“No, I didn’t know anything!” Samson yelled out.
“Please, what’s going on? I don’t understand what’s happening,” she said as Mexa put his hand up.
“He’s coming with us,” Mexa said, and then tilted his head toward the door as the men pulled her brother out of the room, but not before they hit him several times. She screamed.
“No, wait, please I don’t understand what’s going on.” Tears rolled down her cheeks, but Mexa stopped her. As they left the apartment, Mexa held her arms.
“What did he do? What is this all about? How can I help him fix this?”
“I don’t think you can.”
She looked toward the doorway and there stood Press, dressed in a suit, looking around her apartment and then at her. “Press?”
Mexa released her, then walked to the door and closed it.
“It’s an unfortunate situation. I like you, Marianna, and I thought your brother would have been smarter, maybe not have hung around the other boys who are just so fucking stupid. They think they’re big shots because of where they hang out and who they know,” he said, walking around her living room, checking out her photos and the awards she received. He turned toward her. Tears fell as he eyed her over. “It’s bad,” he said to her.
She stood there in front of him as he stepped closer.
“Oh God, how bad, Press?”
“Samson and his buddies stole money and paintings from a warehouse owned and operated by a very powerful businessman who is not quite on the up and up. Those paintings were to be picked up and delivered to another businessman, who paid top dollar in advance for them. Now that customer is upset, and it made my associate look bad. It cost me money, too. Money I want back.”
“How are you involved with this?”
“I share ownership of that warehouse.’
“Oh God, it isn’t Sealots, is it?”
“No, but Truman knows this man, knows his reputation. I was the one who negotiated being capable of delivering those one of a kind, collector’s paintings. That money that was there, was money that belonged to a very dangerous businessman.”
“What if Samson tells you where the paintings are, and the money and he gets them back to their rightful owners?” she asked as more tears fell. She closed her eyes and gripped the table behind her. Press closed the space between them, and put his hands on her waist.
“He claims to not know, Marianna. My hands are tied here. I’m at a loss as to what I can do to help.”
She pressed her hand against his chest and stared up into his dark eyes. “Please, there must be something we can do. They’ll kill him,” she said as more tears fell.
He stared at her. “I don’t know if I can.”
She pulled back and he stepped closer and pressed her against the table. “Maybe the police can help. There are men in Repose, soldiers.”
He shook his head. “No. This is not something police handle. Your brother broke into a warehouse. If he was shot and killed there stealing it would be him in the wrong. These men have their own sets of laws, Marianna. Your brother was hanging out with the wrong people, the wrong men.”
“You knew he was there at the house, and you knew the other friends. Samson said the guy Janson, he had a cousin who was friends with Samson. Who is he? Was he involved? Is Jansen someone who can help?” she asked.
He shook his head. Then he reached up and caressed her hair from her cheek. “I know the men involved. If I can get the paintings back, then I might be able to save Samson’s life, but the money, the hundred grand must be paid back immediately.”
“Immediately, a hundred grand?” She covered her mouth and he hugged her. She sobbed against his chest. She didn’t know what she was going to do to pay that money back. Her head began to spin, and Press held her in his arms and rubbed her back, and she felt sick trying to think how she could help Samson.
“Marianna.” He said her name and she pulled back, and looked up into his eyes. He stared at her face, reached up and wiped the tears away. “Ask me for my help. Let me take care of you, of this situation, and I promise you’ll no longer have heartache and pain. I’ll take care of you. Take care of this and get these men off Samson’s back. He’ll work off the money where I place him. He’ll straighten his ass out.”
“I couldn’t ask that of you, Press. You lost money, too.” She went to move and he held her firmly. Her heart raced. His hold on her hip tightened.
“Ask me for help, and I will explain what you will do in return for me.”
“What do you mean in return for you?” she asked.
“Simple things, like accompany me places. Be by my side. Give me the opportunity to show you how real men treat their woman.”
Her throat clogged up, and fear so great hit her insides. She shook her head. “You want me to be your whore?” she asked.
A scowl formed on his face. He gripped her arm tight. She gasped. “Never refer to yourself in that way again, understand me?” His eyes bulged, he sounded and looked insane. What the hell did Samson get her involved with?
“I…I can’t do this. It isn’t right, or fair. I told you I was involved with four men, soldiers.”
“They aren’t here now, are they? I am. I hold the power to make Samson live or die, not those fucking soldiers who left you for glory. Now take the offer. It’s gone the second I walk out that door, and so is Samson’s life.”
“If the paintings and money are returned, will Samson and his friends live?”
“Of course they live, but they aren’t talking. This is your final chance.”
He started walking to the door and she didn’t know what to do. Now she held the power in her hands to help her brother to live not die. Her mom had nothing, her aunt either. Once again it was on her shoulders, her burden. How could she have ever thought that a ménage relationship with her four soldiers was really love and not about sex, about convenience? That thought didn’t sit right and more tears fell. She was stuck now. Her men weren’t here to ask for help. She was alone. Press opened the door. “Wait,” she blurted out.
Press turned to face her. “Can you help me, Press, please?” she asked, and he stared at her.
“Come here,” he commanded. She shivered as she walked to him on shaky legs. “There will only be pain if you defy me, understood?”
“Pain?” she questioned, and he narrowed his eyes at her.
He reached up and cupped her cheeks. “Mexa, get the answers we need. I’ll help Marianna pack up a few things.”
“Pack?” she asked.
“In order to be at my beck and call, and to pay your brother’s debt, I need you close. You’ll have your own room, your own bed, for now. But I’m certain you’ll see how giving and appreciative of a man I am, and perhaps will choose freely to share my bed, eventually.” He pressed his lips to hers, sealing her fate, and finally destroying any means of hope to ever be free and truly loved.
Chapter Twelve
“Something isn’t right, I’m telling you. Marianna didn’t show up a few days ago. She isn’t answering phone calls, and when she gets a text she replies with odd things like she’s busy now and will text later,” Tiana said to Lauren over the phone.
“She hasn’t called back Talia either. Avana and I went by her apartment and it’s locked, her landlord said that he was paid for six months in advance. Her car is there, too,” Avana added.
“It does sound suspicious. How about her new job, the one at the corporate office?” Steve asked.
“I think she’s still working there. I called that main line and a personal assistant always says that Marianna is in a meeting or out of the office,” Avana told them.
“I called and left a message that the house sold and that we needed to do a closing, and some guy called back and told me that everything was being handled, that Marianna hired him to process everything,” Tiana told them.
“Definitely suspicious, and not like her. You guys get together all the time. We should call Spartan,” Pa
nther said, and pulled out his cell phone.
“Is she dating someone?” Eddie asked.
“She was seeing Flame, Yani, Slova, and Cast before she left. Talia said that Marianna was concerned because they hadn’t claimed guardianship of her before they left, and didn’t really commit to anything and she felt hurt and alone.” Tiana explained about her family, the debt, and trying to get free from being responsible for all of them, and then about her brother Samson.
“Where is he?” Mink asked.
“Stays at some mansion or something with friends.” Tiana and Avana explained about how Marianna would search for him at night, alone, and then found him there one night and how some guy got him to go home.
“Do you know who that guy is? What he’s involved in?” Panther asked, and glanced at Steve.
“No. Talia might know more. Marianna visited her a bunch. Things seemed to change as soon as Flame and them left. I think her brother is talking to her mom though, too,” Avana said.
In a matter of thirty minutes, Lauren and her men had everyone meeting and working on finding out what the hell was going on with Marianna.
* * * *
“This seems really screwed up. Cesar, what more do you know about the two bodies, two young kids, eighteen, found shot and killed execution style?” Spartan asked him.
“They’re thugs, but the information local police in Ausberry say they were hanging out at a friend’s house, basically living there. That’s where Marianna’s brother was staying for a while and where she found him that night for some party. What we found out is that the owner of the house, a guy by the name of Janson Burke, owns several companies and a warehouse. Another guy, by the name of Maddy, was killed, too. Beaten up first from the reports by the coroner,” Cesar said to them.
“I think our best bet is to bring in her brother. Find out what he knows. Cesar and I can go to Marianna’s workplace and see if she’s there, even though Tiana called and was told she’s out of the office. Obviously, there are people playing interference,” Spartan said to them.
“We still don’t know who the guy was that she met at the party and got Samson to go home with her. She sang and played piano for private parties and for that club called Dom’s. Maybe send some officers there to question that guy?”
“We need to figure this out and fast. Flame and the team should be wrapping things up within the week. They come back here and she is nowhere to be found, or involved with some other guy or something, and it won’t go over well,” Spartan said.
“Could she be? Involved with another man? They didn’t exactly claim guardianship of her?” Cesar asked.
“No way, this whole fucking thing stinks,” Tat stated, and Steve agreed.
“Let’s split up then and try to figure this shit out and fast.”
* * * *
Marianna stared at herself in the mirror. She put on the classy, slim fitting sage green cocktail dress, that overaccentuated her large breasts. Press had purchased it for her, along with shoes, matching undergarments and jewelry. She felt sick, angry, and when she saw Samson an hour ago, dressed in a suit and he told her the paintings were returned and the money, too, she hoped to get out of this situation. It wouldn’t be long before Press pushed to get her in his bed.
She shivered with fear of the man. In the last two weeks, she learned of a different side of him, a crazy side, where she saw him grab a man by his throat and nearly kill him. She overheard phone conversations that threatened lives, and demanded money and deliveries for things, and she felt the results of denying his order to show him full attention, and remain by his side, kissing him when he asked, and even when he didn’t. His strikes were painful, to her back, to her stomach, and even the way he grabbed her arm and yanked it. She was his prisoner, his slave, and eventually he would force himself between her legs. She knew it was coming, but what could she do? He threatened to kill Samson, her mom, and aunt. To burn their townhouse and to beat and then shoot Samson. She was the only thing standing in the way of her family dying.
What really got her feeling funny, was how clouded her mind was getting. Every morning when she awoke, she felt light-headed, her thinking slowed, and her body weak. She lost weight, could see it in her reflection in the mirror.
She cried every night, wishing that Flame, Yani, Slova, and Cast would come for her. But they didn’t. They had to be back from their mission by now, obviously she meant nothing to them but sex. She had been a fool. Thought her luck had changed and she was finally happy, and that love was real. Apparently not so.
“Marianna!” She heard his voice and she tightened, an instant response from her body at the man’s voice.
He walked into the bedroom carrying two glasses of brandy. He forced her to learn to like this stuff.
He paused in the doorway, eyed her over and she knew the routine. She stepped from the vanity, walked to the center of the large bedroom, stuck her arms out and slowly turned.
“Ahh, I knew it would fit perfectly, and what a color for my beautiful woman,” he said, and then approached. He leaned closer and kissed her cheek, and then her lips. She forced herself not to tighten or he would react. She smiled softly as he handed her one of the drinks.
“To this evening,” he said, and clinked their glasses. She went to take a sip, and her entire body roared for her not to. It was instinctual, and she pulled it from her lips, not even swallowing.
“Drink up,” he ordered.
“I don’t feel like it, Press. In fact, I’ve been feeling funny the last few days.” She went to put the glass down. He grabbed her hand.
“You drink it now,” he said to her.
She tightened up. “I can’t.”
“You will,” he ordered, and she lifted the glass to her lips and drank from it. He sipped, too, watching her, then pressed closer, put his arm around her waist and kissed her neck, and then lower toward her breasts. She pulled back.
“No,” he said through clenched teeth.
“I said no. I won’t be your whore. Your escort, your trophy on your arm is one thing, but I am not a whore.”
He took the glass from her hand and placed it onto the vanity alongside his. He then took her hand and brought it to his lips. Those eyes, so dark, so evil, stared at her in a patronizing way. He kissed her knuckles. “Did I not warn you about calling yourself my whore?” he asked her. She went to step back, and his grip tightened as he shook his head. In a flash he had her arm behind her back, bent in such a way it caused instant pain. His other hand gripped her hair and head as he pressed her back against the vanity chair. “You need discipline, Marianna. My patience is running out.”
“I heard the paintings were returned and the money, too. You no longer are at a loss, and that means I don’t need to be in debt to you,” she said to him.
He looked pissed that she found out, and then that fuzziness in her head hit her again and she closed her eyes a moment. He squeezed her arm tighter. “Without me, your family could have died, and even now, I hold their lives in my hands just as I hold yours. You belong to me, now, Marianna. No one can come between us.” He pressed his lips to hers as he slowly released her arm, and massaged it back into place. When he released her lips, he reached for her glass. “Drink it all, at the end of the night I have a surprise for you.”
He handed her the drink, and with an unclear head, she drank the glass of brandy as Press watched her while drinking his, and then he pulled her into his arms and hugged her tight.
“You are my very special girl. I can hardly wait to tell you what’s next. Come on,” he said, and pulled back, then fixed her dress, clenched her chin to look at her makeup to be sure she looked perfect and he winked. “Every man will be wishing they were me tonight because of your beauty, your body, the affection I expect you to show all night. Understood?” he asked firmly.
She nodded and they walked out of the bedroom, he grabbed her clutch and then they headed down the hallway to the foyer. What she hadn’t expected was to see Spartan an
d Cesar from Repose.
* * * *
“Who are you and what is your interest in Marianna?”
Instantly Spartan didn’t like the guy, nor did he like the information the teams were gathering on him or his associates. He eyed him over.
“We’ve been worried about Marianna. Her friends have expressed concerns that’s she isn’t calling them. Marianna, are you okay? Why haven’t you called Tiana, Talia, Lauren, or the other ladies back? They’re worried.” He immediately noticed her demeanor. She wasn’t focusing. Her eyes were glazed over.
“Marianna, tell them you have a new life here with me. That everything is fine,” he stated for her.
Arianna looked at the man Press Summons. “It’s okay, Press. They’re good men, involved in relationships with friends of mine. I miss them all, but have been so busy working, and assisting Press.”
“Assisting him with what?” Cesar asked.
“Hmm,” She waved her hand and Press pulled her close, whispered something into her ear and her eyes widened. “Work, events, negotiating business deals and finances.”
“We’d like to talk to her alone,” Spartan barked.
“No. Now if you’ll excuse us, we have an event to attend,” Press said, eying them over.
“Your friends are worried, Marianna. We can help you,” Cesar said to her.
“I can assure you that Marianna is in the best possible hands she can be in. I adore her, cater to her every need, unlike men like you.”
“You don’t know what men like me are capable of, Mr. Summons,” Spartan said, and Cesar pulled him back as Mexa and the other security men stepped forward. Others ushered Marianna and Press to the limo that waited for them.
Spartan clenched his teeth as they watched the limo leave and then they headed to the sheriff’s truck.
“She isn’t herself,” Spartan said.
Sons of Justice 11: If Love Was Real (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Forever) Page 18
