Dylan, page 7
Next, I head home and check in with my staff, or so they believe. I know who the guilty party is, and it’s just a matter of time for me to get my hands on the bastard. When I enter the elevator, Tim is waiting for me. “Sir, I didn’t expect you to be back so soon.”
“Then what are you doing here at this hour?” I question because he’s in my fucking private elevator that leads directly to my condo.
“You got me.” He pulls a gun out on me. Fuck, this bold motherfucker.
“Why?” I ask.
“Because you stole her from me. I had my eye on her from the moment she started working for Hunter Industries. I saw her before you did, and I greeted her like the lady she was. You didn’t even see her for a whole month. She was perfect, sweet, innocent, everything a woman could be, and you ruined her. She has to pay. I killed that fucker for hurting her—he shouldn’t have roughed her up like that. I just wanted her away from you, but no, he wanted to sell her. I couldn’t have that, so he had to go. Now, it’s your fucking turn.” He killed Boxer?
“Who hurt Harley?”
“That fucking thug who was supposed to hold her for me, but he lost her. Where is she? I want to know where you’re hiding my love,” he demands, pointing the gun at my chest. This fool has no idea that there are cameras on him. Yes, I enjoy my privacy, but I make sure to secure my property, including my private elevator.
“Why would I know?” I ask, shaking my head in confusion.
“Because you didn’t go to Houston.”
“What makes you think that?”
“Because I have you monitored.” Yes, his cousin gave himself up to assist me today. He admitted that he only helped him because of family loyalty, but he quickly realized his error when he learned the extent of his cousin’s betrayal.
“Shooting me won’t win you Harley. She’d never forgive you.”
“She’s been brainwashed. I’ll convince her of our love again.” Wow, this fucker has lost it.
“What about your wife?”
“She doesn’t mean anything to me.” Right on time, the elevator doors open, and I press the button in my pocket, cutting the power. Everything goes dark, and I can see his eyes widen just before it’s completely pitch black. He tries to fire, but I’ve planned ahead.
My blade slices his hand first, sending the bullet into the wall in my foyer. Quickly, I slice his chest, and then drop down and run the blade over the back of his knee. I enjoy this way more than I should, but then again, his betrayal cut too deep for me to care.
“You bastard,” he roars, coming at me like a linebacker, tackling me at full force. With a grunt, I fall back, hitting the wooden table in the entryway, but I counter, punching him in the jaw. He slides off me long enough for me to land on my feet. This time I pull out my gun to take care of business, but I think it’s better to use his. So, I pick it up and fire it as he comes at me again with another gun in his hand.
The cops are already on their way. The entire video from the elevator had been recorded, but my apartment is dark. I hit the lights and see my place is trashed. It’s more than our fight. The fucker had gone in and destroyed it. My walls look like someone took a sledgehammer to them, and glass is everywhere. My television has bullet holes in it.
My phone rings, and it’s security. “I’ll be waiting right here.”
A moment later, the elevator doors open, and four uniformed officers enter my condo. “Mr. Hunter?”
“Yes.”
“Please drop the gun.”
“Oh.” I set it down. “It was his.” I point at the dead fucking asshole bleeding out on my floor.
“What happened here?”
“He destroyed my home, but if you’re talking about why he’s dead, it’s because he tried to kill me. My security has the footage from the elevator. I shot him with his own gun.”
“You sound extremely unbothered by his death.”
“When you see the footage from the elevator, you’ll understand why I don’t care that a man I had as the head of my security forced me to kill him.”
“He had another weapon?”
“Yes. I only got the one gun away from him. I got the shot off before he tried to shoot me again. The first time, it hit my wall over there.” I point to the foyer. One of the officers goes to the foyer to inspect my claims.
My phone rings, and I answer it. “Okay. Please bring it up.”
“My security is sending up the footage from the elevator.”
“Very well. The detective would like to interview you, but I need to do a cursory scan around the condo to inspect the rooms. Is there anyone else here?”
“There shouldn’t be anyone else here.” He nods and takes out his gun. He walks around, room by room, opening the door and calling out that he’s the police. Every room is silent, but he lingers up there a bit longer. I heard him say something on the walkie, calling for CSI.
“Sir, did you have a guest in your home?”
“No. I never have anyone in my home. Who is up there?” Well, except for Harley, but that’s none of his business.
“There’s a woman.” I try to run past him, but his men stop me. “I can’t let you up there and contaminate the scene.”
“God, no. Please tell me it’s not Harley. She’s supposed to be in Steeleville.” I call her phone several times and get no answer.
I call my uncle, and he picks up on the first ring. “Hey Dylan. Is everything okay?”
“Where’s Harley?”
“She’s laying down in bed. She was sleepy, and I think she misses you a lot. She woke up enough to eat a little, but then went right back to bed.”
“Good, thank God. Okay. I’ve got to go. I’ll call her later.” I end the call.
“I can’t imagine who would be up there. I hardly even acknowledge women, and I don’t allow women into my home.”
“A blonde.”
“Shit. There’s only one that I’m acquainted with. I fired her two weeks ago. There’s no reason for her to even be in my home.”
“Sir, I have the elevator footage.”
“Would you happen to know how a woman got into my apartment?”
“Earlier, Tim brought her to clean it. She was supposed to make it nice for your return. I told him that I’d have to call you, but he said it was a birthday surprise.”
“Birthday surprise? My birthday’s in June.”
“Do you have footage of that?” the officer asks.
“I do. It will take me a few minutes, but I can pull it up right here.” He does some magic on his tablet, and I see him bringing in Sandra Stone dressed in a maid’s uniform and carrying a large bag.
“That’s Sandra Stone, the woman I fired.”
“Why is she carrying a large bag?” I say to myself.
“Good question.”
We continue to watch them after they get on the elevator. “You look for the documents to his bank accounts, and I’ll have a little fun punishing him for touching what didn’t belong to him,” Tim says with a smile.
“Why is everyone so damn obsessed with that mousy bitch?” He slams her against the wall of the small confines.
“Watch your fucking mouth. No one talks about Harley like that. She’s precious and perfect, something a whore like you wouldn’t know anything about.” He releases her roughly.
“You didn’t mind this whore an hour ago.”
“I was thinking of Harley.”
“You’re fucking disgusting.”
He just ignores her, but I want to shoot him again. I look over to his dead body and move closer. The officer grabs my arm.
“Calm down. He’s already dead.” His grip remains firmly on me until I take a calming breath and nod that I’m good. If I’d known this before, I might have shot him the second I stepped in the elevator. “Given the state of the place, I don’t know what happened between them, but it didn’t end well for Ms. Stone.”
“She probably opened up her mouth again,” my security guard says.
“I have no doubt. She wasn’t known for her tact and tended to speak her mind. I’m sorry that he killed her, even if I didn’t care for her.” It’s a total lie because the bitch had a part in my woman’s kidnapping.
“So, who is this Harley?”
“Wait. Did you say Harley? As in Harley Dean?” a man in a suit wearing a badge says, entering my condo.
“Who are you?”
“I’m Detective Williamson. I was actually coming to question you about Harley Dean. She’s been reported missing for almost a week.”
“Yes. Well, she was missing, but she’s now found and she’s safe.”
“And I’m supposed to believe you? You were reportedly her lover who left her, according to her cousin, Lillian.”
“Yes. We had a brief breakup and she was kidnapped by that piece of shit and another human trafficker, but I don’t know about him. All I know is she escaped and ran to safety. I went looking and found her. That’s why in the video he was asking where she was at. He knows I found her.”
They show him the elevator video, and he nods. We go over my statement, and they record it.
“I still need to be assured that Ms. Dean is alive and well.”
“I’ll call her, but that’s the best I can do at the moment.”
“Very well.” I give her a call and laugh at the time.
“Hello.”
“Sorry to wake you, beautiful, but I miss you, Harley.”
“Dylan?”
“Of course. Who else is calling you beautiful?” I growl because she sounds so sexy and that should be just for my ears, but I have her on speaker.
“Sorry, what time is it?” she mumbles.
“One in the morning.”
A light giggle escapes her. “I’m starting to think you like waking me up at this time.” Her voice gets clearer as she wakes up.
“I tried earlier, princess, but my sleeping beauty didn’t answer, and they told me you were napping.”
“Oh, yeah. Well, someone left me exhausted.”
“Good. Get your rest because when I come back, you’re going to be tired and sore all over again.”
“You sound cheerful and wide awake.”
“I’m in bed thinking of you.” I have to lie because I don’t want her to worry.
“Funny, I’m doing the same thing.” Fuck—my dick is hard with a bunch of cops around.
“Be a good girl and listen to my uncle.”
“I will. I promise.”
“Okay. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight.” I hang up before we say anything else and give anything away.
“Wow, okay. So I’m getting the reason everyone is falling over themselves over her. My wife would have bit my head off if I called for nothing.”
“That’s because you have three kids and she’d wonder if you were hurt.”
“True.”
“Anyway. I’d like her to come in and give a report.”
“She will when we return. I suppose my condo is now a major crime scene.”
“Yes. Given your wealth, you can afford to stay somewhere else.”
“Yes.” I don’t bother packing a bag because the cops tell me that every single one of my suits has been sliced. Fucking dickhead.
The rage that fills me isn’t as strong as it could be because he’s out of my life and my woman is safe. All of her attackers are gone in one way or another, and soon the last one will be dead. It’s only a matter of time before the right people take his ass out in prison.
Chapter Fourteen
Harley
When he comes through the door of Boss’s home, I jump into his arms, sending him back a step, but he doesn’t care. He pins me to the nearest wall and slams his lips on mine, giving me the deepest, soul-bending kiss.
When he breaks away, I’m panting, but we’re attached everywhere else. “I missed you, Harley. No more time apart.”
“I agree.”
“I’m glad it’s just you at the door,” Boss says. I blush, clamp my lips together, and unlatch my legs from around Dylan’s midsection like a silly teenage girl.
“I came to get my girl,” he says. When I look up at him, he’s beaming with pride.
“Everything okay?” Boss asks while Dylan holds me around the waist and kisses my temple.
“Mission accomplished,” he says with a straight face, giving away no secrets as he gives Boss a nod, but I know there’s so much left unsaid.
“At least stay for dinner.” The energy flowing through me is so positive that I ignore the undertones of what happened while he was away. There’s a lot they’re not saying in the subtle looks they’re giving each other.
“That I can do. How about you, babe?”
“I’m up for whatever you’d like.” As long as we’re together, nothing else matters to me, but I don’t want to come off as too needy. After what happened between us, I’m still feeling vulnerable, and I can’t confess that without breaking down.
“That’s what I love to hear.” A low growl comes from him and then he cups my ass.
“I didn’t mean that.” I swat his hand because we were in front of his uncle.
“Sorry,” he says, even though he doesn’t look the least bit sorry. I smile and press my lips to his cheek and shake my head. “And she wonders why I can’t keep my hands off her. So perfect.”
We spent the rest of the evening with his uncle and Esperanza before going back to Dallas. We pull up to the expensive hotel that we made love at for the first time. “Why are we here?”
“Um…my condo isn’t available at the moment. This is our temporary home.” I have two suitcases worth of clothes that the ladies in Steeleville gave me so I’m good, but the rest of my things were at my cousin Lillian’s.
“I haven’t contacted my cousin since this happened and…”
“And what…” He tilts his head and stares, trying to puzzle out what I’m thinking, but I just say it.
“What if Lillian was involved?” I drop down on the lovely sofa and throw my head in my hands.
I feel Dylan sit beside me and then he rubs my back. “Sweetheart, she filed a missing person’s report for you as soon as she was allowed.”
“She did?” I ask, lifting my head.
“Yes, she had to wait until you’d been missing for a certain amount of time, but the report was filed.”
“I need to call her.” I’m on my feet, pacing, trying to remember where I put the cell phone Dylan got me. “I missed her wedding and everything.” It’s in my coat pocket, which I’m still wearing. I dig it out, but Dylan puts his hand over mine.
“It’s late.”
“Yes, but she’s been waiting to hear from me. I’m sure she won’t care what time it is. I know I wouldn’t care either.”
“Go ahead.”
I call her number, and she doesn’t answer until the last ring. “Hello,” her voice cracks from sleep.
“Lily,” I say.
“Harley,” she screams. I rub my ear and pull the phone away as I smile. “Where are you? Oh my God.” Suddenly the sleep is gone.
“I’m safe now. I’m back in Dallas.”
“Back in Dallas, safe?”
“Yes. It’s a long story,” I say with a sigh. It’s insanely difficult to process. The sheriff in town brought over a professional to talk with me about my abduction to help me deal with my situation, and I have the Steele Rider women as well, who strangely all have had something crazy happen to them in one way or another. Unfortunately, being with men who have power leads to a whole host of enemies. My problem was a screwed-up family, which apparently is a commonality in this country.
“You ran away to deal with your feelings. I totally get it, but I didn’t think you’d do that to me right before my wedding,” she huffs.
“I didn’t.”
“You sent me a text and I thought it was a lie, but now that you’re back…”
“A text? I didn’t send you a text, Lily.” Fucking dicks were well prepared to make it look like I fled.
“I told James and the cops you wouldn’t have done that to me.” My eyes slam shut. I’m going to have to explain that my own cousin betrayed me—her cousin, too.
“I was kidnapped, but I got away.”
“Kidnapped,” she gasps, and a loud thud could be heard in the background.
“Lillian? Lily!”
“Sorry, I dropped my phone on the floor. I can’t believe that happened and we still had the wedding. I knew I shouldn’t have listened to anyone else. Where are you? I have to see you’re okay.”
“Tomorrow. I need rest.”
“Okay. Please meet me for breakfast, girl. Anywhere you feel safe.” Her voice is shaking with tears.
“Please don’t cry, Lily. We’ll see each other tomorrow.”
“Okay,” she says. I end the call and cling to Dylan.
“She’ll be fine. She has her husband by her side.”
“And I have you.”
“That’s right, and you’ll have me forever, Harley.” He kisses me until we fall onto the mattress and lose ourselves in passion, letting the night slip away.
****
Dylan didn’t want to meet them at Lillian’s house because he didn’t trust my safety just yet, so he scheduled a meeting with them in a secure and neutral location. I rolled my eyes because I knew Lily wouldn’t do that to me. She isn’t deceitful and never has been. If there is anyone who has a good soul, it is her.
We meet in a local café for breakfast. We’re early, and I fuss over my dress as if I’m meeting a complete stranger that determines my future instead of my favorite family member.
“Stop, sweetheart. You look perfect.”
“Hardly. I’ve got bruises and rope burns,” I say, pointing out my reddened and scabbed wrists. They’re not as bad as they were, but there’s no mistaking the injuries.
He slides his arm around my waist, pulling me to face him. “Yes, but it’s expected for someone who was kidnapped, remember. Your cousin knows that, so relax, my beautiful love.” I press my head on his chest. He smooths his lips on the crown of my head, kissing it.
I look out the café window and spot them walking to the door. “They’re coming.”
