Chapter Twelve

Charlie pulled into our driveway and I heard the snickering of my future wife. Oh, how I wish I could spank the living hell out of her now!

“Your surprise for me is taking me back home?” Via wondered with a little giggle. “Oh, my goodness, I am so overwhelmed! Oh baby, you shouldn’t have!”

I playfully rolled my eyes at her smart mouth. “My mother, father, Jason, and Samantha will be joining us for a celebration dinner tonight.”

She stared at me in confusion. “What celebration?”

“Our engagement, of course, and the fact you are still alive is a factor. If this had been the case, we would be rejoicing more often than necessary. You are a bit too accident prone.” I escorted her into the house.

“I resent your smart comment, Mister Rayner!” she replied, smacking my ass and running to the bedroom.

Strolling into the bedroom, I witnessed Via’s naked figure walking to the bathroom and turning on the shower.

“I have something to tell you, but I don’t want you getting mad at me,” I told her as I stood in the doorway of the bathroom.

Stepping into the shower, she turned her head and let the water splash her body.

“I have this strange feeling that Jennifer slipped me a roofie last night.” I stood there waiting for her reaction.

“Did she do anything else to you?”

Shrugging, I ran my fingers through my hair. “I can’t remember a fucking thing except being at the bar with Marcus!”

“We will discuss this later.” She began rinsing the shampoo out of her hair.

Shit! Damn! Fuck! I hope she isn’t pissed at me!

* * * *

“Olivia, how are the other plans coming along with Samantha?” My mother broke the silence at the dining table.

Via nodded her head with excitement. “The rings have been chosen, as well as my gown, the bridesmaid dresses, and Ryan’s tuxedo. The clothes are taken care of, so nobody will be running around naked.”

I nearly choked on my wine from trying not to burst out laughing. “That could still be debated, Miss Johnson.”

Samantha held up her hand as if to silence us. “Alright, save it for the honeymoon.”

Before anyone else said a single word, Charlie stepped into the room. “Excuse Mister Rayner, a Miss Jennifer Davis to see you sir.”

Via narrowed her eyes while Samantha smiled in her direction. My brother looked like he had just swallowed his tongue.

I smiled at Jennifer when she came into the room. “Good evening, Miss Davis.”

She looked angry as she folded her arms. “Don’t give me your line of bullshit, Ryan. I received your nasty e-mail this morning. How in the hell could you even believe I had anything to do with what happened to Via?”

Out of the corner of my eye, I observed Via giving Samantha a desperate pleading expression.

I stood up. “Now is not the time, Jennifer. You have always been so bad with timing.”

Jennifer looked around at everyone ruefully. “I’m sorry for ruining your meal, everyone. I need to borrow Ryan for a few minutes.”

She dragged me out of the room by the collar of my shirt and didn’t stop until we were in a different room. “What in the hell is going on with you, Ryan? You know damn fucking well that I had nothing to do with this!”

Small murmurs escaped from the other room as I shook my head. “What else am I supposed to believe when you show up here after five years shortly after I get engaged? On top of that, you slipped something in my drink last night!”

Jennifer strolled up to me, pressing her ear against mine. “You seemed to enjoy every bit of it last night, baby,” she informed me, slapping my face.

“Ryan, please wait. Jennifer didn’t do this.” Samantha appeared into the room. “I did it. I hired the men to kidnap Via because I wanted you all to myself.”

Jennifer’s jaw just about hit the floor as the both of us gaped at her. I felt my blood beginning to boil. I was so pissed I couldn’t even speak.

Samantha shook her head. “Look Ryan, I would explain everything if I could, but I can’t because I cannot talk about my past.”

She looked over at Jennifer and back at Via with sympathy written in her eyes. “I know how to see myself out.”

“Hold it!” I yelled, sensing she had been lying through her teeth.

I glared at her. “Who are you really protecting, Samantha?”

She pursed her lips together as if to keep from talking.

She sighed. “My name isn’t Samantha Benson. It’s Madison White.” Grabbing a hold of the top of her head, she pulled back her blond wig and revealed a dark brown shade with highlights the color of purple.

“I’m an FBI agent tracking how our dear Mister Martinez ran his operations. After he was sent to prison, he was still arranging orders for break-ins and whatever else he could order out of his servants. The day of the hearing, and after your confrontation with Mister Martinez, was when I knew that he would find some way to attack, so to speak.”

Madison White, I repeated her name in my head. I went to high school with a Madison White. Holy shit! She is the fucking same girl! “Miss White, if you knew who the perpetrator was, why couldn’t you come forward to me with this information?”

“I was not allowed to blow my cover. He threw me off a bit when he had those men come and take Via. In my stupidity, I assumed he would have tracked you down in Alaska,” she began to explain.

“He was tracking you the same way he had been keeping tabs on Samantha Benson, our cell phones. The initial plan was for the men to grab me, but they took Via instead due to an instant change in the order from Mister Boss Man himself.”

My mind was completely blown away by this point. “How does all of this explain Jennifer being here?”

Madison grinned as if I had just asked her the simplest question known to man. “You were catching on to Mister Martinez at a fast pace. For your protection, along with Miss Johnson’s, I had no choice but to make a quick call to Miss Davis. It was cruel of me to do, but it had to be done.”

“What if Mister Martinez sends somebody else to attack?” Via walked closer, wrapping her arms around me.

Madison shook her head. “They wouldn’t have the chance. Your house was put under our watchful eye since the day of the kidnapping. There hasn’t been any activity yet, but we never know when he will try to make a move again.”

My mind flooded with worry and questions. “How can you be so sure this is Martinez? What is it that I need to do to keep her safe?”

“No more last second business trips would help. My team and I can handle the rest, Mister Rayner. Charlie and I have been working on this case non-stop. This is something right up his alley,” Madison informed me with a friendly smile.

She looked at Via. “What I said about my mother making dresses is true, but since I couldn’t get a hold of her, I went ahead and scheduled you for a fitting a La Belle Reve for tomorrow afternoon.”

Via smiled at her. “Thank you. So Jennifer knew that you were a FBI agent the entire time?”

“Yes I did. I have not been allowed to speak a single word about anything because I couldn’t risk blowing Madison’s cover.” Jennifer smiled at Via, but smirked in my direction. “How could I refuse an offer to get under Ryan’s skin?”

“Is everything alright, son?” my father questioned as he and my mother strolled into the room.

He took too long of a glance at Samantha, now Madison. “Were you just a blond a few seconds ago?”

Madison politely smiled. “As much as I would love to fill you in, Ryan can take over from here. I must be getting home. I have a kitty to go feed.” She looked at Charlie and grinned. “Would you mind walking me out, kind sir?”

Charlie escorted her outside with a bewildered expression on his face.

I sensed everyone’s eyes on me as Madison left, wondering if anyone else caught on to her sexual innuendo at Charlie.

“Are you going to tell us what happened?” my mother chimed in, probably not able to take the silence any longer.

I shrugged as I ran my fingers through my hair. “Someone is pissed I put them in jail. I have a feeling he will not be bothering us anymore.”

Jason couldn’t take his eyes off Jennifer even if he tried.

I would have been jealous and mad as hell a few months ago. There was no fucking way I would have allowed him to even so much as talk to an ex-submissive of mine. Since Via had come along, though, the way I thought about things had changed. I almost blubbered today as my wife-to-be bestowed the ring on my finger. As I felt the weight of it for a few brief moments, I knew I would never want anything more than to be married to her. She pulled me out of the darkness I had been living in for so many years. I held on to her a little tighter as I looked at Jason and then over to Jennifer.

“Jen, this is my brother Jason. Jason, this is Jennifer Davis, an old friend of mine.”

Via coughed, passing it off as clearing her throat. I stared down at her and recognized what was going through her mind.

“She is an old friend my ass,” she whispered into my ear.

* * * *

Charlie and I waited in the car as Via and Madison went into the dress shop for their appointment. There was no way in hell I was going to step foot in that shop. Besides, I didn’t want to see my bride wearing her dress until I gazed down the aisle at her.

“So, you and Madison are an item now, huh?”

Charlie looked back through the rearview mirror at me and politely smiled. “I guess you could say that, sir.”

I opened the back door and stepped outside to stretch my legs. Waiting on a woman was a long and agonizing process. Now Charlie and I were waiting on two, and they are shopping for a wedding gown! This should simply take about three, maybe twelve, hours knowing my Via and her indecisiveness.

I fished my phone out of the front pocket of my pants. I thought I might as well make a few business calls while I was waiting on my bride.

“Baby, we could always go this route—it’s cheaper!” Via was shouting from the front entrance.

My jaw almost smashed the concrete as I looked up to see her in nothing but her strap-less bra and panties. She held up her half-empty wine glass to me.

I couldn’t believe it—she was toasted! How many glasses of wine has she had already? “That’s cute, babe.” I rolled my eyes playfully. What was the point of getting mad when the damage had already been done? I was not about to start any arguments with her.

Via giggled and shut the door to re-open it. “Peek-a-boo, I see you!”

Thankfully, an apologetic Madison, who was carrying four huge boxes, came up from behind Via and escorted her to the car. “Let’s get you home.”

Charlie and I met them halfway. He took the boxes and I grabbed on to Miss Tipsy. Before I escorted her into the car, she pinched my cheeks and stretched them out a bit. “You are too pretty for this to be real. I want to see the tangible you, Ryan William Ray-Nerd!”

“Oh, no need to fret, Miss Johnson, You will be seeing the real me sooner than you believe,” I assured her while ushering her into the backseat.

She giggled and patted my knee. “Ah, I get a nasty spanky. Happy early boom-boom day to me!”

* * * *

By the time Charlie pulled into the driveway, Via was sacked out and snoring. Something I can antagonize her about later…

I stepped out of car, turned around, picked her up, and slung her over my shoulders. Walking upstairs, I laid her down and chained her limbs to the bed. I sat on the foot of the bed and observed her. I stared at every detail of her elegant face—the light freckling on the bridge of her nose, how her lips moved as she snored. Every damn thing about the woman was perfect. Well, with the exception of the fact she was a lightweight. She would not drink more than one glass of alcohol at our reception!

My manhood hardened as her eyes gradually opened. She peered about the room with a curious look on her face. Attempting to sit up, she failed since she had been restrained.

I crookedly smiled at her. “Have a nice nap baby?”

Her eyes blinked a million times as she realized which room we were in. Her mouth fell open. “Oh shit, what did I do?”

“You know how much I despise your drinking too much due to the fact that you are such a lightweight.” I narrowed my eyes at her. “Do I have to treat you like a child and limit your alcohol consumption?”

“No sir.”

My manhood lunged in response to her words. I wanted to take her right then and there, but first she had to be punished in order to realize how serious I was about loathing her drinking.

Strolling closer towards her anxious body, I set her free from the handcuffs. In one, swift motion I turned her on to her stomach and bound her wrists together with my tie. Sitting down, I pulled her across my lap so her ass was proportionate to my right hand. Without any warning, I swung back and smacked her behind nice and hard. She cried out as her ass-cheeks tightened. I massaged them until she relaxed and then whacked her again. She winced once more.

“You are going to learn to control this drinking habit of yours, Olivia Marie Rayner. Even if I have to spank the living shit out of you until you do so!”

The way her soon-to-be last name escaped my lips had been a turn on for the both of us. I smacked her once more, then pulled her up to my eye-level and forced her to sit on my lap. As I gazed into her eyes, I couldn’t help but ponder. Oh, all the things I would be doing to her if we had known each other a few years back. I would have, without a doubt, used a cane on her. What in the hell has this woman done to my dominance?

“Is something wrong sir?” she interrupted my thoughts.

I slumped down with a sigh. “I lost it, Via. My dominance is no more.”

She stood and held out her hands to me, her way of asking me to untie her. “I know you well enough to know your domineering abilities have not vanished. I’m going to help you find him just to prove you wrong.”

I placed my hand in hers, astounded by her strength to lift me to my feet.

“Stand right here sir,” she pleaded as she walked to the closet. Within seconds, she came back scarcely wearing anything. Her bright red lingerie outfit was super-thin and frilly. The heels on her feet matched, as well as her lipstick. Her tousled hair had been a turn on by itself. My chin just about hit the floor when she pranced past me, opened the door and danced out into the hallway.

Her heels clanked against the hardwood floor. I couldn’t get to the doorway fast enough to see her coolly stride down the stairs. She was well aware I could not tolerate her displaying herself with Charlie present.

My fingers trembled as she looked back and winked at me. “Oh Charlie, would you mind pouring me a glass of white wine?”

I felt my eyes bulge out of my skull as her foot touched the living room floor. She was halfway to the liquor cabinet when Charlie strolled into the room. He stopped once he perceived her attire.

She grinned at him. “Hello Charlie.”

Was that a pleading expression she carried on her face I just saw?

Charlie grinned at my woman. Before I could even blink, he twirled her around and dipped her. He bent and nipped her neck with his lips as if to plant one on her. I couldn’t tell if he kissed her not. “Miss Johnson, you are ravishing as always.” Bringing her back up, he winked at her.

As I stood there with the fire building in the pit of my stomach and listening to my heavy breathing, she gave him a slight nod.

No, she wouldn’t!

Within seconds, she had him pinned against the nearest wall. Her lips dove for his neck. The fire in my stomach had now exploded through the rest of my body. I was not about to stand there and witness my wife dominate another man! She was mine!

Flying down the stairs, I picked her up and suspended her over my shoulders. I smacked her ass with each footstep, alternating cheeks, as I carried her back upstairs and into the playroom.