLE
A small portion of this book was previously published in Reclaiming His Submissive Copyright 2011 Eliza Gayle
This is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or business establishments, events, or locales is coincidental.
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
About The Book
This is book #2 of the What Alex Wants Duet. Please read WHAT ALEX WANTS before beginning this novel.
Lies. Betrayal. Danger.
LOVE is definitely a risk.
HARPER
For one bright, shining moment I believed in love, but fate has once again decimated everything I thought I knew. Now I’ve been thrust into the middle of a game I can’t break free from.
To survive I will have to fight, but when it comes to love, I’d rather walk away than be humiliated again.
ALEX
I am determined to get what I want at any price. If I have to take it I will—even if that leads me to a thing or two that are definitely illegal in the state of New York. Not having Harper in my life is simply no longer an option. For her I will crush anyone who gets in my way.
She is worth the risk…
Note: This book should be read after What Alex Wants (available now)
Chapter 1
Harper
I stared out the window at Alex’s building until it disappeared from sight. Fear held me paralyzed as tears continued to trickle down my face. Had Charlie been on the phone with Alex telling him that I’d been taken by two men in suits? Would he pursue me?
I couldn’t decide if that was a good or bad possibility. This wasn’t how I wanted to die. Hell, I didn’t want to die period. But If I had to die, I didn’t want Alex to find out the truth this way. This was my cross to bear. My dumbass mistake to deal with. Hopefully Charlie hadn’t overheard any of the incriminating details these men had spilled.
What I couldn’t figure out was why my ex-husband bothered with the façade of the FBI to come after me. Personally, he liked a smooth-talking long game, but this seemed over the top even for him.
As my mind whirred with the all of the regrets and bad decisions I’d made, I also began to contemplate how the hell I would get out of this mess. Honestly, I was afraid to even turn around and face my captors again. Now that I was about ninety-five percent sure they weren’t real agents, I didn’t know how to act. Was I supposed to go along with the ruse? Or call them out?
Kidnapping 101 was a little out of my wheelhouse as a culinary master. Unless they wanted to get into a bake off, then I’d be good to go.
I covered my face with my hands. Hysteria was obviously setting in and if I didn’t get control over my emotions I didn’t stand a chance in hell of escape. What I should have been doing was paying attention to my captors. Because I didn’t see anything coming until I felt the prick in my arm. I tried to jerk away from the pain, but a hard hand prevented my movement.
What the hell?
I looked down too late to see a syringe being pulled from my arm. My situational awareness sucked. Apparently, I was an easy target.
“What was that?” I asked as I saw the man’s face begin to blur.
“Just a little something to make you a little easier to handle, that’s all.”
“Whhyy?” And why did my voice sound so far away?
“Because you have a long trip ahead of you and no one wants to fight to get you there.”
My eyes were drooping fast. I couldn’t focus. There were still words coming out of his mouth, but I couldn’t understand any of them.
He’d said a name, but I couldn’t wrap my head around it. Something foreign, I think. And familiar. As the darkness crept closer, I tried to fight it to no avail. This—whatever they’d given me—I couldn’t resist it.
I mistakenly thought I’d had time. I’d thought wrong. I tried to say something more, but a fresh wave of fear clogged my throat. They were going to kill me and there was nothing I could do to stop them.
Alex.
I’m so sorry.
I should have answered your calls.
Chapter 2
Alex
“What do you mean they took her?” He could barely understand Charlie’s frantic message because his heart had stopped beating.
“I’m sorry, sir. I tried to get to the vehicle to question the circumstances, but they got her in their SUV before I got halfway to the sidewalk.
“Did she say anything? Do anything?”
Charlie choked. “She was crying, sir.”
Alex felt the anger rise and the blood in his veins begin to boil from it. “I’m halfway to you. Don’t go anywhere until I get there.”
He hung up the phone before his doorman responded and presse
d the code on his phone for Gerard, his head of security.
“Hey, boss. What can I do for you? Do you need a car?”
“Fuck yeah, I do,” he barked, uncaring how abrupt he sounded. Gerard was a big boy and he needed to get the picture in the quickest way possible. “Bring the Spyder around and do it quick. I think Harper has been kidnapped.”
“Fuck. On my way.”
The phone went dead before the elevator doors even closed. He had no doubt Gerard was already formulating a plan and the minute they met he would have a thousand questions that he couldn’t answer. Because he fucking knew nothing. Other than he’d tried to call her all day and she’d yet to return any of his calls or messages. That and the empty penthouse upon his return were enough to drive him mad, but this?
Instead of being concerned at the time, he’d begun planning the various ways he would deliver her punishment for ignoring him. It had been too long since he’d seen her and they had some time to make up for.
Not to mention a discussion about how they’d left things the last time they were together.
