Billion Dollar Baby Bundle 2 (4 page)

“What are you doing?” Selene said.

She shook her head. “You poor dear. You really have no idea.”

The door opened and Ms. Miller walked out.

Selene pounded on the door and screamed, but no one came. Giving up, she retreated to a corner of the room and waited. Hours passed.

She was drifting off to sleep when the sound voices jolted her awake. She heard a man laugh, then the door to her cell was thrown open.

A man, his arms bound behind his back was tossed into the room. The door slammed shut behind him. The light was dim but Selene could make out Ethan’s features clearly. She wrapped her arms around him; he groaned.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “Are you okay?”

Ethan moaned, “Yes.”

His eye was swollen and he was bleeding from a cut on his forehead. His clothes were dirty and covered in blood. Selene imagined the worst: scenes of torture and beatings flashed through her mind.

She moved behind him and pulled at the ropes binding his wrists. The knot was tight and it took her a while to untie him.

“Are you alright?” he asked. “…the baby?”

“We’re fine. Where are you hurt?”

“Everywhere.” He tried to laugh but ended up clutching his side in pain. “I don’t want you to worry,” he said through gritted teeth. “I’m going to get us out of this.”

“Ms. Miller’s working with them,” she blurted out. “I woke up and she was in here with me. I thought she had been kidnapped too. I told her everything I know, which isn’t much.”

Ethan nodded. “I’ve kept most of the important details from you. I’m sorry but it was for your own protection.”

Look at how well that worked out, she thought. “I told her about your trust fund- about how you had to have an heir to collect the money. She seemed surprised. The day you interviewed me in your office she thought you were auditioning hookers for Belle Amie.”

Ethan looked pensive. “She didn’t know about the trust fund?”

“No, at least she didn’t seem to know.”

“Good, that means they’re not as smart or well organized as I thought.”

Ethan slowly rose to his feet. Selene helped steady him. “What do we do now?” she asked.

“Now, we wait.”

Hours ticked by without a word from their captors. Selene rested her head on Ethan’s chest. They sat on the hard cement floor in the corner of the room. It was impossible to get comfortable. Her back ached and her feet were swollen but Selene didn’t want to complain, not after what Ethan had been through. She snuggled in next to him. Ethan draped his arms around her.

“You’re getting big. I can barely wrap my arms around you. Won’t be long, before the baby comes.”

“Before you get your money,” Selene said cynically.

Ethan paused. “That too.”

“It’s what they’re after, isn’t it?”

“The money? Yes, that’s usually what it comes down to.” Ethan sounded defeated, or maybe just resigned to their situation, Selene couldn’t tell.

She placed her hand on his chest, then pulled it away quickly. His shirt was covered in blood and dirt. “Take it off.”

Ethan sat up and pulled his shirt off. Selene laid back against him and ran her fingers over his chest. A small amount of dried blood matted his hair.

“Are you hurt anywhere else?” she asked.

“No, just my head and my ribs.”

“Sorry,” she said, sitting up.

“No, you’re fine.” Ethan pulled her back down on top of him.

Selene ran her hands over his chest. Feelings of loneliness and fear played at the corner of her mind, threatening to consume her. Thoughts of the dark water and blinding sun flashed through her head; she didn’t want to go back to that place.

She moved her hand down lower, over Ethan’s abs. Being close to him gave her a small amount of comfort: his warmth, his strong arms, despite the situation she felt safe with him.

It occurred to her this was a significant change from times past. In the beginning, she feared Ethan and his secrets, now she couldn’t run to him fast enough. Maybe he was right to keep quiet about his life she thought. The less she knew the less valuable she was to these people. She grimaced when she remembered how she had trusted Ms. Miller.

Without thinking, Selene moved her hand down inside Ethan’s pants. He jumped, startled by her intimate touch. Selene didn’t care if he was in the mood or not, she needed him.

She stroked his cock quickly. It grew hard in her hand. Maybe he is in the mood, she thought.

Ethan’s pulse quickened. Selene could feel his heart pounding in his chest.

She removed her hand from his pants and unzipped them. Hastily she undressed. They hadn’t heard or seen their captors in hours, but she had no way of knowing when they would be back. Selene left her shirt on, for fear of being seen completely naked by the guards.

After taking off her pants she climbed on top of Ethan. Closing her eyes, she lowered herself onto his cock. The pleasant feeling of floating in the clear water returned. It was as if she’d found her center. She remembered the sensation of the slowly lapping water and moved against Ethan in the same soothing rhythm.

A moan escaped from somewhere deep inside her. Faintly, she heard Ethan echo her own pleasure. His moan was deep and low with a rough timbre that seemed to reverberate through her bones.

The feeling of being dragged away by the tide returned. She moved her hips faster, taking his cock deep inside her. She felt like she was racing against an unknown force. Chills raced up her spine. Selene moaned again, loud enough for the guards to hear, but she didn’t care. She felt herself reach an apex.

She was on the verge of coming when Ethan grabbed her hips. It was an innocent gesture, but she was instantly reminded of the hand pulling her down into the depths. Selene’s eyes shot open like she was waking from a nightmare. She pushed Ethan’s hands away and jumped off of him. She pulled her pants on and began pacing the room.

“Christ, what’s the matter with you?” Ethan said.

The cell door opened. Ethan was on his feet within a second, but the guards were faster.

One of them had Selene by the arm and was pulling her out of the room. The other two were restraining Ethan as he vainly tried to save Selene. After pulling out a night stick and hitting Ethan, Selene agreed to go peacefully as long as they didn’t hurt Ethan. The guards exchanged a look. The one with the night stick shrugged and threw Ethan to the floor. The last thing Selene saw as the guard led her out of the room was Ethan pinned to the ground and bleeding.

Selene was led down a maze of corridors, before finally being left in a room. The room was identical to the one she and Ethan had been held in except this one contained a table and two chairs.

Selene walked the perimeter of the room. She felt like a caged animal. Suddenly, the sound of footsteps and laughter stopped her dead in her tracks. The voices were coming from above her. It sounded like someone was having a party. She pressed her ear to the wall and heard a woman giggling and glasses clinking. What is this place, she wondered.

The door behind her opened. A tall man with a crew cut entered. “Please, sit,” he said, it came out more as a command than a request.

He looked like a soldier. Selene guessed he was a man used to having his orders obeyed.

Deciding to play along, she sat quickly. He took the seat across from her at the table. He placed his hands on the table and smiled.

“Selene, I understand you became involved with Ethan Cole a few months ago. The two of you drew up a contract concerning a baby and a large sum of money. I would like to buy you out of that contract.”

There was a loud crash and the sound of music from above. The man didn’t react. It was as if he couldn’t hear it.

Selene ignored his proposal. “What is this place?” she asked.

“I assume you are referring to our noisy guests upstairs?” Selene detected a hint of frustration in his voice. It was clear he wasn’t pleased with this arrangement. “A bit of an inconvenience, but not our concern.” He smiled again. Selene found it unsettling; he looked like a predator that has its prey in sight.

“We’ve prepared a generous offer for you, I think you should consider it. Upon the birth of your child, we will pay you the sum of fifty million dollars. In exchange, you will turn over all holdings contained in your child’s trust fund to us. You take the fifty million and the baby and you never hear from us again.”

Ethan had told her the trust was in his name, not the babies. It was simply a condition of the trust fund that he have a child before he could collect. This man seemed to think the baby was the sole heir. Selene decided it would be wise to keep this to herself.

“Why would I take the fifty million when the trust is worth a billion?”

“The trust is more complicated then Ethan may have told you. Most of the money is tied up in investments. There’s only around thirty million in cash.”

“You tried to kill us and now you’ve kidnapped us. Why should I believe you?”

“Because you have no choice. You are all out of options.”

“What about Ethan?”

The man grimaced. “Ethan and I have history. There’s still much to be sorted out between us.”

Selene swallowed hard. “Are you going to kill him?”

The man studied her for a moment. “You really do care about him, don’t you?”

“I love him.”

The smile faded from the man’s face. “You should forget about him. Look what he’s done to your life. He’ll only cause you more pain. Take it from me, he’s more trouble than he’s worth.”

There was something in his expression Selene couldn’t quite place. “Were you and Ethan friends?” she asked meekly.

The man’s expression turned to cold. “I advice you to take the money, leave and never come back.”

“And if I say no?”

“Then we’ll kill you. Actually we’ll kill Ethan first and make you watch, then we’ll take your baby and dispose of you.”

Selene began to shake.

“Hey,” the man said, “don’t start that. Let’s be reasonable. Take the money, save your baby and yourself. Forget about Ethan.”

“Promise you won’t kill him?”

He sighed. “For now.”

“How can I trust you?”

“You can’t. You’ll just have to take my word for it when I say that for the time being, Ethan is more valuable alive than dead. Of course, that can change, depending on you.”

Selene nodded. She had no intention of honoring the agreement but it bought her time.

She had to get out of there and figure out how to save Ethan. Besides, Ethan was the one inheriting the money, not the baby, wasn’t he? Her captors seemed to believe the baby would inherit it all. She couldn’t legally sign away something that belonged to Ethan, so there was no harm in agreeing to sign, but what if he had misled her about the details of the trust fund?

“Fine,” she said hoarsely.

“Good. I knew you would make the right choice. We will escort you out and see you home. You will be returning to your residence- not Ethan’s. We will monitor you, perhaps, check in on you from time to time. Then, when the baby’s born, we’ll meet you with the paperwork.” The man leaned in close. “Don’t get any ideas about running away.

We will be watching and we will find you. We’re allowing you to leave this place as a courtesy. Wouldn’t want anything happening to our baby, now would we?” The wolfish smile returned to his face. “Any questions?”

“Can I say goodbye to him?”

The man considered for a moment, then shrugged. “Make it quick.”

He rose and walked to the door. He knocked twice, the same way Ms. Miller had. The door opened promptly and he instructed the guard to take Selene to Ethan’s cell, then escort her home. Without a second look back the man left, disappearing down the corridor. The guard assigned to Selene took her arm and led her back to Ethan.

When the cell door opened, Ethan rushed to her. He wrapped his arms around her so tight she could barely breathe. Selene laughed. She felt on the verge of hysterics.

“Did they hurt you?” he asked.

Selene shook her head. “They made me-” She had to take a deep breath and start again.

“The made me agree to sign away the trust fund. They said they would kill you.” She searched his eyes desperate for a sign that she’d done the right thing.

Ethan only nodded. “It’ll be alright.”

“I’m going to get you out of here,” she whispered, “some how, I promise. They won’t get the money. We’ll figure something out.”

“Of course,” his voice was flat. Selene could tell he didn’t believe her. “Listen to me,” he said, suddenly turning serious. “Any chance you get, take it: run away. Don’t tell anyone where you’re going. If I make it out of here I will find you.”

Hearing him say ‘If I make it out…’ brought tears to her eyes. “Ethan,” she said pathetically, as if reciting his name would somehow keep them together.

The guard walked into the room. “Time to go.”

“Promise me,” Ethan said.

“I can’t.”

“You have to.”

But she refused. The last words she managed to shout to Ethan as the cell door closed were: “This isn’t over.”

Selene wiped the tears from her eyes and let the guard lead her through the corridor.

Every step she took away from Ethan, the harder she felt. A steely resolve came over her: we’re in this together now, she repeated to herself. She was tired of being the victim. It was time to go on the offensive, but where to start? Ethan’s wife. The thought came out of nowhere, but Selene knew her instincts were right. She had to get to her, find out what she knew. She could be the key to getting Ethan back.

They approached a stair case leading up to a trapdoor. “When we go through this door you’re going to stay with me and keep your mouth shut. Do you understand?” The guards expression was severe.

“Yes,” she said, surprised at how confident she sounded.

The guard opened the door and led her through. The door opened into a large walk-in closet. They stepped out and the guard closed the door behind them. The sound of laughter and music increased. The guard walked to the closet door and put his finger to his lips. “Keep quiet,” he said.

He opened the door into a bedroom. It contained two twin size beds. Each bed had a man and woman on them, engaging in various sex acts.