Kisses for the Billionaire: Final Kiss (3 page)

T
he shrill ring
of David’s cell phone ruptured the tension between us. It vibrated against my thigh where his legs were pressed inside mine and I released a frustrated sigh as he propped his body up on his elbows over me.

“I can’t really ignore it,” he said, holding himself poised above me but he still didn’t make a move towards answering the call.

“You should take it, it could be something important…”

The phone stopped buzzing and silence flooded into the space between us. David smiled, a look that was all predator and it sent a frisson of excitement racing through me.

He dipped his head to mine once more, his lips grazing my neck as he whispered against my skin. “If it’s so important, they’ll ring…”

He never finished the sentence, the shrill ringing of the cell phone once more ripping the moment between us. David groaned and rolled away from me as he tugged the cell from his pocket.

Frustration gnawed at my insides as I sat up and carefully closed the buttons on my blouse. It never ceased to amaze me how he always seemed to know his way inside my clothes without ever having to put any real effort into it. Most of the time I never even realised what he was doing until I felt his hands against my exposed skin.

“What do you mean he wants to meet,” David said, his voice taking on a tone that sent a shiver racing down my spine.

Reaching over to the picnic basket I flipped open the lid and my mouth began to water at the sight of the food inside. The food in the hospital had been less than appetising and the short time I’d spent on the island hadn’t exactly been an environment conducive to sating hunger.

Plucking a ripe strawberry from one of the little containers, I dipped it gently into the fresh cream that sat in a little cool box in the corner of the basket. Taking a dainty bite of the fruit sent my taste buds into overdrive and the juice prickled along my tongue.

But it was David’s concerned expression that really had my attention. Whoever was on the other end of the line was telling him something David did not want to hear.

“I don’t care what he wants, that’s not the way it works…” David cut off, his brow furrowed as the caller on the other end of the line spoke again.

“Fine, but I’m not going to apologise and he better be ready to give me the answers I’m after. I don’t care what he thinks of me, I won’t be taken for a fool, Aaron.”

David jerked the phone away from his ear and ended the call.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, swallowing the last of the strawberry as quickly as I could.

“It’s…” David stalled and I knew he’d been about to tell me it was nothing I needed to worry about.

His gaze met mine and he sighed, dropping the cell phone onto the blanket between us.

“That was Aaron,” he said, his hand balling into a fist.

“And what did he have to say?”

“Killian Ashcroft wants a meeting with me,” David said, his voice devoid of all emotion.

I had no idea who this Killian was and I sifted through all the names of everyone I knew in David’s family before coming up empty.

“Who’s he? Why is this bothering you so much?”

David pushed up onto his feet and crossed the room, the tension in his back causing my stomach to knot up uncomfortably as I watched him. Whoever this Killian was had David worried but what about? I had no clue and it wasn’t the first time since all this had started that I felt as though I was in the dark.

“Killian is a cousin of mine, his father was my uncle, a brother to Henry.”

“Why didn’t you mention them before?” I asked, the knot of concern in my stomach growing as I watched David fidget.

“Because our side of the family, doesn’t have anything to do with their side, my uncle didn’t exactly earn his money in the most savoury of ways.”

“All right, so what does this cousin of yours want?”

David fell silent and I fought the urge to get up and shake him until he spilled the answers he was keeping from me.

“He knows what I was planning on doing,” David said, and my heart came to a shuddering halt in my chest.

“He’s trying to blackmail you? He does realise you’re innocent, that you were being threatened but that you never went through with it?”

David shook his head and turned back to face me, there was a small sad smile playing around the corners of his lips.

“I’m glad you find all of this so funny because I don’t. The last thing we need is someone else involved.”

“He’s involved because he’s the mark,” David said.

I stared at him, his words refused to make sense as they swirled around in my head. What the hell was he talking about, what mark?

“He’s the one Andy and Dominic want me to kill…”

David’s words hung in the air between us and I swallowed hard. It had seemed so utterly unreal before and the more I heard about it all the more ludicrous it all seemed to become. I couldn’t imagine David hurting anyone. In self-defence perhaps, I knew he was more than capable of looking after himself.

But the thought of him wilfully going out in search of someone to kill… It didn’t make sense inside my head. It wasn’t who he was.

“Carrie, say something, your silence…” he trailed off and the look on his face twisted my gut. He sounded broken.

What was I supposed to tell him? When none of it had seemed real I could tell him that it didn’t matter but now?

“He’s not coming here,” I said, it was the only sentence I could get out. I couldn’t think past the thought that David had come so close to murdering someone in cold blood, my mind refused to help me think up something reassuring I could say to him.

“They’re on their way over,” he said moving across the room to drop down on the blanket next to me. “You don’t need to meet him, I can handle it.”

“If he’s coming here then I need to meet him. Jesus, David…” I trailed off and buried my face in my hands.

David wrapped his fingers around my wrists and slowly tugged my hands away from my face. I kept my gaze trained on the blanket in front of me, the patterns suddenly fascinating.

“Carrie, you know I would never have done it if there had been any other choice. I proved that by going after you instead…”

“I know that…” I said but I still couldn’t shake the discomfort that unsettled me. This was the man I’d married, the man I loved, the one I thought I knew and yet he could still do something like this to surprise me.

Deep down I knew he hadn’t gone through with the horror the Banks’ had wanted him to commit but I also knew he’d have done it if I hadn’t found a way to contact him.

He’d have killed for me. If life were nothing more than a romantic Hollywood blockbuster then I’d be flattered by the gesture but that wasn’t reality and I wasn’t flattered.

“You’re behaving as though I really did kill him. He’s coming here, Aaron is bringing him over, you’ll get to see him yourself and then you’ll see that my conscience is clear.”

He pulled away from me, the anger on his face unmistakable as he climbed back onto his feet.

“David, don’t be like that, I…”

“You what, Carrie? From where I’m standing all I can see is judgement in your eyes. I did what I thought was best for the people I love. I would do anything to protect you and Jenson, and when the new baby arrives, I would do anything to protect her too, even if that meant getting blood on my hands…”

“I know that, it was by my hand that Taylor died nobody else. I know what if feels like to have to protect the ones you love.”

“Then why do I feel like you’re seeing me differently now that you know the truth?”

“I don’t know, maybe I am… Maybe the thought of you planning something like that makes me think that perhaps I don’t know you as well as I thought I did.”

It was a mistake the moment the words left my mouth and I knew it. It wasn’t even true, that wasn’t how I viewed the situation at all but I didn’t fully understand the complexities of my own emotions and so explaining them to someone else made it almost impossible to actually make sense of it all.

Even if that someone else was David.

He stared down at me, the shock registering first in his eyes and then spreading down through the rest of his body. I watched his jaw tighten, his shoulders drawing up and back as his body became rigid.

“I thought we were past all of that, Carrie, clearly I was wrong…” He turned on his heel and strode out of the room, leaving me behind to stare after him.

How could I have been so wrong, so cruel and unthinking? Of course I knew who he was and it hypocritical to even let a thought like that slip into my head for even a second.

I’d worried that he would look at me differently once he knew the danger I placed our unborn child in. Instead, he’d been the one to apologise, to tell me that he hadn’t done enough to protect us when I knew that wasn’t true.

I was a fool. My own doubts and insecurities always getting in my way and landing me in trouble.

And if I wasn’t careful those same doubts and insecurities would cost me the man I loved…

S
tepping
out of the shower I contemplated climbing into the bed that sat in the middle of the floor. It was still covered in the rose petals that David had strewn across it from earlier and I just couldn’t bring myself to disturb them.

My head ached and my heart was heavy but as I let the towel drop so I could begin to dress the baby kicked once more. It was about the only thing in my life that was going in the direction I wanted.

Pressing my hands against my stomach I imagined what it would be like to hold her in my arms. Would she look like Jenson?

I’d come so close to losing her and the emotion welled up within me. Why was it that every time our life seemed to be finding some semblance of balance something else came along to knock it off track? When would we have a break from it all?

The sound of the doorbell made me jump.

Wrapping my towel around myself once more I hurried to the window and peered out between the heavy drapes. One of Aaron’s cars sat in the driveway, the two easily recognisable bodyguards next to it a dead giveaway that it was in fact his car.

How did he fit into all of this? Why did he have so much contact with this Killian, he had to know why David had planned to do what he had. Aaron of all people should have understood what that was like.

He’d come far too close to almost losing Heather to the psychopath that was Jude Fossen, he’d done things that many would consider crossing the line just to ensure her safety. So why now was he helping this other man by bringing him to David?

None of it made any sense.

What was it about this Killian Ashcroft that made him such a threat to Andy and Dominic, why kill him?

I wasn’t going to get the answers to my questions by standing up in my bedroom wrapped in a towel. The only way I was going to get to the bottom of any of it was by getting dressed and going to confront this Killian once and for all.

There was clearly a connection between him and the missing Melissa and I was done with staying in the dark. I wanted answers and I would have them, come hell or high bloody water.

D
escending the stairs
, I gripped the banister and strained to listen to the quiet hum of voices in the office. David wasn’t shouting, in fact nobody was shouting and that surprised me more than anything else.

If this was the man David had threatened to kill then why wasn’t anyone upset?

Crossing the foyer one of Aaron’s bodyguards blocked the door, his arms that were thick enough to give the branches of any tree a run for its money were crossed across his barrel shaped chest. Approaching him he eyed me up carefully before finally shaking his head before I even had the opportunity to open my mouth.

“I’m going into that office,” I said, pausing and planting my hands firmly on my hips.

“Bosses orders, no one goes in,” he said, his voice gruff and gravelly.

“Well, I don’t work for your boss and this is my house, so kindly get out of my way,” I said, the irritation in my voice as plain as I could make it.

I was tired of playing games, if David or Aaron thought they could keep me out of it by locking me out of a room in my own house then they were sorely mistaken.

“Grant, let her in.” The voice piped up from somewhere behind me and it was a voice I would have recognised anywhere.

Swinging around my gaze came to rest on Marcus as he hobbled across the floor towards me. His right arm was in a sling across his chest and I could tell from the way his upper body seemed to be bulked out beneath his clothes that he was clearly wrapped up tight with bandages.

“What the hell are you doing here? I thought you were taking it easy in the hospital,” I said, crossing the foyer to wrap my arms around him.

It was the most amount of contact I’d ever had with Marcus but considering all the time we’d spent together over the months and his connections to Stuart he was beginning to feel more and more like family.

Watching him get shot and writhe on the floor… It wasn’t something I was going to forget in a hurry. It wasn’t something I could or even wanted to forget. Marcus was hurt because of me, because of my stupid and reckless actions. If I’d stayed at home and…

I cut off my own thoughts and simply squeezed Marcus into a bear hug. He wrapped his free arm around me and a short chuckle that quickly became a coughing wheeze of pain erupted from him.

“Carrie, I don’t know how you’re going to forgive me for screwing up so royally,” he said, through his cough as I slowly released him.

“You screwed up? Don’t you mean me? I was the one who insisted we go to the Sovereign Club, it was me who put you all in danger… It was me who…” I trailed off and dropped my gaze to the floor as I propped Marcus up.

He swayed unsteadily on his feet and I planted myself a little more firmly against the marble tile floor. The last thing either of us needed was to sprawl out on the ground.

“You need to sit and rest, what are you even doing on your feet? I thought you were still recuperating in the hospital, Marcus, you were really hurt…”

He laughed again and hobbled towards the chaise lounge in the corner of the hall. I helped him to sit on it, grateful to not be holding his full weight any longer. That was simply an accident waiting to happen.

“Nah, I’m not so bad, the faster I can get back on my feet the better for everyone. The last thing I want to be doing is lying on my butt all day in bed. I don’t make a particularly good patient.” He smiled at me but I could see the slight wincing around his eyes as he sucked in a deep breath.

Clearly he was in a lot of pain but how was I going to persuade him to do what was right and take it easy?

“You’re trying to do too much, you don’t want to have a relapse, it’s not going to do you any good if you end up back in hospital because you decided you were too macho to have a few days off.” I scolded him, it seemed like the only viable route to go in, if he wasn’t going to listen to me when I was nice about it, perhaps he would take notice of me if I was more stern.

“What’s going on in there anyway?” he said changing the subject.

“Don’t try and get away from this, Marcus, I want you to rest…”

He smiled and dropped his gaze to the floor, “you know its been a long time since I had anyone care about me in the same way you do. It’s kind of nice.”

“Well it’d be even nicer if you’d take notice of what I’m saying,” I said before letting out a long sigh.

“Fine, I’ll rest as soon as you tell me what’s going on, everyone is jumpier than a sinking ship full of rats.”

“One of David’s cousin’s is here,” I said.

Marcus’ expression shifted from one of pure curiosity to being suddenly completely closed off and unreadable.

“You knew didn’t you?”

“Knew what?” he asked, but his coyness was nothing more than an act.

“All everyone does around here is lie to me and I’m tired of it. Why won’t any of you just be honest!”

“Carrie, this isn’t my secret to tell.”

“If you’re referring to the fact that Killian is the one David planned on killing to get rid of the Banks then I already know, he told me.”

“I’m glad someone around here is willing to tell the truth.”

I jerked my head up, colour flooding into my cheeks as I stared up into the face of a stranger standing framed in David’s office doorway. His blue eyes watched me with a coldness normally reserved for mortal enemies.

“Killian, please, leave my wife out of this. It’s between you and me,” David interjected, shoving out past the broad shouldered man in the door and into the foyer.

“Leave her out of it? She’s the reason I nearly died, I don’t think I can leave her out of it.”

“I think I’ll go and rest now,” Marcus said quietly before climbing to his feet and hobbling towards the stairs.

I stared at the stranger David had called Killian, there was something about him that was familiar but then it made perfect sense. Of course he would look familiar, he was after all David’s cousin.

David crossed the floor to where Killian stood and jabbed his finger in against the other man’s chest.

“You will leave her out of it or I’ll see to it that everything you’ve worked for is reduced to nothing but ash.”

“Are you threatening me, David?” Killian asked, his voice had gone dangerously low.

Pushing onto my feet, I crossed the foyer and placed myself between the two men, pressing my hand against David’s chest as I forced him to take a step back or crush me against his cousin.

“Cut it out, both of you. You’re behaving like children,” I said.

“Children? The only child here is the one you almost lost when you were out playing spy at Taylor Banks house.” Killian’s words cut me to the core but I forced myself to swallow back the bitterness that crawled up the back of my throat.

It was one thing for me to think those kinds of thoughts. I’d even expected it of David but he hadn’t blamed me for any of it. But I wasn’t about to let a stranger come into my house and berate me for the actions I’d taken to protect those I loved.

Turning on him, I pulled myself up to my full height and stared him straight in the eye. His lips were crooked in a cruel smile as I stared him down and took a threatening step forward.

“Just who the hell do you think you are, coming into my house and throwing your weight around as though you know what you’re talking about. If David was anything like your father or even his own, then he would have killed you instead of trying to find another way to settle the issue with the Banks.”

The smile on Killian’s face disappeared and his eyes darkened with rage.

“Control your wife, David, or one of these days someone will do it for you…”

The arrogance and sheer ignorance in the way he spoke surprised me. He was nothing like David or Aaron and I could suddenly understand why neither side of the family had anything to do with each other.

“You bastard,” David said, attempting to move past me to get to Killian but I blocked his path.

“You realise what’s at stake here don’t you?” I said, addressing Killian once more but he just shook his head.

His lips had thinned down and his bright blue eyes hard darkened to the point of being practically grey.

“Once they’re done with us, they will come for you. There’s a reason Taylor wanted you dead. He’s not the type of man to just do things on a whim.”

“I know what he’s capable of,” Killian said.

“Was capable of, past tense, Taylor is dead,” I quipped back.

“So he finally kicked it then, I did wonder when his cancer would get the better of him.”

“Not cancer. Me.”

Killian stared at me for a second before the smile returned to his lips once more.

“And I’m supposed to believe you killed Taylor Banks? You’ve got to be joking me, not even at his most feeble would someone like you have the courage or the strength to best him. That man was a monster, and you’re a little princess that constantly needs saving by her prince,” he said with a scoff.

I took another step towards him, my gaze never leaving his face.

“I took a knife and stabbed him in the heart and I would do it again if I thought it would mean my family would be safe from people like him and you,” I said quietly.

He stared at me, his expression a mixture of bemusement and confusion. He didn’t believe me, it sounded too much like a tall tale for him and how could I blame him. The short amount of time I’d spent in Taylor’s company had taught me just how much of a monster he truly was. It only made sense that other people who knew him would see it as impossible for someone like me to best him.

“Now can we sit down and talk this out?” Aaron asked, from inside the office.

Killian cast a glance between David and me before slowly nodding and turning back into the office. I followed him, David’s hand on the small of my back giving me a sense of security that I hadn’t even known I’d needed until I’d felt his touch.