A Lover’s Control

  By AlTonya Washington

  Copyright 2014 AlTonya Washington

  Smashwords Edition

  Smashwords Edition, License Notes

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to any other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  As always, to my readers-there aren’t enough words to thank you for the motivation!

  ~FIRST PROLOGUE~

  Marshall, Minnesota 2000~

  His smile was a display of cold arrogance and she reciprocated the gesture.

  “I see that smile. You like that, don’t you?” He whispered, bringing his face in a little closer to hers.

  Her smile gained definition. “That’s because I’m thinking of how good it’s gonna feel when I put my fist through that gap in your front teeth,” she said.

  The arrogance; that had been fueling Luke Baker’s grin, drained. His smile transitioned into a grim line beneath a crooked nose. He was unable to mask his curiosity as he studied the little waif of a woman. Wearing a black leotard; that bared her arms and legs, she seemed even tinier where she lay in the middle of the table. Trussed up as she was; bound at her wrists and ankles, one would expect terror and anxiety to be pooling from her unusual eyes.

  Instead, SyBilla Ramsey fixed her nemesis with a look of loathing, menace and rage. Her expression was made more disturbing given the hazy, grayness of the orbs and the emotions practically spewing from them.

  Unsettled as well as frustrated, Baker craved someplace to put the rage instilled by the fact that he couldn’t seem to unnerve the glowering nymph. He clenched a fist; cocked it, ready to mar the woman’s small, stunningly lovely face. Baker’s rage morphed into disbelief when he glimpsed her triumphant smile.

  “Baker!”

  Luke Baker’s thin, wiry frame grew ramrod straight as though he were a soldier at attention. He wasn’t however, disciplined enough to resist rolling his eyes away from SyBilla. She watched him with triumph as well as amusement then.

  Once Baker’s gaze was averted though, Bill gave into a second of intense relief. Her lashes fluttered before they momentarily shielded her gaze.

  Another man had entered the area that resembled an operating room of sorts. This new man was smaller than Baker in height as well as width, though he was clearly the one in charge. An air of superiority glinted in his eyes. They were an odd pale blue tinge, that didn’t make his honey-toned skin appear more ashen that it already did.

  “I apologize for my employee’s savagery, Ms. Ramsey.” The man in charge gave Bill a conspiratorial grin. “We do what we can to enhance the poorly bred but I’m afraid it’s a challenging and continual work in progress.” He gave an exaggerated sigh, while his grin softened into a less smug smile.

  “I suppose I should apologize for my own savagery as well,” he said.

  “At last, we agree on something.”

  SyBilla’s barb roused a grin from the man. “I am sorry for having to mar that skin of yours,” he extended a dry hand to stroke the perfect, dark circle at Bill’s inner thigh.

  SyBilla gave a reflexive jerk in response.

  “She doesn’t like to be touched there, boss,” Luke Baker sneered and then grimaced when SyBilla angled one of her shackled wrists to give him the finger.

  “My sincerest apologies, Ms. Ramsey,” Luke Baker’s boss had a voice that was deceptively reassuring. “The branding was done hastily. You’re very valuable to us, you know?”

  “Really?”

  SyBilla’s sarcasm wasn’t lost on her captor, who scanned the length of her diminutive frame. A collage of adhesive bandages covered her skin which had been grafted over the course of the days (weeks?) she’d been imprisoned as a lab rat.

  “It’ll heal, my love,” he said, pale blues drifting across the bandages with a compassionate, almost loving intensity.

  “I only needed samples of this remarkable skin,” he spoke as though mesmerized. “Such quality...and the tone...like melting caramel not even a blemish- or the slightest imperfection. I find that quite stunning given your array of childhood and adolescent illnesses which weren’t surprising with your parents’ difficulties having all those pregnancies that didn’t last to term.”

  SyBilla lost all ability to school her reactions then. Fists clenched, her gray eyes were wide with shock over the stranger’s awareness of such things. “Who are you?” she breathed.

  “Apologies again, love. I didn’t mean to make you feel self-conscious. You have nothing to be ashamed of,” he said as though her shock had nothing to do with his astounding knowledge of her medical history.

  “I’d wager most women would go through all of your earlier illnesses for the ability to defy time.” The man; garbed in a pristine lab coat, stood with his hands clasped and appeared as if he were bursting to share an age-old secret.

  “Not many could recognize the significance in the low probability of nature bringing together the perfection that created you.” he began to pace a short path along the length of the exam table. “Your parents, aunts, uncles...they look almost the same as the day I first saw them-long before you were born, my dear. I believe the answers I seek lay in your perfections as well as your imperfections. Perhaps I’m mistaken, but there must be a reason.”

  “God and good genes, you horse’s ass, but I wouldn’t expect you to know anything about the former,” Bill spat.

  Bill’s captor remained maddeningly calm. “But God didn’t see fit to provide your parents with more good genetic specimens, did He?” The man noted, wearing a proud smirk.

  “He didn’t even see fit to ease all those ailments of yours, did He? I can do that, you know? I can do all kinds of things.”

  “Fuck you.”

  The pride-filled smirk tightened enough to reflect disdain. He moved closer to the table Bill lay strapped to and she clenched her fists so tightly, they numbed.

  “As lovely as you are,” the man murmured close to her ear, “that’s not quite what I had in mind.” He straightened. “Science is my one true love, Ms. Ramsey,” his voice raised. “I’m also not sure you and I would create the results I’m after.”

  “What do you want?” Bill demanded through bared teeth, watching her captor shrug.

  “It’s simple, love. I want to know your secrets. The ones inside your skin.” Her gaze shifted as though he intended to look over his shoulder. Changing his mind, he fixed SyBilla with an open smile. “I’m afraid our friend Luke is interested in the secrets that reside in other parts of your body.”

  Bill wrestled with her bindings then. Rage and a fair amount of fear drove the reaction. She stilled when the man in charge leaned in close enough to block everything from her line of vision.

  “It’d be wise of you to give me what I seek,” he said, his voice lowering once more. “Otherwise, I’ll have to let Luke take what he’s been having wet dreams about since he laid eyes on you.”

  SyBilla’s intense struggles finally paid off. Her next harsh tug against the restraints at her wrists, freed one hand and she slammed a fist into her captor’s nostrils.

  He emitted a shriek, both hands shooting out and up to cup a suddenly bloody nose. “Baker!” he roared.

  Luke Baker came to attention once more. He made his way back across the room, while knocking over syringes, specimen cups and the glass sundry jars that carried tongue depressors and swab sticks.

  “Dammit Baker!” The man wailed. “I thought you had her restrained?!”

  “Jeez, Doc, I did! The little bitch is strong for her size,” Luke Baker blustered upon reaching the exam table.

  Doc moved his hands a tad to reveal his bloodied nose and turned a menacing glare upon his accomplice. “I want her secured so tight, blinking will be the only movement she’s capable of.” He looked back to Bill, his menace appearing to wane.

  “You’re entitled to draw a little blood.” He smiled resolutely. “It’s only fair, considering what I’ve taken from you. But don’t you, for an instant, think my threats are hollow.”

  Luke finished retightening the bindings. “Should I stay and keep an eye on her while you check your nose, Doc?”

  “Idiot,” the doc muttered, “get out.” He watched Baker do as he was told, before he put his focus back on SyBilla.

  “Think on what I said, Ms. Ramsey. Luke’s pretty riled. It’d be a shame to get permanent bruises on that flawless skin.”

  They left her alone and; only then, did Bill fully surrender to her fear. The unbearable pressure of tears built behind her eyes. Soon, the moisture flowed hot and abundantly. Bill swore to herself that; if she survived the nightmare at hand, those tears would be the last she’d ever shed.

  ~SECOND PROLOGUE~

  Outside Quinto do Lago, Portugal~

  3:29am- Morning of Jasper Stone’s raid on Evangela Leer’s villa.

  “Come on…” Saffron Manoa tugged at the brim of her black Fedora while shifting a quick look toward the rear view mirror and then another to each of the side mirrors on the black Porsche Boxster she’d driven to the decrepit payphone outside the farmer’s market. The place looked like a large, eerie shed at that time of night-er-morning.

  The market would beg
in showing signs of life in another few hours however and Saffron could only pray no early birds arrived to get a jump on the day. She trailed her fingers against the barrel of a Berretta on the butter suede passenger seat.

  The night was a cool one, but she’d decided against keeping the driver’s side window up. It was doubtful the ancient-looking payphone would ring very loudly. The fact that anyone could even get the thing to work would be something of a shocker, but for some, nothing was impossible.

  “Thank you…” Saffron drawled out her gratitude over a long sigh when the phone came to life with its weak ringing. Hurrying from the car, she snatched the dull, cracked receiver from its cradle before the end of the second ring.

  “It’s me,” she said.

  “You haven’t been avoiding me, have you love? I’ve been calling at this time for the past week.”

  “No I-no,” Saffron stammered. Her eyes were restless, darting around out into the unending night that stretched beyond the reach of the car’s high beams. “I uh-we’ve suffered some setbacks. Things have been crazy.”

  “Ah...so I heard.”

  Of course you did, Saffron rolled her eyes while making the silent acknowledgement.

  “I need our Ms. Leer on the radar, but that insane cunt is attracting too much attention for my liking.”

  Saffron grew more and more certain that she would wind up with a bullet through her brain before the end of the chilling conversation. She had to squeeze her eyes closed to prevent their darting around in nervous expectation.

  “Why haven’t you killed her yet?” She finally managed to ask.

  The man on the other end of the line sighed as one might when asked a question to which the answer was obvious.

  “Ms. Leer and a host of others have provided me with much needed cover over the years,” he said. “Diversion is a wonderful ally, sweetness, but it requires players. The game is much more effective when the players are valuable.”

  The players I’ve depended on to shield me are growing fewer unfortunately. Age is an horrific enemy and many of my wonderful allies have gone on to meet their rewards. I’ve got to keep an eye on the ones I’ve got left.”

  “What she’s after-” Saffron blinked. “She’s smart- she could find a way to you-”

  “And that’s what you’re supposed to be ensuring she doesn’t do. You don’t want to become an expendable player to me. Do you, love?”

  “I’m doing my best!” Saffron almost whimpered over the unintended outburst. “I’m doing my best,” her tone was softer then. “But she’s smart. She’ll figure it out sooner or later.”

  “So find a way to distract her from all of that...figuring.”

  “I…” Saffron tugged at the collar of her black linen jacket as though she were chilled. “I think I have a way I could-”

  “No need for specifics. Just get her to calm down. Her insane revenge scheme over what happened on that island was a nice diversion, but it’s what set those bastards on her scent in the first place.”

  “I remember,” Saffron gritted the acknowledgement that carried a dual meaning. It was a subtle- very subtle reminder to the man on the line that she had been condemned to the island of horrors as well.

  “I’m glad you remember that, love.” He said. “Don’t disappoint me on this. I’d hate for you to share your brother’s fate.”

  The connection silenced once the threat cleared the line. The receiver hung limp in Saffron’s hand. Briefly, she mourned the brother she hardly knew and then hurried back into the car. Revving the powerful engine once, then twice, she sped off into the ominous blackness ahead.

  ~1~

  Over London, England~

  “I’ve tried every number I have, SyBilla.”

  “Great,” SyBilla tucked the mobile into the crook of her neck. “This is exactly why I tried to close out all the paperwork on our cases before I got on this damned plane,” she positioned herself to look beneath the foot of the bed in the surprisingly spacious sleep area past the main cabin. “Did he mention helping out on anyone else’s cases?”

  Pamma Nelson’s chuckle held a warm, knowing flare. “Come on, Bill. You know that man has a passion for time off.”

  “Hmph, passion is right,” SyBilla pounded a fist into the carpet when her search beneath the bed recovered no trace of her missing boot. “If he’s tucked away with one of his...special friends, we can forget seeing him anytime soon.”

  “Well, I promise to call you the second I lay eyes on Kyle,” Pamma vowed, “I won’t let him go until he’s talked to you.”

  “Thank you…” Bill sighed the words, half directed to her assistant and half in reference to the missing boot she’d finally located near the head of the bed.

  “Good luck over there,” Pamma’s best wishes drifted through the phone line. “Stay focused,” she urged.

  Bill pursed her lips. “Right. Focused.”

  “Exactly what is it you’re hoping to find by taking a second trip to Scotland?”

  What indeed? Bill mused silently in reference to Pamma’s query. “One of Evangela Leer’s accomplices- Casper M’Baye- is still there recovering from injuries sustained during their trespass onto Kraven DeBurgh’s property. She regained consciousness long enough to share quite a bit of vital information- most of it pretty dated.”

  Bill shared what she’d been told by her cousin Moses. What little she’d been told, that is. The man was adamant about not going into more by phone.

  “I should know more once I get to Seattle-headed there after finishing up in Scotland. Maybe we can get Ms. M’Baye to share more current info first.”

  Pamma released a low whistle. “Sounds like you’ll be working pretty closely with Caiphus.”

  “Don’t do this, Pam.”

  Pamma laughed and the gesture was well blended with wickedness and a fair amount of cunning. “A trip to Scotland, a wedding in Seattle...you two haven’t been this close for so long in years.”

  “Each trip is only a few days,” Bill sang the reminder and then groaned. “I can’t back out of going to Seattle now, anyway. I’ll catch hell from all sides if I miss my aunt’s wedding.”

  The comment was spoken wearily, but Bill smiled. She was genuinely happy that her aunt Josephine was finally set to marry the man she loved and wanted to share a lifetime of happiness.

  “Your family’s having a lot of those lately- weddings,” Pamma noted.

  “Better than what we usually have which is a lot of drama and horrific revelations.”

  “Well let’s just hope there’s some of that joy in there for you.”

  “Bye Pam…” Bill sighed, knowing where the woman was headed with her well wishes.

  After clicking off the call with Pamma, Bill remained crouched in the awkward position where she’d searched for her boot. She set down the phone, then braced her elbows on the floor and rested her forehead to her palm.

  Weddings and love, she thought. Her family was practically bursting at the seams with them. For her? She didn’t think such things were in the cards for ones such as her.

  “Room for me down there?” Caiphus Tesano’s voice all but pulsated with soft appeal yet the tone seemed to bounce off the walls of the jet’s sleeping quarters where he stood in the doorway.

  The sound effect fired off tingles inside parts of her body. Bill decided those parts were best left unmentioned.

  “Plenty of room,” she took her weight off her elbows. “I found what I was looking for.” Grabbing her phone, Bill clutched it along with the boots to her chest. She held the items as though they were some kind of armor against what the man in the doorway could do to her with just a look. Add to that look, the playfully devilish grin and she was a goner.

  Phony dismay caressed his magnificent features then. “Gosh Bee, I’m sorry,” the apology carried about as much sincerity as a thimble. “Did I make you lose those before?”

  “You know you did,” her steps slowly drew to a halt once she’d moved from the bed to stand before him in the doorway. “Will you let me by?”