Chapter Twelve
Spreading out the lunch, Russ sat opposite Anna as they started to eat. She sat with her back to the sofa, and she was still completely naked, like him. He couldn’t believe he was naked in his office, but he wouldn’t change it. Russ had missed Anna. He’d been sitting there, working, and thinking about her, distracted.
When he’d phoned her, he’d done so with the intention of just hearing her voice. Talking with her, he wanted to be near her, and he had to do whatever he needed to in order to get her to his office. He was pissed that some of his employees had treated her like shit, and when he got the chance, he was going to make sure no one was under any kind of mistake as to who she belonged to.
“This is so good,” she said, taking a strawberry and dipping it into chocolate. “I can’t believe you ordered such an extravagant lunch.”
“When you’re rich, no one dares mess with you.” He shrugged.
Russ had paid a great deal of money for the luxury food at the last minute, but Anna deserved it, and he’d pay the same kind of money again.
Some chocolate dripped onto her breast, and he captured the drop with his tongue.
“Um, you taste so damn good.” He flicked her breast with his tongue.
“So, how is everything going at work?” she asked.
“It’s surviving. The same old boring business meetings, money changing hands, and companies being bought.” Russ shrugged. He was much more interested in his woman. “Have you given your own business much thought?”
Anna shook her head. “I took my time about what you thought about. I’ve got nothing.”
He’d asked her to take time to think about what she would like to do as her own business. Russ would gladly invest in Anna to see her dream come true. He didn’t even care if it wasn’t overly profitable. This was one of her dreams.
“Karen wanted to run a bakery. She could bake, and do wonders, but I can’t bake.”
“I could organize a chef.”
“It’s not what we had in mind.” Anna sighed. “I’m just not cut out to do this kind of thing on my own.”
He held his hand up, and moved toward his desk. His building was so high that he didn’t care about his nakedness. Walking back toward Anna, he took a seat, and handed her a portfolio. “Take a look.”
She opened it up, and he watched as she started to look through each picture.
“What is this?”
“It’s a recently built up housing estate. The company who built them doesn’t have the money to deal with all the interior designs. The moment I saw them, I thought about you.”
“Why?”
“You’ve been in my home, and I’ve noticed you’ve put quite a bit of character into it already. In your apartment with nothing to help, you turned it into a welcoming living space.”
“So?”
“So, it’s not something that always comes naturally. I want to hire you to see if my gut instinct is right.”
“You want to hire me as an interior designer. Wouldn’t this be a multi-million dollar contract?” she asked.
“It would.”
She shook her head, and handed him back the file. “No. You should hire someone with experience. An actual interior designer.”
“No.”
“It’s too much money, Russ. You need someone with experience and who can make sure you turn a profit.”
“If I sell these houses now, I’ll make a profit. I want you to do this for me. I don’t care about the cost. Show me what you’re capable of. If you don’t do it, I’m selling the estate to the highest bidder.”
“What will happen to it?” she asked.
“It will probably be demolished, or some swanky bachelor pads added.” Russ shrugged. “No biggie. I figured you’d like to do something creative rather than packing shelves.”
“I like packing shelves.”
She wanted to do it though. He saw the desire in her eyes.
“Do one house, and when you’re done, we’ll renegotiate.” She was going to do all of the houses, but he could give her a deal.
“Are you sure?”
“I’ve never been surer.”
“Is that a word?” Anna asked.
“Yep. If not, I’ll pay for it to be added to the dictionary.”
Anna rolled her eyes. He grabbed another strawberry and pressed it to her lips. “Open wide, and eat.”
She closed her eyes, biting into the strawberry.
“Does it taste good?” he asked.
“Yes. It tastes so sweet, and delicious.”
He captured her lips. “It tastes like you.”
Sinking his fingers into her hair, he held her in place as he deepened the kiss. Anna pushed the file away as he wrapped his hand around her waist, forcing her to straddle him. She released a little squeal, and chuckled as his hands cupped her hips.
“I hope you’re pregnant,” he said.
She jerked away a little. “Do you mean that?”
“Yes. I mean it. I want my baby to be inside you, Anna.” He found her entrance, and pulled her down onto his cock.
For the next hour he showed her exactly how much he wanted to fill her pussy, and gave her the kind of pleasure she’d never even thought about. Russ gave everything to her that he couldn’t actually put in words. He told her with his body that he was in love with her, that he would cherish her for the rest of his life.
Russ couldn’t bring himself to say those words, and even when they were getting dressed, he wanted to reach out and touch her. He held back.
Once they were dressed, Anna ran her hands up his chest. “That was the best lunch I ever had,” she said.
He held the large file out to her. “Take a look at this, and when I get home, you can tell me your thoughts.”
She hesitated, but with a sigh, she finally took it. “I may suck at this.”
“I’ll spank your ass when we got home.”
Anna groaned.
“Take your time, look over it, and write down what you want.” He cupped her cheeks, pressing a kiss to her lips. “Come on. I’ll walk you out.”
He took hold of her hand, and together they made their way down to main floor. Some of the stragglers were making their way into the building, but he didn’t need everyone to see, just a couple of people. Once they were at the door, right near the reception desk, he paused so that everyone could see them together.
“That’s Mr. Wyatt.”
“Oh my God, that’s the woman I was telling you about.”
“I’ll see you tonight, baby.” Sinking his fingers into her hair, he slammed his lips down on hers, claiming her in front of everyone.
Seconds passed, and after a minute he pulled away, stroked her cheek, and saw her outside of the building.
“Did you have to do that?” she asked.
“You won’t be getting any trouble again. I just made sure the whole building knew who you belonged to.”
She touched his cheek. “Don’t work too hard.”
Kissing her again, Russ hailed a cab, gave the driver the address, and paid for it. “Let me know when you get in home.”
She nodded.
He watched her go and made his way back inside to his reception desk. Slamming his hand down on the desk, he stared at both women. “If either of you treat Anna with disrespect again, I will have you out on your ass.”
“I’m so sorry, Mr. Wyatt.”
Russ shook his head. “I’m not interested in you saying sorry. Don’t do it again.”
Making his way up to the security room, he went through the footage of the elevators. Recognizing the man, he called him up to the office, and fired him. He didn’t want any of those kinds of people in his office, working for him.
Sitting behind his desk, he started work, absorbing himself so that when he left nothing was on his mind. He went through a multitude of documents and emails that were asking him to consider another takeover bid of a card making company. Looking over the figures, he started to do the calculations.
He was deep in thought on what he could do about the takeover when the cell phone for the club went off.
Pulling it out of his pocket he saw it was Richard calling.
“What’s up?” he asked.
“They’ve got her, Russ. They’ve got Mandy, and brought her back home.”
“Wait? What?”
“We just got the call, and Lewis has already gone to the hospital. She was beaten pretty bad.”
“Fuck me, I’ll be there.”
“Russ?” Richard said.
“What?”
“She couldn’t remember who she was. Our contact warned us that she’d suffered a blow to the head, and she has amnesia. She can’t remember anything.”
Russ shut down his office and ended the call after telling Richard he would be at the hospital.
He passed Daniel on his way back to the office.
“Cancel the rest of my appointments, and take the rest of the day off.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
His brother needed him.
****
Lewis was standing outside of a hospital room when Russ found him.
“Richard called me,” he said. “The brothers are all outside waiting. Tell us what you need.”
“I need nothing. That’s her, Russ. That’s Mandy.” Tears ran down Lewis’s face. “I’ve got to call her family. A family she doesn’t even remember.”
“She has amnesia?”
“Yes. She’s been awake even through the pain. The doctor asked her a lot of questions, and she didn’t have a clue what to say. She was scared. Terrified.” Lewis ran fingers through his hair. “I was too late.”
“What happened?”
“We gave the information over, and they wanted the element of surprise. It was a holding house for women to be put up for auction. They trained the women to be subservient. They stormed the house, got several of the men, and I’ve been assured that they’re never going to leave a prison cell.”
“What about Mandy?” Russ asked.
“She was found beaten and locked in a cage that was smaller than the dog cages we saw. They had raped, beaten, and thrown her away to rot.”
Russ looked at the women in the bed. She looked so small, so delicate, and the bruises covered her face and body.
“They’re animals.”
“They are.”
“I know I’ve found Mandy, but I’m not going to stop looking for them, Russ. I’m going to rid the world of the scum. One fucking trafficker at a time.”
Gripping Lewis’s shoulder, he offered his friend and brother comfort. There was nothing he could do to take away the pain.
“I’m not leaving her side, Russ. I’m not leaving her at all.”
“I’ll stay with you for as long as you need me to.”
For several hours, they sat outside of Mandy’s room. Every now and then Lewis would go in and come out.
“I’ve got to phone her parents.”
“She doesn’t know who they are.”
“The doctor advised that I wait until she wakes up so we can judge what is going on. The, erm, the amnesia could be a simple confusion with the blows to the head.”
“Do you believe that?”
“I don’t know what to believe. I want to tell them I’ve found her, but I don’t know who I’ve found. The cops have already notified them. I just didn’t want to cause them more pain.”
“Then wait until you talk to her.”
Russ went and got them both some coffee. Together they sat down outside of the hospital room. He watched the nurses and doctors rushing around. There were a lot of noises, and sometimes tears. This was where loved ones gathered to be thankful or to mourn the loss of their dead.
“I’m in love with Anna.”
“Have you told her?”
“No. I’ve not told her. I don’t exactly know what to say. I know I can’t live without her.”
“Then tell her. This world is too short to lose the woman you love because you don’t want to say the words first.”
“You don’t think I’m rushing it?”
“Every person on their deathbed dies with some form of regret. You and Anna, you didn’t exactly meet in the best of circumstances, but you can make it work. I know you, Russ. You don’t fall for women, or have a crush. If you say you love Anna, then it’s the real deal.”
Moaning from inside the room had them both getting to their feet.
He followed Lewis into the room, and watched slowly as Mandy opened one eye. Her other eye was swollen shut.
“Hey,” Lewis said.
“Where am I?” she asked.
“You’re in the hospital. What do you remember?”
Russ saw her frown. A lump formed in his throat as the panic washed across her face. Leaving the room, he called for a doctor.
“I don’t know. I don’t know who I am. I don’t know what has happened to me.” She tried to sit up, and screamed in pain as she didn’t remember she had broken bones. “Help me. Please, help me.”
Lewis took a hold of Mandy’s hand. He’d found the woman he’d been hunting for, but she wasn’t really there. Mandy was gone from her mind, but Russ had to wonder if she would ever want to come back.