Billionaire On Fire: The Complete Series (A Bad Boy Alpha Billionaire Romance) (19 page)

CHAPTER
THIRTY-SIX

Alex

I
could hear Victor talking on my phone outside
the door of the room. It was muffled, but when I moved over and put my ear to
the door, I knew he was talking to Cam. I listened and tried to gather
information that would help me get us out of here, but after listening to the
argument, I knew Victor had no intention of letting us go.

"You two need to come
out into the living room," Victor ordered as he threw the door open and
stood staring down at us. "Help her get up."

"What is going on?"
I asked.

"None of your damn
business," he said as he turned and walked half way down the hallway.
"Get up and get your asses out here now!"

I shook Liz and tried to
rouse her, but she was out of it. I put one of her arms around my shoulder and
lifted her up off of the mattress. It wasn't easy getting her down the hallway
because her body was like dead weight, but I knew that if we could hang in
there long enough, I'd get her out of there and off whatever drugs Victor had
given her.

"What are you
doing?" I repeated as I pulled Liz toward the sofa and lay her down.
"This makes no sense whatsoever."

"What do you know?"
Victor sneered. "You're just some stupid girl who’s fallen for Mr. Big
Shot. You know nothing about him."

"Wow, you really have a
grudge against him, don't you?" I said shaking my head in disbelief.

"You would too if he'd
tried to ruin your life the way he's ruined mine," Victor shot back.
"He's a destroyer of worlds."

"I find that very hard
to believe," I said raising an eyebrow. "But why don't you fill me in.
Maybe I'll see your point."

"Why the hell do I care
what you think?" he sniffed as he walked into the kitchen and opened a
cabinet. I could see several large red cans lined up inside the cabinet, but it
didn't dawn on me what they were until Victor pulled one down and opened the
lid.

"Is that gasoline?"
I said as I realized that he'd stocked the cabinets full of it.

"Indeed it is,
Sherlock," he said sarcastically.

"What the hell are you
doing with all that gasoline?" I asked. "That's enough to burn an
entire building down!"

"Indeed," he said
with a malevolent smile as he grabbed the can and began pouring gasoline along
the outer edges of the room. "You've got quite a mind, Miss Pierce. It's
really too bad that it's not going to survive the fire."

"You're going to burn us
to death because you've got a grudge score to settle with Cam Connor?" I
said incredulously. "That's about the stupidest thing I've ever heard in
my life!"

"Who are you to judge,
bitch?" Victor said in a voice that suddenly sounded nasty and vicious.
"I've had enough of being pushed around by that asshole. He's taken
everything I ever wanted away from me and now it's my turn to take something
away from him."

"Me and Liz?" I
asked. "You think he's going to care if you harm me and Liz? Oh man,
you're more deluded than I thought! You really don't get it, do you?"

Victor's eyes narrowed as he
looked at me, then he gave me a questioning look as he continued pouring
gasoline around the room. The fumes were strong and made stronger by the fact
that the windows were sealed shut and the afternoon sun was streaming through
the balcony door.

"He doesn't care about
me," I continued as I tried to muster all of the anger and resentment I
had felt upon discovering Cam had paid my bills this morning. "He cares
about owning things. He doesn't care about whether those things care about him;
he just wants to be in charge. Case in point, he paid my rent and tuition this
morning without consulting me, or even asking if I wanted him to. It's because
Cam Connor wants what he wants when he wants it."

"Yes, he's selfish that
way," Victor nodded as he stopped pouring and looked at me. "He wants
what he wants."

"And Liz? What the hell
does he care about her?" I laughed. "She won't sleep with him like I
did, so she's nothing in his book. You killing her will have absolutely zero
effect on him, so you might want to recalculate the cost/benefit value of that
choice before you commit to it."

"Oh, he'll care all
right," Victor grinned. "He'll care when all the evidence points to
him as the suspect."

"Now that's just
ridiculous," I said. "You're not going to be able to pin this on
him!"

"That's where you're so
very wrong, my dear," Victor smiled. I felt a chill run up my spine as I
looked into his eyes and saw nothing there. "I've spent a long time
planning this out because I knew a day would come when I would get my chance to
exact revenge on the man who has ruined my life!"

"You're pretty stuck on
that message, aren't you?" I asked. I felt something moving next to me and
realized that it was Liz. She was awake and aware of what was going on, but she
knew better than to let Victor know that so she pressed her fingertips against
my thigh to let me know she was with me. "It's understandable, of course,
but the way in which you're going to play your hand makes zero sense to me. Why
don't you explain it?"

"You're not going to
trick me into that, little lady," he grinned looking more maniacal by the
minute. "Let's just say that evidence I've planned to plant around his
house, at the station and in your friend's apartment will all lead directly to
the one and only, Cam Connor."

"And how exactly do you
fit into all of this?" I asked. I couldn't figure out if he was a criminal
mastermind or just a deluded pyromaniac. "How are you going to walk away
from all of this and not be connected to it?"

Victor walked over to the
sofa and began slowly pouring gasoline onto the couch. He soaked one end of it
before he stopped, set the can down and pulled a length of rope from his back
pocket. I quickly stood up and tried to move away, but Victor grabbed my arm
and slammed me back down on the couch. I fought back until he'd decided he'd
had enough and cold cocked me with one punch. I saw stars and felt like my jaw
had been detached from my skull, but I didn't lose consciousness.

As Victor grabbed my wrists
and tightly held them together, Liz rose up behind him and used all the force
she could muster to drive her fist into the back of his head.

"Mother fucker!"
Victor shouted as he shot up off of the sofa and turned to find Liz standing
behind him holding the lamp that, moments before, been on the side table. He
rubbed the back of his head and growled, "I'm going to kill you, you
stupid dope fiend."

"Not if I kill you
first," Liz hissed holding the lamp like a baseball bat. I scanned the
room looking for another weapon, but Victor was ahead of me. He turned and
punched me in the face again, and this time I felt my nose snap and blood began
to pour from it. He turned back to Liz and lunged at her. She swung the lamp
and connected with his shoulder, but he caught the lamp on the back swing and
wrenched it out of her hands.

"Do not fuck with
me," Victor growled as he threw the lamp to the side and reached for Liz.
She scooted around him and made a dash for the front door.

"Run Liz! GET OUT OF
HERE!" I screamed as I cupped my hands under my nose in an attempt to
contain the blood. For what purpose, I had no idea.

"Bitch, I am going to
murder you!" Victor shouted as he ran across the room and followed Liz
down the hallway. She was faster and lighter than he was, and I could hear her
screaming for help as she pounded on doorways with her fists.

I realized I was alone in the
apartment, but had no chance of escaping with the pain I was feeling from my
busted nose and the fact that we were on the third floor. Suddenly I hear a
pounding on the back window.

"Alex! Alex! Are you in
there?" Cam called.

"CAM! IN HERE!" I
screamed as I ran for the back room and slammed the door shut. I pushed a chair
under the door handle thinking it would give me a few minutes to figure out how
to get out. But when I looked up and saw Cam in the window, my hopes were
dashed. The window had iron bars across it, I could open it, but there was no
way I was going to be exiting through it. Cam motioned for me to raise the
window.

"Jesus, are you okay,
Alex?" he asked as he pulled on the bars looking for a way to break in. It
was futile. "What the hell did he do to you?"

"He's got a mean right
hook," I said with a wry grin that made me wince. "Liz tried to get
away, but I don't know if she succeeded. He's going to set the place on fire,
Cam."

"I can smell the
gasoline," he said as he looked at me. "I'm going to get you out of
here. Just hang on."

"Yeah, well, that's
pretty much all I can do," I shrugged. "But I have to ask you what
the hell you did to this guy to make him so damn angry?"

"Long story; I'll tell
you over dinner once I get you out of there," he assured me as he pulled
out his phone and dialed the station. He quickly told them what was going on
and requested a truck for a gas leak that was dangerously close to igniting. The
last thing he wanted was the SWAT Team called out on a psycho holding hostages.
He put his hand up against the screen and I pressed mine against it as he said,
"Hang in there, Alex. I'm going to get you out. I promise."

I nodded and hoped that he
was right.

CHAPTER
THIRTY-SEVEN

Cam

Seeing
Alex trapped in the apartment, I knew it was
highly likely that Victor was going to set the whole place on fire in an
attempt to get even with me. I was worried about Alex, but I was also worried
about the other people in the building and knew that I had to warn them. So,
after assuring Alex that I'd rescue her, I climbed down the fire escape and ran
around to the back entrance where I snuck through the laundry room and took the
stairs to the first floor.

I figured that Victor was
focused on whatever diabolical plan he had created, so I had a window of
opportunity to evacuate the building before he set it on fire. I walked to the
end of the hall and pulled the fire alarm. The sound of the alarm brought
people to their front doors as they investigated the noise.

"Fire department!
Evacuate the building!" I shouted down the hall. "Help your neighbors
get to the first floor and clear the area!"

I got a few confused looks,
but after I repeated my message a few times, people began filing down the
stairs and out of the building. It was the same on the second floor, but when I
got to the third floor and saw the door to 3A standing open, I knew there was
going to be trouble.

"VICTOR!" I shouted
as I marched down the hallway to the apartment. "Be a man, and come talk
to me before you burn the place down!"

"Fuck you, Connor!"
he shouted. "I'm more of a man than you'll ever be you loser!"

I stepped through the doorway
and saw Victor holding a Glock pistol to Liz's head as she lay face down on the
sofa. The smell of gasoline was overwhelming and I immediately began to feel
lightheaded.

"Victor, you don't have
to do this," I said as I calmly walked toward the balcony. I thought about
rushing him and tackling him, but with him holding a gun at Liz’s temple I
didn't want to take the risk.

"Don't you fucking touch
that door," he growled as he quickly shifted the gun and pointed at my
chest. "You're a menace, Connor, and you deserve everything you're going
to get."

"Did it ever occur to
you that you deserved everything you got, Vangel?" I asked stalling for
time. I could hear the fire department sirens in the background and the sound
of the fire alarm made for an annoying background noise. "That maybe
you're the one that's fucked up and doing this is evidence of your complete
loss of your grip on reality?"

"Nice try," he
grinned as he waved the gun and gestured around the apartment. "But it's
not going to work. I know what I'm angry about, and it's your fault. You took
something that mattered to me, so now I'm going to take things that matter to
you."

"You know, you really
could have done a better job of that," I said in a bored tone. "You
should have burned my house down. Or killed my dog, maybe. That would have
definitely taught me a lesson. That house was the one I built for Quinn, you
know. Burning that down would have really devastated me. Killing these two
girls is just, well, it's just irresponsible of you, Victor."

I saw the confusion briefly
flash across his face and I knew I was hitting my mark. Behind Victor, I saw
the back bedroom door crack open and Alex stick her head out. I shook my head
as I spoke letting her know she should stay put.

"If you kill these two
girls, it'll be sad, that's for certain," I said as I stared at Victor.
"But it's not going to devastate me. I mean, they're two nursing students.
What do they mean to me? This one is a drug addict and the other one is good
lay. That's it."

"But you brought the
other one to the station," Victor said. "That had to mean
something."

"Yeah, it meant I was
going to get laid," I laughed. "Do you have any idea how hot chicks
get for firemen? Oh, no you don't, do you? You're a rules guy, aren't you?"

"What the hell does that
mean?" Victor said as his hand dropped slightly. I could see I was getting
to him.

"It means you follow the
rules, until you don't," I shrugged. "I know you tried to frame me
for that warehouse fire accident. Everyone knows."

"You fucked up, Connor!
I didn't have to do anything!" he shouted angrily. "You lead this
charmed life. Everyone takes pity on you and excuses your mistakes because they
feel sorry for you, but you're a fuck-up and they just don't see it!"

"I live a charmed
life?" I shot back. "What fucking charmed life is it when the woman I
loved died in a fire that I couldn't stop? I'm not seeing the charm in that,
Vangel!"

Victor's hand wavered for a
moment and I saw a brief window of opportunity, so I took it and dove for the
gun. His hand snapped back and then everything went black.