Taken (Dark Desires 1)

I told Diamond that it had become common knowledge that I was seeing Marty. At first things were a little weird as the newspapers had snapshots of me with Joshua one week then quickly being swept away in a limo with Marty the next. It could have turned into an ugly scene at work but I just tried to act like Marty and I were just dating. It was no big deal. He was no different from the lawyer I went out with last year or the computer programmer I spent time with the year before that. I continued to eat with the other girls at lunch telling stories about my family and Diamond of course. If anyone asked me about Marty I would just say that I would like to keep my dating life private and no one seemed to get their feathers ruffled about it. If they said anything behind my back I never heard anything. There were always those who thrived on gossip. I had worked around enough secretarial pools to know that. But I thought if I acted like it was no big deal then the rest of them would too. Sounds good in theory.

Then, about two weeks after I had broken up with Joshua he came into the office. And he wasn't alone. He had a woman with him. She was tall and pretty and seemed to like being in the spotlight. Whether she knew she was being used as a tool to get at me or Marty or both of us I couldn't tell. But she didn't seem to mind. There were also some photographers who not only took his picture but snapped mine more than once.

He made his way to his own office and shut the door leaving the photographers milling around until Marty emerged from his office to tell them to leave. It was after five when Joshua finally emerged from his cave. His guest looked as if she had been crying but according to everyone around they hadn't heard a peep come from the office. Believe me when I tell you they were all listening.

"Joshua," Marty said, with Denise behind him and me off down the hallway and out of sight. "You can't' disrupt business this way."

"You forget, Marty. I am co-owner of this dump. I can do whatever I want."

"Not quite. I've moved for an emergency board meeting to vote on whether or not you are still an asset to this company. I know you have friends on the board." Marty said calmly. "But in light of new developments, they may feel putting their own kids through college and a nice worry-free retirement are more important than whether or not Joshua Hewitt is mad at them."

I watched as Joshua shook with rage. His "date" backed away from him and I was terrified for Denise and Marty who were directly in the line of fire. But Joshua did nothing.

“All this effort for some slut, Marty? Really? What would mom and dad think of you?”

Marty’s eyes narrowed.

“They wouldn’t like her. You know they wouldn’t. She’s nothing but a gold-digging whore. Just remember, she slept with both of us. Me first.”

Those words made me feel like I was going to throw up.

“Go home, Josh. Take a good, long look around your apartment and think about how you’d like to proceed. Can you live without all that? Can you live without all your cars and homes and your allowance? You just think about that before you choose to do anything further to me or Natasha.”

It was like Marty slapped him in the face. The smile fell from Joshua’s face and his eyes bore into his brother. After that he turned and stomped to the elevator. I hid in the shadows and thought as I heard the ping, heard the doors slide open and then shut that it was over. Joshua loved his lifestyle and the only way to maintain it was to be a good boy.

Creeping out from my hiding place I went to Marty. His face lit up as I came toward him.

"I think the worst of it is over." he said confidently. "Denise, go on home. There isn't anything going on that can't wait until morning."

"Sure. But you two be careful." She said in her most motherly voice. I had grown to respect Denise a lot since I had been working with her. She never gossiped and anything you told her was kept as private as the Clinton's Swiss bank accounts. It was a habit I quickly mirrored.

After Denise had grabbed her things and left, Marty and I went into his office. Talking briefly about what had just happened I looked at him not knowing what to say.

His eyes made me think he, too was reading my mind. Except, instead of the brutal intrusion I felt from Joshua, Marty seemed to assure me that my past was not an issue. We made love there, as we had done before, in front of the windows with the lights off and only the city lights below to see us. But this time it was different. This time we clung to each other harder and more passionately as if it was the only way we could express our real feelings for each other.

It was never like this with Joshua who seemed to live for the thrill and not the meaning of the act. But Marty held every part of me gently yet with command and an authority I was willing and wanting to submit to. Most importantly, he held my heart with strong, protective hands.

When we were dressed and sitting together on the sofa in his office I began to cry. I sobbed into his strong, muscular chest and I didn't know why. Well, that wasn't all together true. I was afraid that Joshua was going to make it impossible to stay with Marty.

"Right?" I mean, what would Christmas be like at their house?" I said to Diamond who looked at me with nothing but sympathy. "They were brothers. I was just some girl. I felt in my gut that Marty would have no choice but to choose blood over me."

"What did he say when you told him you felt this way?" She asked, handing me a paper napkin from the dispenser to wipe my eyes and blow my nose.

"I didn't tell him. Not that night. Everything just went downhill from that night on."

About a week later Denise did

n't show up at work. That wasn't like her at all. It would take a case of Ebola to keep her away and even then I wasn't so sure. No one answered her phone at home or her cell. It wasn't until later that we got a call from her husband that she was in the hospital. She had been attacked in the garage of the building. Beaten and robbed. And there was no footage on the security camera.

"She won't be coming back to work." I said to Diamond. "Her arm was broken and her assailant gave her a concussion pounding her head against the concrete floor. She has lost her short term memory." My eyes dried as I repeated this information.

Diamond clenched her jaw.

"Did Joshua do it?"

"I don't know." I shrugged. "If he didn't, I think he paid someone to."

"And does he know about the baby?"