Branded (Strand Brothers Series Book 1) (15 page)

*****

After a much needed shower, I dressed and snuck out of the penthouse. No easy task with the armed security Nik had hired. Yet somehow I had managed. I beelined to the airport and bought my ticket for a five thirty in the morning departure to D.C. Caleb and I were going to come to an agreement. I purchased a coffee and hit shuffle on my iPod. While I waited to board the airplane, the song “Before It Began” by Olivia Somerlyn began to play. Appropriate. Although I knew this thing with Nik could never work out, a part of me felt bereft. In such short amount of time, the difficult and complicated man had worked his way under my skin. Doubtful, I would ever truly erase our short time together. Driven to distraction, no one was more surprised than me when suddenly Senator Caleb Reynolds sat down next to me.

He reached over and pulled my ear buds off. “Going somewhere, my dear?”

It just kept getting better and better.
Not!
“Why are you here?” I asked while I shut off my iPod and put everything back in my purse.

He smiled in that cheesy politician way and pointed out, “I could ask you the same question.”

Well, I wanted an audience with the man. No time like the present. “We need to talk,” I asserted.

“I agree. Why don’t you come with me?” He motioned towards the exit.

Funny, but that door didn’t lead back through airport security. Red flags went up instantly, along with some serious bells ringing. Maybe Nik’s paranoia had rubbed off. No way was I going anywhere with Caleb. Better to be safe than sorry. “I’m fine right here.”

He inclined his chin but didn’t argue. “As you wish.”

I nodded, “How do I get you to take me at my word?”

He gasped, “Aimee. Are you insinuating that I called you a liar?”

Oh, he was good. I’d give him that. “No. Not at all, Caleb,” I responded innocently.

He ran the back of his fingers along my cheek. For some reason, it gave me the heebie-jeebies. I fought to control the shiver down my spine. “Glad to hear that. You know I’d never harm you.”
No, dammit, I don’t know that!
“Tell me you’re not afraid of me,” he insisted.

I couldn’t do that. All of a sudden, I became very aware of the danger he presented. Best to be honest, so I confided, “I can’t.”

He clucked,
“I see. How can I ease your fears?”

While I held his gaze, I squared my shoulders and answered, “Let me go.”

He shook his head. “I was hoping it wouldn’t come to this.”

Wait a minute! Who did he signal with two fingers? All of a sudden, a hard hand firmly grasped my upper arm. Then Caleb warned, “You will leave with Mr. Jones without any drama. Clear?”

Damn. Now what do I do?
I looked frantically around for
anyone
who could help me. However there was no one. Double damn!
Think, Aimee. Think.
I came up empty. Then I recollected hearing somewhere, the moment you left crime scene A and went to crime scene B you were as good as dead.
Lord, a little help here, please.
Nothing. Once again, I came up empty handed. Not to mention I was out of ideas. Great. What now? I was forced to my feet and joined by, yet another, monster of a man. Through the exit I noticed earlier, I was escorted out of the airport. There, a heavily tinted Escalade waited on the ramp.
OMG! Not only am I going to die, no one will even realize I’m gone.
I could be missing for hours before it was reported. If ever. By then, there’d be no clues as to where I might be. Hell, at least I could try and fight. I dug in with my heels and shouted, “Get your hands off me!”

A burly arm came around my waist and lifted me into the vehicle. The driver calmly pulled away and drove towards a side exit gate. Where were they taking me?
Oh, Nik, I’m so sorry I didn’t listen.
We drove off into the predawn horizon. And all I could think was,
I didn’t even get to say goodbye.

Chapter Seventeen

Nik

Something wasn’t right. I bolted from my bed, trusting my gut instinct. Crap. This wasn’t good. I grabbed a pair of jeans, yanked them on and then stepped into the hall. I began to search the penthouse. For what, I didn’t know. When I reached for the door to the guestroom Aimee occupied, tiny hairs on the back of my neck stood at attention. Before I entered, a sick feeling came across me. As I walked inside, I looked for her. There was no sign of her or her purse. Not good. Right then and there I knew she was gone. How had she left the premises without my team noticing? Time to find out.

While I marched into the living room, I called my lead security guy on duty. “Where is she?” I hollered, “What do you mean you have no idea!” I tried my best to hold some sort of composure as I dangerously whispered, “You and your team have two minutes to get your asses up here.” I almost threw my cell phone across the wide expanse of the room but, at the last minute, realized she might try to call. This was all kinds of FUBAR.

As I paced with restless energy, I replayed the last time we had spoken. She actually left me. Problem was, I couldn’t really blame her. Who wanted to be shackled to a loser like me? Now she was in danger. For that I had no doubts. Caleb would seize the opportunity. Damn. Didn’t she know that? I mean, why would I insist on marriage if I thought he wasn’t a very real threat?
She doesn’t know you, Nik.
No, no one did. I kept everyone at arm’s length and refused to show any emotion—never permitting my heart to get involved.
What heart?
Yeah, that was an issue. God damned me long ago for my sins. There was no coming back from it. The elevator opened and out stepped three huge guards—though, none of them were quite as big as me. I barked, “Well?”

José held up his hands in a surrender gesture and inquired, “When did you notice her missing?”

I ran both hands through my hair and answered, “’Bout five minutes ago.”

He stalked towards Ray’s office while the others followed in his footsteps. What was he…? Ah, right, security cameras. Duh. I hoped to hell they gave us some clue as to where she was. Otherwise…
Nope, not going there.
José pulled me back to reality. “There, sir.” He was pointing to the screen.

Sure enough, it was Aimee climbing into a taxi. “Can we get a bead on the cab company?” I queried.

At the same time, one of the other guys, Lee, asked, “How ‘bout a number?”

Good thinking. I knew I liked working with them.

“Well, would you look at that,” José said.

“What do y’know,” Lee chimed in, “Looks like we found both.” Before I could give the directive to call the company, George was on it.

A couple of minutes passed before he ended the call. George nodded, “Got it.”

“And?” I bit out.

“LaGuardia,” he answered.

She got on a plane. Going where? Dammit. She just
thought
the spanking I’d once given her hurt. When I got my hands on her, so help me. I grabbed a shirt on my way out of the penthouse. José was right beside me. “We’ll find her, sir. Don’t worry.”

Easier said than done.

While we scoured the airport, I was more than a little surprised to see Caleb. He was reclining in the First Class Lounge. With a cup of coffee in hand, he inclined his head once our eyes met. SOB. I wanted nothing more than to beat the ever-loving shit out of him. Right. Now. My blood was set to boil. Every muscle in my body poised to strike. There was no point in attempting civility. I didn’t give a rat’s ass who overheard us or saw us together. “Where the hell is she?!” I whispered dangerously.

“Ah, Nik,” he greeted. “So nice to see you again. Please, join me.”

“Cut the crap, Reynolds.”

His elegant brow arched. “Now, now. Is that the way you greet all of your old friends?”

I growled, “We were
never
friends.”

He mocked, “Acquaintances, then.”

“Whatever.” I held his gaze insistently. “Tell me what you’ve done with her.”

“Why, Nik,” he said haughtily. “How could you ever falsely accuse me?”

I flexed my hands, fighting hard the urge to wipe the smug look off his aristocratic face. “Do not play coy with me,” I warned.

“Or what?” His eyes widened.

Fuck. It took all I had to hold myself together. But getting arrested would not help me find Aimee. I sneered, “Talk.”

“Now see, there’s your problem. No diplomacy, whatsoever.”

I cracked my knuckles and squared my shoulders.

He held his hand up in a surrendering fashion.
Pussy!
“Am I to assume you are inquiring about the lovely Ms. Taylor?”

“You know damn good and well that’s who we’re talking about.”

He chuckled, “No need for expletives, Nik.”

Man, I loathed this guy with every fiber of my being. My skin crawled just being in his presence. “You bring out the best me,” I countered.

He smiled, “Yes, well. Rest assured, I mean her no harm.”

Bullshit! He was obsessed with her; however, I couldn’t very well point that out. Could I? No, best not to show my hand at this point in the game. “Then tell me where to find her.”

“I give you my word, I’ll return her shortly.”

His word wasn’t worth crap. But, at the moment, he had me by the balls. “She won’t marry you,” I stated.

“That remains to be seen. I admit, I handled things in the wrong fashion. However, I plan to rectify that.”

How?
“I swear, Reynolds, you harm one hair on her head and I’ll make you pay.”

His eyes widened. “Are you threatening me?”

“Not at all.”

Just then, his cell phone chimed. “One moment, please,” he said before he answered it. “Yes. How is our guest? By all means, put her on the phone.” He grinned wickedly at me. “Ah, Aimee dear, I do hope your ride was most pleasurable.” I could hear Aimee cursing in his ear. “I see. Well, that’s impossible at the moment. Once we have conversed in person, I will happily return you to Mr. Strand, here. Yes, he’s sitting in front of me as we speak.” He handed me the phone. “She would like to speak with you. Briefly,” he cautioned.

Yeah, fuck that. “Aimee? Are you all right?” Even I heard the concern in my voice. Could she?

“I’m so sorry, Nik,” she apologized. “I just wanted to talk to him. I didn’t think…”

No, she didn’t. But that was neither here nor there. We needed to get her away from him safely. “Hey.” I reassured, “We’re good.” Reynolds motioned for his cell. “I have to go. I’ll see y’soon,” I promised her.

Her voice trembled as she said, “Okay.”

I returned the cell to Reynolds. “Here y’go.”

He nodded with approval. What I wouldn’t give to throttle him.
Get it together, Nik. She’s at his mercy.
Yes, she was.  He began, “Aimee, my dear, I’ll be there shortly. Decide what you would like for breakfast.” With that he ended the call. She was somewhere close by. Where would he have her? He looked up at me. “See. She’s unharmed.”

For now. “What do you want with her?”

He shrugged one shoulder and replied, “I want her to agree to be my wife.”

Like hell. For whatever reason, I had a gut feeling there was more to it than that. I barely held it together as I acknowledged, “That’s her decision. Only hers.”

Both of his brows rose. “But, of course.”

I’d had enough. I stood and vowed, “One hair on her head, Reynolds, and you’ll wish you’d never met me.”

He laughed without humor. “I wished that a long time ago.”

My fists doubled of their own accord. José approached in the nick of time. I inclined my head, then pivoted and strode away.

Once out of Reynolds’ hearing range, I asserted, “Tell me you found her.”

“We have a make and model on the SUV she left in,” José confirmed.

“Any leads?”

“Not yet.”

Damn. “What now?”

“You’re not going to like what I have to say,” he cautioned.

“Probably, right. Hit me.”

“Go home and wait.”

“Hell, no,” I countered.

“Very well,” he ceded. “Let’s see if we have a lead.”

*****

As we climbed into the back of my black Mercedes SUV, George acknowledged, “We have a location.”

“Go,” I growled.

I had no idea where we were going or if we could rescue her. All I did know was that she needed to be safe. I couldn’t bear the thought of the alternative. My anxiety shown through as I barked, “Drive faster.”

Chapter Eighteen

Aimee

With plenty of time to ponder this epic mistake, my thoughts continuously returned to Nik. Though he didn’t sound angry with me over the phone, my sixth sense told me he would be once he knew I was safe. Couldn’t really blame him, I was furious with myself.
What am I going to do if Caleb won’t release me?
Not going there. Surely after letting Nik speak with me, he wouldn’t try anything. Would he? Trouble was, I just didn’t know. This waiting around crap was bound to drive me insane. As if on cue, the door opened and in strode Caleb. Hard to believe I ever thought he was handsome. When I looked at him now, the visage of a rat was clear as day. How had I missed the evil that undulated out from him? Out of self-defense I stepped back. Guess it shouldn’t have surprised me. I mean, the last time we were in a hotel suite together he attacked me. My self-preservation instincts were working overtime at the moment.

His brows arched as he studied my stance and demeanor. He motioned with his hand as he announced, “Have a seat, my dear. We have much to discuss.”

Crapola. The last thing I wanted to do was play nice-nice with the douchebag.
Really. What choice do you have?
I sat as far away from him as possible. “Why am I here, Caleb?”

“We’ll get to that in a moment.” He removed his suit coat and loosened his tie. “Have you decided on what you would like for breakfast?”

I raised an eyebrow at him and proclaimed, “Not hungry.”

“You need to eat.” With that, he picked up the phone and placed a room service order. Once finished, he sat at a respectable distance. Huh, luring me into false security? “First off, how are you?” he inquired.