Deception and Chaos

by S. M. Soto

  “It’s no matter. I can always fill you up with my seed, make you bear my children once we get rid of that little nuisance. I’m thinking I’ll cut it out of you and save it as a little souvenir. What do you think?”

  Creed growls like a feral animal from his position across the room. He rocks in his chair unable to do anything with his hands and legs bound. I catch Creed’s eye and see the question there, “we’re having a baby?”. My chest constricts and my heart lurches painfully as I nod my head helplessly. Tears fall seamlessly down my face, and I bite my bottom lip to stifle a sob.

  I should’ve told him the minute I found out. I should’ve told him sooner.

  Finlay chuckles, clearly finding this whole debacle entertaining. He scratches the barrel of his gun along his temple in contemplation, looking like a true lunatic.

  “You just had to fuck this all up, didn’t you? Now look at the predicament we’ve found ourselves in, love—you’re carrying the spawn of Satan.”

  I narrow my eyes at him. He has no right to speak about the man I love, or my child that way. He closes the distance between us and rests his pistol on my arm.

  “And now you have to choose,” Finlay says trailing the pistol in his hand up, and down my arm.

  “What?” My voice is thick—shaky with fear. A sinister smile spreads across his face and he laughs like a lunatic.

  “This is where the fun begins, love. You’re going to choose one.” He gestures to Creed and Garrett, bound tightly to separate chairs. Creed looks murderous, and Garrett is itching to get his hands around Finlay’s neck. “My sweet, naïve Soph. You’re going to choose one to save.”

  My eyes widen in horror and I swing my gaze to Finlay.

  No, please no.

  “So, who’s it going to be, love? Are you going to save the father of your little bastard? Or will you save your brother? The man who has given up his whole life to care for you?”

  My chest heaves and silent tears trek down my face. Garrett’s teeth are bared in a snarl, and Creed looks detached—like a sitting stone. Slowly, he lifts his eyes to mine and I see his message clear as day.

  Choose Garrett.

  I can’t.

  Save yourselves.

  I won’t. Not without you.

  I love you.

  I love you, too.

  I turn to Finlay and plead, with tears glistening in my eyes. “Fin…please, don’t make me do this. I love them. I-I can’t do this.”

  He smiles placatingly. “Sure you can, love. If you choose one, I’ll spare his life, and yours of course…but the other one,” he sucks air in through his teeth and whistles, feigning an apologetic look. “I’ll have to shoot him.”

  Like a blow to the gut, all the air is forced from my lungs and the room tilts, like it’s shifting on its axis. A sob rips through my chest as I look between Garrett and Creed.

  I can’t do this.

  I shake my head back and forth and cup a hand over my mouth. Creed meets my eyes and nods his head, prompting the tears come down faster.

  “Tick-tock, love. We don’t have all day. Choose. Now.”

  I shake my head back and forth. My eyes shift around the room, looking for a weapon, or something to hurt Finlay with so I can get us out of this mess.

  “Choose now!” Finlay booms. His voice sends a jolt of terror through my body.

  “Finlay, please.” My voice is a weak whisper, and his face hardens.

  “Fine. You don’t want to choose? I’ll do it for you.” Finlay turns the gun toward Garrett and I cry out; he clicks the safety off and at the last minute he shifts the gun toward Creed, and it goes off.

  The sound is deafening, echoing off the walls around us. Reverberating through my body.

  “NO!” I screech in horror. My legs give out and I fall to my knees in despair. I feel the actual moment my heart breaks. The pain tears through my insides, violently ripping through my organs; it fists my heart, and squeezes in an unforgiving grip until I can’t breathe anymore.

  I’m screaming. The walls shake. My chest bleeds in agony. I scream again. It echoes throughout the whole room and I watch in horror as blood seeps through Creed’s white shirt from his abdomen. I don’t even realize I’m doing it, but somehow, I managed to jump onto Finlay’s back and claw at his face. I try to jab my fingers in his eyes, but his hand closes around my wrist. Pain slams through my body when I’m flung to the ground like a weightless doll. My head smacks against the concrete with a thud, and I continue sobbing.

  “Creed!” I scream in between sobs, clutching my chest, staving off the pain.

  “Don’t you fucking touch her!”

  “I’m going to fucking kill you!”

  I hear shouting, but I can’t tell where it’s coming from. I’m disoriented. The white noise and the tears are distorting my vision and clouding my brain.

  I’m pulled up roughly by my arm, and Finlay drags me toward the door. Garrett is yelling obscenities, and I’m still screaming at the top of my lungs, struggling against his grip. I frantically meet Creed’s eyes, and an ugly sob tears through my chest. He looks uncharacteristically stricken and pale. The pained look on his face is the last thing I see before I’m shoved out of the room, and the metal door is slammed in my face—locking me away from the men that have my heart.

  “CREED!” I scream through my tears.

  Finlay grips a fistful of my hair, tossing me away from the door. I fly into the wall with a jarring thud and crawl to my knees, pushing the wild hair out of my face, only to see Finlay stalking toward me.

  “Sorry, love. This is going to hurt.”

  He swings his gun in the air, slamming the butt against the base of my skull, and everything goes black.

  To be continued….

  Want to know what happens next? Read on for a snippet of Blood and Chaos, book two in the Chaos series.

  Coming January 2019.

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  Book Two in the Chaos Series

  S.M. SOTO

  MY BODY JOSTLES AND I wake with a start, groaning in pain. There’s a dull humming noise and an uneven rhythm beneath me, like I’m in a car, driving over hilly mountains. My skin feels clammy and sweaty, and my head is pounding painfully.

  Slowly, everything starts to come into focus as my hazy eyes adjust to the bright light in the enclosed space. A black canvas ceiling comes into view and my body rumbles beneath me as the tires of the vehicle I’m in roll over an uneven surface. With my back cushioned against leather seats, I shift onto my elbows. Bright green whips past the open windows of the jeep, or whatever this thing is. Hot, muggy air blows into the small space that leaves my skin on fire, dripping sweat, begging for a different climate.

  My gaze drifts toward the driver and passenger seat, and my stomach bottoms out when I see Finlay. He has a pistol trained on a dark-skinned woman as she drives. Everything comes rushing back in, the basement with Creed and my brother, Finlay shooting Creed at point blank. The devastation. Everything hurdles forward, slamming into me tenfold. A helpless sob rips from my chest as I think about Creed. Pain tears through my insides, wrapping savage and cold around my heart.

  At the sound of my sobs, Finlay whips around and narrows his eyes menacingly. Ignoring the incessant throbbing in my skull, I push myself upright and try to reason with Finlay.

  “Please don’t do this, Finlay. Please, just let me go,” I sob, clasping my hand over my stomach. The woman with the mocha colored skin in the driver seat darts her gaze back to mine warily, and shoots Finlay an indecipherable look.

  “You say she is wife,” the woman says to Finlay, her hands grip onto the steering wheel tightly, her tight curls bouncing with each uneven bump we run over along the road. “She is not wife.”

  “Help me,” I mouth to her in the rear-view mirror. Her gaze darts away almost immediately and her plump lips thin into a grim line.

  Suddenly, the woman slams on the breaks and
puts the vehicle in park. My body flings forward and my face smacks against the back of her leather seat.

  “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Finlay growls. I scramble to push myself upright.

  Finlay digs the gun into her temple and adds enough pressure that her head cranes to the side.

  “I said drive. Don’t suddenly act like you don’t understand me. If you want to stay alive and you want your fucking money, keep driving!”

  Her chest rises and falls quickly as Finlay keeps his gun resting against her temple. My eyes dart between the two of them.

  “Finlay, please just let us go!” I shout, slicing the tension in the air.

  “You shut the fuck up!” He tosses over his shoulder, glaring daggers at me.

  “No,” she says resolutely. Both of our gazes swing back to her. “You are evil. I sense it in you.” The woman says glaring at Finlay. “I take her, and we go quietly.”

  She unlicks her seatbelt and makes a move to open the door, but Finlay doesn’t let her get far. Unclicking the safety, he pulls the trigger, shooting the woman in point blank range, killing her instantly.

  A guttural scream rips from my chest as I watch, for the third time, someone being killed by a bullet. Blood coats the entirety of the jeep as her form slumps over the steering wheel. The side of her head is a mess of crimson, her dark curly hair matted with blood and flesh. Unable to hold the sudden wave of hysteria back, a wail tears from my chest. Bile rises in my throat. The muscles in my stomach tighten and I lean to the side of the jeep, vomiting against the leather. Dry heaves wrack my body.

  “God fucking damnit, Sophia. Look what you made me do!” Finlay growls, pinning me with an angry glare. “Her death is on your hands.” He jabs a finger in my direction. “You should’ve shut your fucking mouth and she would’ve lived to see another day.”

  Air wheezes from my lungs at his words and my body trembles violently with the force of my sobs.

  “I’m sorry,” I whisper through my tears, staring at her slumped form. “I’m so sorry.”

  I clench my eyes shut and shake my head, trying to erase the gruesome images that keep flashing in highspeed, playing on repeat. There’s a sudden sharp prick in my neck that has my eyes popping open, wide and fearful. Finlay’s hand hovers in front of me, holding a syringe. My hands fly to my neck, rubbing against the tender area. Slowly, I start to feel my limbs get heavier and realization dawns on me.

  My brows crease.

  “What did…what did thyou do…” my tongue feels fat and heavy as it sticks to the roof of my mouth, no longer allowing me to speak.

  “It’s for your own good.” Finlay says as he slides the dark-skinned woman out of the driver seat and crudely takes her place. My hands clutch at my stomach and my eyes fill with tears.

  “My…baby…”

  Finlay scowls at me in the rear-view mirror. His sharp chuckle runs nails down my back.

  “That’s a problem for another time. Go to sleep now, Sophia. You’re going to need it.”

  My heart impersonates the pounding hooves of a horse during the Kentucky derby, beating as fast it can. I hope against all hope that both me and my baby will make it out of this alive. Darkness sucks me into its void that I’ve become all too familiar with.

  * * *

  I wake to a splitting headache and a wave nausea that turns my stomach. Fighting against my body, I shift on the soft surface I’m laid on and my face crumples. My hands run along something unbelievably soft.

  What the…?

  Peeling my eyes open, I pull my sluggish body upright to rest on my elbows and take note of the silky soft sheets and an even softer bed. Rolling onto my back, I stretch my arms over my head and yawn as a surge of lethargy flows through my body.

  God, why am I so tired?

  A phantom prick in my neck reminds me of what’s led me here. The image of the woman with the mocha colored skin and dark curly hair comes to mind, shattering my heart, reminding me just how evil Finlay is.

  Huddling against the headboard, I pull my legs into my chest and survey the room. Streams of light seep in through the drapes of the windows. Everything seems so normal and whimsical, with light colored furnishings and an ensuite bathroom. Wherever I am is a far cry from the last dungeon I was held in. But ultimately, it’s no different. I’m being held here against my will. Finlay has gone through hell and back to kidnap me and get rid of all the obstacles—my family—he saw in my life, all to have me to himself. The thought is sickening.

  My eyes dart around the room as I assess my situation more thoroughly. What could I do to leave here? From what I can tell, there were no locks or chains anywhere, just a simple deceiving room.

  Pushing up from my position on the bed, I dart my gaze around the room and head toward the window with the billowing drapes. I suck in a startled breath as I stare at the view. An abundance of lush green trees, golden sand, and azure blue water that makes you never want to look away is what greets me. This was a far cry from a prison, this was freaking paradise.

  Of its own accord, my mind drifts back to a conversation I had with Finlay a while back.

  “Alright, love. How about this? Once you’re able to roam free, far away from here, where do you want to go?”

  I tug the jacket around my shoulders tightly as a cool gust of wind whips my hair around my shoulders. I stare down at the snow beneath my feet and smile.

  “I want to go to the beach. Somewhere with a lot of people, a lot of sun, and just…”

  “What?” he asks.

  “Somewhere with happiness.”

  My heart screeches to a halt and horror fills my body. I still remember the look in his eyes after I told him where I wanted to go, they sparkled, almost mischievously. I just didn’t know why at the time, but now, now I do. I understand all too well. My mind whirls at the realization.

  Oh, God.

  I can’t be taken again. I will not be a victim again, even if my circumstances are much better this time around. This time, I will fight tooth and fucking nail to get free. I refuse to be beaten or sold into a twisted ownership, especially with someone as deranged as Finlay. Not fucking happening.

  Curling my hands into fists, I try to clear the thick fog in my head left from whatever drugs Finlay pumped into my system and think of a way out of this mess and off this island. Consequences no longer matter. The only thing that matters is getting free and finding Creed and my brother before all hope is lost.

  The fog in my brain doesn’t allow me to get too far though. My head suddenly swims with nausea and my stomach roils painfully. Clutching one hand to my belly and the other to my head, I hurry into the bathroom and empty the contents of my stomach. Acidic bile shoots past my lips and into the porcelain bowl, reminding me it’s been a while since I’ve last eaten.

  Wiping the perspiration off my forehead, I shakily push to my feet and shove my hands under the faucet, relishing in the cool water running over my sweaty palms. I study my reflection in the mirror and wince. There’s an angry welt, colored purple and blue, on my forehead from Finlay’s gun. Lightly, I press my fingers against the lump and suck in a sharp gasp at the tender pain.

  Asshole.

  My hands immediately find purchase along my stomach, and I inhale deeply, praying this piece of Creed stays safe.

  Rolling my shoulders back, I push out of the bathroom and into the bedroom. When I pick my head up, I freeze in place. My heart slams to a halt in my chest, and my breath gets caught in my throat.

  “Morning, love.” Finlay leans against the frame of the bedroom door, with a smirk on his face as he runs his leery eyes up and down my body. I swallow back another round of bile that’s rising, and search around the room for an escape.

  There’s nothing.

  He’s standing in front of my only chance at a safe escape. The weight of everything that’s happened hits me full force causing white hot pain to tear through my chest. Tears spring to my eyes as I force my gaze back to a smug looking Finlay. />
  “Ah, there goes the tears I’ve been waiting for. Go ahead, keep them coming, I enjoy watching your pain.”

  A broken sob cracks through the air, ripping from my chest. The force of it rattling my body as I think about all the pain this man has caused. I hurtle away from Finlay, pushing myself against the wall on the opposite side of the room, hoping the white plaster will somehow swallow me whole.

  Cocking his head to the side, he watches me with a grin on his face, like I’m an intriguing animal at the zoo. Something to spectate. Clenching my fists, I narrow my eyes at him as indignation floods my system.

  “You shot him.”

  His smile widens. “That’s not all I did, love.”

  My heart stutters painfully in my chest. What did you do, you bastard?

  “Where’s my brother?”

  Finlay blows out a sigh feigning the remorse he surely doesn’t feel. “We had a bit of an accident. You see, the warehouse burned down, and your brother and your boyfriend burned down with it.”

  I choke on a gasp.

  My heart fracture’s in my chest, and my legs give out as I cry out in pain. It’s crippling. I feel like I can’t breathe, my lungs are so tight. Resting the heel of my hand against my sternum, I try to push down the ache, but it consumes me—body and soul.

  “You monster! You said one would live,” I scream, as tears stream down my face. The faint buzzing in my ears gets louder, disorienting me.

  “I did say that, didn’t I?” He chuckles to himself. “Look at it this way, sweet Sophia, you never did choose, so now they’re both dead, and that’s on your hands. Three lives lost within twenty-four hours, you’re on quite the roll, Sophie,” he muses, whistling between his teeth.