Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 304

Liz stared another moment before disappearing into the hall, shutting the door behind her.

“Fuck,” I said, walking over to the office desk and leaning against it, feeling a little woozy.

“You okay?” Chloe asked, keeping the gun trained on the door for another few moments.

“Just dizzy.”

“Wouldn’t be surprised if you have a concussion,” Chloe said, finally lowering the gun. She turned away from the door and moved to the desk, eyeing me. “Tyler clocked you pretty hard with that glass.”

“That’s what that was?” I asked as I realized half my hair and part of my shirt were drenched in alcohol. It was all I could smell. “He got me good.”

“So did you,” Chloe said. She placed her fingers on my cheek, gently guiding me to look into her eyes as she stared into mine. It wasn’t a moment of tenderness… she was clearly checking on my pupil reaction and ability to focus. However, a rare warmth in her eyes made staring back at her more enjoyable.

“I think you’re fine.” She finally said, her fingertips slipping away from my cheek. My bodyguard grabbed her gun off the desk and holstered it.

“The only good news,” I groused. “Fuck!” I kicked at the office desk. It barely moved. “This place is a mess… what a fucking waste!”

“Maybe,” Chloe said. She held her hand up in front of me. A small square of semi-transparent plastic sat in her palm.

I blinked at it as the wheels in my head started turning. “Is that…”

“A cap for a flash drive? Yeah. I noticed it while you two were arguing,” Chloe said.

“This doesn’t mean much,” I said.

“Maybe. It could also be the cap to the drive they were looking for. We could hand that laptop off to Psalter… there might be something worth finding.”

I plucked the cap from Chloe’s hand and stared at it. If it did belong to the drive they were asking me for, then whoever took it was likely linked to Roger and whoever else was responsible for my kidnapping.

“Do you think he could track down whoever was here?”

“Only one way to find out,” Chloe said, giving me a little smile. From her, it was a ray of sunlight. She pulled out her phone and scrolled through her contacts, looking for Psalter’s number.

“Holy shit! What happened!?”

Chloe and I glanced at the doorway to see Erin peering around the corner. Her eyes were wide as she looked around at all the extra-broken debris scattered across the room. Emily was just behind her.

“Your… uh… Quentin? He passed us downstairs, looking messed up as hell. What did you do to him?” Erin asked as she stepped the rest of the way into the room. She was looking at Chloe as she asked the question, obviously assuming my bodyguard was the one who roughed him up.

“That was all him,” Chloe said as she scrolled through her phone.

Erin blinked and looked me over. “He didn’t get any licks in?”

“Hit him in the head once with a tumbler before the giant, and I stepped in,” Chloe said, holding her phone up to her ear. “He did good. Needs some work, but Tara and I’ll fix that eventually.” She walked away from the rest of us and spoke on the phone in a low voice.

“Damn,” Erin said.

“Oh my god! He’s pissed,” Emily chimed in. “He just stormed across the living room and disappeared!”

“He left the house?” I asked.

Emily shook her head. “He went to another room.”

“Where’s Natalie?” I asked.

Emily looked a little uncertain. “I… we didn’t see her.”

“Psalter’s got a lead on VanCamp,” Chloe interrupted. “A plane left an hour ago for Amsterdam, and he’s ninety percent sure Roger’s on it.”

My interest was immediately piqued. After handing Tyler his ass and now having a lead on Roger, I was thirsty for more blood, and VanCamp had it coming. “Tell Henry to get as many men to Amsterdam as possible. I want him hunted down. I don’t care how much it costs.”

“Got it,” Chloe said and started talking quietly into the phone again.

“Come on,” I muttered, making a beeline for the door.

“Where are you going?” Erin asked, following close behind. Emily and Chloe were in her wake.

“I told him to leave. Wherever he is, the only thing he better be doing is packing his shit!” I said over my shoulder as I headed down the hall. Emerging into the living room, I looked around but couldn’t see any sign of Tyler or Natalie. I didn’t like that at all.

“Eeeeyyyyy!” Baldy called out from his perch on the couch. “You changed your mind!”

“Where’s Tyler?” I barked.

“Oh shit,” he said, recoiling. “T went that way, man.”

“Hahaha! You fucking snitched on your boy!” Shaggy said.

“Mike, this is the guy! I’m not fucking holdin’ out on the guy! Besides, T was messed up as fuck! I’m too pretty for that shit!”

Shaggy was saying something in response, but I was in too much of a hurry to catch whatever he said. I headed down the hall in the direction he pointed, checking every room on the way. The first door was a bathroom with no one in it. The second was an entrance to a kitchen. The third was some kind of sitting room or study. It was cozy, smaller than the average room I’d seen, with a man sitting in one of the chairs and a woman straddling his lap. She was topless, and they were making out, and I realized it was the two I’d noticed earlier making out.

“You’re all leaving,” I said. “Get the fuck out.” I left before they had a chance to respond.

I rounded a corner and saw Liz leaning against a wall next to another door. “Is he in there?” I asked. She didn’t answer. She didn’t need to. Her presence was enough for me to know that Tyler was in that room. I stalked past her and paused at the door. “If I open this door, are we gonna have a problem?”

“You promise that both of us can walk out of here?”

“I can just get Chloe to shoot you,” I pointed out.

“He’s paid me to provide security. You’ve got six armed guys in this house, so I don’t stand a chance, but I’d be bad at my job if I didn’t at least try to get him out safely.”

I could respect that. After all, the woman was just doing her job… just like Chloe. It wasn’t her fault that the man who paid her so well was a piece of shit.

“If he leaves willingly, I’ll let him go, but Natalie stays,” I said.

She rolled her eyes, sighed, and muttered, “Knew I should have gone military.” Then she opened the door for me.

Natalie was sitting on the bed with her hands grasped above her knees, watching Tyler, who looked like he was explaining something. When the door opened, they both looked up at me. Tyler glared at his bodyguard and started to speak, “I told you—”

Liz cut him off. “He’s got six armed people in this house, sir, and I’m unarmed. He’s promised to let you go if we both leave now.”

“Marcus!” Natalie said, gesturing at Tyler’s face. “Did you do this to him!?”

Well, I wasn’t off to a good start here.

“Is it true!?” She added.

“Is what true?” I asked.

“Tyler’s saying you conned his grandpa into stealing his inheritance?”

“What?” I asked, sounding as incredulous as I felt.

Tyler chimed in, “It’s true! Baby, you have to listen to me. He’s kicking me out of the house! I’ve been coming here since I was a kid! He’s a fucking con artist!”

Natalie looked from him back to me, looked at me in disbelief, and said, “He says you’re brothers?”

“He’s right,” I said, “I’m related to Colin Gerrard, but I didn’t con him. I never met the man in my life.”

“Then why did he give you all that money?” Natalie asked.

“Exactly!” Tyler said. “I’ve known my grandpa my whole life! This guy gets everything!?

“Natalie, I don’t know why he did it, but Tyler is lying to you,” I argued.

Tyler pointed an accusatory finger at me. “He’s the one who’s been lying! Ask my whole family! No one got anything because he weaseled into my grandpa’s life! Call my aunt! Call my sister! Ask either of them!”

“If he’s been so honest,” I pointed out, “Why didn’t he tell you his last name was actually Gerrard?”

“He said it’s because he didn’t want me to make the connection,” Natalie said. “He said when he first met me, he thought I probably hated you and didn’t want me to draw the connection. When he found out we were friends, he was too scared I’d be mad that he didn’t tell me.”

“I didn’t want her to get the wrong impression of me just because of my family name!” Tyler said.

“Liz,” I said without taking my eyes off Tyler. “You’ve got two minutes to get your employer out of here.”

“Mr. Gerrard,” Liz said as she stepped into the room. “You’ve paid me for security, and right now, this is the best I can do. We’ve got to go.”

“Let me at least get my stuff!” Tyler said.

“Buy more stuff,” I said.

“Marcus,” Natalie started to say.

“Natalie, he’s said some heinous shit about you. I don’t know what to believe, but I’ve given you a promotion you deserved. I’ve been in love with you for a while and thought you felt the same way about me. I understand falling for this guy. For about five minutes, I thought he was gonna be a good guy, too. He’s not. He’s a lying snake, and you have a choice—you can leave with him if you want, but we’re done. I’ve been nothing but a good friend, a great boss, and have shown you nothing but patience. I think I’ve earned at least a sliver of trust from you, and I’m telling you not to go with this man. He’s using you.”

Natalie stared up at me for what felt like an eternity. She chewed on the inside of her cheek while her bottom lip trembled, and there were unshed tears in her dark eyes. Then she looked back at Tyler, her eyes narrowing as she grimaced in what looked like physical pain. A single tear slipped free and rolled down her caramel skin.

“Tyler,” she cried out, her voice cracked with emotion. “Please tell me this isn’t all true!”

“Natalie,” Tyler said, and I could understand why she fell for the guy. Not only was he handsome, but he was good. Sure, his story was flimsy. Natalie had to know that I didn’t have the kind of time, personality, or resources to con my way into the life of a savvy billionaire, and she wasn’t stupid enough to actually buy his story about why he hid his name—not without jumping through some serious hoops. Still… he looked genuine as he squeezed out a few tears himself. The swollen, bloody nose helped sell the pitiful act.

“Nat,” he said, his voice cracking as he dropped to his knees. “Don’t let him win. He’s already done so much damage to me… please, baby…” He grabbed her knees, genuinely looking like he might burst into tears. “Please don’t let him take you away from me. You’re all I have left.” He lowered his face until it hit her knees and let out a very real-sounding sob. Natalie reached out with a trembling hand to run her fingers through his hair. She looked back up at me; her cheeks were tear-stained. The look in her eyes said she had no idea what to do.