The Complete Contract Series (10 page)

Laura

I woke up to feeling like my head was in a vice grip. A surge of panic set in as I looked around and discovered I was in a dank, dark basement. A flash of memory washed over me and I remembered letting Mark in and then everything had gone black.

I began screaming as loudly as I could to try and get anyone’s attention. I pulled at the chains that had me bound as I screamed. It was only a matter of moments before I heard the large metal door scraping its way against the concrete opening. Surely I could talk some sense into this idiot ex-husband of mine.

“Mark, why are you doing this? What have you gotten yourself into? What have you dragged me into?”

“You are my ticket out of debt.” He leered at me as if he loathed the very site of me.

“Let me go before you get yourself in more trouble than you already are, or worse yet before you get yourself killed.”

“By who, that boyfriend of yours?”

“Yes, he is crazy enough to do it, if you have any sense at all, you’ll let me go before this escalates to the point of no return.”

“I was at the point of no return when I got into debt with Glazov. Now I’m at the point of simply not giving a fuck. Either you die so I can collect on your life insurance or I put a bullet in my brain to end it all. Honestly I would much rather watch you meet your demise.”

“Have you always been such a prick and I just didn’t have sense enough to know it?”

My head slammed against the wall as he backhanded me and a new level of pain coursed through my head as I fought passing out.

I was in a position of utter helplessness. After all I had done to secure my safety, I still ended up being at the mercy of this asshole. No one knew where I was and there wasn’t a chance in hell on me being rescued. Was this how my life was going to end? After all that I had done to get away from my abusive husband, was I still going to die at his mercy?

Miller

I grabbed a luggage cart as I scowled at the day shift doorman. I had every intention of confronting him but now wasn’t the right time to do so. I pulled the cart behind me as I warded off thoughts of crashing the little twerp’s head, face first into the desk. I had too much going on right now to deal with him and there were too many people in the lobby for me to discreetly kick his ass. When I got my hands on him I wanted the freedom to teach him a lesson he would never forget.

I made my way to the penthouse and unlocked the door. As soon as my feet graced the doorway I knew something was terribly wrong. The lamp on the end table had been shattered and the glass and lampshade were lying on the floor giving silent testimony to the fact that there had been a struggle.

I pulled my glock from the holster I wore and shut the door behind me. I made my way around each corner and even though I knew no one was here, I didn’t take it for granted. Assuming things in my line of work could get you killed. When I was certain no one was in the penthouse I quickly made my way to my office and booted up my computer.

My blood ran cold as I watched my woman’s abductor drug her and shove her into a suitcase like a piece of trash. An emotion that I couldn’t remember feeling since I was a child permeated my being—pure terror. The thought of him killing her and never being able to see her again absolutely terrified me. Whether I was able to rescue her or not, he was going to die for this and before he did, I was going to make sure that he felt the same all-consuming terror I was feeling at this moment.

I changed clothes and put on clothing that would hide the many weapons I would be carrying. A black fitted t-shirt, black jeans, shit kicking boots, and a leather jacket.

I wore a holster, which carried my glock of choice, and stuck a backup firearm in one of my boots. The other boot would house a knife that I had every intention of using on my enemy. The first thing I needed to do was go down to the lobby and confront the little shit who had put my woman in danger.

I zipped my leather jacket up halfway to conceal the firearm I carried and made my way to the elevator. I could already feel the adrenaline pumping through my system, but this time, it was due to anger and not excitement. I was pissed and anybody who had been in on having my woman kidnapped was going down. Today.

I exited the elevator and headed straight for the little shit who was working the desk. I reached over the counter squeezed my hand around his throat and pulled him halfway up onto the counter forcing him to look me in the eye.

“Motherfucker, I want to know where that bastard took Laura, and you’ve got one chance to tell me something I want to hear.”

“I don’t know man, he didn’t tell me where he was taking her. He just rolled her out of here in a suitcase.”

“And you let him?” I growled, as my fist connected with his nose shattering it into a mass of blood and busted up cartilage. Normally I would have stayed to watch him scream out in pain but I didn’t have time for that right now. I was glad that the lobby had emptied out and there were no witnesses.

The heavy thud of my boots could be heard as I made my way down to the parking garage. I had no choice but to go and stakeout Mark’s place of employment. Having to sit on a stakeout wasn’t something I cared to do right now, because it meant that it would take time to get the information I needed, and right now, time was not on my side.

There was no question this guy had plans to kill the woman I loved. The only question that remained was whether or not I would be able to get to her before he did.

I made my way to Bradley Enterprises. This was one of the hardest things I could ever remember having to do. For a man who is accustomed to being in control, waiting was not something I did well, especially when the life of my woman was in another man’s hands.

Laura

I lifted my head as I eyed Mark standing over me with a syringe. “Please, no more drugs. I don’t want any more drugs.”

“If you think that I am going to deal with your crazy agoraphobic ass without you being drugged you are wrong.”

“Why are you doing this? Haven’t you done enough to me?”

“Well let’s just say that you’re worth more dead than alive. I have to go into work and I need you drugged while I go.”

I felt the prick of a needle as he hit a vein and a warm euphoric feeling washed over me. I liked whatever he had given me. I hated the fact that it felt good to be high—in fact it felt so good—that the fact that I was chained in a warehouse and at a crazy man’s mercy didn’t even bother me.

My mind drifted off to Miller and I knew he would be looking for me. I also knew that he would kill Mark when he got his hands on him. It wasn’t a matter of if, only a matter of when. A smile spread over my face when I thought about Miller unleashing his sadistic tendencies on my captor. I dreamed about my rescue and the man who had fulfilled the fantasies that had once been the voyeuristic meanderings of a caged soul. I was now a woman who was free to experience the sexual fantasies that’d held me captive for so long. I looked forward to experiencing even more with my new lover. I could only hope that I would live through this in order to do so.

Mark

I made my way into my office late. I was attempting to appear as if everything was ok but my nerves were on edge. I wasn’t a killer by nature and I wondered how I was going to kill the woman that I’d once been married to. I didn’t like the idea of shooting her because that seemed too messy. Cutting her throat also seemed like it would be too much of a blood bath. I was leaning towards choking her, maybe wrapping my belt around her neck and choking the life out of her. Even the thought of that bothered me, though it wasn’t bloody, it was up close and personal and I would have to look into her eyes to do it. Maybe I could turn her around so I wouldn’t have to look her in the face. I didn’t want to do anything that would cause me to have nightmares later. Yes, even in the demise of another human being I was thinking about myself. It always boiled down to one person with me because I am a selfish bastard. I care about one person—myself of course.

Narcissistic would be the term to best describe me. In my world everything revolved around what would best benefit me. There would be no love lost for the woman I held captive in the warehouse. If the truth were to be told, even the death of my firstborn child hadn’t bothered me, it had only been a means to an end. I’d used it to torment Laura and I had reaped financial benefits from the life insurance policy that I’d taken out on the child. Now I would reap the financial gain on the policy that was on Laura. Then maybe I could get on with my life. I could pay off that crazy fucking Russian gangster I owed and take a vacation. It would be a great way to forget my blood stained hands after I killed Laura.