The Devil's Revenge (The Devil's Eyes) (19 page)
“And this is my wife, Kayla.” Nick says, breaking the odd trance between them. Coulton smiles and takes my hand as if nothing was amiss. Nick leans in and whispers to the man letting him know of the blood on his neck.
“Oh my, I guess the bugs are for my opponent.” He laughs, wiping his neck with a napkin that Nick handed to him. However, Welch catches sight of the exchange and nearly comes out of his skin. Coulton moves on to the next couple and I glance at Nick, watching a peculiar smile come across his face.
Welch and some security men approach us and ask politely for us to follow. With Nick leading, we do as asked. Ushered to a small room, Welch shuts the door behind us and exhales as if to relieve his flaming skin. “What are you doing here?”
“Supporting my favorite candidate.” Nick says calmly.
“You have no business being here, there is nothing for you to gain.” Welch grumbles like a child stomping his feet.
“No? Hmm. Well at least we had a good meal, maybe I will try to get in some dancing with the wife then. I could always stand to earn some points with her. Is that all you wanted to talk about?” Nick motions as if he is ready to leave.
“No. The two of you are an annoyance to me, but you are going to be taken care of soon enough. Your wife should have never been allowed on this boat considering her current criminal circumstances.”
“Alleged circumstances.” Nick reminds him.
“Oh, I assure you her crimes are hers and she will pay for them. After all, we do have a witness.” Welch smiles at me. “I wasn’t aware that you are so familiar with Mr. Maynard, Kayla? He says you two became quite familiar with each other.”
Nick steams as I ignore the disgusting comment. “I don’t know him, Mr. Welch, I am sure he must be confusing me with someone else. And whatever he thinks he saw is not true.”
“Perhaps we should get you two together and talk about it?” Welch asks me.
“If that would help,” I say, shocking him.
“Are you done?” Nick tenses, compelling Welch to swallow hard with a step backwards.
Trying to stand his ground with Nick, Welch holds his head up, “How is your son, Nicky is it? Doing well, I hope?”
In an instant, Nick leaps forward and looks directly into Welch’s eyes. “You do not speak my son’s name …
ever
. Do you understand?” Welch’s knees buckle, forcing him to catch himself on a nearby chair.
“I have a lot of power you know, I will make your lives miserable.” Welch begins defending himself like a scared schoolboy. The once assured attorney quickly becomes nothing more than a spineless weasel when faced up against Nick’s devilish stare. “You can’t touch me and you know it. With my connection to Coulton, I am assured the Vice President position and if you come near me you will have all the hell you can ever imagine rain down on you.”
“You haven’t been given that position yet.” Nick assures.
Welch jumps back with a laugh, “There is nothing you can do to stop that! You have no power in the circles I run in.”
“I have more power than you think.” Nick growls.
The door behind us opens and a guard asks about a woman who is searching for Welch. “Oh yes, tell her I will be right with her.” He turns to us, “Enjoy your night, you don’t have too many free ones left.” Welch motions for us to leave and Nick escorts me out.
I watch Nick carefully for any signs to what he is thinking, but all I can tell is that he shows no sign of fear, which puts me at ease. We walk out to the rest of the crowd and accidentally run into a young woman trying to walk in.
“Oh, I am so sorry.” She says, grabbing Nick’s hand and gasping. “Ryan.” Nick tenses and she pulls her hand away and sways to one side. Taking hold of her, Nick helps her to a seat. “You’re not Ryan.” She breathes, looking away as if she doesn’t see us.
“Are you okay?” Nick asks her.
“Yes, I’m sorry, I thought you were someone else. You have a similar presence.” She says smiling as we realize she doesn’t see us.
Nick crouches down, to pick up her cane for her. He grasps her hand and places the worn out device carefully back in her hand, causing her to sit back with a fearful shyness. “Is Ryan your husband? I can try to find him for you?” Nick asks, handing her a glass of water.
“No, he is ummm … he is a good friend. I am actually looking for Spencer Welch, have you seen him?” She asks, sipping the water carefully.
“Yes, we just left him as a matter of fact. How do you know Mr. Welch?” Nick asks, glancing back at me.
“I’m her fiancé,” Welch says, coming up from behind to take the woman’s hand. Samantha dear, I have some people I want you to meet.” Welch nearly pulls the woman’s arm off as he drags her away from us.
“Welch you shouldn’t treat a woman so roughly.”
“Fuck you, Jayzon.” He snaps back at Nick
Taking hold of Nick’s arm, “What do you think is going on between her and Ryan?”
“I am sure I don’t want to know, but unfortunately for his sake I am going to have to find out.” Taking in a deep breath, Nick changes his demeanor and looks down at me with a smile I can’t help but return. “Let’s dance.”
“Here? Shouldn’t we …” I ask, looking around for some escape.
“What? Where are we going to go? Unless you want to swim back, Princess, I say we enjoy the evening I paid for.”
Settling into his arms, I take in the scent of him and feel his hands hold me strong and his lips kiss my cheek with an admiring whisper. I close my eyes and exhale as the wind blows through my hair and Nick moves our bodies to the symphony music surrounding us. “I love you, Nick.” Holding me tighter he kisses me and whispers the same against my lips. Everything is perfect until we are interrupted.
“Great night, huh?” A man says. I turn and see an old client of mine and realize he remembers me as well. His eyes trace my body with expectation, making me feel uncomfortable. I suddenly feel like a shy child as I pull myself as far behind Nick as I can. Catching Nick’s eyes apologetically, I try to smile up at him. He wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me back into the forefront.
“It is a beautiful night, now if you don’t mind I would like to return to my
wife
.” Nick says, dismissing the man. “You are beautiful Kayla, your past is just that, your past. It has made you the perfect woman for me, so don’t ever apologize for something I am so grateful for.” A kiss sweetens his words and I am able to find comfort back in his supportive arms again.
Ryan walks hesitantly into my office, obviously aware that I am not pleased with him. “In addition to the events of last night, Kayla and I met a woman that thought I was you. Can you tell me why some blind woman would call me, Ryan?” He sits silently and ignores my glare. “Samantha Bailey. Why does she know your name, Ryan?”
“Nick …” He starts to justify what I already know.
“Unbelievable! Have you lost your mind?” I yell at him.
“I didn’t even say anything yet.”
“But you are going to tell me that you are spending time with this woman. Are you fucking her too?” His expression tells the story. “You are fucking her. Well, I guess everything we have collected on Welch the last few weeks is pointless.”
“Why?” He yells back at me.
“Because they know! They are setting you up, she is a decoy to get information from you.” I don’t know how he can sit there and look at me like I am crazy for thinking such things.
“No, she isn’t … you don’t know what you’re talking about! She is …”
“She is Welch’s fiancée!” Ryan backs off in shock. “Well little brother, clearly you don’t know everything. She knows too much, and somehow has some kind of sixth sense about us. I can’t protect you if they know who you are.”
“No – Nick! I am not going to hurt her.” Ryan stands his ground with me, forcing my hand.
“Ryan! You have no choice now. She lied to you. How in the world can you possibly believe that her intentions are anything but to get to me?”
“You know, it’s not always about you Nick!” Ryan rushes out of my office as I yell after him. I know him and I know him well enough to know he isn’t thinking right now. I make a quick call and have Dwayne handle this situation for him.
I know Nick, and once he gets something in his head there is no changing his mind. I don’t know why Sam did not tell me about her and Welch’s engagement but I know I don’t have time to ask. Barging through her door, I pack a bag for her and quickly escort her out of her apartment. Once I have her safe, I research a place to take her and find the perfect spot. A place I believe she will never be found. Until I can convince her to help us and give Nick a reason to let her live, she needs to stay out of sight of everyone.
Samantha sits slowly on the bed of the one bedroom cabin, still shaking. “You’re safe here, I promise.”
“Are you going to tell me why you felt the need to kidnap me so abruptly?” She whimpers, reaching out to feel the environment around herself.
“I didn’t have a choice, I had to get you out of sight and hidden away.” Her face pales as I realize her innocence. Sitting down next to her I take her hands and try to calm her. “I need you to tell me everything you know about Welch.”
“I don’t know why I have to tell you anything!” She yells at me, pushing my hands away from her. “Are you going to hurt me?”
“No sweetheart, I’m trying to help you. I don’t understand Sam, we have been seeing each other for a couple of months now but you haven’t once mentioned that you were engaged. Explain to me how that never came up. Tell me, am I just the guy you have sex with? Am I being set up by you and your fiancé?” I tense up, fearing the words that may be coming.
“How dare you! How dare you excuse me of lying when I don’t even know your last name. I am not even sure if, Ryan, is your first name.” She yells, smacking me with good aim considering she can’t see me.
“Ow! Damn! My name didn’t stop you from rubbing on my dick the other night. Ow! Fuck! Stop it!” I yell, dodging her flailing hands.
Sam knocks me over, hitting me until I can get hold of her, “I am not a whore!”
“I didn’t say you were, but I want to know why you didn’t tell me about your fiancé, Sam?”
“There is nothing to tell. When I went back he said he would never hurt me again. He asked me to marry him and promised to take care of me if I did. He promised I wouldn’t have to want for anything.”
“Do you love him?” She backs silently away from me. “Do you Sam? Do you love him?”
“I am tired of being alone, Ryan, and tired of worrying about what might be. Spence takes care of me now, and you … well I don’t think we have much of a future, so Spence is my best option, obviously.”
“He hits you. He makes you feel terrible about yourself … hell, he even hired a man to have you beaten up and raped, Sam!” Grabbing my bag, I pull out the recorder while she yells and screams at me to take her back to her apartment. “Sure, I will take you back. Before I do, listen to this.” I play the recording of Welch joking about her and having someone loosen her up a bit for himself. Her expression causes me regret but I still believe that I had no choice. Crying and fisting my shirt, I wrap my arms around her, kissing the top of her head and trying to find the right words to fix what I have done. “I care for you, Sam. More than you know, more than I am supposed to even tell you. I brought you here to keep someone I know from finding you. You have to help us Sam, you have to give me information on Welch. I am not asking you for myself, I am asking you to help keep you alive. The people I work for think you’re a spy for him, but I know better.” Caressing her face away from the depths of my chest I kiss her.
“You care for me?” She asks, dismissing everything else I said.
Such a woman.
Over her joy, I express the importance of the other information I shared with her. “But I can’t betray Spencer. After my parents died, his parents helped me out and encouraged our relationship. He is a big supporter of the blind, and I know his parents would do anything for me.” Her devoted ramblings continue on and on angering me with every passing second.
“You look good for his political career, their
son’s
political career, nothing more!” Samantha rages at me and I have to hold her tight until she calms down. “He doesn’t care about you. They don’t care about you and you know it,
Sam
. That’s why you let me come into your apartment every night and that’s why you never told me about him. You’re in love with me.”
“In love with you, what an ego you have!” She yells, quickly realizing she just confirmed my accusation. Sliding down to the floor Sam sighs with a whimper. “Oh, why bother lying anymore. I do love you. I love that you rescued me, I love that you always are watching over me, and show up at the end of each night to make sure I get home okay. But mostly I love falling asleep in your arms and feeling safe from the world. I thought I had that with Spence but … I am scared of him, scared of him more than anyone.”
“Sam, get up,” I pull her into my arms, “You don’t have to be scared of him anymore sweetheart, I’m going to take care of you now. And I am feeling a little more for you than …” Her smile returns and she rests against my chest, thankfully I don’t have to say anything else.
“Spence is dangerous Ryan, I don’t think you understand how much.”
“I understand things more than you know, and I am more than capable of handling him. For now, let’s get you setup here so I don’t have to worry about you while I’m gone.” I stay the night with Sam, making her dinner and giving her a step-by-step tour of the small cabin in the woods. We bathe together in the old tub and don’t bother dressing before we cuddle under the mound of blankets. Touching and caressing each other with more freedom than we have ever felt, I kiss her fingers, her hands and laugh as she giggles at my fondling of her breasts against my lips. Her sweet lips search their way to mine and within a few touches she has me rapt.
