End Game (Games Thriller Series)

JET-Fueled Fiction

End Game
© March 2014 J.E. Taylor

Second Edition

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Cover Art © 201
1 Willsin Rowe

Edited by
Lorelei Logsdon -
LoreleiLogsdon.com

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This book is for sale to Adult Audiences Only. It contains substantial sexually explicit scenes, graphic language and violence that may be considered offensive by some readers.

END GAME

by

J.E. Taylor

Chapter 1

The dream gripped him and he moaned in his sleep.

He ran his hands up her thighs hesitating on her waist. She moved her hips in slow circles, her arms reaching into the air and her body bending gracefully with each arch. Tilting his head back, he closed his eyes, breathing the air in slowly and reclaiming control.

He opened his eyes, staring into hers as she playfully rode him, both the edge of a smile and her fingers running over his chest causing him to shiver. His hands slid seductively over her body, her skin smooth and slick and he lingered on her nipples, running his thumbs over the hard nubs. Her body glistened with sweat and her eyes sparkled when she whispered his name.

“Jessie,” he whispered, sitting up in his bed three thousand miles away from the bedroom in the dream. The same dream he had night after night after night for the last five years.

Tom Whitman looked over at the clock on the nightstand. It was four in the morning and he wiped his face, glancing at the sleeping woman who ruined his life. Closing his eyes, he suppressed the urge to strangle her to death. He slipped out of bed and threw jeans and his bathrobe on. Picking up his cell phone, he snuck outside onto the beach.

Tom sat in the dark and listened to the ocean, scrolling down his phone list until her number was highlighted.

Tom stared at the phone and closed it.

It had been almost five years since he delivered the divorce papers to her and he went through this routine every night. He put his head on his knees and the emotions he held at bay for so long came rushing back.

To hell with it.
He opened the phone again, pressing the send button and put the phone to his ear. When she answered, he closed his eyes and was silent.

* * * *

The shrill ring of her cell phone woke Jessica Whitman from a sound sleep and she glanced at the caller ID before she flipped the phone open. “Tom?”

“Jessie,” his voice shook and she could tell something wasn’t right.

“Is everything okay?” She glanced around her empty bedroom, the covers on the other side of the bed thrown back and Chris was nowhere to be seen.

“I miss you.”

She sat up and looked at the clock, calculating the time difference between east and west coasts. “Tom, it’s four in the morning in California, what the hell are you doing?”

“Going crazy without you.”

Jessica blinked, stunned. Not a word from him since he delivered the divorce papers, nothing for five years and now this?

Before she could formulate a response, her two boys bounded into the bedroom followed by Chris saying, “Happy Valentine’s Day
, Mommy!”

“Tom, go back to bed. I have to go,” she said into the phone, smiling at her family.

“Wait!”

Jessica took a deep breath. “Hold on.” She put the phone on her shoulder and looked down at the tray Chris put in her lap. A perfect heart
-shaped pancake covered with strawberries and whipped cream sat on the plate. “Thank you very much,” she said to CJ, Tommy and Chris. “Happy Valentine’s Day.” She kissed each of the boys. “Mommy has a phone call that she needs to finish, okay?”

“Ok
ay,” they both said and ran out of the room.

Jessica glanced at Chris and put the phone back to her ear. She put her finger up in the air to let him know she would only be a minute. “What is it
, Tom?”

Chris’s eyebrows rose.

“We finally finished the movie.”

“I know,” Jessica replied. The studio had fought the injunction and after close to four years tied up in court, they finally got the ruling they hoped for and began filming last year.

“The premiere is in a couple of weeks in New York City.”

“And?”

“I’d like you to be there.”

She didn’t say anything, debating on how to let him down easy.

“I’d like you and Chris to be there,” he clarified. “Please.”

“Why?”

“I need you there.”

“It’s been five years Tom. Besides,
Sharon will be there with you. You don’t need me.” The click of his teeth and his sharp inhale traveled over the phone line and she actually felt the rage welling up in him from across the country. “Tom is everything all right?” she asked, glancing up at Chris and knitting her brow.

He laughed at the question and then the distinct sound of a harsh sob filled the line. “It hasn’t been all right since...” he trailed off
, letting silence fill the space.

“How old are they now?” he asked, changing the subject. “Your kids, how old are they?”

“They just turned four last month.”

“What’d you name them?”

Jessica hesitated and Chris nodded.
Tell him
, both his eyes and his voice in her head prompted. “Christopher James Ryan, we call him CJ.”

“And?”

“And Thomas Patrick Ryan,” she whispered, her eyes never leaving Chris’s.

* * * *

The name sunk in and Tom was silent. He closed his eyes and put his head back on his knees, not asking the question that shot into his head. He didn’t want to know, not now, especially since he made damn sure he’d never have a child with his bitch of a wife. He took care of that when Sharon demanded he get her pregnant, telling her he was sterile and then making an appointment the very next day. Snip, snip and his lie became fact.

“Please come to the premier
e.”

“Hang on.”

She covered the phone with her hand but he could still hear her muffled explanation to the man she chose to be with over him. “They finally finished the movie and Tom wants us to go to the premiere in New York.”

Chris let out a surprised laugh. “Why?”

“Why do you want us there?” she asked and her kids came back in the room, arguing until Chris sent them out.

He sighed
. Hearing the boys in the background numbed his heart again and he looked at the dark ocean. “Because I need you to see the movie.”

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”

“I need you there,” he pleaded, his voice barely a whisper. “I need you at the premiere. Please.”

“Why do you need me there? Is this a publicity stunt?”

“God, no,” Tom recoiled. “I need you to see the movie. I
need
you to,” he whispered, his voice shaking. “Please.”

“I’ll see what we can do.”

“Jess, you don’t understand. You have to be there.”

“Tom, I said we’ll see.” The irritation crept into her voice.

He took a deep breath. “’We’ll see’ means no.” He knew her well enough to know that was her favorite stall tactic. “Please.” He needed to see her again, even if it was from a distance, even if she was with him.

Silence and a sigh. “All right, we’ll be there.”

“Tell him to put Christopher Aris on the guest list, not Chris Ryan. I don’t want people finding out where we are,” Chris snapped from the background.

“Tell him I will.” Tom paused, tossing around the next question, debating on whether to ask or not. “Did you two ever get married?”

“No,” Jessica answered.

Tom closed his eyes and lay back on the sand. He mulled this fact over and tilted his head back, opening his eyes so he could see his house. He looked back at the stars above him and entertained an evil thought.

He sat up and shook his head, erasing the idea that popped into his mind; it would put Jessica at risk and he wasn’t willing to do that. “Thank you for saying you’ll come. Bye, Jess.” Tom lay back down in the sand and closed the phone, putting his hands behind his head, staring at the constellations and wondered what his wife would do when she saw Jessica walking down the red carpet.

Chapter 2

Chris sat on the edge of the bed next to Jessica. “I can’t believe you said yes.”

Jessica shrugged. “Aren’t you the least bit curious?”

He shook his head. “I read the script.”

“When?”

“I had a copy delivered to me in
New York the day the boys were conceived. That’s when I decided to push the injunction.”

The first bite of the pancakes diverted her attention from the morbid conversation to the delectable treat on her plate. “Did you make this?”

“No. CJ and Tommy insisted on doing it themselves and they wanted the heart to be just perfect so we have a garbage can full of less than perfect tries. The kitchen is a disaster.”

The grin she fell in love with surfaced, accented by dimples in his cheeks. “You are so good with them
, you know,” she laughed. “If you asked me ten years ago, I never would have guessed how wonderful a father you would turn out to be.”

“Being a father is one of the best things that ever happened to me.” He leaned over and planted a kiss on her lips. When he pulled back, his smile faded. “Are you going to tell him?”

“Tell him what?”

“That he has a son.” CJ was definitely Chris’s child with light brown hair and bright blue eyes, but as both Jessica and he suspected and a paternity test confirmed, little Tommy wasn’t.

Jessica shook her head. “No.”

“He has a right to know.”

“I know but he’s gonna want to see him.”

Chris nodded.

“I wouldn’t allow that bitch to set foot in our home, never mind anywhere near our son.”

“I wouldn’t either. I’d make her stand outside in the snow whether she wanted to or not.” He grinned. “Maybe she would even freeze to death,” he said enthusiastically, his eyes wide and sparkling with humor, making Jessica burst out in laughter.

“Thanks.” Jessica held up a fork full of pancake for him to taste. “I’ll give Em a call later and see if she’ll come to the city and watch the boys while we go to the premiere.”

“Why don’t you ask both of them to come to the city with us?” he asked after he swallowed the bite he had taken from her.

“If Eric wins the game this weekend, he may be in the finals next weekend in New York anyway.” She plopped the last bite in her mouth.

“I’m going to go clean up the disaster area.” Chris took the tray from her.

Jessica slipped out of bed and headed into the bathroom to freshen up. She took her time, enjoying the hot water of the shower on the cold February morning. She stepped out of the bathroom to an unusually quiet house. She crossed to the hallway and stopped in her tracks.

A trail of red, pink and yellow rose pe
tals flowed down the stairs and at the bottom, a beautiful fur coat and a matching pair of fur slippers waited for her. She slipped them on and continued to follow the petal trail through the family room and out into the back yard.

Her heart skipped a beat at the sight of him leaning against the rock wall in his tailored Armani suit, his crisp white shirt open at the collar the way she liked it. His cheeks and hands reddened from Maine’s cold February air.

The scene so familiar to her that her hand fluttered to her mouth and her eyes welled up with tears. The dream she had long before she met him, the one she believed impossible when she was imprisoned and the one she fought against while married to Tom finally materialized before her eyes.

He dropped to one knee in the snow, pulled a small jewelry box from his pocket, and opened it, revealing the most beautiful
1.00-carat diamond ring. Taking her left hand in his, he whispered, “Happy Valentine’s Day babe.” His lips curved into the smile that melted her heart. “Will you marry me?”

Jessica swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded. “Yes. Yes, I’ll marry you.”

He slid the ring on her finger and stood, wrapping his trembling arms around her and planting a cold kiss on her lips. “You just made me the happiest man on earth,” he said and led her back toward the house.

The boys danced around the door, crowding them when they walked in.

“We helped Daddy with the flowers,” CJ bragged.

“Did you like them?” Tommy asked.

“Yes, I loved them.” Jessica smiled and gave each one a big hug.

“Hey boys, why don’t you head into the playroom and give your
mom and me a few minutes, ‘kay?” He watched as they obeyed his request, tearing off together to the playroom.

She wiped the tears from her face and stripped the coat off before studying the ring on her hand. “This is absolutely beautiful.”

“I almost got you a ten carat rock, but I didn’t think you would like something that flashy.” He buried his hands in his pockets, shivering.

“This is just perfect.” She looked up at him and smiled, throwing her arms around his neck. “You’re shaking.”

“It’s fricken’ cold out there, and you took longer than I expected.” He wrapped his arms around her, nuzzling his frigid nose into her neck, nibbling on the tender skin over her clavicle.

She laughed. “You took longer than I expected too,” she said referring to the proposal. “And you didn’t have to do that outside.”

“It wouldn’t have the same effect.”

“What wouldn’t have the same effect? Waiting this long or the exceptionally romantic way that you asked me?”

He shrugged as he pulled away. “Both.” He planted a kiss on her lips. “Jessica Lynn Ryan, my wife. Who would have ever thought?”

“I knew long before we ever met.”

His brows knit together in a crease.

“I had a couple
of dreams about you when I was with Danny.”

“Really
? What kind of dreams?”

She shrugged and lowered her gaze to the sparkling diamond. “Like the first time we actually met. Face to face in the chair.” She looked up at him, any trace of a smile disappeared. “I know, kind of freaky. I can still remember the day I had the dream.”

Chris cocked his head. “Really?”

“Yes. I actually thought it was triggered by something I saw.” She let out a little laugh. “We were coming back from Danny’s brother’s place in
Vermont and stopped in Burlington to have lunch on the pier overlooking Lake Champlain. It was really ironic, as we were leaving, we ran into an old friend of mine who I hadn’t seen for a couple of years and ended up hanging out on the pier for a lot longer than we planned.”

Jessica chewed on her lip for a second, her gaze traveling to the window and the snowy backyard. “The pier had one of those little gas stations at the end that serviced the boaters and we watched several boats come and go.”

She stopped, tilting her head, losing herself in the memory. “I remember an exceptionally sweet speedboat, the sleek, fast type and I think it was midnight blue but I don’t remember the name on the back—just that it was written in bright yellow script and to be honest, I was a little envious. God how I would have loved a machine like that when I was a teenager!” She smiled and flicked her gaze back to his for a second.

A crease appeared between his eyebrows and he inhaled, waiting for the rest of the story.

“Anyway, one of the boys on board was just staring at me with his soda halfway to his mouth, looking like he just saw a ghost. Normally I would have just ignored him and walked away but those wide blue eyes, my Lord, those were the most amazing eyes I had ever seen.” Jessica chucked and sighed.

“The boat’s name was Anna,” Chris said, interrupting her train of thought.

Jessica cocked her head with her mouth parted, the memory barreling back as clear as if she was standing on that pier. “I think you’re right,” she said, narrowing her eyes and scanning the memory, specifically the boys on the boat and she broke out of his arms, her gaze snapping to his eyes. His amazing wide blue eyes.

“Jesus Christ, that was you.” Her arms broke out in goose bumps. “You and your brother looked so much alike, the only difference was the scar and that’s what I thought triggered the dream.”

“What were you wearing?” he asked, his voice cracking and he stepped backwards into the kitchen counter.

“A white sun dress.”

Chris burst out laughing but it was his nervous high-pitched laugh. “You.” He pointed at her. “You were the angel I saw?”

“What are you talking about?”

“I remember glancing up and it looked like you had a halo of light all around you. Chris razzed me for years because I actually said the word Angel out loud.” He looked down at her as the implications of what he had seen resounded in his mind. “Jesus, Jess. You were my angel, even back then.” He took a deep breath and shivered. “That still doesn’t explain how you knew we would end up together, though.”

“A few years later I had a dream of what just happened in the snow.” She pointed toward the back yard. “I think it was sometime after Emily was born. So I knew. I knew somehow we’d end up here, together.”

Chris didn’t know what to say.

“When you had me strapped in that chair and we first looked at eac
h other I had a sense of déjà vu but I couldn’t place where I had seen your face before and later when you tried to seduce me with the strawberries, the look in your eyes made something click and the dreams caught up with me. When I kissed you back, that’s when I knew for sure.” Jessica sighed and took a deep breath.

“So you’ve been playing me ever since we met?”

Jessica raised her eyebrows a little. “No, I haven’t been playing you.”

He looked down at the ring on her finger and back to her eyes, pressing his lips together, doubt evident in the tightness of his jaw. “Then why did you marry Tom?”

Jessica shifted and looked down at the engagement ring, avoiding his gaze. “I loved him and thought I could change my future.”

* * * *

A bark of a laugh left his lips and he turned away from her, frustrated. “He almost derailed my morning and now this. This is just priceless.”

“It took a while for me to realize I belonged with you. I never felt like he was a part of me, like I do with you.”

He turned toward her.

“Chris, there’s no place I’d rather be.” She pulled away and went into the kitchen, returning with two envelopes in her hand. “Maybe this will help you understand.” She kissed him and handed him the cards.

He opened the first card. It was a Valentine’s Day card from the boys and he smiled as he read it. Her card was sweet but the sentiment wasn’t what made his eyes fill with tears, it was what she wrote that touched him far more.

Dear Chris,

I love the life we have made together. You have given me such beautiful gifts in the boys and your love and quiet strength have brought me more joy and happiness than I thought possible. I love you.

You are my soul mate and I would be lost without you.

Forever yours,

Jessie.

“Soul mate?” He blinked back the mist covering his eyes and crossed to her, taking her in his arms.

“Yes. You are my soul mate.” She leaned up and kissed him. “You make me feel like no other man ever made me feel.”

“And how is that Jess?” He ignored the urge to pull the thoughts from her mind. He wanted to hear her say the words.

“You make me feel loved. It’s in the way you look at me and the way you touch me...”
she trailed off and blushed. “I had never felt that kind of passion, that kind of electricity in my life until I met you and it has only grown stronger since we’ve been together.”

Chris smiled down at her. “Good.”

“When do you want to get married?”

Chris looked at his watch. “How about right now?”

Jessica laughed and looked up at him. “You’re serious.” She stopped laughing and he nodded.

Jessica hesitated. “I want Emily and Eric there with us.”

“Okay. What about this weekend?”

Jessica shook her head. “Eric has a game.”

Chris thought for a moment. “Then how about when we’re in the city? We could go to city hall with the kids and get married, catch an early dinner and then to the premiere after?”

“You really want to do that?”

“I want to marry you,” he replied. “I admit it’s not the most ideal situation, but it’s the next weekend Eric’s supposed to be with us.”

“You can set it up that quickly?” she asked then smirked, realizing how dumb a question that was. He could move mountains in record time when he set his mind to it.

“The question is do you want me to?”

“Yes. I’ll call Emily to make sure she’s available.” She grinned and he kissed her neck. The distant arguing of the twins interrupted them.

“Hold that thought.” She pulled away and headed up the stairs looking at the ring on her hand with a smile.