Homewrecker Incorporated (30 page)

I found myself wishing I stopped at home to change before coming to Grey's house. I'd called G&G and checked with his assistant on his schedule. He'd called in, saying he was taking the day off, so I assumed he was home. I considered texting him to be sure, but I wanted to surprise him. If he wasn't there, I'd figure something else out.

I paid the driver before I jumped out and approached the door. I couldn't seem to wipe the stupid smile off my face. It was hard to believe this was my life. I'd spent so many years fighting my true feelings and the desires buried so deep in my heart I'd almost forgotten them entirely.

All those years I spent saying I would never let a man control me--that'd been exactly what I'd been doing. I let what my father did to me and my mother keep me from living. I let him take my ability to trust--to love.

Not anymore.

Knocking on the door, I took a deep breath, ready to give into love and live life surrounded by it.

It's hard to explain the way I felt when the door finally opened. The pain was so acute I think I went numb.

"Can I help you?" Ashley Slade stood in the doorway, wearing what I could only guess was one of Grey's shirts.

Much like the one I'd worn the morning I spent there.

"Oh, wait, aren't you the girl from dinner the other night? Claire, right?" I wanted to slap the stupid smirk off her face, but I couldn't seem to make my body move.

It was as though I was floating above myself watching some horrible nightmare unfold.

Somehow, words found their way to my lips.

"I'm looking for Grey." I tried to stand straighter, although all I really wanted to do was run and hide.

"Sorry, he just stepped out to get something for lunch. He loves spoiling me," she said smugly. "You're Gregory's assistant, right? Did you need to leave a message or something?" She blatantly played with the buttons of Grey's dress shirt.

Fucking bitch. She'd rattled me, but I wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of seeing me broken.

"I was just stopping by to show him a piece of art the decorator at G&G thought he would be rather excited about. He expressed quite an interest in this particular piece, and since he wasn't in the office, I thought I'd bring it by," I lied through my teeth.

Some of her smugness melted away. I could see the wheels turning behind her eyes. She'd been hoping for a stronger reaction.

Too fucking bad.

"Oh, well you could just leave it with me." She opened the door further and looked around behind me. Shit, might have helped if I hadn't sent my taxi away.

"I'm afraid that won't be possible. I left it in the car parked around front, and it's far too valuable for me to just leave with some, um, friend of Mr. Michaels," I said, looking her up and down. "I'll just see him back at the office."

I turned and walked off around to the front of the house, praying she didn't come after me.

❖

What was I thinking? I knew better. I knew exactly how the story would end. Why did I think Grey was any different from any other man I'd ever met? They were all the same.

Selfish, disloyal, liars.

If my father taught me anything, it was men could only be counted on to do one thing: disappoint. 

I was grateful Grey's driveway turned into the trees a short way from the front of the house, hiding me from Ashley's view as I sunk down to the ground and sobbed.

After all those years of being shut off, protecting my heart, I finally let someone in and this was what I got. Tears and grass stains. I could only imagine how pathetic I must have looked huddled down in the grass, crying like a child. I had to get out of there. I couldn't bear the thought of Grey coming home and seeing me like that. Seeing how he'd hurt me. Or worse, of Ashley coming out and getting the satisfaction of knowing she'd broken me. 

Fuck them
, I thought, standing and dusting myself off. I pulled my phone out and called for a car as I started walking.

"Are you all right, miss?" the driver asked when I slid into the backseat.

I must have looked as bad as I felt. Being hidden in the safety of the vehicle made me feel a little better. There wasn't much traffic out that way, but even the distant sound of cars made me cringe with the worry Grey would pass me before I could get away.

"I'm great," I replied, which was an obvious lie, but he didn't really want to know.

He asked the question to be polite, not because he cared. No one ever really cared.

"Just head back into the city, please," I said, not entirely sure where I was going to go or what I was going to do.

I couldn't face anyone, especially not my friends who would all be waiting to hear how my meeting with Elsa went. I just needed to be alone, to clear my head, and try to forget it all, even if just for a little while.

Times like that, I would normally go for a run, but that would mean going home and I couldn't risk running into Grace or one of the girls. I pulled out my phone and searched what movies were playing at my favorite theater. There were three I'd been wanting to see, but the romantic comedy and the drama were out. Instead I opted for the action-adventure movie with lots of explosions and special effects to distract me from the ache in my heart. I gave the destination to the driver and shut off my phone.

❖

I completely lost myself in the movie as I intended. It was only to mask the pain simmering just below the surface, threatening to explode out of me at any moment. I ended up staying for a second movie, a thriller that made me jump more than once and had me a little on edge by the time I walked out into the fading light of the early evening. Feeling a little on edge was far better than how I'd been feeling, although I knew it wouldn't be long before the distracting effects of the cinema wore off and I would be right back where I started.

The theater was only a few blocks from home, so I decided to walk back and buy myself at least a few more minutes before I had to talk to anyone. I managed to get up to my front door unnoticed, even by John who was busy helping another resident with some packages from what looked like one hell of a shopping spree when I walked past. I turned on my phone as I rifled around the bottom of my purse for my keys. The device chimed multiple times showing twelve missed calls and a variety of messages and voice mails.

I played the first voice mail, it was from Grey. The sound of his voice saying my name was like a knife to the heart, so I deleted it without hearing another word. I pressed play for the next message as I stepped into the apartment and closed the door.

"Claudia, where are you?" Bridget's voice played, her tone panicked. Please call me, Eric--"

Chapter 18 

I'd always fancied myself somewhat of a movie buff. The theater had always provided as reliable a means of escape as running or a nice shopping spree. I liked all kinds of stories, but action films have always been one of my favorite types. I'd even venture to say I loved them almost as much as I loved designer shoes. Especially those involving espionage and some plot to destroy the world. I mean, really, what woman can resist a gorgeous hero who puts it all on the line to save his country and some pathetic damsel in distress?

Every time I watched a scene with the helpless woman in danger waiting for the man to come along and save her, I rolled my eyes and laughed at her weakness, knowing if it was me I'd be kicking some ass and pulling my own weight.

Sitting strapped to a chair in my own living room with a gun pressed to my temple gave me a whole new perspective. Other than the involuntary trembling, I was frozen with fear. I could barely think, let alone act in any form of self-defense.

Eric Bennett was beyond reason as he rambled about something while standing next to me in my apartment. It seemed, based on what I could decipher from his ranting, due to some severe gambling issues, which extended to the way he handled his investment portfolio, and the settlement he paid to Mrs. Bennett in their divorce, he was wiped out.

He pulled the gun away and paced the room, still talking, although he didn't notice I'd regained consciousness. I kept my eyes closed and tried not to move as I carefully looked around for any means of escape. My wrists were bound to the arms of the chair so tightly my fingers tingled.

Despite my best efforts a tear streaked down my face. Eric grabbed my chin roughly, tilting my face up to him. My eyes flung wide in fear.

"So you're finally awake, then," he said, pushing my face away.

He ran the cold barrel of the gun over my collarbone and down between my breasts before dipping it inside the fabric of my shirt.

"You know, I thought I was falling in love with you,
Cynthia
. You took your punishment so well when we were together. It's making me hard just thinking about it."

He grabbed my face again, forcing it up as he crushed his lips against mine. Bile rose in my throat, but I didn't fight it when his tongue forced its way into my mouth. He withdrew it quickly and bit down hard on my lip. The tinge of copper covered my tongue as I tried to contain my whimper.

"But you had to fucking ruin it! Imagine my surprise when I came here looking for that other bitch and I found you instead,
Claudia
. I should have known when you never called me back. Working for that dumb bitch I was stupid enough to marry," he seethed. "My father warned me, told me the fucking infidelity clause was a mistake. Maybe you two were in on it with her from day one. Trick me into signing that bullshit contract and then lure me into cheating so you could run off with all of my money?"

My head snapped to the side when his palm connected with my cheek, a blow I didn't see coming through the tears.

"I never would have cheated if it wasn't for you," he spat, pacing the floor again.

He was full of shit, but I wasn't really in the position to be splitting hairs about the accuracy of a sociopath's perception of the facts. Our surveillance indicated he'd enjoyed the company of more than one escort in the short time we were following him, but we couldn't get the proof Alaina needed from them without risking Eric finding out. 

"You're worse than that stupid cunt!"

He flopped down onto the couch, setting the gun down on the cushion beside him.

"I took care of her; now it's your turn," he sneered, pulling a blade from a bag sitting on the table in front of him. I struggled against my bonds, my heart pounding. "And when I'm done with you, I'm going to wait for that other slut who helped you, Grace. She's got a nice voice. I was waiting here for her to come home, but this is even better. I can't wait to hear you beg, just like I'm going to make her beg."

He smirked at me before I squeezed my eyes shut and waited for the inevitable horror to start.

❖

"Let's move this party somewhere where we can get a little more comfortable, shall we?" Eric whispered, pressing his face against my throbbing cheek before he grabbed the back of the chair and dragged me across the hardwood floor down the hallway toward the bedrooms.

He pushed open the door and shoved me through, the chair and me falling over. I groaned when my knee and shoulder smacked against the hard floor. There was a sharp pinch in my neck.

"A little something to make you a bit easier to deal with," Eric said before setting the chair up and using his blade to cut the ropes from around my waist.

Each piece gave way with a slight snap as the knife sliced through them, the sounds bringing me closer to whatever awful ideas Eric Bennett had bouncing around in his sick head. My vision swam as he moved on to the ropes at my feet.

When my first leg was free, I willed it to kick him in the face, but I barely managed to move it a few inches as he moved on to the other leg and then my arms. Without the support of the ropes, and thanks to whatever he'd injected in my neck, I slumped forward into his arms. The only protest I could muster was a low groan as he carried me to my bed.

I stared up at the ceiling, barely able to turn my head. I could hear Eric's footsteps as he left the room, and I prayed his drugs would pull me under further, allowing me the ignorance of unconsciousness for whatever came next. There was no such reprieve. His steps pierced the silence again, this time growing louder. The black bag from the living room thudded down beside my head.

"I thought you might like to see all of the lovely toys I brought for you." He sounded eerily cheerful.