67
“Smile,” Jacob ordered. “You want to look sharp and sexy when he arrives.”
Rachel fought the urge to roll her eyes. She tried her best to look nonchalant but her heart was beating heavily in her chest. So far there was no sign of Nathaniel and with any luck, he would not arrive tonight. She wasn’t ready to face him. She probably never would be ready to see him for the rest of her life.
Yet she couldn’t just leave because Jacob’s hand was a tight band around her waist. It was almost painful the way he held her.
He had told her blandly on the way that she was going to meet Nate at the party. The Allen Brothers had gotten him an invitation to Philippe Giovanni’s exclusive party in exchange for the girls he so readily supplied them earlier that day.
“What?” she had shrieked, heart beating fast although she wasn’t sure at the time why her heart had responded that way. Was she excited? Or was she disgusted at the thought of meeting him again? To her chagrin, a tiny bit of her wanted to see him again so she let Jacob blindfold her and bring her back to Gem Hills.
“Relax, you don’t have to go home with him. I just need you to lure him in," he had told her in the car on their way to Philippe's
“Why?” she eyed him dubiously.
He had smiled. “To kill him. He owes me a great deal.”
His response had sent chills down her spine. If she could, she would have jumped out of the moving car at that point but the guard was on one side of her and Jacob was on the other and she sat in between them, there was no escape.
“I won’t help you commit murder.”
“You don’t have to, luv. You’ll lure him in like a good girl and if all goes well I may not have to kill him after all.”
She didn’t agree to it but she couldn’t disagree either. She had her life and her baby’s to think about. Any choice she made regarding Jacob and his schemes, she had her baby to think of.
She could only pray that someone was actively searching for her and that wherever Jacob had hidden her, they would find her and save her before she became involved in his murder plot.
Jacob glanced down at her and Rachel glared at him. He laughed and leaned down to whisper.
“I think I finally figured out the reason our marriage was so bland. You were so dutiful. Our every day was routine and boring. If I wanted sex you laid on your back and let me do my thing and you stood up or went to bed with no questions asked, without reaching your own climax. You cooked my meals, did the laundry, cleaned and served. You were boring. But look at you now, a feisty, sexy vixen in red. Do you know how much it turns me on?”
“You are sick.”
“Not half as sick as Nathaniel from what I heard. Did he teach you how to climax? I guess I have him to thank for making you the seductress you’ve now become. I could fuck you right here and climax ten times over and still be hungry for more.”
“Touch me and I’ll murder you.”
“You won’t darling,” he kissed her head and she cringed at his touch. “You can’t. Better men have tried and failed.” His hand tightened around her waist. “Now look alive. Philippe Giovanni is a good friend.”
“He doesn’t even know you exist, Jacob. If Harry hadn’t gotten you an invite we wouldn’t even be here. No one knows you do exist because you are a coward, you hide from your past and your atrocities. You hide behind people like you hid behind me for years like you are hiding behind Dana’s public image right now. Honorable men like Philippe Giovanni will never be friends with someone like you.”
He laughed, unbothered. That was the thing that disconcerted her about him. He never seemed to fear anything, he laughed off her threats, laughed off the GHIA’s interest in him when she told him about it. He seemed to think he was untouchable and she suspected it had something to do with his affiliations with higher powers who would not think twice about helping him if he ever found himself in a pinch.
He had told her about his friends in strategic offices in politics. He told her he knew their secrets and he wouldn’t hesitate to use them if he needed a favor. She suspected that most of his so-called friends were patrons of his sex trade. It annoyed her to know that she was so powerless to stop him. Annoyed her to know that men like Dick and Harry Allen were partners in his illegal trade. Worst of all it annoyed her to think that she was powerless to stop the abduction and luring of young girls most of whom were seeking the fastest route to stardom and wealth. She felt sorry for the girls, many of them were now forced to sell their bodies while the thick wads of cash from their services went into Jacob’s pocket.
“Honorable men like Philippe just need the right bait. Do you think he would want you?”
Rachel felt she was going to be sick. He was an unredeemable man. It disgusted her to think that she had once thought he was the epitome model of what all men should be like. She wondered with a private regretful smile what the readers of her family-friendly column would think of him if she did her exposé on his secret life. First of all, they would all laugh in her face for being stupid enough to trust him, they would probably never trust her judgment again.
It seemed to her that where Jacob was concerned, her career as a journalist would end no matter what. And that sucked because if he went down, she didn’t want to go down with him.
“I need to use the bathroom,” she whispered feeling emotionally choked and ashamed to be seen with him.
To her surprise he readily let her go.
Of course, he would. He was still under the impression that Nate was here at the party and if he saw her he would fall under her charms again and she would be able to lure him in.
“Don’t stay too long,” he said to her as he watched her leave. “And don’t forget the plan. Turn on the charms and get me Nathaniel Madden.”
Rachel walked as fast as her wobbly legs could carry her. Asking a hostess for directions she found out that the bathrooms were on the second floor. She made her way up the stairs and when she looked down she saw Jacob watching her.
Even if she wanted to run away now she couldn’t. God only knew if he had men watching her every move.
If a miracle could just happen so she could escape and find a place to hide.
She looked away from his cold eyes and continued up the stairs. Luckily it was free of crowd and here she sucked in deep breaths and released them shakily. What have I gotten myself into? She wondered. If she had just never met Jacob she wouldn’t have lost her job, been sent into Nate’s arms, or be involved in a murder plot right now.
She held the wall for support for a second and when she was sure she wasn’t going to faint under the weight of her emotions she opened the bathroom door and entered the beautifully tiled and well-lit bathroom. It smelled like roses.
She used the bathroom, sitting on the toilet for a second longer to gather her thoughts together. If she could jump over the windows to escape she would but she wasn’t about to be mistaken for a burglar rather than a guest.
With a deep sigh at the hopelessness of her situation, she left the bathroom stall and went to wash her hands in the sink in front of the mirrors when the door opened.
Even before she looked up an all too familiar voice said, “You look good.”
