At His Side: The Billionaire's Beck and Call, Part 9 Read online

  At His Side: The Billionaire’s Beck and Call, Part 9

  By Delilah Fawkes

  I dialed the police, then listened to the ringing on the other end, harmonizing with the squealing tires of Mr. Drake’s car as he rocketed out of the parking lot toward Morton’s Pier. I pulled on the edge of my skirt, my hands restless as I waited for someone to pick up the phone. Mr. Drake’s jaw was set, his eyes glued to the road. Finally, there was a click on the other end of the line. I spoke before the operator could finish his greeting.

  “Yes, hello? Please, we need to report a crime. It’s an emergency.”

  I tried to keep my voice calm even while adrenaline coursed through me at the thought that all those people--people I’d had lunch with, sat with during meetings, chatted with in the break room--could lose everything if we didn’t stop Lex in time.

  Mr. Drake’s knuckles were white against the steering wheel as he cut through traffic. I gave as many details as I could to the operator, telling them to send squad cars to look for Alexander Smith at the airport, but that we suspected he was trying to flee the country by sea.

  “Please, stay on the line, Ms. Willcox,” the operator said. “We’re sending squad cars to meet you at the pier. Don’t make a move until we get there.”

  “No problem.”

  I held the phone to my ear, my hand now slippery with sweat. The car jumped as Mr. Drake crashed over a speed bump, roaring into the outer parking lot of the marina. The gate was down, the striped barrier arm down over entrance to the Yacht Club, blocking access. Mr. Drake swore beside me, before slamming the car to a halt. Without another word, he jerked the keys out of the ignition and barreled out of the car, slamming the door behind him.

  “They said to wait!” I called, but he was already gone, running down the pier. “Shit.”

  “What’s that, Ma’am?” The operator’s voice in my ear startled me.

  “Please hurry,” I said, and ended the call.

  I jumped out of the car and went after Mr. Drake, ducking low under the barrier, grateful once again for the hidden slits in my skirt that allowed such movement, although I doubt they were ever intended for crime fighting.

  I crossed the parking lot, my heels clicking loudly on the pavement as I broke into a jog. Mr. Drake disappeared around the north side of the huge building sprawling before me, blocking the view of the dock. I hurried after, hoping to catch up to him, when I caught something moving in the corner of my vision.

  A pink blur registered, and I turned just in time to see a petite blonde with a rolling suitcase disappear around the south side. She hadn’t seen me, but the brief glimpse I’d gotten of her was hauntingly familiar. I changed direction, edging closer to the edge of the building, moving more slowly now so the sound of my heels wouldn’t give me away. I peered around the corner and stifled a gasp.

  Veronica, or as Lex had dubbed her, The Future Mrs. Drake, was sashaying ahead of me, her Chanel purse full to bursting, a curling iron cord dangling from the open zipper, dragging her suitcase behind her. Where was she going in such a hurry?

  This was too much of a coincidence. If she was here, now, packed for a journey, she might lead me straight to Lex. I trotted along behind her, hiding in the shadows of the doorways as we made our way past the main club building and toward the smaller outbuildings behind it.

  When we moved toward a large boathouse at the edge of the dock, I glanced around us. Where was Mr. Drake? I thought I’d find him around back, but he was nowhere to be seen. As I edged around the boathouse, I saw them--row after row of large, white yachts floating quietly in the harbor, moored side by side like sleeping giants.

  Veronica was disappearing down the wood planking, taking a turn and disappearing behind the bulk of the first row of vessels. I followed, hoping my hunch was correct, and I’d be able to lead the police straight to Lex when they arrived.

  I slowed down when I reached the corner Veronica’s swaying pink purse had just disappeared around. The sound of male voices reached my ears, and I peered around the hull of The Ex-Wife, hoping to remain unseen in the shadow of the yacht.

  “You don’t have to do this, Lex. This is between you and me. Let’s talk this through before you do something you’ll regret.”

  “Don’t flatter yourself, Chase! This is about me getting what I deserve. Living in your shadow should guarantee me a fucking bonus, after all the shit I’ve put up with over the years.”

  “The employees are the ones who will suffer, and you know it. If you want to get back at me, take anything else. Just not the pensions. Even you aren’t that selfish, Lex.”

  “Did you ever think maybe it’s not just about the cash? Maybe I want to relish the thought of all those people knowing that you let them down. Of you tossing and turning at night as you wondered how you didn’t see it coming. The guilt of your failure eating you alive. Maybe that’s the only thing I want as I sail away to a brand new life.”

  I saw Mr. Drake now. His back was to me on the dock in front of Lex, who was standing on the ladder on the side of his yacht, ready to board. They hadn’t seen Veronica yet. She was lurking in the shadows by a pile of rope, digging in her purse, her suitcase forgotten at her feet.

  Where the hell are the cops already? My ears strained for the sound of sirens, but the seconds ticked by, and we were still all alone.

  “Please, Lex... I’ll go away if you’d like. Leave the city. We can pretend this never happened, and I’ll leave the company quietly. Just come down from there and talk to me.”

  Mr. Drake moved toward the yacht, his hand outstretched, urging Lex to come with him.

  “Freeze, Chasey!”

  Both men’s eyes shot wide as Veronica’s shrill voice rang out over the water. She held a revolver in her perfectly manicured hands, the barrel pointed straight at Mr. Drake’s chest.

  “One more move, and I’ll shoot, Mister! Back away nice and slow.”

  “Nice work, Ronnie,” Lex said, grinning in a way that made my blood boil. “You’ve got great timing.”

  He hopped down off the ladder and stood in front of Mr. Drake, his hands on his hips. Veronica advanced on him, gun held steady, the light of the setting sun glinting off the weapon.

  “You were right, Lexy. I’m glad I took daddy’s gun like you said.”

  “Search him,” Lex said. “Make sure he doesn’t have his cell phone. We don’t want him to try anything funny when we leave him tied up. We want to be well on our way by the time anyone knows we’re gone..”

  Mr. Drake’s face was dark, his forehead furrowed as Veronica moved toward him.

  This had gone far enough. They were going to get away if I didn’t act fast.

  I flicked the phone open and dialed the last number, leaving it ringing silently on the wooden boards of the dock. I stumbled around the corner like I’d been running, my chest heaving dramatically.

  “Wait!”

  All eyes landed on me, Veronica’s gun barrel twitching as she tried to decide whether to cover me or Chase Drake.

  “Take me with you, Lex,” I said, moving closer, raising my hands in the air. “You were right about me. I only wanted Chase when I thought he was the powerhouse behind the business. The successful one.” I breathed heavily, holding a stitch in my side. “I want to come along...”

  “Stay right there, bitch!” Veronica’s hands shook as she trained the gun on me.

  Something in my chest tightened in reaction to staring down the barrel of a real-life gun, but I steadied my emotions.

  Keep going, Isabeau. You can do this. You have to!

  Chase Drake needed me to keep a cool head, and tha
t was exactly what I was going to do.

  I stopped, but trained my eyes on Lex. He looked incredulous, but ran a hand over his chin, looking me up and down in a way that made my skin crawl.

  “I was always attracted to you, but...” I looked guiltily at Mr. Drake. “I didn’t want to ruin my chances with him while I had a good thing going. Please, Lex. Take me with you. We can be together now. Now that I know who the real man is.”

  “What?!” Veronica’s pink lips were pulled back in a snarl. “First you take my Chasey and now you’re making a play for him?” She turned to Lex, her barrel drifting away from my chest. “Tell her to go to hell, baby!”

  But Lex had a twinkle in his black eyes like all of his Christmases were coming early, and I knew I had him.

  “I want you, Lex,” I said, my voice breathy and high. “Please. You know how much fun we can have together. It’ll be so good...”

  I stepped closer, and Veronica practically bristled as she looked back and forth between me and the man she’d planned to run away with. She turned the barrel on him, and his eyes widened.

  “Tell her, Lexy! Tell her!”

  He reached toward her, his eyes pleading. “C’mon, baby. Lower the gun. Don’t be hysterical.”

  “Hysterical?!” Veronica’s face reddened and she ground her high heel into the dock. “You tell me I’m all you ever wanted, that you can love me better than Chasey ever could, and now you’re seriously considering letting this gutter-trash-slut come with us?”

  “Baby, it’s not like that...”

  “THEN WHAT’S IT LIKE?”

  Lex’s gaze shifted, and I could tell he was trying to think of something, anything, to get him out of hot water and onto his yacht before things could get any worse. And that was why neither he nor Veronica saw Mr. Drake lunge for the gun.

  It all happened so fast, that if I had blinked, I would have missed it. Chase Drake’s hand closed around the barrel, twisting it out of Veronica’s fingers. She screamed bloody murder, and Lex tried to scrabble up the ladder of his boat when Mr. Drake shouted.

  “Hold it right there! Drop to the dock, Lex!”

  Veronica raised her claws like she was planning to scratch Chase’s face off, and that’s when I leapt into action, tackling her onto the dock. She thrashed in my grip, and I crushed her into the planks.

  The wood thudded beneath me, and suddenly I realized it was the impact of several pairs of boots approaching at a run.

  “Police! Smith, get down on the ground!”

  Officers in blue surrounded us, guns drawn. I raised my head just in time to see Lex Smith getting dragged off his ladder like a kitten out of a tree, and grinned.

  Veronica had frozen beneath my body, and now a police officer held a hand out to me. I gripped it and let her pull me to my feet, smiling all the while as she cuffed Veronica and recited her Miranda rights.

  I looked over at Mr. Drake and saw him looking back at me, his face glowing with pride.

  We’d really done it. The employee pensions were safe, and so were we.

  “You’ll never be anything but trash, Isabeau,” Lex yelled as two police officers gripped his arms. “You’re nothing! You hear me?”

  “Wait a second,” I said to the officers, and they paused, holding Lex still.

  I walked up to him and leaned in close to whisper in his ear. “It must be hard, being such a small, small man, living in the shadow of a giant.”

  My knee shot out before the police could stop me, nailing him right in the balls. He wheezed, his eyes filling with tears.

  “Who knows? Maybe you’ll be the number one scumbag on your cell block. There’s always something to hope for, Lex. Keep your head up.”

  I heard one of the officers snicker as I walked away, my eyes locked on Chase Drake.

  It was finally over.

  ***

  I sat wrapped in a thick blanket on Mr. Drake’s leather sofa, snuggled up next to a roaring fire. He poured me a cup of brandy and handed it to me, the firelight playing over his strong jaw and wavy hair, making me want to reach up and trace the lines of his face, to run my fingertips over his lips. Instead, I sipped the golden liquid, sighing as its warmth spread through me.

  “I couldn’t have done it without you, Isabeau.”

  His voice was barely over a whisper, a low rumble that filled my senses, causing my tension to melt away like the fragments of a dream.

  “Good thing you didn’t have to,” I said, grinning up at him.

  Maybe it was the sip of spirits, or maybe it was just the relief after a suspense-filled day, but I felt almost giddy, there with him, safe and sound in a mansion I was slowly getting comfortable in.

  “I mean it, Isa.” He took my glass and set it aside, then captured my hands in his. “The police wouldn’t have found us in time if the cell phone signal hadn’t led them right to us.” He paused, kissing my fingers. “You’re just amazing.”

  I looked down at our hands intertwined, at his long fingers holding mine, his touch making me tingle from head to toe.

  “I could say the same about you. The way you took the gun from Veronica. Hell, just the way you discovered what he was up to in the first place.”

  His face darkened. “I should have seen it sooner. The employees deserve better.”

  “You are their hero, today.”

  He paused, staring at me with those green eyes that made my knees turn to jelly.

  “Isa... I have something to ask you, and I’m not quite sure how to start. Please... close your eyes.”

  The twinge of anxiety in his voice made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. What was going on? Why would cause my strong, dominant Mr. Drake to be afraid after a day like this?

  I closed my eyes and waited for what was to come, feeling the warmth of the fire on my face. I let the blanket fall to my sides and knotted my hands together, worrying, despite the feeling of safety I’d just enjoyed.

  There was a rustling, then Mr. Drake’s hand covered mine once again.

  “Open them, Isabeau.”

  I opened my eyes and gasped. Tears sprung to my eyes as I saw my master, my love, kneeling before me, his green gaze piercing me. A ring glinted in his other hand, a cluster of diamonds forming a blossom in the middle of a beautifully carved platinum band.

  “Isa, I’m sorry I couldn’t wait to do more... to make this moment perfect... because you deserve that and so much more. But I couldn’t spend another moment with you without asking you this.”

  I trembled, my whole body shaking as I gripped his hand in mine, not daring to move, or even speak, lest I discover I was dreaming. That this wasn’t really happening, and Chase Drake wasn’t on his knees before me.

  “Since I met you, my life has been different than I ever thought it could be. I never imagined I’d find someone who I could trust so completely, not only with my secrets, but with my heart. I didn’t know anyone could be my perfect match. Isa...” He held the ring up to me, his eyes full of need. “Will you be my partner? My wife? Will you say yes and make my life what I always wanted, but never dreamed possible?”

  For a moment, my breath caught in my chest. Time stood still, and it was just me and him, looking into one another’s eyes and envisioning eternity together. Working together, living together, loving one another as only we could.

  Without a word, I slid off the couch and wrapped my arms around him, bringing my lips to his. We fit together like two pieces of a puzzle, his mouth opening to me as I deepened the kiss, pouring out all of my love and hope and promise into that one moment. Salt flavored our lips, and I realized tears were rolling down my cheeks, flowing freely at the thought of being his wife.

  I pulled back, smiling even as I swiped at the wetness on my cheeks.

  “Yes, Sir,” I said.

  He laughed, pulling me back into his arms, holding me on his lap in front of the fire.

  “This ring was my grandmother’s,” he said, his breath tickling my ear as he held me tightly to him. “I d
idn’t have time to buy one for you, but I will. You’ll have whatever you desire, my beautiful Isa.”

  I broke away and held out my left hand, urging him to place it on my finger. “It’s perfect. It couldn’t be more perfect if I’d picked it out myself.”

  He slid the ring onto my finger, my skin coming alive beneath the cool metal band.

  “I love that it was in your family. One day, maybe I can pass it on to our child.”

  He stared at me for a moment in silence, assessing me, then broke into a smile that made my heart ache.

  “I’ve never met a woman like you.”

  It was my turn to smile. “I’ve never met a man like you, either.”

  He pulled me down with him, laying me back on the soft rug before the roaring fire. “Then I guess we’re lucky we found one another.”

  He leaned over, pressing into me, his erection hitting me in just the right spot to make me moan. I spread my legs, wrapping them around him, holding him to me as his lips captured mine once again.

  I was going to marry Chase Drake. The wish I didn’t know I’d had was coming true, and in that moment, I knew--things would never be the same.

  ***

  Three months later...

  I screeched as Mr. Drake scooped me off my feet, the white fabric of my wedding dress swirling around his crisp tuxedo shirt. He tossed me over his shoulder and opened the hidden door to his dungeon. He swatted my backside, making me giggle.

  “What kind of husband would I be if I didn’t carry you over the threshold?”

  I grinned against his back, my hair spilling out of my chignon. He kicked the door closed behind us and set me down. He pulled me into a kiss that made my head spin, holding me tightly in his strong arms. When he pulled away, his eyes were blazing.

  I still couldn’t believe I was married to this man, my love, my Mr. Drake.

  “I don’t have a gift for you,” I said. “I didn’t know I was supposed to... and after what you gave me, I don’t know what I could do for you that would even compare.”

  “Isa.” He wound his fingers in my hair, toying with the curls now falling down around my shoulders. “Making you partner in the business wasn’t a wedding gift, you silly girl. I just wanted to surprise you today to make it even more special. You will accept, won’t you?”