Protecting it All: Dark Romantic Suspense (Punishment Pit Book 6)

by Livia Grant

  Dylan stood, once again towering almost a foot over her. Her breath caught at the intensity in his eyes. She knew he'd enjoyed helping her as much as she'd liked it, which confused her.

  "Looks like we need to get you back into your hospital gown. I don't think you'll want to talk to the police in a towel." His grin was disarming.

  "Can't I just get dressed? Lukus brought my clothes, right?"

  "Not yet. Not until the doctors give you the green light to leave."

  Just before they were ready to head out of the bathroom, Dylan stopped her, slowly pulling a wide-toothed comb through her wet hair until it hung down her back, tangle free.

  Their eyes met in the small mirror and she smiled. "Thank you, Dylan. Honestly... for everything."

  "No thanks needed. I'm exactly where I want to be, doing exactly what I want; taking care of you."

  There it was again. Him wanting to take care of her. How tempting it was. Like candy to a kid... drugs to a crack addict... cigarettes to a smoker. Damn, she could get used to being taken care of.

  Don't be an idiot. He's just interested because of the investigation. Don't for a minute think this is anything more than that, Hannah, or you're going to get your heart broken.

  They emerged from the bathroom, Dylan guiding her back to the bed and helping her climb in, pulling the covers up over her before stepping back to allow the police captain to move in closer.

  "I see you're looking much better today, Ms. Martine. You seem rested. Are you ready to talk to me now about your experiences in the warehouse?"

  Her voice came out shaky. "Yes, sir."

  "Very good. Now, why don't we start at the beginning? How and when did you meet Jake Davenport?"

  The next thirty minutes were painful. Only Dylan sitting on the bed beside her and holding her hand, helped her get through the story again of her disastrous time spent at Jake's house the previous Monday night. Had it only been four days since he'd raped her? In some ways it felt like a lifetime ago, so much had happened since.

  When the captain pressed her over and over to relive the horrendous events in the basement of the warehouse, Hannah's bravery faltered. She was done dredging up the memories. She was sure she'd shared everything important. She began to shiver and Dylan got angry.

  "All right, that's enough. You don't need to keep pressing her."

  Lukus jumped in next. "I agree. In fact, the doctor is going to release Hannah today and, now that she's given you her statement, we're going to fly back to Chicago where we can keep her safe until you guys get Davenport behind bars." He turned to address Hannah directly. "I've turned my loft into a veritable fortress. You'll be safe there with Connor and the rest of the people I care so much about."

  His words set off alarm bells instead of comforting her. Her heart pounded fast in her chest as she wracked her brain as to why his words upset her. She tried to calm herself, attributing her uneasy feelings to how bossy the men were being with her life considering they had absolutely no authority over her whatsoever.

  But that wasn't it.

  The men continued to press her, realizing something was wrong, but she pulled into her little shell, closing her eyes and forcing herself to relive her conversations with Jake; remembering every evil word and deed he'd done… until it came to her in a flash of dread.

  "Oh my God! The loft! They're all in danger!" she blurted.

  It was Lukus's turn to panic. "What do you mean, they're all in danger?" He had stepped closer and the rage on his face frightened her. Dylan slid between them, pressing Lukus back. She noticed his warning glance as he silently told his boss to back off. Once again, she was grateful for his protection.

  It was Dylan who turned and pressed her gently for answers. "Tell us about why they're in danger, honey."

  "Jake talked about a loft. It was while we were at that stupid party watching those women enjoy being in pain. I didn't know what he was talking about. He kept talking about how she should have trusted him. How she'd be the star of the parties with her intense pain tolerance. I didn't know who she was that he was referring to. Then he said..." She took a few seconds to try to remember his exact words before continuing. "He said that they were fools if they thought they could keep their women safe at the loft. He could get inside anything and everything, including the loft. In fact, he said it was the only thing he did better than fuck."

  She glanced up then to see that Lukus had turned as white as the sheet she was wrapped in. He stood motionless, as if he were in a trance. It was Dylan who urged him into action.

  "Lukus! We need to call them right away. They need to be on extra alert."

  It was as if he hadn't even heard. "I need to be there. Now. Come on. We're leaving."

  Hannah glanced at Lukus before asking, "Connor is there, isn't he? He's in danger with your fiancée?"

  Sheer anguish crossed his face. "They're all in danger."

  Tiffany

  "Miss Scarlett in the study with the candlestick. I win again." Brianna threw her cards down in the center of the board game, knocking everyone's tokens over.

  Tiffany wanted to smack her best friend, and not only because Brianna had won the last three board games in a row. They'd played for hours in an attempt to keep their mind off the danger they were all in. More importantly, she hated how jealous she was that Brianna had spent the last two days holed-up in the loft with Markus as her round-the-clock bodyguard while Lukus was out in California protecting others, leaving Tiffany alone.

  Okay, so she wasn't alone.

  They'd had a veritable slumber party for the last week. One of the only good outcomes from being in danger was that she'd gotten to spend a lot of quality time with Aiden, which was important for repairing their precarious relationship. She tried to reason that everyone was just doing what they had to do until Jake Davenport was behind bars, but that didn't make it any easier to sleep with Rachel instead of Lukus each night.

  Since Derek had arrived back safe and sound from California early that morning, even Rachel would be sleeping with her husband tonight. Tiffany had assumed she'd have to sleep alone, but then Markus had gotten a mysterious call from Lukus a few hours ago and he'd been downright jumpy ever since. He wouldn't tell Tiffany and Brianna what was going on other than that Lukus had decided to come home today, too. Tiff should be thrilled to have him home—and she would be—but something was off. She just couldn't put her finger on it.

  Stop being such a drama queen. Lukus will be home soon and then everything can get back to normal around here.

  Markus and Brianna were putting the board game back in the box when he suggested they give up on board games and move down to the movie theater to watch a few movies. Tiffany was movied out. They'd watched no less than a dozen flicks in the last week. They'd played board games, card games, and video games. They'd shopped online and worked out in the gym. All-in-all it would have been a fun week if they hadn't been living under the shadow of danger.

  Tiffany grabbed her cell phone, pressing redial for the tenth time in the last hour, praying Lukus would pick up. She needed to hear his voice. When it went to voicemail, she lost her temper, throwing her phone onto the couch, almost hitting Markus. "God dammit, why won't he pick up?"

  Markus was short-tempered, too. "All right, that's enough. I know we're all wound pretty tight, and I've let quite a few cuss words slide, but I draw the line at throwing objects. Maybe a nice hard spanking on that naughty ass of yours would calm you down."

  Tiff looked at him sheepishly. She hadn't meant to let the phone go. "I'm sorry. I just want to talk to him, you know?"

  His face softened. "I know, sweetheart, and he'll be home in a couple hours, if not sooner. You sure a spanking wouldn't make you feel better?" He grinned a wolfish grin. "I'm pretty sure it would help me."

  Leave it to Brianna to agree. "You can spank me, honey. I know it would totally make me feel better." She snuggled in close to him as Markus held Tiffany's phone out to her. She grabbed it and returned it t
o her back pocket, hoping to get a text from Lukus soon.

  She was just about to sit back down when the elevator dinged an arrival. Tiff was thrilled. He was home already!

  She took off in a sprint to greet Lukus and was only a few feet away when Jake Davenport stepped off the elevator and into the foyer of the great room. He was dressed in all black from head to toe, a veritable vision of evil.

  It was just like in the movies when the bad guy made his appearance. Tiffany registered shocked fear as he raised the gun he was carrying and pointed it directly at her face. She managed to stop her forward movement, pulling back so fast she lost her balance and fell on her ass to the marble floor of the foyer. She scrambled backwards in a crablike motion, but Jake was moving too fast.

  Tiffany vaguely heard Brianna's blood-curdling scream filling the air as Jake grabbed Tiff's ankle and started dragging her towards the elevator. She kicked wildly to free herself just as Markus sailed over her body, tackling Jake to the ground.

  Markus was screaming at the women. "Run! Go back to Derek! Now!"

  Tiffany tried to move. She really did, but she was only a few feet away from the men who were now wrestling for Jake's gun. It was then that Tiffany saw the handgun tucked in the back of Markus's pants. She lunged forward to grab it but she didn't get the chance.

  The sound of a gun firing only feet away deafened her. For one long second time stood still, while she waited to see who had been shot. She couldn't see the gun, she could only see the steely glint in Jake Davenport's eyes—and in that moment she saw a victorious smirk.

  Jake had shot Markus.

  She should have been terrified in that moment, but the emotion that filled every pore of her body was rage. How dare this asshole come here and hurt her friend? While Markus fell to the ground in a motionless heap, Tiffany pushed herself to her hands and knees, scrambling to her friend's side. She was desperate to get to his gun. It was their only hope of neutralizing Davenport in time to get Markus medical attention. But he'd fallen on his back and she couldn't reach the weapon before Jake yanked her to her feet by her long, blonde ponytail.

  "This was too easy," he gloated. Tiff kicked and punched him like a mad woman, but nothing she did would loosen his grip. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Brianna rushing to Markus's side, dropping to her knees. She was hysterical, as she should be, at the sight of the man she loved unconscious and bleeding on the floor.

  Tears filled Tiffany's eyes as she realized how much trouble they were all in. This was worse than her recurring Jake nightmares. In those, he only caned her until she was bleeding. Tonight, Jake was going to kill them all. Regret filled her as she realized that Lukus would come home and find them all dead. Her heart broke because she knew he would spend the rest of his life blaming himself for not keeping them safe, even though it wasn't his fault.

  She was filled with renewed hope when Derek appeared at the far side of the great room, weapon drawn, pointed directly at Jake. "Put the weapon down, Davenport. It's over."

  Determined to break away, Tiffany fought with all her might, but she just couldn't stop Jake from wrapping his arm around her neck, shoving her in front of him as a shield. She felt the hot muzzle of the recently fired weapon touch her temple.

  "I don't think so, Parker. My gripe isn't with you. It's with Mitchell and Lambert. Back out and you won't get hurt."

  Derek growled, "In your dreams. You think I'm just going to turn my back on them? Let Tiffany go. Now. And no one else needs to get hurt."

  Jake's evil voice was loud against her ear as he shouted back. "I have a small problem with that, see, because I'm not going to be happy until Mitchell is dead, and Brianna and Tiffany are mine to dominate for the rest of their lives."

  Tiffany glanced down at Brianna, who was pressing on Markus's gunshot wound, trying to stem the bleeding. She was sobbing, telling him how much she loved him, begging him to keep fighting because she couldn't live without him. Tears filled Tiffany's eyes as she locked her gaze with Derek's. She saw the fear in his look and knew Davenport had the upper hand.

  Jake ordered, "Brianna, stand up. You're coming with Tiffany and me. Now."

  Brianna took her eyes off her husband for the first time to scream back, "You're fucking crazy! I'm not going anywhere. If you killed Markus then you can kill me, too. I'm not leaving him."

  Hope filled Tiffany at Jake's response. "He's not dead yet. See? He's still breathing. If you come with me now, I'll let him live. If you delay, I'll shoot Tiffany next."

  He jammed the tip of the gun against Tiff's temple hard to make his point. Pain shot through her and she saw stars. She suspected she should be more afraid than she was, yet a strange calm had settled in. She needed to keep her wits about her if she was going to get them all out of this alive.

  "Come on, Bri. Do as he says. Give Markus a chance." Tiff met Derek's eyes as she said it, trying to send him a message to let them go just long enough for Tiffany to distract Davenport. They'd have a better chance if she could get him to lower his gun.

  Jake was less patient. "Brianna, now—or she dies."

  Tiffany watched her best friend look up at her from her knees on the floor. She saw the grief in Bri's eyes at seeing her husband bleeding and unconscious. She knew it would kill Bri to leave Markus, but Tiff needed Bri to come closer and distract Jake long enough for Derek to get a shot off.

  Brianna leaned in to kiss Markus's ashen face before she shoved herself to her feet, running towards Tiffany. The women clung to each other just as Jake instructed Derek, "Time to drop your weapon. Slide it across the floor to me."

  "Like hell."

  Tiffany felt the gun leave her head just long enough for Jake to shoot a warning shot into the ceiling and quickly return the muzzle to her temple.

  "The next one is going into her brain. I'm pretty sure Mitchell is gonna hate coming home to find the love of his life's brains splattered across his foyer. It'll make a hell of a stain that he might never get out." Jake chuckled as if he'd told a funny joke.

  He was fucking deranged.

  Tiffany saw Derek's helplessness as he finally lowered his weapon, leaning down to place it on the floor and then kicking it across the floor towards the elevator. It stopped about halfway across.

  Tiffany was trying to figure out how she might break free long enough to get to the gun when Jake lifted his weapon.

  It happened so damn fast. Jake aimed at a now unarmed Derek, and pulled the trigger twice, hitting him in the dead center of his chest as the deafening shot rang in her ears. The hulking man was slammed against the wall behind him from the velocity of the shots and then crumpled to the floor in a heap.

  This time both Tiffany and Brianna screamed. Markus and Derek had both been shot trying to protect them and yet, unbelievably, Jake was dragging the women back the few feet to the open elevator. Tiffany struggled and finally broke free only to be backhanded by the hand holding the gun. She twirled from the force of the strike, slamming her forehead into the back wall of the elevator, and falling to a heap on the floor.

  Jake had grabbed Brianna's long dark hair and yanked her into the elevator, quickly pressing the 'close door' button. Bri scrambled to Tiffany's side and cradled her in her arms as Bri's tears fell onto Tiffany's face. This was the best friends' worst nightmare coming to life. Their eyes met and Tiffany saw a cocktail of emotions just before her vision started to black out.

  The last thing she heard before she lost consciousness was Jake's victorious taunt. "I've missed you girls. The men in your lives have been a real pain in my ass, and I'm going to truly enjoy taking my frustrations out on both of you. I hope you're ready to have some fun."

  Tiff was almost grateful when she felt herself fading. Her last thought was of Lukus, and how sad he was going to be to lose all of his best friends and his fiancée on the same night.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Lukus

  Lukus was twitching with impatience as the airport shuttle stopped to drop off yet another trav
eler in the remote parking lot at Chicago's O'Hare airport. He was beginning to regret his decision not to have someone pick them up. The only reason he hadn't just had the three of them hop in a cab was because he wanted to get to the small arsenal of weapons he kept in his trunk.

  He glanced over to see Hannah sitting on Dylan's lap as they rounded the last curve before their stop. Hannah looked pale. They probably should have left her back at the hospital, but she'd thrown a fit, demanding she be taken to Connor.

  Five minutes later, they were on the Kennedy, speeding towards the loft. Dylan had been trying to reach Derek ever since they got in the car, with no success. When Markus didn't answer either, warning bells had started going off.

  Lukus used his Bluetooth to call Cameron.

  The kid answered ready to do business. "What next?"

  "Look at the security feed at the loft. Everything in order?"

  Cam answered immediately. "I've had it up for the last few hours since you called. It looks good. Markus, Bri and Tiff are still playing cards in your living room. You don't have cameras in the bedrooms, but I saw Derek, Rachel, the lady in the wheelchair and the kid go back to the bedrooms over an hour ago."

  Lukus should have relaxed, but he knew he wouldn't until he got there and saw all was well with his own eyes.

  "Thanks. Keep watching. Anything new while I was in the air?"

  "Not really. I helped the crime lab in California understand the coding in the journal. They're rounding up more suspects now."

  "Good job, kid."

  "When are you gonna stop calling me kid? I'm twenty-two," Cam said.

  "Fine. Good job, man."

  "Better. Later."

  Lukus didn't answer. He hugged the exit ramp, getting off the expressway to zigzag his way through side streets in order to get to the loft as quickly as possible. They were only ten minutes away when he made his next call to Aiden, who picked up on the first ring.