Kisses for the Billionaire: Lost Kiss (David and Carrie Book 3) Read online

  “Who the hell are you?” I said, my voice rough and unwelcoming.

  “Naomi, I’m Andy’s fiancee.”

  I stared at her, my mouth hanging open and I could just imagine the expression I wore.

  “Why would I want to have anything to do with you? You know what he’s doing don’t you? You know he brought me here against my will?”

  She nodded, “I know, he tells me everything.” Her voice had taken on a cold edge and there was no mistaking the icy look in her blue eyes as she looked me over from head to toe.

  “And you’re just fine with it, are you? Complicit in a kidnapping?”

  “What choice does he have? He has to do as his father wants, Andy won’t disappoint him,” her voice was softer as she spoke of him and my stomach rolled in response.

  “He killed my men, good men, there’s one of them here right now and I don’t know if he will survive his injuries.”

  “Nobody’s perfect, Carrie, I saw what you did to him, I’ve seen the bruises you caused by attacking him. You could have killed him.”

  Her voice was filled with accusation and I laughed as I pushed myself to my feet.

  “Have you heard yourself? Are you listening to what you’re telling me? You’re trying to condemn me for almost killing the man who abducted me.”

  “I love him,” she said, stepping closer to me. There was a fine tremor running through her body and I watched as she balled her small hands into fists.

  “You love a maniac, but then you must crazy too—,”

  She cracked her hand across my face, the stinging blow snapping my head to the side as my cheek went numb.

  “How dare you, he said you were unreasonable. How can you not see the truth? It was your family who ripped his apart. Your family took his mother, stole his sister… What wouldn’t you do for the ones you love?”

  I rubbed my hand along the side of my face, my cheek heating and I knew she’d left the imprint of her palm on me. The coppery tang of blood filled my mouth and I ran my fingers across my lip, wincing as I found the small cut on my bottom lip.

  “My family did nothing, it’s all in the past. The man you’re after is dead, the wrongs he committed died with him.”

  She shook her head, her expression softening slightly.

  “Not even close, wrongs like that don’t die, they’re inherited. Your family will right them or pay the price, it’s simple really. And the sooner you realise that the better it will be for all of you.”

  She was as mad as the rest of them. And I knew there would be no wrapping my head around their thinking.

  How you could think someone who had nothing to do with a situation deserved to pay for it was beyond me.

  “I have a young baby, I need to go home to him, he needs me,” I said. If appealing to her sense of right and wrong wasn’t going to work then I would appeal to her human side.

  “So you should understand better than anyone why Taylor had to do this. How would you feel if someone took your child away from you?”

  “It’s different, I haven’t taken anyone’s child and neither has David. What his father did was wrong but…”

  “I’m glad we can both agree on that, it was wrong. He stole Andy’s chance of having his mother, stole their opportunity of growing up with their sister.”

  “But you must see that it has nothing to do with us?”

  She shook her head and smiled sadly. “They have to pay, it’s the only way this can be set right. Anyway, I wasn’t sent out here to discuss the rights and wrongs of Andy’s business. Taylor wants to see you,” she said, eyeing me from top to toe.

  “You should have taken the opportunity to get cleaned up, you’re a mess.”

  I smiled bitterly at her, “forgive me for not looking my best when I’ve been abducted.”

  She laughed, the sound grating on my ears as she tried to loop her arm through mine.

  “Carrie, please let’s drop that one right now, it’s so boring.”

  How could she be so cold and callous? How was it possible that she knew what her fiancé was up to and still she didn’t care?

  I tried to shrug her off but she tightened her grip and shot me a hard look, her blue eyes icy.

  “Why are you doing this?” I asked, my voice sounded broken to my own ears and it only widened her smile.

  “Because Andy wants us to be friends, he thinks it’ll help you adjust and he wants you to be as relaxed here as you can.”

  They were mad, utterly nuts and I was stuck with them.

  Naomi towed me towards a small path that wound back through the trees and I let her.

  There was no point in fighting it, at least not now. I needed my strength particularly if I was going to get out of this.

  Chapter 4

  Naomi brought me to the house, the trek back wasn’t the same route I’d taken down to the beach and it struck me then. I’d made no progress at all.

  The wandering I’d done, searching for a way off the island had been in vein when I’d been in walking distance of the villa all along.

  Directing me in through the front door I sucked in a long breath as as cold blast from the air conditioning hit me.

  I shivered as my sweat stuck to my skin, running in icy rivulets down my spine.

  She’d been right, I should have cleaned up. Now that I was out of the baking heat my body ached and I felt as though I hadn’t washed in days when in reality it was hours.

  “Follow me,” she said gesturing to a staircase that led to a second floor gallery.

  “I don’t suppose I have time for that shower now?” I asked.

  She shook her head, her french braid sliding over her shoulders. “Afraid not, Taylor doesn’t like people who aren’t punctual and I don’t think you want to get off on the wrong foot with him.”

  She giggled and cast a glance back at me over her shoulder, “I’m sorry that was in poor taste.”

  I kept my face expressionless as I followed her, there was no need for her to see just how much she irritated me. And if she thought for one second that we would be friends just because her nut bar of a fiancé decreed it, then she was in for a rude awakening.

  Reaching the top of the stairs she paused and indicated a set of double terracotta coloured doors at the end of the hall.

  “He’s in there,” she said.

  “You’re not coming with me?” I asked, surprised.

  “It’s a private meeting, not even the boys are allowed to attend.”

  I nodded and swallowed back the bile that crept up the back of my throat.

  Henry’s warning about Taylor swirled around in my mind. He was a dangerous man, Henry had been bad but if he was afraid of the man I was about to meet…

  Squaring my shoulders I started down the hall, pausing only once I’d reached the door.

  My hand shook as I gripped the large iron handle set into the wood.

  Glancing back over my shoulder, Naomi waved her hand at me, her impatient expression filling me with anger.

  Pushing open the door I stepped into the room and stared at my surroundings.

  It was decorated in a similar style to what I’d seen of the rest of the house but it felt warmer.

  Rich coloured rugs decorated the floor and there was a large fireplace set into the wall opposite the four poster bed.

  I scanned the room, my gaze finally coming to rest on a man standing in the window alcove.

  He stood with his back to me, his grey hair practically white under the sunlight that streamed in the window. He wore a grey suit that hung from his gaunt frame.

  But that wasn’t what drew my attention.

  The steady sound of beeping filled the room and my brain instantly knew what it was.

  The metal stand he stood next to was joined to him by an I.V line and the beeping seemed to be coming from the heart monitor that sat on the stand of the metal pole.

  Cautiously I stepped further into the room as I let the door close silently behind me.

  “
So nice of you to join us here, Mrs Ashcroft,” he said, his voice strong and commanding.

  He turned towards me and it took all of my willpower not to show my surprise over his appearance.

  He didn’t look like a man who could harm me, he didn’t look like the type of man that could strike fear into Henry’s heart and yet he had…

  The smile that lifted the corners of his mouth was enough to send a shiver down my spine. It gave me a glimpse of the man he had been before whatever illness he suffered had stolen his strength.

  “My appearance surprises you?” he said, raising an eyebrow as he grabbed the metal pole and stepped out of the window alcove.

  He shuffled across the floor towards a chair in the middle of the room.

  “I…” I hesitated, what was I supposed to tell him? It was true, his appearance did surprise me.

  I’d heard Andy mention his father was ill but I hadn’t really thought about what to expect.

  He dropped into the chair and sighed contentedly, his sunken eyes closing as he sucked in shallow breaths.

  When he finally opened his eyes again, his dark brown eyes studied me much the same way a cat might study a mouse.

  “I never thought you’d be so silent?”

  “Yeah, I’m surprised, that a man as feeble as you, would bother with an old vendetta when the ones to blame are dead.”

  The smile on his lips died as I spoke and I could see a slight flinching around his eyes at the word feeble.

  “I can see how you became an Ashcroft, I must admit to being rather surprised when your engagement to David was announced. He could have had anyone in the world and yet he chose the overweight spinster secretary.”

  “How dare you,” I started to say but his cruel laugh cut my words off.

  “You see, Carrie, when you’re as rich as I or the Ashcrofts are, we don’t have to marry the ugly ones. It’s fun fucking you, you’re all soft and terribly grateful. Perhaps it’s the gratitude we love best, or maybe it’s the knowledge that we can make you do whatever in hell we want and you’ll take it. But you’re not marriage material.”

  “What has David marrying me got anything to do with why you abducted me?”

  “Nothing at all, but I’m dying and watching you squirm in humiliation is one of the remaining amusements left to me.”

  “You can say what you want, none of it means a God damned thing. David loves me.”

  “I can’t fault him on that score, I don’t understand it but I know he loves you. It’s what makes him so vulnerable, so easily manipulated.”

  “He’s no fool, and taking me was a waste of time. He’ll come looking for me and when he does find me, then you and your sons will be sorry.”

  Taylor started to laugh but his laughter quickly turned to coughing. I stood and watched as his face changed colour, from red to purple and still he hacked into a handkerchief he’d pulled from his pocket.

  A small petite dark haired woman in a nurses uniform appeared a moment later and pulled an oxygen mask out from behind the chair.

  She worked quickly hooking it up over his head, she fitted it over his face and the sound of rapidly flowing oxygen filled the room.

  Taylor sat back in his chair, his eyes closed as his uneven breathing slowly returned to normal.

  “Perhaps you should leave, Miss?” The nurse said to me as I watched her work. “Mr Banks needs his rest…”

  “No, Flora, I’m fine,” he said, reaching out and patting the nurses hand as she fussed over him.

  “I don’t want you upset, Mr Banks, you know it’s not good for you,” she said sternly, casting an unfriendly look at me.

  “I’m really not,” he said with a friendly smile. His breathing had returned to normal and the flushed unhealthy colour his face had been was beginning to fade.

  She took a hesitant step back and he waved her away. The look she shot me over her shoulder as she stepped out of the room once more was one of warning.

  “I’m not a well man, Carrie, making me laugh isn’t fair.”

  “I wasn’t aware that I’d said anything to make you laugh.”

  He studied me once more, his shrewd brown eyes made me nervous and I fought the urge to chew my lip.

  He lifted the oxygen mask away from his face and left it on his lap.

  “You truly believe he will come for you, don’t you?”

  I nodded, never breaking eye contact. A man like him would only take it as a sign of weakness.

  “And I suppose you know him best of all,” he said, but his voice was lower as though he was suddenly lost in thought.

  “David, loves me, he won’t leave me in your hands for long.

  Taylor nodded thoughtfully and then gave me a wide smile.

  “Well, we’ll just have to hope for you and your little one’s sake that you’re wrong.”

  I felt the colour drain from my face and my pulse suddenly sounded much louder as it began to thrum in my throat.

  “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “Don’t be a fool, Carrie, you’re here as leverage. If David is a good little boy, if he does what I want him to do then I’ll return you to him and you can both go on about your lives.”

  “And if he doesn’t? If he comes looking me for me instead?”

  Taylor sighed and stared down at his hands.

  “Then I will take you from him for good, I will take everything he holds dear and I will destroy them. It will be painful, it won’t be quick. I’ll make you suffer the way his father had me suffer all these years.”

  “What Henry did to you, that isn’t…”

  “Shut up! You know nothing of what I’ve suffered, you have no idea whose fault this is. All you think about is yourself and your selfish needs.”

  He pushed up onto his feet and started towards me. The I.V connected to his arm brought him up short and with a frustrated growl he ripped it from his arm.

  He came at me, a look of pain and rage filling his eyes in equal measure.

  I backed up, until I felt the door behind me and still he came at me until he was near enough that I felt his breath on my cheeks.

  He whipped his hand out and pressed his palm against the roundness of my abdomen and I fought to fight him off.

  But for a man who was dying he was surprisingly strong and he pinned me in place as he dug his fingers in against my bump.

  “This is what I’ll take from you first. You’re carrying her inside you, your body nurturing her, keeping her safe. And I’ll take her from you. Cut her out of you and there won’t be a damned thing you’ll be able to do about it.”

  “You can’t have my baby, I won’t let you, I’ll kill you first.”

  He dug his fingers harder into my flesh and I cried out, the pain ripping through me and I felt the tiny life inside me kick out in panic as Taylor’s hand crushed it.

  “If David doesn’t do as I ask then I will take her from you. I’ll make you understand the pain of losing a child. I’ll give my pain to you and I’ll take your little one with me to the grave.

  “You’ll never know what it feels like to hold her in your arms, never know what it’s like to see her smile, feed her, cradle her tiny warm body…”

  “No…” I pushed at him as he shoved his face in towards mine.

  “Make no mistake, Carrie, I’ve waited a long time for this. And I will have my revenge…”

  He released me, stalking back towards his chair.

  Flora stood waiting for him and I sagged against the door, cradling my bruised bump as tears started down my cheeks.

  “Get out and get yourself cleaned up, dinner is in a few hours and I expect you presentable.”

  His voice cut through the room and I didn’t need to be told twice.

  Turning, my hands shook as I fumbled with the door handle. I gritted my teeth and finally I tugged the door open and spilled out into the hall and into the waiting arms of a smiling Dom.

  Chapter 5

  “I’m here to escort you to your room,�
� he said, grabbing my arm and jerking me upright.

  I stumbled against him as I tried to shake him off. He was the very last person I wanted to see, never mind be alone with.

  Grabbing my arm in his vice like grip, he twisted it up behind my back as he propelled me down the hall and up a second set of stairs.

  “I can walk, I don’t need you…” I cried out, my words strangled as he twisted my arm a little higher.

  “I know you can walk but this is more fun…” he whispered in my ear as he pulled a key from his pocket and slid it into the lock of another ornate door.

  He pushed the door open with his shoulder and dragged me in after him. Releasing me so suddenly I went sprawling onto a four poster bed in the centre of the room.

  Without thinking I scampered across the bed, not stopping until I reached the other side.

  Dom eyed me, a cruel smile playing around his lips.

  “I can’t really touch you, not without you giving me a reason.”

  My heart rate slowed a little at his revelation.

  “But,” he said gesturing to another door in the wall next to me, “through there is my room, just in case I feel the need to check on you when we’re alone and no one else is awake…”

  His words sank in as he turned on his heel and disappeared back out into the hall.

  The second I knew he was gone I crossed the room and rattled the door handle. It was locked but I knew he would have the key.

  Eyeing the heavy dresser next to the door I contemplated shoving it up against the door, it would at least provide me with some protection.

  Grabbing the edge of it I tried to pull it across the thick carpet but it was far too heavy.

  Gasping, my legs gave out and I crumpled to the floor, tears trailing down my cheeks as I slammed my fists against the plush carpet.

  How was I supposed to protect myself against these people?

  Taylor’s threats rang in my ears, causing my stomach to heave and roll.

  Scrabbling to my feet I raced to the bathroom and dropped to my knees in front of the toilet bowl.

  My stomach was basically empty and my heaving was mostly dry, my mouth filling with saliva and my eyes watering as I hugged the toilet and continued to gag.