Pinned Down: A Triple Threat Sports Romance (40 page)

“I didn’t know my husband screwed other women,” I admitted. “I was naïve.”

“He had his share after you ran off, let me tell you. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Where were we? Oh, right. My daughter’s broken heart.” His voice went flat, dull. “I had never seen her that way. She was my happy girl, always smiling and laughing. A bit spoiled, I admit. I wanted her to have a better life than I ever did, you see, so I gave her everything she could ever want. I couldn’t give her the heart of the man she loved, and I think she hated me for that. I think she hated me because I had demanded to meet him, too. It was easier to hate me, you see, than to hate him. She still loved him. She was young, she needed a scapegoat. I was it.”

“The problem was, she was pregnant.”

I gasped. That bastard. He’d gotten another woman pregnant? Who the hell did he think he was, playing with the affections of two women at once? And he acted like I was the guilty party when all I’d done was leave to save him! I should have let Nikolai take care of him.

“I didn’t know what to do. She wanted to keep the baby. I wanted to her terminate the pregnancy. She was too young, only nineteen. She had her entire life ahead of her. She couldn’t give it all up for another man’s child—a man who didn’t even care for her. I tried to get her to see, both her mother and I tried. She didn’t want to hear it. I think the more we tried, the more determined she was to have things her way. She was stubborn, always.”

“She went to him. She told him she was pregnant. And do you know what he did? He told her to have an abortion, too.”

“I don’t believe it,” I said. Grayson wouldn’t do that. Then again, how well did I know him, really? I’d always thought he was faithful to me. Showed how much I knew.

“It’s true. He told her he didn’t want it, she was stupid for getting pregnant, and he didn’t want to have anything to do with it. And do you know what she did?”

“No.” I had a good idea, though.

“She killed herself.” I closed my eyes. No wonder. I didn’t blame him for hating Grayson. “When the divers found her, she had been in the water for a few days. My beautiful girl.” He sounded like a robot, his voice flat, emotionless. I had the feeling he’d already spent all the emotion he had.

“I’m sorry,” I said.

“Sorry doesn’t mean anything. I learned that a long time ago. So my wife left me after that—it was no big loss, she only wanted my money. She couldn’t stand being in the house anymore after that. Everything reminded her of Nina, you know. So that was that. Was I supposed to just let it go? Was I supposed to not want justice for my daughter?”

“But how would killing me have given you justice for what Grayson did?”

“Grayson?” Nikolai blinked once, twice, then burst out laughing. He laughed so hard, I thought for a moment he might lose control of the car and run us off the road. I wanted until he composed himself, wiping tears of mirth from his eyes.

“Grayson isn’t the man I was talking about! What gave you that idea?”

“I—I mean, it only made sense…”

“I was talking about Axel. It was Axel who used my daughter. Your precious fucking president.” I heard the sheer hatred in his voice, then, like he’d flipped a switch and gone from reasonable to a complete psychopath in a split second.

“Axel?” He’d been a grown man by then, in his fifties. And he’d impregnated a young girl? Of course, he didn’t want to have anything to do with her. He was slime. He was the reason the club took the bloody turn it did by the time I left. No wonder Nikolai had been out for blood, too.

“Yes, Axel. Old enough to be her father. Older than me. I knew all about him by the time my daughter killed herself over him. He was nothing, a piece of shit. A user, the sort of man who didn’t care about ruining a girl’s life. The sort of men people like you idolize.”

“I never idolized him,” I said. “Let’s get that straight. I never trusted him. I didn’t want Grayson mixed up with a greedy man like him.”

“You were right. I knew you weren’t stupid. At any rate, it was Axel I was after at first. I wanted to end that fucking club. I didn’t want another man going through what I’d gone through with my daughter. No one should have to bury their child, no matter what they’ve done in their life. The child shouldn’t have to pay for the sins of the parent. I asked myself, if I hadn’t been involved in the world I’d exposed her to, would she have turned out different? You know? Would she have gone after a better man? It didn’t matter. I wanted revenge.”

“By then, the club was leaning heavily on my business interests, too. They were hitting me from all sides. Only Axel didn’t know who Nina’s father was. I had that going for me. Had he known, he might have been a more careful man.”

“Did you kill him?” I asked. He nodded grimly.

“Oh, yes. That was a good day. He had it coming to him for all of his deeds, all the lives he’d ruined. Not just mine, not just Nina’s. Everyone. Yours, too, when you think about it.”

“How so?”

“Had it not been for what he did, I wouldn’t have cared half as much about the club messing with my business. I would have taken care of it in my fashion. But I couldn’t let it go. I couldn’t let that man take everything from me. I needed to make him suffer. I needed to take out his precious second-in-command, the boy who would be president one day. I wanted to cut the club off at the knees, you see? No other man would rule that club and ruin lives. Any man Axel taught would surely end up the same. Right?”

“That’s not true,” I said. “Grayson’s nothing like him. He might have admired him once, a long time ago, but when he got older and wiser he understood the sort of man Axel was. He didn’t want to be anything like him.”

He appeared to think this over, his eyes narrowing the way they did when he considering my words. “Yes, I suppose that’s why he didn’t kill me when he had the chance. He could have, you know. Easily. But he didn’t. I always wondered why he didn’t when he knew how dangerous I was to him and all his little friends.”

I had never heard anything of that story, but I thought it best not to ask too many additional questions. He’d grown more agitated over the course of his story, and I didn’t want to catch him when his blood was up.

“You thought it was Grayson who did that?” Nikolai laughed. “No, he’s not that sort of man. You’re right about him. He wasn’t like Axel at all. But that’s neither here nor there now. I still want him to pay.”

“Pay for what? I don’t understand. He didn’t hurt your Nina, Axel did. You killed Axel. Grayson didn’t kill you when he had the chance. What else is there?”

“I’ll never stop until I make him feel the pain I felt. When I found out you were pregnant, I thought, now there’s a way to make him pay. Once he knows he’s a father, he’ll understand how it feels to watch a dead child pulled from the river. He’ll know how it feels to wish he was the one in the river, not his only baby.”

He’d lost his mind, totally.

“I can see wanting to make Grayson pay for hurting your business, but this had nothing to do with him. I’d be willing to bet that he had no idea what Axel had done. He might not even have met Nina. This isn’t fair.”

“Life isn’t fair. I want him to know how it feels, and I want him to see the thing he loves most die because of him and his club. Just as my girl died because of his club. I want it to all end. I want him to crumble, to be unable to go on. I want the club to fall apart around him, and I want to burn what’s left to the ground. My daughter calls out from the grave, telling me this is what I have to do.”

Oh, yes, he was crazy. Legitimately insane. I didn’t know what to do. Grayson had no idea any of this was happening, either. He didn’t know the danger he’d been in all along. Nikolai had never gone away. He’d watched and waited.

“You have no idea how excited I was when I watched you walk into my office via my security feed,” he said, chuckling. “The opportunity I needed, right in front of me. I knew that somehow I could make you suffer, and make him suffer as a result.”

I had walked right into it, literally. How was I to know?

A light started blinking on the dashboard—I could see it from my spot in the back seat. Low gas! My heart soared. It was just what I’d been hoping for. There had to be a way for us to stop, for me to get a message to Grayson. He would stop. He had to stop somewhere. He had to know somehow where I was going. I needed to believe it.

“Shit,” Nikolai muttered. He saw the light, then.

“I just saw a sign for a rest stop a few miles down the road,” I said. “I think it’s the next exit.”

“Don’t get excited,” he muttered.

“About what?”

“Thinking you’ll get away.” He glanced at me. I put on an innocent act.

“I just have to pee,” I said, shrugging. “That’s it.”

“Right. Like I would let you go into the bathroom alone.” Great, so that wouldn’t work.

“You can’t keep me like a prisoner, here in this car. I’ll make it so everyone notices me. Or we can be nice to each other and work together. I don’t have to raise hell, and you don’t have to be nasty to me. Right?”

He shook his head. “You think you’re so clever,” he murmured, but I thought I heard a little bit of appreciation in his voice.

“You’re the one who said I was smart.” I shrugged. “I just have to use the restroom, that’s all. I don’t think it’s too much to ask.”

“You’re right. It’s not.”

“I mean, we need gas for wherever we’re going, too. Right?”

“Yeah, we can’t make it to Barnegat on fumes.” Barnegat! I rejoiced. At least I knew where we were going. Then, he added, “And I need gas for the boat.”

My stomach dropped. Boat? We were going to a harbor, then, or a marina. In Barnegat. I had to get the message out somehow. Soon, too. We’d been driving for over an hour, so it would only be a matter of time before we reached our destination.
Oh, Grayson, hurry up
. Where did he plan to take me once we got on the boat?

Chapter Twenty-Five

Jess

When we pulled in at the rest stop, my head buzzed with frantic energy. It was all I could do to keep myself calm, to make it seem as though I didn’t care one way or another what happened. But I did care. I cared very much. This was my only chance to tell Grayson where I was going, and when, and how to get to me.
Oh, please, God. Help me. Show me the way here. I need you
. I had never been much of a praying person, but it was funny what happened in situations like that. Suddenly, I had faith in something higher than myself. I needed to. It was all I could hold onto.

We pulled in at one of the many gas pumps. I immediately unbuckled my belt. “And what do you think you’re doing?” Nikolai asked, beady eyes glaring at me.

“I thought we talked about this. I need to use the restroom. If you would like to come in with me, make sure there’s nobody lurking about for me to talk to, you go right ahead. Or maybe you can get one of your lackeys to do it for you.” And there they were, pulling up beside us at another pump. I took the chance the moment Nikolai flipped the locks, opening the door and stepping out of the car.

“Boss! What is she doing?” One of them pointed at me, raising his voice. Well, if Nikolai hadn’t wanted a scene…

“Shut up, you idiot! Why don’t you tell the entire world why she’s with us?” If we’d been in private, I thought Nikolai might have smacked his assistant. “I don’t want any trouble here, all right? Let’s conduct ourselves in a reasonable manner.”

“You could learn a thing or two from your boss, boys,” I smirked. “He’s a gentleman. Such a gentleman, in fact, that he’ll let me wear his jacket when I go inside. I’m going to freeze to death, and somebody’s bound to wonder why I’m walking around like this in such weather.” It had to be around forty degrees, and I was hardly dressed. “Come on. Please. Empty the pockets, I don’t care, but I need to wear something.” I decided to take my chances and appeal to his paternal side. If his daughter could wrap him around her finger, I might be able to do the same to a lesser extent. It was my only hope. I needed to make him like me. He already knew plenty about me, so there was a connection, if only a tenuous one. I could exploit it if I had to.

He shook his head, smirking. “The balls,” he muttered, checking the pockets to be sure there was nothing inside of use to me. Then he peeled off the leather jacket with its wool lining. It was heavy and warm, and I was grateful for it.

“Thank you. See?” I looked at the two thugs who had killed Tony. “A gentleman.”

“Whatever.” One of them turned to fill up his bike, while the other glared at me like I had just shown him up somehow.

“Can I please go in and use the restroom?”

“Chuck, you go in with her,” Nikolai said, nodding toward the doors of the rest stop. I looked at it like my salvation. It was my only chance.

“I’m not going into some ladies’ restroom,” Chuck said, shaking his head.

“I didn’t say you had to go into the restroom with her, for God’s sake. Just go inside and wait by the door for her. Get me something to drink, too. Iced tea.”

“Can I have something, too?” I asked.

“Don’t push your luck,” Nikolai warned. I shrugged, then walked toward the squat, brick building. It looked as though there was a fast food restaurant inside, a newsstand, and the restrooms. Who could I talk to?

“Hurry up in there,” Chuck warned. “Don’t make me go in after you.”

“Right,” I said, walking into the foul bathroom. There was nobody else in there. Damn it. I used the toilet, then waited around for as long as I dared. Damn that Chuck—he was so tall, burly, scary looking that even if a woman had to use the facilities, he probably scared her away.

After a few minutes, I heard him bang on the door. He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t have to. As much as I didn’t mind the idea of causing a scene—it would make it more likely that somebody would remember me—I didn’t want to leave myself solely in his hands. If Nikolai were there, I might trust him to keep Chuck from flying off the handle. It didn’t seem like he could stop himself once he got going…hence the way he’d hit Tony. I wished there was a weapon I could take out with me, but I didn’t see a thing.

I stepped out. “Sorry. I had to look around for toilet paper.”

“I don’t need to hear about your life.” I walked over to the newsstand with him, staying silent all the way, while he pulled a bottle of iced tea out of a refrigerator case. I looked around. There was a nice looking older man standing by the magazines, flipping through. He seemed rather leisurely, like he was in no hurry to be anywhere in particular. I thought he might be my only shot, if only he were willing to stick around for a little while.

“What are you standing around for?” Chuck asked. He couldn’t keep his voice down if he tried—the old man looked up, startled. I caught his eye when he did.

“Nothing,” I said. “My legs got cramped up in the car, is all. Especially when I was in the trunk.” I glanced at the old man again, my eyes wide.

“Shut up about that,” Chuck hissed.

“Why? Nobody’s listening. The old man can’t hear.” But he could hear, and I saw him looking at me from over the top of a magazine. I nodded ever so slightly, just enough so he could notice. He looked alarmed.

“Nikolai said we’re going to a marina or harbor in Barnegat. Is that right? Are we going on a boat? Because if we are, I need something for motion sickness.”

“Yeah, right.” I glanced at the old man again, making sure he’d heard me. His eyes were glued to me.

“I mean it,” I said, distracting Chuck with talk of motion sickness. “If we get on a boat in Barnegat, I’m going to throw up. How would you like to deal with that?”

“I wouldn’t,” he growled.

“Then, please. Dramamine. It would be a lifesaver.” The old man watched but tried to make it look like he wasn’t watching. Chuck bought the iced tea, and a travel pack of Dramamine. I made a big deal of thanking him for it.

“Do you think the Vipers know that Nikolai has a boat in Barnegat?” I asked.

“I don’t know. How would I know?”

“I was just wondering how Grayson and the Vipers would be able to find me in Barnegat.”

“They won’t.” He didn’t look down at me, only taking my arm to pull me out of the building. The old man looked like he was writing something down.
Oh, please, please, please, let Grayson come here
. There was little to no chance that we would be stopping anywhere else. I’d just used up my last shot at him finding me.

“Come on. Hurry up, damn it.” He pulled me by the arm, and I made a show of fighting him off.

“Don’t touch me!” I wasn’t playing, either. I wanted to kill him for what he’d done. I only thanked my lucky stars that David hadn’t come out. Oh, my sweet baby. What was he thinking at that time? Was he scared? Of course he was.
I tried, baby. I really tried. Now we have to see if Daddy will find me.

Daddy. I wished I had at least told David that Grayson was his father. It would have been a blessing to him, knowing he had a father to love him in case I never saw him again. I promised myself that if Grayson found me, I wouldn’t waste any time. My son and his father would know each other better, and we would be a family. That was the way it was meant to be. I had to make that happen. I wouldn’t let myself regret a missed opportunity again.

“She wanted me to buy her Dramamine,” Chuck explained when Nikolai looked for his change.

“Oh, you’re very smart,” my captor sneered. “Always thinking. The wheels are always turning.”

“I don’t know what you mean. All I know is, you said the word ‘boat’, and I get terrible motion sickness.” I narrowed my eyes, mimicking his patented move. “Unless you didn’t plan on taking me with you on the boat. Unless you had planned on getting rid of me before then.”

He grinned. “Why would I do that, when you’re so entertaining?” He opened the car door, pushing me inside. “Let’s go. We don’t have all the time in the world.” I buckled in, hoping against hope that I’d stalled long enough to give Grayson time to find me. I hoped he hadn’t wasted any time in looking for me. Otherwise, we would be on our way to the open sea before he met up with my friend at the rest stop.

The day was passing, the light already turning warm and amber. It was still winter, so night still came on early in the day. What would happen once the night came and we were on a boat, disappearing in the darkness? Who would see us? Who would find us? Who would know?

Please hurry, Grayson. Please, hurry.