JAKrentz - Uneasy Alliance (22 page)

"Your threats aren't worth anything, Flynn. My cousin knows all about that weekend at the beach."

His smile returned. "Abby, Abby. Why are you lying like this? The last thing you would want is to have Cynthia find out what a slut you really are. We both know that. And that's why you and I are going to talk a little business tonight."

His fingers caressed the nape of her neck in a subtle threat as he guided her over toward the sofa and pushed her into a sitting position. He stood close, too close. Abby didn't dare move for fear of provoking real violence. Perhaps if she just stayed very calm and kept him talking until Torr returned she could get through this unscathed. Flynn had been unpredictable toward the end of the period in which she had known him. She had no way of telling how much more violent or unpredictable he had become in the intervening two years.

She should never have opened the front door. Torr was not going to be pleased, Abby decided wryly.

"You haven't told me what you want, Flynn." With an outer coolness that amazed her, Abby sat primly on the edge of the sofa, looking up at him.

"Well, I sure don't want you, you little whore," he returned easily. "You really can't get enough, can you? You put on such an act with me, always saying you weren't ready for commitment, refusing to go to bed with me and all the while you were hopping into bed with anything in pants."

"That's not true, Flynn. You and I were never serious about each other."

"We were engaged!" he ground out.

"No, we were not engaged and you know it. You never had any claim on me, Flynn." Instantly Abby realized her mistake. He did not want to be contradicted. His dark eyes hardened dangerously and the face that had once seemed so good-looking became a mask of hate.

"You think I don't know what you were up to while we were engaged? You think I don't know about all the men you were seeing behind my back? You little bitch! Why don't you admit it?"

"What do you want from me, Flynn?" she repeated steadily.

He stared at her and then seemed to regain control of himself. Abby concealed a shiver. It had never been this precarious when she had known him. He seemed far more volatile now. Looking up at him, Abby could see that the potential for violence that she had begun to sense in him two years before, but had only witnessed once, was now flickering much closer to the surface. The man was very dangerous now.

"What kind of business?"

"Nothing too difficult for you to comprehend." He leaned over with unexpected swiftness, his fingers sliding back to her throat. Dark eyes burned with an unnatural brightness that was somehow more frightening than anything else about him. "I want the shares, Abby. The shares you own in your dear cousin's computer firm. You see, I have given this a lot of thought. I have hit upon the perfect revenge. You are going to make me a very rich man, whore."

"You're the one who's been trying to buy the family shares?" she got out in amazement. "But how did you know that the company's—" She broke off, not wanting to reveal more if he didn't already know it for himself.

"That Tyson's taking the company public? That he finally got it back on its feet and that when they do go public they will be announcing a major breakthrough in graphics programming? I know everything, Abby. Including how much control I'll have if I have your block of shares. You're going to sell them to me. For ten dollars," he concluded in satisfaction.

"How…how did you know all that?" Talking. She must keep him talking. Torr had said he'd be gone an hour and forty minutes had already passed.

"I've known where you were the past couple of years. Did you really think I'd let you get away with what you did to me two years ago? Oh, no. You had to be punished. I knew about your shares from the beginning, remember? You used to laugh at how worthless they were. You also told me that all the rest of the family had stock. But you didn't tell me how little each one held. I soon realized I was wasting my time approaching all the relatives individually. But I remembered that you held quite a chunk. Enough that, combined with whatever else I can pick up from all the sweet little aunts and uncles and nieces and nephews, will let me gain a seat on the board and a lot of control."

"And if I don't sell them to you for a nominal sum?" she prodded carefully.

"Why then I'll make sure that your sweet cousin Cynthia sees what a two-faced little bitch you are. I'll let her know how you seduced her husband. You saw those photos I took while you and he were rendezvousing at the coast last winter. How do you think she'll feel when she sees them? No." He shook his head with great certainty. "You'll never allow that to happen. You're too soft when it comes
to
Cynthia. Hard as nails when it comes to taking what you want from a man, but you're soft on your cousin. I know you, darling Abby. I know you very well."

Desperately she tried to get back to her earlier question. "All right, Flynn, I'll admit you know me well. But how did you find out about the firm's financial position? How did you know it was getting ready to go public?"

"I'm a businessman, remember?" he taunted. "I have a pipeline into your cousin's firm. I've had it for almost a year. I've been sitting back watching while Tyson pulled it out of the red. He's good, I'll agree to that. I have no objection to him staying on as president. But he's going to have to do things my way once I'm on the board. We're going to make a killing with that new graphics package. The stock's going to be worth a fortune on the open market. I'm going to be a very rich man when this is all over. You should have stuck with me, Abby. I could have made you the wife of a very rich man."

"You didn't love me, Flynn. You know that. You wanted to own me for some reason I could never quite fathom, but you didn't love me."

"Of course I didn't love you," he snarled. "How could any man love a tramp like you? But I wanted you," he went on seemingly. "You seduced me into wanting you. It was a deliberate game you played and then when you'd had your fill you walked off without a backward glance. Straight into the arms of a whole string of other men. But you're going to pay for your game. You're going to watch me sitting on Tyson's board, making decisions that affect your precious cousin and her husband and everyone else in the family. That's going to eat you up inside, isn't it? Knowing that you were the one who gave me control?"

"Flynn, believe me, I never tried to play games with you. You and I only dated for a few weeks. There never was any engagement and I never led you to believe I was falling in love with you."

"You lied to me! You deliberately toyed with me. But you're going to make up for it, Abby," he hissed. "You know how?"

"Flynn, stop it!"

"No, no, Abby, let me explain exactly how you're going to make up for being unfaithful. You're going to become my mistress."

She stared at him, dumbfounded. "Your mistress!"

"That's right," he nodded in satisfaction. "You're going to belong to me, body and soul. And you're going to be on your best behavior for as long as I want you because if you aren't, I'll use my seat on the board to ruin your precious cousin and everyone else in the family!"

Abby drew a shaky breath. "You need help, Flynn. Professional help. You're letting your bitterness toward me lead you into doing something terrible. You can't stoop to blackmail, for heaven's sake! Sooner or later you'll be—"

"Don't tell me what I can or can't do. I'm the one in charge now, Abby. I'm the one who gives the orders." He reached down swiftly and hauled her to her feet. She could feel his fingers bruising her arm through the plaid shirt, and in spite of her efforts to remain calm, Abby knew that fear was starting to take over in her body. Panic welled up and it required a supreme effort of will to force it back under control.

"Flynn, please listen to me," she tried to say in a clear steady voice. "I'm not going to sell you the shares. Not for ten dollars or ten thousand dollars."

"Yes, you will." He shook her, eyes cold and not quite human. "You'll do anything to protect that cousin of yours."

"I might," Abby admitted truthfully, "but in this case it's not necessary. She knows all about that weekend on the coast. What's more she knows nothing happened between Ward and myself."

She'd made another mistake with that last sentence. A burning fury flared in Flynn Randolph's eyes and the hands on her arm dug deeper.

"You're lying!"

"No, it's true. She knows everything."

"If she does, then she knows you went to bed with her husband."

"I didn't."

"You little slut. I know all about it. I've been keeping an eye on you for the past six months. I know you met Tyson at the coast. I know you spent the night there with him. Don't try to tell me any different. I won't believe any more of your lies."

"You've been following me?" she gasped, horrified at the knowledge.

"Six months ago when I realized that Tyson's firm was probably going to make it and that there was a fortune to be had in the process, it occurred to me just how I could repay you for the way you treated me two years ago. Did you think I'd just forgive and forget the day you quit your job and disappeared? Did you?" He shook her, more viciously this time.

"You're a handsome, successful man, Flynn," Abby tried to point out reasonably. "You could probably have any woman you wanted—"

"Except you, right? Who the hell do you think you are to say I can't have you? I wanted you, Abby. Two years ago I'd have given you marriage. This time you'll come to me on my terms and you'll be sweet and obedient and you'll make every effort to keep me happy, won't you? Because if you don't I'll crucify your cousin and the family."

"You're irrational, Flynn."

"That's what they said to me at work," he startled her by admitting. "They said I was becoming irrational, that my decisions were arbitrary. But I'm going to show everyone. I'm going to have it all, a fortune and the woman who thought she was too good for me. In fact, little tease, I'm going to start claiming what's mine right now!"

"Flynn, no!"

He cut off her startled scream with the flat of his hand, slapping it savagely across her mouth as he pushed her onto the sofa. Abby panicked as she felt him tearing roughly at her clothing. The plaid shirt was ripped open with one violent movement, revealing her bra.

"I'll show you exactly what you are, whore!" He had gone over some inner edge. Abby could read it in his eyes. She was dealing with a man who was not only insane with fury, but probably insane, period.

Unable to shout or argue because of the sweating palm across her mouth, Abby struggled in fierce silence. She felt his hand on her body and her fear mingled with a rage unlike any she had ever known. She could not stand his touch and somewhere in the deepest recesses of her mind she realized suddenly why she had never been really tempted to drift into an affair with Flynn Randolph. She had known instinctively that he was wrong for her in every way. The surface charm that had once lured was now in tatters, and the irrational violent man underneath was all too evident.

The battle was vicious for all its silence. Abby could hear Flynn panting as he tried to anchor her to the sofa. His hot hand swept painfully over her breasts, trying to rip off the bra.

"Stop struggling, you little whore. This is what you live for. I'll give it to you better than you've ever had it. I'll make you beg for it. And when I've had enough of your begging, I'll take you until you cry out for mercy."

Abby shoved at him, raking her nails down his face and neck, trying to kick at him with her legs. He seemed oblivious to the pain she was inflicting, however, and she realized that she was not going to stand a chance of fighting him off. Wildly she struggled, managing to throw herself almost off the sofa.

She had lost all track of time now, had no idea when Torr might return. How long could she last? Flynn was so much stronger and his violence so irrational that she knew there was no hope of escaping.

Her hand flailed across the glass surface of the coffee table. Flynn's fingers were on the zipper of her jeans and she twisted with desperation. Once again her fingers scrabbled along the glass coffee table but this time they encountered an object. The jade-green bowl that contained Torr's elegant flower arrangement was where she had placed it earlier.

The bowl felt cool and hard beneath her touch, and all of a sudden Abby knew she held a weapon.

Abby could see the fire of the brilliant flowers out of the corner of her eye as she grasped the bowl and swung it in a short savage arc. How could there be such beauty in such savagery as she intended?

The bowl cracked against the side of Randolph's head with frightening force. Water and flowers cascaded over Flynn and Abby. The shock of the cold water made Abby catch her breath just as a hoarse primitive shout came from the doorway.

Abby barely had time to realize that it wasn't Flynn who had called out so violently before she found herself free of the oppressive weight of Flynn's collapsing body.

"Torr!"

He didn't even glance at her as he hauled the unconscious man off her and slung him down to the floor. Abby saw the way Torr's shoulders were bunched beneath the white fabric of the conservative shirt he wore. Feet apart, hands in knotted fists, he stood staring down at Flynn. Abby grabbed at her shirt, pulling it close around her and tried to catch her breath. Flowers lay strewn on the carpet and one of them lay crushed under Torr's heel.