Elijah: The Boss's Gift (2 page)

“Whoa, Elijah, come on, man?”

“She’s my gift, and I’m taking her. Set up the
shipment for supply and demand. You know the drill. Fuck with me, Marcel, you
know you’ll pay.” He pushed Cherry into the front seat of the car, flicking the
child lock in place. Some women were so fucking stupid and tried to fight at
every opportunity.

Climbing behind the wheel, he started up his car,
feeling the beauty purr to life. It reminded him a little of Brandy, the little
lawyer he kept on his books who also knew how to suck dick like a pro. There
was nothing better than a woman who loved to fuck her way to the top.

Pulling out his cell phone, Elijah made a call to
Mindy.

“Dad, where are you? I’m cooking, and this is our
deal.”

“I’ll be twenty minutes late, so I’m calling ahead.
I’m bringing a friend, and she’s been in a little bit of trouble.” He glanced
over at Cherry. Was he making a big mistake taking her with him?

****

Stupid, fucking, bastard job.
Cherry
kept cursing as she stared out of the car window. This was supposed to be her
better life and a chance for her to do some good. Cleaning was a means of her
becoming a nurse. She had always wanted to be a nurse ever since she was a
little girl and watched the doctors try to save her mother from a drug
overdose. They’d failed, but she’d watched them all working like mad on other
patients. She’d been five, curious, and overlooked as she wandered around the
hospital for two days before one of the nurses realized she was alone.

No one knew her father, and she didn’t much care to
ever find out. He’d been a john, a customer in a long line who gave her mother
money. She’d been on her own for so long that she’d not even thought to check
out the clients she cleaned for. Actually, it wasn’t her fucking job. She
worked at a cleaning company who specialized in a great cleaning with no
questions asked. The pay was damn good, better than anything she’d ever earned
before. She should have known the only clients they took on were fucking
criminals.

Calm down.

She glanced over at the guy who had just saved her
life. For how long she didn’t know. Cherry wasn’t an idiot and wouldn’t try
anything stupid. He looked like the kind of guy who’d follow through on all of his
threats. She didn’t want to die at all. When she’d stumbled into that murder,
her only thought had been escape. She wouldn’t have gone to the cops. The only
way to survive in the world was to learn to keep your mouth shut.

“My name’s Elijah.”

He was a good-looking man. She didn’t know how old he
was, older than she was. Running her hands up and down her thighs, she cleared
her throat. “What do I have to do?”

“Simple. You’re going to be whatever I need you to be.
You’ll clean my house, take care of my kid, and you’ll never, ever tell her who
you really are.”

“Do I have to make up a name or something?”

“No, you can keep your name. You’re friends of an
associate of mine. You’ve been in trouble and now you’re working for me.
Simple.”

“You’ve said that twice already.”

“For a woman who has been threatened to be raped and
murdered, you’re handling it a lot better than I imagined you would.”

“It’s not exactly hard to see where my bread is going
to be buttered,” she said. Cherry above it all was a survivor. She’d survived
everything that life had thrown at her. This was just another thing in a long
line of shit that had been tossed her way.

“You’re not going to argue, fight, curse, spit,
try
to claw my eyes out?”

Cherry rested her head on the back of the car seat.
“Would that even work?”

“No.”

“Then I’m not going to do it.”

“You’re not acting like any other woman I’ve ever
met.”

She released a sigh, turning to look at him. “Would it
make you feel better if I screamed, yelled, tried to hit you?” He glanced over
at her, giving her a glare. “No, I didn’t think so. Believe it or not, I don’t
have a death wish. I want to live, and if that means I’ve got to cooperate then
I’ll cooperate.” She rested her head on her hand.

The headache she’d gotten from being hit in the face
was starting to get worse.

“There are some pain killers in the box under your
seat. There’s also a gun. Don’t even think of using it.”

She rolled her eyes, tired of all the warnings. No
gun, no retaliation, she got it. Taking out two painkillers, she popped them
into her mouth, swallowing them with the saliva in her mouth.

They tasted awful, but she’d take whatever she had to
in order to ease the headache. Her face felt like it was ten times the normal
size of a human head.

“Your daughter, what’s her name?”

“Mindy. She’s fifteen, and as far as she’s concerned
you’re a friend.”

“You’re not going to leave me locked up in some dingy
castle to have sex with me?” she asked.

Elijah kept driving. “I’ve got women to take care of
those needs, and no, I’m not. You’re not a prisoner, but seeing as you’re
showing signs of sense I’ll let you know that there will be men out there
willing to take you.”

“Does your daughter know?”

“She knows what I need her to know. Also, I have three
guards who stick by her side and know to keep their distance.”

“She’s watched without even realizing it?”

“Yes.”

This was not a normal conversation they were having.
“So I’m a prisoner but I’m not a prisoner, and your daughter has to believe
that I’m in trouble.”

“You’re a daughter of a friend, and I was the only one
you thought to call.”

“This is completely insane,” she said, voicing her
thoughts.

“I don’t care what it is. You’re going to do as you’re
told. From the look of you, you’ve not had a good life.”

“I can walk right out the front door.”

Elijah smiled. “You’re not a prisoner and you can walk
right out the front door, but I can tell you, Cherry, if you don’t come back,
I’ll go hunting and you’ll be fucked then. I don’t give second chances, and
I’ll chain you the fuck up and let my men at you.” His voice turned deadly,
threatening.

The growl with which he spoke sent a chill down her
spine. He’d do it. She was starting to get the sense that Elijah might be worse
than the guy who took her. He wore an expensive suit, looked charming, yet it
was all lies.

“I won’t run.” She’d wait until he set her free.

“Good. Mindy will ask you all kinds of
questions,
so just try and keep this shit tight.”

“You mean not to tell her that I was a gift from some
crazy drug dealing person.”

“Pretty much.”

“You’re not going to fuck me?” she asked.

“No. I’ve got a lot of other willing women who fill my
bed.”

Cherry didn’t mind. She’d never had sex with a guy when
she’d been willing. At a young age she’d learned to lie quietly so they
finished quickly. Tears filled her eyes, and she dashed them away. Weakness was
not something men respected or admired. She needed to not be weak but to be
strong.

Lying back against the seat, she kept her eyes open on
the road ahead of her. Elijah didn’t make a move to talk. He put the radio on,
and some romance music filled the small space between them.

She wondered if there would come a time when she’d
ever become a nurse. For so long she’d dreamed about being a nurse, using all
of her available free time to study in the library. If she could have she’d
have tried to make it as a doctor. She didn’t get the grades in high school and
was working like crazy to get through nursing school.

Time passed. She didn’t know how much before Elijah
pulled onto a very fancy street. The houses were huge, like something you saw
in Christmas movies with lights decorating the outside. The only time she got
inside one of those houses was cleaning one. A life of crime clearly paid.

Elijah pulled up into the long drive and garage.
Cherry had already clocked two of the three guards he posted for protection on
his daughter.

“Do I need to go over everything again?” he asked.

“No, I’m good. I remember what you warned me.”

Climbing out of the car, Cherry stood and waited for
Elijah to proceed. He rounded the car, grabbed her hand, and led the way up to
the house. Opening the door, she was met with a wall of garlic and tomatoes.

“Daddy, you’re here?”

Around a corner, Cherry saw a brown haired girl
appear. She wore a pair of pajama shorts and a vest shirt.

“Hey, honey,” Elijah said.

Mindy threw herself into her father’s arms. “If you
hadn’t called I’d so be kicking your ass right now.”

He chuckled, releasing Cherry’s hand to embrace his
daughter.

“I saw that. You were holding her hand,” Mindy said, pulling
away and turning her attention on Cherry. “Are you my dad’s girlfriend?”

What?

Cherry shook her head. “No.”

“This is a friend’s daughter,” Elijah said.

“Which friend?”
Mindy folded her arms across her chest. “Dad, if
you’re
wanting
to bring girlfriends home you don’t have to lie about it. She’s
beautiful,” Mindy said.

Okay.
Cherry didn’t have a clue what to say or do. Her face
was bruised, she needed a bath desperately, she’d been threatened with death,
and this girl thought she was beautiful. She really didn’t know how to handle
this.

“My dad would have killed me if he saw the trouble I
was getting into,” Cherry said.

“You’re wearing a maid’s uniform and you’re bruised.”

“Again, bad
day.”

Mindy stared at her for several minutes. “So you’re
not dating my dad?”

The disappointment was clear to see on the young girl.
Cherry felt bad for her.

“No, I’m not.”

“Damn, here I was hoping you’d found a woman to deal
with your crap.”

“Language,
Mindy.”
Elijah scolded his daughter. It was strange to see.
Cherry rarely saw men telling their daughters off. She’d never had a father
herself. “Come on, I’m starving.”

Mindy took her coat and urged her into the dining
room. “Sit, I’ll bring it all through.”

Taking a seat beside Elijah, Cherry kept her hands on
her lap. Neither of them spoke as Mindy hummed bringing in pans filled to the
brim with sauce.

“She makes a really good pasta sauce.”

Cherry nodded, doubting he wanted her to talk. Her
life had taken a dramatic turn, one that she wasn’t really prepared for.

Chapter Two

Ignoring his guest Elijah focused on his daughter,
asking her about school.

“Dad, seriously, it’s boring,” Mindy said. “Serve up.”

He stood, serving all three of them with pasta then
with the sauce and the slightly burned meatballs.

“I’m sorry. I burned them. I needed to make sure that
the meat was cooked through.”

“Don’t worry about,” Elijah said. Friday night was
always interesting on his taste buds. Mindy wasn’t the best cook, but at least
she tried.

“You like to cook?” Cherry asked.

She was another complication he didn’t want to think
about. He responded to her in a way he hadn’t responded to anyone since Mindy’s
mother. Elijah closed off the memories of Bethan. She’d been the woman he loved
more than anything else.

“Yes, I love it.”

Cherry nodded. “I like cooking.”

“You do.”

He watched Cherry as she talked with his daughter. She
wasn’t much older than Mindy, and he hated the need that Cherry inspired inside
him. They ate their food together with Cherry and Mindy talking about food. He
was surprised by how much Cherry knew, and from the look on Mindy’s face, she
was
loving
her already.

When it was over, he sent his daughter off, as she had
done the cooking, and he carried the dishes through to the kitchen. He dumped
the leftovers in the trash.

“Thank you for not crushing her heart.”

“I’m not mean, and the food tasted okay.” Cherry took
the dishes and started to dry them up. “So what’s my job now?”

“Clean, do whatever you want. I’m not interested in
dealing with your shit.”

He shouldn’t be doing this. If Cherry went to the cops
he’d be in for a world of shit, but he just couldn’t bring himself to lock her
up. When she’d been tied to the chair, the fear in her blue eyes had struck him
hard.

“I’m going to my office. Mindy will show you to your
room.”

Drying his hands, he left her alone in the kitchen.
He’d not finished the dishes, but he needed to get away. Closing his office
door, he sat behind his large oak desk. On top of his desk was a picture of
Bethan. She had gorgeous black hair with startling blue eyes. All of the women
he fucked now were either blonde or dyed out of a bottle. Bethan had died
giving him Mindy. She hadn’t been strong enough to handle a pregnancy. It was
lucky she’d carried Mindy for so long with her heart defect. Bethan had a hole
in her heart that weakened her.