Unbreakable Hearts (21 page)

She nodded
.

“That’s a good girl,” he said
. He ran his hand over her breast again, tweaking her nipple between his thumb and finger, smirking when she closed her eyes. His hand moved up and tugged at the tape, pulling it back from her mouth slowly, not wanting to rip her skin. She wouldn’t be able to use her mouth on him later if he did that. “Now, I’m going to undo your wrists and ankles.”

When he’d undone both, he put a hand between her shoulders helping her sit up. She
rubbed her wrists when he went to the dresser and retrieved the laptop. He turned to look at her sitting there, disappointed that he wouldn’t have time to play a bit with her tonight. Soon, he reminded himself. Going to the bed, he sat down and opened the laptop putting in the password and logging online.

“I need you to
go to your email,” he said, placing the computer in her lap.

She
did as she was told, then looked at him.
Oh, she’d make a good little sub,
he thought watching her sitting there waiting for directions.

“You sent pictures out. I know some might’ve already gone to press, but I need you to email the vendors that haven’t, telling them you want them to delete everything you sent.”

She
frowned as she looked at the emails, clicking through them then looked at him nonplussed.

Might as well fill her in. Not
like she was going to get out of this and have the opportunity to tell anyone. “I’m in the background of some. I can’t have those being published. I actually think I’m being very nice about this because what I should do is kill you now.” He liked the little gasp she made at that. “But I’m giving you a chance to see if these vendors will cooperate. You’d better pray that they do.” He smirked at the shock on her face. He next moved in and kissed the side of her neck moving up to take her earlobe between his teeth then he whispered, “In the meantime, you and I will play a bit while we wait for their answer.”

When he pulled back, h
e couldn’t help but smirk again as her eyes got big with worry. He kept his hands to himself while he watched her email each company, telling them she didn’t want the pictures published, impressed at her wording when she warned that if they used them, they’d be subject to litigation to the maximum extent permitted by law.

“That’s good,” he said when she finished. “I’ve got to leave now, but I’ll be back first thing in the morning.”
He got up and walked around the bed to strap her arms and legs back again before he left.

“Wait!” she said with a raspy voice.

He shot a look at her which made her flinch, which in turn made his cock jerk in anticipation. God, he wanted to have some fun with her but knew he had to get back to the city. “Did I give you permission to speak?” he asked, narrowing his eyes at her.

She bit her lip as she shook her head, watching him warily not knowing what he’d do.

“What is it?” he finally asked.

“Um, could I use the restroom first? And maybe get a drink of water?”

He stared at her for a few seconds. Wouldn’t do to have her soil herself he guessed. He’d just have to clean her up and that’d take time away from fucking her. He sighed then said, “You have two minutes.”

She pulled her legs up, bending them at the knees and wrapping her arms around them
in a stretch before turning to step off the bed. The room was the master so there was an en suite, so while she used it, he went to the kitchen to get her a cup of water, returning just as she came out of the bathroom. He handed her the water watching her sip it with her delicate lips. Oh, he was going to enjoy playing with this one.

“Finished?” he asked, eyebrow raised.

She nodded and handed the cup back to him then stood where she was, unsure of what to do next.

“Get on the bed,” he commanded. When she did what she was told, he
moved to lie on top of her grabbing her by the chin, digging his fingers into her skin and said, “I’ve changed my mind. I’m not going to tie you down, but don’t get any ideas. The windows are covered with metal shutters that are locked on the outside. Don’t bother screaming. There’s no one around for miles. The deadbolt on the door is double cylinder so there’s not a thumbturn. You won’t get out so no need in wasting your energy. Questions?”

S
he shook her head.

“Good. I’ll be back in the morning.” He
ground his pelvis against her, then kissed her roughly, and pushing himself off her, got up and left the room. He pulled the keys from his pocket to turn the lock and then his fucking wits came back to him. He opened the door going back inside and picked the laptop up off the bed. “Whoops.” He smirked at her knowing she’d probably hoped he’d forgotten. He went out the door again and locked her in.

That’d been close. He had to be careful around this one. Her beauty was distracting. Enough so that he’d
almost made the fatal mistake of leaving the computer with her. Damn. He couldn’t wait to come back in the morning.

Chapter 19

Doug was having the time of his life. He’d gone to Buster’s for a drink and run into an old girlfriend. Now they were playing pool and he knew he was going to
get laid at the end of the night for sure.

“Oh, pooh,” his ex, Jalissa, said with a pout when she missed her shot, stomping her foot and turning to look at him.

He wondered why he’d ever broken up with her. She was so sexy in her tight jeans that were tucked into high-heeled boots. Her sweater barely covered her belly that still carried some baby fat, but he’d thought it cute when they’d dated and he liked it now. He was also enjoying the way her smallish tits poked out at him enticingly under the knit fabric. Her long, brown hair was streaked with auburn highlights, her big, brown eyes expressive.

She
was the total opposite of Tilly and he now found that’s what he liked the most about her.

“Dougie, I missed,” Jalissa said, going to him and wrapping her arms around his neck, still in full-pout mode.

Oh, yeah. Now he remembered why they’d parted ways. He’d hated how she talked like a baby and that she was so clingy. But after two years of being with Tilly, who’d barely shown him any affection or paid any attention to him at all, this was a welcome change.

Yeah, he was
getting laid tonight for sure.

And then his cell phone rang.

He pulled it out of his pocket and answered as Jalissa nibbled on his neck. “Yeah?”

“Doug? Where are you?” Jeff asked.

He rolled his eyes. When he’d wanted her, Tilly was nowhere to be found, but now when he tried getting away from her, she was everywhere. Even had her new boyfriend and brother bugging him. “I’m out. What do you need, Jeff?” He shivered when Jalissa bit fairly hard on his neck and she giggled at the effect she was having on him.

“Gonna ask again. Where are you?”

God, what a jerk. “Buster’s. What do you need?”

“Don’t move. I’ll be right there,” Jeff said and hung up.

A half hour later, Jeff and Tilly’s new boyfriend came into the place followed by two other huge guys. Holy shit, talk about intimidating, four guys that big and muscular walking in together. Looked like an Ahhhnold convention had broken out or something. Doug wished for the millionth time that he was at least six feet tall and weighed more than a large child, damn it.

“What do you need, Jeff?” he asked
again, eyeing the Osby guy and the other two with him. One had shockingly blue eyes that constantly shifted seeming to watch every move every person in the place made. The other one was just mammoth with muscles bulging everywhere.

“We need to talk to you. Can we go outside?” Jeff asked.

“Kinda busy,” Doug said and turned to Jalissa seeing her looking all googly-eyed at the four guys who were there to talk to him. Whatever. She wasn’t worth it anyway. Bitch.

“Need you to come with me
now
,” Jeff said, his hand coming up in front of Doug as if he was going to grab him by the shoulder then he clenched it into a fist bringing it down while the other guys moved in on him.

“
Okay, okay. I’ll go. Not gonna beat me up or anything, are you?” he asked warily looking at all of them, seeing the two new guys chuckling at what he’d said.

“Need your help, Doug. Can we go?” Jeff said.

He nodded and followed the men outside, still a little leery of what they were going to do but too curious to let it lie. They walked to the parking lot and got in a truck, which he assumed was the blue-eyed guy’s since he got behind the wheel and started it turning the heat up.

“What’
s this all about?” Doug asked after he got in, turning to look at Jeff in the backseat.

“Tilly’s missing.”

Doug frowned. “What do you mean, ‘missing’?”

“Her house was broken into around
eight tonight and the guy took her.”

Oh, shit. He may have been pissed at her
, but he damn sure didn’t want anything bad to happen to her. “You’re kidding.”

“No, Doug, he’s not,” the Osby guy said from behind him.

“And you have no idea what’s happened to her? Have you tried Quinn’s? She’s always there if she’s not home.”

“She was talking to Quinn on the phone when it happened,” Jeff said, watching him carefully, probably thinking that he’d been involved somehow just like the new boyfriend did.

“It’s not me,” Doug said quickly. “I know you guys think I’m involved, but I’m not.”

“Oz said you might know who
is
involved,” Jeff replied.

If he gave them Hightower’s name, he’d throw away his dreams of becoming a millionaire. But if he didn’t, Tilly could end up getting hurt. Damn. Damn. Damn. He sighed before saying, “
I might.”

***

After the man left, Tilly sat on the bed for a long time staring off into space. Things like this only happened in movies, right? They weren’t real. She was going to wake up any second and be back home, having fallen and hit her head on the banister or something stupid like that as she’d gone upstairs.   

She squeezed her eyes shut for a minute, but upon
opening them saw that she was still in the room apparently in a house that was out in the middle of nowhere, and there was no way out. Taking a deep breath, she got off the bed. Stepping down she realized she was barefooted and looked around for her shoes but they were nowhere to be found. Strange. She walked to the bedroom door testing to see if she was really locked in. Yep. Definitely locked in. She next went to the windows and pulled back the curtains. Metal shutters like those on businesses covered them. Dang. Whoever owned the house apparently didn’t want anyone leaving without their permission.

She went into the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror gently touching her eye that was swollen and bruised bad
ly and hurt like a bitch. Obviously, the guy didn’t have a problem with hitting women. She’d have to make sure to be careful around him.

Oh, hell, what was she talking about. He was coming back in the morning and raping her that much was certain
, and she knew his idea of “playing” during sex was on the other end of the spectrum of hers. And she couldn’t be there just waiting for him to violate her. No way.

Digging through the drawers, she saw they held the
essentials: toothpaste, toothbrushes, mouthwash, soap. Whoever’d been kept there before her had at least liked to stay clean.

Maybe she could sharpen the end of a toothbrush somehow and stab him with it when he arrived in the morning.
Or if she could find a nail file, she could use that. She suddenly sat down on the edge of the bathtub, holding onto the sides tightly trying to curb the need to vomit. God, she was thinking about stabbing a man.
She was thinking about stabbing a man!
She put her face in her hands and shook her head as the tears fell. She had to get out of there.

Removing her hands from her face, she sniffed a couple times before standing up and looking through the drawers again. This time she
found some bobby pins. After thinking for a second, she went to the bedroom door, and straightening one pin, stuck it in the lock thinking she might be able to pick it.
Yeah, ‘cause you know so much about doing this.
Ugh. After working on the door for a few minutes and actually sticking another pin in (because that’s how she’d seen them do it in the movies), she gave up and went to the bed and sat down.

Hanging her head, she
again let a few tears fall. John was probably going crazy right now as was Jeff. And, oh crap, her mom and grandma had to be so upset too. And Quinn! God, Quinn had heard everything that’d happened.

Tilly cried for them all.

As her tears stopped, she knew all she could do now was wait. Wait for the man to come in the morning and do horrible things to her body. Then wait a little longer for him to kill her.

***

“Nice,” Graham said as he checked out the car his father-in-law had delivered. The Lambo Gallardo was pretty sweet, but if the FIL had felt the need to get them something, he could’ve at least gotten the new Aventador. But whatever.

Brynne laced her arm through his
grabbing hold of his bicep. “Isn’t it awesome?” she said, looking up at him with a giddy grin.

“Yes,
it is,” he answered, looking down at her with a smile. She
was
a beautiful woman. Maybe she’d be up for some play tonight. Well, that of the mundane type. But it’d ramp him up for the Maxwell woman in the morning, and he could totally deal with that.

Brynne went to her father
, hugging him tightly. “Thank you, Daddy!” She tiptoed up and kissed his cheek before turning back to Graham. “Let’s go for a ride!” she squealed.

He smile
d at her childlike enthusiasm and followed her to the car, opening her door, which made her gasp as it went up vertically. He chuckled and helped her inside then closing her door, walked around to his side, nodding a thanks at Theo before getting in.

As they sped off into the night, he couldn’t help but think that things had sure taken a turn since that afternoon. The picture situation was
solved, he had a new sports car, his wife was going to give him some when they got back, and he had a hot little piece waiting for him back at the Hamptons. Life was good. Very, very good.

***

“Take me to my house,” Doug said, “and I can show you what I’ve got.”

Gunner turned and looked back at Oz who nodded
and they drove out of Buster’s parking lot.

Oz was
furious. If this dumbass knew something that would’ve prevented Tilly’s abduction and he’d held it back, he’d be introducing his fist to the guy’s face soon. He looked out the window seeing nothing as he thought about her. She was probably terrified. Damn it, he wished he could let her know somehow that he was coming for her.

After a five-minute drive, t
hey pulled up to Doug’s house and piled out of the truck.

“My ma’s probably asleep, so be quiet when you get inside,” he told them.

Oz saw Brock look at Gunner with raised eyebrows, probably wondering why a man in his thirties was still living with his mother.
Join the party,
he thought. Inside, they followed Doug down some stairs to a bedroom basement where he went to a desk and sat down, opening a laptop. He clicked around on the thing for a few minutes then turned it toward them.

“I took those Saturday night.” He looked at Oz. “I, uh, was upset, so I was staking out her house. You were right. That
was
me in the PT Cruiser.”

When Brock snorted
at the mention of the idiotic car, Gunner bumped him with his shoulder but couldn’t help his own snort that came out afterward.

Leaning closer to the laptop
looking at the pictures, Oz asked, “Who is that?”

Jeff also looked at the photo. “I’ve seen him before.”

“Graham Hightower. One of New York City’s most successful businessmen. There was a write-up in
Fortune
a couple years ago about him,” Doug said.

“And you caught him breaking into Tilly’s house?” Gunner looked skeptical
as he too leaned in to look at the picture.

“Yes,” Doug replied
defensively and frowning at him. “I was sitting in my car. It was after him and Tilly left,” he motioned his thumb toward Oz, “and this guy comes along about an hour later. Oh, I forgot, Quinn the bitch left right after they did. Anyway, I’m sitting there looking at my photos on my phone when I see a guy walking across her front lawn, which triggered the light to come on. He stopped for a second before continuing around to the side. Next thing I know, I hear sirens and the guy’s jogging back across her lawn holding her laptop. That’s when I grabbed my camera and started shooting.”

They a
ll stared at Doug.

“What?” he asked.

“Just how long were you gonna sit on this?” Oz asked, his hands clenching into fists.

Doug cleared his throat. “Well, I kinda had a plan.” At Oz’s raised eyebrow he continued. “I was gonna send copies of the photos
to Hightower’s office and tell him I’d take them to the police if he didn’t cooperate and pay up, like, a million or so. Then I’d set up an account at the bank and have him wire the money to it, that way I wouldn’t have to meet him face-to-face. Pretty smart, huh?”

He looked up
smugly at all of them and didn’t have time to duck the fist that rammed into his face sending him soaring from the chair to land on the floor.

“What the fuck?”
he asked, holding the left side of his face and looking up at the men.

Oz pointed down at him.
“That’s for Tilly, you fucking prick. If you don’t want my side of it, you’ll work with us on this. Your choice.” He was breathing heavily trying to control his temper as he looked down at the little bastard.

Doug put
up his hands. “Okay, okay, that’s why I brought you here in the first place. Fuck.” He stood up on shaky legs his hand going back over his mug as if he couldn’t believe he’d been punched. “What do I need to do?”