The Tycoon's Seductive Revenge (16 page)

As he moved through the hotel he didn’t notice the contrasts of ambient light and shadows. He saw red through the film of pure hatred. His muscles rippled and seethed beneath his skin. The hot, pulsing need for vengeance scorched his veins.

The secret room
.

How dare the bastard brutalize his beautiful Ellie in
their
room? Animalistic urges shot up his spine raising his hackles. Instincts alert, his shoulders expanded and his fingers flared. His body tensed, prepared for attack.

Stalking through the library, he descended into the cellar. A pain-filled cry met his ears. He leaped down the last few steps and landed in the room. Just in time to see Ellie’s uncle soaring through the air and landing with a hard thump against the speakeasy bar. Russert held his jaw and moaned.

Carter zeroed in on the source of Ellie’s fear. He pointed at Arnoff, his chest heaving. “You. Out. Now.

“This is my hotel!” the man wailed, slurring his words.

“We’ll see about that.”

Carter advanced.

When Arnoff looked into Carter’s eyes, the man’s drunken rage melted into alarm. He lashed out, scratching Carter’s cheek with his fingernails, knocking him back a few paces. Carter recovered quickly.

Reinforcing his strength, Carter widened his stance. “Don’t make me do this the hard way.”

“I’ll ruin you!” Arnoff threatened.

Carter scoffed. “It’s been done.” Ellie’s father had tried that. “Can’t you come up with something more interesting?”

“I know people.”

“Yeah, and so do I.”

“I’ll have a hit put out on you,” Arnoff vowed.

“Been there done that, too.” Carter would find a way to get his money back from the gangsters Neville invested with. He’d dodged their retaliation this long. “Bring it.”

“They’ll make you sleep with the fishes.”

“I’ll make sure you sleep behind bars. For the rest of your life.” Carter had grown up with a guy on the island who’d become a cop in Atlantic City. Which would come in handy when called his buddy, Mac, and had Arnoff’s casino busted for prostitution. “Difference is, my people are on the right side of the law. You’re going down—for your prostitutes and for what you did to Ellie.”

Arnoff’s eyes flickered like a wild animal in the oily kerosene light. The second the man tried to rush past him, Carter hit him in his windpipe with a hard thwack. Arnoff sputtered and choked, trying to regain his breath.

That wasn’t going to happen on Carter’s watch. He picked Arnoff up by the neck and held him against the wall, legs dangling.

“Get. Out.”

Arnoff’s eyes bugged out. He spluttered and attempted to fight back.

“Not convinced? Fine, I can do this
my
way. Looking forward to it, actually.”

Carter dragged him up the stairs, then through the main hallway and foyer. He opened the front door of the hotel, clutching the man’s throat.

“Don’t come back. And don’t even think about Ellie. If you come sniffing around at tomorrow’s auction, I’ll finish this.”

With a violent thrust he flung Arnoff between the front porch pillars. The man landed on his side on the steps, rolled a few feet and crouched in the fetal position, rocking, whimpering. Then all was silent.

Carter returned inside and kicked the door shut. Then he made sure the entrance’s lock and deadbolt were secure before he walked away.

Inhaling rapid breaths he filed his hands through his hair. He wanted to see blood dripping from the man’s pores. But there had been enough bloodshed tonight.

Russert emerged from the dark hallway. “Is he gone?” he wheezed, holding the side of his head where a trickle of red ran down his temple.

Carter nodded. “If he wants to live past tomorrow, he won’t come back.”

Concern flooded Russert’s expression. “Is Ellie okay? I feel terrible she was left alone to fend for herself.”

Ellie
. “Man, I hope so. She’s asleep in my room. I’ll make sure she’s safe. You have my word.”

When Russert nodded, Carter raced back to his room. Outside his door he paused to collect himself. Then he entered quietly hoping not to disturb her.

The bedside lamp shed soft light over her sleeping form. She looked so beautiful, so fragile. He ached to hold her.

When he took a step toward her the floor creaked. Ellie shot up in bed wild-eyed. She threw off the sheets and darted from the mattress in flight mode. “Don’t come near me,” she screeched.

“Ellie, it’s me. Carter.”

The words took a moment to register. Still her eyes were wide, fear-filled. “Is he here?”

“No, baby. I took care of him. He won’t come near you ever again.”

Her shoulders slumped, arms dangling at her sides. “I can’t believe what happened. I didn’t know he was capable of...”

“Neither did I, but it’s over now.”

She began to tremble. “I should’ve been more cautious. Why did I think I could handle him?”

“Hey, stop right there.” He moved toward her with measured strides and embraced her, concerned how cold her skin felt. “His attack is
not
your fault.”

“But if I’d listened to my instincts—”

“You did nothing wrong. So get that out of your head right now.” He cupped her face tilting her chin up until she met his gaze. “Arnoff is the problem, not you. Do you hear me?”

Her eyes welled with tears. “Then, why?”

“Ellie, honey,” he whispered, pressing his lips to her forehead. “Let it go. If you keeping questioning it, you’ll replay the night over and over in your mind. There is no excuse for his attack. That’s all you need to know.”

The tears overflowed. She started shaking all over. “What could erase that memory?”

Carter grazed his lips over hers. Soft, tender passes meant to soothe. “You’re so beautiful. So strong, Ellie. You amaze me.” He kept his kisses light coaxing her gently back into a sense of security, reestablishing trust.

She parted her lips for him. His tongue glided against hers. She released a trembling sigh.

“I’ll always protect you, sweetheart.”

She melted into his embrace.

Arms securely around her, Carter continued to whisper words of comfort. “Hear the ocean? The tide is steady, peaceful, flowing in and out…”

“I love that sound.” She curved her arms around his neck and whispered, “I love you, Carter.”

Nodding, he hugged her tightly. Whether the admission was the result of her trauma or if she truly meant the words, all he knew was the sudden sense of belonging wrapping around him in this moment.

He belonged with her. She belonged with him.

The sweetest yearning filled her voice as she whispered, “Make love to me.”

Carter shook his head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“I want to feel better, the way I feel when you hold me, when you’re inside me. It’s so right, so perfect.”

“I’ll hold you. All night long. I’m not going anywhere.” Carter wrapped her in his arms, bringing her close, closer than he’d been with any woman. He let everything drift away—his hatred of the man who attacked her, his apprehension over whether his finances would come through by tomorrow, his ideas about the future that seemed to shift before his eyes. “Go to sleep, Ellie.”

She nodded against his shoulder, resting her arm across his chest as he cradled her in bed. Eventually her breathing deepened. Her breasts rose and fell evenly against him as she succumbed to sleep.

Everything seemed so right in this moment. This was what he’d searched for since he left El Dorado. It had been waiting here for him all along.

Carter tucked a hand behind his head and stared up at the ceiling. He couldn’t make his heart of stone agree with his one-track mind anymore. Neither was cooperating with his original plans. His body was the most traitorous of all. Physically, he wanted this woman with a craving beyond logic, beyond obsession.

He needed Ellie. Plain and simple. Denial was a wasted fight.

Everything had turned out completely different from what he’d intended. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. It wasn’t supposed to feel this good, this right.

I love you, Carter
.

The echo of her words twisted him up inside, wrenching in their beauty and sincerity. Despite his original pursuit somewhere along the way he’d earned her trust.

She’d given him her body, and now her heart. The most precious gift she had to offer—especially to him, considering their past and present.

And he didn’t even have to take it from her. She gave all of herself willingly, freely.

Unlike him, with his demands and ultimatums. Guilt clawed through his gut until he felt raw with anguish.

The idea of keeping her as his mistress disgusted him now, and insulted the powerful bond that they’d re-forged. Revenge hung like a faded, tattered flag, unrecognizable compared to the bright beacon it had been, symbolizing his ultimate conquest. His initial impetus was a shallow, malicious pursuit.

Carter was above that. And so was Ellie.

“Damn, sweetheart. What have you done to me?”

Moving to lie on his side, he stroked her hair, her soft tresses slipping through his fingers. His mind filled with the ramifications of pursuing a real relationship with Ellie.

She wouldn’t leave the island—that much he knew. But his life existed in the states, traveling for weeks or months at a time, researching and investigating new properties. His workload would more than double now that he’d resumed authority over all his assets again. He had hundreds of employees who counted on him. There was no way he could run a business from here, with spotty Internet access and unreliable cell phone service.

Honestly, he couldn’t see how it would work between them.

But there was something he needed to do. Right now.

He needed to give Ellie her choice and her freedom back. He reached toward his nightstand and found his phone.

He called Neville. “Hey, got a minute?” he whispered, not wanting Ellie wake up, or to know what he was about to do.

Neville said in a groggy voice, “Do you know what time it is?”

“No idea. Listen, I’ve changed my mind.”

Neville sighed wearily. “For God’s sake, what now?”

“The two-million we liquidated? I want to buy the entire collection Ellie put up for auction.”

Neville coughed. “You’re going to pay two-million dollars for some booze? Now I know you’ve lost your mind.”

Reaching out to stroke Ellie’s cheek, he said, “Love does that to you.”

“Sorry, I think I misheard. Did you actually say the word
love
?”

“Don’t give me grief. Just wire the money to the account you set up for her. Tell her it was an anonymous buyer.”

“What about the Montgomery Hotel?”

Carter shrugged. “I have other things to concentrate on.”

“Now you’re finally making sense.”

Rolling his eyes Carter informed him, “I’m leaving tomorrow night for Miami. I plan to get my money back from these thugs who ruined the Pierce project. I’ll let you know my plans from there.”

“Will your lady be joining you?”

A lengthy pause followed the question. Carter answered honestly, “I don’t know.”

They hammered out a few details, then Carter hung up so Neville could get a decent night’s sleep. One of them should. It wouldn’t be Carter.

He slid back under the covers beside Ellie. She snuggled up beside him. “I’m doing right by you, Ellie.” A warm glow surrounded his heart. “You’ll be free to choose the life you want.”

She mumbled an unintelligible response, caught in the throes of a dream that touched a smile to her lips. He kissed her gently.

Smoothing a hand along her spine as she snuggled close to him, Carter felt his chest tighten with uncertainty. Would she choose to start a life with him in Miami, giving up the hotel she’d soon have the funds to support? Or would she remain on the island, like she had twelve years ago, and give up a second chance at this?

Although it plagued him to admit it, they’d never last as a long-distance couple. After everything they’d shared and had been through, there was no way either of them would be happy with half a relationship, dropping in and out of each other’s lives at random. They would both have to make serious sacrifices to make it work.

It had to be all or nothing.

From where he stood, neither one of them seemed to be in at a point in their lives where they could simply change course midway. And if they parted again, no matter how cordial, there’d be no going back. This was their chance to reclaim the love they’d lost, the kind of passion that would last forever, but their troubled past still haunted them.

Would a second chance be enough for her to leave everything she wanted behind, in order to have him?

With a bleak sigh, Carter believed he knew the answer. He held Ellie tight, knowing it could be for the last time.

Chapter 11

“Ellie, wake up.”

Lost in hazy dreams of sunlight, footprints side-by-side on the beach, while her shadow mingled with Carter’s and spread out before them into the future, Ellie was unwilling to break from the heartwarming fantasy. “No,” she mumbled.

She felt a nudge. “I need you to wake up.”

Pleasing pressure stroked her lips, a loving touch filled with meaning and emotion. But the lips pulled away from hers. When she looked across the beach in her dream, Carter had disappeared.

“Sweetheart, I have to leave now.”

The sun went behind the clouds. Then blackness stretched across the horizon. The water turned dark, churning. Lightening streaked across the sky.

Suddenly she was floating in the middle of the ocean, the island far away, the mainland equally as distant. Rain beat down like a thousand needles pounding her skin. Waves crashed over her. She strove to stay abreast, but the storm was too strong. The currents pulled her under.

Somehow she could breathe underwater but she couldn’t float, couldn’t swim, as if an anchor was strapped to her legs. A distant pool of light appeared above her. Carter’s face reflected in the waves. His hand plunged into the depths reaching toward her. She strained to meet him, to touch his fingertips.