Punishing for Pleasure (10 page)

*****

Mark Stefano paced in front of the desk where his laptop sat open, taunting him by displaying the email he’d written and re-written a hundred times. Every time he stalked by his desk the damned thing was still prominently displayed. Despite the fact he knew exactly what he wanted to say, the words never seemed just right once he’d typed them out. Hell, if he wasn’t such a damned coward he’d just call his daughter or better yet, suck up his damned pride and show up on her doorstep. But realistically, how many times could he expect her forgiveness?
Fuck me, this is a mess. How could I have let things get so out of control?
I’ve thrown away the only family I have left.
When he and Nalia had first gone into hiding, the pain of losing Regi had been so much more than he’d expected, and then losing Nalia a few months later had sent him over the edge. He’d spent the next several years in a fog that had rarely lifted long enough for him to even acknowledge where he was. Moving between his family’s several homes had been his way of avoiding the fact none of them was a real home, because the two women he’d loved beyond measure weren’t there.

Instead of reaching out to Regi—the one person who might have been able to pull him back from the precipice, he’d retreated into his own head and wallowed in the grief for the better part of ten years. By the time he’d finally managed to pull himself back together, he’d been so deep in the family business, there hadn’t been a way out. Mark had merely dabbled in the drug trade and had avoided the sex-trade end of things entirely, preferring to concentrate on the
acquisition of
antiquities and their very lucrative resale. One of the first things he’d done after his mother died was shut down all their sex business trade. Saying it had been an unpopular decision was a gross understatement, but even his harshest critics had finally agreed when worldwide attention began to force authorities to make at least a cursory effort to curb the booming worldwide sex trade industry. The attention hadn’t been Mark’s reason, he’d actually been completely repulsed by the things his mother had sanctioned solely by her inattention.

Stepping back up to his desk, he looked down at the screen but didn’t re-read the words he’d already read so many times. Taking a deep breath, Mark forced his shaking finger to press the key that sent the message and he prayed it set his future in motion. No matter the response, every hope he held for the future rested in her hands.
More accurately…it all depends on whether or not Regina can find in in her heart to forgive me…again.

Meri had heard both Tobi and Gracie rave endlessly about Ash’s cooking abilities, but she’d still been completely bowled over by the meal he’d prepared in such a short period of time. It wasn’t any secret the staff her mother employed kept the kitchen well stocked, but the basic fare he’d prepared had been delicious because of the special spices and his attention to detail in its preparation and presentation. All four men had stared at her, amused expressions on their faces as she’d cleaned her plate, not once but twice. She’d always had a voracious appetite and truthfully, she should probably be grateful her metabolism seemed to keep her curvy, not round enough to roll faster than she could walk physique.

When she had finally pushed her plate back, Meri looked up and grinned. “That was amazing, thank you. And I just want to say, your cooking lives up to every one of the reverent compliments Tobi and Gracie have given you.”

She felt her cheeks heat under their watchful eyes and she was relieved when Ash finally spoke. “Thank you, pet. It was my pleasure, and just so you know, Master Dex is just as good in the kitchen despite what he might tell you. These other two,” he nodded his head toward Peter and Carl, “are more likely to take a woman to some sleazy bar for a burger and fries than they are to feed her properly. And then they wonder why she crashes on them before last call.” Meri couldn’t hold back her soft chuckle as the other two men groaned.

“That’s just wrong, man. You’re going to give her the wrong impression about us,” Carl complained. “Don’t listen to them, Meri, we treat our dates right. We take them out on the town and let them chose their own fare instead of shoving vegetables at them and boring them with nutritional facts and figures. Can you imagine how dull that will be? Just keep that in mind, sweetie—you know, in case you come to your senses about these two.”

She didn’t answer, choosing instead to simply nod to let him know she’d heard him. They wouldn’t let her help clear the table, insisting she gather anything she might need for their coming strategy session and then meet them in her dad’s study. When they turned their attention to the task of setting the kitchen to rights, she hurried out of the room hoping a bit of distance would give her time to organize her thoughts. Grabbing her favorite pen and Big Chief tablet, Meri settled into her usual chair tucking her legs beneath her and immediately felt a calm sense of familiarity settle over her.

Yes, this was exactly where she needed to be, she was just about to get back up and get a glass of water when a tanned arm came from behind and settled onto the small table to her right. “Thanks,” she said without turning.

She felt the soft press of Dex’s lips against her cheek, “You’re welcome, sweetness.” All four men were in the room, but she noted Carl and Peter had chosen to stay farther back, probably in hopes of lessening her distraction. “Now, tell us how to make this work for you. In order for us to protect you, we need your input. We’ll be asking you a lot of questions, so it’s important we make the whole process as easy and productive as possible.”

Meri felt tears press at the back of her eyes at Dex’s sweet words. She appreciated the fact they were making such an effort to seek her input and let her help in the only way she knew how. She also needed a way to work through all the random thoughts bouncing around inside her head and brainstorming was her best bet. When things were happening that she couldn’t make sense of, the only way she’d ever been able to sort it through was to play a full-on game of verbal volleyball with her dad. Taking a deep breath, she tried to shift her mind away from the pain brought on by a sudden wave of loneliness.

As Ash settled in her dad’s chair, she moved her chair back and encouraged the others to form a semi-circle facing him. Trying to find the door in her mind that let ideas flow, Meri doodled absently on the tablet paper that had always been her favorite. Schools might not use Big Chief tablets as often as they did in the past, but Meri was convinced she was playing a large part in their continued production.

She felt a bit lost because she’d never had to take the lead before, her dad had always asked her a few questions in the beginning and then just let her run. The silence was starting to make her nervous when she felt something shift around her. Damn, she’d forgotten about Peter’s gift and when he leaned forward he grinned, “I’m sorry, Meri, but you just think incredibly loud.” His soft chuckle relaxed her and she felt her self-consciousness ease a bit. “How about this, I’ll ask you a couple of questions and we’ll see where it leads. Will that work for you?”

“Yes, please. I just need someone to point me in the direction you want to go.” From the very first question, Meri felt herself move into what she’d often referred to as “the zone”. Her mom had often teased her that she was like her dad in the way she could narrow her focus with pinpoint precision and completely focus on a task, particularly when it required her to think on several different levels at the same time. She enjoyed the process with these men because individually, she suspected they were all well above average in intelligence, but working together, they were something to behold. She’d often heard about the concept of synergy, but had rarely seen it more clearly exemplified.

*****

The minute he’d settled in her father’s massive office chair, Ash had seen a subtle change in Meri. It had been as though she had moved onto a familiar place, a well-practiced ritual that required a figure of authority in the chair in front of her. It really shouldn’t have surprised him, she was deeply submissive, after all, and most of the hardcore subs he’d met had been incredibly responsive to formal and predictable practices. He found it interesting that Meri’s submission wasn’t tied specifically to predictable sexual elements—hers was apparently much broader.

Once again, Peter’s help had proven to be solid gold. Ash made a mental note to thank his friend. He and Dex could have probably gotten Meri where she needed to be eventually, but it had certainly been easier with Peter’s insight. Ash had been impressed with her ability to step out of the situation and see things from a variety of angles. He’d always considered that ability to be one of the things that distinguished ordinary bright individuals from those that were truly exemplary. It was no doubt something her father had recognized and carefully cultivated over the years as he’d prepared her for her role as the head of the foundation that bore her family name.

While Meri had been upstairs, he’d asked Carl to do a quick bit of research into the Lanham Foundation and the results were damned impressive. The organization’s projects were often collaborative efforts because of their broad scope, and their partners were carefully chosen. The assets of the privately held group were staggering and even though they spent monumental amounts of money, their portfolio grew significantly each year. He was enough of a realist to recognize the vast differences in their backgrounds and he worried that he nor Dex would ever fit into her world, for the moment he needed to push those thoughts aside. Right now, keeping Meri safe was his only priority and he’d concentrate on that until they figured out who was responsible for the problems she’d been experiencing.

Carl and Peter’s interior sweep had yielded several spy-cams that they’d all been embarrassed to admit they hadn’t seen earlier. Either the antique units had been purchased at a swap meet by an uninformed amateur or they’d been used deliberately by someone trying to send a message. And the fact whoever had put them in place hadn’t made even the barest hint of an effort to hide them had Ash betting someone had been hired to do a job they either didn’t agree with or didn’t care anything about.

Something was definitely
off
with the entire situation, but Ash wasn’t sure exactly what it was. The information she gave them about the earlier incidents didn’t fit at all with what had happened when Tony had driven her car. Looking at the other men, he asked, “Something is not right here…do you think we could be dealing with more than one perp?”

Meri’s gaze snapped up from the tablet she’d absently been doodling on and he saw the worry in her eyes. “Do you mean you think there might be two people who want to hurt me? Why? I just can’t fathom what I could have done to make any one person that angry, let alone two.” He’d heard the desperation and fear in her voice, but he had the feeling the real issue hadn’t been fear for her safety. The real problem was she was simply mortified by the idea anyone could be that angry with her, and that was the part he was having the most trouble grasping as well. And from the looks on their faces, the other men were struggling with the same question. Hell, each of them had made enough enemies to last a lifetime and their new positions with the Wests’ tactical teams weren’t likely to win them legions of fans either, but Meri was an entirely different matter.

Carl recovered first and smiled at her, “Sweetness, we were all stunned for a minute because we’ve had enemies who wouldn’t hesitate to do this and much worse, I assure you. It’s a credit to a woman in your position that you don’t have a string of enemies for us to sort through…but the flip side of that is, we don’t have much to go on.”

“There really are only two people who can even be considered as
on the list
.” She was twirling the pen through her fingers in an intricate pattern that told him how often she used the motion to help her focus her thinking. “And as we’ve discussed, I don’t believe neither of them really is a viable option. Although John would have more reason to want me to keep quiet. But I have to say I’d sooner suspect him if he was just trying to scare me into running to him for protection.”

Ash tilted his head to the side, “Explain that please.”

“Well, it wasn’t uncommon for him to throw a tantrum about this, that, or the other. For the most part I just ignored him, but it was getting old in a big hurry.”
Getting old? What the fuck? Why would she have ever allowed that to occur more than once? Another thing we’ll be discussing at length.
Ash was starting to appreciate Kyle and Kent’s complaints about Tobi being oblivious to the boundaries she should force others to observe.

“And if you tried to reason with him, or offer any sort of explanation, he would just scream louder. I finally got to the point where I would just walk away. I walked out of his condo downtown one night without my shoes…luckily I’d left my purse by the door. From that point forward I left my shoes there as well.”

Ash heard the growl rumble in his chest a split second before he realized he was on his feet and moving around the wooden
structure
her dad called a desk.
Christ, the thing has to be
ten
feet long and at least
five
feet
wide. Hell, I’ve seen smaller dance floors in bars.
Once he’d pulled her from her chair he folded his arms around her and pressed her against his chest. He wasn’t sure who he had intended to comfort, but it sure was helping them both. The fact she was trembling at the memory of her time with Senator Stevens made Ash want to teach the man what it was like to be intimidated. He might be a sadist during sex play, but Ash had a bone-deep aversion to bullying.

Growing up in the South where the social structure was still largely patriarchal, Ash had seen and heard enough stories of domestic violence to last a lifetime. And he’d known good soldiers who’d made serious mistakes in their relationships simply because they had returned to their families before they’d completely decompressed after missions.

For some reason, Ash had always associated civilian domestic abuse problems with men and women who were either undereducated or poor—and often both. But now, knowing a woman with Merilee Lanham’s intelligence and vast financial resources had tolerated—even for a short time—being emotionally and verbally abused changed the way he viewed the problem. Sending up a silent prayer of thanks for the people like his mom who volunteered at their local women’s shelter, Ash just held her until he was sure the anger he was feeling wouldn’t show in what he wanted to say.

Releasing her, he moved back enough to look down into her eyes, “Did he ever make threats to you? Any kind of threat at all?”

“Not really, he usually just tried to belittle me—make me question my value as a person because that was his way of feeling important, and he thought I’d be more dependent on him. I don’t think he wanted me to feel I could function without him. To say he has an overinflated opinion of himself would be an enormous understatement.” Meri stepped back and leaned against the desk, hell, the thing was too high for her to scoot up on without jumping. She seemed lost in thought for a few seconds before continuing, “But at his core I think he is insecure, so making me feel bad about myself was his way of ensuring I’d stay. I know it sounds really twisted, but from what I’ve read, it’s really a classic symptom. But…well, that wasn’t the way I wanted to live my life, so I walked away. There was no big break-up or anything, I just wished him well, said goodbye, and walked out. So I can see where he might want to frighten me enough to seek him out for protection, especially since I’m sure he knows my parents are gone.”

Dex had moved to their side and tipped her chin up so her eyes met his, “Is it possible his behavior could have escalated to the point of wanting to silence you? And would he be willing to slide under your car to attach the device that was used to hold the accelerator down?” They hadn’t told her about the timed magnet that was used on her car. It had actually been a pretty sophisticated device, much more so than the cameras they’d found in the house—which was another reason he was leaning toward more than one suspect.

“I just can’t see it. First of all, I can’t imagine him knowing that much about cars. I don’t know what kind of device you’re talking about, but he didn’t even know he was supposed to have the oil changed in his car, so it probably doesn’t matter. He knows a little more about computer hardware, but not much.”

“What does he know about?” Ash was starting to wonder what she’d seen in the man.

“Well, he’s a master at self-promotion. Even though he’s an ass in private, in a social situation, he is utterly charming. He studies every detail about the people he
needs
to smooze. He knows their spouses, what they do for a living, their kids’ names and ages. I’ve seen him recall the scores of a ball game one of his largest contributor’s son played in. Using that kind of information when you are soliciting campaign funds and political support is very powerful stuff. He remembers some things, but mostly he studies continually.

“He went to college in the northeast and was on a rowing team. He also loves to sail, but doesn’t get to do that very often now although he does keep a boat out on the lake.” Ash watched as Meri wrinkled her brow, he knew she was searching her mind for something—anything that would help them, but the fine lines at the corners of her eyes betrayed the exhaustion that was quickly fogging her thinking.

Turning toward the other two men, Ash spoke softly, “You two update Micah, he’s running scenarios through his system, and then take the first two watches. Text our phones when it’s time to switch out and we’ll relieve you.”

Carl and Peter both stood and turned toward the door, “Thank you.” All four of them looked at her curiously. Her posture straightened and Ash got a glimpse of the
suck-it-up and be gracious no matter what
Southern woman he’d known was inside her. He had to fight back the grin, and he could tell Dex was doing the same. “I know I didn’t thank you all for helping me, but it’s important that you know how grateful I am that you’re here. It was frightening to know that someone was in the house while I was upstairs that night.”