End Game (Games Thriller Series) (20 page)

“Stop sulking,” she said as the elevator closed on them.

“You have to make this up to me,” he said as they stepped into the lobby.

“Good Morning, Mr. Ryan.” The doorman smiled at Chris. “Mrs. Ryan.” He addressed Jessica, much to her surprise.

“Very good morning
, Fred.” Chris smiled and ushered Jessica through the front door.

“Good morning.” Jessica replied and smiled as Fred held the door for them.

“How’d he know?” Jessica asked when she handed Chris the earphone.

“He asked what the occasion was yesterday
,” Chris replied, slipping the ear bud in after they crossed the street.

The temperature dropped significantly during the night and the late February cold bit at both of them, the wind stinging their exposed cheeks, making them bright red from both the physical exertion and the cold. Jessica cut the run short looping back toward the apartment building.

“Wus.”

“It’s freezing,” Jessica replied.

Chris just smiled. He loved being right and he let out a little laugh when Jessica smacked him lightly on the arm.

“You are only partially right. I still needed the run and it feels good.”

“Better than morning sex?” He nudged her as they slowed their pace and crossed the street.

Jessica laughed and looked over at him. “No, nothing is better than morning sex with you.”

“Then what the hell are we doing out here?”

“I needed the run. I needed the peace it brings me.”

Chris tilted his head a little, his eyes searching hers.

“I lose myself when I run. All I am aware of is the music and the pounding of my feet and it centers me. Kind of like karate does for you. I needed that after last night,” she said as the elevator began to rise.

Chris put his arm around her shoulders and nodded, kissing her temple. “We have some things to take care of this morning before the banks close.”

“Like what?”

“Like getting you on my accounts,” he said looking at her like she was nimble-minded.

Jessica hadn’t done that since she was married to Daniel. She and Tom kept their separate accounts, which made the divorce so much cleaner. She just assumed that would be the same with Chris.

He laughed at her expression. “What’s mine is yours. Everything—including, my homes, my cars, my kids, right down to my net worth—is yours.”

“How many homes do you have?”

“This place, the place in Maine and I have a villa on the French Riviera and a cottage in the Caribbean.”

Jessica raised her eyebrows. “Really?”

“Yes. You really have no clue, do you?”

“Clue of what?”

“How much you are worth now that you are Mrs. Chris Ryan.”

“No. I didn’t marry you for your money.”

Chris chuckled and opened the apartment door waving her inside. The children were up and ran to them, grasping their legs in little bear hugs as they made their way inside. He leaned over and whispered a figure in Jessica’s ear.

Her gaze shot to his, and the sudden pressure behind her eyes made it feel like they would pop any minute.
Did you just say what I think you did?
Her jaw loosened, mouth dropping wide, as wide as she imagined her eyes were. “Fifteen Billion?”

“More or less
,” Chris managed to say through the gales of laughter. “I’ve done real well with my investments over the last ten years and it’s now yours. Well, technically, if anything had happened to me over the past ten years it was always yours; you have been my sole beneficiary since the day you left the complex,” he sputtered. “Well, until the kids came along anyway.”

Jessica sat down on the floor in shock, which sent Chris into another giggling fit.

“I’m sorry, babe, but the look on your face is absolutely priceless,” he said as he wound down.

“Did you say fifteen billion dollars?” Eric asked, mirroring his mother’s expression.

“Yes.”

“What’s fifteen billion dollars?” Emily’s eyebrows scrunched together.

“That’s what our new stepfather is worth,” Eric said.

Emily dropped the glass in her hand and it stopped just shy of the entryway tile.

Chris caught it in his hand and raised his eyes to Emily. “You might want to sit down before you follow the glass.” All color completely drained from her face and she took a chair as he directed. Chris looked back at Jessica. “You really didn’t know?”

“No. I knew you sold the company, but...” She shook her head.

“I got the whole shebang. Frank, Marian, and Ty had me listed in their wills.” He looked at her. “So not only did I get the company, I got all the other assets as well. I sold everything. Ninety percent of the proceeds of their personal assets went to the survivors of their victims.” He looked around the room. “Between the company assets and the ten percent left, I ended up with close to eight billion dollars. Ten years later and some damn good investments have made that number grow to roughly fifteen billion.” He shrugged. “We live off a fraction of the interest.” He smiled. “Welcome to the world of the obscenely rich.”

Jessica shook her head. “You’re shitting me,” she said and covered her mouth, her eyes swiveling to CJ and Tommy who were now laughing at her faux pas.

“I kid you not.” Chris made a cross over his chest.

“But, but
...” she trailed off.

“There is a distinct difference between being rich and acting like a rich snob. I saw enough of the rich snob attitude living with the Aris family and there is no way I am ever treating people the way they did.” He paused and she slightly nodded. “We could live in a palace if you wanted to, but then again, that isn’t your style either.” He stood and helped her up. “We can buy anything we want, but that doesn’t mean that we will,
got it?” He looked at the four children.

Four heads nodded, although only two really understood what Chris said.

“And money can’t replace someone’s life.” He glanced at Jessica and then over at Eric, and studied the floor for a moment before glancing at Emily.

“No it can’t.” The color had found its way back into her cheeks. “It also doesn’t mean that you are above the law either.”

Chris nodded at the barb. “I’m going to clean up,” he announced. He pecked Jessica on the cheek and headed down the hall.

Jessica glanced at her daughter and then headed in the same direction, closing the bedroom door behind her. The shower was running and she stripped, stepping inside and wrapped her hands
around his waist as he stood with his head back under the water. He ran his hands down his face and opened his eyes. “She really doesn’t like me, does she?” he asked his wife.

“She loves you, Chris. She just has issues with the injustice of you getting away with everything that you have done.”

“Injustice.” He huffed and turned away from her, under the stream of water. “Money had nothing to do with that ruse,” he mumbled. “If your son hadn’t fixed me, I’d be dead right now.” He hung his head. “And I capitalized on the opportunity.” He glanced back at her.

“I know. Much more than I realized.”

Chris laughed softly. “I got rich off the blood of others. Basically, I’ve stolen everything I have, including you.” He shook his head. “Injustice just seems too mild a word.”

“Ty?” Jessica whispered and he turned toward her.

“Don’t get me wrong, Jessie, I am grateful for everything I have, but I believe in what goes around comes around and my time is coming.”

Jessica took a deep breath. “You have done some good things to counteract the bad.”

He smiled.
Thank God I have you
. “That is only because of you. Everything good and pure in my life is a direct result of you.” He kissed her. “But it isn’t enough to balance the bad.”

“Well, on the upside, I can never testify against you now.” She smiled up at him waving her left hand with her wedding band at him.

Chris laughed. “Leave it to you to think of something like that.”

“I’m sure it’s crossed your mind.”

He shook his head. “Nope.”

“Liar,” she said and stood on her tiptoes to kiss him.

Well, maybe once or twice
, he thought. He smiled in response as their lips met.

Chapter 30

The clang of the metal door woke him from a troubled sleep and he stood on legs that ached. Hell, his whole body ached.

Sharon waltzed across the floor to him. “Did you have a nice night’s sleep?”

“Fuck you,” he said through a sleep-coated mouth.

Sharon flipped open her phone and made a quick call, sending a wink in his direction. “Don’t worry; by the end of the day, you won’t be alone here anymore.”

Her casual manner brought both fear and anger boiling back. “Leave them out of it
, Sharon. You’ve got me, isn’t that what you wanted?”

“It’s too late for that. You humiliated me in public and you need to pay for that. You all do.”

The crazed look in her eye almost made him lose control over his overfilled, throbbing bladder. “Please don’t do this,” he pleaded. All he could think about was what she would do when she saw Tommy. It was hard to mistake the resemblance, just as hard as it would be to overlook CJ being Chris’s son.

Her phone rang and she turned her back on him, answering the call. “It won’t be long now,” she smiled and flipped the phone closed, waving goodbye to Tom as she slipped out of sight.

Chapter 31

Chris put down the phone, staring at the bouquet of flowers sitting on the kitchen counter. Eric said they arrived shortly after he and Jessica went to the bank. The card had a nice sentiment but no signature and Sam didn’t send them, neither did Jessica’s family. Dread pressed on his chest and he glanced at her. “Do you think Tom sent them?”

“I doubt he would send flowers with that nice a sentiment,” Jessica said inspecting the card. “This isn’t his handwriting either.” She flipped open her cell anyway and scrolled down to his most recent call. After a few rings, the call dumped into his voicemail. “Hey Tom, just calling to see if you sent us flowers this morning. Can you give me a yell when you get this message?”

“If it wasn’t Tom, someone knows who and where we are,” Chris said. He glanced toward the living room and then back at her. “Maybe we should cut out of here a little earlier than planned. We can check into a hotel in mid-town closer to where Eric is playing tomorrow.”

Jessica nodded. “We can go after we eat lunch, that’ll give the kids time to pack.”

“We already ate,” Eric said, crossing to the sink and depositing a fistful of empty plates.

“But we haven’t,” Jessica answered.

Chris opened the refrigerator. The contents were sparse and he sighed. “Looks like you guys cleared us out.” He glanced over his shoulder at Eric and then switched his gaze to Jessica. “What are you in the mood for?” As always, the question prompted his mind to launch into the gutter.

Jessica grinned, catching an underlying meaning in his question.

“Food, Mom,” Eric interrupted. “God, do you two ever stop?”

Jessica immediately cleaned up her thoughts and color flushed her cheeks crimson.

“You’re over fifty,” Eric complained, rolling his eyes.

“Hey! Give your mom a break; she looks damn good for her age.”

Jessica raised her eyebrows. “For my age?”

It was Chris’s turn to blush and he nodded.

“You turn forty this year, babe.”

Chris grinned. “Yeah, and you’re just a bit older than me.”

“But I still look like I’m thirty.” She put her hands on her hips.

Chris tilted his head a little as he looked at her, narrowing his eyes. “Maybe.”

Bite me
, she thought and the slow grin that spread on his face caused her heart to quicken and the heat index in the room to skyrocket.

“What do you want for lunch?” He leaned against the counter. He hadn’t aged much in the last ten years either. His still had a full head of hair and only a few laugh lines around his eyes and was in superb physical shape thanks to the karate classes he taught.

Jessica shrugged. “Chinese?”

Chris walked over to the phone and placed the order. Twenty minutes later with the kids all packed and ready to go, the food arrived. Chris and Jessica sat down to eat while the kids went in the living room to watch television.

“Maybe?” Jessica looked at him and pulled out some lo mein noodles from the white paper box.

Chris smiled. “You still look younger than I do.”

Jessica slipped her shoe off and ran her foot up his leg and sinuously slid the chopsticks between her open lips. Slowly and deliberately, she pulled them out of her closed mouth.

Chris glanced toward the entry way and the kitchen door closed with a soft click. He slid his chair back a few feet. “I’ve got something for you to suck on,” he whispered and pulled her from her chair and onto his lap, drowning her protests with his tongue.

“I’ll bet you do. But now isn’t the time.”

“I beg to differ.” The sound of his zipper lowering one noisy link at a time filled the room and he grinned, his hands firmly holding her waist. “You want to tease me like that?” He pointed his chin toward her discarded chopsticks. “Tsk, tsk.” His hands drifted to the hem of her skirt and underneath, finding the creamy skin of her thighs.

The lock on the kitchen door flipped with a tick and his fingers found their objective. The soft patch of cotton between her legs soon became tacky with her juices, prompted by his gentle massage and he chuckled, his eyes locked on hers, watching the calico colors swirl in her irises. He moved the fabric aside and dipped his finger into the wetness, sliding as slow and deliberate as she had done with her chopsticks.

“Make love to me.”

Her underwear tore in his hands and he thrust his aching cock into the sweetness of her pussy. “God, Jessie.” He sighed and stared into her strange eyes, the colors swirling ever so slightly as they always did when he was inside her. “You still have no clue what you do to me.”

Jessica laughed and ground her hips, forcing him farther inside. “I know exactly what I do to you. I’ve always known. From that first meeting, which was electrifying for more than one reason, wasn’t it?” She smiled.

His smile never faltered and he nodded, even though that statement sent a thrilling chill through the fibers of his skin. “So I did see something in your eyes, even then.” He moved with her, guiding her hips with his hands, the delicious stroke of her sending his throbbing cock into overdrive.

“Yes. When our eyes first met, I felt like a lightning bolt went through me. You still have that affect on me every time I look into your eyes.” She arched again, kissing him to stop the moan of pleasure from escaping.

He picked up the pace with both his tongue and his hip thrusts. When the kiss broke, he smiled. “It’s a wonder I can breathe when you’re around.”

She laughed.

“I sometimes forget to when I look at you.” He tightened his jaw and dug his fingers into her waist trying to gain control but he was too far gone and the playful, sexy smile on her face combined with her lust-laden eyes shoved him over the edge. “Jessie!” he whispered through clenched teeth, mindful of the kids a few yards away in the other room, even with the orgasm ripping through him and filling her with his juices.

“Ty,” she whispered with the same reverie, arching into her climax, her muscles clenching and driving another wave of tremors through his spent member.

He closed his eyes and tilted his head back for a moment, taking a deep breath. He slowly opened his eyes and looked at her, sensing her shift in mood as she pulled away from him. He zipped up and watched her pull herself together, the underwear a complete loss that landed in the kitchen garbage.

The satiation of the moment faded and he stared at her, sighing. “I don’t think I would survive without you.”

Jessica paused and looked at him. “If something happened to me you would be fine. You have the boys.”

He shook his head. “I wouldn’t be fine.”

“You’d have to be.” She looked at him sharply. “With kids you don’t have the luxury of not being okay. They’d need you and that comes first.”

He took another deep breath and took her in with his eyes, slowly and completely, memorizing everything as something under the surface of his conscious nagged at him to remember what she looked like. “Just smile for me, will you?” he asked softly wanting that memory stored as well.

Jessica smiled and let out a light chuckle. “Sometimes I just don’t know about you.”

“It’s a little late for that.” He smiled and hiked his chair back to the table. With a quick glance, the kitchen door unlocked and he picked up the chopsticks, resuming their disrupted lunch.

She took the seat next to him and finished eating the lo mein noodles and the Chinese vegetables that she had piled on her plate before their little sideshow, trying not to grin like a fool.

Emily came in a few minutes later. “You haven’t finished lunch yet?”

They looked at each other, grinned and blushed. “Not yet,” they replied in unison.

“We are ready to go anytime you are.”

Chris reached into his pocket and tossed the keys to her. “Have Eric throw your bags into the back. We’ll be a few more minutes.”

“Ok
ay.” She caught the keys and disappeared, letting the door close behind her again.

“I can’t wait to get home,” Jessica said. “I miss the quiet.”

Chris burst out laughing. “It’s never quiet at home.”

“You know what I mean.”

He nodded. “I do.” He stood and collected their plates, bringing them to the sink, just leaving them on the growing stack of dishes.

Jessica looked from the mess to him.

“Maid service.”

“Must be nice.”

“It is. You want one at home?”

She raised her eyebrow. “Actually...”

“Consider it done.”

“I don’t need one every day. Just once a week would be nice.”

“Whatever your heart desires, babe.”

“I don’t need much more than what I already have.” She wrapped her arms around him, gently kissing him.

“Now you’re just getting sappy.”

“Bite me.”

He leaned over, bit her neck, and chuckled before pulling away. “We need to pack up.”

“Mmmm,” she agreed and they headed to pack up their things.

“Do we want to sell this place?” he asked as he walked into the bedroom behind her.

Jessica turned. “Why?”

“I don’t know. It’s not very practical for the family.”

Jessica burst out laughing. “Who cares? I’d rather stay here than in some hotel when we visit the city.”

Chris thought about that. “I’d rather have room service.”

“You do have room service. It’s called delivery.”

Chris laughed. “All right. We’ll keep it.”

Jessica traced the diamond necklace on her nightstand with her fingers before picking it up. “This is really beautiful. Thank you,” she said and ran her thumb over the diamonds.

“I’d love it if you wore it,” he said and crossed to her, taking the necklace from her and slipped it around her neck, clasping it when she pulled her hair to the side. “Pack the dress too.”

She placed the dress in the garment bag and scanned the room again for anything she might want at the hotel and then
Maine. There was nothing else.

They went into the boys
’ room and did a check to make sure they had everything. Chris found a game under the bed and snagged it.

“Ready?” He looked at Jessica and she nodded.

“All right everyone, ready to roll?” he asked as they walked into the living room and got nods in return. Emily handed him the keys and they gave one last glance at the apartment before turning to catch the elevator.

Chris locked the apartment and turned. The entire family stood staring at the progression of numbers on the display and it hit him. This was
his
family. Joy and terror filled him and a small shiver slithered down his spine. Of all things in this world he wanted and never expected to come to fruition, this, this moment outshined them all. Every fantasy from his youth paled in comparison and his heart swelled.

They headed down the elevator and got the kids strapped in their car seats. Eric and Emily settled in and Jessica clicked her seatbelt. Chris opened his door and his phone rang. He dug it out of his pocket and flipped it open at the same time the driver’s door closed. “Hi Sam, we were just getting ready to leave,” he said and started the car.

A whir caught his attention, followed by a familiar smell and he glanced at Jessica. The same puzzled look graced her face and then her eyes rolled back and she slumped in the seat.

“Damn.” Chris looked up; the last thing that registered in his mind was a chloroform dispenser like the ones he used to use to capture Frank’s victims. The phone slipped from his hand and darkness settled over him.