Slow Release (Ebony and Ivory Book 1) (18 page)

Skye

Puffy white clouds carried me on blissful wings of euphoria. The clanging of something metal called to my senses and beckoned me to focus on my surroundings. For some reason, I couldn’t connect the dots and form a rational thought. Just giving in to the pleasure my senses were experiencing seemed like the easiest thing to do. I heard someone call out my name, but the voice was unfamiliar.

“Skye, I want you to rest. You’re home now. As long as you behave and do as I say, I can ensure your safety.”

“Damon?”

“No! My name is… well, I don’t think that’s important right now. Just get some rest, and we’ll discuss why you’re here when you’re more coherent.”

I wasn’t going to argue with whoever this stranger was. My body was winning the war going on in my head right now. I closed my eyes and gave in to the exhaustion rolling over me in waves. I’d just take a little rest, and then I would figure out why I was here, where here was, and who that kind stranger was that’s here with me.

Damon

“What the fuck do you mean you can’t find her?”

“Sir, no one has seen her since the first runway walk. We did find the heel of one of the shoes she was wearing. It was broken off, and one of the employees noted the back door was unlocked. Is there any chance she would leave and go anywhere on her own?”

“She has nowhere to go. She’s from Haiti, so she doesn’t even know her way around New York.” I turned, ignoring the woman who wasn’t giving me any answers, and directed my attention to the man qualified to do so.

“I want those security tapes, Jerome.”

“I’m already on it, though, I can tell you right now, we’ll get a hell of a lot more accomplished at the house with Marcus working on this than we will here.”

“I agree, let’s go. They don’t even know what the fuck is going on. I’m certain it was pure chaos back here during the show.” In hindsight, the reason I stayed away is the exact reason I should have been here monitoring what was going on—the chaos.

The Stalker

I never counted on bonding with her. The plan was simple. I wanted to kill her. It was supposed to be her death to exact revenge on the man who killed my sister. It wasn’t enough for Damon just to kill my sister outright. No, first he killed her childhood dream. Then, there was the slow, agonizing descent into an abyss of anxiety and depression. Ultimately, she had decided there was only one way out.

Would it hurt him more if he knew the love of his life was alive but with another man? I’m guessing it would with his massive ego, and that is what I was counting on. I knew it wasn’t really fair to take Skye’s life. She was never part of the destruction Damon wreaked on my family. However, I did think it appropriate recompense that I took her from him. He did, after all, take the one and only thing I ever cared about from me.

I reached over and picked up the phone, simultaneously turning on a device that would record the conversation. I knew it would bring me much pleasure to listen to the recording in the future. I wanted to hear the agony in his voice after I revealed to the omnipotent Damon D’Angelo that I had his woman, and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it. Now, I was the one with all the power, and I was going to savor every morsel of misery I brought him. This moment was years in the making, trying to find a way to hurt the man who held sentiments for no one. Little did he realize that when he fell in love, he became weak, and I was going to use that weakness against him.

I knew Damon all too well. He was narcissistic, and he would do what he always did when he got himself in a bind; he would try to buy his way out. This time, his money and power couldn’t save him. I wanted to see him hurt. When he killed my sister, I was devastated, and I wanted him to feel that same level of pain I endured.

Damon

He waited to call, just like I knew he would. Like a strange premonition, I immediately knew it was him when the phone rang.

“Damon, do you know who I am? Because you should; you should know exactly who I am.”

“I’m afraid I don’t, and it seems that puts you at an advantage. You know me, but I don’t know you.”

“How cliché of you. I’ll tell you exactly who I am. I’m the brother of the model you killed.”

As soon as he said that, I knew the man I was dealing with.

“I didn’t kill her.”

“I beg to differ. You didn’t push her from the ledge, but when she jumped from one of your buildings, that should have clued you in that the agony she was forced to endure was of your making.”

The woman he was speaking of had modeled for me years ago. We had to let her go when she became unstable after refusing to take her prescribed meds. Even after she was screened for mental issues, and we found out she was bipolar and had bouts of depression, we agreed to hire her if she promised to stay on her meds. It was only a matter of time before she went back on that promise and started causing problems for the agency. She started missing photo shoots, and then there were the outbursts. In the end, it was the drug use that finally forced our hand into letting her go. When some of the models she worked with made major covers and she didn’t because of her drug use, it was her undoing. I was contacted late in the evening one night when she jumped to her death from one of our high-rise buildings. From her choice of building, I knew she was sending me a message that she blamed me for her derailed career.

“You’re her brother, right? I met you at the funeral, didn’t I?”

“You think a fucking bouquet of flowers got you off the hook? She was all I had, and you took her from me! Now, I'm taking what you love. I’m going to make your life a living hell. You are finally going to pay for all your sins. You’ve used women and thrown them to the side when you were finished. You’ve taken their dreams and shattered them, and you ultimately cost my sister her life. I’m going to make you suffer. It’s going to be a slow, agonizing, and torturous journey, and I’m going to use her to do it.”

The click on the other end of the line signified he hung up on me. I had what I needed anyway. I now knew the name of the man I was dealing with. This bastard just signed his death warrant by making the mistake of letting me know his identity.

It wasn’t going to be me suffering through the torture of not knowing how this sick game he was playing would end. I knew exactly what the outcome would be… and that was his body, six feet under in a pine fucking box.

Skye

I sat up and suspiciously eyed the man walking towards me with a tray in his hand. I pulled at my arm in an effort to get more comfortable, momentarily forgetting it was attached to a chain. I winced in pain when the thick manacle bit into my wrist.

“When I can trust you, perhaps I’ll allow you to eat unfettered.”

I found myself quite confused by the smile and affable demeanor of this stranger who took me against my will. His friendliness did nothing to put my mind at ease because I knew anyone crazy enough to kidnap a woman was dangerous. However, I also knew if I could convince him that I trusted him, I might be able to use it against him.

“Why am I here?” I looked at the tray and was pondering whether or not he drugged my food. His next statement told me he must have been able to read my expression.

“If I wanted to drug you, I’d just do it. I’m not a man given to hiding my motives. You’re here as payment for your boyfriend’s sins.”

I leaned in to take the spoonful of soup he held up for me before I answered. “Offenses? What did he do?” I was waiting for him to say something like he had stolen the man’s girlfriend, so I wasn’t prepared for what he did say.

“He murdered my sister.”

“I can’t believe he would do something like that.”

“Many times, people aren’t what they portray to the outside world. You have to remember, in Damon’s world, image is everything. Damon presents himself as a powerful business mogul, but in reality, he’s just as tainted as the rest of us are. We all have our own demons we have to battle, Skye, and now his past has caught up with him.”

For just a second, I saw the deception in his eyes. If I could assure him that I believed him and, over time, convince him he was winning me over, maybe I’d get out of this alive, possibly even escape.

“Can you tell me what happened?”

“I’d be more than happy to fill you in on who Damon D’Angelo really is. Much like you, my sister always dreamt of becoming a model. She was doing quite well until one of the other models lied about her and said she wasn’t taking her medication. After Damon fired her, she went into a deep depression and jumped from the rooftop of one of his buildings.”

His demeanor went cold as he leaned in and hissed, “She was all I had. He took everything from me, and I’m going to do the same to him.”

“Are you going to kill me?”

“That, young lady, is completely up to you. If you do as I ask, you’ll be safe. My beef isn’t with you; it’s with your boyfriend. You’ll learn to love me and let go of his memory eventually.”