For years when she’d been a prisoner of the Mal, Cara had only had Lacey to rely on. Then only Michael. Now a horde of people ran when she called.
Lacey took one look at her face and handed Aron, sitting on her hip, to Rosie.
“Hey, big guy,” Lacey said. “Why don’t you and Rosie see if Dora is on? I bet Rosie loves Dora.”
As Rosie disappeared with Aron, Cam moved in front of Cara, settling his big hands on her shoulders.
“Take a deep breath and tell me what happened.” His deep voice soothed her stress level enough to let her think clearly.
There wasn’t much to tell but she recounted everything she’d seen and heard as precisely as she could. When she was finished, she realized she knew exactly who had taken Cam.
“His parents took him,” she said. “His mother called earlier. She had his cell number even though Michael hasn’t been in contact with her or his father since we ran three years ago.”
“You’re sure he hasn’t called or—”
“No.” In this, she was one hundred percent sure. “He hasn’t. I don’t know how they did it but I know Michael was able to find us through his blood tie to Aron. That must be how they found him.”
“Do you have any idea where they took him?”
“I know his parents live in Florida but he never told me where.”
“How are you feeling, Cara?” Sal asked.
Lacey drew in a sharp breath. “Oh gods. Cara, are you okay? How do you feel?”
Cara shook her head, unwilling to let her sister know how much pain she was in. “It’s manageable.”
Lacey’s eyes narrowed. She wasn’t buying it. “Cara…”
“I’m okay. For now. But Michael must be in so much pain. We have to find him. You have to get me to him. Cam, please.”
“All right,” Cam said. “We’ll find him. But we’re gonna need Aron.”
* * * * *
Michael knew he’d passed out from the pain.
He’d wanted to be awake when Bennett arrived. Wanted to face the bastard on his feet.
But he couldn’t do it, his body in an uproar because of the distance from Cara. His arus was starved for her and he felt like he was suffocating, each breath unable to fill his lungs and his blood starving for oxygen.
He did have the satisfaction of seeing absolute terror on his mother’s face just before he blacked out.
He remembered thinking it would serve her right if Bennett decided to exact some of his revenge on her if Michael died before he got there.
But he didn’t die because when he finally came around, he was no longer at his parents’ home.
And the pain was no longer as bad, several steps below agonizing.
He must be closer to Cara.
Then he realized where he was. On the floor of one of the rooms in the New York apartment where Cara and Lacey had been kept captive for years.
“I’m glad to see you’re awake and feeling better, Michael. I would hate to think you’d died before you could return what belongs to me.”
Frank Bennett stood over him, his round face a pale gleaming pink the same shade as his head with the ring of gray hair just around the edges. His round stomach gave him a benevolent appearance but there was no warmth in his dark eyes.
Michael took his time getting to his feet, letting Bennett think he was more incapacitated than he was. Letting the two goons behind him think he posed no risk.
But he refused to show any fear. Because fear would mean he had something to hide.
“You’ll never find the money, Bennett. I’m sure you’ve had men trying for two years. They haven’t found it yet. And they never will. Especially not if you kill me.”
Bennett’s expression never changed. “We both know that’s not what I’m talking about. What you took was worth more than any fortune I could amass and I want it back. And you will give it back.”
Michael met Bennett’s cold eyes. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Bennett shrugged. “Of course you do. The girl is worth her weight in gold and you knew that. I don’t believe you’ve sold her. I would have heard of such a transaction. I have to assume you’ve kept her for yourself. Which is just selfish of you, Michael. And counterproductive to Mal interests. So the question I keep coming back to is why. Why did you take her? I would have gladly let you have her whenever you’d asked.”
Michael refused to let the man see him sweat. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I took your money, Bennett. Why would I want one of your toys?”
Bennett nodded, his expression never changing. He reminded Michael of a snake. “Yes, that is the question, isn’t it? I guess I’ll just have to wait until you tell me in your own words. But first, I’d like to make you a little more receptive to my questions.”
* * * * *
Cara gasped as the pain circulating through her body eased. Just like that, it subsided to a dull ache in her gut.
“Cam,” she called. “He’s been moved. Closer.”
The oldest de Feo brother looked at her over Sal’s altar as he prepared for the ritual that would pinpoint Michael’s location.
“Are you sure?” he asked.
She nodded. “Positive. The pain…it’s all but gone. Are you almost ready?”
“Yeah, we’re good to go. Why don’t you go get Aron?”
She’d been avoiding thinking about this part of the ritual. Good mothers typically didn’t want their children to bleed. Sure, Aron had had his share of spills and skinned knees and bumps to the head. But Cam was going to take a blade to her son’s palm in a few minutes. It wasn’t right.
But Aron would heal. His father would be dead if they didn’t do something.
Before she could turn to leave, Lacey entered the room, Aron on her hip. He reached for her immediately and she took him, hugging him close until he started to squirm.
“Lacey, will you stay?”
“Of course.” Lacey came over and laid her hand on shoulder. “You know he won’t remember a thing.”
Could everyone read her so easily?
Aron smacked a kiss on her cheek then squirmed to get down. She set him on his feet and watched him walk right to Teo and start chattering to him, asking about the tools on the altar. He had a thousand questions but Teo answered each one with patience, explaining everything.
“He’ll make a good father,” Cara said.
“I hope he gets the chance.” Lacey put her arm around Cara’s shoulders. “You’re doing the right thing. Aron needs his father.”
“Even if his father’s Mal?” Cara looked up to see Lacey’s mouth lift in a small smile.
“There’s something to be said for free will, Cara. Michael’s done everything he can to protect you and Aron. And you and I, we’re not exactly without a dark side.”
“I know that. At first, I thought that was why Michael and I…why we were attracted to each other. I thought there had to be something wrong with me that I was falling in love with a Mal. That we deserved each other.”
“Cara, no—”
“But,” she continued, “if Michael and I were so bad, how could we have created something as inherently good as Aron?”
Hearing his name, Aron looked up at that moment and smiled, so sweet it brought tears to her eyes. She was about to scar her son for life. But wouldn’t losing his father be so much worse?
Cara drew in a deep breath and smiled back at her son. “Come on, let’s get this done before I chicken out.”
* * * * *
Michael moved his jaw back and forth, wondering if Bennett’s goons had broken it.
He was pretty sure he had a cracked rib and possibly a broken arm but that didn’t hurt as much as the rib, so he figured he could still fight.
He hadn’t put up much resistance when the goons had started in on him. Let them think he wasn’t as skilled a fighter as he’d become so that when he did fight his way out of here, he had some element of surprise.
But he had t
o get out of this room first. He knew the layout of this building inside and out. He’d committed it to memory when he’d made the plans for Cara’s escape.
But the room Bennett had tossed him in was virtually escape-proof. He knew because it was one of the bedrooms where Lacey and Cara had been used by the men Bennett gave them to.
There were no windows and, unlike when Cara and Lacey had been here, there was no furniture, nothing he could use as a weapon. Wards covered every inch of floor, ceiling and wall, blocking his admittedly minimal power from unlocking the only door into the room. He’d never been trained in spell casting, though he knew a few basic ones such as fire-starting and metal manipulation. The Mal had others to do their dirty work.
Michael had always been a numbers guy. That’s where he worked his magic, with spreadsheets and accounts, stocks and bonds.
The last few years on the run, though, had taught him about strategy other than maneuvering a board of directors determined not to sell their company into taking exactly what the Mal offered them for it.
Bennett was counting on breaking him, on getting Michael to talk, to tell him where he’d stashed Cara. Or whom he’d sold her to.
The man he was now would never break. He’d die for her, for Aron.
But Bennett didn’t know that. And he knew nothing about the de Feo brothers.
They would come with Cara, they would protect her with their lives. And they were warriors. Not just brainless muscle.
Still, Michael was used to taking care of his own messes. And he didn’t want Cara within a hundred miles of this place.
He wanted Bennett dead. He wanted to kill Bennett with his own hands. He needed a plan to do that. He needed a weapon. Bennett wouldn’t expect that.
Before, Michael had never been a physical person. The four men he’d already killed had disappeared. He’d left no trace of them so Bennett had no idea that he’d killed them all with a knife and his hands.
Michael had become a damn good warrior in the past year. A smart one. He could take Bennett. If the guy didn’t come accessorized with goons. One he could handle. Two… He didn’t trust those odds, not with the pain he was still experiencing from the separation from Cara.
The pain was more manageable now but still made it hard to think clearly. Cara would be on her way. If she hadn’t already pinpointed his location, probably using a spell and Aron’s blood, then they would soon.
And she’d come for him.
He needed to neutralize at least some of the threat before she got there.
He needed to talk to Bennett, find out how many other men he had in the building and if he could take out at least one of them before Cara arrived.
He stood, letting his expression exaggerate the pain still coursing through his body, then started to pace. He figured someone was watching him so he dragged his left leg a little, as if it was injured.
He circled the room a few times, stopped to stare at the wall. He’d promised Cara he’d make her life better or die trying. Seemed the second option looked like the better bet at the moment.
Aron—
No. Damn it, he wasn’t dead yet. He was a hell of a lot smarter and stronger than Bennett gave him credit for. And he wasn’t thinking along the narrow lines most Mal subscribed to.
He had something to live for that was more important than money or possessions.
But Bennett didn’t know that. Bennett probably thought Michael was running his own version of Bennett’s game. Or that Michael kept Cara as his own personal sex slave.
Bennett probably figured if he applied enough pressure, Michael would crack and give him what he wanted.
Well, Bennett was going to get more than he bargained for.
He paced a while longer then stopped by the far wall, away from the door. He let his expression dissolve into resignation, let his shoulders drop and his head fall forward against the beige wall.
Finally, he slid down the wall and let his head fall back to stare at the ceiling.
They’d taken his watch so he had no idea how much time he’d spent in there but he knew Cara would be on her way sooner rather than later.
Finally, he rose, squared his shoulders and walked to the door.
“Bennett.” He didn’t raise his voice. He knew they could hear him. “I want to talk.”
It took several minutes but finally the door swung open and one of the goons appeared.
“Take me to Bennett.” Michael sighed, trying to submerge his fury under a layer of defeat. “I’ll tell him where to find the girl. Tell him I can pretty much guarantee to deliver her right to him.”
* * * * *
“Are you sure you’re up for this?” Teo asked for the third time. “If you’re right about where they’re holding him, then you don’t need to go. It could be a trap. He was too easy to pinpoint, Cara. It’s almost like they’re daring you to come to him.”
Cara had almost hyperventilated when the spell pinpointed the building in New York where Michael was being held.
Where she and Lacey had spent almost ten years of their lives as sex slaves.
She should have known or at least suspected that that was where they would take him. The Mal were sometimes too obvious. The scene of Michael’s crime would be the scene of his death. That’s how the Mal thought.
“No, I’m going.” She took a deep breath. “I have to. Michael can’t fully defend himself if he’s in pain. He needs me. I can’t not go.”
“But you said the pain’s not as—”
“Doesn’t matter,” she cut him off. Michael needed her. He’d done everything he could to make sure she and Aron were safe. She wasn’t going to let him down. “We need to go. Now.”
“All right.” Cam reached for her shoulder. “I’ll take us into Central Park across from the building. Teo and I will go shadow but we’ll be right there with you all the time.” Rio and Stella would be staying behind after all. “The building’s warded but we’ll figure that out once we get there. Teo and I should be able to slip through the wards undetected or I’ll transport us inside when we know exactly where Michael is.”
She nodded, taking a deep breath. Thankfully, Lacey had taken Aron out of the room. He’d barely cried when Cam had made the cut across his palm and Scarlata had been there to heal him as soon as they’d had enough blood for the spell.
Then Cara had kissed him before Lacey had taken him, trying not to cling to him.
“Cara—”
“I’m ready.” She met Cam’s gaze. “Let’s go.”
Chapter Seven
Bennett made him wait, which turned out to be a good thing because he was alone when the pain running through his body suddenly eased.
Cara.
She was here. In the city he’d sworn she’d never have to return to.
He’d never prayed to the Great Goddess Uni before. He did now.
Blessed Goddess, don’t let anything happen to her.
He didn’t have time for much more because the door opened and the two goons who’d worked him over motioned for him to step out then escorted him down the short hall to another room.
This room was furnished—couch, chairs, tables and a bar where Bennett stood pouring himself a drink.
“Whiskey?” Bennett glanced at him over his shoulder, playing the good host, as if Michael wasn’t bruised and bloodied and being held prisoner.
Michael nodded, waiting until Bennett motioned with his shiny bald head for him to take a seat. When they were settled across from each other in leather club chairs, drinks in their hands, Bennett finally trained his beady black eyes on Michael.
“So, where’s my asset?”
“I want some assurances from you first.”
Bennett smiled, a slick curve of his lips that would send small children running. “That’s not the way this works, Michael. You know that. Just tell me where she is and then we’ll discuss terms. You will still owe me suitable payment but afterward, I’ll deliver you to your parents. I’m sure they have pu
nishment planned as well.”
Yeah, his parents probably did have something in mind for him. Thumb screws, the rack, maybe an iron maiden. He wouldn’t put it past them.
He gave the impression of thinking over Bennett’s words then sighed. “I want your word that I won’t be permanently damaged. That I will not be maimed or disabled in any way. No loss of limbs or digits, no loss of eyesight or hearing. And I will not disclose the whereabouts of the money I transferred.”
Michael had a brief “What the fuck” moment when he heard the words coming out of his mouth. Guess he was more Mal than he’d thought.
Bennett smiled again. In triumph. “You always were a brilliant businessman, Michael. I may have a position for you on my staff at a later time. After your recuperation, of course. Fine, I agree to your terms. Now, tell me where to find her.”
Michael hid his smile, though it cost him to do it. “I won’t have to. She’ll be here soon.”
Bennett’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”
* * * * *
Cara started to shake as the building came into sight.
She tried to hide it but the warmth of the day made it difficult. The fact that Michael was in there and needed her help kept her feet moving forward.
So did the fact that Teo and Cam stood at her side, dissolved into shadow, invisible to everyone. They wouldn’t know if the wards on the building would prevent them from slipping through the door undetected until they got there.
If Bennett dropped the wards to let Cara in, no problem. They’d follow her and make sure no one harmed her. If Bennett didn’t take her to Michael, Teo would search for him and Cam would stay with Cara.
If they didn’t drop the wards, if the spells on the building somehow allowed her to enter without having to drop the wards, Cam and Teo would materialize and fight their way in and she would run like hell and hide then call Sal to come and get her.
And she would pray to the Great Goddess that Teo and Cam would get to Michael and bring him home to her and Aron.
She needed to be strong for Michael now. She would walk up to the building where she’d been forced to admit that her life would never be normal. That she wasn’t fit to live in the world.
Seduced by Danger Page 9
