The Scandalous Billionaires Collection (65 page)

"I'm coming back." She said, as though it
were a prison sentence.

"Thank God for that. And you'll stay with me
and Zachary--"

"No! I have to stay with Harrison." Only
after she had blurted it out did she realize how strange it
sounded.

Suzy looked at her for a few seconds,
confused.

"God Bella, I wish you would tell me what's
going on here? If he has some kind of hold over you--"

"It's not him."

"Then who?"

"I can’t say."
God, I've already said too
much.
"Suzy, please, I need you to go now. I can't say any
more."

Suzy didn’t move for several seconds,
weighing up how much further she should press her friend and then
decided that this was enough for now. Someone had a hold on her,
that was clear and the admission was an additional piece of the
puzzle to solve this mystery. She nodded her head, leaned in to
give her friend one more embrace and then stood to go.

"I'll see you in New York." She said.

Bella nodded. Under any other circumstances
she would have been desperately looking forward to it, but as
things stood any time with Suzy spelled nothing but anguish, fear
and torment.

When is this nightmare ever going to
end?
She asked herself as she watched the door close behind her
friend.

One Month Later

Bella sat at her small desk in the back office of the
Manhattan 2nd Chance drop-in center. Harrison had insisted on her
taking the office administration role while she sorted out her
thoughts and worked on getting her life back on track. She would be
surrounded by people who had overcome the same obstacles as her, in
many cases far greater ones, and there would be no judgment or
questions, only support and the occasional nudge forward if she
needed it.

She had balked at the suggestion, knowing
that Steve volunteered there too, but then Steve had threatened
Stacy with immediate retribution if Bella didn't accept the job. He
wanted her close by and this would give him daily, intimate access
to his meal ticket.

Going to work each day had quickly become a
literally nauseating affair for her and today she felt the retching
sensation more powerfully than usual. Every time she heard
footsteps outside her office door she felt like throwing up. Worst
of all was that she couldn't tell anyone the truth and she still
had to lie to the people who were supporting her the most. It made
every encounter with the Price sisters or the Demovic brothers
unbearable. She had avoided them for the whole month she had been
back in New York but it was getting harder each day.

Only Harrison could make her feel any sense
of relief. His absolute aloofness to everything was liberation
compared to the intense concern of Melissa and Suzy, and the
unspoken pressure from Zach and Jason to come clean and put all
this nonsense behind her.

The footsteps she heard approaching her door
were male but she couldn't tell who it was. Paralyzed with dread,
she hadn't been able to do a thing all morning. If those footsteps
belonged to Steve then she wasn't sure if she would be able to hold
it together.

The door opened without a knock and Steve's
craggy face appeared in the doorway. He was always worst in the
morning. He stepped inside and slammed the door shut behind him
making Bella jump in her chair.

He paced angrily back and forth in front of
her for a full minute without saying a single word. When he finally
spoke it was in his usual low hiss to avoid being overheard by
Harrison or any of the staff at the center.

"Where the fuck was he last night?" He said,
leaning his hands on the desk in front of Bella. "You told me it
was the Boom Boom Room and I had Chauncey Tales and Gossip TV up
there waiting for the Demovic family. What was there? Nada. Just
some nobody millionaire having a birthday party with his
family."

Bella stared back at him. Everything about
the man made her sick. He reminded her physically of a giant,
slimy, disgusting human toad. She was afraid but the scariest thing
of all was that she felt no anxiety for herself. It was all for
Stacy and for her friends. If her hands hadn't been so effectively
tied then she knew exactly what she would do to him and the thought
terrified her.

"That's where he told me he would be. I can't
help it if he wasn't there."

Steve banged the desk hard with his fist.
This time Bella didn't jump. There was nothing she could do. She
was telling the truth. A part of her wanted him to do his worst;
threaten and beat Stacy so that she would have no choice but to act
and put an end to this. Her life was such hell now anyway that even
a prison sentence would be better by comparison.

"You better not be screwing around with me
girl, because that won't be good for Stacy's health." He stood up
and slammed his right fist into his left palm.

"I'm telling you the truth. What else can I
do? I've stolen things for you, taken money, given you information,
there's nothing else I can do."

Steve looked at her for several long
seconds.

"I don't know honey." The sleaziest, sickest
smile imaginable covered his oily face. "I can think of something
else."

Bella's stomach lurched again. She had never
felt so revolted in her life.

Steve walked around the table towards her and
put his hand on her shoulder. His touch sent a shiver of revulsion
through her and she couldn't hold back any longer. Her meager
breakfast shot straight towards him, covering his shirt and pants.
He began hollering and screaming as she went to her knees on the
floor, continuing to retch. She had never felt a sickness quite
like this before.

"You stupid bitch! Look at me, god damn
it."

"What's going on in here?" Bella looked up,
blearily and saw Harrison in the doorway with a look of such
intense concern and anger on his face that she instantly caught
herself up. She couldn't risk blowing things.

"It's okay Harrison, I'm just not… just not…
" She began to feel woozy and then felt Steve's rough hands on her
shoulders.

"Jesus, Bella, are you okay kid?"

Steve's hands were jerked away from her as
Harrison intervened and gently brushed her hair aside.

"What is it Bella? Are you okay? What was
going on here?"

"I just came in to see how little Bell was
doing boss." Steve said frantically. "She didn't seem too good so I
went to help her and then she puked all over me."

"Get out of here Steve, I'll take care of
this."

"It's okay boss--"

"Out! Now!" Harrison glared at him and the
small, stocky man retreated.

"Hope you're feeling better soon kid. I'll
check in with you later." He left the room pursued by Harrison's
angry glare.

"I think I'm okay now." Bella said. "I don't
know what came over me, maybe some food poisoning." She had had an
odd breakfast alright, based on a weird craving for a toasted tuna
fish and strawberry jelly sandwich.

Harrison took her firmly by the
shoulders.

"Did Steve do anything to you?"

Bella didn't move, didn't answer for a
second. Couldn't this all end right now? With just a word from her
to Harrison with all his power and money, his family connections
and their organization--wouldn't all that be enough to break
Steve's hold on her life?

"Nothing." She finally said. "He didn’t do
anything. He was just trying to help and I uh… " she had to force
the words past gritted teeth, "then I puked on the poor guy as he
was taking care of me. He's a very," she swallowed hard, "he's a
very sweet man."

Harrison continued staring at her, reading
her. His eyes looked endless, intense, relentless and his hands on
her shoulders felt infinitely strong. It had been so long since
they had made love that it seemed like all that had happened to two
different people. They had never spoken it about it since that day
in the Florida Keys, almost a month ago and she wondered if it
still meant anything to him anymore.

"Sweet isn't exactly the word I would use."
Harrison growled. "Come on, let’s get you cleaned up."

Bella began pushing herself up to her knees
and quickly realized what a mess she had made. The feeling of
mortification was intense as she looked around at the office floor,
at the wall next her chair and at the papers on her desk. Her tuna
and jelly sandwich breakfast had covered a remarkably broad
area.

"I'm so sorry about this Harrison, I've got
to watch what I eat in future."

"Bella." He said firmly, steadying her with
his strong arms as she came upright. "There's nothing to apologize
for. I'm just happy that you're okay. I'll have the office taken
care of but you're coming with me. We need to have you checked out
and make sure you're completely well."

He took her hand in his and the feeling of
warmth spread through her. No matter how dire her situation and
even if he couldn’t materially help her, still she felt calmed and
protected in his hands. He began leading her towards the door and a
swell of emotion rose to her throat.

"Follow me." He said softly.

Anywhere.
She thought.
As long as
I'm with you.

After a quick clean up in the bathroom they
got into his top of the range Lamborghini. It was the only true
weakness for luxury that Harrison had and the flashy car growled
out into the New York traffic. They travelled in silence to his
uptown penthouse apartment where he insisted she relax, take a
shower, change clothes while they waited for his doctor to arrive
and check her out. The Demovic family had a medical team that
answered their personal needs at a moment's notice. Bella tried to
resist, insisting that everything was okay but Harrison wouldn’t
hear of it.

He showed her to the massive bathroom and
supplied her with an abundance of fresh, fluffy white towels.
Although he was very matter of fact Bella couldn't help but feel
the intimacy of the moment. She had been to the Demovic family
residence before but never been to his apartment and despite the
luxury it felt empty to her. Everything was missing. Her own tiny
apartment in Queens felt more warm and alive. It was as though he
were revealing himself to her in a way he had never done before.
This was his bathroom, his shower, his most personal space.

She wondered if a lot of girls had been here
before but then stopped the thought dead in her mind. She didn't
want to know.

"If you feel unwell or if you need anything
at all, just call for me and I'll be right there."

Does wanting you to get in the shower with
me count as an emergency?

She licked her lips and nodded her head.

Words. Sometimes they were a waste of
time.

Harrison nodded and left her alone. After a
moment of thought she slipped off the stained shirt and office
slacks she was wearing and took a moment to look at herself in the
full length mirrors that surrounded her on all sides. She wasn’t
happy at all. The mirrors gave her views and angles that she would
rather not have seen.

Maybe I don’t need you in the shower with
me just yet.
She thought, as she put her hands to her ass and
lifted what she considered to be excess flesh from her thighs and
butt. Working out and staying fit had been the least of her
concerns for the last couple of months but somehow those blasted
Demovic brothers always looked like they were ready to compete in
the Olympics with their perfect, tall, angular bodies and square
jaw-lines.

Some people have it so easy.
She
thought and then turned on the water in the shower. She was about
to step in when she heard her phone vibrate with a call. She turned
the water back off and fished her phone out of the bag.

Shit.

Just as she had thought. It was Steve.

"What do want?" She hissed as she took the
call.

"Shut up and listen. Don’t you ever do that
to me again bitch." he said, making Bella wince and take the phone
away from her ear. "Where are you now?"

She looked around. The very heart of
Harrison's world, his home. Nothing in her wanted to give that
information to a slug like Steve.

"Don't bother lying. I know you're at his
place. Looks like he got you first, but I'll wait my turn baby. I
don’t mind seconds."

Bella had only felt the kind of hatred she
felt for Steve once before. It was a cold hatred, built to last,
not a heat of the moment feeling that would die out with a glass of
wine or a good night's sleep.

"What do you want?"

"I want in Bella. I've had enough of waiting
for you to bring me shit from the rich kid's home, I want inside so
I can take what I want myself."

The thought horrified her. Little by little
Steve was digging deeper into a world she longed to protect.

"No way you bastard." She said. "I'll get you
whatever you want but there's no way you're getting in here."

"Shut up and listen." There was the sound of
a scuffle and then Stacy's voice came to the phone. She was sobbing
and screaming.

"Bella, please, please just do it. He's
hurting me."

"Did you hear that Bella." There was another
shrill scream from Stacy. "Do you want Stacy to hurt more? It's a
dangerous place this rat hole of an apartment, a lot of
accidents--"

"Okay. Okay. Whatever you want. I'll get you
in, but we have to think it through. There's security in the
building, security on each floor, he's got bodyguards. How the hell
are you supposed to get in here."

"How do you think Bella. You invite me
in."

The thought was horrifyingly feasible and not
what she wanted to hear. Inviting Steve into Harrison's home could
be done. She worked with Steve at the center and he was Stacy's
boyfriend. Harrison already knew him personally so sure, maybe it
could be done.