Temptation: a billionaire erotic romance (21 page)

*****

“I should have killed you the moment you asked me about Belladonna at that party,” Jacques spat, walking forward to her.  Serena stumbled back, her heart racing and pounding in her ears.  “I should have realized what a nosy bitch you were,” he said.  “I should have realized what kind of trouble you were making yourself into.”

“I don’t understand,” Serena cried.  Her eyes darted around wildly.  “Jacques….”

“Oh, quit the bullshit,” he seethed.  “We both know what’s going on here: you’ve figured me out … and I’m going to have to kill you for it.  I gave you one last chance when I sent you away, and you ignored it like the stubborn bitch you are.  I should have never let you see that letter that first morning.”

“So why did you tell me at all?” panted Serena, trying desperately to buy herself time.  Her gaze flitted around the room, seeking any out, but there were none.  She was pathetically, terribly trapped.  There was no way out, and she knew it.  She would die here.

“Oh please, you don’t think I knew Harlow was up to something?”  He snorted, pacing around her.  “After all, that’s what the plan is called, isn’t it?  ‘Belladonna’—‘beautiful woman.’  How could I not think you were some kind of spy, here to undermine me?”

“But he has my brother,” she panted.  “Why would I work with him if he had my brother?”

Jacques glared at her.  “Of course you would work with him when he has your brother.  Hell, you should be on your knees thanking me for not letting him know.”

She squeezed her eyes shut, thinking furiously, trying to formulate a way out.  She needed more time.  “I still don’t understand what Belladonna is.  You told me it was a record of Val’s criminal past … but he wasn’t a criminal.  What
is
it then?”

Jacques hacked a harsh laugh.  “You still haven’t figured it out yet?  Jesus, maybe you aren’t as smart as I thought you were. 
You
are Belladonna, Serena.”

“What?” she asked, breathless.

“Belladonna isn’t a criminal record.  Belladonna is a plan to get Val to turn himself in and let Harlow do what he wished to him.  It took me a bit of snooping, but it was so obvious when I finally figured it out.  Harlow knew you were irresistible to Val, and that Val would do anything for you.  So he held your brother ransom, manipulated Val at every turn, and made it clear that he had a choice: within seven days, he would have to turn himself in or the boy would die.”

Jacques smirked.  “All I had to do was say I’d be willing to betray him myself for a little money, and we were done.  You were instrumental in helping us reel Val in to capture him.”

Val groaned behind her and Jacques shot him a look.  “Shut the fuck up, Marquette,” he said, stalking to him.  Serena backed away, torn between wanting to protect Val and the need to protect herself.  If she died, who would save either of them?

Jacques caught sight of her retreat and sighed.

“Yes, I suppose we’ll have to deal with you now.  Unfortunately, I can’t get rid of this one yet,” he said, slapping Val’s head sharply.  It snapped to the side, giving Serena the momentary worry that he had knocked him out.  “Harlow wants to deal with him himself.  But you….”

Jacques grinned a toothy grin and walked forward, backing Serena into a wall.  “I have something special for you,” he said.  From inside his coat pocket, he pulled out a sleek gun. 

Serena felt her stomach drop.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Jacques asked, turning it over in the flickering light.  “I had it custom made with the advance Harlow gave me for bringing in the traitor who turned him in.”

He turned the gun on her.

“I’m sorry it had to be like this, Serena,” he said, cocking it.  “You would have made a wonderful secretary.  Or my own sex slave,” he said thoughtfully, momentarily looking to the side as he imagined it. 

It made Serena’s skin crawl, but more importantly, she saw an opening.

While Jacques was still looking to the side, trapped in his reverie, Serena dove past him.  She heard Jacques curse, but didn’t look behind her, darting for the door.  There was a bang, and she felt a bullet whiz past her ear.

He mind went blank.  All she could think about was escaping.  She darted into the hall and took off.

Serena ran harder than she ever had in her life, the sound of Jacques’ steps echoing hard behind her.  Val’s groans followed her too, both the ones he was giving now urging her to run and the ones that echoed in her mind, reminding her of his torture.  Her heart pounded furiously in her ears, and her breath was harsh and fast, burning in her lungs. 

She took a turn down one hallway, momentum almost slamming her into the wall.  Jacques’ harsh laugh followed her.

“Can’t run very well, can you, Serena?” he mocked.  “Sad you didn’t practice when we were still friends.  Might have done you some good.  Not that that matters now.”

Serena’s breath sped up, her eyes darting around wildly looking for an out.  Jacques’ fast footsteps were approaching faster and faster, threatening to pounce on her at any moment. 

And that’s when she saw it:

There was a hole in the wall, one that had rotted away in one of the few walls made of wood instead of sturdy metal or stone.  Serena dove for it, desperate, knowing it was her last chance, managing to hide at just the second that Jacques’ caught up with her, turning her corner.

“Where are you, Serena?” she heard his voice call out, mocking.  “You can’t hide forever.  There are only so many hallways in this building, and trust me, sweetheart, I have plenty of time to look through all of them.”

His footsteps approached.  Serena held her breath as they reached her hiding place, sure that she would be caught.  But then they walked away, Jacques’ frustrated groan attending them.  She heard the clink of metal as he did something with the gun, preparing it for his hunt. 

She squeezed her eyes shut.  Shit.

She couldn’t stay here, but she couldn’t get out, either.

She waited a few breathless seconds as she heard his footsteps walk away.  A few moments later, and he turned the corner, and soon he was totally out of earshot.  She took a deep breath and peeked out of the curtain.  He was gone. 

She caught her breath. 

One more chance.  She had to make it count.

She darted out of her hiding place, diving into the next shadowy wall she could find.  She crept along it until she found her phone where she had dropped it just outside of Harry’s room.  She picked it up silently, holding her breath as if even the sound of her breath would let Jacques know she was here.

She glanced one way, then the other, down the hall, her hands shaking furiously, knowing that Jacques could appear at any moment and blast her away into a bleeding mess. 

Before her fright could overtake her, she dove out into the hall and grabbed the phone.  Just as quickly, she threw herself up and darted into the next room, closing the door silently behind her and creeping into the darkest, most secluded part of the room. 

The only lighting was a dark overhead window that allowed a small amount of moonlight to flood into the room.  Serena cursed.  Jacques must have turned out the lights.

She pulled out her phone.  One last chance.

She attempted to dial a number, but her shaking fingers could barely hold the phone steady, let alone press the small, delicate buttons.  She took a deep breath and squeezed her eyes shut. 

Come on, Serena.  Harry needs you.  Val needs you.  You can’t let yourself lose.  Not this time
.

Carefully, she typed a number in, one button at a time with a steady, resolute finger.

The phone was picked up on the first ring.

“Ellen,” Serena whispered.  “Thank God.”

“Where are you?” asked Ellen over the scratchy reception. 

“I’m in the warehouse, I think near the middle.  There aren’t any guards here, but Jacques is, and he has a gun.  I’ve already sent Harry out, he can tell you what’s going on.  Val’s in the front room, you have to get him before they come back.  He’s passed out, he was tortured.”

“Tortured?” Ellen repeated, her voice horrified.

“Yes, Ellen, badly.  For fuck’s sake, get him quick.”

“Yes, Ms. Nicoletti.” 

Ellen disconnected.  It was the first time Serena was left totally alone and thankful for it.  She caught her breath for a moment, trying to calm down her heart. 

Val.  She had to protect Val.  But how could she?  She was totally powerless until Ellen arrived with the army.

“What’s wrong, darling?” a voice growled into her ear. 

Before she could scream, a rough hand slapped across her mouth, and an arm wrapped around her waist, pinning her there.

“I have to admit,” he growled.  “I’m impressed.  If you weren’t such trouble, I might have kept you around.”

He dragged her into the middle of the room, away from the hallway.  She felt the cold metal of the gun biting into her cheek as he held her.  Her mind was numb.  The only thing she could think was that she was going to die.  And that Val would die after her because she had failed to save him.

Jacques released his grip on her mouth, fumbling to get a hold of the gun.  “Calm down, Serena.  Nothing you do is going to save yourself, it’s just going to make it harder for the both of us.”  He kept his voice low and reasonable, as if he was a doctor soothing a terminally ill patient.  “And the more you fight me, the angrier I’ll be, and I’ll have to take all that anger out on Valentine.  You don’t want that, do you?”

Serena thrashed wildly against him, trying desperately to remember any self-defense maneuvers she may have learned while watching Val train in his exercise room.  In a fleeting moment, Jacques’ grip on her arms slipped, letting her hand free.  She took the opportunity as quickly as she could, doing the only thing she knew to do.  She brought the heel of her hand sharply up against Jacques’ nose and heard a sickening crunch. 

Jacques shrieked, his nose exploding with blood.  He let go of the gun and his grip on Serena, shoving her back to the wall and bringing his hands up to his face.  He clawed against his face, the blood rolling violently in a flood of red. 

Serena scrambled away from him, grabbing the gun so that he couldn’t snatch it at the next moment.  She threw it under the cabinet to their right only a half a second before Jacques turned on her again.

“You cunt!” he roared.  The doctor voice was gone, replaced by a seething, burning rage.  Jacques swung a kick into her abdomen.  It connected with her stomach, and she felt her mind explode in pain.

The air was knocked out of her, and Serena fell back, unable to breath.  She heaved, one hand reaching up into the air as if she could snatch it from the ceiling and pull it into her lungs. 

“I knew I should have destroyed you,” Jacques raged.  He spat the blood that was pooling his mouth on her.  “I was going to let you go easy, I was going to shoot you.  But now you’ve brought this on yourself, Serena.  You had to go and be difficult.”

Jacques paused, his glare furious and burning as it settled on her.  Then his smile grew large and twisted.

“So, bitch,” he seethed.  “You want to be with your master?  You want to go like him, too?”  He began walking backward,.  “You really are something, Serena.  I think I can honor that final wish.  But just for you, sweetie.”

He backed out of the room, slamming the door shut and locking it.  Serena heard his footsteps disappear for a moment down the hall, then turn a corner.  There was a moment of silence, and then the sound of him ripping something from the wall.

Something metal screeched as it was twisted and cracked away from the wall, a sickening sound that reminded Serena of a monster devouring its prey. 

Serena scrambled to her feet, her heart pounding.  But she was full of a new bravery.  Because she knew something that Jacques didn’t, and because she had something he had forgot.  She retrieved it in a flash, only an instant before Jacques unlocked the heavy door and stalked in.

He appeared under the light, dragging something metal behind him.  Serena looked up, swallowing hard against the pain that racked her whole body.

“You want to be like your master?” Jacques spat, pulling it up.  It was a led pipe, rusted over and torn from the wall.  “Then you’ll be treated like him.”

Serena backed away, her leg limping.  She must have done something—twisted her ankle, or maybe broken it.  She winced as he backed her against the wall, gathering her strength.

 “You forgot something,” Serena gasped as he stalked towards her, his eyes on fire.

“Yes,” he hissed, “I was an idiot, forgetting to kill you when I had the chance.  But I don’t make the same mistake twice.”  He reached down, snatching the lead pipe from the ground and swinging it around so that it rested on his shoulder.  “You should have run when I let you,” he seethed.

“No,” Serena said, reaching into her coat. 

With the last of her strength, she pulled her hand out from her coat, revealing only the glint of metal in her clutched fist.  Jacques began to growl something but stopped in his tracks, horrified as the realization dawned on him.  He stood stone still, frozen in the middle of the room, as Serena stood up.

“You forgot to take the gun when you left,” Serena rasped, shooting him through the heart.