Temptation: a billionaire erotic romance (20 page)

“Be safe,” she said, touching her cheek.

Ellen returned to the car, keeping the engine quiet as she started it again.  She drove off slowly and silently, leaving Serena in the dead night.  After a few moments, she was totally gone and out of sight, off to rally the troops.

Serena sighed and began hiking towards the warehouse. 

Here goes nothing.

*****

Serena found the door at the back after a long trek and a few minute of searching.  She pressed her ear against the wall, ignoring the sweat that dripped down her forehead and the aching in her feat.  Total silence.  Or so it seemed.  Surely Jacques wasn’t here totally alone?

Of course he wasn’t, she realized.  That must have been what the row of cars were in the front.  Harlow was just arriving then—Val hadn’t been given over yet.  Her heart leapt.  There was still time.  She could still save him.

Carefully, she pulled the door open, wincing when she heard a slight creak.  She froze, terrified for a moment that an army was about to track her down and shoot her on the spot.  But there was nothing.  No one had heard her.  Luck really was on her side tonight.  She took a deep breath and slipped inside.

The inside of the warehouse was just as gloomy as the outside.  The floors were harsh, cold cement, and the walls were dark gray.  There was little lighting.  A flickering overhead light dimly lit the center of the room, but the edges were totally covered in shadows. 

At first, Serena cursed the darkness, sure that it would make it impossible to find Val.  But then she realized what a gift this was: she could creep around the warehouse totally undetected, as unseen and silent as a ghost, shrouded by the darkness of the shadowed walls. 

She thanked her lucky stars.

 Sure enough, there was a door across from her that led to another dark hallway full of doors.  She followed Ellen’s instructions as far as she could remember them, keeping to the dark walls and listening for any sign of life.

She froze when she heard movement in the next room.  At first she was sure she would die, but the sound stayed put.  It wasn’t moving—it was staying put in the middle of the room.

Carefully, she crept to the room, keeping her ear against the door.  No more movement, just her and the person in the middle of the room.  And he wasn’t moving enough to be Jacques or Harlow, surely. 

And it was … groaning?

Val
? she thought, her mind buzzing.

Unable to stop herself now, she pushed inside the room, risking everything for what might be beyond the door.

Her jaw dropped when she saw what the room held.

Serena stepped inside, keeping her hand to the wall but her eyes fixed on the figure in the middle of the room.  It was tied to a chair, the head of it limp and looking down.  There was only a flickering light above it, but Serena swore she knew who it was.  She looked closer, becoming more sure every second, yet still unable to believe it.

It was someone very important, but it wasn’t Val.

“Harry?” she breathed as she approached.

There was rustling in the middle of the room, and the figure lifted its head up.  The light was too dim to tell for sure, but then his eyes opened, and he began to look around wildly.

Sure enough, the face belonged to a very confused, very worn out Harry Nicoletti.

“I
knew
it,” he moaned to himself.  “I knew I’d start hallucinating.  I heard it on TV once, on one of those doctor shows.  You didn’t give me enough water, now I’m hallucinating.  I have dehydation.”

“Dehyd
ra
tion, you idiot,” she hissed, staying to the dark sides of the room.  She edged along the side, still hiding in the shadows, waiting for a guard or maybe even Harlow himself to jump out from the door and kill both of them. 

Surely they had heard them.  Stupid Harry, who never stopped babbling, even when he was on the edge of death in the most dangerous situation in his life.

She paused, then had to stifle a laugh. 

Jesus, even in the evil lair of a quasi-supervillain, she still had to rag on her little brother. 

“Even my hallucinations are critics,” Harry grumbled to himself, struggling against his restraints.  “Listen, as long as you’re gonna talk, you might as well keep me company.  Any good stories to tell?”

“Harry, I’m not a hallucination,” she snapped.  “I’m your sister.  Did you see if they put a key anywhere?”

“I know you’re supposed to be my sister,” he said.  “Don’t know why my subconscious wants me to be nagged so much.”

“Oh for God’s sake,” she breathed.  She glanced around once more, making sure there were no cameras or surveillance equipment around that could catch her.  When she was sure she was clear, she slipped out from the shadows.  “Harry, I’m over here.”

Harry didn’t turn his head, still babbling on about hallucinations.  With a frustrated groan, she marched up to him, turned his head in her hand, and put her face next to his.

“Now do you believe me?” she asked with an exasperated sigh. 

His eyes grew wide.

“Serena?”

“No, I’m the Queen of England. 
Of course I’m Serena
.”

He harrumphed. 

“Biting sarcasm?  Definitely Serena.”

“Now where’s the key?” she whispered, tugging against the restraints that held him to the chair. “I don’t have all day, we have to get this done before they get back.”

“I think it’s over there in that cabinet.  And don’t worry, they won’t get back until way later, they’re doing something.”

Serena walked to the cabinet, searching it for open drawers or the sound of rattling from the inside.  “You’re acting awfully calm about this,” she said as she searched it.  “Considering you’ve been gone for months, and considering I’ve shown up out of the blue.  What’s up with you?”

“Well,” Harry said, leaning back.  “I guess it’s mostly that I don’t really believe this is happening.  I’m probably dreaming.  Or hallucinating,” he added with a thoughtful look.

“No.  Nope.  We’re not going back to that,” Serena said.

She heard a metallic rattling in the bottom of the drawer and yanked against it.  Locked, damn it.  She reached into her purse and pulled out the hairpin she had grabbed before leaving.  She slipped it into the lock, moving it around expertly until she heard the sound of an unlocking click.

“I mean,” Harry continued babbling, oblivious to what was happening, “It only makes sense that you’re not real.  This whole thing is too bizarre.”

Serena rolled her eyes and marched to him.  His wrists were bound behind him on the back of the chair, and they looked as if they had been like that for a good long while.

“Would a hallucination be able to do this?” she asked, opening the wrist restraints’ lock with a click. 

Harry brought up his newly freed wrists to his eyes to inspect them.  They were red and bruised, but now they were undeniably free.  He turned them over in the dim light as if he wasn’t totally sure they were really his.

“I guess not,” he murmured.

“Good,” Serena said, working her way down the locks as she freed him.  “Listen, what did you mean they won’t get back until later?  Is something big happening?”

“Yeah, they were talking about it in the hall earlier,” Harry said, standing up on wobbly feet.  He tested his legs for a minute in a short walk around the room.  “They brought some man in earlier, somebody they really didn’t like.  The two ones in charge, they chained him up in the room around the corner.  I figure it’s something big, but I didn’t hear too much.”

Serena’s heart pounded.  “Really?  You’re sure?”

“Oh yeah,” said Harry, oblivious as ever.  “They were torturing him a while ago.  At least it sounded like a him.”

She squeezed her eyes shut.

Shit.

“The two ones in charge,” she said, surprised she could even get a word out, let alone a full sentence.  “What do you mean by that?  Do you know their names?”

“Yup.  The one who’s been around a lot, he’s named Harlow.  And the other one is something French.  Jean or something.”

“You mean Jacques?” she breathed.

“Oh, yeah,” said Harry, still as sunny as ever, completely unaware of how completely his sister was collapsing before him.  “Do you know him?”

“Yes,” Serena said slowly.  “I think I do.”

Harry’s expression changed, catching on. 

“And the tortured guy, then?  You know him too?” he asked.

“Yes.  Sort of.”

“Like acquaintance-know or ….”

“More than that,” she said, shaking her head.  She rested it against the cool metal of the wall, hardly able to believe this was happening.  God, she should have known. 

“Serena, are you okay?”

“Where is he?” she asked.  “Which room did you say it was?”

“The one across from here,” Harry said, his tone changed to one of concern.  “They’re gone for now, but they’ll be back soon.  Especially if they’ve heard us.  Serena….”

“Harry, you need to get out of here.”  She snapped out of it, shaking her head furiously.  “Go through that back door and head for the woods.  Run as fast as possible.  There will be a woman named Ellen in an Aston Martin waiting for you with an army.”

“An army?” he asked, incredulous.

“Yes, an army.  You need to find her and stay with her.  I’ll be back as soon as possible, okay?”

“You’re not seriously going to stay here?” he asked, panicked.  “Serena, they’ll kill you!”

“They’ll kill the both of us if you keep raising your voice like that,” she hissed.  “Now go!”

Harry hesitated, keeping his feet planted on the floor.  But when he saw Serena’s expression, he knew there was no stopping her.  He nodded shortly.

“I’ll be waiting,” he threatened.  “And if you’re not out in an hour, I’m busting in like Braveheart.”

She groaned, punching his arm lightly like they used to do when they were kids.  “And the sad thing is, I know you’re stupid enough to do it.”

She watched him slip out of the warehouse, leaving her alone with the darkness.

And Val
, she remembered.

Immediately, she darted to the door Harry has described, no longer even attempting to be subtle.  Val was in trouble, and she had to save him.  If Harlow or Jacques found her, well, that was going to happen anyway.  At least she would have gotten to see Val one last time before dying.

She slipped into the room, and her eyes widened.

“Val,” Serena gasped.

Val didn’t move, still crumpled on the floor, his body covered in bruises and scrapes.  Serena felt her heart pounding and tears rising to her eyes, unable to stop them.  She rushed to Val’s crumpled body, her hands shaking. 

“Val, please,” she whispered.  “Please wake up.”

For a moment, there was nothing.  Serena almost gave up.

Then one of Val’s fingers twitched.

“Val?” Serena asked with new hope.

Slowly and shakily, Val raised his head, his hair matted with blood and covering his bruised and broken face.  Serena’s breath caught as she saw him.  Two black eyes, a busted lip.  His nose was out of place, as if someone had punched and broken it. 

She tiled his head, hoping to see something change, as if his broken face was just a trick of the lighting.  But no.  He remained bruised and cut, a man who had been through hell and back.  Serena dropped her head on top of his, pulling him to her chest and hugging him to her fiercely. 

“Oh Val,” she murmured.

“Serena,” he croaked, a long and labored sound that broke her heart.  “Y—you have to … to leave….”

“No,” she said, her voice hard.  “I’m not leaving without you.”

“Please….”

“Val, listen,” she whispered with new fierceness.  She pulled his head away so that he could look into her eyes.  “I’ve brought Ellen with me, and she’s brought your guards.  We can get you out of here.  We’re
going
to get you out of here.”

“You don’t understand….”

“I do understand, I do understand what they did to you.”

“No,” he groaned, pulling himself up.  His arms shook, weak from the beating they had taken.  “You can’t trust him….  You have to watch out for him….  Jacques….”

“I know.”

Val looked up with her, questioning. 

Serena sighed.  “He lied, Jacques lied about everything.  He said you were a criminal, that this was about you paying for things you had done in your past.  But I know he lied, Ellen told me everything.  Oh, Val, I can’t believe I believed him….”

“No,” Val said, meeting her gaze.  “I mean he’s here.”

“You’re fucking right I am,” a harsh voice said from the doorway.  Serena whirled around, her eyes wide.

Sauntering into the room, his hands clenched into tight fists and his form humongous and terrifying beneath the flickering light, was Jacques.  He gave her a toothy grin.

“Good evening, Serena.”