Charming Lily Read online

  “Don’t threaten me, Marcus. You know what will happen if you do that. I’ll walk right out of here and half of all those stock options and half of your pension will be mine.”

  There it was, the thing he most feared. He could feel his insides start to shrivel. He backed down, his voice contrite. “I’m not saying it will happen. I said it could happen. I’ll look for properties on the Net today. They have videos available. Maybe we can buy it that way.” He wondered what he was going to use for money for the down payment. They were so far in hock he felt light-headed each time he thought about it. At one time their bank accounts had been robust. Now their nine credit cards were maxed out. All Betsy did was buy, buy, buy, spend, spend, spend. He looked at his gray hair in all the different mirrors.

  Desire flooded through him again when Betsy let the satin robe drop to the floor. She had a beautiful body. High, rounded breasts, narrow waistline, flat stomach and gorgeous legs. Chiseled. Sculpted. Cold and frosty. Where did all that hot blood that ran in her veins in the beginning go? “How much did that underwear cost?” he blurted. “It’s very sexy.”

  “Two hundred dollars.”

  Marcus gasped. There was so little material in either the bra or the panties he could stuff them in his ears and still have room. It also occurred to him to wonder if someone other than himself ever saw her underwear. He didn’t mean to voice the question but somehow the words tumbled out of his mouth. He apologized immediately. Then he said, “We’re broke, Betsy. That’s the reason you can’t go to the Golden Door.”

  “Well, if we’re broke, then you better find a way to get some money because I’m going. Cash in those options of yours. I’m not changing my lifestyle. This is what you promised me, and this is what I expect. Don’t switch up now, Marcus. I will ignore your previous comment and pretend you never said it. If I have to acknowledge it, then you won’t like the results. Why don’t you do some consulting work? I understand the rewards are handsome. You do see where I’m coming from, don’t you, dear?”

  He bit down on his tongue so he wouldn’t have to tell her how many of his stock options he’d already turned in just to keep her happy. Suddenly he felt sick to his stomach as he watched her image in all the mirrors. She would be the death of him yet.

  Would the end justify the means? He started to feel sicker, so sick, he rushed to the bathroom and lost his breakfast. He brushed his teeth, aware of his wife’s eyes on him.

  “Don’t forget to leave the housekeeper and nanny their checks, Marcus. I hate it when you forget.”

  Shit. Now he was going to have to stop at the safe-deposit box and cash in some of the kids’ savings bonds meant for college, deposit the money, and come back home to pay the help and write out a check for Betsy and the Golden Door. How had he been reduced to this? Stealing his kids’ college money made him a thief. The end would have to justify the means. He couldn’t keep on living like this.

  It was ten-thirty when Marcus climbed into a taxi for the second time in as many hours. He started to shake when the cell phone rang. He broke out in a sweat but managed to pick it up on the sixth ring. He deliberately made his voice brisk and professional sounding. “Marcus Collins,” he said by way of greeting.

  “And how are you on this fine, wintry morning?” the voice on the other end of the phone asked politely.

  “As good as can be expected. And you?” Marcus queried, stalling for time.

  “Just fine. I heard on the news this morning that Digitech has postponed their announcement. Do you mind telling me why, since I have a vested interest in this information?”

  “As you know, Dennis Wagner is acting CEO when Matt is unavailable. I guess he decided to wait. That’s all I can tell you. I might know more when I get to the office.”

  “And the other . . . we still don’t have the last part of the ... transaction. We were very generous in our upfront gift.”

  Marcus felt his stomach start to roil. He thought he could taste his own bile. “Dennis has the last . . . what you need. I can’t force his hand. The timing is all wrong right now. I told you this just the other day.”

  “Then perhaps we should cancel our business. You refund the advance, and we’ll call it a day.”

  Like he had half a million dollars. He’d just stolen his kids’ college money to pay for their nanny, and this asshole expected him to cough up half a million dollars. He almost lost it then. He forced a laugh even though he felt like crying. What the hell, he had nothing to lose now. “If that’s what you want, it’s fine with me. I realize now my price was far too low. Savarone offered me three times as much. I was going to call you later today to tell you that. What’s it going to be? I’m almost to the office. Match Savarone, give me some extra time, be patient, and it’s yours. I’m too old to dick around like this.”

  “How much time?”

  “At least a few days. Matt’s out of touch right now. Three days, maybe four. Maybe I’ll only need one. I just ’ don’t know. It’s the best I can do. You willing to match Savarone?”

  “Yeah. Same deal.”

  “Okay.”

  Marcus paid the driver. The minute he got out of the cab, he took great gulping breaths of air to ward off the dizziness he was feeling.

  What the hell kind of monster had he turned into?

  A thirty-million-dollar one. And, how long will that last? Provided I get away with it. He started to feel sick again as he stomped his way through the lobby to the elevator that would take him to the eighteenth floor.

  “This is all your fucking fault, Matt,” he grumbled to himself as he jabbed at the elevator button. “It’s all your stinking fault.”

  It was dark again. He could tell by the smells around him that he wasn’t in the same place. He lay perfectly still, straining to hear the voices from the next room. He wished he didn’t feel so woozy. He was too tense, too wired, too out of it to know what he was feeling other than scared that his life might suddenly come to an end. He needed to relax and turn his head. Maybe shaking it would clear it. He also needed to breathe normally. All easier said than done. He wished he knew what day it was, how long he’d been out. When were these jerks finally going to make a decision as to what they were going to do? Who the hell were they anyway? They didn’t act like professional criminals, even though they had found and confiscated his cell phone, but more like bungling, we-make-the-rules-as-we-go-along amateurs. Just his damn luck. He thought about Lily and Gracie. The two loves of his life. How were they dealing with his absence? He felt himself relax. He was also able to breathe a little easier, or so it seemed, and his ears didn’t seem to be so clogged up.

  “That was the last of it. Did you think it was going to last forever? Look, the nurse left the drugs in the drawer after Pop died because it was paid for. We can’t keep giving the guy that stuff. Who the hell knows what it will do to a normal person. As it is, if we ever get caught, there’s a little word called premeditation. Now what? We’ve been riding around for over four days now. Isn’t it time we made some concrete decisions? People in town are going to start asking questions as to why the store is closed. Four days for a death in a family is about it. We’re going into five days now. This is making me nervous.”

  “This is it,” Matt heard another man say. “When it gets light out, we’ll fetch him in here, feed him, and get down to business. Another day, two at the most, and we’re outta here. So far there hasn’t been anything on the news or in the papers. I’ll pick up today’s paper when I’m in town. For someone as rich and famous as he is, it doesn’t seem like anyone cares about this guy. I’m going back into town now. I’ll spread the word we inherited a sizable amount of money and are going to close the store for the winter months. I’ll put a sign on the door, pay the utilities in advance for a few months. Same thing for the house. We walk away and don’t look back. We stay away a year, maybe two, and then it will be safe to come back. If we want to come back. We leave clean, owing no bills, casting no suspicion on ourselves. Look, we’ve been
robbing people at ATMs for three years. We never got caught. There’s no reason to believe we’ll get caught now either. If he gets frisky, all we have to do is tell him we know where the chick is.”

  “Hey!” Matt bellowed.

  “What do you want?”

  “I want to talk to you. Now!”

  “Later, Mr. Starr.”

  “My ass, later. Now means now!” Matt waited, his head pounding. “In case you forgot, I’m the guy with the money. Now, goddammit!”

  “All right, all right. What is it?”

  Matt strained his eyes to see in the darkness. “I want to cut a deal with you.”

  “That’s pretty funny, Mr. Starr. Look around. You’re tied up. We’re walking around. What kind of deal could you possibly offer us?”

  “More money for my freedom. More money than you will be able to suck out of my private accounts. If it’s your plan to head off for some banana republic and live happily ever after, it ain’t gonna happen, gentlemen. There isn’t that much money in those accounts. I know how you can get a million dollars in minutes. It will be a simple matter to transfer it electronically. I can do that. Only if you let me go.”

  “That’s not going to happen, Mr. Starr. Now that we know you have an extra million, we’re going to want that, too. No deals.”

  Matt sucked in his breath. He felt like his head was swimming in Jell-O. “A million dollars is a piss in the bucket when you have to divide it three ways. How long do you think it’s going to last you in that banana republic?”

  “Then what the hell did you bring it up for?”

  “Because I want you to let me go.”

  “Go back to sleep, Mr. Starr. Tomorrow is a whole other day.”

  Shit, had he just done what he thought he had? Stupid is as stupid does. How was he going to get the million dollars he put in Lily’s account? Hell, for all he knew she could have taken the money and split when he didn’t show up for the wedding. Maybe he should go back to sleep and let the rest of the drug wear off. That was the easy way out. He needed to stay alert in the hope of hearing something that would help him later on.

  “Where are we?” he demanded.

  “Even if we told you, you wouldn’t know. This is the last time I’m going to tell you to keep quiet.”

  Matt clamped his lips tight. He wished he knew how long it was since his abduction, if Dennis and Marcus had announced Digitech’s Open Door 2001, and what reaction it generated if they had. That thought forced him to think about Marcus and his betrayal. He felt heartsick that a friend, a man he’d brought into the company because of his knowledge and expertise, would turn on him for money. He’d paid him a staggering salary, given him stock options, all manner of perks, company-paid car, a Porsche, astronomical bonuses at year’s end, and, as of last week, the man had nothing to show for it except maxed-out credit cards, overdrafts at three banks, piles of debts, mortgages, and a demanding, greedy wife. Marcus Collins had sold him out. Or he thought he had.

  Little did Marcus know that Matt had been onto him from the minute he’d heard he was slowly, little by little, cashing in his stock options. That had been the red light, all the warning he needed to start looking into Marcus’s private life. He wished now that he had taken Dennis into his confidence, but he hadn’t. Instead, he’d let the rumors flourish that Dennis was leaking company secrets so he could lull Marcus into a false sense of security.

  Considering his present circumstances, there was nothing he could do but go to sleep. Maybe he would dream of Lily. He always dreamed of Lily because he loved her. Would always love her. Forever and ever and even then. Such a silly little phrase, but it was one the two of them came up with years and years ago, before he’d lit out on her.

  Matt closed his eyes, and she was there, the love of his life, asking him if he was going to break her heart again.

  He cradled her head to his chest, and whispered, “I’d break my own before I broke yours, Lily. It won’t happen. You’re my reason to get up in the morning. Nothing on this earth gives me more pleasure than to wake and see you lying next to me. You are my life. I love you more each day. I didn’t think that was possible, but it is.”

  “I love you just as much. I don’t know what I would do if anything ever happened to you. I wouldn’t be able to go on, Matt. You’ve become a part of me. I can’t wait to have babies so we become a family. I’m going to be such a good wife to you. I don’t know about that corporate-wife thing, but at home you won’t have a thing to complain about. I’m going to make love to you every single day. I promise to tell you I love you a hundred times a day, and I will mean it each time I say it. I can’t wait for January 1. Mrs. Matthew Michael Starr. Would you mind if I keep my name? I’d like to be Lily Harper Starr. Legally that is.”

  “Whatever you want” he said, nibbling on her earlobe.

  “Ooohh, that feels so . . . delicious. Do it some more.”

  “If I do, what will you do for me?” he teased.

  Lily whispered in his ear.

  Matt groaned. “Show me.”

  Matt kicked off the spread. Earlier the sheets had been crisp and white and unwrinkled. Pristine. Like Lily. Now they were damp and wrinkled. He didn’t care. The instant Lily rolled over, his body covered hers. There was a wild mating possessiveness to his embrace when he gathered her in his arms.

  For one split second he felt a head rush and a small speck of alarm and didn’t know why. He felt like he was embarking on unchartered waters which was silly because he’d made love to this incredible woman hundreds of times and each time it was better than the time before.

  His lips found the pulse at her neck. He licked at it with slow, tantalizing motions and was rewarded with Lily’s sigh of pleasure. She curled into him so his lips could trail down to her breasts. She snuggled deeper, her fingers curling the wiry furring on his chest, felt her involuntary tremor. He could feel her shiver in ecstasy when his tongue slid into the warm nectar of her mouth.

  “More,” she murmured. “More, more.”

  He felt powerful with her words and marveled at how she suddenly took the initiative, sliding smoothly on top of him. He felt her smile when he groaned with pleasure. The heat of his body mingled with hers, setting off a banked fire he’d been holding in reserve.

  She teased him then, nibbling at his ears, whispering wondrous things in his ear while she explored the wet, slick length of him. “You’re so beautiful” he murmured. Her hot breath seared his skin making it impossible to think. All he wanted was to feel, to taste, to live.

  Her body was warm honey, her mouth a raging volcano he sought to conquer. “Do you like this?” he moaned.

  “Oh God, yes, yes, yes.”

  His hands moved, sliding up and down the sides of her body. Needing the closeness of her, he drew her hard against him as she moaned, arching her back. He kissed her eyes, her lips, fiery kisses that trailed along her jaw, down to the valley between her breasts. The burning heat from her body transferred itself to him, scorching his skin. She was a brushfire gone wild, a raging forest fire that only he could extinguish. Her bright eyes were burning, the only bright color he could see in the dim room.

  “Now,” he whispered fiercely.

  “Yes,” Lily whispered in return.

  Her body was exquisite, her responses delicious, but it was the expression on her face, the rapture and pleasure he saw there that drove him forward. He read total joy and a hint of wonder in her clear gaze, saw a lone tear in the little hollow under her eye. When relief came to both of them, her name exploded from him like a gunshot in the quiet room.

  Matt’s eyes snapped open. “Son of a bitch,” he muttered when all he could see was darkness.

  He lay for a long time trying to get the dream back, but it wouldn’t come. “I love you, Lily,” he said brokenly. “I love you so much it hurts.”

  Don’t think about Lily. Think about something else. Something that won’t hurt as much. Think about something that will make you angry and cause your
adrenaline to surge. Marcus. No, not Marcus. You don’t want to get blind-faced angry. You can always think about Marcus later when you give him his walking papers. Think about business and how you saved the day before Marcus got his hands on the last thing he needed to peddle it to his competitors. Think about your good friend Dennis and his loyal friendship. Think about XML, short for Extensible Markup Language that will add new powers to the World Wide Web. In easy terms it will become the standardized way of storing raw data and text, spreadsheet numbers, employee records, and pricing lists. The “structured data” can then be imported and instantly manipulated by software programs and devices that had nothing to do with creating the stuff in the first place.

  XML. Something he and Dennis had been working on for years along with every other software company, the high-tech equivalent of the bar code. Net surfers will be able to excerpt numerical tables and text from a web page and then paste them into a word-processing application on a PC, which will then allow the PC user to edit or annotate the text or manipulate the numbers. Think about where it stands today when a PC user cuts and pastes from a website, text loses its formatting, and spreadsheets become impossible to manipulate. Think about how you got there first. Later you can think about how Marcus tried to steal the software. Later, later, later. Always later.