Dirty Empire: A Dark Romance Read online

  I raise an eyebrow. “You really don’t know what your husband does?” That seemed unlikely.

  “He owns a bank.”

  A short laugh escapes my lips. She really had her head in the sand. The speaker in the ceiling beeps as my captain turns it on. “Legacy is preparing to dock.”

  “Get dressed and meet me out on the deck,” I tell her before walking out of the room.

  ***

  As we enter the marina, a black SUV rolls up to the dock’s edge, and Davis exits the vehicle to greet us.

  “Good to see you, sir. I see that you have a guest with you. May I get your things and help your guest to the truck?”

  Hazel stands next to me in a yellow sundress, looking like she wants to run.

  “Thanks, Davis. This is Hazel. Please grab her bags, and we will be ready to leave shortly.” I can tell she feels uncomfortable. I take her soft hand in mine and gently caress it to soothe her.

  “Hazel...if you will,” I gesture to assist her off the yacht. She grips my hand tight as she steps off the boat and onto the dock. I lead her to the awaiting vehicle. Once she’s inside, I narrow my eyes on her.

  “Don’t try to run. You have no idea where you are, and I will find you,” my voice takes on a threatening tone, so she knows I’m serious.

  Her throat shifts as she swallows before nodding. “I’m not going to run.”

  I close the door to the SUV and get back onto the yacht. I check in with my captain and make sure everything is fine to be closed up. Meanwhile, Davis gets onboard to take Hazel’s bags.

  “Sir?” Davis says as were about to step back onto the dock. “I found a phone in the bedroom. She must have dropped it.”

  He hands it to me, and I turn around and throw it overboard. Miles might be able to track her with it, and I’m not taking any chances. Davis’s eyes widened for a fraction of a second, but he quickly masks his emotions. We reach the SUV, and I slid in next to Hazel. I retrieve my phone and text the house staff with instructions to prepare a room for her. She holds a forlorn look. She’s deep in thought, gazing out the window as we drive. I don’t want to interrupt her, so I leave her alone for the ride home.

  Several minutes later, we arrive at my gated entrance. On the twelve-foot high, black iron gates, my initials are etched. “M.S.” I live in an exclusive neighborhood. Just as I like it. The security officer approaches the truck window, waving Davis through the gate. After a few turns, we arrive at the entrance of my mansion. Hazel says nothing. Usually, when I take a woman to my home, they won’t shut up about how beautiful they find the property. I assume that Hazel’s well-accustomed to high-class living. We drive up a winding driveway to the main house’s entrance. The house – a white, three-story, fifteen-thousand square-feet edifice – has dual stairways leading to the porch. A sight to behold. Davis parks at the base of the stairs and exit the SUV. He retrieves Hazel’s bags, and Isabella comes out to greet us. I step out of the vehicle. Hazel does the same before circling the back of the SUV and coming to stand next to me.

  “Mr. Stapleton. Ma’am.” Isabella says. “Welcome home. May I see your guest to her quarters?”

  I can already tell Isabella is burning with questions. Usually, if I bring a woman home, it's for one night. I wouldn’t need to get a guest room ready for a one-night stand.

  “Yes, Isabella, please take Hazel to her room and get her anything she wants,” I reply. I turn to Hazel with a soft expression. “Isabella will help you get settled, and I will be in my office if you need anything.”

  Hazel regards me, hesitantly. “Okay.”

  I flash her a warm smile. I watch Hazel and Isabella walk into the house. She’s been through a lot. Such a strange situation. I don’t know what I’ve gotten myself into. A naked dark-haired woman with her lover, or whatever he was, and an angry husband. Not like Miles was faithful. I’ve heard about him through the grapevine from colleagues. Now she’s ended up on my boat, interrupting my operation. I have no idea what to think at this stage. I walk inside the house and go straight to my office. It’s located on the first floor. The room has two big windows that face the back of the property so I can see the outdoor pool. The office is decorated with a mix of blues and grays. My interior designer came up with the concept. I don't give a damn at the time, but after working here nearly every day, I’m grateful that it doesn't have a dark and moody feel to it.

  Staring at the laptop, I decided to turn my attention onto what matters most. Miles is a cunning and intelligent businessman. On the street, he’s known as an even more ruthless boss. I know I have to secure the compound. I have to focus on what’s real. What is happening now?

  Miles knows how to track people. Once he finds out how Hazel left, he’ll come for us. He’s built for war. But so am I. He’s going to need an army to take me down. For sure, he’s going to think I stole his wife. Men like him see women as their possession. It was sick. That is how his sociopathic brain worked. He saw people and materials as his. The self-centered, egotistical tyrant would be hell-bent on taking his “property” back. The guy was about ownership, and Hazel’s no exception.

  I grab my phone and send a quick text to Mike. He’s somewhere on the property. It would only take him a few minutes to get to my office. Like clockwork, a knock sounds on the door.

  “Come in.”

  Mike walks inside. He’s dressed in all black per usual. The holster attached to his pants is visible, like a silent threat. My head of security takes his job seriously because his resume is impressive as fuck. Four years in the military before working in the secret service. I’d tracked him down right before he was about to leave the service.

  “Sir?” he asks.

  I wave a hand at the chair on the other side of the desk. Mike takes a seat. The lights in the office reflected off his bald head.

  “We got a bit of a problem,” I say.

  He sits up straight in the chair, always ready for war. “What’s up?”

  “The deal with Miles fell through. It turns out he likes to put his hands on his wife.”

  Mike raises an eyebrow in confusion. “So, you think he’s going to come after you because you aren’t going to do business with him anymore?”

  I shake my head. “No. He’s going to come after us because I took his wife.”

  His eyes widen in surprise, but he quickly recovers himself, covering up his astonishment with a cough. I don’t blame him. It’s not like me to be so reckless, especially when I’m trying so hard to get out of the game. Although it’s not really my fault, Hazel jumped on the boat after I told her no.

  “I need all the men we have on the grounds and a plan in place. Thanks to me, he has enough firepower to do some real damage if he wants to.”

  Mike nods, but I can tell he wants to ask a question. I turn my chair around and grab a glass and a bottle of whiskey. I pour myself two fingers and take a sip before waving at him.

  “Go ahead, ask.”

  “Why’d you take her?”

  I don’t always let my staff speak to me freely, but Mike has been with me for a long time.

  “She jumped on the yacht when I was trying to get the fuck out of there.”

  “And you don't tell her to get off?” he asks.

  I take another sip of my drink, letting the whiskey burn as it goes down. It’s the same question I’ve been asking myself. Why had I let her stay? It doesn't benefit me in any way. It puts me at risk. But something about Hazel makes me want to fight for her. It’s like she’s tired of fighting for herself. She looked exhausted.

  “Let me know when you have a plan in place,” I say to Mike, ignoring his question.

  He hears the dismissal in my voice and leaves the office.

  I finish my drink and work on my laptop for the next few hours. By the time I look up, the room has grown dark. A soft knock sounds at the door.

  “Come in,” I grunt before sitting up straight and turning my head to the side until it lets out a satisfying crack. The door slowly opens, a
nd Hazel steps inside. Her black hair is wet as if she’s just gotten out of the shower. I nod at the chair across from my desk, and she takes a seat.

  “You have a nice home, Maverick. Thank you for allowing me to come here.”

  “No more ‘thank you’s’ needed,” I assure her.

  She leans back in her chair. “Maverick, I have questions.” She chews her bottom lip. For some strange reason, the gesture makes my dick twitch. Wrong timing. Wrong feeling. Still, my loins were reacting. She wore a big t-shirt that covered up her perfect curves, and I wish she’d stayed in the tank top I’d seen her in this morning.

  I clear my throat. “Okay, go ahead. I’m all ears.”

  “So, you said earlier that you were selling guns to Miles. Why would he need guns? And please be completely honest with me. I need to know what I’m dealing with here.”

  I let out a sigh before crossing the desk and sitting down in a chair beside hers. “You don’t know anything, do you?”

  “Anything about what?” she replies innocently.

  “About what Miles and I do.” A flicker of amusement crosses my face. She really is an innocent babe in the woods. I find her spirit endearing.

  “No, I don’t. When I married Miles, he was a bank owner and businessman. That’s all I know.” Hazel’s ocean-blue eyes hold sadness in them.

  I hesitate for a moment, wondering if I should tell her everything. She has a right to know what she’s caught in the middle of.

  I take a deep breath. “I met Miles through an associate. This associate told me about a prominent client who was seeking a big arms deal. Miles’s main business is the bank, but it’s a cover for his underground business: weapons and ammunition.” Astonishment fills Hazel’s face. My eyes met hers. I see the disappointment set in. She looks crushed. I want to reach out to her, but instead, I keep going.

  “Miles buys weapons and ammunition, then sells them illegally to Turkish and Slovenian government officials. We aren’t really competitors. I choose not to get involved in government dealing because most of my business is underground.”

  Hazel listens intently and in pure disbelief, before interjecting, “You don’t seem like that kind of man.”

  I’m telling her about her husband’s criminal organization, and she’s focused on me?

  “What kind of man are you referring to?” I cock my head to the side.

  “The kind of man who deals in illegal arms trafficking.”

  I drop my head. I still feel shame for things in my past, but I have learned to live with it.

  “To be honest with you, the deal with Miles was going to be my last deal.”

  I haven’t admitted that to anyone. If my competitors know I’m getting out of the business, they might see it as an opportunity to take my clients. But Hazel’s innocent. Knowing this information would do her any good.

  “I was, and still am, planning on closing on some property here. I’m opening a clean energy company.”

  Hazel sits there, staring at a painting on the wall. The silence in the room is heavy.

  “I never intended to be a lifelong criminal.”

  I don’t know why I feel the need to justify my business to her, but I do.

  After a few seconds of silence, she says, “I’m glad you’re getting out of the business, Maverick.”

  “So am I.”

  My mind travels back to my childhood. We moved around from housing projects to housing projects. I recalled the many times my father came home drunk and lashed out at my mother. There were many times when I sat in the small one-bedroom apartment, hoping he’d never come back. My father was a tall, burly man with rough hands and a bad attitude. Sometimes he would beat my mom just because she didn't respond the way he wanted her to. He complained about everything: the apartment, the food, his job, the noise, you name it, he didn't like it. Life sucked as far as he was concerned. He was in and out of jobs regularly, finding solace at the bottom of a bottle.

  My mother was a very loving woman. She kept making excuses for my dad’s behavior. She would often say, “He does love us; he’s just under a lot of pressure.” I felt the anger rise in my chest.

  “Are you okay?” Hazel asks. She must have noticed my tense muscles.

  I cast my eyes away before standing up to look out the window. I clear my throat, manning up and composing myself. The lights surrounding the pool have turned on. It’s the only thing I can see since the rest of the property is covered in darkness. I’ve created an amazing life for myself, but it’s time to get out. Most people in the underground world are lucky to reach fifty. The arms business has served its purpose. It’s time to move on to better things. I place my hands in my pocket and turn back to Hazel.

  “Tell me your story,” I demand, eager to take the focus off of me.

  Hazel looks up at the ceiling, and I can see the fading marks around her throat. “I don’t know where to start.”

  “At the beginning is fine. We’ve got all night,” I coax.

  “I always knew I wanted to be an attorney.”

  That takes me by surprise. I assumed Miles would’ve picked up a wife at a strip club or somewhere equally sleazy and lure her in with his money. But looking at Hazel, I should’ve known she isn’t a woman just looking to be a housewife. She's broken now, but underneath that, there’s something else. Determination.

  “I excelled in school,” she continues. “My entire goal in life was to graduate from law school and then become a partner at a major San Francisco law firm. I reached my goal. When I met Miles, I was working at a firm in the Bay Area. I was young and ambitious, but I also wanted a family. Miles was a handsome, rich businessman, and he swept me right off my feet.” Hazel pauses for a moment. I stay still, waiting for her to finish.

  “I quit my job, and we moved to Hawaii. The plan was I’d take a couple of years away from my law career so we could have kids. I wanted to be a stay at home mom for a while. The plan was always to go back to work. I loved being a lawyer. I thought I was going to live my dream life. We had trouble getting pregnant, and my dream soon turned into a nightmare. That’s when he started to change. He was not the man I married. I’m just glad he showed his true colors before I got pregnant.”

  Hazel’s wistful eyes make me sad for her.

  “And who was the man in the bed with you back there?” I ask. I don’t want to push her, but if I’m putting my life and my team at risk, I need to know everything.

  “Oh him...that was Ares. He’s a trainer I met one evening while walking on the beach. We had nothing but a physical relationship. Miles didn't talk to me anymore. He didn't look at me the same way. Ares gave me what I was lacking.”

  I just listened, no judgment. I’d bedded my fair share of women. I knew about sexual needs.

  “I longed to have children and a family,” Hazel continues. “I know Miles had multiple affairs during the marriage. I suspected he was into something dark, but never in a million years did I think he was a major arms trafficker.”

  “And what about your family?”

  “I'm originally from Ventura County. My parents were good to us. I have one brother, but he passed away while I was in college. My parents both passed away in a car crash shortly after that.”

  “Sorry to hear that.” So, she knew of death. She is no fading wallflower. It made me like her even more. She’s an orphan. A clear picture is being painted now.

  “It’s fine. I’ve come to grips with the fact that it’s just me now. I think that’s why I allowed myself to fall for Miles, even though I knew he wasn’t the perfect man for me. I thought he could give me a good life, children, and I’d be happy raising my kids.” Her countenance began to change as she thinks about the wasted years of her life and how she’s gotten to this point.

  “But my childhood was good. We were happy, even though we don't have a lot. As a little girl, I always wanted to be successful. I used to dream of being a lawyer and arguing big cases,” she says with a grin. “I’m not sure where things wen
t wrong, though. I guess I just settled for him, and that’s where my downward turn started.”

  I was becoming fascinated with her. Every word added to her story, and I want to hear more.

  Hazel stands up and looks out the other window, seeing the same pool surrounded by acres of darkness.

  “We’ve done all this talking, and I still don’t have a clue what to do or where to go now,” she utters. “I don’t even know where I am. What Island am I on?”

  “Tahiti, the largest island in French Polynesia. We should get some sleep,” I say, checking my watch. It’s close to midnight. She nods and walks out the door.

  Chapter Three: Sexual Healing

  Hazel

  Dusk set in, and after hours of sleeping, I decide it’s time to get moving. I’ve slept through the night and most of the day. I hadn’t realized just how tired I’d been. Surprisingly, I was able to sleep so soundlessly. Something about this house makes me feel safe. It's ironic really considering Maverick has confirmed the level of danger I’m in. I rub my eyes open, peeking across the large guest room. The door to the enormous walk-in closet is open. It wasn’t like that when I went to sleep last night. Had someone been in here while I slept? I peel myself from under the covers to investigate and cup my hands to my mouth once I look inside. The closet, which was empty last night, is filled with clothes and shoes. A note is attached to one of the hangers. We did a little shopping for you. The handwriting is neat with clean, confident lines. I wonder if Maverick had written it. Putting the note aside, I run my fingers over the soft fabrics.

  I check the tag on some of the shirts and notice they are all from well-known designers. This wardrobe must-have cost thousands of dollars. Why would he buy me a whole wardrobe? Does this mean he expects me to stay for a while? It’s not like I have anywhere to go anyways, but I’d assumed I had to figure out a way to get out on my own soon. A small smile turns up the corners of my mouth. Lavish gifting is something Miles used to do too. Was I falling into the same trap again? Trading one monster for another? But Maverick had been very candid with me last night. It’s refreshing to have someone to communicate with. When I was at Miles’s, I usually felt so alone. The only connection I had with Ares was sex.