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Chapter one
I sat in the back of the taxi, enjoying a moment of having nothing to do but wait, as it took me the fifteen-minute drive to my brother Liam’s house. Normally I walked or rode my bike, but it was getting late and I didn’t like walking in the dark alone. One of the pitfalls of being a woman.
The taxi pulled to a stop out the front and I made my way up the front stairs, noticing it was unusually quiet. Liam always had the television going with the volume turned up loud so he could hear it in any room of the house.
As I opened the door, letting myself in, I felt a wave of pure fear course through my body and my breath caught in my throat. I could feel my heart beating hard and fast, and my mind couldn’t seem to process what I was seeing in front of me.
Liam was sitting on the lounge, his eyes wide and scared. Blood was dripping from his nose and his shirt was ripped open. There were two tall, muscled men dressed head to toe in black standing over him and there was another man sitting casually in an armchair to his right. This man looked even more frightening than the two larger thugs.
Even though the man in the armchair was sitting down, I could tell he was well over six feet tall, with a strong, solid body and broad shoulders, all wrapped up in an expensive dark grey suit. He had dark, wavy brown hair, and dark, dark brown eyes, which looked surprised to see me, but it didn’t lessen their nasty glint.
The devil in a Prada suit.
I realised with a shock that I recognised him. It was Liam’s boss. Billionaire businessman, famous womaniser, Nathan Davenport.
“Well, well, Liam, who do we have here? I know it’s not your wife,” the man in the armchair taunted. His voice was smooth and calm, which only seemed to add to my fear.
One of the larger thugs grabbed me by the arm and pulled me inside, slamming the front door behind me. Every fibre in my body began to tremble.
“Don’t you dare touch her,” Liam bit out, the strength in his voice surprising me. He went to stand up, but one of the men pushed him down, hard. “Let her go, she has nothing to do with this.” Liam’s tone changed to pleading and I could see nothing but defeat in his eyes.
“Liam, what... what’s going on?” I asked, my nerves making my voice come out small and scared. I wasn’t a soft person normally and I hated the fear that was consuming me, making me sound weak.
“It’s all right, Rosie,” said Liam. “This is my boss, Nathan Davenport.” He looked at the man in the armchair, then up at the two other men. “And these two are his hired henchmen.”
“Liam, you didn’t answer my question. Who is she?” Nathan Davenport asked, his silky-smooth voice cutting through the air.
Liam hung his head down but not before I saw the shame in his eyes. “Rose is my sister.”
What was happening? Why would Liam’s boss want to do this? My head was swimming.
Nathan’s dark eyes openly slid up and down my body, taking in every single inch, and I watched as a sly smile began to form at his lips. “Really? Well, I’m sure your sister would love to know what you’ve been up too, hey?” Liam’s head hung even lower. “Don’t want to tell her? Don’t worry, I will.” Nathan turned to face me, his eyes so dark and intense. “You see, Rose, your brother has apparently a bit of a gambling problem. Did you know that?” he asked, his voice casual, like we were chatting about the weather. It sent a chill down my spine. There was utter darkness underneath.
I did know about the gambling, all too well. I’d been helping Liam out with money for years.
“What does that have to do with you?” I asked, nerves zinging through my body as I wringed my hands in front of me. “Does he owe you money? I can pay you some...”
“Really? Three-hundred thousand dollars?” Nathan asked, raising an eyebrow.
I felt the blood rush to my head and I knew I was close to fainting. Lucky the man was still holding onto my arm. Three-hundred thousand dollars?
“As you know, Liam is my gardener,” Nathan continued. “He has access to everywhere on the grounds of my home. It’s been brought to my attention that your brother deliberately left open one of the windows to the garage where I keep all of my vintage cars. He later ‘broke’ into the garage, stole one of my vehicles, and sold it on the ‘black market’ to pay off some of his gambling debts.”
I felt sick to my stomach and the room began to spin. “Oh Liam, why?” He looked up at me and I could see the shame all over his face. “Isn’t the car covered by insurance?” I asked hopefully, my blue eyes pleading with Nathan.
Nathan laughed, clearly unaffected by my plea. “Of course it is. But that car was a classic, it could take years to find another one in such mint condition. And besides...” He leaned forward, his face turning cold and hard, anger suddenly radiating from every part of him. “Nobody steals from me.”
My mind was racing, I couldn’t think of a solution. I certainly couldn’t come up with that sort of money. “So what are you going to do?”
Nathan leaned back in his chair and looked at Liam. “We were just about to discuss that when you walked in. I thought we could start by breaking his legs and then my men could just go up from there.” The anger in his voice was terrifying and I felt my whole body start to shake with uncontrollable shivers.
The two men smiled and Liam tried to stand up again, but they pushed him down hard. One of them walked over to the corner of the room and grabbed a cricket bat.
“No, wait...” I screamed and I grabbed the guy on the arm. He pushed me away like I was nothing and I landed on the wooden floorboards with a hard thud.
“Alright. That’s enough,” Nathan called, stopping everyone in their tracks. He stood up, grabbed me by my arm and pulled me roughly to my feet. I couldn’t help but flinch at his touch. “Hmm, Rose, you smell nice.” Nathan leaned down and put his nose in my long honey-brown hair. I could feel Nathan’s frame press against my own, causing a strange heat to flow throughout my entire body. I caught a breath of his cologne. If sin had a smell, it would smell like him.
“Don’t you dare touch her,” Liam bit out as he tried to stand up. The two men grabbed him and held his arms behind his back as he struggled and cursed, trying to get to Nathan and I.
