I didn’t like how powerless I felt these days. The way her demons manipulated my own. I had to pull her out of this hell hole she’d dug herself into. I berated myself most nights for letting it carry on for as long as I had. I knew she’d had her heart broken, but he wasn’t worth it. He wasn’t worth destroying her whole life for. I just hoped I hadn’t left it too late.
Cill and I sat at the bar, chatting about what we could do to support her, to get her the help she needed. I felt responsible for a lot of it. I’d pushed Justin to the brink of insanity using Ed as my weapon, I knew that. I’d instigated my revenge plan, but now it all felt totally pointless. Everything I’d planned to do before I met her was just nothing now. She made everything else in my life seem irrelevant. She was my everything, and she didn’t even know.
They’d just started calling people through to take their seats at the tables ready for dinner. I looked around to see if I could spot Ryley in the crowd, but she was nowhere to be seen. Then I recognised Ben, the mayor’s son, bursting into the room as if the foyer was on fire. He saw me and pushed his way through the guests, his face red and sweaty.
“I’ve just seen Ryley being carried out of the building,” he said between breaths. “She’s off her face.”
“What do you mean carried out? Who took her?” I jumped off my stool at the same time as Cill. I wanted to grab this kid by the scruff of his neck and shake the words out of him.
“She couldn’t stand up. Mason took her.”
The blood froze in my body.
“Mason Lovall? He has Ryley?”
I looked over at Cill, who was thinking the exact same thing I was. Mason Lovall had a reputation that no amount of his dad’s money could kill in our circles. He was a monster of the worst kind. A predator who hid in plain sight. We’d all heard the stories about the women, but nothing ever went to court. If you had enough money, you could make anything disappear in this city. He’d chosen the wrong victim tonight though. He might be a wolf, but I was a fucking lion, and this time he’d taken what was mine. No amount of money would brush me under the carpet.
“Where the fuck is he? Where did he take her?” I dragged Ben along with me as we made our way to the exit.
“He’s got a room at a hotel for the night. The Clarendon, I think he said. You don’t think he’d hurt her do you?”
Ben was a clueless fuck. I clenched my fists to stop myself from knocking him out. I was wound up so fucking tight, I felt murderous.
“He’s a fucking animal,” was all I could manage to say in response.
Ben led us to his car. He wasn’t drinking tonight, thank God. I barked at him to put his fucking foot down as he drove the three of us to the hotel. All the way over there I tried calling Ryley’s mobile, but it kept going to voicemail. The knot in my stomach warned me I’d need to be on my A game tonight. That devil she liked to paint me as, the one I’d kept hidden from her since the day she’d moved into my apartment; he needed to come out to play.
RYLEY
Thirty minutes earlier…
I left Jackson to his brooding, caveman ways and headed out to the entrance hall of the event. A smaller bar was set up and fewer people were milling about. I preferred to be out here, away from the crowds. I needed the space to clear my head and get some alone time.
I hadn’t been at the bar five minutes, when I smelt the overwhelming stench of musky cologne clogging up my airways.
“Beautiful women should never drink alone.”
Mason Lovall squeezed himself next to me, far too close for comfort.
“What’s your poison, princess?” He clicked his chubby fingers at the barman. He was so rude, he made me cringe.
“It’s a free bar. I can order my own drinks.” I side stepped away from him, but he just moved with me.
“I was hoping we’d bump into each other again.” He looked me up and down, flaring his nostrils as he did. “Looks like fate threw me a lifeline tonight.”
I picked up my drink, figuring an evening with Jackson and his mind fuck games was better than spending time with Mason the sleazebag. As I turned to leave, he yanked my arm back, and my wine glass dropped to the floor. I bent down to pick it up, and when I stood up, Mason already had another drink ready for me in his hand.
“You’re clumsy tonight. Here,” he said, holding the glass out towards me. “A couple more glasses of this and you won’t care how uncoordinated you are.”
The barman smirked and I couldn’t stop myself from pouting.
“I’m not clumsy. You knocked me.”
“It doesn’t matter now, angel. Come on, drink up.”
He pushed the glass into my hand, so I took a large sip. I didn’t need encouragement to drink champagne. The bubbles were exquisite, and they seemed to dull the senses quicker.
I think I drank half of that glass before the room started to spin and my vision became blurry.
“I don’t feel too good.” I went to move away from the bar, but I stumbled and almost fell to the floor. It felt like the ground was trembling beneath me, and I couldn’t get a hold on it. My balance was all over the place. I was so confused. My throat felt like it was closing up and my lips and tongue were swelling and numb. I was losing control of myself and everything around me, but I couldn’t seem to speak out to warn anyone. What was happening to me?
“Oh, dear. Early night for you, sweetheart.”
I could hear a man’s voice, but as hard as I tried, I couldn’t respond. I wanted to find Jackson, get him to take me home, but my legs had no feeling to them, no power. I don’t remember anything after that, at least not until I woke up on the back seat of an unfamiliar car. I could see the lights from the streets going past, so I knew we were moving, but I couldn’t move. I couldn’t cry out. All I could do was listen.
The car pulled off the street and into what must’ve been an underground car park, judging from the strip lights overhead. The driver pulled into a space and got out. I heard a car door slam shut, then felt cold air blowing over me as the door closest to me opened. Mason appeared in front of me and leaned into the back seat and over my body.
“This is going to be a night you’ll never remember. If you’re a good girl, I might let you live to forget.”
Then he pulled me downwards so the bottom half of my body was out of the car, enabling him to pick me up easier.
Once he’d got me in his arms, I heard the slam of the car door. He stalked over to some stairs, grunting as he carried me, and climbed the few steps that led him to a door, and then through to some kind of foyer with lights and music. I wanted to fight him off. Hell, I wanted to scream at him to put me down, but I couldn’t move. I could barely compute where I was and what was happening.
“Is she okay?” I heard another male voice.
“My wife drank way too much tonight. I’m taking her back to our room and putting her to bed,” Mason lied.
“Lucky she has you watching out for her.”
“Isn’t she just?” He bent down and kissed the top of my head. All I could do was breathe. I couldn’t grunt or moan. Nothing.
“Call down to reception if you need anything, Mr Lovall.”
I passed out again, my brain struggling to keep my body alert in any capacity.
When I next came round, I was in a hotel room, the only light came from a small lamp in the corner. I was lying on my back on a bed, and although I was lying on my own, I could sense someone else’s presence in the room.
I still felt dizzy, and everything looked blurred, like it was shaky and out of focus. A figure loomed over me, then I felt the bed dip as that same figure moved to sit astride me. Mason leered over me. He looked feral, raw, and unhinged.
“You don’t know how long I’ve waited to get you.”
He picked up my redundant arms and laughed as he let them go and they fell like pieces of meat at my side.
“Perfect. Nice and compliant, just how I like my women.”
He reached across, to what must’ve been a
bedside table, to get something. Then he held it up for me to see. Scissors. My eyes went wild and I tried with every ounce of energy I had to move, or do something, anything to alert someone to the danger I was in, but I had nothing.
“Relax, little one. I’m only using these to cut you out of those clothes. Well, that’s all I’m using them for, for now. Maybe later I’ll use these and some of the other things around the room to fuck you with. First off, I’ll be using my cock. I’ve waited long enough to have you wrapped around my cock, Ryley. I’m going to enjoy every fucking minute of it, trust me.”
I knew this was it for me. There would be no fight, no struggle. He’d slipped something into my drink at the gala and now all I could do was hope and pray that this ordeal would be over quickly. That maybe God would grant me some kindness and make me pass out, save me from living through the nightmare Mason was about to unleash on my body. Was this my last night on Earth? Was this how things ended for me? I’d been so stupid, thinking Justin cheating on me was the worst thing that could happen in my life, when it clearly wasn’t. Being raped by Mason Lovall was the worst, and being in no position to speak, or move, or fight for myself was the ultimate horror and degradation. No one knew where we were. He had my body under siege. I had to safeguard my mind as best I could. So I did the only thing left for me to do; I tried to drift off, let my mind leave my body and take me off somewhere Mason couldn’t reach me.
“I can’t decide whether to fuck you in the ass first or your pussy.” I ignored him, trying desperately to send my brain to a happy place. A safe place.
“Maybe I need to see them both to decide.”
He started to cut the material of my dress down the front, until it fell to the side of me, and I was left lying in my bra and knickers. He whistled and ran the scissors across my chest.
“You have a beautiful body. Such a shame I’m going to be fucking it up so badly. I’ll enjoy it though. There isn’t a part of you that I’m not gonna come in or on tonight, princess. Tonight, you’re all mine.”
He ran the scissors between my breasts and then cut my bra open, growling as he saw me for the first time. He threw the scissors onto the pillow next to my head and bent down, licking and biting me like a wild animal. He caught my nipple between his teeth and pulled so hard I felt the twinge even in my zombie-like state. I tried to close my eyes, willing myself to find that refuge I needed to survive this. I felt him moving down my body, devouring my stomach, and pulling at my knickers.
“Your pussy smells so sweet, I think I’ll start there. Once I’ve torn that apart we’ll move to your tight little ass, then who knows? Maybe we can use that quiet, soft little mouth of yours, and those full, fuckable tits.”
The ball of fear that was swirling in my stomach caught fire and raged through my whole body. I was never going to be able to come back from this. How could anyone come back from something this horrifying and not spend the rest of their life totally and utterly broken?
Mason licked over the top of my knickers, between my legs, and then up over my stomach to my chest and up to my neck. He reached his arm out to take the scissors and sat back on his knees, straddling me once again.
“Let’s get these off, shall we?”
He ran the scissors under the lace of my knickers and I tried to scrunch my eyes shut, praying one last time for the darkness to take me.
I heard a bang, a crash, and an almighty howling of deep male voices, but I didn’t care anymore. My prayers had been answered, and I was being sucked back into nothingness as my brain took me away from the horrors that were unfolding in this dungeon of a hotel room.
JACKSON
It took multiple threats of violence for the hotel receptionist to finally relent and give us access to the room Mason had hired. I was ready to explode, fury coursed through my veins like poison I had to expel. Lucky for him, the receptionist decided he didn’t want to be on the receiving end of my vengeance. He wasn’t keen on us setting off the fire alarms in the building either, in order to flush the bastard out. We’d have smashed through as many doors as we could until we found her. Nothing and nobody was going to hold me back.
All three of us were manic with rage. Ben looked ashen-faced but desperate, Cill was itching to get upstairs, and I just felt cold and ruthless. Ready to attack at a moment’s notice, to protect her at any cost. I was ready to take on whatever I needed to. I hadn’t felt this level of anger since the day my father died. I was ready to kill for what was mine.
We didn’t even bother with the lift, instead taking the stairs two and three at a time as we raced up to the fourth floor where he was hiding out. I don’t think either of us thought about what we might find when we got there. All we were focused on was her.
Room 419, that’s where he was. That was where he had her. I saw the door and ran over to stand opposite. Then I took a step back and launched myself forward, kicking with as much power as my legs could endure. Cill joined me and we pushed and kicked. As Ben stood by watching us, the door flew open and we barged into the room.
A red mist settled over me as I took it all in. She lay there helplessly on the bed, her eyes closed and her body limp. My angel had bite marks and blood on her breasts and down her stomach. The bastard had cut off her clothes and was just about to hurt her with a pair of scissors he held close to her legs. He’d hurt her badly already, and that flipped a switch inside my brain.
Flying across the room, I pulled him off her and grabbed the Swiss army knife I always kept in my pocket, flicking the blade free and stabbing the bastard in the throat. He jolted and bucked in my grasp. Gurgling and spluttering noises came bubbling out of his mouth. I pulled the blade free and stabbed him again, only this time I twisted and ground the knife hard, until I felt his body shudder and go limp. I wouldn’t let the filthy bastard fall forward onto her though, so I threw his vile carcass onto the floor. He was a dirty, bloody mess, but I didn’t care. All I felt was burning, uncontrollable rage cloaking me like a mist, separating me from the mortal world. In this world, all I could focus on was him and how I had to make him pay for what he’d done to her.
I straddled him and began punching him as hard as I could in the face, reigning blow after blow onto his slick, blood-soaked face. I didn’t stop, I couldn’t. I felt like a machine, programmed to kill this bastard. When I got tired of the punches, I grabbed his hair and began slamming his head down onto the floor repeatedly. This fucker was never gonna see the light of day. Not after what he’d done to her.
“Enough, Jax. Stop,” Cill ordered.
“It’s never gonna be enough,” I panted. “Not until they have to use dental records to identify his sorry ass. He’s a dead man.”
“I know he’s a dead man, look at him. He’s gone, Jax. She’s your priority now.”
I looked up to see both men with their heads bowed. My angel lay lifeless and still on the bed. Her perfect, wounded body on display. I stood up, wiping his filthy blood from my hands onto a towel that hung off one of the chairs nearby. I went over to her and gazed into her eyes, praying I’d find life in them, hope flickering somewhere. She was still breathing, but she wasn’t conscious. My chest ached to see her so helpless and broken. I gritted my teeth and fought down the urge to turn around and continue pummelling the bastard until there was no more breath left in my body. Instead, I dragged the bed sheet that she lay on from under the mattress and used it to cover her bruised and battered body.
“We need to clean this shit up and get rid of him.” I turned to face Cill and he nodded.
“She might be able to hear us, you know. They say the drugs immobilize the body and the vocal chords, but not the brain. She’s probably listening to every word we’re saying and scared half to death.” Who’d have thought Cill the joker was the one to bring some common sense to this whole sorry shit show. “Take her home, Jax, where she feels safe. I’ll take care of all this.”
“Call Luca,” I instructed. “He can have this buried by the morning. I know he’s not you
r favourite person, but he’ll do it for me. He’ll do it for Ryley, if you explain what’s happened.”
Cill pulled his phone out of his pocket and started dialling without any argument. I knew leaving Cill and Luca’s men in charge of the clean-up would have zero come back on me, on any of us. They knew what they were doing; they were the experts.
I scooped her tiny body into my arms, making sure the clinically white bed sheets covered her, and the sin that’d been committed tonight.
“You okay to drive us?” I asked Ben.
He just nodded and walked solemnly out of the room. It was his first time witnessing this level of violence, I could tell. He looked about ready to throw up or pass out.
“You’ll be okay cleaning this up?” I asked again, looking down at the blood on the floor and the sicko that lay slumped in the middle of it all.
“You know I will. It’s not my first rodeo.” Cill smiled sadly. “Just look after her first, please. She’s precious.”
Ben opened the back door of his car and nodded down at the angel in my arms.
“You can lay her back there,” he said, but the thought of her being alone there made me feel sick.
“I’m not letting her go,” I snapped at him. “I’ll sit in the back with her.”
I cradled her in my arms, as Ben drove at a ridiculously slow speed back to my place. All the while I whispered in her ear how sorry I was, how much I’d let her down. If only I’d followed her out of the room when she stormed off, none of this would’ve ever happened. She was my responsibility. Mine. I told her as much. I also assured her that I’d never let her down again. Over my dead body would anyone ever hurt her; not while there was still breath in my body.
She didn’t move, her beautiful, delicate face rested peacefully against my chest. Her hair had lost its straight style from earlier and her curly waves were now hanging over my arm. I looked down at her and knew I’d die for this woman. I’d do anything for her. The feelings had crept up on me so slowly, I hadn’t realised how strong they were until tonight, until I’d been faced with the prospect of really losing her.
This Cruel Love (A Dark Hearts Stand-Alone Novel Book 2) Page 17
