Deadly obsession, p.14
Deadly Obsession, page 14
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Jake responded without hesitation. When it came to bluffing and a poker face, he had learned it all when he fought in underground tournaments. Defeating an opponent was as much a psychological as well as physical battle. He had carried on the trait in the boardroom. The only person who threw him into a tailspin was Ella, who was currently frozen and pale as a white sheet.
“Ella?” Jake gripped her hands. They were cold.
Her glassy eyes lifted to his. “I remember.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
“I drank some tea when I came home. It made me dizzy.”
Ella’s voice was toneless as if she were in a trance.
“I thought Samuel had come home early because the light was on in the study, so I walked in to see him before I retired for the night. I wasn’t feeling well.”
“Baby, you don’t have to do this right now.”
“Yes, I do,” Ella said firmly, turning her head to look at him. “That night has eluded me for months. I’m not going to stick my head in the sand now that I remember.” She shifted her gaze back to Sawyer. “I was struck from behind and I fell. The light went off. Then I was dragged to my feet and slammed into a wall. After that it was blurry. The beating was relentless. I was caught off guard and wasn’t able to defend myself except scratching my assailant’s face.”
Jensen, he should have had him killed. A part of Jake hoped the bastard was alive so he could cut off his fingers and feed them to him.
“Do you remember Jensen at all?” Sawyer asked.
“My vision wasn’t clear since I was bleeding from my forehead and it was dark,” Ella recounted as a shudder rippled through her body. “I faintly remember when my attacker left the room. I don’t know how long I lay there. I thought I heard the front gates open. I crawled to the door and that was when Jensen came back for me I guess. I don’t remember much after that.”
“You were unconscious when they brought you into the hospital,” Sawyer told Ella. “We knew Clayton cut his trip short. We knew he was determined to put a stop to your affair with Jake.”
Jake couldn’t explain the anger raging through him. A killing rage. He’d never felt such extreme anger before, not even as an underground fighter. It was the need to destroy. Back then he still had the presence of mind not to kill his opponent even if it was allowed. If he was set loose right now, two men would meet their maker. Jensen for hurting his woman, and Clayton for even thinking of coming between him and Ella.
No regrets.
No conscience.
Total annihilation.
“Jensen took Ella to the hospital and timed it to tie in with Clayton’s arrival, so he could frame him?” Aron asked.
“Correct. Piecing the events together, I suspect he had a car parked in the back of the house, loaded Ella up and waited until Clayton entered the house to make his escape. He knew the security rotations and was able to elude them as well.”
“Talk about not knowing what’s going on in your own house,” Aron muttered. “But why would an agent of the FBI do such a thing?”
“I have my suspicions that Jensen is on the payroll of an enemy of Clayton. My money again is on The Guild,” Sawyer replied. “It would really help, Hopper, if you were upfront about what you know about Jensen.”
“Got nothing to say,” Jake responded with the same nonchalant tone. Knowing what he knew now, retribution was his. He would call on all his resources to hunt down that piece of shit.
It must have shown in his eyes.
“Fuck,” Sawyer muttered. “You better not go vigilante, Hopper.”
“Jake,” Ella pleaded, her fingers curling tightly around his.
He smiled at Ella to reassure her, but must have failed because she was still frowning at him. It was a compulsion, the need to keep her safe.
He loved her.
There was nothing he wouldn’t do to keep her from harm. There were no lengths he wouldn’t take to keep her forever by his side and yes, he would obliterate any obstacle or person in his way.
*****
Ella fluffed the freshly washed linen on the bed. The faint scent of lavender wafted to her nose and she smiled in contentment. It had been a week since the rendezvous with Agent Sawyer. Aron had returned to Napa Valley right after the meeting as planned.
There were still unanswered questions, and Jake hadn’t been forthcoming about any information he had about Jensen. God knows Marcus had circled back enough to Jake and asked him in different ways, but Jake had not cracked. It was a new side to him Ella had never seen. He was always passionate with her, the expression on his face clear on what he was feeling. But in front of the FBI agent, Jake had his game-face on, which certainly frustrated Marcus.
Ella smoothed out the bed sheet against the mattress. Now it was just she and Jake in this house, making the most of the lull in the news—good and bad. She never thought she could have a normal relationship, although it was weird that she and Jake were already living together. She was infinitely surprised how they had fallen into each other’s habits and routines. Oh, cohabiting wasn’t always smooth. For example, sharing the bathroom with Jake took getting used to because he was such a guy. He wasn’t filthy or anything but had the habit of dropping towels everywhere. He’d been better about putting his dirty clothes in the hamper after she hadn’t picked up after his mess and did a load of laundry without the ones from the floor. A smile curved her lips as she remembered that day.
Jake had come home from a run and found her in the laundry room and gave her a kiss, sweaty and all, before disappearing into the bedroom. A few seconds later, he came back with an arm load of the clothes that had been on the floor. He was also naked. And naked Jake, with sweat curling his dark hair, and wearing a frown was very, very sexy in a primal, fuck-me-hard kind of way. “Baby, you forgot these.”
“Oh, were they dirty?” Ella responded innocently.
His eyes narrowed. “Were you not doing our laundry? I didn’t realize we were doing our own. Are there rules in our relationship that I should be aware of?”
“Yes. If the clothes are not in the hamper, they’re not going to get washed.”
“Huh,” Jake remarked conversationally. His eyes had grown predatory, the effect immediately felt between her legs. He lowered the clothes on top of the washing machine, never taking his eyes off her.
Uh-oh.
His cock was already at half-mast and Ella tried her best not to ogle his particularly impressive body part. He stepped forward, trapping her against the appliance with both arms on either side of her. He leaned in and said softly, “I have rules for you. You give me attitude here in the laundry room, guess what?”
“What?” Ella asked breathlessly, though she was pretty sure what was about to happen and yet couldn’t resist sassing him some more. “Maybe you should stand back a little. You’re kind of sweaty, you—”
She didn’t get to finish her statement, because she squealed just as he dug his fingers into her hips and boosted her on top of the washing machine. Her yoga pants and panties were quickly discarded. He dragged her butt to the edge of the machine, thrusting inside her balls deep with no warning. The slight burn and rawness with how he pushed inside her robbed her of coherent speech. And as he fucked her on top of the machine that was running a load, she could only moan and take what he gave her.
A slamming door on the third floor jolted Ella out of her erotic recollection of the laundry room incident. Jake had been working around the house this week, making repairs and restoring architectural accents like crown moldings. She watched him work sometimes, admiring the ripples of muscle under his shirt as he worked pieces of wood between the circular saw or hammered a decorative piece into the wall. She liked a man who knew how to work with his hands.
Ella blushed. Their sexual relationship developed at an accelerated pace because Jake made sure they did it frequently and lengthily. He took his time with her, paying attention with what worked and deftly weaning her from her need for pain. He approached her conditioning like an addiction. He gave her low doses of pain in the form of well-placed love bites or a resounding slap to her buttocks. It wasn’t the cold, clinical detachment of master-submissive relationship or a sadist-masochist one she was used to. She basked and thrived in vanilla sex, which could be rough or gentle with a very, very dominant male who had a penchant for dirty talk.
This wasn’t to say she was fixed. Far from it. Like an addict, she could relapse, but her eight months of celibacy hastened Jake’s brand of sex therapy for curing her masochistic cravings.
Arms banded around her and she jumped.
“Hey, baby.”
“Jake!” Ella screeched. “How many times have I told you not to sneak up on me?”
He nuzzled her neck. “Sorry, I never get enough. There’s always this urge to do bad things to you. Like toss you over my shoulder, take you somewhere, and debase you.”
Ella cast him a side glance and said, “Do you have a pirate fetish or something?”
Jake grinned at her. “Maybe. Are you my booty? The virgin captive for me to taint and tarnish with my erect member?”
Both of them burst out laughing at the archaic term.
“Oh, my God? What have you been reading?”
He shot her an affronted look. “I don’t read those trashy historical novels, if that’s what you’re asking. I think it was a TV show Leslie was watching one time.”
At the mention of his ex-wife, Ella suddenly became uncomfortable. She didn’t know why. They were divorced. It wasn’t as if she stole him from her.
“Hey.” Jake gave her a squeeze. “We’ll have to work on talking about our exes without you freezing up or me going postal. It’ll be uncomfortable, but we’ll navigate that road without ruining what we have. Get me, baby?’
Ella nodded.
“All this is new to me, Ella,” Jake said quietly. “I don’t know about you, but what I feel for you is all-consuming, blinding, and exhilarating. I feel a high that should frighten me because if I crash, I don’t think I can ever recover. I look forward to every day with you.” He buried his face in the crook of her neck and inhaled deeply. Ella thought she heard him whisper forever.
*****
Freedom.
Samuel Clayton squinted at the sun. His team of lawyers and security flanked him as he made his way down the courthouse steps. He had one last meeting with the judge and the District Attorney before all charges were dropped. Almost nine months incarcerated for crimes he didn’t commit. He would never hurt Ella to such extent. He didn’t bury those bodies found on his estate. He had a hunch though who was trying to frame him.
The Guild.
They had been trying to get rid of Samuel because he protected him. Those stupid fools. Because of their interference, Samuel had lost total control of him and now he was in the wind. Samuel shared all his women with him. All except Ella, and that had angered him.
Samuel was sure Ella was alive. His private investigators found nothing. They had also kept tabs on Jake Hopper who had disappeared a month ago. His excuse was a leave of absence, but even his office didn’t know where he was. Hopper was with Ella. Samuel knew this. A knot of anger and jealousy twisted in his stomach.
He needed to play his cards carefully. Loyalty to him or Samuel’s obsession with Ella. If he was careless, this could prove fatal to everyone involved.
His investigator managed to track down Agent Jensen, but the man vanished before they could get any information out of him. Even the FBI, specifically Marcus Sawyer, was looking for that little shit.
Samuel’s only hope was to flush out Jake Hopper. It was time for Ella Michel to come back from the dead. He had another hand to play. It could get messy, but he would worry about that when the time came.
His Mercedes was waiting for him at the bottom of the steps. An attractive woman, dressed smartly in a business suit, exited from the passenger side. Leslie Hopper, Jake’s ex-wife and Samuel’s latest pawn in this game to take back what was his.
Ella.
*****
“I hate to be the bearer of bad news again.”
Jake stiffened at Rick’s tone. He knew Samuel had been released a few days ago, but he and Ella agreed to avoid all media coverage. Doing so wasn’t hard because it had not made national news and had been concentrated more on the DC/Northern Virginia network.
“What’s going on, Rick?”
“Fuck, I don’t know how to tell you. Definitely bad news. I don’t see a silver lining in this.” His friend continued to stall.
Jake tried to quell his rising agitation. His friend had always been a straight shooter in business conversations and usually didn’t hedge with personal ones either. So this beating around the bush had to be personal and very bad.
“Leslie is seeing Clayton again,” Rick blurted out.
Jake didn’t immediately respond because his brain didn’t quite compute what Rick had said.
“Wait,” Jake bit harshly. “Did I hear you right? Are you saying Clayton and Leslie are what? Dating? Hooking up?”
“Dating it seems. They’ve been seen at trendy restaurants lately celebrating his release from prison. There are rumors he is suing the feds and the DA for entrapment and planting evidence.”
“You mean the bodies? I thought the reason those charges were dropped was because they were able to prove Agent Jensen snooped around for the FBI before a warrant was ever issued, thereby striking that evidence as inadmissible.”
“I thought so, too. But Leslie is saying Samuel never committed those murders.”
“And what the fuck is Leslie thinking?” Jake asked tersely. “That woman is in denial. Clayton is a predator.” He just couldn’t understand his ex-wife. Not wanting to press charges was one thing, but going back to a man who had abused her?
“Believe me, man, I tried to talk some sense into her. She’s insisting Clayton hasn’t done anything she didn’t agree to.”
“Christ, it seems I don’t know her at all,” Jake muttered. What a clusterfuck. His back was against the wall. “Can Anne talk to her?”
“You can be damn sure I don’t want my wife within any striking distance of Clayton,” Rick growled. “There’s nothing we can do, and you know it.”
“If I try to talk her out of seeing Clayton, she may see it as a sign that I’m jealous and want her back,” Jake said, mulling the situation. “Ella might see it the same way. If I don’t do anything, Clayton will insinuate himself into Leslie’s life, see her at the office, and will be around me. That son of a bitch will be two degrees of separation from Ella.”
His friend’s silence was rife with sympathy.
Jake rubbed his face in frustration. “I need to come back.”
“What about Ella?”
“What do you mean?”
“Are you leaving her in San Francisco?”
“Hell no,” Jake grunted. The thought of being away from Ella for any length of time was enough to make him lose his mind.
“Um, sorry to remind you, buddy, but there’s a serial killer on the loose obsessed with her.”
“I’m buying a condo no one knows about. Not Leslie, not even Leah.” Jake knew he could trust his PA, but he’d prefer to limit the number people knowing about it until he had security firmly in place. “I’m handling all the paperwork myself. Ella’s been chomping at the bit to return to DC, refusing to hide from this fucker any longer. She’s got this insane idea that the deaths of those girls are on her.”
“She can’t blame herself for the actions of a madman,” Rick exclaimed.
“Believe me, we’ve argued and fought about it. I can’t hold her off any longer. The condo’s security is top-notch, and I’m hiring some bodyguards to be with her when I’m not.” Which would be a rare occasion, Jake thought to himself.
“Sounds like you have it all figured out. Want me to send a request to the firm handling our security?” Rick asked.
“No. I’m not using anyone who may be linked to Steele Construction.”
“Uh, I don’t get it.”
“Think about it, Rick. Clayton taking Leslie back may be an act of desperation. What makes you think he’s not watching our company like a hawk? Why do you think I insisted on keeping secure lines between us? Ella may want to put herself out there, but it doesn’t mean I’m not going to protect her like fucking Fort Knox. I am not risking Clayton putting his own men inside a security company we’re using.”
“Who are you going to use?”
“Best you don’t know,” Jake clipped. “And it’s not because I don’t trust you, Rick.”
“Fuck, man, don’t do it.”
“You don’t know what I’m going to do.”
“I’ve a pretty good idea,” Rick shot back roughly.
“Relax, man. I got this.”
After a drawn out resigned sigh, Rick agreed.
Jake ended the call and immediately tapped another number on his phone.
A brusque voice came on the line.
“Hopper, not expecting your call so soon.”
“Salvatore, I need another favor.”
“Your favors are piling up, my friend,” the boss of the Lazzari crime family said.
“I’m good for it,” Jake replied calmly.
Salvatore snorted. “That you are. What do you need?”
*****
“We need to stop meeting like this.”
Ella had been trying to reach the special blend of spices on the top shelf when an arm reached over her, picked up said item, and handed it to her. She turned and stared up into blue-green eyes. It was Goatee Guy from the food emporium.
Ella wanted to cook something special for Jake tonight, but didn’t want to buy bottles of individual spices. This specialty kitchen store, which was down the corner from Jake’s house, already had them mixed in a usable sachet.
“Thanks again,” Ella answered, pasting on her sincerest smile even when she wanted to slink away because there was no misinterpreting the blatant interest in the man’s eyes. “Have a good day,” she mumbled and quickly walked to the cash register. Jake never wanted her to leave the house by herself. She fully understood his concerns with a serial killer on the loose, even when he was wreaking havoc on the other side of the country. Ella normally wore large-framed sunglasses and a hat when she left the house. She snuck out when Jake was on the third floor fixing stuff and had forgotten to don her disguise this time.
