Authors: Diana Steele
Darque Wants (91 page)
*****
The rest of the day was a painful and excruciating waiting game, but at five to midnight that night; Dorian, Thena, Harvey, Deme, and Patricia Wilkins, Dorian’s agent, were all stood side by side at the agreed meeting place, showing a united front against Shackleton who, for his part, turned up with John and two of his usual thugs.
“Where’s my son?” was his first question.
Dorian could see that he was holding the box John had stolen from them. “What’s in there?” he asked.
“The artefact,” Shackleton replied. “All three pieces of it. And all yours, once I have my son back.”
“You’ll have your son as soon as you’ve answered some of my questions, Montgomery,” replied Harvey calmly.
“What questions?” Shackleton scoffed. “I want my son!”
“You’ve killed over this stupid artefact of yours, haven’t you?” Harvey began, sounding a little bit like a barrister in a court of law. “You’ve ordered deaths, you’ve cheated, you’ve lied, you’ve kidnapped, hurt people.”
“Yes, of course I have!” spluttered Shackleton. “I’ve done all those and more!”
“But why? What for? Just for power? Is it really so important? Don’t you think your son would be ashamed of you…if he knew to what extents you’d gone to…”
“Where is he?” Shackleton asked, his voice softening now and desperation beginning to show through. “Please…just tell me you haven’t hurt him.”
“Not until you admit that you’ve done wrong…admit to what you’ve done.”
“I admit it! I admit everything! And yes, I probably should be ashamed of myself. I never expected things to get this far but…I just…” He hesitated, and for the first time, they were able to see some of the human side behind the cold mask he wore as he slowly broke down. “I got carried away…I allowed myself to become corrupted by it. By the thought of the power. I’ve done terrible things…terrible crimes.”
Dorian glanced at Thena and nodded. They had enough.
Dorian took out his phone and placed the call to the police, who they had already arranged to have on standby.
Thena took out her recording device and held it aloft, clicking it off.
“Your son was never in any danger, Monty,” smiled Harvey. “It was just a trick. A trick to get you to admit to everything on tape.”
“What?! What the hell?!” Montgomery Shackleton’s cheeks turned bright red, either from embarrassment or anger. Even in the dark of the moonlight they could see it, and for a moment, they thought he might fly at them and attack in his apoplectic fury.
Thankfully, the police were on the scene within seconds. Thena handed them the recording of Shackleton’s confession and he was led away in handcuffs.
The three pieces of the artefact were in the box just as Shackleton had said. They opened it up and crowded round, staring at them.
“What shall we do with them?” Dorian asked quietly.
“I think we should destroy them,” said Thena with certainty. “They haven’t brought anything but violence and pain, and nobody should ever be allowed to have that much power.”
They built a fire, in Deme’s back garden; a big bonfire worthy of Guy Fawkes’ Night, onto which they ceremoniously threw all three pieces of the artefact. As they stood there and watched them burn, Dorian reached out and took Thena’s hand.
“Will you marry me?” he whispered.
She turned to look at him, her eyes wide, and tears of joy beginning to prickle and sting. “Yes,” she murmured. “Yes, of course I will.”
Bonus Book - Visions of Death & Loneliness
Bonus Book – Visions of Hate & Hope
Bonus Book – High Stakes & Hard Riding
Bonus Book – Master of the Manor
Bonus Book – Reckless Initiation
Bonus Book – Claiming Her Spirit Animal
Bonus Book – Taken Through Time
Bonus Book – Surrender to the Nightmare
Bonus Book – Controlling Desire
Bonus Book –Consequences of Betrayal
Bonus Book – Sight at the Museum
Bonus Book – Psychics in London
Bonus Book – Ending the Darkness
You are the reason I get to make a living sharing my passions and I’m eternally grateful for that.
Inside you will discover almost every book I have written, plus some books from friends and colleagues of mine that I think you'll like (shared with their permission of course!).
I hope you enjoy these stories and accept my personal invitation for FREE VIP membership to the Bad Boy Romance Club where you'll get notifications of new titles, FREE Books, Big Discounts, and be able to enter our monthly drawings for things like Amazon Gift Cards, and other cool stuff that Bad Boy Romance Readers love!
http://www.BadBoyRomanceClub.com
To start reading go ahead and scroll to the next page.
To
navigate your entire collection click here
.
Here’s Your Book…
A Darque Billionaire Romance
Book 5
Diana Steele
Agnes Mallory had a very attractive face—in fact, when Bella looked into her eyes and saw her stubborn and disdainful cheeks, she almost saw Bastien’s own face when he was angry. He usually looked like that was when he felt his grasp loosening, whether it was on a project he managed or a woman that was slipping away.
Agnes eyed Bella who had been honest-to-goodness kidnapped in a limousine, though she came willingly and surely that counted towards some goodwill. It wasn’t as if a powerful senator could just have a woman killed…right?
Bella fretted and flinched, wondering if she should plead for her life, buckle down and act tough, or just listen. When the door had shut and the car was driving too fast for an escape, Agnes finally started talking.
“I know you’re fucking my son. So let’s dispense with the formality. I don’t like women who my chase my son.” Bella nodded, a bit too worried to add further comment.
“Aren’t you going to ask why?”
“I assume…no one’s good enough for him.”
“On the contrary, Arabella, I don’t like women who think HE is the kind of man worth fighting for. These girls…these whores…they have no self-respect.”
Bella listened, a bit creeped out that she used her full name too. “My…name is Bella. Not…”
“But that’s what he insists on calling you. Isn’t it? I know all about the things my son does behind closed doors. And I know what you two have been doing. I know everything,
always
. From the names of your friends and family, to what you’ve been surfing on the Internet, to the very mole right above your buttocks.”
Bella tried not to drop her jaw in shock, but it hardly mattered. Senator Mallory had already scared Bella senseless. There was no use in denying it. Everyone was afraid of Mallory and her family and they made sure that fear was more than superstition.
“Now, ordinarily I stay out of Sebastien’s torrid affairs. But you have him riled up like a circus animal. He’s becoming paranoid. Convinced that you know something you shouldn’t. However, he’s too soft to do what needs to be done.”
“What…needs to be done?” She flinched.
“Let’s discuss this matter as intelligent and civilized people, shall we? I know who you are.”
“You do?”
“YES. I know that if you intended to go to the press you would have done it already. And what you hope, what you naively hope, little girl, is that Sebastien will grow to love you. Make you his Queen. Make you his one true love.”
The old woman snickered.
“As if he was even capable of it. As if YOU were his type. No, what he wanted from you he already received in full.”
“What do you want from me? If you wanted to kill me,” she paused. “You would have done it by now.”
“Smart girl. Mmm…people smart. Maybe not so much book smart.”
Agnes waited until Bella’s stare shrunk from cold to bewildered. “I am here to explain to you what happened. Your stupid little friend…he is making inquiries into the past. Convinced that my son is capable of murder.”
Bella stared in discomfort, too afraid to speak.
“Don’t you dare ask me. I am here to tell you the truth of what happened. Those two whores. Melissa Miller and Danielle Zalaya. They are the women your friend is trying to investigate. Don’t be afraid to ask for the truth, Bella. There is nothing to hide.”
“Okay.”
“Melissa was Bastien’s first love, if you want to call it that. They played their…games together. He first met her when he was a boy and then as he grew older he became…I don’t know what they call it. Her daddy? Whatever crude terminology you whores like to use. But then…things became complicated. So I decided to step in.”
“You…not…not…?” Bella smiled and stuttered.
“Don’t be crude. I meant that I decided to make the tawdry affair going away. Bastien’s dalliances with this woman began to reflect poorly on my husband and me. So I said to myself, what is the best way to get rid of a whore? Certainly not to use violence.”
She smiled.
“So, I've decided to give the woman what she wanted. What she wanted MORE than Bastien’s love. I gave her money. I paid her off to leave the country and never come back. Guess what happened?”
Bella remained silent, imagining the scene in her head.
“She never looked back. All they want is money.”
“And…the other one? Did you pay her off too?”
“Danielle was a special kind of whore. She was the one who broke Sebastien’s heart. She wanted to toy with him. But she also wanted to toy with other men. Mister Mallory and I tried to talk to Sebastien. Tried to warn him. But he just insisted on gouging his open wound and suffering heartbreak after heartbreak. So finally…I did what any good mother would do…”
Bella opened her eyes wide, wondering if an Anthony Perkins type confession was coming.
Agnes’ disposition softened. “I ran that bitch out of town. I told her ‘If you don’t leave my family alone, I will send your nude pictures to every firm in the state. You won’t even be able to get a job in a McDonald’s when I’m through with you. Now get the
hell
out of here.’”
Agnes came close to smiling, proud of being a semi-good mother who stuck up for her family.
“Even though I imagine all the clerks that work at McDonald’s are whores too. From what I understand it’s like a massage parlor.”
“Umm not really. But…okay. I believe you. You’re telling me Sebastien didn’t do it. I never thought he did.”
“What I am telling you, Arabella, is to call off your friend. If this story goes to print, I am holding you responsible. You unleashed this scandal. You are in reputation management and work for my family. So you fucking deal with this. I will not end my campaign based on a lie. If the American people reject me, they should do it for all the right reasons. I’m tough. I’m heartless. But I am not a liar or a murderer.”
“I understand.”
“Sebastien is a fool. He doesn’t even know half of the shenanigans going on. I do. Because Mother must handle everything. Mother takes care of business so that boys can be boys. I advise you to take my mission very seriously.”
“Or else what?” Bella said, pretty sure that Bastien was not a murderer, but less convinced of his mother’s innocence the more she eyed the woman’s dark, almost demonic-looking pupils.
“Herrrr,” the woman crowed. “You know what power is, dear? When Richard and I first got married, there was this waiter we met on a cruise liner. A foul little boy, with an attitude and not the least bit concerned about being unruly to his customers. I found him repugnant. Richard, God bless him, tried to be civil. But the young man just put a damper on the whole evening. He claimed that he ‘knew things’ about Richard, as if trying to blackmail us into silence. I looked the boy in the eye and then made one phone call. Then I told him, ‘You’re going to regret that.’”
“And did he?”
“Oh yes. For the rest of the cruise the boy grew increasingly paranoid. He was so afraid of what I was going to do to him that he became a raving lunatic, turning everyone on the cruise against him. Before we got to land, he went overboard just to escape my wrath. That’s what I call power. With just one phone call. So me killing anybody is the
least
of what you should worry about if you don’t contain this mess.”
“I understand…”
“Don’t disappoint me. I’m not going to bother telling you to stay away from Sebastien. You’re a special kind of whore…a trollop with a heart of gold. You honestly expect this to have a happy ending, don’t you? A wedding, a life of luxury…this poor, damaged man suddenly turning into a prince? Well…I’ll leave you to your delusions. I simply pity you too much to hate you.”
The car abruptly came to a yanking stop before slowing down to a slow roll. Bella quickly exited the car, realizing that two miles per hour was the slowest speed they were giving her to get the hell out.
The car sped off and Agnes spared Bella one more look at her gremlin face.
***