Elliot's Secret (The King Brother's Series Book 3)

by G. Bailey

  "Honestly, I don't blame her. I wasn't in love with her. Lily knew this and I guess that why she went to you. I'm sorry she screwed you over too, man," I chuckle the end part and so does Tris.

  "Shit, don't make me laugh, it fucking hurts," he says, making me chuckle a little more.

  "Do me a favour? If I don't make it out of this, look after Allie. She loves you, always has and I shouldn't have stepped in the way of you two. I was very fucking wrong to do that," he admits.

  "You’re going to be fine, Tris but I think you did the right thing," I tell him.

  "Really?" He asks sounding confused.

  "Yeah, if I dated her then, Arthur would have easily killed me for it. Hell, my dad would have helped him." I mutter.

  "Look after her, I think I'm going to pass out," Tris mumbles before I can only just hear his shallow breaths.

  "Tris?" I ask.

  "Yeah, Elliot?" he asks breathlessly.

  "We are going out for drinks when we get out here, I know Luke misses your ass," I tell him.

  I hear Tris chuckle before he answers,

  "Sounds good but dad will kill me. I didn't do what he wanted, he has lost it this time," he says in a whisper I can just about hear.

  "What did he want?" I growl the words.

  "For me to kill you. I was going to; I had the gun and went to your house. I saw Allie there with you and she looked happy. I've never seen anyone in love before but I could see how much she loves you. I knew the price I would pay for not doing it," he pants out and I'm shocked.

  "You knew. You should have told us, we would have protected you," I tell him.

  "I don't want you involved, man. Allie needs someone after all this is over. She can't lose both me and you," he replies.

  "Fuuuck, this isn't good," I mutter out.

  "No shit," Tris chokes out.

  I've got to get out of this. My hands are tied to a bar behind in what I know is metal so I have no chance at breaking that. I rub my head against the pole I'm leaning on and eventually shimmy down my blindfold that drops to my neck. I see a faint light by the doors on the other side of the room but everything is slowly going blank for me. I shake my head trying and failing to stop the blackness taking over. My last thought before my head drops is how I need to tell Allie I love her one more time.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Elliot

  The days pass in a blur. I know it's been a week or at least a week since I've been taken. They moved us not long after I passed out and I haven't seen anyone other than the goon Arthur sends to kick the shit out of me every day. I can't feel my face, so I know it must look bad. I feel that at least a few ribs are broken. They dislocated my shoulder one day but I managed to click it back when they untie me once a day, so I can eat and use the toilet. Unfortunately, they point a gun at me the whole time, so I know it’s pointless to try and escape. I’m pretty sure the food has drugs in them, I feel weak and sick all the time now. I’m lucky one of them hasn't broken anything else.

  I need to get the fuck out of here. I hear the being door opened and it blinds me with the light outside. A few words are said by some guys and next I'm being dragged outside. This is new. I'm thrown into a white van but I can't see much because the light is still too bright after not seeing it for however long. I want to stand up and fight but I can’t. It’s not the right time.

  The doors are slammed shut but it's not any use to escape while my hands are tied behind my back. I look around and see Tris bundled in the corner, passed out. Shit, he looks bad and is covered in bruises. Someone must have helped him because his arm is wrapped up in a bandage but it's still bleeding badly. I want to help him but I can't. His hands are tied up like mine but his feet are undone.

  Looking around again, I spot, by the door, a bit of metal that's come loose but it might be enough to cut through the rope on my hands. I manage with a lot of pain to get over to it somehow. I spend however long, rubbing the ties against the broken metal part not feeling it give much because the ropes must be too tight. The van lurches to a stop and I move away quickly knowing they can't guess what I was doing. The light isn't so bad when the doors open again and two beef heads drag me and Tris out the van.

  I look around when we get out, seeing that we are on an old bridge over a river. There are trees everywhere and the bridge itself looks years old and handmade with old wood. I panic knowing exactly why we're here. A fast flowing river that’s filled with rocks by the looks of it isn't going to be easy not to drown in. I look over at Tristan who isn't even awake as his legs drag across the ground. Arthur is standing in the middle of the bridge. The weather isn't good as it's lightly raining and I'm guessing its late afternoon as it's not quite dark yet.

  "Boys, wake him up," Arthur says with his eyes locked on mine. I can see the anger bubbling in them and the tense stance he has going on. The urge to fucking kill him is unreal. I still can't believe the fucker is related to my Allie.

  I hear them slap Tris around a few times before he wakes up, even then he doesn’t look with it.

  “Finally. We have one more guest to wait for but I'm sure she is rushing here," he laughs and I move to tackle him, knowing he is making Allie come here. I'm kicked to my knees by one his goons who stands behind me.

  "Now boy, that's not nice," Arthur tuts.

  "Tristan, see you could have dealt with all this if you did what I asked. Is he really worth your own life?" He turns to Tris.

  "No but Allie is," Tristan says strongly showing his love for his sister.

  "Why would you do this to him? He's your son," I shout over whatever Arthur was going to reply.

  "He's not my son," Arthur says coolly and I look over to see the shock on Tris battered face. Arthur nods and Tris is dragged to his knees on the bridge in front of Arthur. He gets his knife out his pocket and cuts a deep cut down Tris’ face from his eye to his chin.

  "Fucking stop! Allie will hate you for this," I shout and Arthur stops his cutting. I see Tris's head drops to his chest.

  "Maybe but he's only her half-brother. I only kept him around so he would follow orders when he was older. He couldn't even do that right," Arthur laughs making me feel sick.

  "Who's his dad then?" I ask trying to buy time for my brothers to hopefully get here or something to happen. I'm slowing pulling the ropes, knowing I'm creating a big enough gap to get my hands free.

  "I had no idea their whore of a mother was pregnant before I met her. I agreed to keep him if she had my own child quickly. Their mother was smart; she only left me when she knew Allie and Tristan were close. I couldn’t hurt Allie; she was this sweet ten-year old. So, I decided he could be useful when he is older." He growls the end part clearly not happy about their mum’s lack of involvement and most likely careful planning.

  "So what's the big plan? You’re going to finally kill me for touching your baby girl?" I say pissing him off. Tris isn't in a good way and Arthur looks pissed enough to push him off the bridge. I don’t want to risk him ordering one of the goons to do it.

  "You won't fucking touch my daughter again. She is worth a million of you, boy." He says.

  "I love her and yes I agree with you that she is, but she is mine," I say firmly.

  "What will it take to get us out of this? More fights? Money?" I ask him as he wipes the blood off his knife with a hanky.

  "Nothing. I want you dead and her brother is a warning not to ignore me again," he points at Tris.

  "You were never mine or her dad. She will hate you if she doesn't already. You say you care about her. You don’t, you wouldn't touch her brother or the man she loves if you did." Tris says glaring up at his dad.

  "You know nothing about being a parent Tristan. Everything I do is for her," he replies, clearly believing his own lies.

  "Lies. Everything you do is for you," Tris shouts the words I’m thinking.

  Arthur reacts by punching Tris in the face so hard that he drops to the bridge with a bang.

  "I hate getting messy," Arthur
says wiping his hand in his trouser pocket.

  "I don't get this. Why are you so hell bent on punishing Allie?" I ask.

  "I need someone to take over and Allie won't do what I ask without a little encouragement," he sneers at me.

  “Is that because my dad wouldn’t follow you? Are you going to kill her when she turns on you too?” I ask him and he glares at me.

  “Your father was a lunatic but great when he worked for me. He kept all my enemies in line and I only had to give him whatever he wanted. You look like him, fight like him in the Cage. It’s a shame you won’t work for me. You could have Allie by your side.” Arthurs says.

  "You’re fucking crazy," I laugh and I don't regret it as he nods at the goon behind me and I'm punched hard in the face. I black out again.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Allie

  "This is a bad fucking idea," Luke mutters from the back seat as Harley drives us up the dirt road in the middle of nowhere. This is where my dad told me to come to get Tris and Elliot back. Just one text message and a sat nav address.

  "Luke, you need to stay in the car and when you see a chance, you need to take it," Harley says.

  "I'm walking up with you," Harley tells me and takes my hand squeezing it once. I know I look like shit because the past week I haven't slept until I've passed out or eaten unless one of the boys forces me to. I have no idea what my dad was doing with them or if they’re even alive. My thoughts ran over a million different things that could have happened in a week and in the end I all I did was crawl up into a ball and cry. I tried calling my mother, I was surprised when she bothered calling me back.

  “Mum, dad has lost it. He has taken Tristan and Elliot, my boyfriend. I need your help.” I say as I answer the phone.

  “I can’t help you, come and live with me. Tristan is lost.” My mother answers, her voice completely devoid of any emotion.

  “He will kill them both!” I shout at her through the phone. I stand up to walk around Elliot’s room. It feels empty without him here but I need to be close to him and this is the only way.

  “I know. I should have taken you both but I couldn’t. I am sorry for that. You father is…,” I stop her.

  “You’re sorry, now? If you truly are, call dad. Ask him to give Tristan and Elliot back to me,” I say, my voice sounding shrill even to me.

  “I can’t do that. I ran from him for a reason. There isn’t anything he won’t do to get his own way. He killed my parents, your grandparents. Did you know that?” she says, her tone still sounds like I’m talking to a robot instead of mother. It doesn’t surprise me that he killed my grandparents; nothing about my dad is surprising me anymore. It just hurts my heart instead.

  “No, I didn’t and I am sorry for your loss. Apparently, I didn’t know anything until recently.”

  “Come and live with me. I can keep you away from him, I know things. Things he doesn’t want anyone else knowing.” She mumbles the end part.

  “Like what? Tell me and I can use it against him to get Tris and Elliot back.” I ask her.

  “No, I wouldn’t have anything to keep myself safe then.” She replies.

  “Tris is your son! You are basically giving him up.” I shout and then lower my voice.

  “You know what? It doesn’t surprise me. You’re a heartless monster, just like dad is. You two were perfect for each other.” I tell her.

  “I am sorry, Allie.” She replies and I throw my phone across the room as I slide to my knees on the floor.

  "Shit, Sebastian is calling, we should tell him," Luke says as he phone buzzes, pulling me out of my dark thoughts. I spent the week at Harley’s with Luke. I just told Izzy I was at home and needed space. Seb and Izzy think Elliot is with me. None of us corrected them because we have been too busy looking for Elliot and Tris. Harley’s contacts just didn’t find anything and we were seconds away from calling the police when I got the text.

  "No. he has bigger responsibilities now," Harley says glancing a Luke, giving him a nod which Luke seems to understand.

  "Whatever happens you need to persuade your dad to let them go. Do whatever he asks and we will sort it later or hide you all," Harley says going over the plan we have come up with on the way over.

  "Got it. Be nice and agree to his crazy requests," I mutter.

  "Good," Harley nods stopping the car. In the pouring rain I can just make out an old wooden bridge with big open gaps on the one side. There are outlines of people on the bridge, two white vans and my father’s car are parked on the one side. This must be the right place, but my heart drops as I look at the very fast looking river. It looks as angry and scared as I feel. It almost the perfect place, I’m sure my dad thought of that. He knows Tristan isn’t a good swimmer.

  "You ready?" Harley asks me, with these eyes watching the water with mine.

  "No, but I don't have a choice. They both mean too much for me not to try and save them. I would die for either of them." I tell him, there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for Elliot or Tris.

  "Be nice remember. We can't fight him here, not like this," Harley says with his face more tense than I've ever seen him.

  "Good luck," Luke says darkly, stroking my arm for comfort.

  I pull on my natural face as I get out the car and pulling my hood of my coat up.

  "Hello dad," I say walking up the dirt path to the bridge my dad stands on. Rain pours down my cheeks and the river current shakes the very bridge he stands on.

  Harley is stopped by a huge bold guy with a gun, who grins at me and making me shiver. I don’t feel the cold rain as I look around. I see Elliot on his knees staring at me as I walk up to my dad. I can't look at him because I feel like I'm going to break. The worse sight is a dark skinned huge man holding my brother, who is barely awake, over the bridge.

  "Stop there," dad says as my feet hit the bridge.

  "Get the fuck out of here," Elliot growls behind me.

  "Ignore the boy, Alexandria. This is your punishment," he waves a hand at Tris. The man holding him tilts him further over the edge. The running noise of the water fills my ears as I watch in horror.

  "Why? He is your son," I scream at him.

  "No need to get overly emotional, my little girl. I will let Elliot live, as long as you come away with me. I have to show you all the places I own, what true power is. You can take over eventually but only if you do what I ask. You are lucky I have a need for someone like you.” He tells me.

  “I will let Tristan live if you do everything I ask from now on." He also adds like an afterthought. Like Tristan doesn’t mean anything to him. I guess he never really has, he was always obsessed with me. It was me that looked after Tristan.

  "No Allie don't," Tris moans in a cracked voice.

  "How can I trust you?" I ask my dad.

  "You can’t, my silly little girl, but I will teach you who to trust. How to make deals, I will teach you how to run my business. All you have to do is forget your past, I did it once. You can too, daughter." Dad smiles. I panic; having no idea what to do and my face falls in horror as Tris kicks back at the man holding him and throws himself over the bridge. I see his eyes lock onto mine showing me so much love and sadness. I scream knowing there's no point and I'm moving before I know what I'm doing. I saw where his arms were tied and he can't swim like that. I look over at Elliot just before I jump over the gap. The man that was holding Tris doesn’t have time to stop me as I push him out the way.

  "I love you Elliot, only ever you," I shout and his face falls when he realises what I'm going to do.

  "No!" I hear both Elliot and my dad scream, as I jump after my brother into the dark cold water.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Elliot

  "Allie," I scream as her blonde hair disappears over the bridge. Everything stops around me, even the rain slows, as my heart beats strongly against my chest. I hear shouting but I'm in a daze when my ropes are being cut. My brother shouting in my ear snapping me back to the present.

>   "Go!" Luke shouts as my hands fall free and I hear Harley’s grunts as he fights the man holding him. With a run, I take off to the bridge a little surprised when Arthur moves out the way for me, so I can jump.

  I forgot about my ribs and cuts till my body hits the freezing water. I’ve heard people can do incredible things when they need to and that’s the only reason I somehow block out all the pain. I swim up to the top of the water until I can a take deep breath. I swing my head around, looking in the dim light for Allie or Tristan. The current pulls me down the river but it's not as strong as it looks, thankfully. It’s just very deep; my feet are catching on large sharp rocks. The rain is getting heavier and I see the sky light up with lighting. The extra light helps me see ahead.

  Panic attacks my body as I swim hard down the river, desperately looking for them and finally, I see a smudge of blonde in the water ahead.

  "Allie," I shout loud enough for her to hopefully hear me. I swim as fast I can, frantic to get to her and I grab her arm when I get close enough. I pull her to my chest, keeping us both above water.

  "Let go, I have to find him," she wriggles against me, the river pulls us both back under the water but I don’t let her go. We both get pushed up again and hit the surface of the water. The river is curving and there’s a large tree in the middle of it. I swim us both over, hearing Allie coughing up water. I’m a good swimmer but I know she isn’t.

  "Get to the river bank, I’ll find him, I can swim this and you aren’t strong enough, Allie," I promise her through coughs of water. I don't say if it's possible if I can find him alive for her.

  "No, I can help," she mutters. I see lights on the side in the river and I see Harley jumping in the river. I hold onto Allie as I look around the water waiting for Harley.

  "Take her," I shout over the noise of the water when Harley gets to us. Allie screams,

  "No,"

  Harley is stronger and manages to take hold of Allie from me and dragging her with him as he swims away, using the tree to lead him to the river bank.