Club Nova Vol. 4 (Brad Grayson) (6 page)

“Christ.” He blew out a breath. Brad knew how Victoria felt about this deal from day one, but he never realized just how deep her emotions ran and the lengths she would go to make sure it failed. Was she really that adamant about it that she’d reach out to a man who’d taken her against her will and held her captive?

“I’m sorry.” She chewed her bottom lip. “I never meant to betray you or sabotage you. In my own way, I was trying to protect you.”

Protect him? No one had ever tried to do that for him before, except the people he paid for that sort of thing, but no one had ever wanted to protect him for no reason. It was an odd feeling knowing someone cared about him enough to do something so reckless.

“Shit. Victoria.” He sighed. “I don’t . . .” He had no idea what to say. “I appreciate your concern, but I really don’t need you to protect me. I know what I’m doing.”

“Yeah,” she frowned, “well, that’s what happens when you’re in love, Brad. You do stupid things with the best of intentions.” She turned her back on him. “I’ll pack my stuff and go.”

His eyebrows shot up. “Over my dead fucking body you will.” He turned her around to face him and then he crushed her mouth in a hard kiss. Part of him almost expected her to shove him away, but thankfully she didn’t. Like every other time he touched her or kissed her, she welcomed him eagerly.

“I’m pissed you lied to me.” He nipped at her bottom lip, then her chin. “I’m fucking livid, Victoria, but,” he teased her neck with his lips, drawing a throaty moan from her, “you’re not leaving this condo. And you sure as hell aren’t going to leave me.” Taking her face into his hands, he looked at her pointedly. “Understand?”

She licked her lips and nodded. His heart rate slowed and his body relaxed. On top of everything else, he could not imagine her walking out of his life, too. It was too much to handle right now. He lowered his lips to hers and gave her a soft kiss filled with frenzied emotion.

“So, your kidnapper is Peyton’s son?” Brad asked. “Why would . . . it doesn’t make sense. Why would she hire her son to take you and enlist your help to stop this deal when it’s what she wants?”

Victoria shrugged. “I think you really need to go talk to Philip. He has all the details.”

Victoria’s heart was in her throat as she watched him walk toward the door. “Brad?” Her voice cracked.

He stopped and turned back to her. “Yeah?”

Her heart raced and her stomach knotted into a bundle of nerves. She was about to ask one of those questions she probably didn’t want to know the answer to, but she had to ask anyway. “Did you mean it?”

He lifted an eyebrow.

“What you said about me staying?”

She watched him hesitate for a moment and she knew then he didn’t. His words were just noise. The look he gave, the moment of hesitation, she could only assume he really didn’t want her to stay, at least not for the right reasons. He wanted her to stay so he could remain one step ahead, have a firm grasp on the situation and keep her in control of when and how she conducted her daily schedule. She should’ve known better than to think Brad could be so forgiving when it had been so hard for him to give his trust in the first place.

“Oh, baby.” Walking up to her, he placed his hands on either side of her neck and rested his forehead to hers. “Right now it seems like everything is going to shit, and I have some serious damage control to do before Peyton catches wind of any of this.” He pressed his lips to hers and her eyes fluttered closed, praying she was wrong about him. “If you leave here, leave me, then what the hell am I fighting so hard for?” He caressed her cheeks and smiled. “I’m strong, Victoria, but I know I’m not strong enough to survive you walking out on me.”

Her breath caught as she stared into his eyes. There was so much truth and sincerity and vulnerability there. As she looked into those deep and dark sexy eyes, she wanted to believe him. She really did. She put her arms around his neck and hugged him, sighing contentedly when he wrapped his arms around her back and pulled her tight. “I’m sorry.”

“I know.” He slid his hands down her back and grabbed her ass, yanking her against his pelvis. “Don’t worry. You can make it up to me later.”

His tone was suggestive and held a world of promise. There was no mistaking what he meant, and that settled her worries. She felt foolish for not having the confidence to believe she was worthy of his love, but her past experiences didn’t allow her to have the courage she knew she needed right now.

“Now,” he released her and took her hand, lacing their fingers, “let’s go talk to Philip and figure out what the hell is going on.”

Victoria gave his hand a squeeze and smiled. “It’s you and me against her.”

He laughed. “It’s you and me. You got that right. But let me fight her.” He winked and led her downstairs to where Philip and the rest of the team had converged.

Before they entered Brad’s home office, he stopped and pulled Victoria into his arms, pressing his lips to hers. She closed her eyes and leaned into him, a sense of calm washing over her as Brad kissed the tension from her body. His kiss lasted longer than she anticipated, and when he finally did pull away, she craved more, wished he’d take her hand and lead her back upstairs to the room where everything was fine.

“Brad,” she whispered, keeping her arms around his neck and resting her head on his chest. She hesitated and he wrapped his arms around her, making her feel like she was the only one around.

“What’s wrong, love?” He stroked her hair and kissed the top of her head.

“I don’t know.” She shrugged. “I guess I’m just nervous about what we’ll learn when we talk to Philip.” Slowly, she looked up at Brad. “I don’t know how much more crazy I can handle.”

Brad laughed. “I’m over all this, too. Trust me.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m not sure yet.” He squeezed her tighter. “Now, let’s get this over with.”

“I’d like that.”

“Good, because you’ve got a spanking coming tonight.” He winked, his eyes soft and desire filled.

Victoria’s breath caught as she remembered the first time Brad ever spanked her. Heat rose through her body making her fan her face with her hand. She really did love when he spanked her.

“Ready?” Brad cupped her cheek, his thumb brushing over her bottom lip a moment before his mouth was on hers again. “I really can’t get enough,” he said on a sigh, shaking his head as if the concept was foreign to him.

“Yeah, let’s do this.” She smiled tightly.

With a quick nod, Brad opened the door and led her inside. Philip looked up and gave a faint smile. “It’s about time. You two ready to hear this?”

“I doubt it, but lay it on me.” Brad reached down and took Victoria’s hand, giving it a gentle, reassuring squeeze.

“Okay, thanks to Victoria giving us the kidnapper’s information, we were able to make contact with him. Seems he’s a twenty year old kid. Peyton’s son.”

Victoria looked at Brad who made no indication he already knew that.

“Peyton has a son?” Brad asked, cool and calm.

“It appears so.” Philip moved from behind the table and held out a file. Brad took it and opened it. Victoria glanced over his shoulder at the picture of a young man with the same eyes as Peyton and the same soft facial features. “Apparently he’s a bastard child. Born out of wedlock, father disappeared, or maybe dead for all we know.”

Brad snapped the file closed. “Are he and Peyton working together?”

“At this time in our investigation, yes, that’s our assumption.” Philip crossed his arms over his chest and nodded. “But we’re still gathering details to prove that.”

“Why would they work together? Why would Peyton get her son to kidnap me and use me so Brad would cancel the deal?” Victoria asked.

“Yeah, that’s a good question.” Brad smiled at her. “From the moment Peyton and I started negotiating, she’s wanted this deal to go down. Why enlist someone to sabotage it?”

“I don’t think she did at first.” Philip turned and rustled through some papers before looking back at Victoria and Brad. “From what I could gather on such short notice, mother and son don’t have the best relationship. He blames her for his shitty childhood, for growing up without a father. I do think he was telling Victoria the truth when he said he wanted revenge. I believe your kidnapping was his own doing.”

“And now?” Brad raised a brow.

Victoria leaned closer to him, the pieces falling into place in her mind. “Now Peyton knows what he did, and she’s manipulating him to get what she wants.”

“Bingo.” Philip pointed at Victoria. “That’s exactly what we’re working with here. Peyton had her son committed to an institution several years ago. He was recently released, so we think she found out he’d gotten his hands on you, and now she’s using him to get to you again.”

Get to me again?

“Why?” Brad released Victoria’s hand and rubbed at his face. “Victoria has nothing to do with this deal. It’s always been between me and Peyton.”

“Weakness,” Victoria mumbled, her heart racing. “She’s using him to go after your weakness so she’ll have the upper hand. It’s a power play.” The beginnings of a plan began to form in her mind.

“Because she knows if she has you, I’ll do whatever she wants to ensure your safety.” Brad gripped the back of the nearest chair and hung his head. “Fuck.”

“Does he know I handed over his information?” Victoria asked.

“No. When I reached out to him, I said I was investigating a formal complaint against Peyton. I never used your name,” Philip explained.

“Then I’ll call him now. I’ll pretend I’ve decided to take him up on his offer, and then we can turn the tables.” Victoria began to pace. “Not that he’s that big of a weakness to Peyton, but I’d bet anything she wants to keep him a secret. I’m sure it doesn’t look good to have an institutionalized son who hates her running around, blabbing about—” Victoria abruptly stopped when she noticed Brad staring at her. “What?” she asked.

“Have you lost your damn mind?” he snapped.

“What? No.” She shook her head. “I’m just trying to help.”

“By offering yourself up to a guy we now know is involved with Peyton? I don’t fucking think so.”

Victoria crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. “Then what do you suggest? If we don’t do something, if we don’t make a move, this shit’s just going to continue until something really fucking bad happens. Someone needs to do something, and this is a good idea.”

“Someone will do something, but you will not be that someone and that something most certainly will not be you offering yourself up as bait.” Brad met her stare, neither of them backing down. “Get that thought out of your mind right now, Victoria, or so help me God—”

“What?” she challenged him. The room had gone silent around them, the investigators pretending to be busy but they were really listening and watching, anticipating the coming explosion. “What’re you going to do, Brad? I don’t hear you coming up with any ideas.”

“What am I going to do?” He stepped toward her, his gaze hard and menacing. “For starters, I’m going to drag your ass upstairs and tie you to my damn bed so I know you won’t go running off on me and into the lion’s den. And then I’m going to call Eric and Peyton and tell them the deal is off. I’m pulling my offer. This shit stops now.”

Victoria stumbled back a step. “You’re going to kill the deal?” It’s what she’d wanted all along but she never thought he’d actually do it.

“If that’s what it takes, yes.” Brad glanced around at the team of investigators, then took Victoria’s arm and led her out of the room, away from their prying eyes. Once in the hallway, Brad pinned her against the wall, one hand on her hip, the other flat on the wall above her head. “I thought I’d made myself pretty clear about how I feel.”

Victoria swallowed hard. “You did,” she whispered.

“Then why in the hell would you think I’d allow you to sacrifice yourself for this deal?” He lowered his head, their faces inches apart, and she hoped he’d shut up and just kiss her.

“I guess I didn’t think—” Her gaze dipped to his mouth and she licked her lips, waiting for his to crash into her.

“No, you obviously didn’t.” He gently clutched her chin and held her in place. “Eyes on mine, Victoria.”

She shuddered. God, that voice was so deep and dominant. It had been a while since he’d spoken to her in that tone and she suddenly realized she’d missed it.

“They know getting to you will destroy me, so I have to keep you close until this is over, one way or another. Promise me you won’t do anything stupid.”

She nodded as best she could with him still holding her face. She licked her lips.
Please kiss me. Just shut up and kiss me.

“Peyton’s a lot of things, but she’s not stupid, Victoria. She’s figured out how to bring me to my knees, but she knows doing that will also unleash my wrath. I don’t think she wants to face that, so she’s toying with me. That’s the only possible explanation.”

Everything Brad said, Victoria knew, was the truth. Peyton was looking for an upper hand, a way to control Brad and the outcome of this deal. And Victoria was the pawn for Peyton to use against Brad. That had been clear since the beginning. Whether Peyton would ever actually harm Victoria further was uncertain, but as long as Victoria was around, she was a risk to Brad, the deal, and Club Nova. If she wasn’t in the picture, this would all end. That was the way she saw it.

“Send me away then,” she said.

“What?” Brad pushed off the wall and released her. “Why would I . . . Haven’t you heard anything I’ve said?” He dragged a hand through his hair and blew out a heavy breath. His intense stare burned a hole directly through her.

“Yes, which is why I need to be completely out of the picture. If Peyton believes we’re not . . . together,” she said for lack of a better word, “and I leave town, she loses her power over you, right?”

Brad just looked at her, his face stoic.

“The contract is ready to be signed, right? So it’ll only be for a few days. Just enough time to—”

“No.” Brad shook his head. “No way. I can’t risk it. What if she has someone watching the house or following you?” He leaned into her and tucked a loose hair behind her ear. She nearly melted. His rough hands were so sensitive.

He whispered. “You take off to God knows where, and she still gets to you? Uh-uh.” He finished, turning his back to her.

“Brad,” she slipped her arms around his stomach and rested her head on his strong back, “please, let me go. I feel like this is my fault. If I hadn’t—”

“If you hadn’t what? Accepted the job I offered you? Made me crazy for you the second I laid eyes on you?” He grabbed her and brought her around to face him. “Stolen my heart?” He took her face into his hands and caressed her cheeks. “Don’t stand here and play the ‘what if’ game with me. It’s pointless.”

“I’m just trying to help. I can’t think of any other solution.”

“I know.” He smiled and calmed down the moment their eyes locked again. “Although I’m not sure why,” he laughed, “because I thought for sure you’d be thrilled I finally agreed to end the deal.”

“I would be if I thought it would put an end to all this nonsense, but I don’t know if it will.”

Sighing, Brad kissed her forehead and hugged her tight to his body. “I have the best of the best in that office.” He pointed toward the door. “Let them do their jobs.”

Victoria nodded.