Riveted (Art of Eros #1) (19 page)

“So, now I’m an assignment? I shared my soul with you and opened myself up to you. All you saw was a pathetic woman you could take advantage of. Well, you know what, Mac? Mara says, Fuck off!” The room became a blur. She couldn’t even think straight, trembling from head to toe. Leigha and Raquelle looked like spectators at a tennis match, watching the words fly between Mara and Mac. Mara held her head in her hands, not believing what unfolded before her. She figured she would always be this stupid and inept when it came to men. She needed a hiatus from everything and everyone in her life.

Mac’s eyes begged her to understand the severity of the situation. “Mara, listen to me. You weren’t an assignment. What’s between us is real, but there’s more. Remember Jack, the guy at the bar who tried to drug you? Well, he was paid by someone to drug you. He described the guy in a baseball hat with long dirty-blond hair and sunglasses. Does that sound familiar to you at all? Part of my job is to protect you, but I would have done that anyway.” Mac needed to get through to her how dangerous this had all become.

Mara glared at him with coldness in her eyes that shot straight through him. “Do you always fuck the women you’re protecting? Wait, don’t answer that, because I already know the answer. And no, your description doesn’t sound familiar at all.” Mara yelled but her voice cracked as tears started to fall from her eyes, unable to hold her emotions in any longer. She didn’t think she’d sworn so much in her life, but something snapped in her. After showing him her deepest scars, he possessed the one that cut the deepest.

“I need to get away from you right now.” Her voice was a decibel above a whisper as she snatched up her cell phone, stuffing it in the hidden zipper pocket in her skirt. She made it a habit to always grab her phone before she left.

Mac caught her by her upper arm and spun her around to face him. “Please, be careful, Mara. Whoever this guy is, I’m convinced he’s out there and may want to hurt you. He might have been the one spying on you.”

She didn’t pull out of his clutches right away, allowing the jolt of electricity to go through her arm. Even in anger she craved his touch. Sucking in her breath, she realized that couldn’t be faked and it confused her even more. She wanted to believe him, but she needed time to process what he had just revealed. Tears cascaded down her face, accentuating her emotional pain as she looked him straight in the eye. “How could he possibly hurt me any more than you?” Mac jerked back like he’d been slapped again and released his grip on her. She turned and stormed out, slamming the door behind her.

Mac whipped his head back to her sisters, who were still as statues. “I have completely fucked this up. I may lose her, but she better be ready for the fight of her life because I won’t give up.” He grabbed his hair like he was ready to pull it out and folded himself into an oversized chair.

“I can honestly say I have never seen Mara quite that explosive or passionate. She must have very strong feelings for you.” Leigha spoke from a position of shock. She glanced at Raquelle, who had the same look of surprise on her face. They had never seen Mara so emotional over anything, not even Brock’s death.

“I agree with Leigha. Mara never swears. She went straight to DEFCON 5. You need to leave her be for a while. She obviously needs to cool off. I can’t predict where this leaves you.” Raquelle dropped the smart-mouth routine to deal with all the new revelations of their so-called vacation. The hurricane lurking offshore hit them all full-force. They wondered if they would survive its intensity.

“You both need to know I’m telling the truth.” He continued, “I met Mara on the plane down here, and she scared the shit out of me. We had an instant connection I’ve never experienced with anyone else. I know it sounds crazy after such a short period of time, but I’m in love with her. I don’t want to live the rest of my life without her. I won’t go away without a fight, so I hope you’ll help me.” Mac desperately sought their support. They were her back-up, but he had the feeling he would need them more. The words spilled out of his mouth before he could retract them with no turning back. He loved her and wouldn’t let go, having lost too much in his life—too much time and too many people.

“I can tell you love her. Your actions were obvious before today. I understand your need to keep this all to yourself until now. I’m not sure Mara will be as understanding. Let’s not forget her husband betrayed her on so many levels. Given that, I’m not sure any of us knew the real him.” Leigha, the voice of reason, calmed his nerves to some degree, but the engine in his chest still ran wild. He needed Mara to see that what was between them was different while protecting her at the same time. He really had changed his ways.

“In the meantime, I need you two to be on your toes and watch out. Awareness and safety are key here until we can figure out this guy’s angle. I assume he’s going after Mara, but he could just as easily go after one of you.” Mac went right into MI6 mode. He needed to take control and fast; otherwise, this would spiral out quickly.

“Contact me the minute you hear from Mara, and try to think why someone would want to get to her. There may be something you remember. Even if you think the information is insignificant, let me know. I don’t need to be here when she gets back. We both need a little space and I need to keep eyes on this.” Mac left the suite like a man on a mission.

Chapter 18

Mara hurried out the door, down the elevator and through the grand lobby to the pool. She instantly felt those eyes zero in on her again and spun around to see who it might be. She examined everyone thoroughly, but no one stood out and no one looked like the guy Mac described to her.

Well, look who’s finally alone. I may get my happy ending in paradise after all.

Heading to the beach, she wanted to get away from all of it. She needed space and time.

The afternoon was picturesque as the sun started to settle in the sky casting a cool light on the sand and a soft breeze whispered off the water. Mara failed to notice any of the surroundings as she focused on Mac’s words. Deciding to go for a walk along the shore, she took her shoes off, feeling the warm sand between her toes. The sensations brought back memories of the evening with Mac in the tent. The memory twisted in her chest. On one end was love, on the other betrayal. Love and betrayal seemed to be continuing themes in her life.

Her mind and emotions ran through the maze created by Mac. Confused about where to go next, she tried to avoid her own roadblocks. She had been a fool, again. A big, betrayed fool. He took what they shared and made it about an assignment. He played her but good.

I guess when you work for British Intelligence you have to sleep with the mark sometimes. Well, I hope your little romp was all worth it. Scumbag.

She fell for his lines, head over heels, now the pain threatened to crush her. He said and done all the right things to make her feel special. She felt safe and secure, being led blindly to believe what he wanted her to believe. Yes, she admitted it—she was falling in love with him. Deep down she wished he meant the things he said over the last couple of days.

Suddenly, her phone chimed, indicating she had a text from her sisters. Without reading it, she turned the phone to vibrate. She needed time and space. With her mind and emotions so jumbled, she didn’t want to talk to anyone. She certainly didn’t want to deal with his shit. She needed to process this on her own, using her instincts to make decisions. This was going to be another battle for her to take up, although she might already be defeated this time around.

As she walked down the beach, the number of people began to dwindle. So lost in her thoughts about the events of the day, she didn’t pay attention to anything around her. A change in atmosphere crept across her skin as a warning. The hair on the back of her neck began to tingle and goose bumps formed on her arms. Before she had a chance to turn around, someone grabbed her from behind and clamped something over her mouth. She struggled as best she could but her attacker was much bigger than her, tightly holding the cloth in place. She clawed at the hand in panic for several minutes before the blackness took over.

~

A couple of hours passed with no word from Mara. Leigha and Raquelle sent her several texts with no reply. As dusk bore down, their panic set in. Mara never stayed away so long, even when pissed off at the world. Leigha made the decision to contact Mac.

“Hi, Mac? We haven’t heard from Mara, and she’s not answering our texts. We’re trying not to panic, but—” Mac cut her off.

“FUCK! I’m on my way to you. I’m bringing my partner Syd. See you in a few.” With that, he hung up. He’d been going out of his mind for hours, unable to stop thinking about how he could have done things differently. He betrayed her, but not the way Brock betrayed her mind and body. His rationale sounded like he was splitting hairs but his betrayal wasn’t at her expense. He hoped she would see the difference.

His timing was off when exposing his true job and she hadn’t been ready. The hope that he could defuse the situation before letting her know who he worked for vanished when his heart got in the way. He broke a lot of rules when it came to Mara, but he couldn’t have ever stayed away. The pull to her was so strong, his need to protect her and be with her. Thank God Sydney came for back-up because this shit was about to get real on a whole other level, and he didn’t think Mara would be ready for what lied ahead.

Ten minutes later a knock came at the door. In strode Mac with a drop-dead-gorgeous woman who stunned Leigha and Raquelle, making their jaws drop. The day had become a merry-go-round of surprises, and this one pissed them off.

“Before you think or say anything, this is Sydney. She was my partner for many years and has only ever been my partner.” Judging by the looks on their faces, Mac needed to clear the air before he got wrapped up in a game of twenty questions.

“Besides, Mac’s not my type. I’m not into penises, if you get my drift.” She emphasized her proclamation with a cocky grin. Sydney wanted it out there. She couldn’t help but register the tall, gorgeous blonde spotlighted in the middle of the room.

“I’m Leigha, and this is my sister, Raquelle. It’s nice to meet you.” Leigha extended her hand, receiving a firm, warm grip from Sydney. She couldn’t keep her eyes off the woman. Based on physical appearance, she completely contradicted Leigha’s appearance. She never reacted to a woman the way she reacted to Sydney.

“The male population is pissed they’re missing out on you.” Raquelle couldn’t help herself. Sydney and Leigha’s eyes were locked on each other. They sized each other up with curiosity. Raquelle couldn’t wait to see how this played out.

Mac naturally fell into agent mode. “Sydney is a highly respected hacker and agent and we’re going to need her skills. We’ll start with where you two think Mara may have gone. We need to spread out and search those areas. Getting out there before dark is our best shot at finding her.” Mac’s intuition glared like a neon sign, but he played it cool. His gut was rarely wrong and he needed to keep his head on straight if they were going to find Mara in one piece.

They decided to split up—Mac took the pool, Sydney the hotel grounds and the sisters would search the beach.

As Leigha and Raquelle separated from Mac and Sydney, they began to process everything.

“Who do we know that would want to hurt Mara? Does she have a stalker we don’t even know about?” Raquelle tried to make the pieces fit together and came up empty.

“I think it’s possible, but I can’t put my finger on why. Do you think this has anything to do with what Brock was mixed up in? Mac said something about the Russian mob. So much for ‘knowing him’.” Leigha put on her CSI hat again, examining all the angles, but she had complete faith in Mac and Sydney’s ability to handle the situation.

“I don’t know. Some vacation this turned out to be. How the hell did anyone even know we were here?” Raquelle wasn’t as dumb as she led on sometimes. Lately, she wanted to step out of the sandbox and play with the big kids for a change.

They continued to talk as they walked farther down the beach and began to question whether Mara would even go that far. Scanning the area at her feet, Raquelle saw a couple of objects in the sand sitting at an odd angle.

“Leigha, what’s that up ahead?” Raquelle started running toward the objects. They both stood stock-still over them, recognizing them immediately. Mara’s shoes were haphazardly thrown in the sand rather than carefully placed like someone going to take a swim. It meant that something spontaneous happened.

“She didn’t walk into the ocean and kill herself, so don’t go there.” Raquelle knew how Leigha’s mind worked sometimes when she was in overdrive. She turned three-sixty to scan the area to see if she could spot Mara. It wouldn’t be hard since very few people ventured that far down the beach at sunset, but no one looked like Mara. “I don’t see her. Oh, my God, do you think she was taken. Look, bigger footprints lead to the road.”

They followed those footprints to the road, but that’s where the clues ended. Mac was a phone call away, and they needed to get to him fast. They jogged back to the hotel, all the while trying to call but having every one of them drop out. There was a feeling of time running out. Leigha carried her sister’s shoes, hoping that whoever took her needed her alive and not dead.

Chapter 19

“Wakey, wakey, Princess.”

Mara woke to someone slapping her in the face. Her head felt foggy as sweet aftertaste filled her dry mouth. She slowly opened her eyes to a place she didn’t recognize. Her breath hitched and she could hear the blood rush in her ears as her heartbeat picked up. The fuzziness in her head started to dissipate as she began to panic, the voice was familiar but she couldn’t make sense of it.

“Wake the
fuck
up, Mara. The sooner we get this over with, the better.” Brock’s voice seeped in a rough, threatening and irritable way.

Wait... Brock’s voice? How can it be? Oh, God! No! My nightmare continues.

Mara finally peeked up to see Brock standing in front of her. She sat in a chair with her wrists zip-tied to the arms of the chair and feet secured to the chair legs. Her holding cell appeared to be an abandoned building in the midst of completion. Bare walls surrounded her as the smell of concrete filled her nose before she saw the floor covered in a grey dust. This was a new kind of hell. The darkness outside came on quickly, which meant she had been unconscious for a while. In the middle of the room hung a naked light bulb. From across the room, she spotted a bare, dirty mattress wedged in the corner.

The sparseness of the room wasn’t what bothered her but the sight of her dead—make that undead—husband. He stood in front of her in a pair of dirty jeans and a t-shirt with long greasy hair beneath a ratty baseball hat. His blue eyes stood out from the dark circles around them, indicating his weariness. Shocked by his appearance, she wondered what happened to the clean-cut man she married five years before. The Brock she lived with never would have been caught dead looking like this. A combination of anger and fear rolled through her. She would fight him this time, on her terms. But first, she wanted some answers and she deserved them.

“Ah, I see her majesty has awakened. Thank you for joining me, your highness,” his exceedingly sarcastic tone making her flinch.

“Well, look who’s back from the dead. I guess I don’t need the DNA results to see you faked your death. What’s that god-awful taste in my mouth?” She held her shoulders back determined not to show any weakness toward this man, whoever he was.

“Yes, well, I never really left. Obviously, I faked my death to escape some unpleasantness. The aftertaste in your mouth is from the chloroform. I could have predicted you wouldn’t come with me willingly, so I made a Plan B.” He positioned himself directly in front of her so she had to crane her neck back to see his face, making sure he was in control.

“You’re right. I wouldn’t have come with you. What do you want from me, Brock? Haven’t you taken enough already?” Mara stared at him dead in the eyes, not backing down from him. She wouldn’t be intimidated like in the past. He had been the coward, feeding on an ignorant woman, but not anymore. The game changed and she was a different woman.

Brock moved around behind Mara and ran a finger through a stray wave in her hair, making her shiver. There was no way to keep him from touching her. Her anxiety kicked up a notch, but she breathed through it. He leaned in close to her ear as his breath whisper across it, a silent threat that he could do what he wanted with her.

“Well, did someone find her big-girl voice? For the record, I never took anything that wasn’t mine. Right now, you have five million of my money that I need ASAP. I tried to get to you, but your new boyfriend kept getting in my way. Tell me, does he know how fucking frigid you are? You know what that means, Mara—a dead fuck.” He laughed in an evil, maniacal way that made Mara’s blood run cold.

Who is this man? Something’s snapped in him.

“I’m guessing the answer is yes. Poor guy. He probably ran for the hills. I guess you’re destined to be an old maid.” Brock continued to chuckle to himself.

Mara knew the less she said, the better. This man differed greatly from the one she had married. This appeared to be a new demented version. Oh, yes, he could be cruel, but this version of Brock seemed a lot more twisted. She wanted answers, not a fight. That would come later. His desperation became evident, making her unsure of him. He kidnapped her in broad daylight, realizing that, she would protect Mac and his job. This called for a change of tactics to get Brock talking and answer her questions.

“Why?” Mara’s whispered voice caught him off guard.

“Why what, Mara?” Brock’s laugh broke, puzzled by the question.

“Why do you hate me so much? What did I ever do to you? I know you cheated on me, but it didn’t explain your cruelty.” She choked slightly on her words, fighting to keep her tears at bay. Her head fought to prevail over her emotions.

Brock sighed like it was all so trivial. “You were a means to an end, Mara. That’s it. I needed someone of social status to get me where I needed to go. You were a sweet, innocent young woman who grew up in a sheltered lifestyle. You moved in all the right circles and looked beautiful doing it. I needed someone who had the ability to say all the right things and introduce me to all the right people. You were my ‘in’ to that world, especially after I got hired at CZR Investments, but I resented you. You are so fucking clueless to the world around you, living in your precious glass case. You take for granted the way you grew up and the money given to you. You don’t need to work for the rest of your life. But what got me was when your sculpting took off. It’s as if you were born with a lucky horseshoe up your ass.”

He stopped and eyed Mara as if he wanted to tell her so much more, revealing secrets he shouldn’t ever tell. He shook his head, as if to rid himself of those thoughts that cluttered his mind, his mouth about to overload his agenda.

However, a piece of him wanted her to know about him and where he came from. Besides, he would kill her once he got what he wanted from her. “Do you really want to understand how I grew up? Well, let me paint a pretty little picture for you. Yes, I told you I grew up poor, but what you didn’t know is I grew up dirt poor. My mother left my brothers and me when we were younger to fend for ourselves. She was beautiful, with long, dark hair and big, blue, loving eyes. There was a hole in our hearts where she once lived. Oh, and my father? He was a drunk, spending time at the bar between jobs. His drinking got worse after she left. He’d come home ranting, blaming us for her leaving and we got beatings on a regular basis. I took the brunt of it to spare my brothers. We scraped by for food and clothing. I’m the oldest, so it fell on me to take care of my younger brothers since my father wasn’t available. Can you even comprehend what it’s like to go hungry?”

Squatting down, he sat back on his heels with his forearms on his knees, glaring at her with hate in his soul. “No, I bet you don’t. I don’t think you can imagine going dumpster-diving, eating other people’s leftovers, or have hunger eat at your stomach so it turns in on itself so bad you can’t sleep at night. How about when you grow out of your pants and they’re too short, exposing your dirty socks? The only saving grace was we weren’t the only ones like that at our school.” He gripped the arms of the chair, caging her in, a captive audience. Looking down, he paused to regroup before continuing his story.

“When I got my scholarship to NYU, I got out of town as fast as I could and went straight to New York City. I left all of it behind and never looked back. By then, my brothers were old enough to fend for themselves. For me, there was no time for partying. My sights set on making money and plenty of it. I was willing to do anything to get there. I didn’t want to be like my father. Even though I was named after him, I never used his name. He disgusted me.” Looking for sympathy in her eyes, he surprisingly found none. That was okay, he moved on from her years ago. There were numerous regrets for him, but it was all too late. He didn’t like to be reminded of his past life.

It explained why she never met his family. He used his estrangement from them as an explanation for his lack of contact with them. The blackness in his eyes was shrouded by intense sadness. If she had any feelings left for him, she might feel sad, but instead she had nothing for him.

“I didn’t know. But then again, you never told me. You never really let me in. Sounds like you hold on to a lot of anger and sadness.” She said it so quietly she didn’t think Brock even heard her. The stark contrast between Brock and Mac made her realize how genuine the feelings were between her and Mac. Mac let her in. He let her behind his shield where some of his secrets lived, secrets of loss and life that made him the man he turned out to be. She saw it in his eyes and felt it in her heart. She knew it wasn’t all an act. Even as awful as she had been to him, she hoped he was searching for her. Mac kept his secret to protect her, not to betray her. Brock kept things hidden to further his greedy agenda. Her lower lip began to tremble at the reality of her situation. Her head snapped up at his next words.

“Why, thank you, Dr. Freud! I hated my mom for leaving us. But in the end, the anger fueled my motivation to become something more. Besides, do you think if I told you the truth about me, you would have stayed with me? It’s only when I became successful that your father even considered me worthy of you. He would’ve always viewed me like the dirt I used to be.” The pain etched on his face made him look older. He let out a deep sigh while staring at his fingers, tapping the tips together, a nervous habit that came on when he tried to think things through.

Mara examined him, stunned to discover so much in his face that he never revealed before. She visualized a small boy with the anguish of his childhood that led to the bad choices as an adult. It wasn’t lost on her that no matter how hard she tried; Brock shut her out and abused her without remorse. In a way, he punished her the way he wanted to punish his mother for leaving them.

“First of all, you never even gave me a chance, never let me in. You punished me and abused me over and over again. There are a lot of people out there with crappy childhoods, but they don’t all grow up to abuse their wives. You were supposed to love and protect me. But instead, you took advantage of the fact that I was naïve and inexperienced to move yourself forward.” Mara raised her voice to emphasize that as much as she wanted to have sympathy for him, his horrific upbringing was not an excuse for his actions. If anything, she wanted closure to all of the drama that enveloped her life with him.

“Well then, I guess the saying is true, you become your role model. Why do you think my mother left us? My guess is she hated all men at that point. My father was cruel to her, and she couldn’t take it anymore. My mother was so gorgeous she could have had anyone. Why she married him, I will never understand. Maybe he was kind to her in the beginning, but poverty has a way of destroying everything in its path.”

He stopped, watching her intently, wishing he could apologize, but things had gone too far for that anymore. He hadn’t become a better man; instead, the bitter man. The hatred for his mother for leaving him ran through his veins, but he needed to focus on the future and not get dragged back down by his past.

Mara got pissed with all his reasons as to why he abused her. She didn’t hate him anymore. Worse, she just didn’t care and wanted to be away from him as soon as possible. “Brock, what do you want from me?”

“Well, princess, you inherited the insurance money that belongs to me. I was going to move it from your account to mine, only you fucking changed the usernames and passwords with high security encryption, making it impossible for me to gain access. So, you and I going to go to the nearest free Wi-Fi place in the morning and you’re going to tell me the passwords so I can make the transfer.” He ran a finger down her jawline, using the intimidation to his advantage. She recoiled at his touch, her body instantly reminding her of her tortured past with him.

“I don’t know the passwords by heart. They’re stored in my laptop back at the hotel.” Mara had thrown a pebble in the lake and the ripple instantly destroyed his streamlined plan.

“Fuuuuuuuck! You never were the sharpest knife in the drawer. Shit!” He whipped off his hat and started running his trembling hands through his greasy hair over and over again, pacing back and forth in front of her. Her anxiety spiked, as he became unpredictable again. She had never seen him this on edge, making it hard for her to read him.

“Okay, so we’re going to have to go back to the hotel tomorrow. Thank God my IQ is near genius, it makes up for your fucked up stupidity. You must know your arrogant sisters well enough to guess when they’ll be out of the room.” He focused on her as if she held the answers to the rest of his plan.

“They’re probably looking for me, so I don’t know where they are or what they’re doing.” She didn’t want to give too much away, like the fact that Mac was British Intelligence. As angry as she was at Mac for lying to her, this situation was ten times worse. Brock’s anxiety started to amp up. While she sat there, her phone had been vibrating in the pocket behind her waist. She needed to reach it, but couldn’t get her wrists free.

“Brock, I need some water. Can you untie my hands, please?” She thought appeasing him would be better than flaring his anger.

He stared at her for a long moment then clamped his hands on her forearms, bringing his face inches from hers.

“If you try anything, Mara, I will hurt you in ways you have never experienced. Am I making myself clear?” His eyes were wild and intense. This was a man on a mission and she was nothing more than a means to end, again.

“Yes,” was all she was capable of saying. She trembled from the fear running across her skin. He gave new meaning to words cold and calculating; the great manipulator worked off her fear. She needed to break that pattern, but she didn’t know this version of him and didn’t have time to figure it out. She kept reminding herself, the less said, the better.