by C. A. Harms
“I hope keeping Leo’s secrets is worth your life,” I stated. “Because once you’re well enough to be moved, it will be a long fucking time before you ever see daylight again. I plan on making sure you’re locked away forever. You may want to think things through a little more than you have. He left you for dead. You owe him nothing but to make sure he rots in hell.”
I left the room hoping that somewhere inside she could begin to register what that meant for her. And maybe, just maybe, she could find it in her heart to do one good thing that may save her from all the wrongs she had done.
***
“I want everyone called in,” I said as I walked past the front desk. Katie looked up at me in alarm. Yeah, I know, I hadn’t been in much lately. As far as everyone knew, I had lost it.
But I was here now.
“I need all agents here by two o’clock. We have a lot of shit to go over. Make it mandatory.” I left her staring after me in state of shock.
Grayson had been acting in command since the day Gabby was taken, because fuck, on most days I felt like I needed assistance to breathe. But I was back. I may still need a push to keep focused, as my mind tended to wander and the darkness pulled at me constantly, but I had to get my head in the game. I had to find Gabby, because I owed it to her and to Asher.
“So what’s the game plan, boss?” Trevor asked as he entered the room, taking a seat at the conference table.
“We start back from the beginning, we check all locations, look for any clues,” I began as I laid the files and photos out along the tabletop. “And we push Margo hard.”
I looked up to see Trevor staring at me. He nodded his head without arguing, because he was with me on that. He had felt from the beginning, as well as I had, that she was the key. And I fully intended on pushing her to the point where she broke.
Because she would break, I would make sure of that.
Over the next thirty minutes, agents began to file in and fill the empty seats around the conference room. Each one looked focused and determined as they waited for my direction.
“I have assigned four different teams,” I began as I flipped on the smartboard. I projected the four different lists of agents and their tasks. “Each team will go back to designated areas and begin from the bottom. I want every angle dissected. All clues to Leo’s whereabouts or past locations I want analyzed, and then analyzed again. Every single possibility I want followed once again.” I turned back to face the room full of agents. “I want reports kept and sent back to me daily.”
Murmurs of “Yes, sir” and “You got it” filled the room as they began to shuffle out of the room, leaving behind only Grayson and me.
“We’re going to the hospital, aren’t we?” Gray asked.
“Yeah we are,” I replied, picking up my badge and keys from the table. “And I’m going to warn you, I don’t plan on sugar coating shit. I don’t give a fuck if Margo likes me or not. I’m gonna be an asshole, regardless of what you or any other person there has to say.”
I didn’t wait to listen to any words from Gray, because when I said I didn’t care, I truly meant it. Margo’s stability meant nothing to me. After all, she was part of the reason why Gabby was not at home with me and our son like she should have been.
As far as I was concerned, she was the enemy, just as Leo was.
Chapter 36
Gabby
I hated the way he looked at me. Each day he grew more restless with my recovery.
He began touching me more, gentle touches that made my entire body tense and my stomach twist in such a violent manner it took all I had not to throw up.
I woke on two different occasions to find him standing over me in the darkness of the room, stroking himself as he muttered my name over and over. Both times I closed my eyes tightly and prayed over and over that somehow someone would find me and take me away from my impending doom.
I knew it was coming, that time when I wouldn’t be able to fight him off. To say I was terrified would not even begin to describe the fear I felt inside.
I knew that would be something I would never be able to come back from, and the idea of myself changing, becoming a person no one would recognize, was my biggest fear of all.
My body froze when I heard Leo raise his voice from the next room. “What do you mean she’s alive?”
Another pause before a loud crash made me jump in surprise. “She should be dead, I made sure of it.” Another pause. “I want her found, and I want her dead. She could be the one to bring this entire fucking thing down.”
Leo’s anger was out of control. He was breaking things from the sound of it, and I grew terrified his anger would eventually reach the room I was in.
My body began to tremble, and my heart ached and raced so fast it felt as if it would actually beat out of my chest.
Then the cabin went silent, and that only terrified me more.
I had no idea what was going on.
I’m not sure how much time passed before I heard movement again. I remained tense the entire time and I could feel the ache in my body.
Footsteps echoed along the hall and they only grew louder. It was as if I was in a tunnel, my eyes focused on the door handle, waiting for any sign of movement. And when it began to twist, I scooted back on the bed and braced myself for whatever was about to happen.
The door swung open and smacked the wall hard as Leo’s body filled the doorway. He remained still, staring at me with an unreadable expression, one that petrified me to the point of feeling dizzy.
“It would seem your fiancé enjoys making my life hell,” he said as he stepped into the room. “I planned to just take you away from here when you were healed. I would just disappear and leave him with the unknown. Never knowing exactly what happened to you, only that you would never return, but I think he needs a reminder of who he is dealing with.”
When he uncrossed his arms and pulled a camera from his back pocket, that fear in me only grew further.
He placed it on the bed at my feet then moved in closer.
With my arms still bound and anchored by rope to the bedpost, I couldn’t move to shield myself.
It came out of nowhere as the back of Leo’s hand connected with my face and I instantly felt the burning of my lip.
I barely had time to register what occurred before it happened again and again. I cried out with each connection of his hand.
When the blows stopped, I sagged back against the pillow in defeat as tears leaked from my eyes. I had never before been hit, and the inability to open my right eye told me the damage was heavy.
When the flash of the camera began flickering, I jumped with each click.
“I’ll show that bastard what his actions inflict. He did this to you. Now he can live with that.” Click. “And the next time he pisses me off, I’ll send him a video of me fucking you until you scream for me to stop.”
Bile rose in my throat.
“Because nothing would make me happier than to see that bastard suffer. He is the man responsible for where you are now. The man that vowed to protect you only led you into the arms of the man who will destroy you.” Leo gripped my chin tightly in his hand, and I cringed from the pain. “Because, Gabriella, when I am done with you, no one will be able to find the woman you once were. You will be mine to have and do with as I please. You’ll be begging me to feed your addiction. You’ll be willing to fuck or blow anyone for your next hit, and I will make millions off you and your pussy.”
He released his hold on me as he shoved my face to the side.
“Thank Joshua Phoenix for that, because he led me to you.”
With his final statement he left the room with his camera in hand, and I turned to the side and began sobbing heavily into the pillow that now bore my blood.
I cried to the point of exhaustion, slowly fading into a restless sleep.
Chapter 37
Leo
He’ll think twice before making his next move.
I plugged the
memory card into the side of my laptop and began unloading the photos I had just taken of Gabby.
Marking her face had not been my original plan, but Josh needed to understand that I held the power, and each action he performed would only lead to Gabriella’s pain.
I wanted him to hurt, I wanted him to suffer, and to do so, Gabby would need to suffer as well.
The images began to fill my screen, and I marveled over their beauty. A feeling of pride washed over me as I observed my handiwork.
Once they were completely unloaded, I picked out the best three and attached them to an email to Nic.
After hitting send I grabbed my phone and dialed his number.
“Hey, boss,” he said in greeting.
My reach amazed me. I had FBI agents, CIA, politicians, you name it, and they were all under my command. I was a fucking god.
“I sent you an email,” I said in response. “Get them printed and delivered to Mr. Phoenix. Now.”
“You got it,” he replied.
I could hear him tapping away on a keyboard before he chuckled. “Damn, this is going to drive that guy insane.”
There was a pause.
“Printing them now, and I’ll have them dropped off at the building within twenty minutes,” Nic assured me, and without speaking a word, I hung up the phone.
I made my way back to the bedroom where Gabriella was asleep and opened the door just enough to peek inside.
She was on her side with her arms stretched out above her head. Curled in the fetal position, her body jerked and twitched, indicating the state she was in was anything but peaceful.
Something about it was satisfying.
Knowing she was most likely dreaming about her fear of me was gratifying.
Soon that fire inside her would fade and she would no longer feel the urge to resist my advances.
I grew hard just thinking of her on her knees before me as I slid my cock between her plush pink lips, her sweet tongue licking along my shaft as I exploded in her mouth.
That day would come.
I would break her.
Chapter 38
Josh
“I got into some trouble with drugs, heavily,” Margo spoke in a weakened whisper. Both Gray and I sat at her bedside, allowing her to speak. “Leo helped me out financially, among other things. Or at least at the time I considered it helping.”
She paused as she lifted a cup with a straw to her lips and took a small sip before continuing. “I had also gotten wrapped up in other things that supported my addiction. The wrong people had sucked me into their world and had given me no way out. Until Leo, I thought I would be lost forever.” She swallowed hard.
“I truly thought he was the man who had come to save me. But all he did was exchange one dark path for another, and he threatened to end my career, among other things, if I didn’t do as he asked.” Margo wiped at her tears. “He threatened my family if I told anyone. I could have lost everything.”
“And now I have lost,” I said through gritted teeth.
“I owed him,” she whispered.
It took everything inside me not to wrap my hands around her neck and finish the job Leo fell short of. I had never in my life wanted to hurt someone the way I did at this point. She was fucking delusional.
“Do you fucking hear yourself right now?” My voice echoed through the sterile hospital room.
Gray gripped my arm in attempt to calm me, but I shrugged him away. I had already warned him nothing was stopping me today. I had a goal, and that was to make Margo cave. Whether it was because she feared me or that she had some form of conscience left, I didn’t give a shit. It would happen one way or another.
“You offered Gabby to him on a silver platter so you could protect your fucking job. Who the hell knows what this son of a bitch is putting her through right now? He is a god-damn monster and you know this.” I took a step toward her and her eyes widened in alarm. I watched as she looked over my shoulder toward Grayson, but there was no one here to stop me. I could guarantee that.
“She has a child who needs her, and a man who is falling apart at the seams without her. And here you lay with no fucking remorse for sacrificing an innocent woman for your own selfish needs.” Leaning in just a little more, I gave her no choice but to look at me. “I can assure you of one thing, you’re going down for the involvement you have in Gabby’s disappearance. And I’ll make sure that you suffer much worse than you already have at Leo’s hands.”
Her throat bobbed as she swallowed.
“Are you willing to serve time and lose everything and everyone in your life? While this sick fuck walks the streets, knowing you’re in prison, paying for his crimes?” I watched her lower lip tremble, but I kept pushing.
“Do you honestly think he gives a fuck about you? He left you to die, Margo.” Her gaze lifted to mine, and she jutted out her chin in a last attempt at being strong, but it quickly faded. “He wanted you dead, and now you could be seeking your revenge on Leo. Just tell us what you know.”
My phone began vibrating, as well as Grayson’s. I ignored my own, but when Gray answered his the conversation immediately caught my attention.
“What pictures?” I turned to face him as his stare met mine. My stomach instantly felt as if it had dropped as the conversation continued. “Don’t move, we’re on our way.”
“What’s going on?” I asked, suddenly forgetting how close I had pushed Margo.
“An envelope was dropped off at the apartment. Apparently a delivery guy from Mercy’s Pizza was approached as he entered the building and some guy gave him fifty bucks to drop it off.” Grayson expression said it all. “Brook opened it, and, um,” he paused once more, lowering his voice to barely above a whisper, “it’s pictures of Gabby.”
The ground beneath me felt as if it began to fucking rock. A loud humming sound filled my ears and the room felt as if it was shrinking.
“We gotta go, man.” Gray placed his hand on my shoulder and began leading me from the room. “I’ll get someone posted outside of Margo’s room, and I can come back later and push some more.” All I could do was nod my head.
I was fearful of what the pictures awaiting me would reveal.
***
I sat in the glider, in the corner of Asher’s room, holding him close to my chest as I rocked him slowly. Tears fell heavy and dripped from my chin as they gathered on the blanket tucked around his lower half.
I had never felt an ache like I felt in this moment, looking at my son’s sleeping form as he wiggled and grunted. How would I ever be able to express to my son just how sorry I was? I could never explain to him what led up to the events taking place now; I could barely stomach them myself.
The images were of Gabby lying helpless on a bed, battered and beaten. Those pictures destroyed the last ounce of strength I had.
She will pay the price for every wrong move you make.
Leo’s message kept repeating over and over in my head.
I was a fucking puppet dangling from a string at the hands of Leo. It was obvious he had people watching me, and I had no way of knowing who.
Asher lifted his arm above his head and stretched, squeaking in the process. The sound and his movement only made my tears fall heavier. His little nose wrinkled and reminded me of Gabby when she slept—she did the same thing. It was as if they had an itch they were attempting to scratch.
It was the hardest thing to see.
He reminded me so much of his mommy.
The bedroom door made a squeaking noise, causing me to look up into Libby’s eyes. Seeing my sister standing there, looking back at me, was all it took for the last final hope I had to crumble.
I lifted Asher up closer to my chest and held him securely as my chest shook with sobs.
Feeling my sister wrap her arms around me, I gave in and rested my head on her shoulder. “Just let go,” she whispered.
And I did. I cried harder than I had ever cried before.
“How did I let this ha
ppen?” It was a question I had asked myself over and over yet still had no answer to. “It was my job to keep her safe, Lib.”
“You cannot blame yourself for this.” She pushed me backward and gripped my face in her hands. “No one blames you for this.”
“I do,” I confessed.
“And you need to stop. You need to reach inside of yourself and find that last ounce of strength you have and fight for her, Josh.” I began shaking my head, because I wasn’t sure I had any strength left in me. “Yes.” She looked back at me with pure determination. “You owe this to Asher and to Gabby. You cannot give up.”
I knew she was right, but I just wasn’t sure how I could go on knowing what Leo was putting Gabby through. It was killing me.
Chapter 39
Gabby
I had to break free.
I was running out of time.
Tomorrow was the day the doctor would return, and I was terrified it would also be the day Leo would finally stop holding back. His advances toward me had already become more frequent and more aggressive. There was only one thing holding him back from making me fully his, and that was the doctor saying I was healed.
I had even contemplated picking at my abdomen, causing further damage if nothing else could be done. I was running out of time and options.
Or so I thought.
I woke only a few moments ago to find that the rope on my wrists had more slack than it ever had before. As I began to pull and twist the left side gave and my hand slipped free.
I immediately froze, looking toward the door, praying that Leo had heard nothing.
After I was sure no one was coming, I began working on the right hand, and within moments it broke free as well.
Quickly, I moved from the bed toward the window and tugged upward, finding it had been nailed shut from the outside.
