Lovely Revenge Read online

  LOVELY REVENGE

  AN L.A. GIRLS ROMANCE NOVEL

  Julia Derek

  Published by Adrenaline Books

  Copyright © 2014 by Julia Derek

  This is a work of fiction. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  Published as an e-book March 2014 by Adrenaline Books.

  To find out more about the author, visit JuliaDerek.com

  Cover design by Melody Simmons at Ebook Indie Covers

  MORE JULIA DEREK BOOKS

  THE L.A. GIRLS ROMANCE SERIES (New Adult)

  Trigger

  Love Cursed

  Undercover Lovers

  Lovely Revenge

  THE SMILEY KILLER SERIAL (Young Adult)

  Part One

  Part Two

  Part Three

  To receive notices about my new releases, email me at [email protected]. Please put the words NEW RELEASE in the subject heading and your name in the actual email.

  “Those who plot the destruction of others often perish in the attempt.”

  — Thomas Moore

  Chapter One

  The light hurt my eyes as I opened them. I blinked a couple of times, rubbing my eyelids to make the drowsiness go away. My head felt weird, like it was packed with something mushy and fluffy that pushed against my skull, producing a dull pain. I licked my lips, my mouth dry. Beyond my feet I spotted a wooden footboard that surely was part of a bed. But my bed didn’t have a footboard.

  Whose bed am I in?

  Sensing that someone was looking at me, I turned my head in that direction. What I saw removed the remainder of my drugged state of mind and I was wide awake, staring at the person. Chase Ewing, one of the most annoying men on earth who also happens to be my boss, sat on a chair next to the bed I was lying in. Wearing a charcoal suit, a black dress shirt and yellow tie, he was leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees while contemplating me. He smiled at me, but the smile as usual didn’t reach his eyes, making it look more like a smirk.

  “So you’re finally awake,” he said matter-of-factly. “I thought you’d never wake up.”

  I pushed myself up into a sitting position and glanced around the big room we were in, noticing that I was wearing work clothes—a pale pink blouse, a black pencil skirt, and heels. The room’s off-white walls were decorated with several large posters, some featuring seventies’ stars and others impressive New York City panoramas. The two large windows with the frilly, short curtains were covered with something from the outside—shutters maybe—effectively blocking out the world. I looked up into the ceiling and spotted a light fixture above me adorned with fake-looking crystals. The stark way in which the tacky thing lit up the room suggested the person who had inserted the light bulb there didn’t realize the wattage was too high.

  My gaze returned to Chase, who was still staring at me with his cool, dark gray eyes.

  “Where am I?” I demanded. “And what am I doing here?”

  He didn’t answer, just kept looking at me.

  The thought that we somehow had ended up having sex and that I’d passed out afterward entered my mind. He might be a jerk, but he was a hot jerk. Maybe I had gotten drunk out of my mind somewhere and let him seduce me. As much as I hated the idea of this, I had to admit to myself that, while extremely odd, it was possible, especially considering the faint, hangover-like pounding in my head. But I didn’t think that was the case—unless Chase had dressed me after we were done. He wasn’t that nice, nor did it make much sense for him to have done so in the first place.

  “Would you please tell me what’s going on here?” I asked again.

  He shrugged his shoulders. “I’m waiting for you to tell me.”

  I glared at him, now even more awake. “Huh? Are you kidding me? You’re the one sitting on a chair staring at me.”

  “Well, that’s because I was waiting for you to wake up and tell me what the hell is going on,” Chase replied, glaring back at me. “One of the men who had me taken away at gun point and brought to this room said you knew when I asked him.”

  I gasped in shock. “What? You were taken away at gun point?” This just had got to be some kind of a joke. Unfunny in that case, I might add.

  “Yes, I was.” The stony set of his features remained the same.

  “Really? So you’re saying someone… abducted you?”

  He raised a brow, taking me in like he thought I was not very bright now. It didn’t surprise me; it wasn’t exactly the first time I’d seen that expression on his face. “It does kinda seem like it, don’t you think?” he said, narrowing his eyes as he took a closer look at me. “Are you telling me you don’t know what this is all about?”

  I huffed, annoyed. “Um, excuse me. I know you don’t like me, but please, give me a little credit. No, I don’t know what’s going on here.” I suddenly didn’t care that the man opposite me was my boss and that I probably should control my temper around him some more; the fact that he thought I had something to do with him supposedly being abducted pissed me off way too much. “Do you think I’m so desperate to get into your pants that I’d have you kidnapped and brought straight to my bed or something?” I wished I could remember how I’d ended up here in the first place, so I could inform the smug jerk accusing me of the worst kinds of actions what was really going on. “I mean, come on. Would I be lying here sleeping if that was the case?”

  That know-it-all expression disappeared from Chase’s face and was replaced by a more humble one. He cleared his throat. “Well, I guess that’s a bit odd.”

  I scowled. “A bit? Obviously I have nothing to do with this… abduction of yours.” I didn’t believe that he’d actually been abducted. It just sounded way too outlandish. He must be making it up, though why I couldn’t figure out. Well, I’m sure he had his reasons… Oh, if only I could remember what I was doing here myself!

  “Really? But why would that guy tell me you had something to do with it then?”

  I rolled my eyes. He was obviously not going to let this bad lie go.

  “I don’t know,” I said. “But I can assure you that I have nothing to do with you being here. Now please tell me what’s going on. I don’t really believe you were taken away at gun point.” There, I’d said it.

  Chase laughed without joy and shook his head. “Do you think I’d lie about something like that?”

  I wanted to blurt out that I absolutely thought he’d lie about something like that, but something inside me put a brake on my anger with him then. Even if this situation was extremely questionable, it was probably better if I didn’t completely let myself go and puke out all the issues I had with him. So instead I crossed my arms over my chest and gazed at him calmly. Humoring him was a better way to get to the bottom of this.

  “Okay, maybe you’re not lying,” I said slowly. “In that case, please tell me in more detail what happened to you since you seem to be well aware how you ended up here. Unlike me.”

  Chase rubbed his nicely shaped jaw and considered me for a long, quiet moment. “About two hours ago, I was leaving my apartment to pick up something at the drugstore before heading to work. As I was about to enter Duane Reade, two guys in baseball hats and dark shades were suddenly flanking me. One of them shoved what felt like a gun in my side and told me he’d shoot if I didn’t get into the van that was parked a few yards away. I didn’t think it was smart to argue with him, so I went into the vehicle. In the loading area and the two guys came with me.”

  He was doing a fine job of expanding this lie, I couldn’t help but think. He hadn’t blinked once while telling it to me, just kept staring at me with those cool eyes. “And this was happening in broad daylight?” I aske
d.

  “Yeah. As soon as the last guy shut the door, the van took off. I kept asking them what the hell was going on, but they told me to shut up or they’d kill me. The other guy pulled out his gun and pointed it at me, too. Since they were both armed now, I thought it was best to shut up for a while. We kept driving for forty-five minutes or so and then we were at this house.”

  I stared at him. He just couldn’t be telling me the truth.

  “We’re in a house?” I asked lightly, still playing along. “Hmm. And are there other houses nearby?”

  “Yeah. Plenty. It looks like we’re somewhere in Queens or maybe Brooklyn. In a bad area. Anyway, they took me into the house and up to the second floor where this room is. When I saw you lying on the bed, I was shocked, naturally. I asked why you were there and that’s when the guy suggested that you knew what was going on. They told me to sit on the chair and not to attempt to wake you or they’d blow my head off. Then they locked the door and left. Since I wasn’t sure if they were watching me with a camera or something, I thought it was best to just wait for you to wake up. Which you did fairly quickly fortunately. Otherwise, I’d have tried to wake you anyway.”

  I was about to tell Chase that I’d had enough of whatever prank he was trying to pull on me when a vague memory entered my head. Something about me getting into my apartment after work and finding it completely trashed. I sat up a little straighter, trying to zero in on the memory, make it become clearer. It remained fuzzy, feeling like it was just a dream. Still, it made me think there was a chance Chase had told me the truth after all. My skin prickled with goose bumps and I felt chilly suddenly. “You know what? I think I might have been abducted too.”

  He drew in a sharp inhale. “Really? What makes you think that?”

  I told him about my fuzzy memory. As soon as I’d finished, another memory flashed through my mind, one in which I could recall the distinct feeling of something wet and cold being placed over the lower part of my face. It happened while I was standing in the middle of my trashed apartment, wondering if someone had broken into it and what they must have been searching for. I doubted a tornado had gone through my place, creating all this mess.

  “What are you thinking?” Chase asked, gazing at me with an almost concerned face now.

  “I’m trying to figure out why my place was trashed when I got home yesterday and who put a cold piece of cloth over my mouth, choking me.”

  He stiffened and his eyes widened slightly. “Your place was trashed when you got home?”

  “As far as I can remember, yes.”

  “And someone drugged you?”

  “I guess that’s what they must have done.”

  “Is that all you can remember?” His voice was tense.

  I thought hard, trying to provoke my mind to produce more memories. But it didn’t work. “For now, yes.”

  “So you don’t know exactly when this happened to you? Yesterday afternoon? Last evening? In the middle of the night?”

  I shook my head no. “No.” I tried my hardest to remember anything else from when I’d entered my place. All that came back to me was that I had been super irritated for some reason in that moment. Before I saw what had happened to my apartment. My irritation had something to do with work. “All I can remember is that something named Chatta was making me mad.”

  Chase lit up. “Ah,” he nodded. “Chattanooga James. You were mad about him during our early lunch meeting yesterday. My guess is that what happened to you took place not long after that meeting then. You seemed very mad when you left it.”

  Chattanooga James. It all came back to me now, the meeting our department had had regarding this particular investor and how I hadn’t wanted to work with him because I thought he was a total sleezebag. Well, I hadn’t used that exact word, but I still think I’d gotten my point across. Chase and I had exchanged some heated words regarding what I thought was Chattanooga’s questionable business procedures and how I’d thought our company shouldn’t be involved with someone as unethical as this person. I raised my chin and glared at Chase, unable to push back the fury that suddenly returned to me at the thought of Chattanooga James and what he was all about. “He’s such a bad guy. I can’t believe you want to work with this person. Doesn’t his involvement with child labor bother you one bit?”

  Again, Chase looked at me like there was something seriously wrong with my brain. “Yes, it does, but do you really think this is the time to discuss that? Shouldn’t we instead try to figure out why we’re here and what the hell’s going on? Why someone drugged you and trashed your place and then abducted me the following day?”

  Yeah, I guess I couldn’t argue with that. Even though, strangely, the sudden rush of fear that had filled me at the thought of being abducted had left me almost as quickly as it had attacked me. Except for the fact that my mouth was dry and that I had a mild headache, I felt quite cozy. The bed I was lying in was big and soft and nice-smelling, and the room we were in had a…friendly feel to it for lack of a better word. Not at all the kind I’d imagine mean kidnappers would take their victims to. The reason the shutters were closed might very well be because someone had forgotten to open them this morning before running off to work.

  Maybe this new state of mind had something to do with the fact that I was still waiting to discover that I’d been punk’d by people at work or something. Any second now, they’d all come running through the bedroom door behind Chase and laugh their asses off at my expense. Tell me they’d filmed it all. Tomorrow this would be on YouTube for the entire world to enjoy. The more I considered the idea that I had simply been punk’d, the more it seemed that this must be the case. Now that I thought about it, Tessa and Jacob, two of my coworkers, loved practical jokes. How they’d managed to convince Chase of all people to be part of it was a mystery of course, but I was confident the answer to that would soon reveal itself.

  I gazed at Chase, searching his face for clues that this was all just a big, bad, highly intricate joke, like I’d first assumed. But he was still looking at me like I was just an extremely slow person. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a door that seemed to lead into a bathroom. I needed a drink of water before I could decide what to do next.

  Ignoring Chase, I pushed myself out of the bed and walked over to the bathroom door and opened it. There was a small bathroom hiding behind the door with the most hideous shower curtain I’d ever seen hanging in front of the bathtub. It was frilly like the curtains in the bedroom, but instead of just having one row of frills, this one had about ten colored in every imaginable shade of pink. Trying not to look at the monstrosity, I walked up to the white porcelain sink and turned on the faucet. I cupped my hand under the cool water and gathered some that I drank. When I was satisfied, I returned to the bedroom and Chase, hoping to find that he had finally lightened up a little, suggesting that this was all just a big and very bad practical joke after all.

  But his face still seemed like it was carved in stone—serious and immobile, the skin ashen. Had it been that color before? I couldn’t be sure. Maybe it was just the stark light coming from above that made him seem so pallid. Or maybe he wasn’t feeling well.

  “Are you all right?” I asked him and stopped beside the chair he was sitting on.

  “I’m fine,” he said, his voice tight. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”

  “Because it seems you don’t understand the predicament we’re in.”

  I raised an eyebrow as I took him in. “You mean that you and Tessa and the rest have decided to punk me for some inexplicable reason?”

  Finally there was some life in his face and his eyes flashed. “Why the hell would I ever do something like that?”

  I shrugged. “Don’t know. But I’m sure you have your reasons.”

  He laughed, incredulous. “And I’m now even more sure your mother’s friendship with Steinberg is the only reason you ever got hired.”

  I stared at him. So I had been right in
suspecting that he thought I was the product of nepotism then… For the longest time I hadn’t wanted to believe that. Not when I had accomplished so much in the short time I’d worked at the firm and it was all in my resume. I had always thought my resume spoke for itself. How disappointing to learn that Goldman Sachs hired and promoted people as resentful as I now knew Chase must be. Steinberg was the current head of the firm’s investment banking division and one of Chase’s superiors. As it was, my mother did know Steinberg, but that wasn’t why I had first been hired at the firm back at the L.A office. In fact, I hadn’t even mentioned the connection during any of my hiring interviews because I’d wanted to be sure that I was hired based on my own efforts and accomplishments in life so far. But I had a feeling Chase would never believe that.

  I opened my mouth to at least try to enlighten him, but the heavy footfalls that suddenly approached the bedroom made me pause. Chase and I both turned toward the door as someone stuck a key into the lock and moved it around.

  Chapter Two

  A huge man in a long, black leather coat became visible in the doorway. A black ski mask covered his face and head like an oversized sock with holes cut out for the mouth and the eyes. He held a handgun that he was pointing in our direction. I gasped loudly and took a step backward, away from the door, tripping over Chase’s legs. He caught me before I could fall and hurt myself.

  So Chase had been telling the truth all along then… My heart was suddenly pounding like a machine gun embedded in my chest and my throat had tightened with terror. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God.

  The man put a big bottle of water on the little stool placed next to where he was standing, then emptied a plastic grocery bag onto the hardwood floor. A few protein bars and a bunch of bananas came out of the bag, producing faint thuds as they landed on the floor before me and Chase. The items rolled forward, bouncing a little before stopping right beneath our feet. As the man was about to close the door, Chase opened his mouth. “Would you please tell us what’s going on? Why are we here? What do you want from us?”