His Every Fantasy (25 page)

"Mandy, honey?"

"I don’t want to talk about it Rylan. I made a
horrible mistake and just want to go to Jett’s apartment by myself
and expect all men to stay the fuck out of my way." She muttered
angrily as the sobs continued.

"Do you want me to escort you?"

"Maybe just to the bar to get my bottle of
tequila, please. I’ll be fine after that. It’s just a few steps
from the bar to the elevator."

Rylan nodded his understanding. If she didn’t
want anyone around her after he got her to the bar, he refused to
push the issue. He was going to blacken Jett’s eye and break his
nose. That boy more than had it coming! He warned him and it seems
like Jett pushed this poor girl into something she hadn’t wanted
nor deserved, judging by the way she was walking very slowly and in
great pain. He decided to carry her to the bar and then he was
going after Jett. He had another security member watch his post for
him, then lifted the sweet Mandy into his arms and carried her to
the bar, yelling at anyone who got in his way. At the bar, he
gently put her down, gave her a hug and his business card and told
her to call him if ever she needed anything at all.

Mandy sincerely thanked him for his generosity
and took a large swig from the bottle. It was the last time any of
them would see Mandy that night and in the days to come.

Mandy managed to blend into the crowd with her
body of tequila and escaped the club through a back unguarded exit
door. Once outside, she breathed in and out painfully, the kick
from Xavier had begun to bruise a large area of skin. She walked
around to the front of the bar, sat on a bench a few feet from the
door and downed half of the bottle of tequila. She planned to call
Hunter to come and get her and take her home to her condo. Jett
deserved to stew for a few nights or months for that
matter.

Before she knew it, 70 percent of the bottle
was gone and her vision began to blur. Her inebriated thought
processes were flawed and told her it was a good idea to get away
from the club and find a public place to call Hunter from and
walked off into the night.

LATER THAT NIGHT, Jett decided he was going to
do something he’d never considered before. He was going to
apologize and beg Mandy not to leave him. Lifestyle or not, he knew
deep in his heart that he’d couldn’t go back to living a life
without her. But when he got to the apartment, he could not find
Mandy anywhere. He put the whole building into immediate lockdown.
After an hour of searching and still not finding her, Jett had to
assume she called Hunter to come and pick her up and was in bed for
the night, safe and sound at the Bookstore. He stopped the lockdown
on the club for the night and sent everyone home.

After a long and sleepless night, Jett arrived
at the bookstore the next morning with a dozen white roses. He
walked up to Nicole who was working at the sales counter with
another woman. She looked like death warmed over. "Where is she,
Nicole?"

"How the hell should I know. The last time I
saw Mandy was at your club being a complete bitch. Go and ask the
boys." Nicole said, her tone one of jealous anger.

"Very well––and Nicole, grow the hell up and
you just might just find a man you are worthy of." Jett scolded
angrily, causing Nicole to blush to a deep red in embarrassment and
anger.

"Emmitt, is Hunter around?"

"Sure is boyfriend. Just go through the door
to my right and head up the stairs. I will call and tell him to
expect you. Emmitt said and turned on the charm.

"Thank you. I deeply appreciate it. I need his
advice on something." Jett said and went in the door with Tom at
his heels. Hunter waited at the top of the stairs, surprised to see
Jett at his place. When Jett reached him he said, "Please come
in."

"Thank you. I’m looking for Mandy, is she here
or did you drop her off somewhere else?" Jett asked calmly with an
undertone of concern.

"I’m sorry Jett, but what the hell are you
talking about?"

"Mandy got pissed off and hurt thanks to the
little bastard, Xavier. The last thing I knew, she was heading up
to lay down in our apartment after she was seen at the bar getting
a bottle of tequila. I put the club on lockdown and searched all
over for her, but when I could not find her, I just assumed she
called you to pick her up. When did you see her last?"

"With you. She went through the golden door
with you. I left after that and took the two pity party attendees
home."

"Dammit Mandy!" Jett yelled, his voice full of
fear and his mind surged with horrific possibilities.

"How in the hell did she leave the club alone
with no one seeing her leave––and that rough neighborhood too?!
What the hell were you thinking, letting her go off by herself!"
Hunter yelled in anger and fear. He had a very bad feeling
something terrible happened to Mandy.

"Stay by your phone Hunter, in case she tries
to call you for help. My brother is a seasoned detective on the
police force. I am going to call him now and get him on the case.
There is no time to lose. He will get the whole department
searching the city for her. Is there anywhere at all that she might
go, besides Krav Maga, her place or her running route?"

"I don’t know. She is the type who likes her
privacy. Please find her Jett. I have a terrible feeling about all
of this."

"I promise you Hunter, I
will
find her
and keep her safe no matter the cost to myself. I will hunt her to
the ends of the earth if I have to. I've fallen deeply in love with
her." Jett admitted, the words burst forth from his very soul and
they shocked even him. His eyes grew wide and Hunter
chuckled.

"Even I could see that you did last night. She
loves you too, but because of whatever happened in her past, she
denies it to me and even to herself. Go now and save our
girl––please."

Jett flew out of Hunter's apartment and down
the stairs and right out the door to the limo and instructed John
to take him straight to Rylan's place. There, he broke down into
tears for the first time in the presence of another.

Rylan was in shock. Jett had fallen in love,
something he’d refused to allow himself to do before. He always
said love turned people evil, based on his own past abuse at the
hands of his biological parents. They had physically, verbally,
emotionally and sexually abused and tortured him.

It was amazing that Mandy had broken through
his armor and embedded herself within his heart. It told Rylan
volumes more about the beautiful and kind woman. He hugged his
brother and silently prayed to God, asking for his divine
assistance to help them find Mandy alive before it was too late. He
couldn't bear to imagine what would happen to Jett and his psyche
if he lost her––forever.

"It's all my fault. If I had been more careful
with her, she be safe in our home right now." Jett muttered, angry
at himself.

"I hate to say it, but your least half right.
The last time I saw her, at the bar, there was a tremendous amount
of pain in her eyes. I could tell it hurt her to leave your side
but she seemed compelled. It is possible a flashback had been
triggered." Rylan suggested, put his hand on Jett's shoulder and
squeezed. He immediately got on the phone with his team and got
them on the case, giving them all of the information Jett knew. At
that moment John ran into the room out of breath and
frantic.

Jett did his best to calm John down then
looked at the print outs that had been faxed to his office at the
club. They stated that Mandy's ex had been released five days ago
from prison. He cut off his ankle monitoring device three days ago.
His parole officer was the one to discover that he was missing and
contacted the police. A current nationwide alert is out for him as
his parole officer fears he is after his ex-wife, Melissa Smith.
John explained that was Mandy's name before she changed it to Mandy
O'Neal, a fact Jett already knew from Mandy herself. She had
changed it when she went underground to escape.

Jett's level of terror for Mandy's well-being
and safety overwhelmed him and his face lost all color. He shoved
the papers in Rylan's face with shaky hands.

Rylan's expression changed from determined to
fearful and back to determined again. He began giving a series of
orders over the phone and ordered the whole missing persons team
into the department's office ASAP.

"I promise you Jett, I will find her. I need
you to do your best to remain calm. I have to go into the office.
You can help me out by having John here find out anything else you
can, about Mandy's past with David. Rylan ordered.

"She told me everything. Allow me to come with
you and help where I can. I will tell you everything I know about
Mandy's past on the way. Brother, you know I can't just sit and do
nothing when my woman is out there, alone, vulnerable and in
danger." Jett begged.

"Very well, but you have to promise me you
will remain calm." Rylan had known that Jett would not remain
behind and hoped no matter what happened, his brother would be able
to handle it.

Jett pulled John aside and ordered him to
contact all members of the club and have them search the streets as
well. He also ordered John to circulate her photo around and try to
find out if anyone had seen her the night before. Jett had extreme
faith in his brother, but if David had Mandy then time was running
out.

John agreed to make haste and left at the same
time Rylan and Jett sped off to the department's
headquarters.

MANDY WOKE UP groggy, her head wrapped in a
towel and her whole body including her head was in excruciating
pain. She had no idea where she was or how much time had passed,
only that she was dressed and lying flat on her back on a filthy
cot.
What in the hell happened to me and where am I? The last
thing I remember is leaving the club hurt and angry and running
away from Jett.
She struggled to get up and screamed in
frustration and overwhelming physical pain. She further realized
she was handcuffed and shackled to the cot.

"Hello sweetheart. I am so glad you are
finally awake. You have no idea how much I have missed you or how
long it took my associates to find you. Just when I gave up hope
and believed you really died later on from your injuries, I
received word my associates pulled the information out of one of
those DV underground freaks before they killed her and mutilated
her body. Then, I was forced to join that bastard sicko’s club and
made a special friend who kept an eye on you for me. You have been
hard to get near with that freak always breathing down your neck.
You do look as beautiful as I remember, Melissa."

Mandy tried to keep the trembling and extreme
fear hidden deep inside. "David. Sweetheart, when did you get out?
Please forgive me, I could not remain in that horrid town any
longer. It just became too much combined with the betrayal." Mandy
did her best to keep her outer expression as cool, collect, and
calm as possible in an effort to drag this out long enough for
someone to find and rescue her.

"I knew you still loved me and missed me. I
don't blame you one bit for moving away from your messed up family.
They never understood you or us. I also know those bastards forced
you to testify against me. They will never bother you again and
neither will your family back home. Apparently, your father died a
year ago and your disgusting mother, unfortunate for her, perished
in an gas explosion while she slept with some drunk the day after I
got back home." David smiled in evil delight.

"I knew she lied to me the day I came home and
asked her where you were. She had the audacity to tell me you died
and she buried you in an unmarked grave next to our daughter. She
went so far as to claim, it was done at your request. That was the
tipoff because I know you are too vain to lay in an unmarked grave
or to leave our daughter in one."

Shit! I knew I should have put a tombstone
on her grave and added my name to it as well!
"You know me too
well David. If you don't mind my asking, what happened to my head?
It feels like I've been hit by a sledgehammer more than once."
Mandy forced her voice to come out calm and not as fearful and
terrified as she felt deep inside. She forced herself to breathe
normally, as if she had not a care in the world. She did not want
to die at David's hands. She could not leave this world without
apologizing to Jett. It nearly sliced her heart in two when she
walked out of the club in her anger. She loved him, she knew that
now and had to live at least long enough to make sure he knew
that.

"I hear you have been a very naughty girl
doing disgusting things with other men. I'm ashamed of you Melissa
and I have not decided what will be the proper punishment for it.
Even though, the thought of you doing such things to me, after all
these years in prison, excites me to no end."

Mandy stared up into David's dull green eyes
for a moment then looked him over from head to toe. He gained a
great deal of muscle in prison. His dirty dishwater long blonde
hair, gone. He buzzed it all off. The look in his eyes though, it
was the same one that haunted her very nightmares. It was the look
of the devil himself.