Club Nova Vol. 4 (Brad Grayson)

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 11

EPILOGUE

“Is he going to be okay?” Victoria asked the same question, again, for what felt like the hundredth time. Brad was still unconscious and hadn’t woken up from whatever noxious gas had knocked him out in the first place. Philip made a phone call to a private doctor on Brad’s staff. The situation was dire and once he knew of the emergency he rushed over to evaluate everyone, including Brad.

It didn’t take long for the doctor to confirm it was nothing more than standard sleeping gas and that the effects would wear off soon. He didn’t suspect long-term damage and that was all Victoria needed to hear. But soon wasn’t fast enough for Victoria. She stood and paced Brad’s bedroom, stealing glances at him as he lay with his eyes closed.

“Do you have to do that?” Philip snapped.

They were together in Brad’s room, standing vigil, waiting for him to wake up. Six hours had passed. Six dreadful hours. It might just be sleeping gas, but who’s to say Brad wasn’t having some adverse reaction to it? Maybe he was allergic to something in it. Maybe he was slowly slipping into a coma and no one knew it.
Not even the doctor.
Victoria’s mind raced with worry.

“Doctor Grant is the best there is. If he said Brad would be fine, then Brad will be fine.” Philip stood and rubbed his hands over his face. “I’m going downstairs to check on the rest of my team. You’ll be all right up here?”

“Yeah.” Victoria waved him away. Without him around there would be less stress filling the air.

When Philip left the room, she took a seat in his vacated chair. Brad’s cell phone was sitting on the bedside table. Unable to stop herself, she grabbed it and scrolled through his text messages with Peyton. She just had to know what was
really
going on between them.

Victoria quickly found herself reading the one Peyton had sent moments before she’d gassed the house followed by Brad’s response. But that was it. There were no others. How could that be it? Weren’t there more? Where would they go?

Closing out of his messages she saw a notification that he had a new contact. That was weird. Opening up his contact list, she continued her sleuthing and scrolled through them one by one. Near the bottom was a folder labeled:
Peyton’s Clients
. Victoria leaned forward in the chair, her heart shifting into overdrive.

How could Brad possibly have Peyton’s client list? Wasn’t that what this deal had always been about? Access to her clients and then access to their business and money? If he had it already—for God knows how long—then why was he still screwing around with her? Victoria straightened her spine and looked at Brad, mulling it over. She shook her head. It made no sense.

Victoria sighed. She would never understand Brad’s world or why his safety was worth some stupid deal. Shutting his phone, she returned it to the stand, careful to place it exactly how she’d found it. She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. Her head ached and her eyes were sore from crying. She yawned and climbed into the bed next to Brad. She carefully snuggled up to him and closed her eyes, praying a peaceful sleep would come quickly. That was the only thing that could clear her mind and take the burden of what was happening off her shoulders.

Brad coughed, then winced at how raw his throat was. Each swallow felt sandpaper. He gently lifted his head and rubbed his hand over the back of it. It felt like someone was beating against the back of his skull with a damn jackhammer.

Water. He needed some water. Badly. And probably a whole damn bottle of aspirin. His mouth was dry, his eyelids heavy.
Why was it so damn hot in here?
He pried open his eyes to find himself in his room, in his bed. Victoria lay beside him, her head resting on his chest.
What the hell happened?

Slowly, his memory came crashing back to him. He’d been in the kitchen talking to the investigators to see if they’d gotten any closer to new information about Peyton or Victoria’s kidnapper when his phone rang. “Ow,” he whispered when he swallowed. Damn. He really needed a drink, but his body was in too much pain to move.

Peyton had texted him. She’d known Victoria was with him, that they’d been having an affair.
How the hell did Peyton know?
She’d demanded Brad hand Victoria over, kick her out of his bed and his life. He’d refused. That was when he heard a loud bang and his head filled with fog.

That was the last thing he remembered
.
The gap in time left plenty of unanswered questions for him to work through. How had he gotten upstairs and into his bed? Where was everyone else? Were they okay? There was no way Victoria could’ve done it on her own. He was too big, too muscular, for her small frame.

Carefully, Brad shifted and put his arm around her shoulders. Victoria was safe. That was all that mattered. He placed a soft kiss on her forehead and she let out a soft breath. Closing his eyes, he held her close, taking her fully in, thankful nothing had happened to her while he’d been unconscious. God, if she’d been taken again. . . He didn’t let his mind wonder what that would have caused.

His bedroom door opened and Philip peeked his head inside. Philip! Well, that explained nearly everything. Brad was relieved to see him and Philip looked shocked to see Brad awake. “Hey,” Philip whispered.

“You kept her safe,” Brad said, his voice as rough as sandpaper. He winced. Damn it hurt to talk.

Philip nodded. “That’s what you told me to do.”

“Thank you.” Brad pulled her a little closer.

“Is there anything I can get for you?”

“Water.”

Chuckling, Philip left the room and returned a moment later with a bottle of cold water. Brad drank half of it as quickly as he could, which was a feat in and of itself in his prone position. But the cold water soothed the burn in his throat and he felt slightly better.

“What happened? How’s the rest of the team?” Brad asked quietly.

“Well, obviously Peyton isn’t working alone, but we all kind of figured that. She called Victoria moments before sending you a text.”

Brad looked toward Victoria and sighed.

“Then she had her goons toss sleeping gas into the house. Knocked everyone out cold. Victoria was still up here when it happened. She came running down when she heard the commotion. Luckily I found her before it was too late. I grabbed her, forced her into a secure room, despite her protest, and kept her safe.”

Brad smiled. Typical, Victoria. He knew she wouldn’t be happy about Philip pulling her away from the activity, but it was for her own safety. And Brad could take her wrath for it knowing she was okay. “Any idea how many people she’s got working for her? Or who?”

Philip shook his head. “Not yet, but we’re working on it. Now that there’s been a direct attack, we’re hoping to find some clues outside. I’ve got someone scanning our surveillance cameras.” He rubbed his hands over his head and blew out a breath. “In the meantime, it might not be a bad idea for the two of you to relocate somewhere a little more private.”

Brad stared straight ahead. He hated the idea of hiding. How the hell was he supposed to run a business if he was hiding out from Peyton? Not to mention, if he did go in hiding, how would that look? Like she had won.

No, he didn’t like the idea of giving her that satisfaction. He wouldn’t let someone like her run him out of his home, away from his business. That wasn’t the kind of man he was. He would fight.

But then there was Victoria to look after. He looked down at her soft, innocent face. It wasn’t all about him anymore. He gently ran his finger down her cheek as she lay still in his arms, sound asleep. She needed him, needed his protection and help. Damn! Instinct told him to fight and she told him quite the opposite.

“I’ll think about it,” Brad finally said.

Philip nodded and stood. “I’ve called in some muscle. They’ll be here within the hour.”

“Thanks.”

Giving another nod, Philip left the room. Brad shifted and Victoria stirred but didn’t wake. He gently caressed her face, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. The thought of losing her was a knife through his heart.

He closed his eyes and pressed his forehead to hers. He kind of hated himself for how much he cared; for allowing himself such a huge distraction and weakness. But he knew he could never turn his back on her. Not now. Not after what they had experienced together. He was way too invested in her and couldn’t walk away. She’d been by his side through some of his most difficult days.

“Brad?” she whispered.

He opened his eyes and looked into hers, smiling faintly. “Hey. You okay?”

“Me?” She laughed quietly. “I should be asking you that.” She raised herself onto one elbow and his chest grew instantly cold where her face had been resting. “I was so worried you were—”

Brad placed a finger to her lips before she could finish that sentence. “Don’t. I’m fine. It wasn’t a big deal.”

“Wasn’t a big deal?” Her eyes widened. “You were gassed in your own house. You’ve been knocked out for the last six hours. God, what if it had been something worse?”

“It wasn’t though, so please, stop worrying. I’m fine. So are you, and that’s all that matters.” He pressed his lips to hers and a sense of calm came over him, lulling him into happiness. He knew she was right to worry. He had never experienced anything like this before. She was the calm during his storm and he didn’t want to think about what it would be like without her.

Victoria put her hands around his neck, her fingers tangling in his hair as she opened her mouth to him, welcoming his kiss. He took full advantage, kissing her hard and deep, pressing their bodies together as tightly as possible. He ran his hands up and down the length of her back, needing the feel of her against him, needing to brand himself with everything that was uniquely Victoria.

Desire sparked and crackled between them, his body responding to her the same way it always did—with raw, pulsing need. And as much as he wanted her, wanted to tear the clothes from her body and have his way with her, he was still physically exhausted, his mind tied up in a knot that he couldn’t undo.

He nipped at her bottom lip and reluctantly broke the kiss. “Victoria,” he breathed her name as if it were his own personal prayer. Hell, maybe it was. It sounded good every time he said it. Somewhere along the way she’d become his anchor, the one constant in his life that never wavered, never changed. “I’m so glad you’re here and that you’re okay.”

She smiled and gave him a chaste kiss. “Philip tried to get me to leave. He wanted to take me someplace safer. But I refused. I couldn’t leave until I knew you were okay.”

Brad had never been this intimate with any woman before. Never could find himself the courage to open up. Never. Which was odd considering they were both fully clothed and not tangled up in each other’s bodies. But this level of closeness, of sharing truths and intimacy, was a hell of a lot scarier than anything physical he’d ever done. He was completely exposed to her, vulnerable, and it was terrifying. Which was saying a lot considering Brad wasn’t afraid of anything. Not Peyton, not business, not the law, nothing.

“I should be angry you refused to go with him, but I’m not.” He laughed. “I’m glad you’re right here with me.”

Victoria traced his lips with her finger before leaning over and kissing him again. “Good, because I don’t ever want to be anywhere else.”

He didn’t ever want her to be anywhere else, either, but he wasn’t quite ready to tell her that just yet. He had to keep some of his weakness for just himself. Maybe some words he could never say. “Guess your stubbornness was a good thing.”

She laughed. “Yeah, you’ve got a lot of room to talk about being stubborn.”

Despite their banter and laughter, there was a thick wall of tension between them. They were both skirting around the real issue, the reason they were both in his bed. He didn’t need to ask her about what happened. He knew. Just like he knew if he brought it up, Victoria would tell him to kill the deal, call the police, and end the craziness today. It was probably the smart, logical thing to do, but he couldn’t afford smart and logical. That wasn’t how business worked for him. He had come too far, was in way too deep, and to let it go wasn’t possible. All he could do was forge forward and pray to God he didn’t lose everything in the process. If he won, he would win big—potentially the biggest payout of his life. But if he lost—he let out a breath.

“Seriously, Brad, are you all right? I can’t believe you inhaled that much gas and came out totally unharmed.”

He gave an awkward half shrug. “My head hurts and my throat burns, but other than that I’m fine.” Victoria made a move to get out of bed and Brad’s hold on her tightened. “Where do you think you’re going?” He smiled.

“To get you some aspirin and water. Unless you don’t want me to . . .” She studied him and he could only guess at what her mind was thinking.

“No, I don’t want you to. I want you to just stay right here for now. Can you do that?”

She narrowed her eyes, then rolled them, a smile tugging at her lips. “Did you seriously just ask me if I could stay in bed with you?” She raised a brow.

“Would you do that for me?”

“I think that’s probably the dumbest question I’ve ever been asked.”

He let out a surprised laugh. She tended to have that effect on him, and it was a feeling he was growing fond of. He liked it. Pulling her even closer, he brushed his nose to hers and smiled. “So, is that a yes?”

“Yes, it’s a yes.” She laughed and shook her head. Then she became serious. “I think it’s safe to say I’d do anything, go anywhere, be anyone for you, Brad.”

He sighed, wishing she hadn’t said that to him. Knowing she was so eager to be with him, to please him, had that willingness he’d exploited one too many times already, and he didn’t want to ever again. But he knew he probably would. That was just who he was. He had to if he was going to salvage the mess he’d made with Peyton. The question became, how much more bullshit would Victoria put up with before she decided he wasn’t worth it?

“Right now, I just want you to be you, okay?” She nodded and he smiled. “And I want you to stay here with me a while longer.”

“Okay,” she whispered, not pressing the issue, not demanding answers or that they talk. Somehow, Victoria always seemed to know exactly what he needed, and for that he was the luckiest damn man in the world. Now all he had to do was not fuck things up with her. That was a lot easier said than done.