Legal Action - Box Set (10 page)

              After the formalities Sylvie Moore made a beeline for Bly and Charlotte, curling her lithe body around his.

              “Alex,” she crooned, “is this the lovely creature that’s been keeping you from your real life? She
is
fresh and enchanting but we all miss you so,
hurry back
, won’t you, and play with the grown-ups?” Her eyes were icy as she stared at Charlotte and stroked Bly’s cheek as if he belonged to her.

              “Sylvie, I’d like you to meet Charlotte Christiansen, my attorney.” Bly said peeling Sylvie away from his body.

              Charlotte felt like she’d been punched in the stomach when he introduced her as his attorney. Of course it had been her rule that while she handled his case no one know they were lovers, but she needed this blatant little
she-cat
Sylvie to know. She pulled herself together and realized her professional reputation was at stake.

              She offered her hand and said, “Pleased to meet you, Ms. Moore, sounds like you do a bang up job for the foundation.”

              “Oh, I certainly do,” she smiled coldly and looked directly at Bly. “I’m sure Alex will attest to that. Now, let me see if I remember correctly. Why yes, you’re the naughty cheerleader Alex made famous. I never forget a face or body, of course your dress covers more of you than that yummy quarterback did. Tell me, you two looked so feral in those pictures, did you go home and fuck like wildcats?”

              “Alright Sylvie, put your claws away, that’s enough.” Bly said, his voice harder than she’d ever heard it. His face was a mask of fury as he reached for Charlotte’s hand to lead her away from the gloating woman.

              Sylvie’s voice sounded desperate as she stared at Charlotte and said, “I’ve watched the quarterback in action, I can always see his cock outlined in those tight football pants. Did you enjoy it as much as you’re enjoying Alex’s?”

              Charlotte forced herself to smile and meet the evil stare, “You know, Sylvie, I’ve found that women who must imagine the sex lives of others are generally frustrated over the lack of sex in their own.”

                            Charlotte turned and walked out of the party and into the noisy casino. Had she been stupid enough to think because she and Bly were having constant sex that all the other women he’d been with would just disappear? For that matter, women would probably throw themselves at him forever; he was a billionaire, for God’s sake, a ridiculously hot, sexy billionaire. She’d let down her guard with him and it had been oh so easy to just let him pull her into his life and away from her own. She’d removed herself from a relationship before to keep from getting her heart broken and she could damn well do it again.

              Bly followed her, demanding that she slow down, but she was furious and worse, tears flowed down her cheeks. He caught up to her and crushed her to him, murmuring how sorry he was.

              “Let me go, Bly. At least you could have warned me about that seething witch. How on earth can you employ such a woman much less have fucked her? The rational part of me knows there are going to be women you’ve been with around every corner, but I hope they’re not all that venomous.” She shook his hand off and stepped in the elevator.

              He started to get in and West called to him and said it was important. He ran his hand through his hair, brushing the strands that had fallen across his forehead. “Wait for me in the suite, Charlotte. She’s finished in my company, she’s history, her behavior is completely unacceptable. Don’t give her or any woman another thought. Do you have any doubt that you’re the only woman for me? I haven’t been able to keep my cock out of you since you came back into my life. ” He brushed the tears from her cheeks, gave her a scalding kiss, then turned and walked toward West.

              Charlotte stepped out of her gown as soon as she walked in the suite. She took a tiny bottle of tequila from the mini-bar and drank it fast, then coughed as it burned her throat. She stood before the wall of windows and stared out at the multitude of lights on the Vegas Strip below. Her raging jealousy was foreign to her and it hurt like hell. He’d slept with untold numbers of women. Maybe he’d given them jewels and made sure they stayed sore with his mesmerizing cock. She couldn’t handle the feeling of being out of control, she’d let down her guard and he was consuming her. She had to end it and he wouldn’t be easy to dissuade. Only if he thought she wanted another man could she drive him away.

              She dressed in a tiny silver mini-dress. It was sleeveless with a high rounded neckline and it swept from her shoulders in an A-line. It flared into a swingy hem that was so short it barely covered her butt cheeks. She was feeling the tequila drive her cares away and she changed into a tiny pair of black, silk ‘boy short’ panties just in case her skirt swirled up by accident. She laughed at the thought, how it would make Bly furious.
Too bad
, she thought,
fuck him if he can’t take a joke
. She slipped into a strappy pair of heels and was out the door.

              Charlotte walked into the casino and men stopped gambling to stare at her. She asked for directions to the most happening bar and was directed to the top floor. A line of people waited outside the bar but she walked right up and said she was with Alexander Bly and they welcomed her in. The music was loud and pumping and a DJ was shouting, “Welcome to the Skye Lounge!” She worked her way through the crowd, leaned against the cold granite bar and ordered a vodka martini. She could hear her cell phone ringing in her purse, she answered it and before Bly could get two words out she said, “Forget me, Bly. I’ve moved on,” and turned the phone off.

              The bartender was yelling over the din, he was saying he still had her American Jock pictures on his wall. Two men moved closer to her, crowding in on either side, but she avoided eye contact with them and leaned against the cold granite bar and drank the martini quickly.

              She knew Bly would find her, he’d surely heard the pumping music. There was no way he’d give up on her easily but she intended to have a few drinks to loosen up, give him back the sapphires which had probably cost more than she made in a year, and get back to her real life. Two arms appeared from behind and encircled her, they rested on the bar, pinning her against it.

              “Your irresistible little ass is showing,” a man’s voice whispered hotly in her ear, it was vaguely familiar.

              She twisted to face him, ready for a fight and met crystal blue eyes in a sexy Nordic face, blonde hair sweeping to his chin. She smiled and their arms went around each other as he lifted her against him.

              “Jorgen, where did you come from? I thought you were someone else, no fair sneaking up on me.”

              They laughed as people buzzed around them whispering, but they didn’t care, they were happy to see each other. They moved to a round booth tucked in a corner, sat close together and talked of what their lives had once been and what they had become. She told him how much she loved her job, how she’d made a place for herself in San Diego and had achieved what she’d always meant to, the scared, fragile girl she’d been in Mississippi was a distant memory. He said they should start over, that he was wrong to have been such an ass about her career; he knew she was excellent at her work and he was proud of her. They were at better places in their lives now, he said, and it was rumored he’d be back in San Diego with the Chargers next season, so why not give their relationship another chance. She said she kept a special place in her heart for him and the innocent love they had shared, but she wasn’t the same person any longer. More than that, she confessed, with the liquor coursing in her veins, she was certain that she’d fallen in love. He asked why she was in Vegas all alone then, looking like a Goddess, drinking in a night club.

              “I don’t know if it can work out,” she said, “one minute I think he loves me and then I’m not sure. It all happened so fast, I feel like I want to be with him more than anything, but what if it’s just the heat of the moment? He doesn’t have a great track record when it comes to love and women and I need to feel secure before I give my heart away.”

              “Charlotte,” Bly stood looking down at them. He recognized Jorgen, of course, and they were too close together for his liking. He’d watched them from across the room, leaning in close, whispering and laughing; Charlotte’s hand brushed Jorgen’s hair off his face with too much familiarity. Jorgen was constantly touching her in some small way; it all seemed a little too cozy.

              Jorgen stood up, offered his hand, “Alexander Bly, it’s been a while, nice to see you. What are the odds, running into my little Chari and you in the same night? I was just telling her I’m playing in San Francisco tomorrow, the Forty Niners, and she might want to come along.” He noticed that Bly’s gaze never left Charlotte.

              “I’m going with him Bly, go fuck the wicked witch, I’m sure she’s hot to keep her job.”

              “Charlotte, you’re drunk let’s go to our room, please.” He stepped closer to Jorgen, they stood face to face, his was a mask of fury and his voice made her cringe, “Jorgen, she’s with me, do you understand? She’s not going anywhere with you ever again.”

              Jorgen backed away and threw up his hands. He looked at Charlotte, smiled and said, “Well Chari, I believe he loves you, too, so you’re not in it all by yourself.”

              Bly’s face softened then and he sat next to her in the booth. He held her against him and whispered, “Charlotte, you’ve put up a good fight to keep your feelings in control. The battle isn’t lost if you love me, we’ve both won. I love you Charlotte, truly, madly and very, very deeply.”

              In the elevator, on their way to the room, she clung to him, but wouldn’t look up at his face.

              He felt like he had been given the greatest gift of his life, she loved him and she’d even told Jorgen. He wanted to run his hands up the back of the tiny dress and cup her ass but he needed her to know it was more than sex. It was certainly mind-blowing sex, but it was much, much more.

              In the suite they made love slowly, both saying, “I love you, I love you,” over and over.

              He’d taken her again, against the wall of the shower, lifting her, her legs encircling him. He’d pulled her down hard on his cock and she felt that she would split open, but she trusted him and she clinched tightly around him as she reveled in the glorious ache.

              Later, they sat against piles of pillows in the huge bed, the lights of the Strip casting bright patterns on the walls of the suite. They’d ordered burgers and fries from room service and laughed as they fed each other in bed.

              He told her the reason he’d stared at her all those years ago at the photo shoot. That he’d fallen hopelessly in love with her then and he’d had the primal urge to take her without a condom and plant his seed in her. The need to possess her had been so strong that he intended to tell her, that’s why he’d called. He wanted her to meet him so he could say he knew it was crazy but she was meant to be his. That she should love him and have his children and they would have everything, especially each other.

              She slept curled tightly against him, she was his and he loved her, she was safe with him and so was her heart. She rose early the next morning, dressed in jeans, t-shirt and sneakers and put her hair in a ponytail. She wanted to try her hand at gambling before they left so she grabbed her phone and her wallet and took the elevator to the casino. She played a few slot machines and it was up and down and it bored her. She walked out onto the Strip and breathed in the air. She felt a pinch at her neck and everything went black.

                By late afternoon, when Charlotte couldn’t be found, Bly was in a panic, he had the entire hotel staff and the police looking for her.

              West reviewed the security tapes and three of Jamey Huang’s men had been in the casino. The cameras showed that she’d walked outside after gambling and they had followed her. The trail ended there and her cell phone was going straight to voice mail. He alerted the highway patrol and the Las Vegas and L.A. police departments and airport security nationwide.

              The call came the next day from Jamey Huang, he wanted to meet Alexander Bly face to face and make his demands. No law enforcement would be involved or Charlotte would die. It was arranged for him to come to Bly’s mansion with only one of his men. He felt that would be sufficient since he held all the cards.

*

              Huang looked perfectly at ease sitting in Bly’s formal living room. He smiled serenely, sure of himself as he watched the powerful Alexander Bly sweat.

              “You don’t quite understand, Mr. Bly. It would be simple if all I wanted was your money or your life or only to fuck your gorgeous girlfriend. Even as extraordinary as she is, none of those things fill my needs. I suppose it was a lucky twist of fate that your case brought Charlotte into my sphere of consciousness. Oh, it took a lot of digging. Perhaps your own sources overlooked the connection. You see, I want to kill a man, a man who has become a serious thorn in my side and he will only come to me in order to save her. I will put your mind at ease by telling you that she ended it with him long before she knew you. The good news for me is that he has never been able to move past his love for her. So you see, Mr. Bly, she is the perfect bait. He has nearly ruined my nice little arms-dealing business, he has ruthlessly killed my men and my foreign clients and he has been impossible to stop. I want him to surrender himself to me so that I can torture him for a good, long while before I kill him. Your job is to convey my message that his beloved will remain untouched, although she will also be naked and drugged just to take the edge off her hell-cat tendencies,” he touched the deep scratch marks that marred his face. “She will be returned to you, Mr. Bly, you can ride off into the sunset with her and live happily ever after if that is what you wish. However you must to come to Hong Kong to collect her. Here is the address where we will make the trade in two days’ time.” He handed a slip of paper to Bly. “An easy trade, Mr. Bly, I’m sure he’ll agree to it quickly when he knows that I have her. If you want her alive and… intact, you will bring me Finnegan Hale.”