The Billionaire's Terms: Prison Or Passion (17 page)

She heard his voice and wanted him to hurry up and finish the phone call. Number one, it was disturbing her. And number two, she was hoping that she could tease him into making love to her once he hung up the phone.

“Dammit!” Alicia heard him say moments before the phone was slammed down into the cradle. Suddenly, he was hopping out of bed and pulling on a pair of jeans.

 

“What’s going on?” she asked, pushing her hair out of her face.

“There’s been a break in at the office. A fire was started,” he said grimly, pulling a tee-shirt over his head and slipping his feet into a pair of running shoes, not even bothering with socks.

“Oh, Adam! I’m sorry. What can I do?” she asked, sitting up and getting out of bed herself. She rushed over to her dresser and pulled on a pair of jeans, noticing that she still had her shirt and bra on from the day before. She didn’t take the time to wonder about it, too concerned with Adam’s crisis.

“Nothing,” he said, his voice deep with the remnants of sleep. “I want you to stay here. I don’t know what is going on but Jim suspects that the fire might have been deliberate.”

“Why?” she asked, continuing to dress, pulling on a pair of shoes. “Who would do something like that and why would they?”

Adam stopped for a moment, debating how much to tell her. This wasn’t the best way to admit he’d made a mistake. But the truth would come out sooner or later. “The fire was started in the accounting department, with all the archived invoices.” He took a deep breath before continuing. “Jim thinks that the person who embezzled money from the company wanted to cover their trail since the investigation was started up again.”

He walked over to her and placed a quick, hard kiss on her open mouth. “Let me find out what is going on and I’ll be back here. You’ll still be here, won’t you?” he asked, his dark eyes looking into her blue ones intently. “I’ll explain everything when I get back.”

Alicia’s hand rose to her lips where he’d just kissed her. It felt like the whole world was becoming brighter and brighter. “Yes. Of course I’ll be here,” she said softly.

 

“Good. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

 

Alicia watched him leave, then looked at the clock. It was only three o’clock in the morning. She knew she’d fallen asleep about midnight.

 

Her book! She remembered falling asleep on the sofa. Where was her book?

She ran out to the living room and saw her laptop, sitting closed on the coffee table. She blushed, wondering if he’d read her story. She certainly hoped not. But then, if he had, did he like it? Was it worthwhile?

Alicia pushed those thoughts away. She didn’t care if he liked it. She walked back into the bedroom and stepped into the shower, wanting to be revived when he walked back in. Coffee! herself! What time was it? even five o’clock in the morning! She considered going back to bed but she was already up and extremely worried about Adam. If it were only his company, she would be upset. But if someone were running around the office setting fires, that meant he might be in danger.
She knew Adam would need coffee. Good grief, she did

She looked over at the clock and read the dial. It wasn’t

Damn the man! If he hurt himself before she had a chance to tell him she loved him, she would be very angry with him. She didn’t even consider the idea that something worse than only being hurt could be a possibility. The tightening around her chest at the “hurt” idea was too painful. If he died…..Alicia stopped her mind from going in that direction. There was no use in traipsing around horrible, impossible thoughts. No one could hurt Adam. He was too huge, too strong, too…invincible.

Alicia hurriedly dumped coffee grounds into the coffee maker then pressed the button to start the water. Her fingers were shaking and she covered her face with her hands, praying that nothing would happen to him. He was her life and if the only position he wanted her in was his mistress, well she’d be here for as long as that lasted.

When it was over? Well, she’d deal with that misery when it came. No use borrowing pain when it wasn’t necessary.

The coffee finally finished brewing and she poured herself a cup, then took it out to the terrace, watching the sun rise over the city and river, her mind completely occupied with wondering what was happening and praying that he would walk in the door and tell her that everything was okay.

When the sun was finally over the city, she sighed and drained the last of her coffee. Deciding that this was pointless, she went back inside and turned on the television. Sure enough, there was a story on the news about the fire but no mention about where it was started or why. Was someone trying to hide evidence against them? If they’d embezzled money, would they be smart enough to hide it? How could anyone be stupid enough to leave a paper trail of that kind of a theft? But how could they not? Her father had been caught because of a paper trail which was one of the reasons she’d always shied away from e-mail correspondence whenever possible.

The noise coming from the foyer startled her since she’d been lost in concentration. “Adam?” she called out, placing her coffee cup on the table in front of her.

There was silence. Alicia frowned. Had she imagined the sound? It was possible. She turned around and watched the television for a few more minutes, hoping there would be an update to the fire or the investigation. But something tickled her senses and she couldn’t ignore the idea that someone had actually entered the penthouse. Was she imagining things?

Alicia stood up and brought her coffee cup into the kitchen, turning off the television as she walked by and listened carefully. There were no other sounds in the large, airy space but she just couldn’t get the idea out of her mind that she wasn’t alone.

A strange sense stole over her and she walked into the bedroom to find her shoes. She’d taken them off when she’d gone to shower but knew that they were right there. She wanted to get out of here as quickly as possible. Something wasn’t right, she just knew it.

As she walked to the bedroom, she looked around. Nothing was out of place, there were no movements she couldn’t identify. Everything looked calm and where it should be. But she pulled on her sneakers quickly.

As she bent over to pull on the heel, she heard the movement a moment before she felt the pain shoot through her skull. Then blackness.

When Alicia awoke, she was sitting on the bed, her hands tied behind her back and her feet tied at her ankles. She wasn’t gagged, so that was something. Ignoring the pain shooting through her skull, she looked around, fighting down the panic that threatened to overwhelm her. Her eyes frantically searched for the person who could have broken in and hit her over the head. How could anyone have gotten through security? Not only was there a guard down at the basement entrance as well as the front door, no one could get onto any of the floors, especially this one at the top, without a special key. The elevators wouldn’t even work unless the key was turned in the lock. Then a code had to be entered.

Alicia didn’t like the answers that came to mind as she reviewed all the layers of security someone would have to get through in order to get to her. That would mean that someone more skilled, and probably more ruthless, was in the apartment. Not that she liked the idea of a run of the mill burglar.

“Where’s the money!” an angry female voice shouted from one of the other bedrooms.

A moment later, Nancy Peterson’s angry form came through the bedroom door. “Good! I’m glad you’re finally awake. You wouldn’t have liked the way I would wake you up. Now tell me where this bastard keeps all of his money. I’ve already been through the library and office but I don’t have time to search the whole bloody place. It is too large! So just tell me and no one gets hurt.”

“Nancy?” Alicia asked, horrified at the image of her former manager. Gone was the professional, calm woman who had run the accounting department with humor and flair. That woman had always been impeccably dressed and polite, never raising her voice to anyone. The termagant standing in Adam’s bedroom, brandishing a pistol in the air as if she was about to explode. Her hair was falling out of the pony tail she’d hurriedly pulled it into at some point, her jeans were covered in some sort of black soot and she had several tears in the tee-shirt that was hanging loose from her jeans on one side, while tucked in on the other.

“Of course it is me. Who did you expect? Santa Clause?”

 

“What are you doing?” Alicia asked, wanting to calm the older woman down slightly.

Nancy’s eyes widened. “You don’t know? You mean that bastard you’re sleeping with didn’t tell you?” The laughter that emanated from the woman could only be classified as demented. “What a hoot!” she said, bursting into a fresh wave of laughter. “And all this time, I thought he’d blamed you for the stolen money. That was the plan, after all. When you disappeared after your call to the boss’s office, I was sure I was out of the heat,” she explained, putting the gun down on the top of the dresser and pulling out the first one. “Good grief, this man has some nice clothes,” she said absently, pulling out a pair of silk boxers and examining them.

Turning back to Alicia, she smiled conspiratorially. “So what’s the great man like in bed? Hmmm?” Her eyes were bright, flashing something Alicia didn’t understand. “Is he a dynamo? He’s a bastard to be sure, but he’s a handsome one. He’s probably really good, isn’t he?” she enthused, pulling out another pair of Adam’s underwear.

Alicia couldn’t answer. She was too terrified of the woman but also determined to not reveal her personal life with Adam.

 

Eventually, Nancy realized that she was talking frantically but not getting any response. She turned back to face Alicia. “So? What’s the scoop?”

 

Alicia only glared at the crazy woman. “None of your business, Nancy.”

Nancy’s face reddened and she looked like she was about to do something violent. But then her eyes dimmed slightly and she shrugged her shoulders. “Okay, keep your secrets. I’m sure he’s probably pathetic if you’re still his lover. Look at you! You weren’t even smart enough to know you were being framed!” and the hysterical laughter started again.

Nancy calmed and came off the bed to look around the bedroom. “I’m not interested in sex with the man. I just want his money. So spill it woman. Where does he keep his loads of dough? I’m sure he has a personal stash somewhere in this mansion on top of the building. No one with this much money lives without cash. And I need it fast.”

“I have no idea where Adam keeps his money, or even if he keeps it around here.”

 

“Why the hell not?” she screeched, rushing over to the end of the bed, her eyes back to being lit by some inner hell.

 

“Because it is none of my business. It isn’t my money.” Alicia was terrified but trying to remain calm.

 

“So what? Every whore knows where her pimp’s wad of cash is? Are you saying you’re not even a good enough whore to get additional money from the sucker?”

“Nancy, perhaps if you told me what you needed the money for, I could ask Adam for a loan. He’s very understanding,” she lied, trying to come up with anything that would calm the woman down. She was obviously not the most stable character.

“Shut up! I don’t want a loan,” she screeched, the gun flailing in the air above her head. “I just want to get out of this town and hide somewhere until all this mess has cleared out.” She looked around, searching for other hiding places. “Why are you here anyway? Shouldn’t you be out spending his money? I’ve been waiting for you outside the building for the past three days. I saw the bastard leave and just assumed you’d be on your way out the door right after him.” Nancy turned to smile back at Alicia. “I know I would be out spending his lovely money as fast as they could print it. But he wouldn’t even notice, would he? The man has more money than he can probably count.”

Nancy turned around and leaned the gun against her chin, thinking, her eyes darting around the room. They lit suddenly and she raced over to the walls. “Pictures! Why didn’t I think of that!” she said, ripping the lovely oil paintings and stunning photographs off the wall. They tumbled to the floor, the glass shattering in the process.

She worked her way through the bedroom, then left and Alicia could hear her going through the rest of the penthouse, pictures crashing to the floor over and over again. Alicia frantically worked at the rope holding her hands but she was only rubbing the skin raw and had no success in even loosening the knot before Alicia heard yet another frustrated screech and Nancy stormed back into the bedroom. “Where the hell is his money?” she demanded.

Alicia shook her head, wishing she could think of something to say that would calm her down. “I imagine he keeps his money in the bank but that’s just an assumption. I’ve never asked him.”

“But you have credit cards, don’t you?”

 

This wasn’t the way things were supposed to go, Alicia thought to herself. “Yes. I suppose.”

 

“You suppose?” Nancy asked, stunned to the point of her mouth hanging open slightly. “What do you mean, ‘suppose’? Either you do or you don’t.”

 

“I do, but they are to the various stores. I don’t just have a regular credit card,” she explained.

 

“You have a cash card, don’t you?”

 

“No, I’m sorry, Adam didn’t give me one.”

 

“How do you get your hands on his money then?” she asked, Nancy’s eyes flashing frustrated fire.

“I don’t. There’s no need for me to have any cash. I’m sorry, Nancy, but I don’t think there’s anything I can do to help you. There’s some jewelry on the table though,” Alicia said quickly when Nancy started to lift the gun in her direction. “It isn’t much, but it might help you get out of New York,” she said.

Nancy sneered but looked over at the dressing table. As the older woman looked it over, Alicia worked at the knot with all her might. She’d have bruises but she’d created just a small amount of wriggle room in the rope. Maybe, if she could have just a few more moments, she could ….

It wasn’t good enough. Nancy swung around and tossed the gold chains onto the bed. “You mean this is all that cheap bastard has given you? Haven’t you been with him for almost two months?” Nancy laughed harshly. “You must not be very good in the sack if he hasn’t given anything else to you.”