His Confession (By His Command #8) (2 page)

“Here’s what we’ll do,”
Katherine said, so soft spoken. “I’ll tell you something about me, then I’ll
get out of your hair. Only for a little while. See, the thing is, if you still
had your cell phone I’d be able to send you a text message. But I’m assuming Jonathan
destroyed the cell phone. Correct?”

I nodded. I knew Jonathan’s
temper, would come back to haunt us. My mind went back in time, thinking about the
cell phone and how I came to have it.

“One thing you’ll learn
about me, Isabella Grace, is that I always get what I want. Nothing can stop
me. Not even the great Jonathan Black… or his father…”

Of course it only made sense
that Katherine and Jonathan’s father were connected someway. After all, it was
John Black’s coat where I found the cell phone with the text messages from the
mysterious ‘K’.

“How do you want me to get
the money?”

“Don’t try to turn anything
on me,” Katherine said. “I know how this game goes. You try to tell me you
don’t know where the money is and then you explain to Jonathan that you desperately
need the money. You tell Jonathan your life is in danger, and that if he
doesn’t put out the money you’ll never see the light of day again.”

Katherine began to pace the
living room of the hotel room. Her hands were at her sides and the way she walked
was sultry enough to fill the hotel room with sexual tension, even with
Jonathan in the other room possibly hurt… or dead.

“That’s why I had to send a
message to Jonathan,” Katherine said. “The message has been delivered, loud and
clear. And I’m sure you too, Isabella Grace, will get the message. But
understand me… I expect my money to be delivered very soon. If you try to run,
I will kill you.”

Katherine spun around and
stared at me. She wanted me to say something and of all the things running
through my head at that exact second none of them were able to come forward. I
was stuck between standing up for myself and standing up for Jonathan… and
stuck between groveling, collapsing to the floor in a motion, or just quitting.
But what would I be quitting? I was literally stuck. My entire life and
existence at that moment was dependent on both Jonathan Black and Katherine.

“I hope you understand me,”
Katherine said. “I really do. I’d hate for anything else to happen… I mean,
come on, do you really think I’m this evil of a woman?”

Katherine laughed and I
shivered.

“Can I please go see
Jonathan now?” I asked.

I needed to know Jonathan
was alive, dead, or somewhere in between.

“Yes, you can go see
Jonathan.”

I started to stand when
Katherine snapped her fingers and pointed at me.

“I just realized, Isabella
Grace. You’re wondering about your dress, aren’t you?”

“Yeah,” I whispered. “I
honestly don’t care about that though…”

“Oh, I do,” Katherine said.
“I know what it’s like to have something stolen from me. It’s a terrible
feeling. I wish that feeling on nobody… including you…”

Before I could even attempt
to question what Katherine meant or what she was going to do, she reached back
and grabbed the tiny zipper on the dress. She pushed it down as far as she
could then reached from a different angle to get the zipper and pull it all the
way down.

I gasped for air as
Katherine removed the dress from herself to give back to me. She slithered her
way out of it and revealed a lacy red bra and matching panties that hugged her
hips and curves as well as the dress had done. She stepped from the dress and
tossed it to the couch near me.

“I don’t believe this,” I
whispered.

“Believe it,” Katherine said
as she stood in bra and panties.

The way she had taken
herself from the dress may have amazed me, but the implications got to me. Had
she done the same thing for Jonathan Black? Had he accepted her to do so? Worse
yet, had she done something to him without allowing him to speak or defend
himself?

Katherine put her hands at
her hips and curled her lip at me.

She was evil.

Beautifully evil.

I could see her sending
those text messages to me, tempting me, scaring me, knowing it would all lead
to a moment like this.

“Remember, Isabella Grace,”
Katherine said, “you can’t win this one. You won’t. It ends with money or
death. If you choose death, you and Jonathan will be dead and I’ll still get my
money.”

Katherine turned and I
cursed myself for looking to the lines of her panties. It was a thong that cut
at the right places. Katherine opened the door and left the hotel. Just like
that. Walking the halls in a bra and a thong. Oh, and her black heels. She
would certainly look like a dream to any man that saw her in the halls... but
good luck getting near her or taming her.

I took a breath and jumped
from the couch.

I was finally alone.

More so, I was finally able
to check on Jonathan Black.

-3-

He was on the bed, his eyes
shut. That was the first thing I noticed. The second thing I noticed were his
hands. Folded across his chest, looking eerie and morbid. I stood for a second,
trying to see if I could see Jonathan’s chest or stomach moving. But I couldn’t
focus enough to tell. My breathing was so erratic, everything looked like it
was moving in the room.

“Mr. Black?” I called out.

No response.

“Jonathan, no...”

I touched his black shoe. My
finger left a small smear print on the shiny shoe. I touched his ankle and
shook. Even though it was Jonathan Black, it still terrified me that he may
actually be dead. Something about a corpse was just... horrifying.

There was blood on his
shirt, from a cut made by the knife on his arm. Nothing serious at all, but
enough to get blood on the blade of the knife. Just to mess with me.

“Jonathan, it’s me, it’s
Isabella,” I said. “Isabella Grace. Katherine is gone. She left.”

For now
, I thought.
But I didn’t say it.

My hand moved along his suit
pants, touching all the way to his belt. My fingers curled around his belt and
I pulled. I shook a few more times and felt my lips starting to quiver.

“No... please no...”

I touched his stomach and
pressed, waiting for a response. When I felt his stomach move I thought maybe
for a second it was just me doing it. Using my other hand, I put my fingers
under his nose and closed my eyes. I needed to focus and tell if he was alive
or not.

His stomach moved again.

Yes, I knew it.

I felt air on my fingers.

Yes, I felt it.

He was alive... he had to be
alive... nothing could stop him...

“Please,” I whispered. “Just
please wake up, Jonathan...”

I opened my eyes and
screamed.

Jonathan’s eyes were open,
starting at me.

The darkness of the color
meant nothing compared to the darkness pouring from them as he looked at me.

I moved my hands and started
to shake, almost ready to collapse to the bed. I opened my mouth and Jonathan
grabbed my wrist and squeezed. He pulled and I gave up, falling across his
body.

“You’re alive,” I said.
“Jonathan...”

“Call me Mr. Black,” he
whispered, his voice sounded weak, and in pain.

I smiled and apologized for
breaking one of his rules.

“Mr. Black... what happened?”

“She came here,” he
whispered. “She came here and wanted to kill me...”

I slipped my hands around
his sides and hugged him. I didn’t care if he noticed or not, I needed to do
it. I put my head to his chest and listened for his heart. I noticed right away
that his heartbeat was slow. Very slow.

Dangerously slow.

I stood up and looked down
at him. His eyes were there... but they weren’t.

Something was still very
wrong.

I thought maybe Katherine
had attacked him, hit him on the head with something to knock him out, but that
was impossible now.

Jonathan Black moved his
hands and he suddenly clutched the bedsheets. He turned his head and opened his
mouth, trying to cough.

“What did she do?” I asked.
“Tell me...”

“I... can’t...”

Jonathan’s eyes rolled to back
of his head. I screamed his name and a white foamy liquid began to leak from
the corner of his mouth. I froze for a second and grabbed Jonathan, turning him
to his side. I held him and patted his back, watching the liquid continue to
fall from his mouth. I fought back tears and tried to keep my emotions
collected, knowing if I got too lost in the moment, Jonathan would die.

His lips came together and
he licked his lips.

“She’ll come back,” Jonathan
said. “She will, my love...”

My love?

I shivered, not wanting to
obsess about it.

It was just a comment,
nothing more.

“Tell me what to do,” I
cried out. “I’m so scared right now. I can’t lose you.”

Jonathan rolled back and
started to force himself to sit up. When he did, he looked at me, his lips
slightly parted. His eyes were beautiful and could still command me. Even if he
was not all the way there and together, he knew who I was and he knew I could
help. And I couldn’t help myself as I kissed him. I needed to feel his warm -
and alive - lips touching mine.

The kiss lasted a second and
as I moved back, he touched my face.

“We... don’t... have time,”
he said. He swallowed and took a breath. He blinked fast, trying to stay with
me. “I feel... it... everywhere.”

“What’s it like? What do I
do? Can I call an ambulance?”

“No,” he said. “No...
ambulance... they’ll ask... we need...
him
...”

“Who is
him
?” I asked.

I told myself that if
Jonathan said
Kellen
I was going to
literally jump out of the window.

“Doctor,” Jonathan said.
“Doctor.”

“Doctor who?” I asked.

“Bottom drawer... next to
me... phone... now...”

I had to move away from
Jonathan. I didn’t want to. I didn’t want to ever look away from him again.

I fell to my knees and
opened the drawer. I threw a bunch of random clothes out of the drawer and in
the back corner was a cell phone. My hand shook as I grabbed it. To me it could
have been a smoking gun. I stood up and held to Jonathan.

“Dial... 9...”

I opened the phone and
dialed 9 as instructed. I held the phone to Jonathan and he shook his head.

“I... can’t...”

“What do I say? Who is it?”

“Tell them...”

“Hello Mr. Black, how can I
help you?” a cheery voice yelled from the phone.

My eyes went wide. I didn’t
know what to do.

“Hello? Mr. Black?”

“Tell them... Black...
air... source...”

“Mr. Black? Are you okay?”

I put the phone to my ear.
My mouth was bone dry.

“Uh... hello...”

“Hello? Who is this?” the
voice said.

“Black. Air. Source.”

The other end was dead for a
few seconds.

“Okay,” the voice said. The
cheeriness was gone which left me feeling numb and empty.

The line went dead and
Jonathan reached for the phone. He took it from my hand and I watched him hold
it in front of him. With two hands, he groaned and broke the phone in half. He
dropped the pieces to the floor and looked at me.

“Get me... out... back... we
have... nine minutes...”

“Nine minutes until what?” I
asked.

“They leave,” Jonathan said.
“I’m... assumed dead... Isabella Grace... my love...”

I felt a pang in my heart
again.

My love.

I didn’t want to focus on it
but I had to.

Hearing it made me feel alive,
but seeing the way Jonathan looked right then made me feel so close to death.

Jonathan swung his feet from
the bed and tried to stand. He was wobbly and uncomfortable, obviously in pain
but trying to hide it from me. I hugged him and let his arms drape over my
shoulders and stood, helping Jonathan to his feet. I backed up and thought he
was going to fall back but he didn’t. He had a hard time focusing on me so I
took his hand and started to lead him from the room.

I couldn’t imagine what
would happen if anyone assumed Jonathan Black dead. His massive company - the
billions of dollars of value within the company - and the value of his own life
would not survive that news.

We made it into the hall
when Jonathan fell back to the wall. He clutched his chest and groaned.