We went further in, stopping and checking for any sign that the intruder would still be in there. The main room was clear, completely trashed, but clear. Graham turned to me and pushed the hair out of my face, cupping my cheek. “Stay right here.”
I nodded, watching him grab a rod from something broken and hold it up as he entered the bedroom. My hand immediately slipped in my purse, fumbling around until I found my pepper spray. When he came out, he had lowered the metal rod and tossed it back on the ground. “Whoever was here is gone now.”
We surveyed the damage. The couch had been torn apart, the cushions ripped open and the rest scattered. Every table had been flipped, the television smashed, and the drawers to the dressers empty and laying on the ground. “Did you bring anything important here?”
Graham shook his head. “No. My luggage and suitcases are being held downstairs because I didn’t have time to empty the valuables into the safe.”
I let out a slight breath of air. “Thank God.”
“Is everyone okay in here?” a voice bellowed from the door. “It’s the hotel security.”
Graham took in a deep breath. “Yes, come in. It seems the room has been broken into.”
The guard pushed open the door and immediately reached down, grabbing his night stick. “Holy hell. You found it like this?”
“Yes sir,” Graham explained, fixing his hair and pulling down his shirt to hide the fact that his pants were still unbuttoned. “We got back and found the lock broken and the room torn up.”
The guard immediately called down to the desk. “We will get you out of here. Was any of your stuff taken?”
Graham shook his head. “It’s all at the service desk. I hadn’t picked it up yet.”
The guard whistled. “Sounds like your lucky day then. They were probably looking for cash or anything they could quickly get their hands on.”
Graham nodded, glancing over at me. He took my hand and pulled me into the bedroom. On the dresser was a blue sheet of paper. Grahams brow furrowed and he picked it up, reading it to himself. He sighed and shoved it in his pocket. “Just the normal. Look, I don’t think either of us is feeling what we were feeling a moment ago.”
I laughed. “Not unless you were scared and pissed off.”
He smiled. “That would be an interesting reaction to your hot body, but no, not quite what I was feeling. Anyway, they will give me a new room, no question. Do you want to come stay in mine for the night?”
I thought about it for a moment, denying the offer. “As much as I want to, I think it would be good to stay in my own room tonight. Clear this all through my head, regroup and start over tomorrow. I’m sure we will have time to pick that up again.”
His mouth quivered and I knew he had a million questions, but I had no answers. I wanted him, that was the deal and I could either continue to fight it or just go with it. I knew it would be so much easier to go with it, especially since he wanted me to.
Putting my hands on his chest I leaned up on my tiptoes and kissed him gently on the lips. “Text me when you are in your new room so I know where you are,” I told him. “And you know I am just down there.”
He walked me to the door, looking around. “You want me to check out your room?”
I shook my head. “No, they don’t want me, they want you. And anyone that messes with that, I’ll give them some pepper spray to the eyes.”
He grimaced. “Not my idea of a grand old time. I am assuming from the letter, though that this couldn’t be anyone other then the stalker. He is trying to send a message and I hear him, I just don’t agree with him. So, I will continue the course, but I want to make sure you are taken care of first.”
“I figured it was them when I walked through the door,” I sighed. “Maybe they left some clues. Look for anything that you think might help and get it out of here before the cops show up.”
“Got it captain,” he teased, kissing me on the forehead. “Go, I’ll wait until you get inside.”
I smiled sweetly at him, blowing him a kiss as I backed down the hall and then whirled around, finally finding my door. I took my card key out and slid it into lock, waiting for the key light to change to green. It clicked and I turned the handle, pushing in a bit before taking one last glimpse of him.
It was a shame, I was full and ready to be with him, no matter the consequences. We were drawn together so tightly I almost forgot how intense it felt to be in his arms. How every touch of his skin to mine set off tiny alarms of ecstasy through my whole body. I knew we could have gotten it back but I wanted it to not be like that. I wanted to lay with him, fall asleep with him. Not run off because someone was trying to us.
My room was pitch black and I tossed my card key and pepper spray down on the table by the door. I pushed the door in and leaned into it, pressing my forehead against the cold hard surface. My luck never seemed to change. When it was time, when my happiness was screaming at me to forget the past, move forward, something in life grabbed me by the ankles and yanked me back down the rabbit hole. Frustrating was not even close to explaining how I felt.
I puffed air from my extended cheeks and pushed up off the door. Shaking my head, I walked into the bed area and reached around until I found the light switch. Turning it on I froze in place, my purse dropping from my hands. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. It didn’t make any sense at all.
There was one of the blackmailers standing at the window of my room, a face all too familiar. Suddenly, someone walked up behind me out of the bathroom and slid a piece of cloth over my nose and mouth. I tried not to inhale, but they were choking me out with it. My body wouldn’t let me go without oxygen and they knew that.
Suddenly my eyes started to fade and the room turned over on its side as I passed out into a stranger’s arms. Wherever I was, whatever they gave me was not sleep. But it wasn’t awake either. I was floating in some limbo, the sounds around me ruffled and the feeling of my arms being pulled back behind me was painful. I could feel myself float in and out of consciousness until finally I was able to blink my eyes.
There was some light from the little lamps throughout the room. My eyes moved first, then my mouth smacked together, dry and bitter tasting. Everything was foggy and I tried to move my hands but I was hogged tied. Beneath me was the comfortable Queen size bed, and in front of me, a mirror. I could see myself laying there on my side, a gag in my mouth. I realized that was the bitter taste.
I began to swing my head to the right, rubbing the gag on my shoulder over and over again until I was finally able to get it out. I could barely lift my head from that angle but I knew I wasn’t in there alone. I could feel the presence of someone watching me, waiting for me to fuck up and make a noise. The problem was, the familiar face I saw before had already fuzzed so far out of my mind that I still couldn’t figure out who was attempting to do God knows what to me.
There was an obvious generalized answer to who was holding me captive and that was the Stalker. Who else could it have been? They had destroyed Grahams hotel and probably had come right over to mine, expecting that I would have been even less carful then I was.
My body started to wriggle again. I pulled on my arms, getting them back to the front of my body by pulling them down and around my feet. That was when I felt it, a hand on my leg, pulling on me, making a tsking sound. I froze, terrified of what might actually happen if I didn’t lay still. A bright light flashed on and I squinted, seeing the shadow of a man as he walked past.
I attempted to talk but my mouth was so dry. A hand came back over and pulled my gag harshly back into my mouth. With the light behind him I couldn’t see his face, but I could feel his hands grip my arms tightly as he lifted me up to a sitting position. I shook my head back and forth and rolled my eyes around, trying to get them to work. Finally, they began to clear and I was left in awe, staring straight into the eyes of the stalker.
Chapter Seventeen
Lindsey
“I knew it,” I said feeling really
woozy, the gag ripped out of my mouth again. “I knew you had something to do with this. Why? I have no idea. Probably for just some sick kicks.”
Gabe smirked at me, his belly hanging slightly out of his shirt, his mouth moving as he ground his teeth. He licked his lips and walked over to me, grabbing me by the cheeks. “You sure do have a lot to say little thing. I’m sure I could shut you up. I got plenty to stick in there.”
I wrinkled my nose, feeling nauseous just thinking about it. Yanking my head to the side I grimaced and spit at his feet. “You could never have someone like me. Never.”
His smirk quickly turned to a frown and he reared his hand back ready to slap me hard. I braced myself, keeping my mouth closed tightly and squinting my eyes tight. I waited for the blow, but instead, I heard a second voice. A familiar voice.
“Wait,” the voice commanded. “Now Gabe, don’t make me send you back to that trailer park because you can’t treat our guest with a little respect.”
I opened my eyes again and watched Gabe snarl before walking back across the room. Someone came from my left side out of the bathroom, walking in front of me and over to the bright spotlight that had been shining in my eyes. He switched it off and sat down in a chair too far for me to reach, but close enough to see.
My eyes narrowed and though I knew I should have been shocked, I wasn’t in the least. “Will.”
I chuckled, not due to humor, just out of pure disgust. “You are supposed to be Graham’s friend. He thinks the world of you. He looks to you like a brother.”
Will rubbed his chin, his face completely calm. “That is too bad. I guess it just shows you how little Graham pays attention to the details. He should have known better from the start. But then again, we all like to be blind when it suits us the most. Right? You would know that feeling. You sat there blind for all this time, pretending like you were okay with being left behind. Thrown to the side like a broken toy. You aren’t the first person he has done that to.”
I shook my head. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. And what happened between him and I is none of your damn business. We will sort out the details of that, and I don’t need you telling me any different. Now, let me go.”
Will ignored my request, leaning his head back and looking at Gabe. “She really is a silly little bitch, isn’t she? So dead set on believing the picture pasted in the wool that has been pulled over her eyes.”
He turned back to me and leaned forward, his mouth twitching. “Graham is a fraud. A pure fraud. There is nothing else I can say that would even come close to telling you exactly what kind of man you’ve been dying to get back into your life. Someone who doesn’t deserve to live in a luxury life.”
I struggled with my ropes, but they were tight and I could feel the warmth of blood running down my wrists. “Then what are you doing working for him still?”
Will sniffed, getting up and walking over to the dresser. He tapped his fingers on a file and picked it up, coming back and pulling his chair quickly across the floor right in front of me. “Secrets, secrets, secrets. Tsk, tsk,” he said. “He needed to learn that secrets don’t make friends. And in fact, they make enemies.”
I snarled at him. “You think telling the world that he has a long lost son is going to hurt him that bad?”
Will rolled his eyes. “Come now Lindsey. Do you think I am so petty that I would really care about that? Besides, knowing the media they would spin it in his favor. No this has to be so damaging that he loses he confidence of his peers. That the people in his world begin to pull away and run in the other direction.”
I swallowed, my wrists stinging and burning. “If not Cyrus, then what? What could be so bad?”
“It’s the lies, Lindsey,” he said. “The lies and fake persona that for years he has been brewing. His little PR team doesn’t just handle the screw ups. They, since day one were hired to create a fake image, built by the rich, built for the world, to see him in exactly the kind of light they wanted.”
“Yeah,” Gabe belted out. “And it’s bullshit. It’s bullshit that I know the truth of.”
Will stopped, rolling his eyes and turning his chair. “Shush. I told you, with that kind of grammar I will do the talking. We don’t need your country hick input. I’ve got this.”
“You’re just like him,” he grumbled, turning to the window and crossing his arms over his chest.
Will turned back to me, clearing his throat. “Where was I? Oh yes, the PR’s greatest stunt. Making a millionaire out of nothing.”
I sneered and shook my head. “He made himself a millionaire, and every famous person out there has a PR team working in the background, manufacturing an image. I know who he really is. And believe it or not, he’s not much different then what is portrayed. Kind, well brought up, energetic, intelligent.”
“Open your fucking eyes,” Will snapped, putting his hand to his chest and swallowing hard. He lowered his voice a few octaves. “Open your eyes. You don’t know that man any better then anyone in America. You are living in a dream world. A dream that I can promise you is going to start crumbling down on you really fast sweetie. Not everything that shines is made of gold. I think by now you would have figured that one out.”
“The only thing I know for certain is that if you don’t get me out of here, I am going to…”
Will laughed. “You’re going to what? Wriggle around until you fall off the bed? Cuss me out? Oh no, what will I ever do?”
I was furious, even more than that, I wanted to hurt him. Not only had I been abducted, but they were spewing shit that had nothing to do with Graham. He was a good man, regardless of the PR. That was normal. Cyrus was his true secret, but I couldn’t figure out why Will had no focus on that and all his focus on the fakery of the rich and powerful. It was nothing new to the world and would continue on as nothing new to the world. No matter what the guy did it didn’t warrant what was happening.
Will opened the file in his lap and flipped to a picture. He turned the file around and showed it to me. I narrowed my eyes, stopping the movement and looked down at it. “What is this? I don’t understand.”
Will smiled. “That is a picture of your love at his high school graduation. And this…” he flipped the page to another picture. It was a very young Graham and a date to some sort of the school dance. “This is young Graham happily escorting his date in his cut off shirt, dirty shoes, and a smile that just screams get me a toothbrush.”
I was so confused, and it was obvious my face was screaming it. Will glanced up and laughed. “What’s wrong? You weren’t aware he was so backyard red neck? Well guess what sweetie, you were lied to, I was lied to and everyone else in the world was lied to.”
“That can’t be true,” I whispered to myself.
Will flipped the page again. “Wrong. The trailer he grew up in.”
“That’s the trailer you were in,” I said, looking up at Gabe.
He nodded, shoving a wad of dip in his mouth. “He rented it to me and then when he got too hoity toity he gave it to me. Me and Graham grew up together. Woo wee, girl, he was a backwoods redneck, poor boy born and raised in St. Paul. He was one of them smart ones, you know. He got a scholarship and then ended up going to Harvard. He ain’t never come back after that. Bought his parents a pretty old house but kept them out there. They was too embarrassing just like me and everyone else he grew up with.”
“Graham?” I asked. “But why would he lie?”
“Who would back him?” Will asked. “Who in the tech world would put their money on some idea by a boy in a cutoff sleeved t-shirt. Nobody. Not to mention the fact that his father was an alcoholic and beat the hell out of him and her when he wasn’t in jail for drunk driving. Then when Graham was sixteen, his father killed a girl drunk one night. Ran right off the road and mowed her down. I’m assuming he’s still locked up but his mother is still around, finally making something out of herself when she sobered up and wrote a book about Abuse. Still, she ain’t cleaned up enough for h
im.”
Will laughed, using a southern accent. “Down in the holla he done messed up. Breaking bones, shooting squirrels, acting like wild animals out there. You would think he didn’t know how to be civilized.”
From the corner of my eye I could see the doorknob slowly turning. I shifted, keeping their attention on me. “Well, poor or not, from a bad family or not he is a genius and he is a good man. He knew when he did this he would have to eventually pick and choose his friends. What he didn’t realize was that they would betray him. For money. You are one pathetic couple of guys.”
Suddenly the door flew open and Graham came charging in, ramming straight into Will. He fell over in the chair and rolled out of it. Graham and Gabe faced off, staring each other down and shifting their weight from side to side. Gabe grinned at him. “Nice to see you Graham. Bet you thought I was going to call you out last time I seen you.”
Graham smirked. “Nah, I figured you were too dumb to even know me. Turns out I was right.”
Gabe growled and yelled out, running for him. The two clashed and threw punches back and forth. I flinched as Graham took one across the face, blood leaking from the corner of his mouth. Gabe laughed loudly. “Looks like somebody forgot to fight.”
Graham flicked open a knife. “I know how to fight. If you forgot, I was the one that was almost killed that fight we got in as kids. That never left me. I can just now pronounce words instead of slurring them.”
Graham threw a punch, hitting Gabe in the stomach. Will stood up and lifted the chair over his head, hitting Graham over the back as hard as he could. I wriggled to the edge and screamed out, trying to get them to sop. “Get off of him, get off. Help!!!Help!!!”
I screamed as loud as I could, knowing there were probably cops and guards out in the hallway. I was right, too. Within seconds cops were busting through the doors, breaking up the fights and putting all three of them on their faces. Two others came running to me, pulling my ties off and checked my heart beat. I just wanted them to stop for a minute and listen to me.
Strange Love (Choose Yours Book 1) Page 12
