Mr Big Shot: A Sheikh Billionaire Romance Read online

  He lifted me into the air and my feet were dangling like I didn’t weigh a damn thing. It felt like I was in some kind of noose hanging from the ceiling and swinging in the gallows. The only thing that I could do was wait for the inevitable end, with the feeling of falling into a deep hole. I suddenly got my second wind, and I had to thank the child for making me remember what was important. I thrashed like a fish out of water, hoping that I could grab onto any part of his anatomy and give him something to think about.

  “I don’t know who you are, but coming into my room was the worst mistake of your life.” His voice changed and my eyes fluttered open to see a strange man choking me. “I don’t like trespassers. You come in here and you try to steal from me. How can you expect me to turn the other cheek?” I was trying to say something, but my words were strangled and were barely coherent.

  I was still thrashing, and I suddenly came in contact with his more prominent region. My toes struck out with a vengeance. I saw the look in his eyes change from contempt to that of pain in a matter of seconds. He still held me, but his grip had lessened slightly. It was enough that I was able to pry his thumbs away from my throat. I twisted them hard and he finally let go. He doubled over, before falling backward onto the bed.

  I landed on the soft green carpeting and my legs gave out until I was sitting on the floor. We were both breathing heavy but for entirely different reasons. “I knew that you… wouldn’t remember. I helped you… back to your room after you got drunk and disorderly. I thought that I was… doing you a favor, but I should’ve known that no good deed goes unpunished.” He was grunting like a wild animal and holding onto his privates.

  “I do seem to recall something, but it’s all spotty and disjointed. I think I remember you helping me into bed.” He looked toward the sheets that were in disarray. He pointed to me and then pointed at himself. He wanted to know if we were intimate with each other. “This can’t be happening… not again… not after all this time has gone by.” He began to pace back and forth, not deviating from his course and leaving me to catch my breath.

  I held onto my throat, feeling where his fingers had dug in and it brought to mind the nightmare that I had woken up from. The sunlight streaming through the yellow 1970s curtains had announced that a new day had arrived. I told him last night that he should sleep it off, and that he might have a better perspective in the morning. I was hoping to have that same thing happen to me, but I was still out of my mind with worry that Timothy was going to find me. I tried to convince myself that it was time to shut up and do something about it, but my mind and my body were now struggling to see who was going to come out on top.

  I looked towards the bed, and I saw the stains on the sheets. I could only imagine what they were from. I had lain on top of the bed beside him, staring at the ceiling until finally sleep overtook me. There was no way that I could possibly find a restful slumber, but at least I did close my eyes. Unfortunately, it left me wide open for any kind of attack, which of course came from Ian’s delusional state that somebody was out to get him.

  “I think that it might be a good idea that I leave you alone. You don’t need me to hang around, especially now that you’re back on your feet. You may not be 100%, but I get this feeling like this isn’t the first time that you’ve gone down this road.” I turned towards the door, and I had my hand on the handle when he gripped my wrist and turned me around.

  “It’s been four years… four years and I ruined it with one stupid mistake. I don’t even know how I can look myself in the mirror. I feel so ashamed that I allowed my past to haunt me into doing something that I haven’t done in four years.” I had no idea what he was talking about, but it appeared to be something that was hurting him inside. “Do you know how hard I worked for those four years? I walked away from a profession that kept me from finding my purpose. I was good at what I did, but I didn’t feel good about it. To kill somebody and to see their eyes is like I am taking a part of their soul.” He was talking in riddles. I didn’t have time for this, but I was going to make the time.

  “I don’t understand, and what does four years have to do with you being some sort of assassin?” I probably shouldn’t have said that. He pushed me back onto the bed, where I lay there with him looking at me like I was some foreign entity to be squashed underneath his shoe “Look, I’m not one to judge and what you do is between you and god. I don’t want to get into the middle of any of this.” I felt like I wasn’t the only one that was running from something. I saw a piece of paper on the night stand. I hadn’t seen it in the dark, but it was flapping from the breeze that was now coming from the half open window.

  “Four years of sobriety flushed down the drain with one drink. I thought that I was through castrating myself for something that I did in the past.” He was looking towards that piece of paper. I picked it up and read the contents to myself. It was a subpoena to appear before a judicial committee against the very commander that had put him through hell in the first place. They wanted his firsthand recollections about how he was forced into killing and torturing those that they needed information from. It didn’t go into vivid detail, but I could see that this had something to do with human rights.

  “I think I understand the reason why you fell off the wagon. You thought that this was behind you, but now you have to dig up the past. It says here that you were supposed to stand in front of the committee yesterday. It also threatens legal action against you if you don’t show up. I’m taking it from the way that you drank yourself into a stupor that you found some other way to occupy your time.” I didn’t even know why I cared, but something compelled me to stick around to see how this was going to play out.

  “I don’t want to relive those days all over again. I don’t have it in me anymore. I’ve cried my last tear over those faces that have haunted my dreams. I’ve learned to live with their condemnation, and the way that they look at me like I am the cause for their family’s dismay. They judge me, and that liquor that I put into my body is my way of executing myself.” I listened and didn’t say anything, because it was not my place to make him feel worse.

  “Lori… Lori… Lori.” I hadn’t told him my name and the sound was not coming from his mouth. I was stunned into silence, as I realized that Timothy had indeed tracked me down.

  Chapter four:

  “I take it that is for you.” I shrank like a violet, until I was down in the fetal position rocking back and forth. “My god, what did this guy do to you to make you feel like you have to hide?” He looked through the curtains, reaching for the nightstand to produce a black revolver that had a sliding clip. “It’s a good thing that you came in here. It looks like he has already busted into your room. I get the feeling he didn’t allow the pesky business of your privacy to get in his way.”

  Timothy had a lot of money at his disposal and he could throw it around to get what he wanted.

  “I can’t let him find me. He’ll kill me and the child.” I touched my stomach, and I reminded myself that this kid needed to survive. “The child is innocent and doesn’t deserve any of this. What’s going on between me and my husband can not bleed into this child. It needs structure and safety, and I don’t think that I’m going to get it from him. He will never accept this child as his own.”

  “I know you’re here. The front desk clerk told me that you checked in last night and didn’t leave. I’m going to find you, and then we’re going to finish this once and for all.” If I could’ve crawled into a hole, I would have done so happily. The only thing separating me from his wrath was a very thin door and a man that looked like he was dealing with a hangover to beat the band. His hand was shaky on the curtain, and he was obviously coming down from a night of debauchery and overindulgence.

  “It’s slowly coming back to me. You and your husband cheated on each other behind each other’s backs. You got pregnant and you tried to make him believe that it was his. Somehow he found out the truth and decided to call you on the carpet. Instead of allowing
you to leave gracefully, he wanted to make sure that you couldn’t say anything to anyone. I’m guessing that he’s the type of overprotective, possessive man that doesn’t take kindly to any kind of betrayal.” My eyes were wide open, and I was hugging my knees. I was begging god to let this end. “You can stay sitting there all day, but it’s not going to change anything.” I could’ve said the same thing to him about the subpoena, but I didn’t really want to throw salt in the wound.

  “I can’t get away from him. He’s going to kill me. It doesn’t matter how much I fight back. You can see him yourself, and he’s more than equipped to make short work of me. If you’re thinking that he’s going to be prosecuted for killing me, then you really don’t know what kind of resources he has. He will call in favors, markers that are from high profile individuals with a lot of clout. It wouldn’t even surprise me if he had the Mayor or the chief of police in his pocket. If I don’t do something, then I’m going to be running for the rest of my life. I can’t constantly look over my shoulder to see myself staring down the barrel of a gun.” I took a deep breath, steeled myself for the confrontation at hand, and got up to face my problems head on.

  I went to the window. I could see that he was throttling a young kid with acne problems. “She wasn’t there. You better tell me what I want to know, or things are going to get ugly in a hurry.” He looked like he hadn’t slept, but he was impeccably dressed, as if he was going into the office. “I’m not going to ask you again.”

  The kid was out of his mind and staring at him like he couldn’t quite believe that this man was threatening him with bodily harm.

  “I gave you her room number. If she’s… not there… there’s nothing that I… can do about it.” He had the kid by his lapels ,and the anger in his eyes was making it very difficult not to run out in defense of the kid.

  “You are useless to me. I’m going to knock down every door in this place until I get my hands on her.” He pushed the kid backwards, and he went into the pool.

  “I can’t swim… for god sakes…. I can’t swim.” He was sputtering, and then he went under, the weight of his clothing pulling him down. He came up two more times, begging with his eyes for somebody to help him, and then suddenly Ian took it upon himself to be the hero in this equation.

  He swung the door open and ran, until he dove headfirst into the pool. His heroic efforts had left me a sitting duck. The door was open, and Timothy was staring at me and pointing. “You are exactly what I’ve been looking for. Let’s see if we can’t finish what we started last night.” I had the forethought to grab the door and slam it closed with the lock in place. I heard his footsteps, and then he was knocking incessantly. “Open up and take your medicine like a good little girl. You are really starting to get on my nerves, Lori.” I saw the gun, and I grabbed it. I held it in my hand like it was a life preserver.

  “I’m asking you to let me go and not to come looking for me. I’m not going to try to take half of your earnings in divorce proceedings. Just leave me and the child alone and let us move past this chapter in my life.” The gun felt good and the steel felt cool against my fingertips. I had my finger on the trigger. I backed away from the door.

  “I would really like to be reasonable, but you have gone too far this time. I’m going to bust down that door, and you are going to die at my hands.” I heard the thumping, and I saw that the door was buckling underneath the pressure of his weight slamming up against it. “I would like to say that this is going to hurt me a lot more than it’s going to hurt you.” He continually beat on it, until it started to splinter. He did not give up and as a last ditch effort, I decided to try and put the nail in his coffin.

  “Don’t say that I didn’t warn you.” The gun went off in my hand, and the power that I felt was like an aphrodisiac. I fired the entire clip of eight shots through that door, letting in pin points of light from the outside. There was only silence, and I thought for sure that I had killed him. I made my way over towards the door, holding my breath and then swung the door open.

  His face had this pale complexion, but he was still standing and looking just as menacing as ever. “Is that… the best that you can do… bitch?” When he talked, blood seeped out of his mouth. “With my last breath, I will end this.” I backed away, and he stumbled forward with his white crisp shirt now crimson. I had no idea how many bullets had actually punctured his body, but at least I could say with some certainty that I did do some damage.

  “Stay away from me.” My hand was shaking on the trigger. I pressed and hoped that there was one left in the chamber. The only thing that I heard were empty clicks and each one made my heart sink a little bit lower.

  He tried to reach for me. I closed my eyes and hoped that it would be over quickly. I had done what I could to survive, but it was to no avail. I felt the cold clammy hand of death on my throat. The gun was swatted out of my hand and any form of resistance had gone out the window with it.

  I heard a thump, and I wasn’t sure what to make of it until I deemed it necessary to open up my eyes. He was on his knees, and Ian was choking him out. Timothy gasped for breath, and then I saw the life in his arms drain away. They fell to his side, and Ian wasn’t letting go.

  “Soldier, I need you to let go. Stand down.” I was using those words that I had heard in several army movies. He looked like he was in his own little world. He finally let go and allowed a gasp of breath to escape Timothy’s lungs.

  He made a call and waited until the police arrived to take our statements. Timothy was taken away in an ambulance, but he was under armed guard. They told me that I would have to testify. I wasn’t looking forward to it, but I was going to do what I had to do to protect myself and this child.

  They left and I turned to Ian. It was time to give him some advice. “I think deep down you want to do the right thing. No matter how much it pains you, you need to tell them how your commander took advantage of you in times of war. If it helps, I will be there with you every step of the way.” In the time that I had been with him, I had grown to care for him. I had no idea where my child’s father was, but I was happy to open up my heart to another. He grabbed my hand and then he kissed me like you would see in those movies where the hero got the girl.

  “It would be my honor to have you stand with me, and I will do the same thing for you against your husband.” We had found each other in a world that seemed like it was unforgiving. We were both lost and by finding each other we had a new lease on life.

  It was going to be a long road, but one that we would hold on to each other for support through the entire thing. My child would have a father. Ian was a man that knew what it was to have responsibility thrust on his shoulders. “I’m not sure, but I believe that I might be in love with you.” This took me a little aback, but I threw my arms around him and I was never going to let go.

  Chapter five:

  I looked to him and I wasn’t sure, but I believed that I felt the same way. There was still one major stumbling block. “I want to say that we have a future. I’ve never believed in love at first sight, but you’ve proven that sometimes you don’t know what you’ve got until you have it standing right in front of you.” I felt this intimate connection. I had wanted to touch him for some time. “I can’t promise you anything beyond right now. I need to find my baby’s father. You might think I’m foolish for trying to find him, especially after he didn’t stick around long enough to find out he was going to be a father.”

  “Lori, I understand that you feel an obligation to let him know. That way he can decide, one way or the other, if he wants to be a part of this child’s life or not. I think that I might be able to help you out. I have a lot of connections in the military community that might be able to track him down.” He really didn’t have to do that, but I think he understood that this was not about love. “I find you very delectable, and I would love the opportunity to explore your curves.” He made me feel like I was a princess and the only woman in the world.

  “I don
’t know why you would even want to be around me after I brought you into something that was none of your business. Most men in your position would turn tail and run away from the kind of baggage that I bring to the table. Not only do I have to deal with an irate rich husband, but I also have a baby with no father.” I felt alone. He wrapped his hands around my waist and held me close to his body. He placed my head on his shoulder. He allowed me the time to collect my thoughts and try to get things settled in my own head.

  “I don’t know what to tell you. Everybody has baggage. We might have a bit more than some that are currently in the dating pool. I’m sure that if any guy or girl got a wind of our baggage, they would want to jump out of that pool as fast as possible.” I felt his hands slinking a little bit lower on my shoulders, until he was at the small my back and making me swoon to his touch.

  I suddenly felt a breeze, and I looked down to see that my clothing had mysteriously started to vanish with his eager and nimble fingers. I looked up to him surprised, thinking of him as some kind of Houdini. He shrugged with this smirk of innocence on his face.

  “I get the idea that this is not the first time that you’ve seduced a woman. I didn’t even know that you did that. I’m standing in front of you with only frilly undergarments on.” I was thankful that I wasn’t wearing granny panties. This was from one of my collections, and to say that it was having the desired results would be a vast understatement.