Defying Dorian: Bad Boy Billionaire Romance (20 page)

I
hated having
to do that, but I didn’t have any goddamn choice.

Eventually, the sound of Ainsley and Tempest yelling and screaming started to fade. I got final confirmation of it when one of the warehouse’s heavy doors slammed in the distance. I knew she was safe. Now, it was time to deal with Malcolm once and for all.

“You’re going to die here. You realize that don’t you?”

Malcolm didn’t respond, the blood loss was starting to take its toll.

“Here’s the thing though, I promised I wouldn’t be the one to kill you. But there’s no fucking way I’m going to let you bleed out either.”

Malcolm sputtered a chuckle. “We are all going to die together. Your threats don’t bother me.”

I shook my head. “You’re bluffing. You don’t have the balls to do it.”

“Fuck you, you arrogant prick.”

No sooner did he finish speaking than Malcolm moved his hand towards the center of his chest and closed his fingers around the detonator, activating it.

Shit. The fucking thing started beeping.

I took a couple of steps back. “What the fuck did you do?”

Malcolm’s balance threatened to leave him. His speech started slur. “I did… What I said I… What I said I would do. Make peash, peace with your maker.”

I raised my pistol higher, aiming it between his eyes.

“Go ahead,” he stammered, his body starting to sway. “You can’t… The building… you, you’ll never get out, never get out in time.”

I swallowed hard and slipped my finger around the trigger. “Nothing would make me happier than to spray your brains all over this floor.”

But I never got the chance to make good on my promise. From behind, a gunshot rang out, causing me to jerk towards it and look. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw a barely conscious Ronan propped up on one elbow with a pistol in his hand.

Malcolm’s body hit the floor behind me. Turning around again, I noticed he’d been shot right between the eyes, a perfect kill.

Unfortunately, the timer was still running.
Shit!

There was no time to talk about what happened. I ran towards Ronan and knelt down next to him.

“Can you stand, man? Can you walk?”

Ronan seemed out of it. He looked at me, his eyes glazed and distant. “What?”

Even though he must have known what he did, he just wasn’t all there. I didn’t have any choice. I reached down and wrapped my arms around his waist, trying to get him to stand. Ronan was a big guy. It was no easy feat. After a brief struggle, I finally got him upright, but he couldn’t steady himself.

I had no choice but to try and carry his ass out of there. Ducking underneath his chest, I bent at the knees and stood straight up, holding him across my shoulders like a huge log.

“Grab on to me,” I said, wondering what the hell I was doing. He had to weigh at least two hundred twenty pounds. Adding to that the fact he went completely limp, I had serious doubts about how far I get.

Luckily, he was coherent enough to do what I said. I felt some strength come into his fingers when he grabbed onto me. I didn’t wait another second. Walking at first, I eventually worked my way up to a jog, headed in the direction of the same door Ainsley and Tempest exited minutes earlier.

Rounding the final corner, I saw it straight ahead and picked up even more speed, going as fast as I possibly could. No sooner had I done so than I felt Ronan’s grip lose strength and his body go limp once more. His weight shifted, and I lost my grip. Ronan slid down my backside, tripping me and knocking me to the ground in the process.

After hitting the cement floor, I shook my head and looked at him.

He was out cold.

Fuck.

There was no way I’d be able to pick him up again and carry him. I was out of gas. Thinking quickly, I rushed over to Ronan and grabbed him hard at the ankles. Leaning backward I started to pull him, dragging him across the shiny surface of the warehouse floor. However, once he began to move, I noticed a trail of blood streaking from the back of his head.

“Christ!”

There wasn’t any time. We had to get out of there.

Throwing my head back, I closed my eyes tight and yelled at the top of my lungs, summoning every bit of strength I had. I staggered backwards in small shuffle steps, hoping against hope I’d reach the door before Malcolm got his revenge.

After several seconds, I bumped into the door and kicked it open with my heel. Bracing the door with my body, I dragged Ronan out inch by tortuous inch. From behind, I heard the sound of people running in my direction. I looked up and noticed two of my men headed towards us.

Raising a hand at them, I yelled, “Stop! Stay back! Stay back! Stay back, god dammit!”

They froze, and I snapped my head towards Ronan again. I nearly had him out of the warehouse, but dragging him across the parking lot was not an option. I had no choice but to lift him again.

If I didn’t, we’d both die.

Not a single muscle in my body cooperated. I struggled to get leverage and lift him, trying every single angle I could think of to do it.

“Come on!” I yelled, grunting, lifting and pulling with every fiber in my being.

At last, I managed to get one of his arms over my shoulder, and then with quivering legs underneath me, I pushed myself into a standing position, slinging his motionless body over my shoulder.

“Let’s go buddy, let’s go,” I grunted.

I made it a handful of steps.

It was the last thing I remembered.

N
ews
about the explosion was everywhere – TV, the internet, you name it.

When the bomb detonated, it destroyed everything. The entire warehouse burned to the ground, incinerating everything inside, leaving nothing behind but ash.

Nothing was left -- no bodies, no evidence, and… no case.

Watching Dorian come out of the warehouse with Ronan, carrying him to safety, terrified and thrilled me at the same time. I guess I shouldn’t have expected anything less from him, not after all he’d done to protect me.

Luckily, both of them survived.

Dorian’s men got us all back to the estate. Once we got there, his private doctor arrived soon after, taking care of both Dorian’s and Ronan’s injuries.

Except for some bad bruising, Ronan recovered from the impacts of gunshots thanks to the bulletproof vest he wore. What’s more, even though the tumble he’d taken left a nasty reminder on the back of his skull, requiring a bunch of stitches, he lived to tell about it.

Just before the explosion, Dorian lost his grip on Ronan and dove on top of him, shielding him from the blast. Unfortunately, shrapnel from the explosion spread far, some of it hitting Dorian.

He’d lost a lot of blood and even though the emergency surgery to remove it was successful, he hadn’t regained consciousness. Until he did, the doctor wasn’t comfortable telling us much about his prognosis.

That night Dorian, still unconscious, rested in his room when the doctor entered.

I hadn’t left Dorian’s side since we got back to his estate. Standing from the chair, I met the doctor near Dorian’s bed. After checking some monitoring equipment and examining Dorian, the doctor looked at me, frowning.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, my stomach beginning to do flips. “Is he getting better or worse?”

“It’s too soon to tell, unfortunately.”

I looked at Dorian. Even though he’d been badly injured, he had a peaceful expression on his face. I had no doubt,
none
, he would recover. There was no way he wouldn’t. The doctor spoke again, breaking my concentration.

“We’ll have to continue to monitor him for any dramatic changes.”

He paused and leaned in over Dorian’s face, just staring at him for a couple of seconds before backing away.

“It looks like we have the appropriate level of sedation for now. I wouldn’t expect any major issues. On the other hand, this is an unusual situation, so just about anything is possible.”

I tugged a strand of hair behind my ear. “So what do we do now?”

The doctor shrugged. “There’s not much we really can do. I’ve done everything within my power to give him the best possible chance to survive. For now, it’s out of my hands. All we can do is monitor him and treat each circumstance accordingly.”

Survive?

I lifted my hand to my mouth and slipped my thumbnail inside of it, nibbling at it while looking at Dorian. After everything he did to save me, risking his own life, I couldn’t do a single thing for him.

I fucking hated feeling so helpless.

“I’ll be leaving the estate soon,” the doctor began, removing his glasses and slipping them into the front pocket of his exam coat. “I don’t know if you’ve met Nurse Jasper.”

“No, I haven’t.”

The doctor cleared his throat. “She’s highly trained and absolutely qualified to handle anything that should arise. If the situation becomes life-threatening, I’ve already arranged for Mr. Scott’s personal ambulance to be on standby. We’ll have him to a nearby hospital in plenty of time.”

I know he was trying to comfort me, but for some reason everything he said just made me more anxious. All this talk of life-threatening situations and ambulances brought the worst-case scenario to my mind. The doctor seemed oblivious. He straightened his exam coat and offered me a polite smile.

“Do you have any questions for me right now?”

Questions?
I could hardly remember my name.

“No, I don’t think so.”

“All right, then,” he said, turning to leave the room. “Nurse Jasper is in the infirmary. She’s got instant access to all of Mr. Scott’s monitoring equipment. I’ll stop by on my way out and let her know that you and I have spoken.”

I extended my hand to him. “Thank you. Thank you for everything.”

He took my hand in his and shook it. It felt warm, reassuring. “Okay Ms. Rain, I’ll be going.”

I nodded and smiled at him. He left and minutes later Ronan walked inside, Ainsley trailing behind him.

“I’m so glad you guys are here,” I said, walking towards them.

“What is it? Has something happened with Dorian?” Ainsley asked.

“No. Nothing new.”

I explained to both of them everything the doctor told me. Once I finished, Ronan looked at me.

“Would you mind if we spoke in private for a few minutes?”

I looked at Ainsley and then at Ronan again.

“You guys go ahead,” Ainsley began, walking towards Dorian. “I’ll stay here with him in case anything happens.”

“Are you sure?” I asked.

She nodded and made a shooing motion with her hand. “You two go talk, really.”

Ronan stepped to one side and gestured towards the bedroom door. After taking one final look at Dorian, I turned and started to walk, Ronan following close behind. I’d been so preoccupied with Dorian, I hadn’t realized this would be the first time I ever talked to Ronan alone.

What could he possibly want and why now?

* * *

P
oor Ronan
, what he must have felt like in the aftermath of everything…

Even though his brother was a straight up
psycho
, he was still his flesh and blood. I couldn’t help but feel bad for him.

We walked for a while, making small talk until we exited the house at the rear and walked out onto the veranda overlooking the grounds.

“Let’s sit,” he said, pointing to a row of chairs.

It was a beautiful afternoon, not overly hot. For this time of year in Vegas, it was a welcome change. Ronan slid into the seat next to me, leaning back and looking in my direction.

“How are you holding up?”

The white-yellow sun shined just beyond him. I held my hand up in front of my eyes, shielding them from the glare.

“I’m fine. I wish I could say the same for Dorian.”

“Yeah,” he replied, pausing and nodding his head. “Listen, Tempest… I won’t keep you long. I feel like I owe you an apology.”

An apology?

Whatever ideas I had in my head about this talk, that wasn’t one of them.

“I don’t understand. What do you need to apologize for?”

“Well, let’s just say that when Dorian told me about you staying here, about wanting to keep you safe… I didn’t think it was a good idea. In fact, I thought it was a huge mistake.”

I didn’t respond, just looked at him.

“See, since you weren’t involved in any of this, I thought it would be best for you if he let you go.”

“Okay?”

He wasn’t exactly alone in feeling that way. Kendrick and Ainsley didn’t make it a secret they hadn’t wanted me there either. While those thoughts popped in my head, Ronan continued.

“But now, after everything that’s happened, I realize I was wrong about you. I should have known better than to second-guess Dorian. It seems like whenever I question him, he always proves me wrong.”

He stopped and smiled at me. “Maybe someday I’ll get that through my thick fucking skull.”

I couldn’t help but smile back at him. “It sounds like you’ve known him for a long time.”

He nodded. “Oh yeah, going on fifteen years now, ever since basic training. We both wanted to be Navy SEALs but…”

Ronan was every bit as fit and strong as Dorian. That little tidbit didn’t surprise me but the fact they hadn’t stayed in the military kind of did. What I knew about Dorian and what I’d come to witness with Ronan… They seemed like they’d be perfect soldiers.

“You wanted to? What happened?”

Ronan exhaled. “For me? I’ll just say family obligations. I enlisted with my father’s blessing, but when he died unexpectedly, I had no choice but to come home and take over the family business. No one else was capable of doing it, least of all Malcolm.”

“Oh. What about Dorian?”

“Strange coincidence, really.” Ronan said. “Right around the time I went home, Dorian got a chance to scoop up some oil and gas rights on a small claim down in Louisiana. Nobody wanted them, thought they weren’t worth much. I guess it was a case of being in the right place at the right time. That son of a bitch hit the mother lode right at the beginning of the last boom. The rest is history, as they say.”

It was a lot to take in all at once. The conversation stopped for a bit. Ronan shifted his weight in the chair and looked at me.

“I also owe you another apology. I’m very sorry for everything that happened with Malcolm. Sorry you got caught in the middle of all that, hell, I’m just sorry. I’m not making excuses for him, but obviously he wasn’t well. He hadn’t been for a long time.”

When he finished speaking, I turned towards him. Only Ronan wasn’t looking in my direction anymore. Instead, he was staring straight ahead, a vacant look in his eyes, almost like he was in a state of shock.

In spite of all the mayhem Malcolm had caused, Ronan was his brother. I didn’t have any siblings of my own, but the grief he must have felt tugged at my own heart. I reached towards him, touching him on the forearm.

“Thank you, but you don’t need to apologize to me.” I said, trying to keep him from being so hard on himself. “I’m so sorry for your loss. Without you and the bravery you showed, I might not even be here. So really, I’m the one who should be thankful.”

He looked at me with a sad smile on his face. “Thank you for saying that. Sick though he was, I did lose my brother. The worst part is it didn’t have to end that way.”

This whole thing was so insane. Destruction and death, and for what? I had to know… So much had happened because of
it
. I felt like he was being open with me. What better time than now to ask?

“What was in the case, Ronan?”

Without blinking, he didn’t hesitate. “A copy of my birth certificate.”

A what?
If somebody put a gun to my head and told me to write a list of one hundred things it could’ve been, his birth certificate wouldn’t have even been the one hundred and first.

I frowned at him, baffled.

“Remember earlier when I said my father wanted to put me in charge of the family business?”

I nodded. “Well that decision drove a permanent wedge between Malcolm and me. From the instant it happened, his behavior grew more and more erratic. Eventually, I was left with no choice but to establish a trust for him. Even so, it wasn’t long before he’d spent all the money I’d set aside. He was desperate.”

I wasn’t following. “But I don’t understand… Why would a birth certificate matter?”

“My parents immigrated from Russia, bringing me over as a baby. My U.S. citizenship is fraudulent. It always has been. Only a handful of people, including Malcolm, my folks, and now I suppose you, know this. It’s a complicated situation, but if I were ever exposed, it can potentially lead to endless lawsuits, my bankruptcy, and deportation.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah, wow,” Ronan replied, nodding his head. “Wow is right. Unfortunately, the certificate in the case wasn’t an original. It was only a copy.”

“So what are you going to do?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, aren’t you worried that the original is still floating around out there somewhere? Don’t you think it could surface?”

Ronan shrugged and exhaled. “If and when it does, I’ll deal with it. But either way, that’s my problem to face – not yours. You’ve already been through enough because of me.”

The look in his eyes… He seemed sincere and obviously distraught. I wanted to say something to make him feel better. Before I could, he continued.

“Listen… Dorian doesn’t know any of this. Like I said, it’s a closely guarded secret. Hell, even I didn’t know about it until after my father died. Even though I’ve trusted you with this information, I’d still like to be the one to tell him, man-to-man, brother-to-brother.”

I nodded at him. “I understand. I promise not to say a word.”

Ronan smiled at me. “I really appreciate that. You know, if it weren’t for you…”

Just then, the sound of the door opening distracted Ronan, causing him to turn and look. Ainsley walked out onto the veranda.

“I’ve been looking all over for you two. I…”

Thinking something must have happened with Dorian, I cut her off. “What is it? Is he okay?”

Ainsley continued walking, looking at me with a casual nod. “Yes, he’s the same. There hasn’t been any change.”

I clutched my hand over my chest. “Don’t scare me like that.”

“I’m sorry,” Ainsley replied, stopping in front of the chairs where Ronan and I sat. “I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

Ronan stood and gestured towards his seat. Ainsley didn’t say anything. Instead, she walked up to him and extended her hand, reaching for the bandage on his head and lightly touching it with her fingertips.

“That still looks really painful still, swollen. It must really hurt.”