Beautiful Prey: The Storm Series (16 page)

Chapter 22

 Victoria

 The
ride to Jack’s penthouse was no better.

Victoria couldn’t take the silence any longer.
“What’s going on, Jack?”

He looked up from the tablet that he was holding. “What do
you mean?”

Damagingly, he returned his attention to the tablet.
Victoria was pissed that he’d just dismissed her.

“Jack, it seems that since
I
...”

Jack quickly cut her off, “Victoria, I just have a business
issue.” There was a hint of irritation in his voice.

At that very moment, it became clear to Victoria that she had
definitely destroyed any relationship that she and Jack had when she confessed
her love for him. She sat back in her seat and decided to let it go. When they
arrived at Storm Enterprises, they rode the elevator with Jack’s driver in
silence. They entered the penthouse and the driver carried their luggage in and
returned to the elevator. Victoria walked over to the window and stared at the
view. She thought of leaving before Jack asked her to, but the truth was that
she didn’t want to leave.

“Vic, I have to go and handle some business,” she heard Jack
say from behind.

Victoria turned away from the window and faced him. He stood
in front of her with a pained look on his face.

“Jack, I told you that you didn’t have to love me back.”
Victoria’s whisper was more like a plea.

“Vic ...” He paused before saying, “Don’t wait up.”

Victoria blinked her disbelief at his statement.  His
statement was full of torture. It was only one o‘clock in the fucking
afternoon.

Jack turned and walked toward the elevator. Victoria wanted
to run and stop him, but her feet seemed cemented to the floor. Jack stepped on
the elevator and turned without looking at Victoria. The doors closed and he
was gone. A combination of pain and sadness washed over Victoria. She dropped
to her knees and wailed. She had ruined everything. Of course it was too soon
to tell Jack that she loved him, but she expected nothing in return. She cried
until she became nauseous. Victoria stood to her feet and walked up the stairs.
She’d decided to shower and get dressed. She entered the bedroom and walked
over to one of the drawers that Jack assigned to her and pulled out clean
underwear.

Victoria showered and dressed in a t-shirt and a pair of
sweats. She packed the small bag that she came with and dropped it by the
stairs next to her purse. She realized that Jack still had her keys, so she
went in search of them. She ran up the stairs and entered Jack’s office. Her
keys weren’t on his desk, so she walked around to check his drawers. Victoria
opened his desk drawer and found her keys. She looked up at his desk and tears
began to form. Jack had framed one of the pictures that he took of her on his
boat. She was smiling in front of the Chicago skyline. The tears fell from her
eyes and dropped on a file in Jack’s drawer.

Victoria dried her tears and pulled the file out of the
drawer. She wiped it with the bottom of her t-shirt and reached to put it back
in the drawer, until she saw her name and address on it. She sat her keys on
the desk and opened the file to find her entire life. It contained info on her
family, friends, hobbies, and even the Sickle Cell Ball. He even had her
personnel file. Victoria stared at her entire life in a folder. There were
surveillance photos of her during decoy prostitution missions. He even knew
everything about her engagement to Dante.

Victoria was aware that a billionaire had the resources to
get information on just about anyone, but what scared her was the fact that the
file was dated before they’d actually met. Victoria replayed their
relationship.
Mine
; he’d used the
word repeatedly and so did her stalker. He coincidentally showed up at her
apartment the night before a note was left in her car. She didn’t know where he
was the day that her apartment was vandalized.

Victoria wondered if Jack was the stalker. She couldn’t
think straight, but she was certain of one thing. She needed to get the hell
out of there. She closed the file and snatched her keys off the desk. She ran
out of his office and down the stairs. She grabbed her purse, slid the file in
the side pocket of her bag, and headed to the elevator. When Victoria
approached the elevator, she heard a ding. It was warning that the doors were
about to open. She pulled her weapon out of her purse and tucked into the back
of her pants. The doors opened, and Jack came into view. He looked down at her
bag and walked off of the elevator.

“Are you leaving me, Victoria?”

Victoria ignored his question and backed into the elevator.

“Victoria!” He shouted and stepped toward the elevator.

Victoria snatched her weapon out of her pants and pointed it
at Jack. He froze and raised his hands.

“Step the fuck back,” she said through gritted teeth.

Jack stepped off of the elevator. “Victoria, why are you
pointing a gun at me?” Surprisingly, his voice was steady and calm.

“Are you my stalker?”

Jack’s expression was one of shock and disbelief.
“What?!”

“Are you fucking stalking me?!”

“No, Victoria! What’s wrong with you?”

Victoria took one hand off of her weapon and retrieved the
file from the side of her bag. Jack’s face went from confusion to regret.
Victoria flung it at Jack and pushed to button for the garage.

“Vic!
Baby, wait.
I can explain.”

A tear fell from her eye and Victoria shook her head. “You
stay the fuck away from me,” she warned as the elevator doors closed.

As she rode to the garage, the tears began to fall freely.

Victoria exited the elevator and walked through the garage
to Jack’s designated parking area. She walked towards her
Camaro
and noticed that the entire section of the parking garage was designated for
Jack. Victoria opened the back door of her car and tossed her bag inside. She
walked across the parking lot to a black Bentley. She walked around to the back
of the car. Victoria clutched her chest and inhaled sharply. The license plate
read: STORM.

“Oh my God.
I’m so
fucking stupid,” she whispered through tears.

Victoria ran to her car and hopped in the driver’s seat. She
was actually sleeping with someone that was capable of terrorizing someone.
Between Dante and Jack, Victoria no longer trusted her judgment. All of this
time, she thought that Dante was her stalker. Now, she wasn’t so sure.

She drove in the direction of her apartment wondering how she
would ever be comfortable there again. Victoria had to return to work in the
morning, so she had no other choice. She pulled into the parking lot of her
building and parked. Victoria hopped out of her car and walked to the entry
door. She stood for a few seconds before unlocking it and walking up the
stairs. When she arrived at the top of the stairs, Mrs. O’Malley stood in the
hall. Victoria stood defeated in front of the mean old lady and waiting for the
nasty remark that was sure to come from her.

Mrs. O’Malley looked at Victoria and shook her head while
handing Victoria a set of keys.

Curiously, Victoria took them as Mrs. O’Malley muttered
disapprovingly, “Child,” before she turned, entered her apartment, and slammed
the door.

Victoria dropped her head and attempted to use her key to
her enter her home, but they wouldn’t work. She glanced at the set of keys that
Mrs. O’Malley handed her. Surprisingly, they unlocked Victoria’s door.

The smell of fresh paint temporarily snatched Victoria out
of her confusion and depression. She locked the door and dropped her bag by the
door. She pulled her weapon from her purse and headed down the hall. Victoria
approached her bedroom, reached inside, and flicked the light switch. She stood
in the doorway and was shocked to see that there were no traces of vandalism.
The walls were freshly painted and she had a brand new bed that was complete
with bedding. Victoria had no idea who could’ve done this. No one but the super
had keys to her apartment. Victoria walked back to her living room and pulled
her phone out of her purse. There were seventeen missed calls from Jack.
Victoria used the Mr. Number Call Blocker app to block any further calls from
him and dialed the super, but didn’t get an answer. Victoria had no other
choice but to be a big girl and get on with her life. She showered and went to
bed, but she didn’t sleep at all.

Chapter 23

STORM

Jack
stood in his office and stared down at a very busy Michigan Avenue. It had been
a month since he’d last seen Victoria and he was just as devastated as he was
the day that she left him. He missed her so much that he couldn’t concentrate
on anything but her. His sister, Amy, basically ran his cooperation while he
practically rotted away in his office. He’d called Victoria at least a hundred
times, but she never answered. John was still secretly looking out for her.
Even though Jack knew that she was safe, the fact that he no longer had her in
his life had all but destroyed him. He loved her. He was in love with her, and
he thought back to that moment in Rome when she whispered that she loved him.

Admittedly, he didn’t respond the way that he should have,
but he’d never been in love and he didn’t know what he was feeling. At the
time, Jack couldn’t possibly have known how much it would hurt to lose her.
Every day he exited the elevator and looked into Mary’s worried eyes. He tried
smiling to reassure her, but Mary wasn’t buying it.

Victoria thought that he was the stalker that was
terrorizing her, and he couldn’t blame her. Truthfully, he did stalk her. He
needed to explain himself, but she wouldn’t have anything to do with him. Jack
was a wreck, and he knew that his entire family was worried about him. He’d
finally sat down with Amy and filled her in on the entire story of him and
Victoria. Amy understood and offered her brother a shoulder to cry on, but she
couldn’t bring Victoria back to him. So, she did the only thing that she could;
she kept his company afloat while he suffered through a terrible heartbreak.

“Mr. Storm, Victoria Price is here to see you.” Mary’s
excited voice tore him from his thoughts.

Jack bypassed the intercom and ran out of his office.
Victoria stood in front of him, clearly affected by their separation. She
looked tormented. Jack walked slowly toward her. After all, the last time that
he approached her, she pointed a gun in his face.

Tears fell from her eyes as she whispered, “Jack, I’m
pregnant.”

Jack halted his steps. Mary ran from around her desk and
hugged Victoria. Again, Jack was not reacting the way that he should’ve. He
needed to do something to comfort her but he was stunned by her news. Mary
reassured Victoria that everything would be okay and led her into his office.
Jack stood in the same spot without movement, until Mary walked out of his
office and slapped his arm. He stared at Mary in shock.

“Wake up and stop acting like an ass!” She yelled at him
before walking back to her desk. Jack turned and walked toward his office. He
stopped at the door and looked back at Mary. She waved her hand to shoo him
into his office, so he slowly walked in and closed the door. He turned to see
the sadness in Victoria’s eyes. He’d been such a fool. He loved her so much and
he just wanted to make it better. Jack hurried to her and pulled her into his
chest. For the first time since she left, he was complete. She cried in his
arms while he held her tight.

“Victoria, I didn’t do those things to you. I just saw you
and I wanted to know you.” He hoped that she would forgive him as he continued.
“I would never hurt you, baby.”

“I know. Amy and your mother already explained everything to
me.” She hiccupped through tears.

Jack asked hopefully, “They did? You believe them?”

Victoria pulled away and wiped her face. “Yes. And I also believe
you
,” she said with confidence.

Jack pulled Victoria back into his arms. He just wanted to
feel her body close to his. “We’re having a baby,” he stated without question.
Victoria looked up at Jack and he could tell that her confidence was gone.

“You’re not upset?”

Jack shook his head. “No. I’m not upset. Victoria, I have
missed you so much. My life has been a mess without you.”

Victoria cried some more and whispered, “Me too, Jack. I’ve
been a total mess.”

They held each other, and Jack thought of how grateful that
he was for his mother and sister. They’d put his life back together.

“Have dinner with me,” he seemed to beg.

Victoria regretfully shook her head. “I can’t tonight. I
have dinner plans with Tracy.”

Jack loosened his grip on her and said, “Vic, we need to
talk.”

Victoria nodded and said, “I know, but she said that she
needs me. She’s my best friend.”

Jack nodded his agreement and stepped back. “You don’t look
so well. Are you okay?”

Victoria chuckled. “It’s nothing that dry crackers can’t
fix. I’ll be fine.”

Jack figured that she was referring to morning sickness. The
thought of Victoria having his baby warmed his heart. He needed time with her
so that he could confess his true feelings.

“Well, can we have dinner tomorrow night?”

“Yes,” Victoria said with a smile.

He missed her smile so much. He wanted so badly for her to
understand what she meant to him. Jack reached down and touched her stomach.
“You’re having my baby,” he said through a proud smile. The pride that he felt
that Victoria was carrying his child could not be matched.

Victoria nodded and smiled up at him and he couldn’t resist
her mouth. He kissed her for the first time in a month. He tried to make her feel
how much he loved and missed her. Victoria melted in his arms, and he instantly
got hard. He desperately wanted to fuck his pregnant woman, but she pulled
away.

“Jack, I
gotta
go. I’m on a lunch
break. I have to go back to work.”

Jack grabbed his rock hard package and said, “Okay. Give me
a few seconds and I’ll walk you out.”

Victoria laughed and agreed.

About two minutes later, they exited his office. Jack looked
over at Mary, who was trying very hard not to acknowledge them. He smirked at
her and walked with Victoria to the elevator. They rode down the elevator to
the lobby without releasing their hold on each other. Jack walked Victoria
through the lobby and out the doors. They stood on the sidewalk and Jack kissed
her.

“I’ll miss you,” he said between kisses.

“I’m
gonna
miss you too,” she said
before she turned and walked to a waiting car that was being driven by her
partner. Steve waved, and Jack returned his wave. Jack watched lovingly as
Victoria got into the passenger seat and they drove away. As he walked back
into the building, Jack realized that he needed to reach out to his sisters.
Jack had every intention of showing Victoria just how much he loved her when
they met for dinner the following night.