Page 2 of Liberating Mia
“Shut up! I just spent the better part of an hour trying to calm my associate in San Antonio after he got a good look at what you did to your last bedmate. It wouldn’t be so bad if you didn’t beat the ever-loving crap out of them. But that’s neither here nor there, since I will not tolerate this kind of bullshit. This is my business, not your personal playground. If you want a fuck buddy, find one of your own. Keep your hands off my merchandise.”
Omari jumped to his feet, terror clear on his face.
Without warning, Dylan pounced. He struck the man, and as Omari reeled from the force of the blow, Dylan went crazy, punching him repeatedly as his anger grew. When Omari finally fell to the ground unconscious, Dylan didn’t even notice as he continued his assault by kicking the prone man. When his rage finally abated and Omari lay unmoving on the floor, Dylan turned to Christoff and said, “Give me your gun.”
Taking the pistol in hand, Dylan calmly emptied the clip into the man who had been his friend and business associate, his go-between with Africa.
He straightened his clothes, and sighing deeply, turned back to Christoff, snarling, “Find me someone reliable to take Mr. Kitengi’s place.” He started for the door but stopped with his hand on the doorknob. “Oh, and Christoff, get the cleaners in to clean up this mess.”
“Yes sir, Mr. Hunt. Consider it done.”
Chapter Two
Mia sat with her phone in her hand, staring off into the distance. The call with their wedding planner had not been good news, and Dylan wasn’t going to be happy. Heaving a deep sigh, she decided to get it over and done with.
Striding down the hall, she called out to the housekeeper.
“Sabine, do you perhaps know where Mr. Dylan is?”
The Austrian woman and her husband had been in Dylan’s employ when Mia met him, and they were fiercely loyal to the man.
Sabine came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a dish towel. “He said he was going down to his office, Ms. Mia. He said there is some business he needs to take care of urgently.”
“Thanks, Sabine.”
Mia turned for the stairs that would take her down to his office in the basement. This was a feature that had puzzled her from the start as, generally, houses in South Africa weren’t built with basements. And yet, this monstrosity of a house had one.
When she’d asked about this peculiarity, Dylan had shrugged her off with a simple, “It’s for security reasons. My work is very sensitive.” She’d left it at that, but the area had always given her the creeps. She avoided it as much as possible.
The plush carpeting in the hallway deadened the sound of her footsteps as she made her way toward his office. As she neared the door, Mia heard Dylan shouting. Stopping short of the entry, she hesitated. If he was that mad already, maybe now wasn’t the best time to be having this discussion with him.
From her vantage point outside Dylan’s office, Mia noticed the conference door was slightly ajar. She crept closer, careful to stay out of sight of the door. All she could see were his legs, as if he were leaning against something, and a man whose face she’d couldn’t see from that angle sitting in a chair in front of Dylan. As she was about to turn and go back upstairs, she saw the man jump to his feet and realized it was Dylan’s friend, Omari. Without warning, Dylan struck. Shocked that he was attacking his friend, Mia stood rooted to the spot.
As he landed a punch, Mia clapped a hand over her mouth in an attempt to smother the gasp she couldn’t contain. Frozen in fear, she waited to see if he’d heard, but it seemed the sounds of his rage had masked that small sound. Something told her that had he heard her, she would have found herself in deep trouble.
In horror, Mia watched as Dylan systematically assaulted the man until he fell to the floor. He lay unmoving, and she started to back away, thinking it was all over. To her horror, the attack continued. Blow after blow rained down on the clearly unconscious man until all she could see was a bloody mess.
She couldn’t believe what she was witnessing.
It was beyond her realm of comprehension that one human could harbor such intense violence. Mia had discovered early on in their relationship that Dylan had a temper when things didn’t work out as he wanted, but she would never have guessed he wasthisman.
With sudden clarity, Mia realized she didn’t know him at all.
The pleasant, thoughtful, loving man she thought she knew had been a façade he’d presented to the world to hide the monster that lurked within.
So lost in her thoughts, Mia’s body jerked in fright as the first shot rang out. She had to escape. Whirling away from the door she had almost opened, with the sound of gunshots ringing out, she ran as if the demons of hell chased her. Knowing she had to flee, Mia’s brain scrambled to formulate a plan of escape.
Dylan was a respected entrepreneur in the South African business community. He had diligently built up his reputation as an American investing in South Africa’s economy, so there was a high likelihood no one would believe her if she told them what she had just witnessed. Without any proof, she had no chance.
She couldn’t go to her family. Although her brother, James, was in law enforcement, it would be putting all their lives in danger, and she would never be able to forgive herself if anything happened to any of them because she’d fallen for Dylan’s lies.
The fog of shock began to dissipate, and her brain scrambled for a plan of action. A sudden thought popped into her head. She needed proof, and she was sure there would be something on Dylan’s computer. Sending a prayer heavenward, she hoped she’d be able to access it.
Dashing into Dylan’s office, Mia was grateful to find his computer on. If she could find anything implicating on it, maybe it would give her some leverage. She wiggled the mouse and thanked all the gods that someone was on her side as the desktop came to life.
Randomly pulling desk drawers open, she searched until she found a flash drive. Praying that she wouldn’t be caught, she inserted the flash drive and set the computer to copy files over.
Mia waited on tenterhooks for the files to copy. If anyone found her, she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt Dylan would kill her. There was absolutely no reason for her to be in his office, especially since he wasn’t there, nor had he given her permission to be there. Every unfamiliar sound made her heart pound.
