Breaking Bedrock (Book Two) (12 page)

William spent much of the rest of the afternoon slowly
pleasuring Addison in all the ways she had no idea she’d even liked to be
pleasured. He made her beg and plead with him as he brought her to the brink
again and again, her anger only making their lovemaking more intense. He
introduced her to the arsenal of toys and riding crops he’d bought just for her
but kept it a little more vanilla than he hoped because he could tell she
wasn’t used to being on the other side of the coin. He made love to her on the
bed then sat her on the table and teased her over and over before finally
bending her over it and fucking her hard.

She had no idea what was coming next, and he could tell she loved
it—whether she was willing to admit it or not. That was the thing about
Addison. She was going to have to learn to give up control if she wanted to be
with a man like William, and so far, she wasn’t willing to do it. So he’d
decided he’d help her out a little by starting in the bedroom.

When William was finished and Addie could barely stand, he
carried her to the bed in the corner of the room and laid her on it, fastening
the cuff to the frame. Addie watched him and frowned, but he could swear there
was the hint of a smile there somewhere.

William looked at the handcuff and back at Addie as he opened a
bottle of water and held it to her lips. “We haven’t done much talking, so I’m
not letting you off, just yet.”

Addie downed the water. “What time is it? I have to pick up my
kids.”

“I know and you will. It’s not that time yet. Carl’s going to have
one of the guys get your car from the garage and drive it home for you. He’ll
take you to get the boys in one of my cars to save time. I spoke with your
assistant, had her handle your meetings, and everything is fine. I’ve got it
all worked out.”

Addie wiped the sweat from her forehead. “This isn’t funny,
William. Maybe your life works like this—having everyone else handle things for
you—but mine doesn’t.

“But it can, Addison. Do you really think I could be this
successful if I did everything myself? No. You have to learn to delegate, to
let go of control a little bit.”

Addie watched as William pulled a pair of pajama pants from a
drawer and slipped them on. “Yeah, we’ll I’d say I’ve pretty much given up all
control.”

“Only because you were forced.” William grinned. He walked over
to Addie and un-cuffed her. Sitting on the bed, he gathered her in his arms and
rubbed her wrists. “Look, I’m sorry about this, but I needed to talk to you,
and I needed you to listen. I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

Addie rolled her eyes and scooted herself out of his arms. “No,
but that’s not exactly my idea of talking.”

“You wouldn’t listen before, but you see you’re pretty calm now.”
William smiled and continued. “I know you saw the photos from the gala, but you
could’ve at least let me explain. You didn’t even give me a chance to talk to
you.”

Addie inhaled slowly and put on the mask she wore well. “What is
there to say? You don’t need to explain anything to me, William. We’re not in a
relationship. This . . . This thing we’re doing . . . It is what it is. There’s
really nothing more to say.”

William, confused, pulled back, and studied her face. “I’m not
sleeping with anyone else, if that’s what you mean, Addison.”

Addie shifted. “I don’t mean anything, but you’re right. We do
need to have boundaries, and seeing you at the gala made me realize that.”

“And.”

Addie bit her lip. “And you can do your thing, and I’ll do mine.
When we’re together, we’re together. When we’re not, well, we each have our own
interests.”

William stood and ran his fingers through his hair. “Tell me,
Addison. Do you have other fucking interests? Because I don’t. The girl you saw
was there to throw the media off. I figured if they saw me with someone then
they’d get off our asses and we wouldn’t have to worry so much. I was paying
her to be seen with me. Nothing more.”

Addie frowned.
Fuck.

“Mr. Hartman, I’m sorry to interrupt, but we have a situation,” a
voice called over the intercom.

William stared at Addie as though waiting for her to speak. When
she didn’t, he shook his head. “I’ll be right there, Carl.”

“There’s a bathroom right through those doors. Everything you
need should be in there, but just hit the buzzer by the door if not. I had your
clothes cleaned and pressed, and they’re there on a hanger.”

Addie stared at William blankly, refusing to say what was on her
mind. He didn’t take his gaze off hers as she entered the bathroom and shut the
door. She showered and dressed quickly before making her way back towards the
living area. As she rounded the corner, she heard hushed voices speaking
briskly. When Addie entered the room, it went silent. William had his back to
her and appeared to be staring out the window. He spoke slowly and calmly, his
voice rough. “We have to do something. This is escalating.”

Carl cleared his throat. “Mrs. Greyer.”

William turned and exhaled. Addison’s heart sunk when she saw the
concern across his face. She glanced from William to Carl to the men she didn’t
recognize and then back to William. “What’s going on?”

William made his way over to her in two swift steps. “Addison,
sit. Please.”

Addie stepped back. “Don’t tell me to sit. Does anyone want to
explain what’s going on here or why you’re all looking at me like someone
died?”

William lowered his voice and ushered her to the couch. “Addison,
please.” He sat and took her hand in hers.

Addie sucked in all the air she could and still felt as though
she couldn’t get enough. “Oh my God, please tell me what’s going on.” Addie
stood quickly. “Where are my children?” William pulled her back down to the
couch and spoke slowly. “The boys are fine. They’re still at school, and
there’s a team of my guys with them.” Addie exhaled and nodded. William
continued. “When one of the guys went to pick up your car, what they found was
pretty disturbing. We’ve notified the police, and they’re handling it now.”

Addie blinked back tears. “What did they find?”

William squeezed her hand and exhaled. “Max. He’s dead, Addison.”

“Max? My dog? I don’t understand. None of this is making any
sense.”

William stared at the floor. “They found Max in your car. He was
killed and placed there. It wasn’t pretty. The problem is the garage you parked
in doesn’t have cameras and isn’t monitored. It’s possible that if you’d gone
back to your car you could’ve been attacked. Obviously, this is the work of
Hammons, and my guys are working with the police to prove it and have him
arrested.”

“Why is this happening? What am I supposed to tell the boys?
Addie sobbed.

“Is there any way that you and the boys can get away for a little
while, Mrs. Greyer? Until we get this figured out and get Hammons back in jail
where he belongs?” Carl interjected.

“I . . . I don’t know. I guess. I mean . . . I was going to leave
them with my mother-in-law this weekend and go away with their dad. How long do
we need to stay gone? They have school, and I have work.”

William choked. “You’re fucking joking, right?”

Addie wiped her eyes and glared at her shoes.

“This just gets better and better.” William shouted as he threw
up his hands and stormed into the kitchen. “Can you believe this shit? She was
going to really going to go away with
him.
”

Carl took William’s spot next to Addie on the sofa. “Mrs. Greyer,
can you get away this week? I know it might be difficult, but it would really be
for the best.”

“I don’t understand why he’s doing this. Why me?” Addie cried,
searching Carl’s eyes.

“We’re going to get him, Mrs. Greyer. I promise you that.” Carl
replied gently, handing her a tissue.

Addie stood and smoothed her skirt. “It’s time to go. I need to
see my children.”

She left the apartment and then quickly skipped town, without
saying goodbye. And while she never said it directly, William knew she blamed
him for what had happened. Hell,
he
even blamed him, which made him all
the more determined to fix the problem.

Penny Greyer was beginning to wonder why she had ever
decided to help Scott Hammons in the first place. Sure, she despised Addison
and wanted her out of the picture, but she
was
the mother of her
grandchildren, and Penny worried that maybe Scott Hammons had misread her
intentions. Not only that but Penny believed he was taking advantage of her.
For starters, he hadn’t offered up one shred of evidence that Addie was up to
no good. He said that he’d provide proof, but so far Penny had been the only
one doing the providing.

Penny knew Addie was messing around with that Hartman guy again.
Why
else would he be providing her round-the-clock security?
She just didn’t
know how to get all of this through her son’s thick skull. She only wanted what
was best for her child, which is all any mother wants, really. And
unfortunately, yes, she had gone to greater lengths than most probably would
have to get her point across, but what else was she to do. She’d always told
Patrick he needed to marry his ex, and she’d been right. Penny didn’t
understand what was
so
wrong with arranged marriages. She had it all
planned out between him and Sophie, and she knew they cared for one
another—until that damned Addison entered the picture, that is. No one understood
why Penny disliked Addison so much, but what those people didn’t understand was
having a dream for their child. Hell, Addison hadn’t only destroyed the dream
that Penny had but she had cost Penny her best friend. When Patrick dumped
Sophie and broke her heart, of course Penny’s best friend had sided with her
daughter without so much as a second thought. So, yes, maybe her hatred of her
daughter-in-law was a little extreme, but then again, when you’re right about
someone or something, you just are. The way Penny saw it nothing was too
extreme when it came to protecting your child and what you believe to be best
for him.

Speaking of protecting your child, Penny had to figure out a way
to get herself out of the situation she’d gotten into with Scott Hammons,
before anyone found out she was involved. Hammons was proving more and more
every day that he wasn’t stable. He’d even asked her personal questions about
her grandchildren. He’d gone ballistic, demanding answers she wasn’t willing to
give, and that was where Penny drew the line. She was beginning to worry that
maybe, for once, she’d been wrong. And she wasn’t sure if it was that or Mr.
Hammons’ unraveling mental state that scared her more.

Eleven

Scott didn’t really want to kill the damned doggie, but
sometimes you just have to do what you have to do. The angels were getting
angry with him, telling him he wasn’t moving fast enough. He hated it when the
angels were mad at him. They made the voices worse. They made them louder.
Oftentimes they were so loud he couldn’t hear anything else but them telling
him he wasn’t good enough, he was isn’t smart enough, and that it was his fault
he was alone and his fault he had nothing. It was only when he did something
really smart, in this case killing the dog, they would smile upon him and quiet
the voices. They were happy with him for now.

But he could tell you who wasn’t happy with him, and that was
that dimwit, Penny Greyer. She was growing antsier by the day, more insistent
that he show her some proof that her little whore of a daughter-in-law was
doing something wrong. While Scott hadn’t been able to prove it, he was sure
she was seeing Hartman again. He just hadn’t been able to get close enough yet,
in part thanks to the increased security measures he noticed. But make no
mistake he was watching and waiting, and if he could kill two birds with one
stone, so to speak, he was damned sure going to do it. In the meantime, Penny
had better get ahold of herself. Apparently, she didn’t know whom she was
messing with here. The angel’s anger he could take because he understood their
love for carrying out God’s will. Penny Greyer, however, was another matter,
and the more he thought about it, the more he realized that it was probably her
fault the voices were getting louder.

Thankfully for him, but clearly not for his intended targets, it
was looking as though he was going to officially get off of the electronic
monitoring bracelet in the few next weeks. His attorneys were pushing to get
his trial bumped up and get him cleared quickly. He wanted his name cleared,
sure, but none of it mattered much to him, as he was smart enough to get around
the system. And anyway, it was that piece of shit Hartman’s security team that
was holding him back, not the fact that they were trying to track and trace
him. The restraining order was a joke too; one hundred yards was all he had to
work with. There was so much you could do from a just a hundred yards away. One
as agile and brilliant as he was could get in and out without too much effort just
as he had with the dog. If only it had been that little bitch who had gone back
to her car instead. He so wanted to see the look on her face when she saw her
precious pet splayed out like that. He wanted her to see all the blood, the
carnage, and to know that he was coming for her next. It was all very simple,
really. He just had to stay within the shadows, to watch and to wait. The angels
assured him it would all play out in his favor. After all, it was God’s will he
was doing.