Caged

by Shanna Ehrlich

Her heart may have froze in her chest. How did he know she was wearing shorts? Looking over her shoulder she saw a black four-door SUV parked at the curb, with Brax, sexy as ever, leaning against it in black jeans and a black short sleeved shirt.

  Ending the call, she sauntered over trying her best to look as good as he did. “Fancy seeing you here, Mr. Cage.” Go big or go home right? She already started this battle and sure as hell wasn’t going to back down first.

  “Well I was invited. Get your ass over here.” He held his palm out toward her and hauled her up close while reaching a hand into her hair and tugging hard enough to tilt her head back. She knew what was going to happen, but unlike the other day she wanted it, well she wanted it that day too, was just in denial. There was no denying it now.

  The kiss came hard, fast and demanding. He plunged in his tongue without shame and her bottled up emotions suddenly burst. She couldn’t get enough of him and kissed back just as passionate. Their teeth often clinking together at the ragged pace and neither of them seemed to care.

  Picking her up he turned to face the car, trapping her between. The action forced her back to reality and she fought to break the kiss, but he wasn’t letting up. “Please Brax, I can’t do this.”

  At her words he pulled away from her lips and kissed down her neck. She continued to hold him tight even though it was the perfect time to break away, and a quiet moan escaped her mouth.

  “I know you want me. Why are you fighting it? And don’t give me that bullshit about leaving soon and not being that type of girl.”

  It was her chance; she could tell him the truth. He would walk away and be done with her, or maybe not, maybe it wouldn’t matter to him, but selfish as it might be, she couldn’t chance losing him. Couldn’t keep him either, but had three more days in the city and was going to make the most of them. She looked him in the eyes and told him the only truth she could. “I want you so fucking bad. I’ve never felt anything like this before.” She leaned in and kissed below his ear. “I can’t believe I’m telling you this. I’m supposed to be playing hard to get.”

  “I think we’re past that stage. I’ve got you. I know that. I just haven’t had you. I need you B. Do you feel that?” He ground himself against her. “Just being around you makes me hard.”

  “Oh god,” she was giving in and pushed her hips forward to meet his dry thrusts.

  “I haven’t ever wanted anyone as bad as I want you.” He declared this to her with absolute certainty in his eyes.

  She could feel his heart beating just as fast as hers and knew without a doubt he wasn’t lying, yet she still called him on it. “Right. You probably say that to all the girls.”

  “I don’t give a fuck about other girls. All I want is you, and it’s going to happen so stop fighting it. Look at me,” he gripped her face with his hands and tilted her chin up toward him. “At the coffee shop you asked what would happen after. Do you remember?”

  She nodded.

  “The answer is, I keep you. I knew it then, I just didn’t understand it. I told you I wasn’t that guy, the guy that leaves girls after screwing them, but I am, that’s exactly who I am, but not with you. I can’t just have one night with you.”

  Before she could reply his lips were back on hers. This time the kiss slow and deep and she reveled in the feel of him holding her in his large, muscular arms as if he would never let her go.

  “Ehem.” The sound of a throat clearing registered faintly in Braxton’s ears and he was brought back to the present, forced to abruptly halt and pull away. He looked over his shoulder and saw all three of her friends huddled together under the restaurant porte cochere, watching as if they just witnessed a massive accident, and in theory, they probably did. He turned around first, allowing Bethany to move forward out of his hold and walk toward them with him in tow; her soft, small hand pulling him forward.

  “Hi guys, you remember Brax.”

  “Yeah, hey man, thanks for dinner,” Trevor spoke up first while reaching out a hand.

  Brax didn’t respond, just shook Trevor’s hand with a head nod.

  “I thought you couldn’t make it tonight?”

  “I ended things early.” What a harsh, true statement that was.

  Six

  Braxton had wanted to meet up with Bethany all day; even more so after she hung up on him. God she was feisty, and he loved it. She knew who he was and still wasn’t scared of him, just the opposite it seemed. He breezed through work as quick as possible and made an impromptu decision of purchasing a rundown hotel in East Lansing. If she didn’t want to stay with him in New York, he would go to her. It was a rash decision, but he had to have her. He would have her, she just didn’t know it yet.

  With Cole’s approval he would appoint a new assessor for New York and start a second division in Michigan. An expansion was inevitable and now was as good a time as any. Cole would support his decision, probably praise him for it. The profits they would make from a second division were too high for Cole to be anything but supportive. He would build his empire in Lansing, but the organizational expansion would take place in Detroit, the highest crime rated city in the country. It was fucking perfect. He would be far enough away to not attract unwanted attention, but close enough to make frequent trips to get things in order. He started his plan that afternoon, detailed out exactly how he would move forward, and would present the idea to Cole.

  The only thing Braxton worried about was Bethany. He didn’t want to tell Cole about her, though he would undoubtedly wonder where this change of heart came from. Last week he confessed to him how he wasn’t truly in it anymore. He no longer fully believed what they did was for the greater good. He once thought all positives needed an equal negative; like a magnet they went together. A city couldn’t survive without people like him. You have your good people and your bad people. The bad had to be organized like the good, but they needed a different form of leadership, not one a government could provide. Ax was the one who held that order. He decided how many kilos of cocaine were sold through the streets, what guns were distributed, which gangs were growing too strong and needed to be put down.

  The government didn’t sanction his organization, not by far, but he found they often looked the other way in order to keep the peace. Some city officials even believed exactly as he did, especially when they were being paid to do so. But things were changing, had been ever since Cole left for prison. Braxton didn’t know what to believe anymore, especially after the incident with Vinnie. That stupid fuck went to the police about him and that was one thing they didn’t do. You don’t rollover on anyone, even if it’s your worst enemy. It’s a code they all live by, but apparently the codes were changing. He still didn’t know how much information Vinnie leaked. He could have told them everything. The detective could have passed along the info to the FBI who would be investigating him that very moment. They would never catch him though, unlike Cole, he always had provisions to ensure his identity would not be made. They could search all they want, but an alibi would always be in place.

  Braxton left the office a little after seven, the earliest he had left in a long time. He was a workaholic, not usually departing until after nine unless he had other business to attend to. On his way out, Stetson called to let him know Bethany’s whereabouts and since she had at least another hour in a showing of The Lion King he figured he would kill the time by going home to work out and change, but that’s not exactly what went down.

  He knew something was off the moment he walked in. The place looked just as it was left, but there was tension in the air. He could feel it. Reaching for his gun he pulled it out of his side holster and stopped first in the kitchen, opening a hidden panel amongst the cabinetry revealing more guns and a silencer. Screwing the sound suppressor into place he slowly walked one foot in front of the other. Contrary to popular believe, the silencer doesn’t make the gun completely silent, but alters the sound to be unrecognizable as a gunshot and makes it hard to tell where the sound came from, bu
t one negative about being alone on the top floor, is how obvious you are to the people below.

  He cleared the first floor before moving up the stairs toward his room. It was empty, the bed made, everything in its place. He moved on to the bathroom, flipped on the light and found it empty as well, the glass doors of the shower not great at hiding people. Turning back around he closed in on the closet and reached out a hand to click on the light when a foot kicked out toward him, fleeing the gun from his grip. He stepped back and crouched between the wooden bar set; could see his gun on the floor near his bed, but it was too far to reach. Hiding behind the bar he waited for his assailant to emerge. The barrel of the gun peeked out first. An AR-15, one he distributed most likely.

  With cat-like reflexes he reached for the gun and jammed it back into his attackers face while pulling it out of his hands, but before he could turn it around he received a kick to the gut, propelling his upper body forward. He let go of the gun almost purposely and rose up with strength to meet the attacker head on.

  From there a fight of epic proportions took place. They circled each other, both equally skilled. Punches were thrown and blocked, kicks were dodged and it wasn’t until Braxton allowed himself to be tackled he knew he would be the victor of this fight. In a move he learned by roughhousing with his brother, he rolled to the side and wrapped a leg around the attacker’s body, at first just enough to straddle him and then moved his legs upward and around his neck, squeezing like a snake strangles a mouse. He held on long and hard, the man flailing beneath him, but not long enough to kill him. He still needed him for answers.

  Once he was sure the man was passed out, he loosened his grip and dragged him down the stairs by the neck of his black spandex shirt. After handcuffing him to a dining table chair and securing his feet with a second set of shackles, he placed a call to Benny, letting him know what happened.

  Not ten minutes later, his intercom buzzed from security letting him know Benny had arrived and Braxton wondered where security was when this fucker made his way up. The elevator doors opened and Benny, along with four of his other men walked toward him, making the large dining area cramped with raging anger. This was now twice in two days an attempt was made on his life. Every so often it happened, especially during deals, but rarely was an assassination so deliberate, and never in his home. He had the place on lock down. No one could get up without a key card unless security was officially authorized by him to let them up.

  The groggy man finally started coming to.

  “I don’t recognize him,” said Benny, who knew everyone in the city. Made it his job to know who they could trust, who they couldn’t and who was inconsequential. He gripped a chunk of his hair and yanked his head back, “Who the fuck are you?” The man responded with silence and Benny whipped a pistol against his face, leaving him spitting out blood. “You will tell us everything or we will make your life miserable until you do. Make it easier on yourself and talk now and we might let you live.”

  That was a lie. They would kill him as soon as he told them everything they needed to know, but it was part of the interrogation game. Too bad he knew this just as well.

  “Let’s try this again. Who sent you?”

  Still nothing.

  Benny took out a switch blade and held it up to his eye. “If I have to ask you again, I promise I will gouge out your eye and make you fucking eat it.”

  Braxton felt his phone vibrate against his leg, but was too focused on the current situation to pay it any attention.

  Instead of responding the man spat blood in Benny’s face and met the knife head on. He didn’t even cry out when it happened, and when Benny forced what was left of his popped eye into his mouth he spat that out too.

  “Did you get a wallet on this guy? Any gang tattoos?” Benny said in frustration.

  “No wallet. I didn’t check for tattoos.”

  Benny used his knife to cut through the shirt. Hundreds of tattoos decorated his chest and back. Nothing out of the ordinary except for one symbol neither him nor Benny recognized. Braxton pulled out his phone to get a picture of the tat, when he noticed a missed text from Bethany. He read it and smiled at her cute attempt of not apologizing, but quickly erased what was probably viewed as an irrational smile off his face, and snapped the pic.

  Braxton spent some time googling the image, but nothing came up. As he was about to put his phone away a new text came through from Bethany. She wanted him to meet up with her for dinner and while he wished he could run out and do just that, he had to finish this.

  A sudden scream erupted from the man who had been silent for so long. Braxton looked up and saw blood flowing down the side of his face. He sent a short response to let Bethany know he was busy and walked over to inspect the damage.

  “Just got myself a molar!” Benny gleefully held up the bloodied tooth between a pair of pliers. “Figured after we kill him we’ll have Roland run these for dental records. Get his name, address, next of kin. If this fucker won’t talk, maybe his wife will, or his daughter.” He turned over the man’s wrist where the name Ella was permanently scrawled in cursive. “Who is she huh? Have I told you how much my boys here love pussy? Old pussy, young pussy, it don’t matter.”

  Benny continued baiting the man. He was a fucking genius when it came to interrogating and Braxton was confident he would get the information they were looking for. Stepping out of the room he made a quick call to the restaurant where Bethany and her friends were eating. Picking up dinner was the least he could do and it made him feel like he was with her instead of dealing with this asshole. When he walked back into the dining area the man had fully broke.

  “He wasn’t supposed to be here,” he cried out. “Please don’t hurt her.”

  Braxton kneeled down next to him. “Who wasn’t supposed to be here? Me? Where was I supposed to be?”

  “I don’t know. He just said it would be an easy in and out.”

  “Who said that? Who sent you?”

  “I don’t know who they were. I was just a hired man. I never saw their faces, but they dealt in large bills and I needed the money.”

  “What were you hired to do?”

  “Intelligence. Copy your computer data, bug the place, crack your safe, if you had one. Anything I could get on you that would be worthwhile to them.”

  “Prove it. How do I know you’re not lying?”

  “My pocket,” the man looked down toward the velcroed pocket of his cargo pants and Braxton pulled out a memory stick. “It’s everything from your computer. There’s also a bug that lets them download all future information.”

  “And the audio bugs?”

  “Under the table behind you, on the fireplace mantel, in your bedroom, office. They’re everywhere. They’re listening now.”

  Braxton pulled out his gun and shot a bullet right between his eyes. The pressure of the close range pushing his chair back onto the floor. The bullet escaped his head and lodged into the granite counter behind him and Braxton picked up the still bloody pliers and walked over to pull it out. Benny’s mouth hung open at Braxton’s literal jump of the gun, and silence from the other men filled the loft. Without giving orders Braxton walked up the stairs toward the shower he desperately needed. His men knew to clean up the mess without being asked.

  When he came back downstairs the body was bagged and the floor was clean. Benny volunteered to walk him down to his car to give him an update on their progress. The men found three of the audio bugs and called in a sweeping crew to find the rest. They also tossed the computer all together since Braxton had all the information he needed, safe and backed up at his office.

  “Apologies if I’m speaking out of line, but why did you shoot him? He was talking. We could have gotten more.”

  “No we couldn’t. He lied when he said he didn’t know who they were. He did, but they were listening, he could only say so much. Anything else he told us would have been a lie. It was easier to kill him before he said more and not have to wonder later w
hat was the truth and what was a lie. Trust me on this. Plus, I have somewhere to be. Didn’t feel like wasting any more time on him.”

  Seven

  How had he let her talk him in to this? Somehow he went from being seconds away from fucking her on his car to being in his car with her and her three stupid fucking friends, driving to an underground club. What the fuck? He leaned forward to rub his temples in an attempt to relieve stress, but as soon as he felt her hand hit his thigh, that was all the stress reliever he needed. He was putty in her hands. Completely pussy whipped without ever having any pussy. Again, What. The. Fuck.

  It was too late to back out, but if he were going to do this, it would be on his terms. He didn’t care about her friends, but if something happened to Bethany he would lose all self-control, would ruin everything he worked so hard to build. This was not a place where four, naïve out-of-towners should be going, but when she begged him to take them to a secret underground club, like the ones they show in the movies, he couldn’t resist. A part of him wanted to show off for her as if he were still a young boy trying to be cool. He wanted her to see how he could give her anything. All she had to do was ask and he would make it happen. How utterly stupid of him.

  “You sure this is where you want to go?” he leaned in and kissed her neck while whispering in her ear. “I can think of somewhere else to go that might be more fun.”

  “Tempting, but I’m sure.” She snuggled into his side and he wrapped an arm around her. “I have you protecting me and if I didn’t I would never go, so it’s now or never.”

  “You’ll always have me protecting you, but you can have this your way. I’ll take you, but when we’re there, you’re going to do things my way.” She turned and winked at him, thinking he was making another sexual gesture, and he needed to explain his sincerity further. “I’m not fucking around B. You will listen to everything I say in there. Promise me right now, or there’s no way I’m taking you.”