The Pleasure's All Mine (44 page)

Summoning her waning strength, she fought back, landing one blow after another. A left jab, a right hook.

Finally he ducked under, then grabbed her head, slammed it against the desk again.

This time she saw stars, stripes, and swirls.

He bit into the flesh around her nipples and she shuddered in pain.

Calm and purpose replaced Raven’s anger and she knew what to do. In a strong voice, she said, “Then slap on a condom and do your thing. Since you’re so much
smaller
than he is, I won’t feel a thing…”

Simeon froze at her vicious words, his firm erection withering like a grape drying in the California sun. He released her and looked down at his blood-stained hands. A flicker of fear flashed in his eyes, but only a flicker.

Raven still struggled to breathe. Maybe her nose had been broken, maybe not, but even breathing through her mouth to compensate required major effort.

Simeon grunted in pain and slumped down on the leather sofa, dropping his head into his hands.

Slowly, Raven pushed herself off the desk and untangled her clothing.

“You deserved what you got.
No one
talks to
me
that way.”

“You have lost your damn mind!” she shot back. “No woman deserves what you did to me.”

Raven failed in her first effort to stand tall, but she tried again. Pain peppered every part of her body.
She had to get out of there while he was still in a weakened state.
The glass doors seemed miles away, not the sixty feet they actually were. Raven’s chest heaved as she tried to take in air. Her lungs burned and her sides felt as though someone had tried to slice her in half.

Inch by inch, slide by slide, Raven crossed the office until finally her swollen hand touched the silver rail leading to freedom.

Raven’s heart stopped as his next words cut through her: “Now you know I can’t let you do that.”

Raven took a long, slow breath trying to come up with her next course of action. He wasn’t going to let her walk out.
Too many people would witness what he had done. Too many lips could speak against him if questioned by New York’s finest—yet again. Why hadn’t she called Pierce?

She latched onto the silver door handle and gave it a push. He grabbed her. She screamed.

Hands around her midriff, Simeon dragged her to the sofa, dropped her then slammed his fists into her face over and over as she weakly tried to fight back. When he could no longer lift his fists, he stumbled away, found his phone. “Scoop, Keith, get your asses up here!”

Moments later, the two burly men rushed through the door and paused long enough to survey the scene. They looked at each other, then at Simeon. He pointed at the sofa. “Use my private elevator and take her out the back way. I don’t want nobody to see her.”

Neither moved. Scoop cast an uneasy glimpse at Raven, then looked back at Simeon. “That’s Pierce’s woman.”

Simeon slammed a fist on his desk. “I know who the fuck she is! Do what the fuck I said!”

Keith backed up, glanced worriedly at Raven, then back at Simeon. “I’m not getting into this shit.”

Scoop shook his head. “Pierce is gonna fuck you up.”

As Keith argued with Simeon, Scoop walked to the sofa, reached out, and gently touched Raven’s swollen face. She opened her good eye; a single tear escaped, then another, followed by a whimper as she tried to speak. She managed only a weak, “Group hug?” to remind him of the day that he was on the elevator with her the first time she came to New York.

The man’s expression softened as he whispered so only she could hear, “I’m gonna get you outta here. Some place safe. Trust me.” He took off his jacket, draped it over her nearly naked body.

“Please…please…call…Pierce,” she begged quietly, in a faltering voice.

“Let’s get you to the hospital first. Trust me, okay? No matter what you hear me tell Simeon.”

“Man, get your head on straight!” Simeon snarled at Keith.

Scoop stood slowly, facing Simeon head on, scowl on his full face, shoulders square as though prepared to take the shorter man down. “Man, what the fuck is wrong with you? You mad at Pierce, take that shit to Pierce! Don’t take it out on his woman. This ain’t right, man.”

Simeon’s eyes burned with rage. “You’re fired.” He pointed at Keith.
“You
take care of this.”

Keith backed up even more. “Hey, I ain’t feeling this either, man.”

“But you were feeling it when I kept your funky ass from going to jail.” Simeon stepped forward, mere inches from Keith. “You were feeling it when I wrote that letter to the judge getting you out of doing a dime stretch.” With a threatening scowl he said, “Well, what’ll happen if I send a little note to the judge saying…you’re just not working out?”

Icy silence.

“Come on, let’s get her out of here,” Keith finally growled, gesturing to Raven’s limp body.

Scoop frowned. “She needs a doctor.”

“I’ll call one to come to the house,” Simeon replied without looking at either man as he pressed a hand to his face trying to stem the flow of blood. “He’ll handle things…discreetly.”

No witnesses.
Raven swallowed her gasp.

Scoop picked up a trembling Raven and slung her arm around his neck.

Simeon spoke into the phone. “Get everyone out of the crib! Jennifer’s ass, the kids, the maids. I mean
everyone,
down to the last security guard.”

Scoop carried Raven into the private elevator. “Don’t worry, I won’t let nothing happen to you,” he whispered.

She had to believe that right now. She had to believe something.

They placed her in the backseat of the SUV, and Scoop strapped her in. Raven closed her eyes, trying to will herself into another place.

“Raven?”

She tried to whisper.

“Raven!”

She managed a breathy, “Yes.”

“Don’t go to sleep. Stay with us.” Scoop turned to Keith. “You got Pierce’s new number?”

“Naw, man.”

“You still got Eric’s number in your cell?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Let me use your cell, mine’s dead.”

“Man, we ain’t got time for shit like that. Come on.”

“It’ll be a second. Go have a smoke or something.” Scoop flipped the phone open and the Eric’s voice came through the car’s speakers. “Hey, little man, this is Scoop. How’s it going?”

Keith sighed so loudly, Scoop had to fan him away. “Can you get in touch with Pierce?”

“He’s in Los Angeles, but yeah, I can reach him.”

“Good. Give Keith the number and then call him real quick. He’ll answer your calls before he’ll answer a strange number.”

“What’s going on?”

“Nothing for you to worry about, little man. Just call Pierce right now and have him hit me up.”

As Scoop turned onto Broadway, Keith’s phone rang.

Scoop yanked it up, glanced at the number, and put it on the car’s speaker. “Pierce?”

“Yeah, it’s me. What’s going on?”

“Simeon hurt Raven.”

Pierce roared, “What the hell do you mean, ‘Simeon hurt Raven’?”

“We just left his office. Her clothes are ripped, and she’s bleeding, having a hard time breathing. He beat the shit out of her and told us to take her to his house.”

A sudden click told them Pierce had hung up.

Keith banged his hand on the dashboard. “See, man! I knew we shouldn’t have called him.”

“Shut up, fool.”

The cell’s ringtone kicked in again. This time Keith answered on the first ring, asking, “What happened?”

“Eric had us on three-way. He hung up after he heard. Are you taking her to the hospital?”

“Hell, naw! I ain’t going to jail behind this bullshit,” Keith shouted. “We’re taking her ass to his place like he said. Let him figure it out.”

Pierce wanted to climb through the phone and strangle the man. “You know he’ll kill her!”

“Not my business, man. Tough break.” Keith tried to disconnect.

“Gimme that!” Scoop said, swerving in his lane as he grabbed the phone from Keith. “Yo, Pierce, I’ll make it happen, okay? Keith’s trippin’ ‘cause Simeon’s gonna write the judge and send him back.”

“Tell him not to worry about that. I’m the one who wrote that first letter. I’ll work it out.”

Scoop said to Keith. “You hear that, fool?”

“Can she talk?”

“Hold on.” He passed the phone to Keith, releasing the sound from the speakers. “Put this to her ear.” Keith grumbled, but leaned over the seat to do just that.

Pierce said, “Baby, hang in there; I’m on the way.”

All she could manage was a raspy whisper. “I love you, Pierce. I didn’t…I’m…for everything…I love you…”

“I love you, too, baby. I’m coming for you.”

❤ ❤ ❤

Why didn’t she call him before running off to confront Sim? Why did she think she could face him—a man who played worse than dirty—alone? Damn, why did she have to do this when he was clear across the country?

Pierce sprinted to the boardroom, where anxious gazes turned in his direction. “I apologize for the inconvenience, but we have to leave.” He dashed to his seat, grabbed up his things.

“But we’re not done with negotiations,” a tall, broad-shouldered man replied.

“We can continue some other time, but right now we have a family emergency.”

Mr. Nisenbaum, the CEO of the movie production company, leaned forward, his eyes narrowing as he stood. “For a man itching to get his feet into the industry, you sure aren’t taking things too seriously.”

“Ava, get your stuff, and let’s roll.”

She hesitated a moment, looking at Pierce, then into the angry glare of Mr. Nisenbaum. “I’ll stay and finish things and keep you posted.”

“Raven’s being taken to the hospital.”

Ava jumped up. “What? Why?” She grabbed her papers and started shoving them into her attaché.

Pierce leveled a stony gaze at the man at the head of the table. “If you can’t understand
family emergency
,
then it’s perfectly all right with me if things don’t go any further.” Pierce stormed out the door.

Ava sprinted to catch up with him. “Pierce! What happened, Pierce?”

“Simeon assaulted Raven.”

“He raped her?”

Pierce ground his teeth. “I’m not sure about that, but he beat her pretty bad. She’s bleeding and Scoop said she’s wheezing when she breathes. She may have some broken ribs and who knows what else.”

“Why was she there in the first place?”

“I don’t know, but I’m going to find out!” He ran for the elevator.

“That man has lost his mind.”

“Oh, don’t worry, he won’t need it after I split his fucking skull open!”

Before they jumped in the taxi, she grabbed his shoulder and spun him to her. “Pierce, I’m no criminal lawyer. So don’t do anything that will land your ass in jail.”

“When I take him down, only God, me, and Simeon Cahill will know the details—or where the body’s buried.”

❤ ❤ ❤

Pierce settled into his seat, pissed that no private plane charters were available. He’d forgotten that these seats weren’t built for a man his size. “That’s it,” he complained. “I’m buying my own damn plane!”

Ava stroked his arm, causing him to give a small sigh. “I wonder what Eric’s up to?”

“I tried to reach him,” Pierce said with a frown, “but it went straight to his voicemail. He hung up right after he heard what happened to Raven.”

“You think Eric’s on his way to New York?”

“It’s likely.”

Ava gripped his hand and checked her cell. “Shoot! She tried to call me. I turned the phone off before the meeting.”

Pierce looked out at the clouds.

“Why wouldn’t she call you? She has to know that you always leave yours on.”

“The only reason I can figure for her moving in on his home turf without some sort of backup is it had something to do with Eric.”

Ava signaled the flight attendant for a glass of water. “Maybe it had something to do with you.”

“She doesn’t love me enough to go toe-to-toe with him for my sake.”

“You know that’s not true. You’re as much the reason you all aren’t together as she is. Both of your stubborn behinds need to be kicked.”

“Not now, all right?” he snapped back. “I’m feeling bad enough as it is.”

Ava grimaced, but didn’t respond.

A child behind them let out a wail. Pierce so wanted to join him. He felt like storming up and down the aisle. He hated not being in New York. Hated that Ava was right. Pierce had walked, letting his pride and anger rule him, when he should have stuck it out with Raven. What were a few hurtful words? What did they matter?

“Do you think she’ll be okay?”

Pierce closed his eyes, squeezed Ava’s hand, and took a deep breath. “I’m praying she’ll be fine. I’m also praying for the strength to keep from killing Sim.”

“You can’t do that.”

“Do you know how many people would pay for my defense if I did?” Pierce snorted out a disdainful laugh.

“I’m not laughing, Pierce.”

“That’s good,” he said in a voice so cold she could only stare at him. “ ‘Cause ain’t a damn thing funny right about now.”