Page 58 of Married to My Master

Dane chuckled and let her go, releasing his arm from her neck. “Sorry about that. Need them to think I'm for real.”

“Would've fooled me,” she said, tapping her foot as they rose higher through the steel-and-glass tower of corrupt capitalism. “So, what the hell are you doing here?”

“Try to get Edward to admit to everything,” he said with a shrug. “Honestly, I was just doing it to get the cops away from Emily, in case they started shooting.” He wiped a hand down his face, exhausted from the events of the already-full day. “Never thought I'd make it this far, to tell you the truth.”

“You know,” she said, looking up at him. “You two are pretty sweet. When, you know, you're not kidnapping her on national television.”

Dane grunted and shrugged. “I've really made a mess of this, haven't I?”

“Well, you can't make a multinational corporate omelet without breaking a few eggs.”

The elevator buzzed again as they reached the empty top floor. Jas gave him quick directions to Edward's office and assured him he'd probably still be in there. “Every time we have a fire drill, he just stays in there on his computer. He never believes anything is real.”

Dane thanked her, stepped off the elevator, and stopped when she called his name.

“Yeah?” he asked, as he turned back to her.

“Good luck,” she said, smiling warmly as the elevator door closed. As the doors shut he faintly heard her cell phone begin to ring.

He headed off through the maze of cubicles, following her directions to a T, and went straight for Edward's office. He stepped through the door, pistol in his hand.

“Well, you're a little early, aren't you,” Edward asked, his voice barely surprised, “Mr. Bishop?”

The head of sales for BioSphere was sitting at his desk, a large over-stuffed duffel bag pushed in front of him, and a pistol in his hands.

Dane glanced from Edward's face to the pistol he was holding, then turned back around and closed the door, locking it. He turned back around and lowered his gun. “Relax, Edward,” he soothed, “I'm not here to hurt you. I just want my money and the truth about Emily West. Was that bitch behind Hymalete, or not?”

Edward didn't respond at first, but Dane thought he saw the beginnings of a smile at the corner of his lips. It couldn't have just been a trick of the light, though, because when Dane focused back in on the reaction, it was gone. This one had a good poker face, that was certain.

“Believe me,” Dane said, “I've had the woman on ice for the last day, and I don't know how the fuck you've put up with it, man. Cold, frigid, and mean. The way she looks at you like you're lower than the low, and she's just some fucking woman who got where she is because of her rich mommy's money and fame. You should've seen her face the first time I spanked her.”

Edward smiled a little more obviously now. It was still subtle, but it was definitely there.

“What about you two?” Dane asked.

“About us two?” Edward asked. “What do you mean?”

“You ever . . .” he waggled his eyebrows. “. . . you know?”

“Us?” Edward asked, arching one brow. “Fuck, no. Couldn't even get her to join us for a drink at company parties.”

“Sorry, Edward, you missed out,” Dane grinned. “Turns out she really likes it rough. Took her a while to figure that out, though. Had her begging for it by the end, though.”

“You . . . really?”

Dane laughed. “Absolutely, man. You think I chose to take her hostage for her stunning personality? Nah, I wanted see if I could get the Ice Queen to thaw out. And man, once I got a little heat in her, turned out she was insatiable. Her cunt went from a deep-freeze to a hot spring.”

Edward grinned, letting himself join in on the sick parody of fun. It hurt Dane to talk about Emily this way, to demean her when she wasn't around, but he needed Edward to think he and Dane were on the same side, at least partially.

“Almost got her to admit what she'd done,” Dane continued, coming around the desk a little bit as he stuffed his gun back in shoulder holster. “But I had to move on this kidnapping thing before people got suspicious and came looking for her. I was this close.” He held up his right hand with his two fingers half an inch separated.

“Well,” Edward said, swinging around to track him a little more closely with his pistol. “She'll never break down. Not on everything. But, between you and me, I've seen the files, and I remember it like it was yesterday. She's the one who pushed Hymalete out so hard. Said we needed to boost the revenue for her first quarterly meeting.” He paused and looked around. “You didn't bring her with you? I hadn't heard that on the news. Did you . . . you know?”

Dane feigned mock disbelief that Edward would think he was a murderer. “Did I what? Kill her? I left her back at the house, as part of our agreement. I just came for the money.”

“Well, frankly, I don't care if you brought her with you or buried her in the basement. I mean, it's a drop in the bucket, right? And, besides, it's not my money. Hell, we've got insurance for a reason.”

The Air Force vet laughed. “I like the way you think, Edward,” he said, grinning wolfishly and tapping an index finger to his temple. “You're a smart man.”

---