Scattered Thoughts (Betrayed by Love Book 1) (25 page)

We’d been at the beach house for almost a week and I hadn’t even explored the house yet. Alec took a few days off work and we’d spent most of our time getting to know each other better. After the third day I was convinced he knew my body better than I did. He could bring me to the edge of ecstasy with a single touch.

Preston and Frank had made themselves scarce the past few days, a fact I’d been pretty happy about. Having a security team constantly watching over me was one thing I didn’t think I could ever get used to.

I’d decided to go for a run while Alec made a few phone calls, but the air was so hot and thick I ended up cutting it short. Alec was still on the phone when I got back, and considering all the energy I still had left to burn, I hopped in the pool to finish my workout.

The water was cool to my overly heated skin, so I eased myself into the pool. When I reached the last step, I dove under the surface, moving my arms above my head then pulling down, propelling myself forward, not surfacing until I reached the other end. After a few laps I switched to the backstroke, closing my eyes to block out the sun as I slowly kicked my way to the other end of the pool.

The sky flashed white, followed by the loud crash of thunder in the distance less than a minute later. Startled, I reached for the bottom of the pool, but it wasn’t there and I slipped under the surface of the water. When I came up for air I was coughing, spitting up the mouthful of water I’d just swallowed. My eyes were wide open and I realized I was still in the middle of the pool, so I swam to the side to catch my breath.

A shadow moved over the edge of the pool and I looked up to see what it was. “Can you hear the storm that’s rolling in, Isabella?” Alec reached down to help me out. I accepted his hand, letting him pull me out of the pool, quickly wrapping a towel around me.

“Thanks,” I said, relieved I’d finally stopped coughing. When I looked up at Alec I noticed the disapproving frown that rested on his face. “That storm came out of nowhere,” I said quickly, hoping to calm him down.

Alec’s expression didn’t change. “That was lightening, Isabella.”

“I got out as soon as I saw it.”

“Didn’t you notice the storm clouds before you got in?”

“No, I didn’t,” I snapped. I had no intention of being scolded like a child, especially not by Mr. Control Freak. I crossed my arms, my look mirroring his.

Alec pulled me close to his, our bodies connecting. “Pouting will only make it worse.” His tone made me blush. Why did this man have such an effect on me? He kissed me. A hard, passionate kiss and when he pulled away I was breathless.

“Let’s get you out of these wet clothes.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me inside, his words so full of promise I could hardly wait. Eagerly, I followed him. Alec stopped at the base of the stairs and swatted me on the butt making me squeal in delight.

“Go change, Isabella. I have work to do.”

“Aren’t you coming up with me?” I dropped my head, my lower lip protruding in a full blown pout this time.

Alec leaned down and bit my lip gently. “I know what you’re doing, baby, and it’s not going to work this time. Now go.”

“Fine.” I turned and stomped up the stairs, expecting Alec to follow me, only he hadn’t.

After changing into some dry clothes, I decided to do a little work myself. As long as the storm was on top of us I’d be stuck inside anyway, and Alec clearly wasn’t in the mood to play.

I’d promised Chris I’d monitor his account to make sure things were running smoothly, plus, I wanted to check the status of the Ultimate account.

As I waited for my laptop to boot I stared out the window, becoming momentarily lost in the beauty of the storm. The waves had swelled to twice their normal size and were crashing hard against the shore. The rain fell in thick sheets, the wind whipped over the water, the force and power of Mother Nature on full display. Getting lost in the beauty of God’s creation was such an easy thing to do. Light flashed, immediately followed by the loud crack of thunder. The storm was right on top of us now. I watched intently as the rain moved closer and closer until it was impossible to see out through the windows.

Eager now for the distraction of work, I double clicked the icon for my email program and waited impatiently as it launched, silently hoping Tim hadn’t sent me another meeting request. He’d been pressing me to come to the office for a face-to-face status update on the Payne Enterprises account, but Alec wouldn’t hear of it. “That psycho found you twice, Isabella. I’m not taking any chances of you going to your office,” he’d said. In all honesty there wasn’t much to report anyway, so I hadn’t pushed.

Shit. What I was reading was worse than I’d feared. Tim wasn’t just asking for a meeting, he was demanding it, and he wasn’t taking no for an answer. “Be at the office Monday at nine o’clock for a mandatory meeting,” his email read. “Skipping this one isn’t an option if you want to keep your job, Izzy.” Double Shit! Now what was I supposed to do? Alec would freak if I told him about this email and if I wasn’t at the meeting Tim would freak. Pleasing them both would be impossible.

Your career is on the line here, Izzy
, my inner voice snapped. And she was right, it was
my
career. And just like that I’d made up my mind. I was going to that meeting. Alec might not like my decision, but he’d have no choice but to accept it. I typed out a quick email to let Tim know I’d be there before I lost my nerve.

I read through the rest of my emails, mostly status updates from department heads who’d forgotten to take me off their distribution list but there was one message that had me worried, a message from Chris flagged as urgent.

Immediately, I opened the email. The night shift supervisor at the Sandestin had been busted renting rooms to underage teens and allowing them to order alcohol from the bar. “I really need your help with this one, Izzy,” he’d written. “Our reputation and our liquor license are on the line this time. You have to help.” I fired an email to Jonathan asking him to gather all the evidence in the case. I’d need to know exactly what we were dealing with before I could even think about helping. I sent Chris a quick message too so he’d know I was investigating the problem.

There was an email from Valerie that was a couple days old wanting to know if I was still at the Sandestin. Alec would be beyond pissed if he saw that message. He’d be angry I told her where I was staying but knowing I hadn’t told him about it would have him seeing red. I shook my head to settle the rattled thoughts.
He can’t get mad at you for not remembering
, my inner voice chimed in. And she was right. After everything I’d been through he should just be happy I remembered the call to Spencer.

“I haven’t forgotten about you telling Spencer,” he’d said that night on the beach after he’d taken me over his knee. A shiver ran down my spine as I considered how he’d react to this bit of information.

Just as I was ready to delete the message I heard him, his harsh tone startling me. “What’s the meaning of this, Isabella?” I jumped to my feet, knocking my laptop onto the floor in the process. Alec was waving a piece of paper in the air, an intense look in his eyes.

I swallowed hard. “The meaning of what?”

“Don’t play dumb with me.”

Had he found out about my call to Val? Surely he couldn’t be talking about my decision to go to the office, could he? “I’m not sure what you’re talking about, Alec.”

“This email from Tim, Isabella, what do you mean telling him you’ll be at the office on Monday?”

Great. Tim had emailed Alec before I could tell him myself, and he was even madder than I’d expected. “I have to go. Tim is really mad that I’ve been ditching him so I need to be there.”

“I don’t give a damn how mad Tim is. It isn’t safe, and you aren’t going.”

“Alec, please. Try to understand. The meeting is mandatory. I don’t have a choice if I want to keep my job.”

“It isn’t safe!” he shouted, pulling both hands through his hair. “You’re not going. End of story.”

End of story?
Really?
Was I really going to give him the final say in my life? “Look, I appreciate everything you’ve done for me but this is my career. I
have
to go. I AM going.” The more I talked about it the angrier I got. “And how the hell do you even know about my meeting?”

“The police recovered prints from a flower vase in your office,” he said, completely ignoring my last question. “He’s been there, baby. Your office isn’t safe.”

“You knew he’d been there and you didn’t tell me?”

“I was certain Spencer was behind the attacks. I wanted proof before I worried you any more than you already were.”

“If Spencer did this—”

“It wasn’t him, Isabella. Spencer couldn’t have done it. According to the GPS on both his phone and car he hasn’t been within ten miles of your office in months. Plus, he was in Chicago the night you were taken to the hospital. Flight records proved that.”

“Chicago,” I whispered, suddenly remembering the emergency Spencer had to deal with there not long after those pictures arrived. I couldn’t help but wonder if
she
lived there.

“Isabella, what is it? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” I didn’t want to tell him about the pictures. I still wasn’t ready for that. He pulled me close and kissed me on the top of the head. “What are you keeping from me, baby?”

I wrapped my arms around his waist, squeezing him tight. “I can’t live like this forever, Alec. I feel trapped. I need to work. I have to work.”

“It won’t be forever. Marcus has his best men working on this. We’ll figure it out.” He pulled me back so he was looking into my eyes. “If working is really that important to you, we’ll work that out too.”

I sat down on the couch, relieved he finally saw how important my job was to me. Alec reached down and picked my laptop up off the floor, the screen illuminating as he set it down on the coffee table. Shit. My email program was still open with Val’s email cued up just waiting for me to hit delete. I took a deep breath, bracing myself for whatever would come next.

He turned toward me, his jaw clenched, his lips pressed in a thin, hard line. “What the hell is this?” he said through gritted teeth. “Please, tell me how you defied me, how you put yourself in danger, and then failed to tell me about it!”

“Alec, I’m sorry. You were so mad at me when I told you about Spencer that I wasn’t thinking straight. I just forgot.”

“You forgot? That’s the best explanation you have. You did exactly what I told you not to do, then you failed to tell me about it, and that’s all you have to say.”

“Yes, Alec, I forgot.”

“Didn’t this email spark your memory?” Anger burned hot in his eyes, and nothing I said was going to cool that fire. “Answer me, Isabella!”

“Geez, yes already,” I snapped. “Yes, I told her I was at the Sandestin. Yes, I forgot to tell you she called. And yes, when I remembered I’d told her I decided not to tell you because I was afraid you’d freak out, which is exactly what you’re doing!”

“Let me get this straight. First you defied me and then you intentionally hid it from me. All because you were afraid of how’d I react?”

“Yes.”

Alec pulled me off the couch, into his arms. “Everybody forgets, baby. That’s what reminding is for.” Without saying another word Alec wrapped his arms around my legs and hoisted me over his shoulder. Although I wasn’t sure why, there something about being slung over his shoulder that had me turned on.

He carried me that way down the two flights of stairs and into the study, closing the door behind him. When he finally returned my feet to the ground, he grabbed my wrist and pulled me further into the room, deliberately moving, without hesitation, not stopping until we were standing in front of the large wooden desk.

In one swift motion, everything that had been resting on top of the desk was scattered on the floor. Alec stretched my arms out in front of me, placing my hands over the edge of the desk, forcing me to lean over. “I’m going to spank you now, Isabella. Don’t. Let. Go,” he said in a clipped tone.

My mind was spinning. Was I really about to let him punish me like this, or at all? That night on the beach he’d be playful, and even though he’d spanked me it didn’t feel at all like punishment.

Alec lifted my sundress and slid my panties down to the floor. If I was planning on objecting I was running out of time. But I didn’t object, instead I braced myself for what I knew was coming next. Pain shot through me as he delivered three hard blows in rapid succession across my naked butt.

Damn. That really hurt. Two more swats followed. “Ow, Alec, you’re hurting me.”

“It’s a spanking, Isabella, I mean for it to hurt.” Three more swats followed and when he finally stopped I stood up, glad it was over, but very much turned on.

“Oh, Isabella,” Alec said, trailing his long finger down my cheek. He grabbed my chin and kissed me hard. “I told you not to let go.” In the blink of an eye I was stretched out across the desk again. “Don’t let go until I tell you to. Do you understand?”

“Yes, sir,” I panted.

He pushed my dress up to my back and trailed his finger over the small of my back. “I’m going to spank you again, Isabella. And if you’re a good girl I’ll take you upstairs and make love to you after. But if you defy me again I’m going to fuck you right here and it won’t be for your pleasure.” His voice was gruff, his breathing ragged, and incredibly hot.