Breaker's Point Bad Boy Billionaires Boxset (16 page)

S
tuart struggled
to open his eyes. He felt like someone had scooped them out rolled them in sand and put them back in.

It took him a second to register why he couldn’t move his hands. They were tied to the back of the chair he sat in.

It all came flooding back as he tried to study his surroundings. If he could work out where he was then he maybe stood a chance of getting out of this mess. As he looked around he quickly came to realise he was sitting in an empty aeroplane hangar.

“Stuart, good to see you finally in the land of the living once more. I was worried that the cops had manhandled you a little too well.”

Grey’s voice irritated Stuart and he struggled to turn and stare at the man who was holding him hostage, but his bonds refused to budge.

“Now, now, don’t struggle, you’ll only leave ligature marks and we don’t want that, now do we?”

Grey paced in front of Stuart, the large white bandage that spanned his nose and beneath his blackened eyes giving Stuart a momentary flash of satisfaction.

“How’s the nose?”

Stuart couldn’t resist goading his captor. He was in no doubt as to what Grey had planned for him. The moment he grew bored Grey would have him killed, and if Stuart could piss him off before then, all the better.

Grey’s eyes darkened for a second before he broke out in a smile.

“This?” he asked, gesturing to his face. “It’s nothing my surgeon couldn’t fix. Once it’s healed you won’t even know it happened.”

“That’s a pity. I was rather hoping it would improve your face and then maybe you wouldn’t have to rape defenceless girls in order to get your rocks off.”

Grey drew back, his punch landing squarely on Stuart’s face, rocking him backwards on the chair. A thought flashed through Stuart’s mind: if Grey hit him hard enough and managed to tip the chair over, would it break, freeing Stuart from his bonds?

The only flaw he could see in the plan was the repeated blows he would have to take from Grey first. It would be no good if he broke free but was unconscious and couldn’t take advantage of the situation.

“So, you’ve been spending time with that whore Eleanor, then?”

Stuart didn’t answer and instead consoled himself with the knowledge that as soon as he was free he would rip Grey apart for everything he had done to Ellie.

“I didn’t rape the little bitch. She ran off before any of the fun could happen. I don’t know why—she seemed up for it, and whatever we did to her would have been more than she ever deserved.”

Grey’s expression changed, a smile sliding across his lips as he stared down at Stuart.

“You slept with her, didn’t you? Tell me, Stuart, does the little whore grunt like the pig she is when you fuck her?”

It was more than Stuart could bear to hear and with a growl he fought against the ropes that held him down on the chair. If he could have escaped in that moment he knew he would have killed Grey where he stood.

“I’m going to kill you, Grey, and when I do I’m going to enjoy wiping the smirk off your face.”

Grey laughed, the sound bouncing around the empty hangar they sat in.

“Stuart, don’t you know when you’re beaten? Maybe after I have Wilson throw your body off Lacey’s Head, I’ll go in search of Ellie, give her the comfort that only a real man can.”

Grey gestured for someone behind Stuart to come forward. Strong hands worked on the ties that held him down onto the chair and the moment Stuart felt them loosen he jerked forward.

Stuart lunged towards Grey but the other man was faster than Stuart had anticipated and dodged out of the way. A hand grabbed him from behind, yanking him backwards and into what felt like a solid wall of flesh.

Wilson’s arm wrapped around Stuart’s neck and the larger man pummelled Stuart with his fists. There was nothing Stuart could do—he couldn’t escape the stranglehold Wilson had on him and each punch sent shockwaves ricocheting through his body. The only thing that Stuart could do was wait it out and hope and pray he could fight once he got his chance.

“That’s enough, Wilson, I said you could have your revenge but if you beat him too badly it’ll arouse suspicion if his body washes up.”

Wilson’s grip reluctantly loosened on Stuart’s neck when a shot rang out, the sound echoing around the empty metal hangar.

E
llie held
the gun steady in her hands and aimed at the man holding Stuart but it seemed the surprise of her first shot was all Stuart needed to escape.

Ellie watched as he rolled forward, taking the larger man with him. It took only a few seconds for other guards to pile in around but Stuart was a better and stronger fighter. Ellie kept the gun trained on the fight but her arms started to ache as Stuart quickly delivered well-placed kicks and blows to the men surrounding him.

“Put down the gun, Eleanor.”

The voice trailed over Ellie like the cold fingers of fear and she felt her hands waver as she slowly lowered the gun.

“Stuart, looks like your whore came to bail you out. Too bad I got to her first.”

Grey’s voice rang out through the hangar, instantly drawing Stuart’s attention away from the fight where it needed to remain.

A momentary look of anguish crossed his face as he caught sight of Ellie.

She had just enough time to scream, “look out!” before one of the men Stuart had already knocked to the ground grabbed his leg and twisted, driving him onto the hard cement floor.

Ellie’s voice choked in her throat as she watched the others pile in on top of Stuart and she sobbed as he disappeared beneath a writhing mass of bodies.

The press of Grey’s gun against her back and the way his arm banded around her throat had panic rising in Ellie but she fought to fight it back. She needed to stay calm. She needed to think clearly—it was the only way she was going to get out of it all safely.

Ellie’s eyes blurred with tears as Grey turned her towards the door she had come in through and marched her back out. She fought to think of something, anything to help the man she loved escape what was happening to him.

Ellie stumbled, realisation washing over her. She loved him, she loved Stuart and she wouldn’t give up on him.

Sirens cut through the night air as Grey dragged her out over the long grasses that covered the cliff top. Seeing her opportunity, Ellie bucked and thrashed in his grip, breaking free of his hold and raced away from him.

The sound of Grey swearing behind her as he raced after her only had the blood pumping in Ellie’s veins harder and faster. She raced towards the cliff edge, her eyes scanning the area for something she could use as a weapon or a place to hide.

Grey careened into her, driving her body towards the ground and knocking the air from her lungs with the force of the blow. Ellie’s screams were muffled against the ground as he pinned her down and wrapped his hands into her hair.

“Let her go, Grey!”

Ellie’s heart leapt in her chest at the sound of Stuart’s voice. Knowing he was there only made her fight harder.

Grey dragged her up from the ground, his grip on her hair burning against her scalp. He dragged her, struggling in against his chest and pressed the barrel of the gun tight against her head.

“If you come any closer, Stuart, I’ll paint this grass with what little brains she has.”

Ellie focussed in on Stuart. Blood coated his face and she knew from the way he was favouring his side that he was badly hurt. But he was on his feet and that was all that mattered.

Grey forced her to take another step back with him and suddenly the sound of skittering dirt and rock filled the air.

“You’re going to help me get out of here, Stuart. You’ll find a car and help me leave or I will toss her over the edge.”

“If you hurt her I’ll kill you.”

Grey laughed and the sound filled Ellie with fear.

“If I don’t get out of here I’m dead anyway. I can’t be taken in by the cops. The people I work for don’t want to give me the chance to turn on them. I wouldn’t last five minutes in prison. So you see, Stuart, I have no choice and now neither do you. Help me, and she lives; don’t help me, and she dies…”

Grey dragged Ellie back towards the rim and more rocks and dirt disappeared over the edge.

Stuart looked at her, his expression filled with fear and pain. Ellie knew he was planning something stupid, planning a last ditch rescue attempt that would get him killed. She saw the look in his eyes and the tensing of his shoulders.

“I love you,” she said, and Stuart’s eyes widened with surprise.

“Aww, she loves you, Stuart, now you have to save her.”

Ellie didn’t wait for Grey to finish speaking. He was the man who had taken her father, he may as well have killed her mother and he’d ripped her brother away and into a world he didn’t belong in, turning him into someone Ellie barely recognised. The thought of Grey succeeding and taking away the man she loved—the man she had longed for and never truly believed she would find—was too much for her.

Ellie swung her body in against Grey’s, her forward momentum unbalancing him. His grip on her hair disappeared as his arms wind-milled and Grey began to fall.

Grey’s body tumbled over the edge of Lacey’s Head and Ellie went with him, her body slamming into the ground, the edge crumbling away beneath her and sending her over the cliff. There was just enough time to scream before the sea started to rush up to meet her.

“
E
llie
, open your eyes.”

Stuart’s frantic voice seemed to come from somewhere above Ellie. Her arm ached as she struggled to hold onto the tree root against the edge of the cliff face. Ellie didn’t know how she’d managed to grab onto the root, her instinct to survive had kicked in the moment she’d started to fall.

Looking up she realised the tree root wasn’t the only thing keeping her from falling to her death. Stuart lay across the edge, his hand in hers, holding her steady.

“Good, love, that’s good, now I need you to reach up to me with the hand that’s on the tree. I promise I won’t let go, I’ve got you.”

The sound of the sea crashing against the rocks below suddenly rushed in to taunt Ellie, making her head spin.

“Ellie, look at me, only at me.”

Stuart’s voice was steady but Ellie could see the pain in his eyes as soon as she glanced up at him.

“I’m too heavy.”

The words came out in a whisper. She was too afraid to talk normally in case it was enough to send her tumbling to her death.

“Ellie, you’re not. I’ve got you…”

She squeezed her eyes shut and struggled to drink in a deep breath.

“Ellie.”

His voice made her look up.

“I love you too and I’m not letting you go. You have to trust me.”

Ellie nodded slowly, her heart hammering in her chest and in her ears.

He loved her. He’d said it. Ellie didn’t care if he’d just said it to help her to trust him or if he really meant it, none of it mattered.

She loved him, she trusted him.

“I trust you.”

She squeezed his hand and released the tree branch. There was a moment of pure unfettered panic as she swung in the air and then Stuart had her other hand and he was pulling her up and over the edge.

Ellie clung to him as he dragged her back onto solid land. Pushing up from the ground, he brought her with him and crushed her in against his chest in the strongest and most comforting embrace Ellie had ever felt.

“I’ve got you—I told you I wouldn’t let go.”

Stuart held her, his lips coming down on hers in a knee-melting kiss.

He broke away from her long enough to stare angrily at her.

“What the hell were you thinking? You could have been killed. What if I hadn’t caught you? What if you hadn’t gotten a grip on the tree root? Ellie, I could have lost you.”

“And it would have been worth it if you were safe. I couldn’t bear the thought of you doing something stupid and heroic and getting yourself killed.”

“So you thought it would be better if you did it instead?”

Ellie nodded as Stuart cupped her face between his hands.

“Don’t you ever do that to me again. Don’t ever endanger yourself like that. I couldn’t bear to lose you, to not feel you in my arms…”

“I meant it, I love you…”

Ellie got the words out as cops and plain clothes officers raced through the long grasses towards them.

Stuart smiled and dragged her in against him once more.

“I was hoping you’d say that—that it wasn’t just some sort of last declaration before you risked yourself.”

Ellie smiled up at him.

“It was a last declaration. I was prepared to die, after everything Grey has taken from me I wasn’t about to let him take you as well.”

“We can’t find Grey anywhere.”

Riley appeared behind Stuart, a navy windbreaker on him, his eyes filled with concern.

“I think you’ll be lucky if you find Grey, considering he went over the edge there.”

Stuart pointed to the edge of the cliff and Ellie followed his hand, a sudden shiver washing over her. It had all been incredibly close, too close, and the fact that she was now standing on solid secure land left her surprised.

The moment she had gone over the edge and the first glimpse of the ocean below had convinced her that the end was near. She knew she wouldn’t survive the fall, no one did, and yet she didn’t regret it one bit.

If she had the same choice to make over again, Ellie knew she wouldn’t change a thing.

“Are you cold?”

Stuart wrapped his arm around her shoulder, drawing her in against his side.

“I’m fine. I think you’re the one we need to worry about.”

Ellie placed her hand on his chest and Stuart winced.

“I’ll be fine, this is nothing that a little TLC can’t sort out.”

“Still, we need to get you checked out.”

Stuart shook his head and pressed his lips to her forehead.

“Well, if I do then so do you. Deal?”

Ellie stared up at him and knew that there was no way out of it. If she didn’t agree to it then he wouldn’t either. She smiled.

“That’s fine by me.”

Ellie didn’t care about something so trivial. She had everything she wanted right within her grasp and she wouldn’t ever risk it again.