by G N Wright
Speechless, we all stare at him, but he just shrugs. “What? He clearly wasn’t going to let us in.” I mean what can we say, he’s right.
He picks up the guy’s tablet and taps away on it as Asher swipes some black cards from the desk. I look at the rail and realize that the black material that I thought made up the wall, is actually a row of cloaks. Fucking rich people shit, like this is just some kind of fucking rapist get together, complete with uniform. It disgusts me, but I’m not stupid, putting the guard down is bad enough, we need to blend in. I grab one for each of us, then pass them out to the guys who shrug them on without question.
Ash uses the black card to swipe us through the first set of double doors and as soon as they open, the pounding of music greets us. We enter right into the nightclub, the music is blaring, the lights are flashing and there are people dancing everywhere. There is a stage in the center of the room that has multiple cages on it, all filled with naked women dancing along to the music. To anyone else, it would look like they are having the time of their life, but the dead, vacant look in their eyes tells me otherwise. Fuck this is worse that I imagined, and I know this floor isn’t even the worst of it.
From the intel we gathered, I know we need to move to the back of the club. The entrance to the top floor is over to our left, but we won’t find what we need there. What we came for, I’m sure awaits us in the basement. We push through the gyrating bodies until we get to the other side, and Ash again uses the card to swipe us through. As the door opens, another guard appears and moves to grab me. He’s quick, but I’m quicker. I dart back from his arm at the same time as I kick out my leg, hitting him in the stomach. Another guard steps up to help, but I know the boys have my back.
Lincoln and Jace tackle the other guard, just as Marcus drags back the one on me before I can do anything. I huff, “I had him River.”
Marcus smiles, as his fist connects with his face, “I know baby, just let me, okay?”
I roll my eyes and he laughs. Once both the guards are down, we quietly make our way down the stairs. I expect to come across more guards, but it seems to be strangely quiet. Shivers dance up my spine when we reach the bottom, because this place is like a maze. There are a few doors in front of us, and then numerous hallways, leading only the lord knows where. We all exchange a look knowing that until Max and his guys find us, we need to split up.
Before I can even say anything, Lincoln hauls Jace to his side and nods, “we got this,” he says gesturing to one of the hallways, “you guys go.” He taps his ear and I nod, turning on my comms and watching as they take the first hallway, leaving one for us and another unmanned. I take a deep breath and pull my gun from my waist and Marcus does the same. Asher looks between the two of us and then heads to the third hallway.
“Ash, what the hell?”
“Don’t worry about me, Hells Bells, I’m the only one they won't kill on sight.” He gives me a sadistic smile before turning and heading out of sight. I would be worried, but I know we all have our earpieces in to alert anyone if something goes down.
Marcus and I move down the hallway, and when we reach the first door, he presses up right behind me, “don’t make me have to punish you again.” He whispers into my hair and I smile, even though he can’t see me.
“You wish, Riviera.” We kick open door after door, coming across empty rooms and men in the middle of acts I won’t wish to recall. When we get to the sixth door, I push it open and nearly choke on surprise, when the first eyes I meet are that of Rebecca O’Sullivan. She is slumped in a chair, wearing nothing but lingerie, and a silk nightgown that's open, showing off her tanned physique. She looks slightly out of it, but still her stare widens as she takes me in. A guy turns towards me, raising his gun just as Marcus shoots him right in the head. Carter moves quickly, grabbing Rebecca by the throat and dragging her body to cover him. Gun to her head.
When I see there is no one else in the room I focus on him. He’s handsome, brown hair that is tousled perfectly and brown eyes that are warm like chocolate. Even the smile he offers me now seems kind and friendly. That perfectly, polished, practiced face of a politician. Oh, he’s good. His three-piece suit is clearly designer and tailored to perfection, and his shoes look freshly shined. Always putting on a public show.
“Miss King, you just ruined my business meeting.” His voice is calm, controlled and completely lacking any fear. I sense the same relaxed nature in him that I get from Greg Donovan. Like they know they are completely untouchable. If the gun to her head scares Rebecca, she doesn’t show it. In fact, her hand curves around the grip he holds to her throat. Interesting.
“I’d apologize, but I don’t like to lie.” I toss back and his smile widens. I knew it. Just like Greg, they get off on defiant women, but only on their terms. They would never fully relinquish control. I know it, he knows it. He won’t let her go without a fight.
“Greg said you were exquisite,” he purrs, his grip pulls Rebecca further into his body, she doesn’t even react. Like this is completely normal behavior for him. He whispers into her ear loud enough for us to hear, “She’s beautiful, isn’t she, my little rose.” She flinches slightly on the word rose, but it’s gone so quick that I don’t know if I even saw it. “I wish we had time to play.” He says talking to me again now, “but seems like the fun is over.” His finger tightens on the trigger, Marcus mutters my name, but I ignore him, keeping my eye on Carter's hand.
“Hurt her and I will kill you.” My voice is calm and steady which is the exact opposite to how I am feeling right now.
He smiles the most genuine smile I’ve seen on him yet, dark, with a hint of evil. “I believe that, Miss King, you are your father’s daughter after all.”
The way he delivers those words sparks my interest. He wants to talk. Men like him always do and if I keep him talking, maybe I can distract him. “What do you know of my father?”
He smiles again, taking the bait, “I know he wanted a son, a son to be just like you.” His gaze travels over my body, up and down. He pauses on the knife at my thigh and groans, “he’d be so proud of everything you've done.” He takes his time dragging his eyes back to mine. “If it weren't for that cunt between your legs, that is. Jonathan King never knew how to treat a woman. Stick around in one of these rooms and I’m sure you’ll find out.”
My father’s here. That is the only thing that sticks in my mind, but I don’t want him to know how much his words are distracting me. Instead, I snort, “yeah and because of this cunt everyone presumes I'm a pussy.”
Just as my words echo into the room, the fire alarm begins to blare. It startles me, as sprinklers spray out immediately and, in a flash, Rebecca is thrown to the floor and Carter disappears. What the fuck? I rush towards where he was standing and find a slim line in the wall, indicating a secret entrance. I push against it, but nothing happens. Fuck.
I turn and see Marcus looking at me as he wraps Rebecca in his black cloak, before lifting her into his arms. Her face is still a blank mask, like she has perfected the art of no emotion. Two years with that sick fuck, I can’t imagine what she has had to endure. But there is no time to worry about that now. We need to get out of here and fast.
I ignore my drenched clothes as we leave the room. There are men in suits rushing past us, some alone and some dragging along half naked women. We follow them down the hall through the rain of the sprinklers, but just as we are passing the last door before the stairs someone grabs my arms. I whirl around raising my gun, but find Lincoln staring at me and I sigh in relief.
“Why is the fire alarm blaring?” I ask him, raising my voice slightly to be heard over the commotion.
Jace steps up beside me, completely wet and dripping, and shrugs his shoulders, “because there’s a fire.” He says it so casually that I almost want to laugh, almost.
I huff muttering, “of fucking course there is.” I shake my head slightly, and then look between the two of them, wondering where Ash is. “Now what?”
&
nbsp; Lincoln smirks and it’s the biggest smile I have ever been gifted from him. “Now we do this quickly and get out of here before we burn.”
I frown, we already have Rebecca, what more can we do when Carter has already escaped. “Do what?”
He ignores me and instead looks to Marcus, “you and Jace get Rebecca out of here, we will join you in a few.” He eyes him with a serious look, knowing that Marcus will want to fight him, but before he can, Linc adds, “don’t worry brother, I got your girl.”
As my eyes meet River’s I let him see the plea in them. He has to go. He has to get Rebecca out of here before someone comes for us, “I’ll be fine.”
Instead of arguing, he maneuvers so he only has one hand holding Rebecca, and he uses his other hand to drag me by the neck so he can claim my lips in a quick, searing kiss. “Don’t make me come back for you Ells.” His tone is dark and filled with filthy promise, his lips curling into a sinful smile, making sure that I know just how serious he is. He looks to Lincoln then, “ten minutes.” is all he says before Linc nods. Jace and Marcus disappear into the crowd of people and we watch them go.
Turning back to Linc, I give him a playful glare. “What trouble are we getting into now, Superman?” I tease with a smile, and he laughs, shaking his head slightly to clear the water from his face.
“Only your favorite kind, you stabby, little King.” He ushers me inside the room he appeared from and when he closes the door and steps out of my eyesight I am greeted with a shocking turn of events.
Cherry Daniels is strapped to a table. Naked, beaten and bleeding. Asher is standing behind a chair in the middle of the room and tied to the chair is the one man who could have stopped it all. Jonathan King.
Chapter 35
ELLE
Afather is supposed to be a girl's first hero. The man she will measure every other man in her life against. The man who loves her unconditionally and protects her fearlessly. The man who teaches her how to be strong and independent. The man who doesn't let anyone hurt her. The man who gives her the world and everything in it.
My father is not that man.
Jonathan King is cold, calculating and completely heartless. It’s something I saw growing up but was too young or naive to fully understand. He never spent any time alone with me, was never interested in anything I was doing, and didn’t pay any attention to me until the summer I was taken. At the time, I was thrilled. I felt excited that he was finally taking an interest in me. Inviting me to join their elite parties and constantly introducing me to his friends. He would brag about how well I was doing in school and all my extracurriculars. It never crossed my mind to think it was anything other than fatherly love.
I was an idiot.
Jonathan King cares for one person and one person only. Himself. When he sees me, he laughs maniacally, “What? You expect me to be scared of her?” He shakes his head like this is all a big joke, but when he sees he is the only one laughing, he stops, straightening up.
“What’s the matter, Father? Not up for some daddy, daughter bonding time?” I ask as my lips curl in disgust.
“Not unless you want to replace your friend on the table there.” He tosses back without pause, and the sick thing is that he’s completely serious.
Unable to stop myself from wanting an answer to the only question that has ever truly mattered, I step forward and ask. “Why’d you let them do it, Dad?”
He rolls his eyes in disappointment but answers me anyway. “Your mother was supposed to be mine, but when I got her, she was already tainted.”
I can’t hide my anger at his words, “Yeah by that sick fuck, you call a friend.”
“Semantics.” He waves his hand in dismissal. “Women like her are only good for one thing. I wanted an heir, and she was going to give me one. Only, I got you instead.” His words sting, but I don’t let it show. “I was a man, surrounded by powerful men with sons set to take the reins and all I had was a pair of pussies living under my roof.”
“That was a good enough reason to sell me. To let your friends’ rape and butcher me. Just because you wanted a son?” My words are laced in disbelief at what I have always known, but still hurts to hear. I can’t stop the lone tear as it tracks down my cheek. Asher sees it and steps closer to my father, but I shake my head slightly, as I wipe it away.
Jonathan doesn’t miss it though, and he scoffs. “You're pathetic, just like your mother, only good for one thing and you couldn’t even do that right.”
“I was a fucking kid. I wasn’t supposed to know what’s right. You were the parent, you were supposed to protect me, yet someone else's father had to be the one to save me.” The tears continue to stain my cheeks, but I don’t let the cry escape my throat.
“You think you are above us, yet you used your body to gain Michael’s attention. Leading him to ruin his life and mine.” He shakes his head, “it should have been simple. I found out about the boy your mother abandoned and I went straight to Elliot. He wanted revenge and I wanted power, so I gave him you.”
“What power could that have possibly given you?”
“God, Elle, I thought some of myself would have rubbed off on you, but you're just as weak and naive as your mother. You’d be surprised at the price someone like you can fetch. You’d have made us both a lot of money and gained us a huge amount of favor. But Michael just couldn’t resist being the fucking martyr.”
“My brother would have ruined your plans.” Asher speaks up from behind him, “he wanted Elle from the moment he had her, and Greg always gets what he wants.”
“Even better.” Jonathan spits, “you were too fucking stupid to make a move on her and bring the families together. I had no other choice.”
“There’s always a choice.” I answer bitterly. He really thinks the only way for him to gain power was to hand me over to them. His own flesh and blood tossed away like trash, just because I wasn’t an efficient heir.
“We don’t have much time.” Lincoln interrupts from behind me and I startle, having been unnerved by the interaction with my father. From the emotions he was evoking in me. What the fuck am I doing? I am Elle King. Not the heir he wanted, but the heir he fucking got. It’s time he got to know exactly what kind of daughter he has.
I slowly walk towards him, as I speak. “You think your words have any effect on me daddy? That you can cut me down.” I shake my head with a humorless laugh, “I’ve already been down, further than you can imagine until I bathed in the pits of hell. You thought I was an easy target. Just a lamb you could send off to slaughter?”
I glance at Cherry as she silently watches us with fear in her eyes. She is already fully acquainted with the Elle King that stands in this room. It’s time my father is too.
I bend down until I can look him right in the eye, hand slipping to my thigh, but he is too focused on my words to notice.
“But I'm not a lamb, Daddy, I'm a wolf.”
I slice his throat before he can even take his next breath. Letting his blood splash onto my skin. I don’t know when the sprinklers stopped, but it’s now that I register that we are no longer being showered in water.
I look at Ash, who stares silently until a proud smile spreads across his face. He looks past me to Lincoln and when I do the same, I find an eerily similar expression to Ash’s on his face.
Lincoln shakes his head slightly before saying, “we really need to go.”
“I know.” I reply turning to where Cherry still lies, “just one more bit of business.”
I stalk towards the table and check her over, the injuries she sustained from me are still evident, but clouded in fresh ones. Blood pours from her neck and stomach where there are two fresh wounds and the bruising around her thighs tells me exactly what was going on before we got here. I should feel sorry for her, but I don’t. I can’t bring myself to feel one ounce of compassion at her being in this state.
She almost cost me everything. She took the thing that mattered most to me and handed it over to the Donovan�
��s. without a care in the world. She doesn’t deserve anything from me, but I give it to her anyway.
I lean over untying her wrists and then move to her ankles. I can feel Asher and Lincoln’s stares on my back as I free her, but I don’t look their way. Once she can move, she sits up and pushes to the side of the table. She moves to stand, and I help her, as her legs almost give out on her.
When her eyes meet mine, she opens her mouth to speak, but I beat her to it. “If you dance with the devil then you are going to get burnt.” I plunge my knife into her side. Right between her ribcage and straight into her heart. She’s dead instantly, her eyes barely reacting to the shock. I push her body off mine and let it drop to the floor, as I meet the guy's widened eyes.
I wipe my knife on the table and place it back on my thigh. “Now we can go.”
Chapter 36
MARCUS
Ican’t stop my knee from bouncing up and down as I wait for Elle to come outside. It’s been seven minutes, three more and I am going in. I put Rebecca in the front passenger seat and strapped her in, she is still yet to say a word, her vacant stare constantly scanning the surrounding area. Jace is pacing back and forth outside, furiously smoking a cigarette. Just as sirens start to blare in the distance, I see Max burst out of the side door, followed by Mason and Liam. I hold my breath, but then Max turns and ushers out Elle, with Linc and Ash quick on her tail. As soon as I see her my whole body relaxes.
As she gets closer, Jace rushes over to her, gripping her by the shoulders and checking her over, like he just needs to reassure himself that she’s okay. She smiles, saying something I don’t hear, and nods her head towards the car Max and his guys are heading to. He fist bumps Lincoln and they both follow Max as Elle and Ash make their way over to me. Asher opens the door for her, letting her climb inside before he joins me in the back. Elle is covered in blood, but I say nothing as we speed off into the night.
