The Scandalous Billionaires Collection (73 page)

Harrison walked up to the group of security
guards who were holding Frank down; for an old man Bella's father
was surprisingly difficult to keep under control. Marsh stepped in
and pinched his nose shut then brandished a bunched up rag over his
mouth.

"Stay down Frank." she said. The old man
looked at her and went limp, but his mouth kept working.

"Harrison Demovic, September 20th 1986 at
only twelve years of age is convicted of--"

"That's enough." Harrison shouted. "Let him
go."

Instantly the man was released.

"Get up." Harrison ordered him. "Marsha, take
care of this mess." Marsha nodded and headed into the gas station,
she knew exactly what to do.

"Everybody freeze, hands up." There were
three patrol cars and the small group was surrounded.

"Where's Harrison Demovic?" The officer in
charge asked.

"That's me. My people made the call. It's our
mistake officer, you can take your people out of here. The
situation has been resolved."

"I don't think so sir. In case you hadn't
noticed we just responded with three goddamn patrol cars here so I
don’t care who you are, but you don’t get to make the call on
what's resolved or what ain't resolved here." He looked down at the
Frank who was still lying on the ground. He had his hands raised
and a twisted grin glued to his face.

"Frank?" The officer said. "Frank
Redmond?"

"That's right Mike. So you finally made
lieutenant. Good for you. I knew I didn't waste my time saving your
life that day."

The agony of waiting took on a whole new meaning for
Bella. Her disgusting father had gotten them all out of a rap with
the police because the officer in charge of the response owed him a
big, big favor, but that didn't solve the other problem; how to
deal with his new demands.

"She comes with me. They both do." He said,
glaring at Harrison. At Frank's insistence the entire security team
had been dismissed and now it was just the four of them, facing
each other off over mustard and ketchup in the gas station, rest
stop diner.

Bella was tired of waiting.

"Harrison, baby, it's okay, he's my father,
he won't hurt me."

Harrison didn’t say a word. He was a hulking
figure in the booth, dwarfing the crooked figure of her father, but
the smaller man held all the cards.

"I take it we have a deal." Her father said
and went to take his wife by the arm. Harrison's large hand shot
out first and gripped his like a vice.

"Not so fast." He said.

"Let go of me you prick or you'll regret
it."

"Shut up Frank." Harrison said with low
force. "Shut up and listen. You can make yourself 5 million dollars
with no cops involved--"

"I'm warning you Demovic." Frank tried
uselessly to pull his arm free.

"5 million even and no cops or I yank off
this scrawny arm of yours and then watch my lawyers tear you to
pieces in court."

Frank grunted, cursed and then finally nodded
his agreement, prompting Harrison to let go of his wrist.

"Ten million and I take these two
bitches--"

Harrison grabbed him by the collar, dragged
him half way across the table until their noses were pressed
together. Bella was shocked at the violence of her lover's
reaction. She despised Frank but still he was an old man.

"Watch your language in front of these two
ladies." Harrison said with slow, emphatic deliberation. Frank
grinned at him and nodded. Harrison would have happily thrown him
through the window but instead he released him.

"Five million." He said. "You have my word.
And you can forget about taking either Bella or her mother with
you."

"Harrison--" Bella began to protest.

"Bella. You aren't going anywhere with this
man." He said to her and then turned back to Frank again. "Five
million dollars and my word that you walk out of here without a
scratch.
Alone.
" He emphasized. "You go get my memory stick
and every copy in existence of those files and then we make the
exchange. Take or leave it."

"What if I don’t take it? What if I can get
more than five mil for giving the stick to gossip TV? They pay big
money for juicy stuff like that, especially with pictures, copies
of police records--"

Harrison gripped Frank by the collar again
while Bella watched, dumbfounded at her father's taunting, half
revelations and at the aggression of Harrison's reactions. Whatever
was at stake here certainly meant a lot to the young
billionaire.

"Five million and I let you walk out of
here." Harrison said. "Turn it down and you crawl out. I'll give
that guy over there," he nodded to the only possible witness, the
half asleep attendant behind the counter, "I'll give him enough
money to say he saw nothing happen here and to erase the CCTV
footage. I'd say about one hundred bucks should cover it."

Frank's face contorted like a demon's.

"Okay, okay, five million it is. Let me go
already I'll get your memory stick and you can relax. Your dirty
little secret doesn't have to go anywhere it might cause
embarrassment to you and your corporation."

Dirty little secret?
Bella heard the
words, but was it just her father manipulating? What secret could
Harrison Demovic possibly have? His life was an open book, a matter
of public knowledge.

She looked at him in wonder and then slowly
the realization dawned on her.

You're just like me, aren’t you Harrison
Demovic. You're running from your past as well.

"What's he talking about Harrison? I thought
you told me that secrets gave other people power over you and that
honesty was always better in the end, no matter what it cost?"

"Is that what he's been telling you? This
guy?" Frank's face cracked up into a sadistic, sneering laugh.
"Should I tell her or will you?"

"Shut up." Harrison gripped Frank by the
collar again but this time the tough old man wasn't intimidated.
The provocative grin never left his face, the taunting laughter
never stopped.

"Or what? You'll beat me to a pulp? Yeah,
she'll love that, won’t you Bella. Maybe you gotta piece of lead
pipe around somewhere you can lend your boyfriend. Show him how
it's really done."

Harrison was ready to unleash a blow but
Bella put a hand to his arm.

"Let him go Harrison. He's not worth it.
Trust me. No-one knows that better than me."

Harrison let him sink back down into his
seat, the grin still plastered onto his leathery face.

"Yeah Harrison, besides, it's not my fault
you got dirty little secrets to hide; things I guess you ain't even
told this little jailbird here."

Bella stared at Harrison and he stared back,
unreadable as ever, even now with his secrets rising fast to the
surface, his past catching up with him.

"I'll be leaving now. I know you two
lovebirds got a lot of talking to do. Remember Demovic; no tails,
no security. I get a hint of surveillance and I tell my people to
go live with your story. I'll take my chances with your dirty
million south of the border somewhere."

"Get out of here. You aren't worth the money
to keep up with." Harrison didn’t take his eyes off Bella as he
spoke. "Call me when you have what I need. You have one hour. If
you don't make contact I'll hunt you down and you'll regret you
ever found anything out about my past."

Frank snorted his contempt and then looked to
his wife.

"You coming with me? Or staying with these
two jailbirds?"

Mabel didn't hesitate for long. Standing up
she took her husband's hand and then looked at Bella with all the
shame of her years of betrayal etched across her face.

"I'm sorry sweetie, I truly am. He's all I
got."

Bella looked at her mother, disbelieving, and
Harrison put his hand to her cheek, drawing her attention back to
him. He shook his head slowly.

"She's a part of it Bella. Just let her
go."

A ripple of searing disbelief went through
Bella's world, as though the earth itself were shifting beneath
her.

She pushed his hand away and stood up to
follow her mother.

"I don't believe you. Mom, come here, you
don’t have to go anywhere with this, with this…"

"This what Bella?" Her father grinned
malevolently. "Monster? Wife beater? Dirty cop? You can throw
whatever you want at me but your mother still wants me. Not you.
She never did. I was the one who looked out for our family. Without
me--"

"Shut up and let her speak." Bella advanced
on them and her father took a step back from her, then looked to
his wife.

"Go on
honey
speak. Tell your daughter
how you wanted to get rid of her, put her up for adoption, leave
her with the neighbors and head for Mexico, Europe wherever."

"Let her speak damn it." Frank went quiet but
the grin was still there, taunting and spiteful as ever.

Mabel looked bewildered, terrified.

"Please mom, tell me he's lying. You don’t
have to be afraid, you can stay with us, with me and Harrison. This
thing here," she referred to her father with disgust, "has no power
over you."

Her mother slowly raised her head, revealing
her tear stained face.

"It's true." She said in a trembling voice.
"I never wanted kids. We were happy until you came along. You
spoiled everything. Frank was good to me until you were born. I'm
sorry honey, but that's the way it is." Her voice had shrunken to a
whisper. "It can be like that again. Can’t it Frank?" She looked at
her husband, begging him with her eyes, and his repellent grin
contorted even more.

"Sure it can babycakes. Just you and me and
five million bucks. Even better than the old times."

"Heard all you need to hear?" He said to
Bella. She was too shocked even to nod her head.

"That's what I thought. Come on honey, let's
get out of here. We got one hour, ain't that right big shot?"

Harrison didn't move, didn’t nod. If he had
had the power to erase a human being from existence, including
every trace of their past, present and possible future, then he
would have done so to Frank Redmond.

The couple shuffled out and for Bella the
world shook, lurched and then everything went black.

********************

The first thing she saw when she came to was
the intense brown of Harrison's eyes staring into her own. The
emotion that overcame her was like an ocean swell. He was there,
just like he had always been, from the first day they had met and
from the moment had claimed her as his own with a kiss. He was
everything to her now. She had no brothers or sisters and she no
longer had a mother or father. There was nobody on her side except
for this exceptional man.

She pressed her lips hard to his and then
pulled him closer, pressing his body to her. Abdomen came to
abdomen and the feeling was so good.

"I'm yours now." She said, her voice laced
with emotion.

His hands gathered her even closer to him,
squeezing her in tightly for a moment, and then releasing her.

"You always were baby." He said in a low
whisper. "But I have to go now. There's an ambulance on its way for
you."

"Not a chance." She said instantly. "I'm
going with you."

"It's not up for negotiation."

"I'll go where I want to go and if it has
anything to do with my family then I have a right to be there. I
won't let you deal with this alone."

He looked at her with something like despair
in his dark eyes.

"Okay." He said. "This time only, but maybe
one day you'll learn to listen to reason."

"Maybe one day you'll learn to talk
sense."

He rolled his eyes, deciding to leave that
fight for another day.

"Come on," he said, "we have to take care of
Steve and Stacy."

The mention of their names made Bella tremble
with anger.

"Let’s get them." She growled. Harrison
stared into her flashing eyes and grinned in his mysterious
way.

"Fuck but those two are going to pay for
making me wait."

"Wait for what?"

"Wait to have you pinned underneath me again
screaming out my name in ecstasy." Her hot anger had sent a shaft
of desire spiking through him and now his words made Bella's heart
beat faster in response.

"You're thinking about sex? Now?" She asked
huskily.

"With you around I find it hard to think
about anything else." He looked down between them to where their
abdomens had squeezed tightly together during their embrace .
Bella's leg had hooked over his hip and wrapped around his back.
"And with that sexy right thigh all up around me? What the hell
else could I be thinking about right now?"

She smiled and freed him from the hold she
couldn't even remember locking him into. God but it would have been
something to take him right then and there before anyone else
arrived on the scene. Stacy and Steve would certainly pay.

Harrison got to his feet and then helped her
up after him. They made it outside into the waiting van where
Marsha rolled her eyes to see them but kept her commentary to a
minimum.

"We don’t have much time Mr. Demovic." She
said. "Can we keep it to essential activities only please?"

"Define essential." He said with absolute
seriousness and then turned a suggestive and very sexy smile to the
blushing Bella. Marsha rolled her eyes again.

"Stacey and Steve are getting ready to make a
break for it." She said. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

Harrison turned his intense gaze back to
Marsha again.

"Do I normally change my mind once I've given
an order?"

Marsha shook her head. Stupid even to
ask.

"Where's Frank?" He asked her.

"Don't worry, we're right behind him and he
doesn't know a thing."