battle isn’t lost if you love me, we’ve both won. I love you Charlotte, truly, madly and very, very deeply.”
In the elevator, on their way to the room, she clung to him, but wouldn’t look up at his face.
He felt like he had been given the greatest gift of his life, she loved him and she’d even told Jorgen. He wanted to run his hands up the back of the tiny dress and cup her ass but he needed her to know it was more than sex. It was certainly mind-blowing sex, but it was much, much more.
In the suite they made love slowly, both saying, “I love you, I love you,” over and over.
He’d taken her again, against the wall of the shower, lifting her, her legs encircling him. He’d pulled her down hard on his cock and she felt that she would split open, but she trusted him and she clinched tight around him as she reveled in the glorious ache.
Later, they sat against piles of pillows in the huge bed, the lights of the Strip casting bright patterns on the walls of the suite. They’d ordered burgers and fries from room service and laughed as they fed each other in bed.
He told her the reason he’d stared at her all those years ago at the photo shoot. That he’d fallen hopelessly in love with her then and he’d had the primal urge to take her without a condom and plant his seed in her. The need to possess her had been so strong that he intended to tell her, that’s why he’d called. He wanted her to meet him so he could say he knew it was crazy but she was meant to be his. That she should love him and have his children and they would have everything, especially each other.
She slept curled tightly against him, she was his and he loved her, she was safe with him and so was her heart. She rose early the next morning, dressed in jeans, t-shirt and sneakers and put her hair in a ponytail. She wanted to try her hand at gambling before they left so she grabbed her phone and her wallet and took the elevator to the casino. She played some slot machines and it was up and down and it bored her. She walked out onto the Strip and breathed in the air. She felt a pinch at her neck and everything went black.
By late afternoon, when Charlotte couldn’t be found, Bly was in a panic, he had the entire hotel staff and the police looking for her.
West reviewed the security tapes and three of Jamey Huang’s men had been in the casino. The cameras showed that she’d walked outside after gambling and they had followed her. The trail ended there and her cell phone was going straight to voice mail. He alerted the highway patrol and the Las Vegas and L.A. police departments and airport security nationwide.
The call came the next day from Jamey Huang, he wanted to meet Alexander Bly face to face and make his demands. No law enforcement would be involved or Charlotte would die. It was arranged for him to come to Bly’s mansion with only one of his men. He felt that would be sufficient since he held all the cards.
***
Huang looked perfectly at ease sitting in Bly’s formal living room. He smiled serenely, sure of himself as he watched the powerful Alexander Bly sweat.
“You don’t quite understand, Mr. Bly. It would be simple if all I wanted was your money or your life or only to fuck your gorgeous girlfriend. Even as extraordinary as she is, none of those things fill my needs. I suppose it was a lucky twist of fate that your case brought Charlotte into my sphere of consciousness. Oh, it took a lot of digging. Perhaps your own sources overlooked the connection. You see, I want to kill a man, a man who has become a serious thorn in my side and he will only come to me in order to save her. I will put your
Elizabeth Lennox
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