Unyielding (Tortured Love Book 1) (17 page)

But for now, he was content merely to know it was true. He was all right with holding Lynda, and making love to her, and keeping her safe. Merrick knew how to do those things.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Lynda had decided to give Merrick space for a while, but he didn’t seem to want or need it. He slept with her in his bed every night, they made love each day, and he smiled and talked a lot as they shared breakfast and dinner together. He called or texted her during the day at work to ask how things were going, and he continued to look at her designs when she had a chance to show him what she was working on.

Five days after she had found the documents in the hidden box, he told her he’d moved them out of the apartment and into a safety deposit box. She started to protest, but he held up a hand, silencing her. “It was my choice, Lynda. I didn’t do it because I thought you were upset about having them here.”

Then he handed her a key ring filled with tiny keys, and a piece of paper. “I have nine safety deposit boxes, each at a different bank. This details which ones are where, and which key opens each one. Put these in a safe place so you’ll have access to them.”

He then handed her a folder. “In here are all the documents giving you access to my bank accounts. I have five in addition to the joint one you and I opened. Keep this information safe as well.”

“Um, Merrick, you’re kind of scaring me here…”

“I don’t mean to. I simply wanted you to know what I have and where, and to know you have permission to access it. You’re my wife. No more secrets between us.”

“If it’s that important to you.”

“It is that important to me. Theresa and I, for all the years we knew each other, never really had this between us. She knew nothing about my work or what I did behind the scenes, and I had no access to her money. I was fine with that. We had separate accounts, and we each knew who took of what expenses. But after she was killed, her family’s first assumption was that I would try to get my hands on her trust fund and personal bank account. Those were the last things on my mind.”

“Merrick, I don’t want to think about this. It’s morbid.”

“I know you don’t, but it’s the responsible thing for both of us to do. And I know you’re not interested in my money, but you are entitled to it if something should happen to me.”

Lynda shivered. She wouldn’t let her mind go there. “The only other bank account I have is the same one you have access to. As for my trust fund, you know where that is, too.”

“I know. Thank you for that. It’s why I’m giving you all of this now. We should know these things about each other. We should trust each other enough with these kinds of details.”

“All right, Merrick. Thank you.”

She placed the keys and the papers in her dresser, in a bottom drawer, under a pile of sweaters she barely wore. If she needed them, she knew where they were. But nothing was going to happen to Merrick. He had as many people protecting him as the President did.

****

That weekend, while she and Merrick were enjoying a leisurely breakfast on one of the terraces, his phone rang. She had no clue who it was, but the look on his face when he glanced at the caller ID was enough to make her stop eating and watch.

“Are you sure?” he asked.

He gave her a look that sent shivers down her spine.

“I want to talk to them both.”

Lynda strained to hear the voice on the other end.

“Pete, I don’t care what you have to do to make that happen. Just do it.”

Merrick disconnected the call, and then took her hands. “This is going to be a shock.”

“Just tell me!”

“They found your father and Dean. They were in Thailand, after leaving Indonesia, where they apparently have been for about a week. Before that, they were traveling around. They were picked up in Bangkok at the airport. Customs in all the countries where we have signed extradition treaties were asked to detain them, only they didn’t realize that.”

Oh God…
“Where are they now?”

He grinned. “On their way home.”

“Merrick, I can’t believe this.” She stood and paced the terrace. “I never thought this would happen.”

“Neither did I, if you want the truth.”

“Will you be able to recover the company assets?”

“I have no idea, Lynda. That depends on too many variables right now. Most of the clients have already had to find alternate suppliers. As of last count, there are twenty-three suits filed for breach of contract, and I imagine all the clients will jump on that bandwagon soon.”

She stopped walking and stared at him. “Shit. I hadn’t considered that.”

“I did. We have it under control.”

How could he sit there, so calm and cool, as if twenty-three lawsuits filed against him was no biggie?

“Look at it this way,” he said. “If your father had done this to the company when you owned it, you’d be up shit creek. He waited until it transferred to me. He and Dean knew I had the resources to handle the fallout.”

“That really doesn’t make me feel any better. It was still a horrible thing to do.”

“Yes, it was. But I imagine your father didn’t expect us to get along this well.”

“So you think he did it to drive a wedge between us?”

“No. I think he did it because they both believed they could get away with it. The fact that it might create even more animosity between us was likely something Dean attached little importance to, but your father probably figured would happen.”

Lynda took her seat again. “You know, the thing that strikes me in all this is how little regard my father had for me or my happiness. He lied to us both about what the other wanted out of this marriage. He used those trust provisions to his advantage. Because of them, he was able to dump the aftermath of what he and Dean did in your lap.”

Merrick nodded. “Yes. All true. He didn’t have one concern for how this might affect you or me.”

Lynda hugged herself. “And then there’s the revelation that he was watching that night. At the party.”

Merrick stroked her arm. “That’s over. You never have to fear him or your uncles again.”

She knew that, so she pushed it out of her mind. “Who was that calling to give you the news?”

“Pete Stephenson. He’s the same person who helped me with what I found on Rey’s hard drive. He doesn’t work in the same department that covers what Dean and your father did, but he contacted the people who do to help with this.”

“Is there anyone you aren’t connected to?”

He chuckled. “I don’t know the President personally.”

“Oh, well, there you go. You
do
have flaws.”

Merrick pulled her onto his lap and nuzzled her neck. “I’ll show you my flaws, smart ass.”

“I happen to love your flaws.”

He brushed his hand over her left breast. “That’s because you’re sick and twisted.”

She moaned softly and shoved her hand between his legs. “You like me sick and twisted. Admit it.”

Merrick bit her nipple gently through her clothes. “I wouldn’t want you any other way.”

Lynda’s pussy was soaked. “You ever make love out here?”

“Maybe.”

She laughed. “Okay. Forget I asked that. No … wait. Did you do it in the daylight?”

He gave her such a sexy grin she could barely stand it. “No. Not yet…”

Lynda glanced around. So many eyes in so many buildings could see them, assuming they were looking right now. But the idea of it gave her a huge thrill. “Dare we try?”

His eyes grew dark, sending delicious shivers down her spine. “Don’t
dare
me to, Lynda. I’ll definitely do it then, and I won’t care who sees us.”

“That’s one of the things I happen to love about you.” It was the closest she’d come to saying “I love you.” She held her breath, but the only reaction to her comment was to bite her other nipple.

She stroked his cock through his pants, and then when he moved his hand between her legs, she knew all bets were off. The hell with whoever saw them. Merrick rubbed her clit until she moaned loudly and was close to an orgasm. “Please…”

“I’ll let you come if you agree to fuck me out here.”

“Okay. Yes.”

“Really?”

His tone of voice made her laugh. She took his face in her hands and kissed him, hard. “Yes.
Really
.”

Merrick stood her up and pulled down her pants, taking her panties with him. Then he moved her closer to his mouth so he could lick her pussy, circling her clit until she was ready to scream with need. “You’re soaked, Lynda. God, I love how wet you get!”

“I can’t help it. You do that to me.”

Merrick stood and took his dick out of his pants, and all she wanted to do was wrap her mouth or hand around it, but he had other plans. He turned her around to face the table. “Lean over it. Ass in the air. I’m going to fuck your pussy from behind.”

“Oh, God!” Lynda was so wet and ready it was ridiculous. She’d never done anything this daring in public, and the thrill it sent through her was fantastic. Merrick smacked her ass cheeks, one after the other, hard. She moaned loudly and pushed her ass toward him, wanting it all. Anything he gave her, she’d gladly take.

He shoved his hand between her legs and pushed two fingers into her wetness. “Lynda … I can’t get enough of you.”

“I hope you never do.”

A loud groan accompanied him plunging his cock into her pussy. He grasped her hips and thrust in and out, pushing her body further against the table with each stroke. Lynda didn’t mind. This was fucking exquisite, and she never wanted it to end.

Her climax was powerful, and the contractions went on and on as he slammed into her. She hung onto the edge of the table for support, moaning loudly as he continued punishing her pussy. She loved this raw, dirty sex that he seemed to delight in. He was so strong, and she was drawn to that, as much as to his dark personality.

When he came, her orgasm was still going. He stayed inside her a few more minutes, massaging her clit until the contractions finally stopped, and then he turned her around and kissed her until she could hardly breathe.

He helped her pull up her pants and then led her inside, where he went straight to his bathroom with her in tow. Turning on the spray in his shower, he kissed her again, and they stripped each other naked. They held each other under the spray, kissing until Lynda’s mouth hurt.

His dick was hard again, and without hesitation she got on her knees and took it between her lips. He groaned loudly and held onto her head as the spray washed over them. It hurt to kneel on the tiles but she didn’t care. She loved this man and wanted all of him.

Merrick fucked her mouth hard, but before he came, he pulled out and helped her stand, then turned her around. He pushed her up against the wall. “Bend over. I need to fuck your gorgeous ass.”

He’d never done that without using a condom or lube, so she braced for it, but she had worried for no reason. “Don’t move. I’ll be right back.” He smacked her ass cheeks again, then left the shower. She stood there, breathing hard, hoping she never tired of her incredibly sexy, alpha husband.

When he returned, he pushed two warm, wet fingers into her asshole, stretching the walls and coating them with lube. She closed her eyes and hung onto the wall as much as possible. He’d already donned a condom, and she only knew that because he rubbed his cock against her ass cheeks and she felt the difference in the texture.

“Lynda, you are so damn sexy. I love to see you like this, bent over and ready to take my dick.”

“It’s where I love to be, Merrick.”

He slid his cock into her ass and held onto her hips as he fucked her. A slow, steady moan escaped her lips as another climax built. He grunted and groaned, slowly increasing his strength and speed. When he slipped one hand underneath to massage her clit, she cried out as the orgasm washed over her. That was all it took for him. He cried out as well, and then thrust hard and deep until he was done.

Merrick pulled off his condom, tossed it onto the shower floor, and held her under the spray again, stroking her hair and back. “I will never grow tired of fucking you. Never.”

“Same here.” Lynda smiled, the events of the morning fading away as she basked in the afterglow. She had everything she needed, right here in Merrick’s strong arms.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Merrick checked in with Jimmy the next day to see where they were on looking for a second set of books.

“I was just about to call you. Tell your wife she was right. Her father had two sets of personal accounts, and they go back about ten years. He’s taken painstaking care to fake a lot of his personal expenses. I’m assuming he did this to justify his lifestyle, if anyone should ask. But one thing is clear. He’s been planning this for a long time.”

“Not surprised. What about his brothers?”

“Nothing. They got checks once a quarter for amounts I never would have questioned, if I’d been them. I don’t think they suspected anything. If they did, there is no evidence of it I can find.”

“How much did they receive every quarter?”

“Fifty to seventy-five thousand each. They could have been taking in three times that if Todd hadn’t been skimming off the top.”

Merrick shook his head. “Jesus Christ. And they never questioned the amounts?”

“Not on any records we found. Todd gave them spreadsheets each quarter, along with the checks. The spreadsheets were as fake as the rest of his personal accounts.” Placing blind trust in an asshole like Todd was a disaster waiting to happen.

“They made a shitload of money on their own,” said Jimmy. “I can only assume they didn’t question their cuts for that reason, and because they believed the documentation.”

“I guess we’ll never really know, will we?” Merrick didn’t like the loose thread, but there was nothing he could do about it. And did it really matter? Tom and Ted were gone.

Merrick was a wreck for the next two days until he finally heard from Pete that his request to have time alone with Dean and Todd had been arranged. He considered taking Lynda with him so she could confront her father, and asked Pete about it. Pete said there was no way he could get Lynda in as well.

Merrick didn’t like that. She had a right to confront him, but let it go because he’d find another way to make that happen for her after both men were past the initial FBI interviews.

He told Lynda he was going, and asked if she had a message for her father. She shook her head, her beautiful eyes filled with anger and disgust. “I have nothing to say to him.”

“Don’t you want to confront him one day?”

“
No
. Absolutely not. Please don’t ask me to do that. How would you feel if you found out your father watched your uncles rape you, and jacked off during it? Would you ever want to look him in the eyes again?”

Merrick pulled her close and held her until her body stopped shaking. “No. No, I wouldn’t.” He placed a finger under her chin and tilted her face up, so he could look into her eyes. “I give you my word, Lynda. I won’t bring it up again. If you want to talk to him one day, I will arrange it, but otherwise I will consider this subject closed.”

Her beautiful eyes filled with nothing short of love. “Thank you.”

She had no idea how much she’d done for him these past couple of weeks. He would give her anything she asked for.

****

Merrick had to cool his heels for almost an hour once he arrived at the New York FBI Field Office. That was fine, because it gave him time to consider what he was going to say, and to calm down a bit.

Finally, he was ushered into a room where he could see both Dean and Todd, in separate rooms, but they could not see him. He would be forced to address the men through intercoms, and watch them via video feeds. It wasn’t what he wanted, but Pete had done the best he could, and Merrick knew that.

He glanced toward Pete. “Will you be in the room with me?”

“No, but I have to listen to what you say. You understand why.”

Merrick nodded. He had guessed that would probably happen. Once Pete showed him how to work the controls and then left, Merrick pushed the buttons for both intercoms. In the rooms, each man glanced up. “Gentlemen, how was Jakarta?”

“Fuck you, Merrick.” Todd’s jaunt around the world hadn’t improved his mood since the wedding. Merrick turned off Todd’s mic but left on Dean’s.

“Why?” asked Merrick. “Just tell me why. I’m only talking to you right now, Dean. I’ve turned off Todd’s mic. We’ve known each other a long time. Why did you do this to me?”

“I don’t have to talk to you, Merrick. Neither one of us do.”

“Yeah, I know you don’t. But I thought our friendship might still have meant something to you, even if our business partnership did not.”

“What the fuck would you know? You don’t have four ex-wives still trying to get alimony off you, or kids that can’t seem to
find
themselves, despite your having paid for grad school for each one. Three times over for one of them.”

“You’re right. I don’t have any of that. But why this company? Why now?”

Dean leaned forward. “Because it was easy. It was a sure thing.”

“Obviously not. You were caught.”

Dean gestured toward the ceiling. “Not our doing. Flight was diverted to the closest airport. We had to go through customs before we could try to get on another flight.”

Merrick laughed under his breath, knowing Dean would hear it but not caring. “Bad luck.”

“No shit.”

“So that’s it, Dean? I’m not going to get a better answer than you fucked me in the ass without lube because it was
easy
?”

“It’s one company, Merrick. And it was in big trouble anyway. What do you care?”

“It was in big trouble because Todd had been skimming off the top for at least ten fucking years!”

Dean waggled his head around. “Yeah, well, that happens a lot.”

“You screwed everyone at the firm, Dean. Not just me. You screwed your partners.”

His expression grew hard. “They were pushing me out.”

That was news to Merrick. “Why?”

“I had lost my edge. I wasn’t motivated enough. I was too old-school. Take your pick. Younger blood. That’s the answer to everything these days.”

“Still not a good enough reason to fuck me, Dean.”

“Look. Todd approached me, okay? Not the other way around. It was a sure thing. Like you said, he’d been taking money out of the company for years. I have nothing left here. I’m in fucking debt up to my goddamn eyeballs, and that was never going away. Not while my ex-wives and kids drew breath. You wouldn’t understand. Everything you touch turns to gold.”

“You did that to yourself, Dean. None of that is my doing.”

“Then consider yourself collateral damage.”

Merrick had heard enough. He wasn’t getting anything else out of the man. Time to wash his hands of Dean Masters.

He turned off Dean’s mic and turned on Todd’s again. “So, what’s your story? Why did you do this to your daughter?”

“Oh give me a fucking break. The company belonged to her all of twenty-four hours. She didn’t want it. She never would have tried to run it. You got what you wanted. Shelton Energy.”

“You left it empty, Todd. I didn’t get shit.”

“You have Lynda.”

The leer on Todd’s face made Merrick want to find where this room was, go into it, and beat the shit out of Lynda’s father.

“By the way,” said Merrick, “she knows you lied to her about why I wanted to marry her. And she knows you lied to me about her reasons for doing this.”

Todd’s smug expression faltered for just a second, but it was enough for Merrick to confirm what he’d suspected. Todd hadn’t expected him and Lynda to confide in each other.

But then he shrugged. “Nothing I can do about that now.”

“Oh, and you should probably know this, too.” Merrick paused.
This
he would enjoy. “Had a little chat with your brothers after you disappeared.”

Todd’s expression grew wary. He likely didn’t know yet they were dead. “So?”

“So they told me some interesting things about you.”

“Just spit it out, Merrick.”

Merrick smiled. “You don’t like people playing head games with you, do you?”

“Oh, okay. I see now. This is where I get all remorseful, right? Tell you that I shouldn’t have fucked around with the money, or lied to you and Lynda. Blah, blah, blah.”

“They’ve disappeared, Todd.”

Todd finally shut the fuck up, but his face told Merrick he didn’t believe his brothers had gone anywhere.

“It’s true. No one has seen them for a couple of weeks. But last time I spoke with them, they told me how you watched them rape Lynda fourteen years ago during a party at your house. They also told me how you jacked off while letting them do that to your daughter.”

Todd stood and slammed his hands on the table. His face twisted into a mask of fury. Pete was in the room before Merrick could speak again.

“Time’s up,” said Pete, his voice angry and hard. Merrick didn’t give a shit. He had too much on Pete to worry about the agent holding this against him. Pete loved his job. He’d never do anything to jeopardize it.

Merrick turned off the mic and faced Pete. “Now he knows that I know. Thanks for setting this up, Pete.”

Pete sighed, looked like he was about to say something else, but merely shook his head instead. “You’d better get out of here. I’ll be in touch.”

Smart man, Pete. He knew when to shut the fuck up, and he knew who took good care of him.

****

While Merrick and Lynda waited for the wheels of justice to turn for her father and Dean, Merrick spent a lot of time staring out his office window, both at home and in the building where he rarely was these days.

Every day with Lynda was like a precious gift. He kept waiting for the bomb to drop, but it didn’t. She wasn’t going anywhere. She didn’t hate him. Each of them had divulged the dark secrets in their pasts to the other, yet she was still with him.

He thought a lot about what she’d suggested he do. Visit Theresa’s grave. Merrick had never been what anyone would call a devout Catholic. He had his own belief system that included hoping like hell God had a great sense of humor and good old-fashioned justice. He had never prayed to saints for their intercession, and he had never talked to the dead. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe they were somewhere else. It was that he simply had never understood what good it might do.

He’d done a lot of looking, and he’d never seen a ghost. He didn’t have a stash of cool paranormal activity stories to tell like most of his friends had collected by the time he’d been in middle school. Dead was dead, and nothing brought them back. Talking to the sky was no guarantee they heard you, and the few times he had tried it, it had given him no sense of peace or satisfaction.

He thought about asking Lynda if she wanted to come with him, but decided that was asking way too much of his new wife. On a rainy Tuesday, he told her he had to go out of town for most of the day, but would be home for dinner. He didn’t want her calling the office and then worrying when no one could find him.

Merrick waited for morning rush hour to subside, then had Tyler drive him to Fenwick, Connecticut. Theresa was buried on her family’s estate, in a small cemetery that was accessible from a public road, but only by those who knew where to look for it. It wasn’t marked, and it wasn’t guarded. Merrick wouldn’t have come if he believed there was any chance of running into a family member.

Tyler waited for him while Merrick made his way, sheltered from the rain with a large umbrella, toward the mausoleum. Once inside, he silenced his phone and lowered the umbrella, placing it on the concrete floor in the corner. Merrick wasn’t a superstitious man. He didn’t believe the dead bodies in here would care whether he had an open umbrella indoors.

He walked over to the stone marking Theresa’s grave, and sat down on the ornate bench closest to it. If the number of benches in this place was any indication, others believed as Lynda did, that talking to dead loved ones had therapeutic value.

“Well, love, here I am. It’s been a while.” Merrick felt incredibly foolish, so he pictured Lynda’s big blue eyes and that look on her face that said, “At least
try
it.”

“If you can see down here, you know I married again. You also know why. But here’s the thing, Theresa.” Merrick sighed, then glanced around. If anyone came in, he’d shut up. But no one was there. No one human, at any rate.

“Here’s the thing. I’m in love with her. It’s only been a couple of months, and I never thought I’d get here, but I did. I want you to know it doesn’t mean I don’t still love you.” Merrick sighed again. Fuck, this was hard to do.

“I will always love you. But I can love her, too, without it diminishing everything we shared. She says I shouldn’t blame myself for your death. Well, it might take me a while to stop doing so, but I want you to know…”

He swallowed hard against the sudden lump in his throat.
Fuck
. Why hadn’t Lynda told him how fucking emotional this would be?

“I want you to know I would turn back the clock if I could and stop it from happening. You didn’t deserve to die. You didn’t deserve to be gunned down like a thug.”

Merrick blew out a long, deep sigh to help his breathing slow down. “Theresa, I hope if you are up there somewhere and can hear me, and see me, you understand why I did what I did. I also hope you aren’t upset about Lynda. I had no choice but to marry her, and if you are watching, you also know the person who forced us both into this lied to us and betrayed us.”