Sharing Nicely (15 page)

“But I saw you and I knew I had to have you. So I jumped on my jet and kept checking my Twitter. I saw you get your designer frock and your hand-crafted mask and I knew you’d be going to one place tonight, and I was right.”

“Look, Darren, I don’t want to upset you, but why? Why’ve you done all this?” It was a long shot, but I wondered if maybe I could talk some sense into him.

“Why not? I tried my best to win you back, Kerry. I sent you so many gifts, I tried to show you just how much I cared, but you ignored it and you ended up with him. You chose that dull prat Greg over me. Clearly I needed to do something to prove to you that I love you more than he does.”

Darren sat beside me, uncomfortably close. I didn’t look at him, I kept looking straight ahead. I could see buildings, their shadows and the lit windows as they passed and I could hear the roar of the engine and the gargle of the water. I had no idea where we were going and had no way to escape.

“Look at me, Kerry,” he demanded. I turned my head. “I’m here to claim what is rightfully mine. I’m here to claim you.”

He pushed his face up against mine and kissed me. I kept stone still. I didn’t move forward or back but I did not return the kiss and he growled in frustration after he pulled away.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“What’s wrong?” I could feel the anger bubbling up inside me over the fear. “What’s wrong? Where the fuck do I start?”

“Language.” He pushed the gun into my side again and I sighed. I really wanted to give him a damn good tongue-lashing, but I couldn’t. I was at his mercy and that scared me to death. I swallowed down my anger and answered plainly and as dispassionately as I could.

“I don’t love you, Darren. I’m sorry, but that’s the truth.”

“How do you know?” he replied, his Scouse accent getting thicker with every sentence he uttered. “How can you say that when you’ve not even given me a decent chance?”

“Look, Darren, I know it’s difficult for you to see me with Greg and all but—”

“You can say that again,” he exclaimed. “That greasy bastard is no good for you, Kerry, trust me. He was my best mate once, did you know that, eh? Did yer?”

“No.” I shook my head. “I didn’t.” I hoped that if I kept him talking he’d drop his guard and I could grab his gun. Then the tables would be turned and maybe I could escape and make things all right again.

“Well, we were. We went to uni together. I helped Greg produce his first bit of useful code. A game. We were supposed to split the proceedings fifty-fifty but the bastard shafted me on it. Not only did he steal my game and my royalties, he was sleeping with my girlfriend at the time too, the girlfriend he knew I was going to propose to. So you know when I found out? On the day I was going to propose. He was making out with her on the beach where I’d arranged to meet Paula. I had the ring in my pocket and everything and Greg stood there and kissed her. He never even apologised. He just shrugged.”

How did I answer that? I didn’t, I kept quiet.

“So, you see, I’m doing you a favour. He didn’t stick with her, no, he threw her to the side once he’d ruined things for me. Can you see what he’s capable of? He’s only going to break your heart.”

“People change,” I replied succinctly.

“He hasn’t changed, Kerry, he’s just a charming git. He’ll be nice as pie while he wants something from you, then when he’s got it, he’ll leave you high and dry.”

“Well, thanks for the info, Darren, but I’m an adult. I can make my own decisions.”

“Clearly not,” he snapped back. “How could you pick him over me?”

“So it does come down to that, then. I picked him over you and you can’t stand it.”

“Yes, yes, it does. He’s a prick, Kerry.”

“Well, you’ve kidnapped me at gunpoint, Darren, what am I supposed to make of that?”

Just then the boat engine silenced and the taxi pulled up to a stop. Darren dug the gun into my side.

“Move it,” he growled.

I wondered if Greg had discovered I was missing as I stepped off the boat and walked just ahead of Darren who pressed his hand into the bottom of my back and his gun into my hip. I wondered what he’d be doing. Would he be looking for me? I had to hope so. I couldn’t see any way to save myself.

Darren led me to a house, nothing special, and he unlocked the door. I wondered about making a run for it, but it was too risky. My elegant skirts would hamper me and I was sure they’d be little protection from a speeding bullet.

Chapter Nine

I was a little surprised when Darren locked me in the upper room in the not-so-grand house and left me there. I did a thorough sweep of the area but found no way to escape or anything to use as a weapon. All that sat in the threadbare prison was a bed, just a simple divan, so no spindles to break or metal poles to unscrew. It didn’t even have a pillow or a duvet.

I sat on it once I’d worn myself out trying to open the window, a stupid plastic double-glazed affair that was disgustingly well fitted. I tried the door too, but it was thick and locked with several bolts, which I’d heard when he left and clicked them all shut.

You never expect to be kidnapped, I’m sure, but I certainly hadn’t been expecting my perfect, fairy tale trip to turn into a crime thriller. I was petrified but I knew that panicking and getting het up wouldn’t help me. I wanted to scream and shout and bawl—I did for a little while
—
but with the double glazing, thick doors and walls I was sure no one would hear me.

I didn’t know what Darren would do with me. I didn’t think he would be capable of killing me, but then he was the one with the gun and the plan. Would he hold me here against my will forever? Would he rape me? I’d taken a self-defence course when I first established Diamonds and I was pretty sure I could inflict some pain on him if I got the opportunity to do so, but if I did escape would I live forever in fear of him?

I had no way to record what was happening to me. The only people who’d seen us on the way out of the party had probably thought we were an average couple. There hadn’t been any hint that I was being forced from the party. The only person who might have seen anything was the guy who had picked us up in the water taxi, but I was sure he’d have been concentrating on steering and not looking over his shoulder to see what was happening in his boat.

I had lost all track of time. It was still dark out when Darren returned so I knew he’d not been gone for more than a few hours.

“Sorry about that.” He smiled menacingly when he came into the room. He locked the door behind him. It was just one key, one lock from the inside I noted, Maybe that would be my way out. “Business called, you know how it is.”

I didn’t answer. I didn’t even look up at him.

“So, where were we?” He came over and sat on the bed beside me.

My heart raced, my mouth felt dry and I felt a sudden stab of cold on the bottom of my back that seeped up through me to saturate my limbs. I shivered.

“Oh, are you cold?” Darren put his arm around me and I didn’t feel any warmer. I wanted to pull away but I could see that damn gun in his lap, grey and menacing.

“Darren,” I gasped, “what are you doing? I don’t understand.”

“I’m making you change your mind,” he said.

“Look, I can’t talk to you with that gun pointed at me. Take it away, please? Lock it away somewhere. What harm can I do you? You’ve got the upper hand even without the weapon.”

He looked at me, then down at the gun he cradled.

“Right, fine. I’ll be back in a minute.” He stood up, walked over to the door and let himself out. I let out a heavy sigh of breath. It wasn’t much more of a chance, but without the gun, I could talk to him and at least know I wasn’t going to end up instantly dead. I still wasn’t sure I could overpower him. Though I’d done that self-defence class years ago, I wasn’t a kung fu master by any stretch of the imagination.

When Darren returned he once again sat on the bed with me. “Right, go ahead. Talk.” He turned to me.

“Okay.” I worried my fingers together in my lap as I searched for what to say. He might not have a weapon pointed at me, but he was still an impulsive man well capable of striking out if he heard something he didn’t like. “I just want to know something first
—
do you really think this is a good way to persuade me I picked the wrong guy?”

“Well, clearly this is not the avenue I’d have chosen if you weren’t so damn stubborn. You wouldn’t answer my calls or emails and you’ve not been in your club for days. I was waiting there for you, I wanted to talk to you. I needed to get you alone. That is what I’ve now done.”

“But, Darren, you’ve violated any trust I had in you. You brought me here against my will. You could have talked to me at the Conte’s party.”

“Where he could walk in at any minute? I think not.” Darren scowled. It made him look truly ugly. I saw years of bitterness etched on his creased brow. “No, I needed to get you away from him.”

“If you had asked, I’d have arranged to meet you another time. I’m not heartless, you know. We could have arranged to meet up once I got home. We could have talked it all out like the grown-ups we’re meant to be.”

“Bullshit,” he hissed, the sibilance of his accent running through the last syllable and spattering spittle in its intensity. “You’d just go back to ignoring me. I couldn’t risk that, I couldn’t leave you with him, knowing what he could do to you.”

“Greg would never hurt me,” I responded flatly, not wanting to raise my voice and upset my captor. “I know you don’t like him, but really and truthfully, is this about your concern about my well-being or is it more about you being jealous?”

Darren sat silently for a moment. The bitterness was clearly evident in his relaxed features. Maybe I hadn’t noticed them before, but now I could see the dark marks of jealousy and hate evident in the way he held his jaw and ensconced deep within him. I saw it in his eyes.

“I can’t deny that I’m envious of him. I can’t deny that I’m pissed off that you picked him over me, but that isn’t all of it. He is a seriously twisted man, Kerry.”

“Can’t you see the irony in that?” I laughed with hysteria. “You’re the one who kidnapped me.”

“Don’t laugh,” he whispered and shot his hand out to grip my upper arm painfully tight.

“Sorry.” I took a breath and stopped myself.

“I haven’t kidnapped you,” he continued. “You are free to leave whenever you like.”

“Then I’d like—”

“No, no, you have to hear me out first. You’ve not even tried to see it from my point of view, Kerry. I’m seriously disappointed in you. I thought you were different, I thought you were someone special. I thought we could have a future together. That’s why I agreed to share you that night, because I wanted to get closer to you and I was willing to do anything to get you.”

His words were chilling, though they sounded like they’d come straight from a romantic novel. The emotion behind them wasn’t love, it was obsession. I kept silent.

“I was so good to you, Kerry. I treated you like a queen. I’d give you anything, absolutely anything you want. All you need to do is choose me. Forget him, resist his smarmy lure and you’ll be happy. I’ll make you happy, Kerry.”

I shook my head.

“Darren, I make my own happiness. I don’t need a man to make me happy. I don’t need a man to buy me things, I don’t need a man to be whole. I am the one who dictates my happiness. I make my decisions and I won’t take bribes and I won’t be forced to make a decision I don’t want. This is coercion, Darren. This is madness. I don’t want you, get it?”

Sadness ripped across his face and mingled with the bitterness etched there. I didn’t know what he was capable of, so I thought before I said anything more.

“Look, I know it’s difficult. I shouldn’t have led you both on in the first place. I was greedy. I was in the wrong. However, I made my decision, Darren, and I stand by it.”

“Maybe this will change your mind.” Darren kissed me.

He pushed me back and I fell across the bed beneath him. I couldn’t return the kiss, I couldn’t stand the weight of him above me, but a crazed idea zoomed into my mind and instinct made me go with it. As Darren settled above me, his thighs split around me. I scrambled back. He followed and we twisted and turned until we were in the centre of the bed, head to the wall.

He continued to kiss me. I lifted my hands and gripped his hips. Then with all my might I lifted my knee and struck him directly in the nuts and at the same moment I braced my arms and forced his body forward until I heard the crunch of his head hitting the wall.

I was a little surprised when he slumped onto me. I’d been expecting a fight, maybe to have to hit his head a couple of times more. Maybe I didn’t know my own strength.

I had to use it all to flip him off me. I stuck my hand into his pocket and pulled out his keys. I paused for a moment and checked he was breathing with my hand over his mouth. He was. I rolled him onto his side, not quite in the recovery position but it would keep him from swallowing his own tongue while he was out cold.

Yeah, he was a bastard but I didn’t want to kill him. I scrambled through the keys, hands trembling, and found the one that fitted in the lock. I turned it, opened the door and ran, as well as I could in my dress. I ran down the stairs and into the street.