He walked back into the bedroom and looked in his closet. To his relief, he saw a new set of clothes for the following day. He left them there, shut the light, and crawled into bed. It had been a trying day, so he felt himself quickly fading.
He heard the click of his door opening and came instantly awake. The door closed, and he saw someone approach. In the dim light, he couldn’t see who it was.
“Who’s there?” he growled, and the figure stopped.
“It’s Yvonne,” she said timidly.
Ben sat up, overly conscious that he wasn’t wearing anything under the sheets. “Yvonne, what are you doing in my room?”
“I-I thought… maybe I could sleep here tonight?” she said, unsure of herself.
“As I told Kaan, I don’t have sex with strangers.” He paused as he recalled the times he’d broken that rule. He gave his head a shake. “Anymore, that is. And we don’t know each other.”
“Please, Ben, I’m still shaken by what I did to Ulrich. I can’t sleep!” she pleaded pitifully.
He scowled into the darkness. “That isn’t such a good idea.”
She paused then her voice became bitter. “Noah told you, didn’t he!”
“Nobody told me anything. I didn’t ask because I don’t need to know,” Ben snapped, annoyed by her tone.
She went silent again, but she also didn’t leave. Then her voice came out of the darkness again. “Please?”
He clenched his teeth in frustration as his inner voice told him to help her. He wasn’t sure that voice could be trusted anymore. “I’m… not dressed,” he said wearily, knowing he’d let her into his bed.
He heard the soft flutter of clothes dropping to the floor, then she slipped under the sheets with him.
Her soft yet firm body pressed against his, and she felt so damn good. His adolescent libido immediately woke, and his cock began to swell. He tried to force that impulse down.
When her hand began sliding up his leg, he had to put a stop to that. “No! If you want to sleep here, there will be no sex!”
“You’re not married,” her voice said in the dark.
He sighed. “No, I’m not.”
“You have many girlfriends. You have sex with them?” she asked timidly.
He tried to see her eyes but could only make out a slight reflection of light in them. “Yes, but they’re in my heart as well. Listen, you can sleep here, but sex is not an option. I don’t think it’s what you need right now anyway. Get some rest.”
She was still for a moment, then she kissed his chest and settled in against him. He was right. She was out and breathing softly across his chest in under a minute.
Ben and his stupid teenage dick took much longer to fall asleep.
-=-
Kaan was stewing in his private office. The cameras in Ben’s suite were offline. No video and no audio. His first impulse was to storm into his room with several guards and have them stun him into unconsciousness once more.
He forced that impulse down as his research on the man had proven most illuminating.
Ben was very wealthy. Much richer than he’d let on. He also owed Kaan for that loss in the casino, regardless of his claim that it was simple luck.
Then there was the fact that Ben appeared to have ties to the US Military. He was doing work for them. Some of those inventions he was boasting about at dinner were likely things he’d done for them.
He’d reached out to his contacts in Russia to see if there was any interest in him and was immediately informed of the bounty on Ben’s head.
Kaan was sitting on a goldmine. Ben was wildly rich. The Russians wanted Ben. The US Military wanted him too. Playing these interests against each other could yield the largest ransom Kaan had ever received! He could jettison the bothersome Princess Zama at any time.
His desk buzzed, and he glared at it for interrupting his dreams of riches. He pressed the intercom. “What?”
“Sir! We received a potentially disturbing message,” Kaan’s communications officer said hesitantly.
“Potentially disturbing? What’s the matter with you? Speak plainly!” Kaan snapped.
The man grunted quietly. “Apologies. Our contact in Gibraltar reported a US aircraft carrier passed through the strait.”
Kaan waited, but that seemed to be the extent of the message. “And?” he snapped.
“… and it was moving at its maximum velocity. Could they be searching for us?” the man asked.
“An aircraft carrier? Searching for us-” Kaan froze. The US Military wanted Ben back. It might not be a coincidence after all.
“Heading?”
“They reported it was headed due west and did not appear to be turning south toward Morocco.”
Kaan relaxed a little. His yacht was currently running at half speed, heading north. If the carrier was rushing back to the States at top speed, they would cross Kaan’s intended path a full day before the yacht reached that location.
“Call the Gibraltar contact and have them dispatch a spotter to see if it diverts its course.”
The comm officer was quiet for a moment. “Sir, they won’t chase a US aircraft carrier.”
Kaan resisted the urge to yell at the man. It would yield him nothing as he was probably correct. “Tell the captain I want us running at ten knots for the rest of the night and run silent and dark.”
“Yes, sir!”
Kaan hung up and watched the shutters close on the windows all around his private suite. Then he looked back at his screen. It seemed extremely unlikely that an aircraft carrier would be put into service to track one man. What else had Ben invented for them? Maybe he had additional value.
He pushed those thoughts out of his mind and turned his attention to his latest acquisition, two dozen latest-generation surface-to-air missiles. It had been particularly difficult obtaining them, and his crew had to execute the team who originally smuggled them from the armory to cut the trail. It wouldn’t do to have the authorities trace the sellers to him. He had buyers lined up for them, hence his northern course. He’d have to work on the best option for unloading them quickly and safely as they were very hot.
Hours later, his intercom chirped again. He rubbed his bleary eyes. “What?”
“Sir, one of your guests has been found in the club, dead.”
The voice belonged to one of his security team. “What? Who?”
“Noah Pearce. It appears he took an overdose.”
“Fuck! Hang on, I’ll be right there,” Kaan snapped. He locked his computer and headed down the stairs to the dance club. Three security men were there, two guiding the three young addicts out of the other side of the club while the third waited by the body of the dead politician.
Kaan stared down into Noah’s vacant eyes. He then aimed a puzzled look at the guard. “We didn’t give Lars access to any of the truly potent drugs. How did this one manage to overdose?
The man pointed to the empty gin and vodka bottles. “He must have drunk these first, then he ingested a handful of the pills we gave to Mikkelsson. That would be enough to stop his heart.”
“Dammit! It would have been useful to have the politician in my pocket. Dispose of the body by the rear hatch. I’ll have to let the others know in the morning.”
The two guards returned from upstairs, and the third gestured for them to come over to help him with the body as Kaan turned and walked away to return to his level.
Since Ben had been under his roof, there’d been two deaths. Maybe the man was bad luck.
When he reached the small, tiled room at the back of his level, he heard a little squeak of fear. He walked over to the naked woman he had chained to the wall. She was one of his most recent acquisitions. The other one was currently working very well as one of his companions, but this one proved to be too willful. So, he chose to train her personally. A month of minimal rations and water, with daily disciplining sessions, had worked wonders. What began as an entitled western whore was now a compliant, submissive fuck-toy. She was almost ready for sale. Tall, pretty blondes of her quality fetched top dollar with his desert nomad friends. Or he could sell her to his contacts over in the UAE. They were always looking for new talent.
Tonight, Kaan just didn’t have it in him to take her through her training. The deaths of his guests, the loss of revenue and opportunities those events created, and Ben’s defiance in the face of danger all put him off his game. Kaan had to be dominant in all interactions, and Ben wouldn’t submit. Even when he followed orders, Kaan could tell Ben was choosing to do so because it suited him. He rubbed the back of his neck to ease the tension.
He pulled up the cheap plastic deck chair he used in his training sessions and smiled as she recognized it. He dropped himself in it to stare at the woman who watched him nervously. She could tell something was different. He snorted at the thought, and she twitched.
“We have a special guest on my yacht. He wasn’t what I expected he’d be, but I do enjoy a challenge, as you are well aware,” he said with a sly grin. She visibly shivered as she looked away.
“Ben Shepherd.”
He watched her body language closely after he dropped the name. His eyes widened, and rage flooded through him as he caught the signs of her relaxing ever so slightly. So, just knowing he was nearby gave her comfort? He had a sudden urge to beat her unconscious, but he’d just be robbing himself of yet another payout. Ben had already cost him enough.
That thought pushed Kaan beyond his ability to remain still. He leaped to his feet, spun to grab the back of the chair, and smashed it against the tile floor. The plastic exploded into pieces, and the bitch screamed in terror.
Kaan stood before her, panting as she cried and shook. Her fear helped ease his rage, and he allowed himself to relax. He walked over to the console on the wall and called his security team to bring one of the companions up to his level to clean the mess. He leaned against the wall watching the bitch shivering uncontrollably.
It was better than fine brandy for relaxing his tension.
He felt his world slipping back into a state of order.
It would be completely set right once he’d dealt with Ben.