Severed: A Dark Romance (The Taken Series Book 1)

by Dani René

  He chuckles before unzipping his slacks, pulling out his flaccid dick, and I know what he’s about to do before he does it. A stream of urine hits the girl’s face, her mouth wide, accepting it. She doesn’t move, doesn’t cower. He continues laughing, the men behind me cheer him on, and my fingers tingle for the gun holstered on my ankle.

  Since the security failed to search us, we still have our weapons.

  “She’s so obedient. I think your future toys should be this well trained,” he offers while zipping back up. Tugging the leash once more, he drags her closer to where we’re standing on the patio. When she looks up at me, I notice her eyes are dilated. They’re a stormy blue, but she’s so strung out on something she doesn’t even notice when he slaps her.

  “Well, you’ve certainly done a job on her.” My response is rigid, and River’s hand finds my shoulder, squeezing in warning. I need to play along until we make sure all the men are seated. Dinner is in a few minutes, and that’s when our team will enter, and we’ll have a chance to take out these assholes once and for all.

  “I’d like a go with her,” one of the men chuckles beside me.

  “Of course. That’s why we’re here tonight, to enjoy ourselves,” Amoretto responds happily.

  I can’t watch any more of this, and I need to find Caia. “I need to find my toy. She went to the restroom. I’ll be back shortly,” I tell our host, who waves me off because he is far too interested in watching the poor girl take another mouthful from the man dressed in white.

  Racing into the entrance, I take the stairs two at a time. I don’t know the house very well, but I can only guess where Caia has disappeared to. The hallway is long with numerous doors, which are closed. I try each one, finding them locked.

  Finally, the last door opens when I turn the handle. Shoving it open, I find Caia standing only inches over the threshold. She’s staring at the room, and even though I can’t see her face, I know she’s crying.

  I want to pull her into my arms, hold her, but I don’t.

  “I thought I could do this,” she rasps. When she turns to me, I notice the pain in her eyes. It reflects my own, because as much as I don’t tell her, or admit my feelings, all her pain is inside me. I’ve been there. I’ve lived through it.

  “You can,” I tell her, stepping farther into the room. Glancing around, I take in what I can only guess was her bedroom growing up. The blue and silver color scheme wasn’t what I would’ve expected from her, but somehow, it fits the girl standing before me.

  “Seeing him again,” she starts, allowing me to cocoon her with my arms. “It’s something I’ve thought about all the years I’ve been away, but nothing prepared me for what I saw.”

  “He’s a monster,” I concur, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “But this is closure. It’s something you need. Saying goodbye to your old life . . .” My words taper off because I can’t tell her what she has to do. She needs to let herself realize it.

  “You’re right.” Her voice is muffled by my jacket. Her tiny hands fist the material, holding onto me as if she’s afraid I’m going to disappear. I couldn’t ever leave her. I know it now, and I knew it back then. She’s ingrained in me.

  “We need to get back downstairs,” I tell her.

  She nods, and I lead her with my hand in hers down to the party that will soon be a massacre. When we reach the lower level, I seek out River, finding him beside his date. There are people still milling about, and I glance at the watch on my wrist. Our team was briefed to make an appearance soon. The dinner seems to be delayed, which doesn’t bode well for our plan.

  “What’s going on?” I question my best friend when I reach him.

  “Amoretto got called away. He’s just left, told us he’ll be back soon.” Shit.

  “This is not something we were banking on,” I tell River, but he knows it already. I don’t have to tell him. This is something that should’ve been done today. The men in this room should all be dead by the end of the night.

  “I’ve called the team, told them to go ahead.” River’s voice is low so only I can hear. I snap my gaze to his. “I reckon if we only have Amoretto to take down, it’s fine. We can do it ourselves. They’ll be here in two minutes.”

  “Fine.”

  I tug Caia alongside me as we make our way through the crowd. I need to get her outside before my men rush into the house and kill everyone in sight. River follows me out into the garden with the girl who seems to be glued to him.

  “Mr. Savage.” I halt at the words. Not because I recognize the woman immediately. Ice solidifies in my veins. Anger and revulsion churn my stomach when I turn to find the source of the voice.

  “Mrs. Thornhill.” I glance at her, offering her an indifferent smile. All these years, and this woman still has the power to turn me vengeful. Her eyes are bright green, almost luminous. The thick makeup she wears hides the imperfections on her wrinkled face, but I know they’re there.

  She’s dressed in black. Her body nothing like it used to be, and I can tell she’s aging badly. Even in the low light.

  “I trust you’ll be able to show me to the restroom?” she questions coolly, her voice attempting a seductive tone but failing miserably. She’s probably in her late forties now, perhaps even early fifties. But she was one of the first clients my father had sent me to meet with. When I met her at eighteen, she was curvaceous with a penchant for my dick. And of course, father told me to always ensure the clients were happy.

  “Unfortunately, I’m rather busy.” I turn and lead Caia away from her. I don’t want her to know this woman, or even ask me about her, but I know she will. Her big hazel eyes are already burning into me.

  The glass shattering from the patio windows is a sign my men have arrived. We’re at the bottom of the garden when the screams play out. Music to my ears. When I turn to find the war raging through the house, I stop. Watching the men who’ve been partners with my father for so long finally meet their maker is something I’ll never forget.

  Greta Thornhill’s body is on the grass, close to where I left her, blood oozing from a bullet hole in her forehead.

  “Who was she?” Caia asks.

  “Someone from my past. Come. We need to get out of here,” I tell her. The words come out harsher than I want them to, but there’s nothing I can do about how I feel seeing that vile woman again. As much as I want to make sure Caia never leaves me again, I want her to also have a life free from this shit. From all the horrors and nightmares we’ve faced.

  We race through the house. Every one of the men dressed in their expensive suits is dead. All except one. Caia’s father isn’t here, but when he returns to his home, he’ll find the massacre I’ve left for him.

  “Do you think he knew I was here?” Caia questions beside me as we reach the cars. I want to say no, but something doesn’t feel right. If he did know, he never let on.

  “Let’s get home so we can revisit our plan.” My response isn’t an answer to her question, but it’s something. River slides into the driver’s seat after helping his date into the passenger side. I pull Caia onto my lap in the back of the car, holding her close to my chest.

  My phone vibrating in my pocket startles my girl. She settles beside me, allowing me to answer the call. “Yes?”

  “Sir, we’ve taken everyone out. The bodies . . .” The man who’s led the team since I took over the Savage Organization is the only person I trust besides River and my brother. Jacob Fielding is one of the most ruthless mercenaries to come out of the army. He’s killed hundreds without flinching. And that’s why he is my go-to for anything.

  “Leave them. It’s a message to let him know we’ll be back. Find out why Amoretto left. I want all the intel you can muster.”

  “Yes, sir. I’ll get back to you early morning.”

  He hangs up, leaving me to ponder my own thoughts on the man who narrowly escaped his death sentence. Watching the darkness fly by the window, I try hard to see through it, to figure out what I’m missing.
What happened tonight doesn’t make sense. He was called away, but who would’ve saved him?

  Caia’s hand on my thigh ignites my blood. I’m burning up for her, just for her, from the inside. I glance at the rearview mirror to find green eyes staring back at me. River. His glance holds affection, love.

  Then I look at my girl. My girl. She’s sad. It’s written all over her pretty face, and I know I have to do something about this. She needed tonight more than I needed it. I’ll make sure she gets her revenge. Even if it’s the last thing I do.

  Suddenly, there are bright lights blinding through the windshield, coming right for us. They’re on the wrong side of the road. River swerves from the asphalt, attempting to dodge the oncoming car. We’re sliding. My arms instinctively go for Caia, pulling her closer, shielding her from the disaster that’s about to strike. We’re spinning. I hear the crash.

  Darkness envelops us, and then, there’s nothing.

  26

  Dante

  For as long as I can remember, my brother has kept me safe. He’s hidden me from the filth that played out behind the walls of our mansion. But he doesn’t know how much of it I’ve experienced myself.

  Over the years, we’ve tried to keep each other protected, but we’ve both failed miserably. I wonder why he never told me the secrets he found in our father’s paperwork.

  Was I that volatile that I couldn’t be trusted?

  Perhaps.

  Only, Drake never knew all the things I’d done to keep him safe. He doesn’t know that if it weren’t for me, he would have found Caia long before he did. I don’t feel guilty for not telling him the truth, because he kept far too much from me.

  I open my eyes to the woman above me. She’s riding my dick like a pro, her tits bouncing, dark brown nipples peaked, making my mouth water.

  The knife I have pressed against her sternum breaks skin each time she lowers herself onto my shaft. The blood that trickles from the blade drips onto my bared chest. I can’t help smiling. She’s high. She’s fucking flying after the coke she snorted from the table beside my bed.

  The best thing is, she doesn’t know half the things that are about to unfold within the walls of this mansion. The secrets that are soon about to tumble free from the closet’s they’ve been hiding in all these years.

  Her big hazel eyes meet mine, the dilated pupils turning her gaze almost black. Her pouty lips remind me of her daughter’s. Plump, ready to be bitten and sucked until she cries out in agony.

  My dick jolts, and I’m certain she thinks it’s her cunt doing it. Unfortunately, it’s nothing like that. I’m only hard because I’m thinking about what I’m about to do to her husband.

  He’s on his way here.

  When I called him and told him about Drake’s plan to kill him, he thanked me. He offered up a sum of money that was laughable. I have more money than God. I don’t need his bullshit payoff.

  “Oh fuck,” the woman cries above me, her slick walls pulsing around my dick, but I don’t come. She, however, screeches like a banshee.

  My phone vibrates on the nightstand with a message. I know what it says before I read it. Drake, River, and Caia were found.

  “Time to play,” I utter, watching the whore climb off me.

  “What?” she questions breathlessly, but I don’t offer a response. She doesn’t need to know what my plan is. The bedroom door flies open. Two of the men who work for the Savage Organization saunter in, and she squeals in surprise.

  “Take her to the cells.”

  They nod at my command. Once I’m alone, I close my eyes and recall the day Caia was shot, bleeding out over my brother whom I've loved from the moment we were born. Even before I knew what love was.

  They say twins have a connection like no other. I believe it’s true.

  There’s blood. Far too much blood.

  My feet are moving before I have time to think.

  Drake doesn’t move for a moment, and my heart thuds painfully against my chest. He can’t be dead. I watch as River kneels beside him, tugging him wildly, begging him to breathe, to open his eyes. I can’t pull in a breath. My lungs feel as if they’re filled with lead, heavy, unyielding, and I stare at my brother’s body lying on the ground.

  I finally find my footing and lean down after the guard pulls the limp form of the pretty girl away from on top of Drake. She’s was bleeding profusely. The metallic stench fills my nostrils My father is shouting at us, at me, but I can’t look at him.

  I know my brother cared for her, I saw it in the way his eyes found her in the room, how he looked at her. I pray she’s alive. I don’t know why, because she didn’t make me feel anything, but I knew Drake wanted her.

  The man who raised me is livid. His face red with rage, and I no longer recognize him as human. He’s pure animal. Feral and wild. Another man in a white coat, one of the doctors, is working on the girl. I’m sure she’s dead.

  I turn to see Drake’s eyes open.

  “He’s alive. He’s okay,” River tells me, but I don’t feel happiness. Actually, I’m at war with myself. Sadness takes hold of me because he’s not escaped this life, merely wounded by the evil that our family has been a part of for so long. Even though we’re both alive, we’re most certainly dead inside this hell.

  Hours later, I hear my name.

  “Dante.” The deep rumble of River comes from behind me. He stalks into the library where I’m hiding in the darkness. I love sitting in here. It’s the only place my father hardly enters. And there’s reason enough to avoid him like the plague.

  I do my job, I make sure Father is happy with me, and then I come in here to spend my evenings watching the darkening forest swallow up everything in view. Once the blackness of night cloaks the mansion, I head to my room, lock the door, and close my eyes.

  You’d think at twenty-five I’d be out of here, running for the city where no one from this vile existence can find me, but I can’t. There are two people I can’t leave behind, and I’d never forgive myself if I did.

  River, my best friend, and my brother, Drake, are the only people alive that I want in my life. But that’s not the only reason I stay. My father has a hold over me, one I haven’t told Drake about yet. One I’ve hidden from even the closest person in my life, and the guilt eats at me each day.

  “I’m busy,” I tell him, not needing him to interrupt my thoughts. A lifetime far too long to live with the memories I have. With the agony I’ve been hiding deep beneath the surface, but somehow, River finds it. He pulls and tugs like I’m a ball of twine. Soon, I’ll be unraveled before him, and I’m not comfortable with that.

  “There’s a meeting in a few minutes. Drake said I should remind you that you have to be there,” he tells me. I know about the meeting. My father is handing over the reins to Drake and me.

  “I’ll be there,” I offer, my eyes still glued to the window where the night has consumed the light, and all I can see is the mist and fog that’s appeared over the trees. Our home is nestled in the forest, with only a large silver-top lake behind it. There’s nobody for miles, and that’s why my father can do what he does.

  The money he forks out allows him to continue the sick games. That’s all they are. Vile fucking games. My brother and I have been shoved into the darkness with no way out. No fucking glimmer of hope, so that’s why I’ve become accustomed to walking through the halls of the Savage Mansion like a soulless, mindless drone.

  “I’m sorry, you know,” River says then, shocking me enough to make me turn my head toward him. My eyes land on his expensive suit. It’s tailored to his broad frame. The ink that adorns his skin is hidden, but I know it’s there. Beneath the material lies beautiful, intricate patterns. The same artwork I’ve traced with my tongue while he jerked me off all over his toned stomach.

  “I know.” I nod, offering him a glimpse of a smile. Nothing more. That’s all I can give because that’s all that lies within me.

  “I’ll see you down there.” He turns and leaves me in
the library while I take a deep breath, attempting to ready myself for the words that will soon fall from my father’s lips.

  It’s all yours, sons. Make me proud.

  Or some shit like that.

  Malcolm Savage is a ruthless, cold-hearted murderer. There’s no doubt about what my father is. And he expects nothing less from his two boys, twins, born to a woman who died while pushing us out of her body. Not even my mother could love us enough to stick around.

  Swinging my legs over the edge of the bed, I rise and head to the closet. Pulling on a pair of black slacks, I grab a white button-up and shrug it on. The cool material does nothing to calm the heat running through me.

  When my phone vibrates on the wooden nightstand, I know it’s time to finally finish this fucked-up game. Every moment that passes brings me closer to being free. And that’s my plan. To be far away from this place.

  Sauntering over to pick up the device, I unlock it with my thumbprint and smile at the words. Drake is ready. So is Caia and River.

  They’ll never see this coming. They’ll never see me coming.

  27

  Drake

  Opening my eyes, I find myself in the familiar space of my bedroom. Caia’s body is draped over mine as if we’d fallen asleep last night. But when I glance at the window that overlooks the back garden, I notice the sky is black.

  Something’s wrong. Very fucking wrong. Lifting my girl’s arm, I place it on the mattress and get up. I feel as if I’ve been drugged. My head is foggy, and memories from last night — or is it tonight? — are jumbled around in my mind.

  The bedroom door opens, and one of our security team strolls in. He offers a nod. “Dante says that dinner will be served in an hour.”

  “What?” Confusion settles in my thoughts.

  “There’s a dinner that’s been set out. You, Caia, and River are to attend.”