by Beck, J. L.
The blood in my veins boiled with every word he spoke and my muscles shook as the need to destroy something burned through me.
“That fucking bastard,” I seethe. He had fucking balls coming into my business, trying to buy her from me, without thinking I would question his motives. There was no way in fucking hell I was going to let that bastard get his hands on her. She was mine, and I was hers, and I would kill anyone I had to in order to protect her.
“Take care of the parents and find homes for any of the other children. Leave Tony and Drake to me.”
“Tony has disappeared. I had a couple men trailing him just to see what he was up to, but he kind of fell off the map. We think we might know where he’s hiding, but it’s not a sure thing.”
I grunt and grip the edge of the desk because it’s either grunt or rip this fucking place apart. I’d have to get him to come out of hiding if I wanted to make him pay, but doing that would mean I’d have to bait him.
“What about Drake?” I ask in a clipped tone.
“Drake’s pimping girls left and right, and he still owes us the remainder of his gambling debts. Did you want me to have one of the men bring him in?”
Drake would be a nice distraction while I waited for Tony to pop his head out.
“Yeah,” my lip curls, “make sure the men know he’s mine. I don’t want him bleeding out when he’s brought in. I’ll do that part.” The beast inside me was bursting at the seams. He wanted out, to inflict violence on all the fuckheads that had hurt or let down his sweet Rose.
10
Rose
Stretching against the smooth sheets, my hands seek out Miles, but when I grab onto nothing but air, I blink my eyes open.
Gone. He’s gone. The bed is empty, and I’m all alone. Tears sting my eyes, and I wipe at them with my hands. Confusion slams into me a moment before sadness. We had sex last night. I gave him my virginity, and then he left like I was nothing.
Where did he go? My eyes scan the room without thought, looking for a note or any sign that he left because he had to and not because he wanted to.
Finding nothing, a lump of emotion forms in my throat, and I throw my legs over the edge of the mattress, forcing myself into a sitting position. I ignore the ache between my legs, walk over to the dresser and pull on one of Miles’s shirts and a pair of boxers.
Lifting the fabric of the shirt to my nose, I inhale his spicy scent. Fear zings up my spine when I hear the creaking of the door. Turning on my heels, I face the bedroom door just in time to see a young-looking man pop his head inside the room.
I stare at him wide-eyed, my chest heaving with every breath that passes my lips.
“My name is Daniel, and I mean you no harm. I’ve come to bring you breakfast.” He forces a smile that doesn’t quite meet his eyes. He’s young, probably the same age as me if I had to guess. His hair is cut close to his head, and I have to crane my neck back to look up at him. He doesn’t look at me like I’m a piece of meat. In fact, he doesn’t look at me at all, his eyes looking anywhere and everywhere but at me.
So maybe Miles didn’t leave me completely, but he also didn’t say anything about where he was going, or how long he’d be gone. Where did he go? The thought of being taken by one of his men, of not having him here to protect me, it terrifies me more than anything.
What if someone hurts me while he’s gone?
I don’t say anything as Daniel slowly pushes the door open and walks into the room, carrying a tray with an assortment of breakfast items on it. My stomach growls at the sight of the food as he sets it down on the tiny table near the bed.
Swallowing, I force myself to remain calm as the question I want to ask rolls off my tongue, “Where-where is he? And when is he coming back?” I ask.
“Business,” he replies, looking everywhere but at me, “if you need anything, there is a man posted at the end of the hall. Please only come out if it is an emergency or you’re in dire need of something.”
“Is… Is he coming back for me?” I don’t know why I ask this man the question, maybe because I’m desperate or maybe because I want to ease my mind while waiting for Miles to return. Either way, I’m shocked when he responds.
“He will be back. You need to eat…” he gestures to the plate. “I’ll come back in a bit to get the plate.” The look he gives me then is one of guilt, “If you make trouble, I will call Miles.”
Call Miles? That relieves me a little, to know he is a mere phone call away. I bite the inside of my cheek. Knowing that there isn’t much this Daniel man can do to help me, I nod my head in understanding. And still, the thought lingers in my mind: I don’t want to be Miles’s prisoner; I want to be his equal.
“Eat,” he orders and then walks out of the room, exiting just as quietly as he entered. My thoughts swirl as soon as I’m alone again, the walls closing in on me.
What if he doesn’t want me anymore? What if all he wanted was my virginity, and now that he’s got it, I’m nothing to him anymore?
Feeling vulnerable, I force my legs to carry me back to the bed. Sitting on the edge of the mattress, I stare at the food on the plate. Orange juice, bacon, eggs, and French toast. It looks delicious, but my appetite has disappeared and is replaced with uncertainty.
Why didn’t he wake me up before he left? Because he doesn’t want you. Something inside me says. All my life, I’ve been unwanted, shuffled from place to place, never really loved by the people who were supposed to care for me. I’ve always been a nuisance to those around me. Tears sting my eyes again, and this time I let them fall.
Sobbing, I wrap my arms around my middle, drowning in my fears.
Sitting there, I devise a plan. As soon as he gets here, I’ll beg him to keep me. I’ll tell him that I will do whatever he wants, so long as he keeps me as his and no one else’s.
Yes, that may make me sound desperate, but the last place I want to end up is in the club he owns as a stripper or sold back to Drake or some other vicious man. Yes, Miles is scary, huge, and intimidating, but he’s never tried to hurt me.
He’s always been gentle and kind. My thoughts drift to last night, and the care he used as he took me, owning my body. He went slow even though I know he wanted to rut into me, and when it was all said and done, he held me in his arms, whispering sweet nothings into my ear until I fell asleep snuggled against him.
Last night, I was certain we were both falling in love. Now, I’m not so sure, now I wonder if giving myself to him was a mistake, if I should’ve held out longer. Or maybe it was just inevitable. Confusion ignites in my mind. If he wanted to get rid of me, he would’ve done that by now, but why leave without warning, after everything that happened last night?
My thoughts are interrupted when the bedroom door creaks open and a man I’ve never seen before enters.
“Rose, is it?” he asks, his eyes are dark, almost black, but beneath that darkness is something else and before I can pinpoint it, it’s gone.
“Yes,” I answer in a hushed voice. I don’t recall Daniel saying another man would come in, but maybe something came up, and he couldn’t get my plate?
“Good.” He grins, and the smile that pulls at his lips is frightening and a lot like staring into the face of a lion seconds before it rips into you. You want to run, but you just can’t because running will mean they chase you.
Fear coats my insides like glue, and I know something terrible is about to happen. Before I can think about what to do next, the man is across the room, his meaty hands digging into my flesh. A blood-curdling scream rips from my throat, but it’s muffled almost immediately when a large hand covers my mouth. Fear and anger burn through my veins, and even though it disgusts me, I sink my teeth into the palm of his hand.
Like I’ve burnt him, he releases me, and I can finally breathe, that is, until I look into his eyes and see murderous rage forming. Before I can even blink, his hand is making contact with the side of my face. My body sways with the strength of his slap, and the coppery tang o
f blood fills my mouth, while pain radiates down my cheek.
“All this trouble for you…” he grabs me by the hair, hauling me to his chest. I struggle against his hold, trying to get away, but I’m too weak to protect myself, too weak to escape. All I can think of in that moment is Miles, and how I wish he was here right now. He would protect me. He wouldn’t let anyone hurt me.
Just the thought of him gives me the strength to fight again. Using my fingernails, I lash out and scratch my assailant across the face, sinking my nails deep into his skin. He hisses and tightens the grip he has on my hair. My lips part, a scream attempting to break free when his hand covers my lips again. I squeeze my eyes shut, thinking he is about to kill me, but instead, I feel a sharp prick against my neck. My eyes fly open just in time to catch a syringe of unknown fluid being administered into my body.
“Goodnight, little bitch, we’re gonna have so much fun with you…”
A cold shiver I can feel in my bones runs through me. The last thing I think of before darkness engulfs me is Miles.
My Miles.
He’ll save me, he has to…
11
Miles
My cell starts to go off a few minutes into the interrogation, and I pull it out, my heart falling into my stomach when I see the name flashing across the screen.
“What is it?” I growl, praying, and hoping that nothing’s happened to Rose.
Daniel’s panicked voice fills my ear a moment later, “There’s been an attack. Rose is…” he pants. Suddenly, I feel like I’m going to vomit.
“What happened?” I roar like an animal that’s being attacked. Nick’s forehead wrinkles with confusion, but I don’t have a second to even explain.
Squeezing the phone hard enough to break it, blackness clouds my vision at his words.
“Rose has been taken. I tried, boss… I tried to stop him…”
My entire world crumbles in an instant.
Rose… my Rose. Taken.
Shutting down completely, all I can think about is saving Rose… and ripping the fucker who dared to touch her apart, limb from limb.
“How long ago?” I ask, walking out into the hall.
“Whoa, whoa, wait. What’s going on?” Nick cuts me off in the hallway.
“Thirty minutes ago, and he wasn’t alone, we lost a few men.” Daniel’s shaky voice fills my ears.
“Stay put and keep everyone there. I’ll bring men from the club with me.” I don’t even give Daniel a chance to respond. I hang up the phone and tip my head back, a yell ripping from deep within the pits of my soul. My pulse thunders in my ears, and tremors of pure rage ripple through my body.
“Miles, talk to me,” Nick calls after me.
“Close the club down, I need every man available, and I need you to call in every favor we have to everybody we know. Someone took Rose, and we need to find her. Now!”
“Yes, boss.” Nick doesn’t even flinch at my tone. He knows how much she means to me and how much it’ll kill me if something happens to her.
* * *
Six hours… six long fucking hours that felt more like six years to me. I don’t even want to know what my Rose has been enduring this entire time. All I know is that I’ll kill anyone who has touched her. If she has one bruise or one single hair out of place, I’ll murder everyone.
“You’re sure they’re keeping her here?” I ask Nick as we pull up to the abandoned building. I’m jacked up, adrenaline pumping through my veins. I need to hurt someone, to make them pay for touching what is mine, but most of all, I need to have Rose back in my arms to make sure she’s taken care of, and that no one has hurt her.
“Yes, someone that doesn’t like Drake too much, tipped us off, said he’d hurt his sister pretty bad last year. He told us everything we needed and more. Didn’t even want payment in return.”
Fucking Drake ended up striking a deal with Tony. That asshole has no honor. I shouldn’t be surprised, he is scum. The lowest kind of man.
“If she’s in there, I want you to send him something anyway.” I check the extra clips and shove them in my pocket. With my gun loaded and my second gun tucked in my holster, I get out of the car and head toward the building.
Nick and five more of my men follow closely behind.
“Maybe I should go ahead,” one of the guys suggests, but I’m already shaking my head. I want her to see me first. I want to be there to hold her before anyone else does. And if someone touched her or hurt her in any way, I will be the first one there to avenge her.
12
Rose
I wake in an empty, dark room, tied to a chair. Strands of hair stick to my face and my head pounds like someone took a sledgehammer to the side of it.
“Welcome back to the world, beautiful,” a voice I recognize but cannot pinpoint says. Thoughts swirl inside my head, but the contents are a lot like a five-hundred piece puzzle that’s been destroyed, pieces tossed around the room in every direction. My attempts to move are sluggish, and it’s like I’ve got boulders tied to my limbs.
“I wouldn’t try and move too much. The drugs are still in your system, and all you’ll do is exhaust yourself more.” Ignoring the voice, I continue to struggle. Zip ties dig into my wrists as I try and wiggle out of them, but there isn’t any escaping. I’m trapped and tired, so tired.
“Please,” I turn to begging, desperation coating each word. A soft light turns on above my head, it’s dim and doesn’t illuminate anything but the spot directly in front of me. Still, I cast my gaze to the floor, the light hurting my sensitive eyes.
“You were supposed to be mine.” A man steps into the light and peers down at me. Tony. Dark, menacing with yellow teeth that appear from behind his chapped lips. The man that made a deal with my foster parents. The man that tried to buy me from Miles.
Instantly, I start to tremble knowing the trouble that I’m in. Tied to a chair, alone with a man who wants to hurt me, who can do whatever he wants to me without anyone stopping him. He steps closer and pinches my chin between two of his fat fingers.
I hate how helpless I am. He pinches harder, and I grind my teeth together to hide the pain. Turning my face from side to side, he inspects me, “I can’t wait to break you and see what’s inside. Can’t wait for you to call out to your precious Miles over and over again.” I swallow or try to, but it feels like someone is wrapping their hand around my throat. Miles. He’s so close but yet so far away. Tears sting my eyes.
“He won’t come for you, you know that, right? You’re just a toy, a plaything, and now you’re mine.” Rancid breath fans against my face, and my stomach churns. I’m close to vomiting, and hopefully, it will be on this guy’s face. Struggling against the man’s grasp, I try to inch away as much as the restraints allow me to.
“He will come for m—” I whisper, only to have my words cut off by Tony tightening his grip around my throat.
“Then let him come. I’ll kill him for taking what was supposed to be mine.” A cruel vile grin pulls at his lips, “I’m guessing he already fucked you?”
“I’m not yours,” I manage to wheeze out.
“I will show you otherwise. When I’m done with you, you will kneel in front of me every day, begging to suck my cock. You will call me master and you won’t just like it, you’ll love it. Maybe I should give you a taste right now? See how good my dick fills your mouth…” Excitement swirls in his eyes as he starts to unbutton his pants with his free hand while keeping his grip on my throat with his other.
“No, please, don’t…” Tears spring from my eyes and trail down my cold cheeks. Tony doesn’t stop though, my tears and fear only encourage him more. Just as his penis comes into view, I squeeze my lids closed. This can’t be happening. I can’t breathe. I can’t think. Curling inward on myself, I let my mind drift away.
“Open your eyes, bitch. I want you to see who’s fucking your mouth.” He gives me a shake, but I don’t listen. If he’s going to do this, he’s not getting my cooperation, he’ll have
to kill me first. All I do is squeeze my eyes shut tighter.
Then, just when I’m about to give up hope, all hell breaks loose. One second, Tony has his hand wrapped around my throat, and the next, the sound of guns firing off in the distance fills the room.
“Looks like it’s show-time, baby.” Tony grins and licks a tear from my cheek before sinking his fingers into my hair. He tugs, and my scalp screams as pain lances across it. “Now, you get to watch your boyfriend die…”
The door to the room I’m in is kicked open, and I shiver at the image of the man before me. Huge, angry, and fierce-looking. Miles… he came for me.
13
Miles
Walking into the room, I’m not sure what to expect. I’ve killed three men with my bare hands, and another ten with my gun. Tony did one thing right, he knew he’d need an army to try and stop me from getting to her.
When I find Rose tied to a chair, Tony’s hand fisted in her hair, I almost lose it. Her eyes are red and puffy, and tears cascade down her beautiful face. I’m going to kill him, but not before I break every fucking bone in his body.
How dare he touch her? Hurt her?
“You’re going to die for this,” I say through gritted teeth, raising my gun to his chest. I’m not aiming to kill, no, he is going to die slowly, feeling every single thing. Pulling the trigger on the gun, I hit his right shoulder. His features fill with shock like he wasn’t expecting me to shoot him. Stupid fucker.
