COME WHEN CALLED #7, The Sunrise (Billionaire & Biker MMF Menage Romance Serial) (6 page)

Ford returned to sit on the bed, and took a deep breath before continuing. “When the year is up you will leave and I won’t see you again. I’ll get a new girl to take your place. Tell me you understand that.” He turned a fierce look to her and waited. She realized he was going to make her answer him, no matter how cruel it was.

She opened her mouth to answer but knew if she spoke, the pathetic sobs she was barely controlling would burst forth, so instead she just nodded her head in answer, staring blankly straight ahead, avoiding his eyes.

“Get out,” he said flatly, pointing at the door. She couldn’t leave fast enough. She had to get out of that room and away from Ford. She scrambled to the end of the bed to get her robe, and he turned to watch her go—she, sobbing now, and naked.

“Wait,” he roared and slammed his arm across the bed, grabbing her around the waist from behind. He pulled her back against him hard, pressing his skin to hers, and she choked out a moan of despair, not pleasure.

“Ford don’t,” she begged. “You’re hurting my heart.” She screwed her eyes shut and sobbed, just letting the words spill out. “I don’t want to love you. I don’t. I can’t help it.” She tried to struggle out of his grasp. “I can’t help it.”

“Evie. God, Evie.” It was as if he was trying to envelope her with his arms, make her a part of him. Like he couldn’t get close enough. He made a voice of frustration that almost sounded like he was in physical pain. “I’m sorry I can’t be what you want.” He spoke against the curve of her neck, his voice thick with emotion, and she cried as silently as she could, wanting him to let go of her, and yet praying he’d never let go of her.

He moved his hands to her shoulders and she heard him inhale slowly. He seemed to steel himself, and then his fingers tightened almost painfully into her skin. He pushed forward and shoved her to the bed, face down.

“I’m sorry,” he repeated, and now his voice was flat and emotionless again. Completely controlled. “This is the only thing I know how to be.” He placed one hand on the back of her neck, pinning her down, and one hand on her hip, lifting her butt in the air, molding his body to hers. He was hard.

He was going to fuck her. She almost couldn’t believe it. After telling her he couldn’t love her. After breaking her heart. He was going to fuck her and come in her while her face was wet with the tears he caused.

Her chest constricted in sorrow, as much for Ford as for her and Charley. This wasn’t all Ford was, but he was desperate to convince them it was. He wasn’t going to let them succeed. He would destroy their love. He hated himself so much that he believed he was a monster, and he was going to prove it to her.

She knew he wasn’t. Charley knew he wasn’t.

Could she convince Ford of that if she stayed?

She couldn’t think. She couldn’t think.

Ford reached down and shoved a finger into her, making her gasp. His next words were a declaration. “I’m no one anyone could love.”

He moved, and she turned her head in the sheets and watched as he opened a bedside drawer and took out a bottle of lubricant. They’d only used lubricant when he fucked her ass, but this time he smeared the slick liquid over his cock only because he knew she wasn’t ready for him. And he didn’t care; he was going to take her anyway.

Why didn’t she leave? Yet she couldn’t make herself make the decision, knowing if she refused him now, it would be the end of everything. She wasn’t ready to make that choice. And so she chose to stay, and she prepared herself for what she knew he’d do to her.

He came back to the bed, the hard line of his erection jutting in front of him, more than ready to fuck her whether she was ready or not. “Are you staying, Evie? Does this deal still work for you?”

If she left, she’d break Charley’s heart. She couldn’t do that. She needed to talk to Charley first. Evie had gone from the high of realizing she was hopelessly in love with Ford, a love she thought he returned, to him crushing her heart, all in the span of a few hours. She didn’t know what to do.

“Get out of my bed and leave now if you’re not still willing to fulfill your duties,” Ford demanded. She looked up at him for a long moment and saw his eyes were as full of pain as hers. He seemed to soften. Grabbing her hand, he pressed it to his erection, smearing lubricant on her fingers. “I can’t stay away from you, Evie. I don’t want you to leave.” His throat was hoarse, and he lowered his eyes, looking shamed. “But this is all I can give you. Will you take it?”

God she loved him. Why was he doing this to her?

She turned her face back into the sheets, her cheeks smeared with tears. She didn’t want to go, though she knew she should. Unsure, she only lay still instead, and chose by default.

Ford climbed back onto the bed and grabbed her hips, yanking her butt back up into the air. With his knee he spread her legs forcefully. He was not being gentle when he stuffed his slickened cock into her. His erection felt invasive—not right like it normally did. She wasn’t wet and soft for him, because he wasn’t the Ford she loved.

He fucked her roughly, as if he was angry at her and desperate for her at the same time. Ignoring her tears, he forced his cock into her again and again to the hilt. She knew he would stop if she asked him to—knew it in her bones—but yet she didn’t stop him. Her confusion and uncertainty pinned her beneath him. He didn’t make a sound, only used her cruelly, taking the only thing he wanted from her. Giving her the only thing he could give.

The lone sound in the room was his skin slapping against hers with the tattoo of his relentless sex. It was a stark sound in the still morning air, and although she didn’t want to enjoy what he did to her, her body betrayed her and began to respond to his naturally.

The connection her body had to Ford’s would not be denied. Their bodies knew each other and relished the sex between them, and that connection made his denial of love for her all the more painful. She bit down on a moan of pure carnal lust, determined not to reveal any enjoyment in what he was doing to her.

She might have actually orgasmed, with her face shoved into the mattress and her eyes wet with tears, had he fucked her longer, but he thrust hard a few last times and came with a guttural moan, collapsing over her back and flattening her to the bed.

There was a quick knock at the door and Charley entered, carrying two bags of food. His giant smile crumbled as he looked at Ford pinning Evie to the bed and Evie’s face, miserable and streaked.

“What the fuck is going on here?” he breathed. Charley looked back and forth between them. He dropped the bags on the floor and stepped to the bed. Gently, he touched Evie’s tear-stained cheek. “Ford!” Charley’s voice rose, anger and panic evident in his rebuke. “Ford, what the fuck did you do?”

Ford hoisted himself off her, pulling his softening cock out and getting to his feet next to Charley. He busied himself with cleaning up. Evie sat up, grabbing Charley’s hand from her cheek and kissing it. “It’s okay Charley,” she said. “We had a little argument. Everything’s fine.” She would salvage this and then figure out how to handle it later. She would never let Ford make her feel like that again.

Ford wouldn’t look at her, shame rolling off him in waves. Charley took note. “Ford, what’s going on? I thought we were good.” Charley looked at Evie and she saw the question in his eyes before he asked it. She tried to stop him.

“Charley, don’t.”

“Ford, do you regret yesterday? Letting me make love to you? Saying you loved us?” His question held such fragile honesty that Evie felt like her heart cracked in half. Charley reached out to Ford.

Ford looked away and lowered his eyes, turning his body away from Charley’s reach. Charley’s eyes registered the rejection, and his face fell into the saddest expression Evie had ever seen. Now Evie’s anger flashed. She could handle Ford’s mistreatment of her, knowing how confused he was, but she couldn’t watch him hurt Charley.

“Don’t you dare turn away from him!” She got to her feet between them and wrapped her robe around her naked body. “No shame, right Ford? You taught me that.” This time she spoke as if she and Ford were the only two people in the room. “Break my heart. Destroy me. I don’t care, but look at this.” She gestured to Charley. “He is so full of light. Don’t ruin Charley. Don’t turn him into us.” She dropped her arms to her sides, defeated. “At least let him go.”

“No,” Charley said, his tone serious. “I won’t go.”

“I know you won’t.” Evie sighed, looking at Ford. “Charley is a dream come true for anyone, and fuck you for not seeing that.” She shook her head. “You’ve shown me your worst, Ford, and I can take it all. But you’ve finally found the one thing I can’t handle. The one thing that will actually make me go away. I can’t watch you break Charley.”

She opened Ford’s bedroom door and Charley moved quickly. “Evie, what are you doing?” There was alarm in his voice.

“I’m doing exactly what we all need. Someone has to do it before we all go down together.”

Charley had her face cupped in his large hands before she could move, locking his eyes to hers. “Don’t do this,” he begged her. “Don’t do this,” he whispered, shaking his head, as if they were alone together in the room. Wrapping his arms around her, he enveloped her against him, kissing the top of her head. “Don’t do this,” he whispered hoarsely.

Her shoulders heaved as she sobbed one time, catching herself with a massive effort lest she let the sobs overtake her. The misery of her decision washed over her. Pushing against Charley’s chest, she extracted herself from his embrace and glanced to Ford, who watched them with interest, but immediately looked away. He couldn’t meet her eyes, and it strengthened her resolve.

She looked up at the big man, his face handsome even in misery. “Charley, I love you, but this is bigger than us, and we can’t do it without him. He wants to be unhappy.”

“That’s not true. Everyone wants to be happy,” Charley looked back at Ford as if to hope Ford would agree with him, but Ford stayed stoic.

Evie shook her head. “Not Ford. Only if he’s miserable and alone will he punish himself enough for who he is. He will make this fail, and when it does there will be spectacularly terrible consequences. I love you, Charley, and I can’t watch him do that to you.” She suddenly had a crazy thought. “Come with me. You don’t have to stay with me. Just don’t stay with him.”

“Hey!” Ford’s angry voice cut through her, but she and Charley ignored him.

“Evie, I love you.” Charley kissed her softly on the lips. “I know this stuff with him bothers you, but I can give you all the love you need. We can keep doing what we’re doing, and I’ll give you enough love for the both of us.”

She smiled up at him, tears in her eyes. “Charley, you’re breaking my heart. If you’re taking care of everyone, who’s taking care of you?”

“You will be.”

“But you’ll never really be happy unless Ford loves you.”

Charley screwed his mouth up, not willing to admit she was right. “I’ll be happy with what he can give me. I’ll be happy with that as long as I have you too.”

But Evie shook her head. “I can’t watch him do that to you, and I can’t love him from afar like you do. I can’t.” Now the tears fell and she didn’t care. She was too miserable to care if she looked weak in front of Ford.

Charley turned to Ford. “Do something,” he begged. “Help me get her to stay.”

Ford looked over at them, his arms crossed, mashing his lips together in resignation. “Come on, Charley.” He gave the man a crooked smile and stretched his hand out to him. “Let’s go get in the shower, and then we’ll figure this out over breakfast.”

Upon hearing words that Charley had never heard from Ford, he took a step toward the billionaire, but he didn’t let go of Evie’s hand. “But…Evie…” His voice cut off.

Ford smiled indulgently, as if he’d just agreed to buy Charley a puppy. “Okay, Evie, can join us.” Ford turned that hundred-watt smile to her, his face transforming into the one she loved, all dimples and magnetism. The smile that had convinced her to go down this rabbit hole to begin with. He curled his mouth into a semblance of wicked bad-boy.

Those dimples. The shower. She
wanted
everything to be okay. She wanted to believe this morning had never happened. She was blinded for a moment with thoughts of what the three of them could do together in the shower.

Tempted, she stepped forward, but Ford’s next words bound her to the spot. “But only if Evie can remember to be the professional I hired her to be. I don’t want any more complications like we had this morning.”

She stopped. “‘The professional you hired me to be’? You mean a whore.”

Ford’s eyes softened, pain flashing through them, mirroring her own. “Evie, you were never a whore.”

“You’re right I never was.” She took a deep breath. “And I never felt like one until this morning.”

Wrenching herself from Charley’s grip, Evie ran out of Ford’s room to her own, slamming her door and locking it behind her.

CHAPTER THREE

EVIE STAGGERED TO her closet to pack her things. She’d let herself do it again—fall for a man like John, a man who didn’t need her, a man who’d throw her away when he was done using her. She knew better and she’d let it happen anyway.

But even in her miserable state she knew it wasn’t a fair thought. Ford hadn’t used her the way John had. Ford had been honest from the start about what he wanted and she’d gone along with the plan willingly. She’d let business become personal. She’d ignored the carefully defined boundaries of their relationship. She only had herself to blame, but that didn’t make it hurt any less.

The thought of leaving was devastating, and that was precisely the problem. She wasn’t even a month into her commitment and she was already tearing herself apart, looking for more from Ford than he would give her. If she stayed the full year she’d be in a pitiable state by the end, even more desperately in love with a man who didn’t want her. A man who would make her leave so he could find a new woman to take her place in his bed, on his rug, over his desk, with Charley.

Her beautiful closet wavered in her vision as tears threatened to spill again.

Pulling out the duffel bag she’d shown up to the estate with, she realized she had little to pack. She’d gotten rid of most everything except the new wardrobe Ford had lavished on her, but she wasn’t going to take those items. She couldn’t stand to look at the clothes he’d picked out for her, so she took only what she needed to get by for a few days.

She spread out her throwing knives on top of the stack of clothes and carefully zipped her bag around them, cursing herself for not ordering the knife sheath she’d meant to, now that she was going back out into the world beyond Ford’s stone walls. Taking one last look around the most gorgeous bedroom she’d ever have, she left, closing the door firmly behind her.

“Evie.”

The voice came from behind her, making her jump, and she turned to find Charley sitting on the chair in the hallway, halfway between her room and Ford’s.

She whirled away from him and headed for the stairs. “Don’t make this harder, Charley.” Taking the stairs quickly, she made her way out the side door, heading toward the backyard and the oversized garage that sat behind, and to the side of, the house. Charley followed directly behind her, not speaking.

Stomping down the row of cars she realized hers wasn’t there. “Goddammit! Where’s my car?” she cried, frustration pitching her voice high. She stopped, not knowing where to go next, and Charley halted behind her, putting his arms directly around her and taking her bag. She struggled against him.

“Evie, stop. Let me carry your bag. Let’s figure this out.”

“Where’s my car? Do you know where that bastard put my car?”

“He’s not a bastard.”

She scoffed, yanking at her bag but having no luck against Charley’s unyielding grip.

“Evangeline, why are you doing this to me?”

She stopped. She’d never heard him use her full name. “Charley, if I have to walk out of here, I’m leaving.”

Charley shook his head. “You know what the most ironic thing is? I always thought Ford was going to break my heart. I had no idea it’d be you.” She met his eyes, startled. He looked down at her, sadness rolling off him in waves. “I never even saw you coming, Evie. At least Ford loves me enough to give me what he can. You’re just leaving me.”

She stepped backwards as if he’d hit her, her breath catching in her lungs. “Oh Charley.” It was killing her to watch the big man’s heart break. “I’m not leaving you. I’m leaving him.”

He crumpled onto the bumper of one of Ford’s SUVs, no longer meeting her eyes. “He sent me to get you. I would’ve tried anyway, but when you left, he lost it.” Charley looked up at her, and she could see the hurt for all of them churning in his deep, brown eyes. “I’ve never seen him in that much pain, Evie. He said you wouldn’t want to even look at him, so I had to come and find you and make you come back to us.”

She felt her resolve start to crumble. “Charley, I need to show you something.” She took his hand and he allowed her to tug him to standing. She pulled him along to the front of the garage where she pointed to Ford’s shattered back window.

Immediately his posture changed to that of a warrior. “That is a bullet-hole.” He stabbed his finger toward the window and looked at her with accusation in his eyes.

“I know! I think it was John. Do you get it now? I have to leave anyway. You both are in danger as long as I’m here. There’s no reason for John to bother either of you if I’m gone.”

“Evie, why didn’t you tell me about this?”

“I was going to, but then yesterday became so…magical. We were happy. I didn’t want to ruin it. I was going to tell you today.”

He gripped her by the shoulders almost painfully. “I can’t let you leave. John could be out there waiting for you!”

She let her anger spark again, feeling even more desperate to get out of Ford’s estate and take the danger with her. “I’ll be fine if I can just find my damn car. Charley, I can take care of myself! I’ll just disappear until John self-destructs. He’s more than halfway there already.”

She’d barely gotten the last words out when they heard a loud crack from outside. They turned their heads to the sound in unison, and then back toward each other, eyes wide.

“Ford,” they both said in unison before turning and running toward the door.

*****

The only thing she remembered seeing when she emerged from the garage on Charley’s heels was the huge wall of windows at the back of the house, splintered now like the one on Ford’s car. She gasped, hand flying to her mouth, her mind blanking of anything except fear for Ford. She nearly ran into Charley who was stopped outside the side house door, his fingers to his lips.

With a gesture, he told her to be quiet and stay. She shook her head violently and he closed his eyes, flexing his jaw in frustration. He slunk into the house silently and she followed, both of them creeping until they had a view of the living room.

Evie clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle her gasp when she caught sight of Ford, tied to a chair, his mouth gagged. A trickle of blood ran down his face.
Oh god.
Was he alive?

She nearly sank to her knees, her muscles weakened with fear. Like a swarm of bees, panic overran her brain and she couldn’t think. She forced her thoughts to slow. Touching Charley on the shoulder, she asked him with a gesture if he had a cell phone. He shook his head and frustration smacked through her. Her phone had belonged to the firm and she hadn’t gotten a new one since she’d come to Ford’s.

She spotted a house phone on the kitchen counter. Hope and relief washed over her. Silently, she moved to pick it up and clicked open the line. Nothing.

Dammit
! John had somehow disabled the line. An icy terror gripped her belly, and she turned slowly, dreading to look out the window that faced down the driveway. She saw what she feared—the open gate, the one that was never open.

Evie said a quick prayer for Boone, but she knew John wouldn’t be in the house unless he’d taken out the loyal guard. Boone wouldn’t have stopped fighting, not if he was still able. She looked back, shaking her head at Charley who crushed his lips together in anger. They listened for a minute, straining their ears but hearing no sounds.

Charley pulled her close to him, whispering in the barest voice, “I can’t hear him. Maybe he’s upstairs. When I give you the signal, we’re going in there. I’ll untie Ford’s hands. You get his feet. As soon as you have his feet free, you go back through this door to my truck. I’ll carry him there.”

She nodded. “It’s John.”

Charley looked grim. “I know. That’s what I’m worried about. He’s not right in the head, I don’t think.”

Evie blinked rapidly, trying not to panic. She didn’t do well handling fear, but she had to keep her head about her. Ford needed her—needed them both—to get out of this alive. She was not going to lose it.

Charley signaled for her to follow him and they both crept out into the living room. Charley was at the chair checking Ford’s pulse before Evie was halfway there. She saw Charley’s body nearly collapse in relief and her heart soared. Ford was still alive! They might all make it out of there. Stepping softly, she moved low and quick. Charley glanced up at her from his work on Ford’s bindings and his eyes popped wide, a look of terror in them.

“Behind you!” Charley yelled.

She had only a moment to register his words when something huge and solid hit her from behind hard enough to make her skull snap forward.

Blackness sucked her down into the deep.