Branding & Saving Lily Box Set: Books 1 & 2 (Jacob and Lily's Duet)

by Gracin Sawyer

  “I think I’ll be fine alone tonight.”

  I didn’t need a guard. I didn’t need to be supervised. And I didn’t need Jacob Cardosa.

  His brow furrowed but he never said anything. He just nodded and left the room.

  Carefully, I sat up. My hair wasn’t quite dry from the shower, but I needed to find clothes. Rosa must have put them away when she came to change the sheets.

  Turning to leave the bed, I braced myself for the burning pain in my stomach. Those muscles would probably always hate me. Then again, it was still a fresh injury.

  I ripped off the plastic and tape. The area around the now scabbed over wound itched but it wasn’t red. The antibiotics must be working for me.

  Each step was easier than the last, and finally, I made my way to the dresser. The first drawer I pulled was full of panties and bras, still with the tags on them.

  I had been years since I owned a new set of garments. My mother helped me alter hers for me, sometimes going without so I would have them. Seeing a drawer full made my eyes water. We lived through so much together. What would she say to me right now, knowing where I was and what I just did?

  I pulled out a black matching set. The white ones seemed too clean for someone like me. I could only imagine having to wash white clothing.

  I sat on the end of the bed and pulled the panties on, then slipped on the bra, snapping it closed behind me. Jacob must be remarkably knowledgeable with women to guess a size this well. My other bra didn’t come close to this comfort or fit.

  But now where were the rest of the clothes? Spotting the closet door, I slowly made my way there. Inside, there was a mass of hanging clothes. Pants, shirts, dresses. I’d have to thank Rosa for picking them out, but I wasn’t sure how or if I should take them with me when I left.

  I picked out a green long sleeve shirt with slits in the sleeves. Completely unfunctional, but was pretty. I slipped it over my head with minimal pain in my movements. A small victory for me.

  It was so soft and light. Nothing like the flannels I was used to wearing.

  Grabbing a pair of jeans, I frowned at them. They were so small. No way would I fit in those. But Jacob had been right on everything else, so I decided to try them on. I had to sit on the bed again, unable to bend over that far.

  The jeans moved up my legs easily. Standing back up, I slid them the rest of the way over my butt. They rested low on my waist, which was nice because it didn’t interfere with my wound.

  Wow. I couldn’t believe they fit. They were snug, but not in an uncomfortable way.

  It was a slow effort, but I finally made my way to the bathroom and found a brush in a drawer. It was a lot nicer than the one my mom and I used the last few years. Then again, everything away from Knox has been nicer.

  Now if I could just make it down the stairs. Maybe I could find the kitchen. My stomach rumbled agreeing with my idea. I was starving.

  Holding onto the railing like a lifeline, I took the steps one at a time, pausing shortly to keep from wearing out too fast. I didn’t want to fall again like in the shower.

  It took forever, but I made it downstairs.

  It was very open, but so much bigger than what I had become used to. The table was long enough to sit at least twelve people. It had been just me, my mom, and sometimes Knox for so long that I couldn’t imagine having that many people to feed.

  On the days Knox was gone, working for Jacob, was harder because he never left enough food for us, so we had to ration it.

  My stomach grumbled again. I needed to stop thinking about food and find some.

  It wasn’t hard to find the kitchen as there was only a counter separating that room with the one I was in. It was huge. I couldn’t believe the size of the refrigerator. We had just a tiny one next to the bed, close enough to get to with our ropes. Knox would tie us up to the bed when he left, with just enough slack to use the makeshift toilet and close enough to the fireplace to put wood on, but not close enough to burn our ropes. My mother tried that once, and that was enough.

  But we were never close enough to reach each other’s ropes to untie each other. Knox was crafty. He was smart. Always one-step ahead of us.

  Subconsciously, I touched my wrist where I’d probably have permanent scarring from the ropes I had to rub against the wooden bed frame to get away. It took a while before they were frayed enough to fall off, and it hurt like hell. But it was worth it. I’d do it again too.

  Flapjack startled me as he came around the corner. “Lily, are you okay? Does Jacob know you’re down here? I can go get him.” His golden eyes softened with a smile.

  “No,” I said, a little too fast. “I’m just hungry. I was going to look for something to eat. Is that okay?”

  His face lit up. “Now that, I can help you with. My specialty is feeding hungry people. Come on.” He walked to the kitchen and gestured to a stool on this side of the counter. “You can sit there, I’ll fix you something.”

  It was a little high, but I could do it. A little effort and wincing, then I was finally sitting. Getting off later might be another story though.

  Flapjack went right to work, pulling things out of the fridge that I could only imagine what they were. He placed a glass jug full of milk on the counter and paused, giving me a raised eyebrow. “Before I empty this fridge, is there anything you can’t have?”

  “Can’t have?” I didn’t know. “Is there something I’m not supposed to eat?”

  He chuckled. “No, I mean, gluten, dairy, things like that. Anything you’re allergic to? The soup I gave you yesterday didn’t have those things just to be safe.”

  I didn’t even know what those things were. “Um, I don’t know. I don’t remember being allergic to anything.”

  He never looked at me like I was stupid, but just continued to pull things out and set them on the counter. “Okay, can you have things like bread or milk?”

  “I think so. My mom made a lot of bread so that should be fine. I haven’t had a lot of milk lately, but I think I’m good with it.”

  He leaned against the counter in the middle of the kitchen and slowly watched me. “Lily, maybe it would be easier for you to tell me what you’ve eaten. I can help you from there.”

  I had no idea finding food would entail this. I might just starve before he gives me a piece of bread. “Rabbit, lots of rabbit. And deer occasionally. We had a small garden with potatoes and carrots. And when we had flour we made biscuits, which is bread to me.” I twitched my mouth to the side thinking of what else I ate. I was confused. I hated that life before Knox kidnapping me seemed so distant and foreign, like it wasn’t even my life. I couldn’t remember things like what foods I could eat. My eyes lit up at a memory. “And berries. I’ve had some berries once with my mom.” And then, like that, the memory turned dark and I closed my eyes against the evil.

  My mom had gotten her and me out a few years ago. We stopped to rest after a whole day and night of walking. There were berries that we picked for breakfast before Knox found us. We were so close to being free.

  “Lily, I’m gonna make you the best pancakes you’ve ever eaten and I have some sweet homemade berry syrup to pour over them. You’re gonna love it.”

  I smiled. He was truly someone I could almost call an ally, but in the end, he still worked for Jacob. I couldn’t trust any of them. “Thank you.”

  It wasn’t long before he set a steaming pile of pancakes down in front of me with a triumphant smile. He handed me a jar of syrup and told me to pour as much as I’d like on the cakes.

  The first bite I was hesitant, but the sweet melody of flavors had me drooling. Food should not taste this good. What would happen if you had to ration it? You wouldn’t want to, you’d want to keep eating it!

  He set a tall glass of milk down by my plate. “Wash it down with this.”

  It was ice cold and really did hit the spot. Wow. My stomach ached as I demanded it fit all the food given to me, not wanting to waste any of it.

  “Thi
s was amazing. Thank you so much.” I meant it. It was the best meal ever.

  “If you like it so much, I’ll make sure you have some brought up to you tomorrow morning for breakfast.”

  I couldn’t imagine getting more. This was more food than I’d eaten all week. “Thank you so much.” He really was sweet. And wherever he learned to make food taste like that must have been fancy. How fun it would be to learn to do that.

  “Well, as fun as that was, I have to get back to work. Feeding all these guys isn’t easy.” He chuckled and began chopping some strange vegetable.

  I said goodbye and carefully got off the stool. I was so full it almost hurt. I was still slow, but at least I wasn’t worn out yet. And each step I felt stronger.

  I decided to stroll through the house and look around. Jacob’s voice came from the back of the house and I froze. He sounded angry.

  Carefully, I tiptoed to the room where he was talking to one of his men. I held my breath, hoping it wasn’t Knox.

  “Where’s Doc? I said I wanted to speak with him, not you.” Jacob was calm as he reprimanded his guy.

  “He’s gone, boss. He went to that cabin you found last night. Said he had to see something for himself. I don’t know, Jacob, he just left.”

  At least I knew that voice wasn’t Knox. But the mention of a cabin Jacob found last night had me frozen to the floor. I couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t speak.

  What were the odds he found my cabin? Well, Knox’s cabin.

  I had to leave. I had to get out of there. But it was too late, Jacob was there, staring at me. “Lily, how long have you been here? Are you okay?”

  I tried to swallow, so I could speak, but nothing worked.

  Jacob placed his hands on my arms. “Honey, it’s okay. I know you heard I found the cabin. It was empty. You’re okay. It’s safe here, remember?”

  No, it was the opposite of safe. Knox wasn’t there, so that meant he was here. But where? I was a dead woman either way.

  I shook my head and pulled myself from his grasp. “I have to go.”

  The front door seemed so far away, but Jacob didn’t stop me, he didn’t hold me back. In fact, when Flapjack tried to keep me from leaving Jacob told him to let me leave.

  I didn’t understand why he just let me leave. Hot tears streamed down my face and I wiped them with the back of my hand. I just kept marching away from the house, away from Jacob.

  He saw the cabin.

  He knew.

  And yet, he still treated me with kindness. More tears, blurring my vision. I hurt, not just in my stomach, but my heart hurt. If he knew, why did he do what he did to me earlier?

  I must be a sick joke to him.

  Chapter 16

  Jacob

  I watched Lily from far back. To hell if I was just going to let her walk out there alone, unprotected. She was mine and I wouldn’t lose her now.

  Besides, the sick man who hurt her was still out there somewhere. She wasn’t thinking clearly. But, she wasn’t a prisoner held captive. I had to let her see that. Letting her go was the only way.

  She needs to know that I’m here to protect her, to love her, to fight for her. My mind spun at the thought of love. I’d heard of people falling in love almost instantly, knowing a person was meant to be theirs forever after meeting them, but I never believed in all that until now.

  It wasn’t just because I saved her, either. I couldn’t explain it, but there was something there that wound every part of my soul to hers.

  I stayed far enough back that she still hadn’t realized I was there. Then again, no one would know I was there unless I wanted them to. I wasn’t as good as Flapjack, but I wasn’t without skills. I’d been on many raids and not once was I noticed until I was ready.

  This wasn’t what I had planned tonight, but it didn’t matter. Lily had things she had to work out, and I wouldn’t stand in the way of her healing.

  I’d seen some pretty bad things, and the way women handle them are all different. I wouldn’t be the one to tell any of them how to deal with what they’ve been through.

  I chuckled thinking how my old man must be rolling in his grave knowing I turned his lifelong business of sex trafficking into a backward mercenary business, saving women sold by sex traffickers. My men and I joked about being cartel cowboys, but really, we were so much more.

  The light was growing dim in the woods as the sun sank lower in the sky. We only had about an hour, maybe two before it would be completely dark. But I’d be out here all night for her.

  Lily stopped walking and dropped to the ground. I ran to her, scared for the worst.

  Her shoulders shook as she sobbed, her eyes were swollen and tears continued to flow in torrents. She looked up at me, defeated. “I can’t do this anymore.”

  “Honey, I’m right here.”

  Her weeping was soul wrenching. What could I do to help her? The only thing I was good at was killing, and I already promised to kill the man who hurt her, but she wouldn’t even tell me who that was.

  “I can’t.” She shook her head. “I can’t do this. It doesn’t matter. He’ll kill me or you will. Either way, I’m dead.”

  Her words were like a knife to my stomach. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “It’s useless.” She hiccoughed and her frame shook as she tried to breathe.

  I grabbed her shoulders and she flinched. Shit. I didn’t want to make this worse on her, but maybe it was the only way to get her to tell me what happened and who did it. “Lily, look at me.”

  She tried to look up but dropped her eyes.

  “I said look at me.” It was more forceful than I’d talked to her before, but she did what I said. “You need to tell me everything. I need to know who will kill you because I promise, I won’t let them. I’ll kill them first.”

  The tears came harder and I was surprised she had any left. “Jacob, I’m sorry. Please don’t kill me.”

  I shook her shoulders. “Lily, I’m not gonna kill you. Now tell me who abused you.”

  She sniffed and wiped at her face. “Knox.”

  It was one word, but not one I recognized. “Okay, good girl. Do you know his last name? What he looks like? Anything for me to go off of?”

  She shook her head. “He works for you.”

  What the fuck. My skin burned as the words seethed from her like venom. “What?”

  She sucked in a sharp intake of air. “He said he worked for you. He said,” she paused and tears fell again. “He said if I escaped you would kill me for him.”

  Fucking son of a bitch!

  Some asshole was using my name to hold captive and abuse women. And not just any woman, my woman. Anger like I’d never felt before raged inside of me.

  “Lily.” I tried to speak calmly for her, even though the deep hatred for that man rang through. “Lily, I promise I will never kill you. It would kill me to hurt you.”

  “Really?” She squeaked.

  “There is nothing I could say more truthful than that. I will protect you.”

  She flung herself around my neck and knocking us both over. My arms wrapped around her and I stood up, holding her. “My Lily. I’m so sorry, honey. Whatever he said to you, whatever he did to you, I’m sorry. I promise I won’t hurt you.”

  “Jacob, I’m sorry. I thought you’d kill me,” she mumbled into my neck.

  I lifted her so I had an arm under her legs to carry her back to the house.

  Once she was settled, I’d be going after Doc. He had some explaining to do. I wanted his story, and I wasn’t going to take no for an answer. I was going to find Knox, and I was going to kill him.

  Chapter 17

  Lily

  Being in Jacob’s arms felt so right. He amazed me with his stamina. Carrying me for so long couldn’t be easy, but he never complained.

  My eyes burned and my body ached. I’d done too much, too fast, and I wanted nothing more than to be back in his house in my bed. I had walked a lot farther than I th
ought. It was dark now, and I still didn’t see the open yard with the houses yet.

  It was confusing to find out Jacob had no idea who Knox was. All the empty threats binding me to that cabin and to Knox for all those years enraged me.

  Jacob broke the silence first. “Can you tell me more about you? I want to know everything. I want to know you.”

  I leaned my head against his shoulder. “There isn’t much. I was born here in Nevada and until I was fifteen, I lived with my mom and dad. I doubt my father even cares that I went missing, so I’m pretty much on my own. I had a grandfather who actually looks a lot like Doc.” I smiled despite the weary heaviness of my soul. “I wanted it to be him, but I think that’s because I wanted a connection to my mom. He was her dad. But, he didn’t recognize me, so it couldn’t possibly be him.”

  “Lily, I am not sure I’d give up on finding your grandfather just yet. I’m not the person to give false hope, but I think I can guarantee you will see him again.” He stopped walking, holding me in the middle of the forest, peering down into my eyes. “I can’t believe you’ve been there for five years and I never knew about you. I swear, had I known, I would have saved you years ago.” His voice was deep and resonated through his chest. But it no longer scared me, it did the opposite and calmed my nerves.

  I believed him. But there was no way he would have known. Knox had two men that helped conceal the cabin, keeping me a secret. And, it wasn’t easy to find, hidden up high, in the thick woods.

  But so many things didn’t add up. My head hurt trying to untangle it alone. “Jacob, if you don’t know who Knox is, why did he say he worked for you? Why did he threaten us with you? He obviously knew who you were. We were even on your property.”

  As he started walking again, he released a small growl that vibrated against my cheek. “Honey, I promise I will find out all those questions. Don’t think I’m not kicking myself in the ass for not knowing about you.”

  I leaned out to look at him through the moonlight. “I believe you. I do. But what about the other guys?”