In Love by Design (The Adventures of Anabel Axelrod) Read online

  I shot Luke a “what the fuck?” look of disbelief.

  Luke held up a finger in a “wait a second” gesture.

  In a blur of coordinated motion, Luke busted a move that resulted in Dickie stretched out on the floor before I could even blink. Dickie never knew what hit him.

  Fascinated to see this side of Luke in action, I watched him efficiently pat down Dickie for weapons. His hands paused briefly when he got a load of the black pumps on Dickie’s feet and I bit my lip, this time to stop a laugh. Moving on, Luke removed a wallet from inside Dickie’s suit jacket and quickly thumbed through the contents. He pulled something out that he tucked into his own jacket pocket and then put the wallet back.

  Next, Luke rolled the unconscious Dickie over face first against the floor. Taking single loop plastic restraints from his jacket pocket, Luke roughly jerked the Fixer’s arms behind his back. He ratcheted them tightly together at the wrist with Dickie’s palms out and thumbs up. He did the same to hobble his ankles.

  The kidnapper secured, Luke knelt at my feet next and made short work of the knots holding my ankles. Freed, I held my legs out straight and rotated my bare feet. I murmured my thanks on a groan of relief. Luke briskly rubbed my calves with his big warm hands and I groaned even more in gratitude. I was so cold and stiff.

  Luke’s eyes traveled upwards as he massaged, his unsmiling gaze running over my bare thighs before continuing slowly up over me to eventually meet my face.

  Despite my shocked curiosity at what Candy and Luke are doing here together, his sudden flash of white teeth and the sight of his dimple had me catching my breath. His magnetism struck deep within me to a place no man had awakened before and it felt great to no longer fight against it. Feeling vibrantly alive, I can almost see the sparking energy crackling in the air around us.

  Luke nodded behind me. “Meet your guardian angel.”

  He was amused at the blank expression on my face which most likely mirrors the confusion in my brain. Behind my back there’s a grunt. With a last sharp tug, the ropes fell to the floor. My boyfriend got a load of my new jade green teddy. I didn’t need to look down to know the lace is sheer on top and I was very cold.

  Luke pulled me up into his arms. “Candy, go home.”

  When she didn’t immediately leave, Luke snarled under his breath--a man at the end of his rope. “Anabel, for Christ’s sake, tell her you’re safe with me.”

  I was trying to make sense of his words. After seeing the hunger pass over Luke’s face and the cold look still in his eyes, safe wasn’t the first word that came to my mind. Without understanding why I had to say it, I still obeyed without taking my eyes from his.

  “For fuck’s sake, go home.”

  Candy walked in front of us and snapped her knife closed. “Try not to piss anybody else off, Anabel,” she spat venomously. “I understand the urge to kill you, but I value my skin even if you don’t!”

  Luke turned his head to watch Candy flounce from the room. He listened a while longer, but I didn’t acknowledge her, since she doesn’t exist. Pushing aside every question about tonight and the last two weeks, I simply relaxed for a peaceful moment in the circle of my boyfriend’s strong arms. I listened to Luke’s heartbeat steadily thumping against my ear. It was nice knowing I probably won’t die tonight.

  Satisfied she’d left the house, Luke turned back to me. Without a word, he put a finger under my chin and raised my face to his. Still not speaking, he stared down at me. His face appeared etched from stone, but his green eyes are no longer cold. They’re intensely alive and burning with unspoken emotions.

  Sometimes, the toughest, cruelest boyfriends are the men with the capacity to feel the deepest.

  Sometimes, the smartest, greatest girlfriends are the women with the ability to draw these feelings to the surface.

  Sometimes, these incredibly hot men need a little push in the right direction, even if they are number one on your current shit list.

  So I gazed back and gave him my heart. “I love you.”

  In another blur of motion, I was lifted up higher and being passionately kissed. Luke ran his hands possessively over my body in ways that ignited me and comforted me at the same time. He murmured angry words in his deep voice against my lips. He threatened to kill me if I ever scared him like this again. He made a face, and told me that I stunk like rotten garbage, but he never stopped his kisses or his stroking hands. Not until they skimmed my butt and I winced on an indrawn hiss of pain.

  Frowning, Luke pulled away slightly and held his hand up to the light. He asked, almost idly, “Do I kill him?”

  Still distracted from being thoroughly kissed, I mumbled an intelligent, “Umm.” Then I asked incredulously, “Hey, wait a minute! Did what’s-her-name actually mean she’s appointed herself my freakin’ watchdog?”

  Black eyebrows met and Luke’s voice was hard. “Answer me, did he hurt you? What’s wrong with your ass? I have blood on my fingers!”

  Hearing his harsh tone and realizing his cold manner seems to be directed at me, and not just the circumstances, I answered slowly, “Yes, he hurt me a little when he grabbed me and he stuck me with a needle, damn him, but I’m bloody because of my attempt to escape. My butt has been bedazzled with splinters from this stupid chair.” I frowned. “Now please, answer me!”

  After a pause, Luke relaxed slightly. Pushing my hair back off my face, he replied in his normal, cool tone of voice, “When you put the fear of God in Candy that day in the parking lot, she took you at your word. Your cousin is petrified something will happen to you and she will be maimed.”

  “Ex-cousin,” I murmured under my breath, and then laughed at this unpredicted and bizarre twist of fate. “Good, she should be petrified. Did you happen to hear anything of what Dickie, that’s the kidnapper’s name, said tonight?”

  Glancing down at the still figure on the floor, Luke smirked in derision at that name. There was something definitely off with my boyfriend’s attitude. I couldn’t help but wonder if it had anything to do with his not calling for the last two weeks or the puzzling things I have learned about his life.

  ‘But he just kissed the bejesus out of you like he couldn’t stop himself!’ protested several voices at once.

  ‘That’s it on the nose! Why should he want to stop himself?’ I pointed out reasonably, stumping us all. ‘And why didn’t he say he loves me back?’

  That really shut everyone up.

  I put it on my list to stew over later when Luke replied, “I heard your accurate description about what a relentless badass your boyfriend is.” I grinned a little, although Luke went on with a straight face, “I couldn’t miss hearing when you were pretending to cry and scream, but that’s about all.” Impatient disgust still evident in his voice, he added in further explanation, “Candy would not shut up her whining.”

  Relieved to know that Candy hadn’t overheard my deal with Dickie, I asked, “Yeah, how the heck did you end up with her tonight?”

  Luke concisely related the facts leading up to my rescue. He was waiting for me to get home, saw a man throw me in a van, chased after the van, and saw my ex-cousin chasing the van, too. It was smart thinking for him to get Candy’s cell number from Stella, but I can only imagine the conversation of Luke trying to get Candy to listen and cooperate while they were both tailing the van. Working as a team was not a concept in Candy’s world. She wouldn’t fall into place like most adoring women Luke dealt with that experienced his commanding presence and take-charge attitude. I’m actually surprised that Luke didn’t put her in a sleeper hold and gag her once they arrived at this house. However, his storytelling was sadly brief with no frills. He will need prompting to give up the juicier details later, but important things first.

  I beamed up at my boyfriend. “You knew I was fake crying?”

  “There was never a doubt in my mind that you were providing cover. Good job, partner.”

  I replied on a laugh, “Partner, huh? Wow, if you’re using the “P” word
, I must have been closer to death’s door tonight than I realized.”

  Luke slowly raised a black eyebrow and his eyes were glinting when he gave my waist a squeeze. “Princess, is it possible you’ve grown more lippy since I’ve seen you last? Calling you partner was a compliment.”

  “Well, I do believe in personal growth, so thank you for both compliments.” My smile grew wider at his snort. Nodding towards the man on the floor, I said, “About Dickie. We have a deal, so you can’t kill him.” I got back on track with his earlier no-frills explanation. “So, you just happened to drive up to my place right when Dickie was kidnapping me? Then you followed Candy and his van?”

  “What do you mean; you have a deal with this dickhead? What deal?” Luke asked, his voice sounding dangerously cold again.

  Realizing I’m still standing around in my ragged teddy, I motioned to my clothes. “Can you hand those to me, please? I want to get out of this hell house.”

  Luke made an impatient noise, but released me and brought over my clothes and shoes. I accepted the pile and wincing only slightly, put a foot up on the chair seat to pull on a thigh-high. Luke’s hooded eyes lowered to watch my hands, but no expression showed on his face.

  Continuing with the second stocking, I explained, “I made a deal with Dickie to hire him to find the person that hired him to abduct me and leave me for dead.”

  At that, Luke shook his head. “Of course you did.”

  I stayed silent after this sarcastic comment, slipping on my blue and black plaid skirt. Unsmiling, Luke held out the black blouse. Murmuring my thanks, I turned around to slip my arms into the sleeves. I was surprised when Luke enfolded me in his arms from behind. After a pause, he proceeded to push my hands aside and expertly buttoned up the blouse.

  Hands lingering at the top button, Luke’s low voice in my ear made me squirm. “Here’s my deal, Anabel, and it’s the only one you’re getting.” He stated unequivocally, “I’ll leave this fuckhead relatively mobile--for now. He’s got twenty-four hours to come up with information on who hired him and convince me that he’s legit. If he doesn’t, your deal is off and he’s mine.”

  Clearly Luke was not in the mood for lengthy negotiations. He’s the security professional here and I agreed with him, so I simply nodded. It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to understand Luke’s relieved I’m alive, but still furious that it could have easily gone the other way. The war-god in him wants to beat on something and my deal with Dickie hamstrung him. Usually I don’t react well to dictatorial men, but I’m too glad Luke is here to have a pissing contest over who’s in charge. I’d like to believe I would have figured out a way to escape once Dickie left me here to die, but its fine by me that I’ll never know. Shivering again, I turned within Luke’s arms and hugged him. I almost pitied Dickie, but he couldn’t say I didn’t warn him.

  I said, “Thanks to you, my Hero, I’m safe. Now, please answer my other question. Did you just happen to drive by, or what?”

  After a slight hesitation, Luke’s hands ran lightly up my back. “No, it was more like I was parked and waiting for you to get home, but too far away to stop him from taking you.” He didn’t wait for my response, but added, “When I saw him in your parking lot, he was dressed as a plumber.” His next questions were in the perplexed tone of the very hetero male, “Why did he change clothes? I understand the mask and maybe even the cape, but the shoes? What dumbass voluntarily wears high heels during a kidnapping?”

  Still not really satisfied with his answer, I let it go for now and patted Luke’s shoulder before I stepped away. “It’s a girly thing with the shoes, so don’t worry you don’t get it, baby. You never will.”

  Luke snorted again and I smiled. The butt splinters would have to wait to be extracted later, but I felt instantly better having my shoes on. I found my purse on the floor next to Dickie. It looked like I’ll be alive for another day and needing my debit card, so I got out my checkbook. Calculating quickly, I dashed out a check for four thousand, eight hundred, and seventy-four dollars. I wrote “minus one teddy” in the memo field.

  I looked up at Luke’s cold face staring broodingly down at Dickie.

  “Did you see any I.D. in the wallet that gave his full name?”

  “Richard Webster.” If I wasn’t already sure, his flat voice reflected his displeasure at my decision to hire Dickie.

  Luke could be disappointed at my negotiation skills or mad that I’d hired Dickie, so he had to refrain from killing him, but either way, I figured he’d get over it. I wasn’t exactly jumping for joy over this whole mess. There’s someone out there wanting me dead, and I had no idea Luke would be rescuing me when I made this deal. In my opinion, Dickie’s still my best bet to quickly find this enemy. Tearing it off, I carefully squatted down and placed the folded check in Dickie’s suit jacket pocket. His lips were twitching and he’s beginning to come around.

  Dickie visibly startled at seeing Luke’s unfriendly face looming over him. Maybe he thought tonight was like a bad dream, too. He started blubbering and begging for mercy.

  He raised his head and seeing me, cried beseechingly, “Anerbel, don’t let him hurt me!”

  I paused and looked down at Dickie tied up amidst the garbage on the dirty floor, his black suit smeared with dusty grime. I wished he would have chosen to do the right thing and let me go when he was offered the chances. Reaching over, I untied the mask and pulled it off. Dickie’s pretty cute, if you were in the market for a gay, blue-eyed, chubby-cheeked Fixer with a head of tight blond curls and a shallow heart of stone.

  With the threat of dying off the table, I just couldn’t hate the guy. Luke’s fury diffused most of my own.

  I gently pinched his pink cheek. “Don’t forget our deal, Dickie. I’ll be expecting that call. Do not let me down on this, okay?”

  Ignoring Dickie’s blubbering; I accepted Luke’s help and stood up.

  Putting my hand out, I said, “Keys, please.”

  Luke pulled the truck keys from his pocket and dropped them into my outstretched hand while murmuring, “The driveway is to the left and my…our truck is parked at the end, also on the left. It’s not far and,” he eyed me solemnly, “the road’s flat, so you shouldn’t fall down.”

  I disregarded his unkind reference to my propensity for wiping out at inopportune moments. Instead, I used this as another teachable moment to guide our relationship by example.

  Standing on tiptoe, I placed a soft kiss on Luke’s cheek and smiled demurely up at the cruel face gazing down at me. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

  Leaving the begging Dickie to his less-than-deserved fate with my badass boyfriend, I walked out of the filthy kitchen while tossing over my shoulder carelessly, “It’s nothing personal, laddie, but I don’t have a choice, now do I?”

  Chapter V

  “Scream” by Usher

  Thursday, 12/06/12

  11:35 PM

  I winced at hearing Dickie let out a shrill scream that ended with a high-pitched yelp and then silence in the kitchen behind me. Having no idea what hurt Luke will put on the Fixer that will still leave him somewhat mobile, I only know it sucks to be Dickie.

  A few seconds later, I found my way out the front door and across the slanting floor of the enclosed front porch.

  It was cold outside, but not much worse than inside the house, since so many windows are broken or missing. The air was fresh and I could see well enough by the moonlight, so I wasn’t complaining too much. It was creepy being all alone out in the night and having no idea where this abandoned farm is located. For all I knew, I could be right next to a cemetery. This ghoulish thought encouraged me to take off down the driveway at a carefully brisk pace. Luke would be following, but with a hand in my purse gripping Rita, I was ready for anything or anybody that wanted to try and tangle with me.

  Safely reaching the truck a few minutes later, I slowly climbed up into the passenger side. Leaning over, I started the engine and the heater kicked right in. I was locked
up tight and cocooned in currents of blissfully warm air blowing throughout the cab. Turning off the radio, I allowed my head to fall back against the leather seat, but couldn’t get comfortable. If you’ve ever sat on a crown of thorns poking you in the ass, then you know what I was experiencing. I moved the seat back as far as it would go and stretched out on my left side. This gave me instant relief.

  I dug for some gum and a comb in my purse. Running across a small bottle of hand sanitizer that Stella slipped me last week, I spritzed my hands. The product is nice, but the herbal smell has the side effect of making me hungry for lasagna, and on cue, my stomach growled. Popping a piece of cinnamon gum in my mouth, it would have to do while I patiently worked the tangles out of my long hair. This was all the fixing up I could accomplish for now, although I dreamed of luxuriating in a hot bubble bath. I reflected on how strangely dissociative it was to be abducted and then rescued, all in the space of an hour, with nobody in my world being the wiser, except Luke and you-know-who. Definitely gave a different perspective to what a person could be up to when you thought they were at home and tucked in for the night.

  I checked my phone. There were three escalating voicemails from Jazy about fifteen minutes apart, the most recent at 11:29 PM. On the last voicemail, Jazy demanded that I call her back or she was calling in the troops. She stated she had a bad feeling and needed to know I was alive and kicking, even if she was waking me up. I recalled how anxious Jazy was earlier tonight when she and James left me. Now I understood my sister had been reacting like one of her horses does when they scent danger in the air or an approaching thunderstorm. This was also a weird thought, but worth remembering for the future.

  For a nanosecond, I felt tiny and defenseless. I squared my shoulders and embraced the suck. I had to do some serious thinking. There was a person out there wanting me dead. Either they can’t or don’t want to kill me in person, but they had no problems paying through the nose to have someone else do their dirty work. Until they’re caught, I’m screwed big time.