“Yes.”
“Good.” I dropped into the big, leather, high-backed chair and rested my chin on my hands. “What do you do here, Olivia?”
“I'm Mr. Kender's PA,” she said. I watched her throat bob as she swallowed hard. “Um…that is, I'm his personal assistant.”
“I know what PA stands for.” Was she taking me for some kind of idiot? No, she was only freaking out a little because she was being questioned by a known terrorist. “How long have you worked for Mr. Kender?”
“Three weeks,” she told me. “My friend Melody got me this job when…”
Another thing I didn’t like—answering the wrong question.
“Did I ask you about the hiring process?” I interrupted.
“Um…no.”
“Then don't talk to me about it.”
As much as she was doing all the little things that annoyed the shit out of me, I still couldn’t take my eyes off of her as a slow, deep red overtook her face. The color went straight to my cock, and what was just a bit of a twitch was threatening to become a raging hard-on.
Get in control!
“Next question, Olivia.” I stared at her eyes because they would be the best indication of truthfulness and because it kept my eyes from wandering back to her shoes. “Are you sleeping with him?”
“What? No!” A sharp breath escaped her mouth, and her eyes widened. She was horrified at the idea, but not traumatized, which meant he hadn’t been with her. Internally, I breathed a sigh of relief. If he had touched her, I may very well have lost my cool.
“Good,” I said and turned back to the laptop, trying to take my focus off the beautiful young woman so close to me I could smell her. I mentally collected myself while I loaded another couple password key decoding processes. It didn’t help. It didn’t make any fucking difference at all.
I needed to damage something, and if something didn’t present itself soon, I was probably going to take it out on my hostage. I looked over to her, finding myself ever so slightly calmed by her passive demeanor.
“Do you have a laptop?” I asked, fighting to control the tone of my voice.
“Um…y-yes?” She stuttered out her reply. I tightened my fingers almost into fists.
“Are you asking yourself a question this time?”
“No,” she replied. I could hardly hear her whisper. She looked down at the floor and reminded me of a properly chastised schoolgirl, which made my dick want to get up and do a little dance. The bastard had just calmed down a minute ago.
“So you do have a laptop?”
“Yes, I have a laptop.” Her voice was a little steadier, and she at least met my eyes for a moment. So demure, so subservient, so fucking hot I wasn’t sure if I should get her out of the room so I could accomplish what I needed or if I should get Cole out of the room so I could accomplish what I wanted.
“Where?”
“The desk outside this office.”
“Go and retrieve your laptop,” I commanded. “Bring it back here to me. Don't stray, baby, okay?”
“Okay.” Again, she didn’t flinch at the familiarity, and I had no doubt whatsoever that she would do exactly what I asked.
“Want me to go with her?” Cole asked. He obviously wasn’t paying attention to her mannerisms.
“It's okay, Cole,” I said. “She's coming right back. Aren't you baby?”
“Yes.” She walked swiftly out the door and into the outer office.
“I know that look,” Cole mumbled. He tossed another folder into the rapidly growing pile at his feet and then grabbed another one to leaf through.
“What?” I barked.
“You gonna tap that?”
“Fuck you.” I couldn’t help but smile a little. Yeah, I could definitely see myself spreading her out over the desk with those heels perched on my shoulders. “Maybe.”
Cole just chuckled quietly to himself.
“I don’t think there’s anything here,” he said as he nodded toward the filing cabinet. “There are a couple references to China and another to Honduras but nothing concrete.”
“Keep looking.”
I looked back to Kender’s computer and growled at the “Access Denied” message displayed on the screen. My fingers twitched, and I felt just a slight amount of sweat beading up on my neck. I reached back and wiped it away as pictures of Elliot’s last birthday party ran through my head. I clenched my teeth.
All for you, big brother.
Olivia walked back in carrying a pricy HP laptop, and my thoughts were again directed toward fucking the shit out of her. I felt myself grin.
“Good girl,” I said under my breath. I meant for bringing the laptop and being quick about it but also for the demure look she gave me as she met my eyes and then looked to the ground. “Over here.”
I made a point of running my fingers over the back of her hand as she handed it to me. Gooseflesh appeared on her wrist and then traveled up her arm. I wondered if her nipples got hard, but I couldn’t tell in her loose-fitting blouse.
I looked down to the laptop in my hand and flipped it back and forth between my hands a couple of times as I let the anger flow through me. Once it was nicely built up, I flung the computer across the room and into a painting of a couple of kids on a beach. Fucking bastard Kender, parading his sick little pastime around in his office. Olivia jumped a little and placed one of her hands over her mouth, probably trying not to scream as laptop bits scattered over the floor.
“Sorry about that,” I said with a shrug. “I needed to break something, and I figure what I need is probably on this computer, not yours.”
Cole broke out into a ridiculous-sounding guffaw, and I wanted to smack him over the top of his shiny head. I was still annoyed, and I wanted to see what kind of information I could get out of the young PA. It didn’t seem likely, but there was always the possibility she might be able to help me get what I wanted. I was more likely to influence her without an audience, though. At least, that’s what I told myself.
“Go check on Frank.” I gestured at Cole to get the fuck out of the room. “Make sure he isn't trolling for more stragglers. He's pissing me off.”
“Will do!” Cole raised his eyebrow at me and sauntered out, being sure to completely close the door to the office as he left. Good man. I looked back up at the delectable office worker in the fuck-hot shoes.
“Sit.” I waved my hand in a ridiculously grand movement toward Kender’s desk chair. For a moment, she just stood there with her mouth open a little, staring at me. I wanted to shove my tongue down her throat. Or maybe my cock. Either. Both. I tilted my head and gazed back at her, waiting for her to fucking obey me. If I had to ask again…well, maybe I would give her a good spanking.
Then she blushed again.
Damn.
The blood flowing through her cheeks seemed to have a direct line to the blood flowing into my cock, which throbbed a bit. I could see her chest rising and falling as her breathing increased with her nervousness. She dropped her eyes again but not to the ground. I was pretty sure she was looking at my crotch, and I wondered if she could see how hard she was making me. I wondered if she wanted a better look. The thought made me chuckle to myself, and her rosy cheeks darkened. Yeah, she did want a better look.
She finally took the few steps forward and turned to sit in the chair, giving me a brief view of skin between her skirt and her blouse as it rode up a little. Once she sat back, I couldn’t see it anymore, so I went ahead and pushed her closer to the desk.
“Sign on,” I told her. She had to have a password that would work, even if it wasn’t his. If she could just get in, Cole could probably hack his way to what I needed. Her eyes widened, and she stared down at the keyboard. I could see her hesitancy, even hear it in her hitched breaths. She probably had some notion of company loyalty—probably signed a fucking agreement to that effect. Of course, she also had an international terrorist standing next to her whether she knew it or not. I leaned against the chair’s arm and b
ent down to give her some words of…encouragement.
For good measure, and to make sure she heard me, I took a lock of her hair and pushed it back behind her ear. She tensed at my touch, and I could see the shiver run through her body this time. Her fingers turned white as they dug into the armrests. I was going to have to be careful. She was already frightened, and I needed her on my side.
“Olivia, I know what you are thinking.” My lips were almost touching her ear, and I had to resist the urge to suck her lobe into my mouth. I did resist. Barely. “You are worried about your loyalty. You are concerned that you may be betraying the trust of the man who hired you. I'm telling you, Olivia, he is not worthy of your trust.”
“And you are?” She took a sharp breath, and I figured she hadn’t meant to say that out loud. She had a point, though. I couldn’t explain why, but it was suddenly important to me that she understand that I was not the bad guy here, despite appearances.
“Most certainly,” I said. “Though you have met me under some rather…interesting circumstances, I assure you trusting me is more likely to be in your best interest than trusting Mr. Kender.”
“Why do you say that?”
Because he’s a pervert. Because he kidnaps little girls and sells them into slavery. Because he murdered my niece. Because I want to get my hands on him long enough to make him feel all the pain he’s inflicted on my family. Because my brother’s dead. Because everything he has done has turned me into what I am now.
“Because he is a vile, evil man,” I finally said through clenched teeth. I had to get myself back under control. I was going to scare the shit out of her if I said much else. I couldn’t say all that she needed to know without ripping the fucking room to shreds. I took a slow, deep breath. “I'd kill him myself, but I'm afraid that would be far too easy on him.”
She didn’t move. She sat completely motionless except for her rising and falling chest, which was exactly what I needed to distract me from the memories in my head. Elliot’s phone call—Abby was missing. The look on his face when the police came to the door to tell him she was dead. My sister-in-law completely losing it and ending up in a psych ward. The blood all over his bedroom and the smoking gun still in my brother’s hand…
She shifted just a little in the chair, and the gap between two of her blouse buttons widened, thankfully distracting me from my morbid thoughts. I could see just the slightest hint of cleavage. My fingers warmed with blood, begging to reach out and feel the softness of her skin, and my cock wanted to join them. She was the only way I was going to get what I needed with or without showing me her tits.
“I am going to use a word that I don't use very often,” I said softly. I leaned over her and placed my hand on her shoulder as her eyes met mine and widened in trepidation. “But this is important. Olivia, please, type in Mr. Kender's name and password.”
“For which folders?” she asked without hesitation. God, yes! That was what I needed to hear. My brain quickly processed her words. Folders…different folders with different passwords, some containing his legitimate business and others with the names of his contacts—the information I truly needed.
“Multiple accounts for accessing different information?” I asked, and she nodded. “How are they organized?”
“By color.”
“Which colors?”
“Um…blue and green—those are the ones he usually wants. Red and yellow, orange, gray, pink …”
Pink. Oh, that dirty motherfucker. I covered her lips with my finger and didn’t miss that her mouth opened slightly when I did.
“That's the one,” I told her.
“He never goes into that one.”
How does the PA know what the bastard accesses and what he does not?
“How do you know?”
“He never asked me for the password,” she said. “He can't remember any of them.”
No, he wouldn’t ask for that one. If he was going to memorize any password, that would be the one. Little girl pink. He was far too sick for words, and I had to force my body not to just run right outside and blow him away. No, I wasn’t going to do that. He wasn’t going to get off that easy. The fucker was going to pay for everything he has done. Fucking pay. In blood. In pain.
“That's as good a confirmation as I am going to get. Enter the password for the pink folder, Olivia.”
I stared at her slim, slightly shaky fingers as she slowly typed in the user name and password. I thanked her, and on a whim, I touched my lips to her cheek. I traced over my bottom lip with my tongue as I experienced the brief taste of her. I immediately wanted more, but there wasn’t time now. I had been waiting for this moment for far too long. She moved away immediately when I told her to, and it didn’t escape my notice that she learned quickly. Fear can do that to you.
Once she was out of my way, I stared down at the computer screen.
Even the fucking desktop theme was pink. My hand clenched for a moment before a deep breath brought me back to the present, and I immediately started scanning the files and folders for what had to be there. It had been so long, and I had gone through so much, it just had to be there. It had to be there for my own sanity.
I hit a folder and its contents sprang open before me. Holding my breath, I double clicked a text file. It was here. It really was fucking here.
Names.
Contact information.
Dates.
Bank account numbers.
Pictures.
Everything I needed to give to the man who was going to verify Kender was what I said he was and then turn his torment into a symbol for pedophiles across the globe.
I silently thanked any god that might be listening that the default view was only file details and not a picture preview. I had some presumptions about what might be in those pictures, and I wasn’t about to look. Cole would have to verify what was there. I dipped my fingers into my breast pocket and inserted the thumb drive into the USB port on the side of the machine. As I started copying everything, I sat back and looked up at my beautiful young hostage. She made it all happen. I couldn’t help but smile.
“You have no idea how long I have waited for this moment,” I told her. The taste of the soft skin of her cheek was gone from my lips, so I reached out to get another taste, this time of the back of her hand while she turned a beautiful, bright crimson. “My good luck charm.”
I swung my legs and pushed the chair back so I could take a really good look at her without an audience. I started with the heels—thin little straps wrapped around her delicate ankles and buckled off to the side. The heels were easily three inches, and they made her legs look fucking hot. They were long, slender, and dressed in nothing more than the shoes and her professional style skirt. I wanted to run my hands over them. I wanted to run my hands up them, under that skirt, and into the promised land.
She moved nervously from one foot to the other while I kept a steady gaze on her, moving my eyes from her feet all the way up to the scarf that was still pissing me off. I wanted to see her slender neck and the bare skin of her throat. I wanted to know for sure if she was taken or not. There was no way she wasn’t surrounded by men, as young and beautiful as she was. I needed to know. I needed her to…
“Take the scarf off.” My voice surprised me a little. I hadn’t completely meant to say it out loud though I certainly wanted her to do it. What I want, I get. Usually. Obviously, I had surprised her a bit as well.
“Um…what?”
I could almost hear her heart pounding. If I could see under her scarf, I could probably have figured out just how excited she was by the pulse in her neck. If I could see under her scarf, I’d know if she was already taken or not.
“The scarf on your neck,” I said cautiously. I didn’t want to scare her, but I really, really wanted it off. If she was marked…well, that would be the end of it. Maybe. “Take it off.”
“Why?”
She asked the question, but even as she did, her hand was moving to the knot si
tting against her shoulder. She tugged at it a couple of times before it came loose, and she dutifully held it out to me. I glanced at it a moment, considered asking her how she felt about being tied up with it, and looked for the tell-tale signs on her skin of recent amorous activity. I still couldn’t see anything with the damn blouse she had on, which was buttoned all the way up to the top.
“Undo the buttons on your blouse.”
Her eyes went wide, and her mouth opened a little. I looked away quickly, realizing how my words must have sounded. I didn’t want to frighten her—truly I didn’t. I did want her naked and spread out for me on the desk—maybe bent over the arm of the chair…maybe even in the back of the helicopter after all of this was over—but I didn’t want to scare her. I closed my eyes and tried to shake the random, cock-stroking thoughts from my head. I looked back up and smiled, laughing softly at the stunned look on her face.
“Just the top three buttons, baby.”
And there she was, doing exactly as I asked of her. I could see her pale, blemish-free skin as the fabric fell away from her throat.
“No boyfriend.” I could have breathed a sigh of relief. She wasn’t seeing anyone. At least, if she was, he was a fucking moron.
“No…um…how…?” she stammered back.
“No hickeys,” I replied with a grin.
“What does that have to do with anything?”
Everything, baby. Any man with any sense would be making sure every other man in the vicinity knew better than to lay a hand on you.
“If I was your boyfriend, I'd be leaving marks all over you,” I murmured, “just to make sure every other man who got near you knew you were mine.”
Her mouth dropped open again as her hand tried to move back up to her neckline, probably to cover herself back up, but she didn’t go through with it. I was about to tell her to button she shirt back up when her vibrating phone at her hip made itself known. She didn’t move.
“Are you going to answer that?” I asked pleasantly.
“No…um…should I?”
“Maybe you should at least look to see who it is,” I suggested.
“I know who it is,” she said.