"Yes, I have seen what you’ve done, just as you’ve seen what I’ve done. We're in this world together, Boss, it's a fucked up world that we live in. We need trust, I have blind faith in you, and I respect you not just because you’re the boss but because you’re a friend. You're a man that I can rely on to have my back if and when I need it. And here you are asking if you can trust me? That right there shows disrespect."
It may be disrespectful that I don't trust him but if he's not the man, that will change and he'll have my absolute faith in him. No one, and I mean no one has that, and they won't, not until Mia is back in my arms. "What I tell you does not leave this room."
He sits up taller, adjusting his shirt as he does so. He gives me a short, sharp nod. "You have my word I will not say a thing."
"I have a rat in this organization."
His eyes widen at my admission.
"Yes, someone is betraying me, maybe more than just someone. I intend to find out who it is and until I do, everybody, and I mean everybody, is under suspicion." I'm letting him know that he is not the only person that is being scrutinized.
"Why do you believe there's a rat?"
"Somebody has taken Mia, someone has taken Lacey," I state the obvious. "Let me ask you, who knew about me and Mia?"
He frowns as if he doesn't understand the question. "I don't know, not many. You told us that Mia wasn't ready yet, I had no idea what it meant, but I let it be. It obviously meant that we weren't to say anything. Besides none of us should be saying anything. You're our boss, what you do is your business, no-one else’s."
"You're right, no one else's business but mine and Mia's. How many people knew where Mia was going to when she left our parents’ house?"
He frowns, yet again but he's not stupid, he'll understand soon enough. "I don't know, Boss. Who knew?"
"No one. Nobody knew where Mia was going. Even me. I didn't know she’d be there that day. Her and her mom had an argument. Mia fled and went to her father's house. Only my inner circle knew about Mia and I, nobody knew where she was going, so how did they know she was at her father's house? How did they know to take her?" I asked the question that's been plaguing my mind since that very first day when Mia was taken, it's only recently became clear that somebody in my crew has done this.
"Fuck," he whispers finally getting it. "Who? Who is stupid enough to do this?"
"That's what I'd like to know." Not knowing is making me go crazy, I feel completely useless.
"How are we going to find out?"
I give him a look. "We?"
He shakes his head as he tuts. "Yes we. We are going to find out who the fuck is the rat, we're going to find out where our girls are. Then we're going to make this sonofabitch pay."
Cracking my knuckles, I smile widely. "Yes, they’re going to regret fucking me over. I do not and will not tolerate betrayal." There's an edge to my tone, he may have convinced me that he's not betraying me, but this is me giving him a warning. Don't ever do it, the outcome will never outweigh the motive.
"Do you have any idea who the snitch is?" he asks, his eyes twinkling with mischief. He and Jagger are the same, a hint of action and they're all over it, anything to get their hands bloody.
"I have no solid proof, all I have is suspicions."
He nods. "And those would be? Well besides being me that is." At least he can make fun of it. He understands that it wasn't anything personal.
I keep eye contact with him as I want to see what his reaction is when I tell him who I think it could be. "Right now, I'm very suspicious of Martin."
He sucks in a sharp breath, yeah he's shocked as shit. "Really? Martin? No, Boss I think you've got this wrong, too. I don't think he'd do this, he's not like the rest of us. He's too soft."
"Yes, I know that but with Martin all is not what meets the eye. There's something about him lately that just doesn't sit right. I want to know what it is." The last couple of weeks just little things have been nagging at me. The secret phone calls, the lies, and then to top it off there's now someone who's betraying me. It screams him, but like Barney said, he's not the type to do it.
"That may be so, Boss, but that could be just down to the fact that his mom's dying."
I frown. "Dying? Explain!" I demand. How the hell didn't I know about this before?
"Boss, she has cancer. This is her third bout, they say this time its incurable. She gets weaker by the day. That's why he's been so distant, so preoccupied." His voice low as he informs me.
"Why hasn't anything been said before?" Why is it only coming to light now?
He shrugs. "It wasn't for me to say. He didn't want anyone knowing just yet. I found out by accident, I overheard his phone call."
I'm silent as I process what I've just been told. I understand that he's pre-occupied but I'm not convinced he's not the one to do this shit. "I'm going to have to talk to him."
He stands. "Is there anything else?"
"Yes, I need you to..." The ringing of my cell stops me. Pulling my cell out my pocket, I see Jagger's name on the screen. "Jag?"
"Boss, I've found Carina."
"I thought you were talking to Sarah?" I ask, confusion setting in, I had sent Martin to find her, not Jagger.
"I was, but I got a call from her dad, she's turned up at her parents’ house."
Anger bubbles up inside. "Okay, where are you now?"
He chuckles. "In your sitting room, Boss, I know that you wanted to know where she was."
Getting to my feet, I end the call. "You're coming with me. Jagger's waiting for us." Walking out of my office, I see that my dad and Tina have left and Jagger's standing by the door tossing his keys in the air. "Jag," I say, as I walk towards him.
His eyes glance behind me to Barney. "He good?" he murmurs so that only I can hear.
I open the front door as I speak to him. "For now. He's coming with us. Time to finally sort that bitch out." It's been a long time coming, she's pushed me too far. I have two questions for her. Does she have anything to do with Mia and Lacey being missing and I want to know why she was with Juan. How did she know about him?
"You're in the back." Jagger tells Barney, his tone full of anger. He's not taking my word for it, he still thinks that Barney had something to do with this.
"Did he say why he's been such a jackass?" Jagger asks as we get into the car.
I bite back the smile as I hear Barney groan. "Well?" Jagger asks, starting the car.
"Fuck, you're a nosy fuck. I'm a chickenshit. Okay? I want to kill anyone I come in contact with. I fucked up with Lacey and I want her back safely so that I can rectify that." Barney admits.
Jagger glances at me, a look of relief in his eyes. "So he's a sap, not a rat."
I chuckle. "Sounds about right."
He stands. "Is there anything else?"
"What about Martin?" Jag asks, "I thought he would have found Carina, he's a good tracker."
I reach for my cell. "That's what I'm about to find out." I dial Martin's number and wait for him to answer.
"Boss." His voice hoarse, "It's not a great time."
"Martin." I say through gritted teeth, I don't give a fuck what time it is.
I hear him sigh heavily, "Boss..."
I cut him off. "Why haven't you found Carina?"
He sighs yet again. "Boss, it's my mom. I haven't had the time to find her."
"Why haven't you said anything?"
"I didn't want anyone to know," he admits quietly.
"How bad is it?" I glance at Jagger, he has a tight grip on the steering wheel.
"It's doubtful she'll make it through the night."
Christ. "Call me if you need me."
"Will do." His voice calm, much calmer than I would be. "And, thanks, Boss."
I end the call just as Jagger pulls up outside a townhouse. "What's up?"
My gut’s still screaming. "His mom may not make it through the night."
He frowns looking confused. "Shit, what's wrong?"
&
nbsp; "Cancer," Barney tells him. "She's had it a few times, just this time it's not curable."
"Fuck," Jagger mutters, saying what we're all thinking.
"Let's get Carina." I need to get ahead of this shit. I'm one step behind and it's time to get ahead.
Five
Mia
"Ladies," a deep voice calls out and I’m instantly awake.
My eyes pop open, but the room is still shrouded in darkness. I don’t know how long we’ve been here, I lost track after ten days. The so called boss has yet to come by and I’m wondering if he’s even real.
"Ladies, you're here for a reason, and only one reason," the deep voice says, it’s a new voice, but one that I know. It’s so familiar but I can’t place where I know it from.
"Why is that?” Lacey asks, her voice is weak. Thankfully she’s no longer coughing.
"Your men," he returns and I want to cry, I knew this had to do with Hudson, I just hoped that I was wrong.
“I don’t have a man. I think you have the wrong people. You should just let us go. We don’t know who you are or where we are. Please just let us go.” She’s lost all faith in us even getting out of here, we’ve not really spoken much the past couple of days. Both of us just retreating into ourselves.
A dark chuckle fills the air, "Oh Lacey, you're so naive."
Lace sucks in a deep breath, "How do you know my name?"
Another chuckle. "I know everything about you Lacey. I know absolutely everything.” He laughs again. “I know that your men are trying to find you. Mia, Hudson has almost lost his damned mind trying to find out who has you. Poor Barney, he’s like a puppy that’s lost his bone. Mia, Mia, Mia…”
I blink. "What do you know about me?" I'm surprised I managed to keep the fear out of my voice.
He laughs. "Of course I know you. You've done the unthinkable, you've made Hudson Brady fall in love. You should see him now. He's tearing this city apart trying to find you. Shame it's never going to happen."
Hope sparks inside me for the first time in ages. Hudson’s looking for me.
"What are you going to do to us?" Lacey asks, her voice cracking on the last word.
"You, nothing. You are collateral damage." My heart begins to race at his words.
"What are you going to do to Mia?" The fear in Lacey’s voice is clear to hear and I’m wondering if I were to speak now would you be able to hear the fear in mine?
He chuckles again. "Well that would be telling now, wouldn't it?"
"Are you going to hurt me?" I whisper, my eyes fill with tears and I will them away, I don’t want to cry.
"First, I'm going to see what you feel like." His voice is so menacing.
I frown. "What?" What the hell is he talking about?
His hand clamps around my leg, his fingers digging into my skin as he pulls me down the mattress toward him.
My eyes widen as I realize what he meant. "No!" I scream as I kick my foot out, but it's no use. His other hand grabs it, his grip is painful, and it feels as though he’s hurting my bone, his fingers digging so hard into my skin. He’s so strong. It’s as though I’m a ragdoll, the way he continues to drag me down the bed by just my legs. I feel utterly useless, like there’s nothing that I can do to stop this.
"What's going on? Mia? What are you doing to her?" Lacey screams, horror pouring out of her words.
I can’t see what he’s doing and it’s so frustrating as I can’t stop him. All I can do is feel what he’s doing and it’s a hundred times worse. It’s as if someone’s taking my sight and my other senses have heightened. I hate it. Something heavy holds my legs in place as he reaches for my pants and pulls them down, my panties coming down with them too. He pulls them off, leaving the bottom half of my body completely naked.
My entire body is frozen, I can’t move, all I can think is please no. No, don’t do this.
"Please, Mia, talk to me?" Lacey begs.
I can't, I'm frozen in place.
The sound of his belt buckle is followed by a horrified gasp. The crinkling of paper fills the air and tears begin to fall down my face. I have never felt as helpless as I do right in this moment. I know exactly what’s going to happen and yet, I can’t move, there’s nothing I can do to stop it from happening.
"No, leave her alone you monster." Lacey cries, I can hear the tears in her voice.
"Please,” I rasp, finally finding my voice. "Please don't do this to me." I beg, even to my own ears I can hear the horror in my voice.
But it's no use. He just laughs at me, probably wondering why I’m being so lifeless, just lying here for him. I’m literally frozen with fear, there’s nothing I’d love to do more than get up and fight but, I’m physically unable.
He lifts my legs, holding onto my thighs. “You’re a gorgeous woman Mia, from the first moment I saw you, I’ve wanted you but I couldn’t have you. You’re the boss’ woman. That means you’re off limits.” He laughs. “Not anymore. Now, you’re mine to do with as I please.” He leers as he enters me in one quick movement.
"No!" I scream out in pain at the invasion. Tears stream down my face as he hums in pleasure. He's not listening to me, he withdraws and pushes back in, taking his pleasure as he violates me.
My tears are falling thick and fast. God, why, why me?
The room fills with his grunting along with the sound of our bodies slamming together.
"You like that huh?" He asks. "No wonder Hudson's gone gaga over you. Your pussy is fucking amazing." He growls and his lips descend on mine, pain hits me as his teeth clatter against my mouth while he roughly kisses me. I keep my lips closed, but that doesn’t stop him. He’s taking whatever he wants from me.
I close my eyes and turn away from him my mind drifting to my happy place. Ironically, the only happy place I can think of is being with the person who made me happiest. Hudson. The way he called me Princess. I’d love when he’d growl it. I never did find out why he called me that and I guess now I’ll never know. I remember the look he’d always give me, like I walked on water, if anyone told him otherwise he’d call them a liar. I think back to the way he’d hold me close every time we were within touching distance. The love that he had for me, that he showed me even though he never said the words. When I think about it now, it was so clear to see, the way he cared for me, the way he looked at me. He loved me and I was stupid. I ran from him instead of talking to him. It’s not Hudson’s fault I’m here. It’s mine. I was stupid, I didn’t trust him and this is what I get in return.
His movements get frantic and relief washes over me, he's almost finished. Weird squeaky grunts fill the air as he moves quicker and I wish I could drown them out with something else but I don’t dare to open my mouth to speak.
Thank God, this nightmare is almost over.
All that's running through my mind right now, is that I'm glad he put on a condom. I couldn’t bear to think of what could happen if he didn’t. He pushes into me again, his body shaking as he shoves his head in my neck. He orgasms, moaning loudly as he does. I bite my lip to stop the sob that’s trying to escape as he lays on top of me.
His heaviness is making it hard for me to catch my breath. It’s as if he’s crushing my lungs, stopping all oxygen from flowing.
He pulls out of me and I cringe as he places a kiss on my cheek, almost like a kind gesture. "Thanks for that, Mia."
I hate him more than I have hated anyone in my life.
The mattress rises as he gets up off it.
Please leave and never come back. I beg silently.
"I'll be back later" he tells us and I swear I can hear a smirk in his voice.
My entire body begins to shake at the thought. I can’t do this again.
His footsteps sound as he walks away, the door closes and is followed by the sound of the lock being locked.
"Mia?" Lacey's gentle voice is my undoing.
I sob, my body shaking as I do so.
"Oh Mia," she cries, and within seconds she begins to pray. I can hear the
Our Father through my sobs. "Please Hudson, find us before he comes back," she prays as she says “Amen.”
I don't think we'll ever be found. Whoever the hell has us is so confident that Hudson will never find out who he is. My mind goes back to him saying that Hudson was his boss. Fear chokes me once again. If we ever did get out of here, it wouldn’t be safe. Whoever it is works for Hudson, they’ll always be around. I no longer have any hope.
We're going to die here. Whenever he's bored, he's going to kill us.
I'm looking forward to that day, if it means I'll never have to go through what I've just been through again.
I turn to my side and curl up into a ball. The room is filled with my sobs, and I realize that I’m still naked from the waist down.
Six
Hudson
It’s been three days since Martin’s mom passed away in her sleep. He’s been quiet and off grid, which I get but at the same time, we’re in the midst of a war and I can’t have my men going dark. I’ve spoken to Martin once since that night and just like I did with Barney, I confronted him. His reaction was very much similar to Barney’s. Betrayal. He denied it and has vowed to find out who is the one behind it.
“Boss, what are we going to do about Carina? She’s been sitting in that crappy motel room for the past three days,” Jagger asks coming into my office, a smile on his lips, he loves that she’s being made to wait.
“I’ll get around to her. The longer she’s left waiting, left sweating, the quicker she’ll talk. Besides, she’s currently going cold turkey.” I raise my brow at him, I expected more from Jag, I don’t let my men do drugs and that should extend to their women.
A heavy sigh escapes him. “I know boss. I know. It’s why I distanced myself from her.” He shakes his head in disgust, “I can’t believe I got caught up with her.”
Dangerous Secrets (The Kingpin Book 2) Page 4
