Cole

by Tijan

  hidden corners, and I knew that was why Sia had sent Cole there. He and I could stand back there and be part of the event, but also be on our own.

  I was passing a side entrance when I heard my name.

  “Addison.”

  I turned, a polite greeting on the tip of my tongue, but I swallowed it when I saw Liam’s mother. I grew cold. “What are you doing here?” She knew this was Sia’s event. This was my territory.

  Carol stopped. Her mouth opened as if to speak, but instead she closed it and started toward me.

  I looked her up and down. She wore shimmery black pants and a black sweater that crossed over her waist. She looked nice, but she wasn’t dressed for an event like this. I couldn’t hold back my sneer. It wasn’t often that I got to sneer at her. I wanted to take advantage of it when I could.

  “You look…nice.” I stepped back and made sure she saw my appraisal. Then I wrinkled my nose.

  I thought she’d react. I was waiting for it, and I even had another veiled insult ready to go.

  She glanced over her shoulder, reaching inside her sweater and she moved closer to me. “I’m so sorry, Addison,” she said. “I actually am.”

  “Wha—”

  Her hand flashed out, and I felt the prick of a needle in my neck.

  I shoved her away, but I was too late. She blurred in front of me. Two large shapes moved around her as I started to fall. The world was falling with me. Something caught me just as everything went black.

  I heard voices first. A woman and a man—and she was pissed. I couldn’t make out their words, or even tell where they were, but they were somewhere nearby.

  “I said no!” the woman yelled, then she stormed away.

  I felt her footsteps underneath me, and a door slammed, making my headache the second thing I noticed. It pounded behind my forehead, like I’d been hit.

  I tried opening my eyes, but closed them right away. The light made it worse.

  What had happened to me? I tried moving my hands, but I couldn’t. They were tied behind me, and I was sitting in a chair. A cool draft chilled my face and feet. I moved my feet around and felt a blanket. The backs of my arms were warmer. I felt heat back there.

  I’d been at Sia’s event at the Gala.

  Cole had been there.

  …and Carol. I’d been going to see Cole when I saw Liam’s mother—and then felt the cold prick of a needle.

  That bitch drugged me.

  “Is she waking up?” a male voice spoke, sounding far away. It had echoed a bit.

  I heard a shuffle of feet and a second voice. “Nah. Sometimes they fidget in their sleep.”

  “You sure?”

  “Oh, yeah. She’ll be out for a while.”

  “Boss said she’s high priority. We can’t fuck this up.”

  “We won’t. Stop worrying. It’s your turn.” Knuckles rapped on a table. Poker chips rattled. “What’ll you call?”

  The first voice grumbled, his chair creaking. “Fuck if I know.” His chair screeched, shoved against the floor. “I swear she’s awake.”

  “She hasn’t moved.”

  That was a third voice. How many were there? The woman, who’d left, and the guy she’d been arguing with and then these three. Their voices sounded from the other side of the room.

  And fuck. My head was really pounding. I winced, then went back to slack jaw. I couldn’t do anything different. No sounds. No movement. Nothing but breathing. I had to breathe normally, as if I were asleep—

  Suddenly, my chair was tipped over, spilling me onto the floor.

  “Ow!” I couldn’t hold back. My eyes whipped open, and I lay sideways, staring at a table of four guys playing poker. A pair of combat boots stepped in front of me, and the arguing male voice said, “She’s awake.”

  I tried to look up, but his face was in the dark. The light above him blinded me, and I heard him say, “Back to sleep, princess.”

  I saw it coming. His boot lifted and oh shi—the world went black again.

  “Okay.” Something was ripped from my face, and the light was blinding. “Wakey, wakey.”

  I screamed. Pressure throbbed through my head as I closed my eyes as tightly as I could. I whimpered now, but holy shit. Pain sliced through me, like tiny knives being shoved into my head. A low throb had started at the base of my skull, too.

  “None of that.”

  Someone jerked my chair around. I was upright again and wheeled around to face the other way. The poker table was behind me, but it was empty, or so I thought. My glimpse of it had been so brief but now I stared at three people.

  One guy leaned against the wall, tall and lean, with his arms crossed over his chest. This was a fucking Sunday tea party to him. He readjusted, cocking his head to the side. I couldn’t make out his face in the shadows. Another guy stood in front of him—the one who’d whipped my chair around. He was dressed in black, from head to toe. A ski mask covered his face, and his voice was disguised by some automated thing.

  Like what kidnappers use. My blood turned to ice at that thought.

  “What do you want?” There was another person, a woman—maybe the woman from before? I couldn’t see her. The room cut back into a small alcove, where she was sitting. She wore clothes similar to the others—black pants and sweater—but she didn’t wear a ski mask. I didn’t think. I got a flash of white from her neck and her hands folded together in front of her. No gloves. I lingered on the blue ring she wore—it was Carol.

  I sneered. “Bitch, you drugged me.”

  Both men snickered.

  Her hands jerked apart. She stuffed them behind her, but she didn’t say anything.

  “Enough with the pleasantries.” Kidnapper guy leaned over me, staring right into my eyes. I tried to recognize his eyes, the only part of him I could see. Maybe I knew him? Maybe I would know him? A flicker of hope sprang to life in me. Maybe that meant they were going to keep me alive? He reached behind me and rested his hand next to my shoulder—the one I was trying to ignore because it hurt. It was the one I’d fallen on. His thumb moved over and lightly brushed it.

  The stabbing pain in my head was nothing compared to what I felt in my arm. And with his touch it tripled. It felt like my arm was on fire. A whimper slipped out before I clamped everything down.

  A slow, satisfied smile looked back at me. “Good.” His eyes darkened. “Now that I know that you hurt, let’s get started. Shall we?”

  “Fuck you,” I spat.

  “Ah. Maybe one day, huh?” He kicked my chair again, moving me until I was directly in front of the light. He motioned behind him. “Turn the other lights off.”

  The room plunged into darkness, except for the light on me. He moved behind the light and pulled his ski mask off, holding it in his hands. “I’m going to make this real simple for you. Answer my questions, and stay alive. Don’t answer my questions, and don’t stay alive. It’s as easy as that. Okay?” But he wasn’t waiting for my response. The cool sensation of a blade touched my neck. “You feel that?” He applied pressure, enough to cut my skin.

  I cried out, then stifled the sound right away. Jackass. Asshole. Monster. I was pissing my pants, but they weren’t going to see fear on my face. No fucking way.

  “Oh.” He laughed softly. “You’re a badass, huh?”

  “Fuck you.” My throat moved against the blade, bringing it tighter. I felt my skin tear, just slightly, and a wave of splitting pain coursed through me. Another wave of curses went through my mind. I gritted my teeth. This asshole—he was going to die. Somehow.

  That damn chuckle. It grated on my nerves. Someone removed the blade, and a tether replaced it. My head was pulled back as the tether went tight behind me. My head was locked in place, and the man squatted next to me. I still couldn’t see his face. I couldn’t look over, just catch a blurred glimpse through the corners of my eyes. His hand came back to my shoulder and lay next to my burning arm. God. So much ached, but I held my breath. I knew what he was going to do.


  “So.” His thumb rested lightly over where my arm hurt the most.

  Just the gentle graze was like a hot poker. I stifled another scream, biting down on my lip.

  “Let’s get started.” He came even closer. I could feel his hot breath on my skin. Even that fucking hurt. “In case you’re going to play dumb, I’ll spell everything out for you. Over a year ago, your husband had a certain patient from our family, and we’re pretty sure that patient shared some information, information he shouldn’t have shared.”

  “What?”

  “Your husband.”

  “Liam?”

  “Yeppers, indeedy. That man of yours. He had a patient who told him some things. We’re aware it’s all supposed to be confidential, right? Patients and counselors, right? But we don’t believe this was kept secret, and it don’t matter that your husband was one of our own either.”

  His thumb still hovered over my arm. The burning was building, throbbing now. I blinked, trying to clear my head. I needed to follow what he was saying, but my God, I was hurting. And Liam—why was he talking about Liam? Was this why Carol did this to me?

  “Carol?” I called. My voice was hoarse. “Carol, what is going on? Liam? This has to do with your son?”

  “Don’t.” She was a sobbing mess.

  The guy next to me barked, “Get her out of here!”

  “No! No. I won’t say anything.” She struggled with someone. “No!”

  Then a door opened and slammed shut. Her sobbing was now muffled. “I won’t say anything. I promise.”

  “Shut her up! Now!”

  The door opened and slammed shut again, this time with extra force. I felt the bang through the floor. Carol screamed, and then it was quiet. It was eerily quiet after that.

  “Don’t worry. Your mama-in-law isn’t dead, just silenced. Now, you’re going to tell me what your hubby told you so long ago.”

  “What?”

  “You heard me. What did he say to you?”

  I felt his thumb lowering to my arm, his touch growing firmer. I wracked my mind, trying to remember anything Liam had said—I had nothing. “He didn’t—he didn’t talk about his patients.”

  “I find that hard to believe.” Another centimeter. His thumb began brushing back and forth.

  I let out a deep, guttural scream. I had no choice. My hands spasmed, opening and closing, and my whole body jerked on the chair. The pain was crushing me.

  “All you gotta do…” His voice was calm, sickeningly calm. “…is tell me what Liam told you. It would’ve been right before he died.”

  Died—I bit my tongue. Something didn’t make sense. This whole thing didn’t make sense. My head felt full and heavy. My neck was weakening to the point that I couldn’t hold it up. I strained to see who this guy was, but I couldn’t. He stayed just inside the shadow.

  “Addison,” he murmured. “Tell me what Liam said to you.”

  “I don’t—” My voice was garbled. I could taste my own blood. “I don’t know. I swear. He never talked about his patients.”

  “Come on, Addison.”

  The man’s hand left my shoulder, but he only scooted closer. I could feel his body pressed against my arm. Tears slipped down my cheeks. He lowered his voice; it was almost soothing.

  “I know he told you. You can just tell us, and we’ll let you go. That’s all we want. We actually want to let you go.” His hand trailed up my arm, sending fresh waves of pain slicing through me. “But in order to do that, we need to know what your husband told you because, you see, we’ve been watching you. For an entire year, and now three months, we’ve been keeping track of who you talk to, who you email, who you call, who you see—all of it. When you thought you were alone?” His hand ran down my arm. My body shuddered. “We’ve been there the entire time. All those nightmares? We have to wonder what caused them. And they’ve stopped, haven’t they? When you moved, whatever was haunting you stopped haunting you—am I right?”

  “Who the fuck are you? You’re spying on me?”

  He laughed. His breath coated me, choking me. “You were so sad when he died. I got chills watching you at the crime scene. You couldn’t move. You were standing on that street corner, your dog going crazy, and you couldn’t stop looking at him.” His voice was almost seductive. “You must’ve really loved him. He shattered you, didn’t he? You sent everything about him away, even his dog. You sent everything away that reminded you of him, didn’t you?”

  I drew in ragged breath, feeling tears hot on my face. They slid over cuts, and I winced. I was helpless to stop them.

  Liam…

  “Yeah.” His hand went away, and he drew a knife over my arm. Up and down, like he was trying to comfort me. “But you have to put yourself in our shoes, Addison. You see, we were okay with letting you live. You didn’t do anything. I mean, why make two deaths happen, you know? And Carol, she fought hard for you. She really did. We were going to pull you in, make you a Bertal, but she was adamant. She said Liam didn’t want that. You were to remain out, but imagine our surprise when you moved into The Mauricio. You went into the heart of our enemy’s territory, and suddenly you could sleep again. Makes me think maybe you unburdened yourself. Maybe there was something on your chest, and you had to get it off? Is that what happened? Did you tell Cole Mauricio something you shouldn’t have?”

  “Did I what?”

  The knife stopped. He brought it to my throat and pushed hard—not the sharp edge, but the dull edge. I couldn’t breathe; he was crushing my windpipe.

  Cole…

  “Stop playing around,” he hissed. “Answer me! Did you tell Cole Mauricio what your husband told you?!”

  “No—”

  The knife cut me off. He yelled in my face, his spit landing on my cheek. “Did you?!”

  I coughed, and kept coughing, He was pushing down so hard, and suddenly I could make no sound. I was choking. I couldn’t get air inside.

  When you’re about to die, all the movies make it seem like time slows down, you get flashes of your life. Maybe those memories are supposed to comfort you. Maybe it’s the brain shooting on its last synapses. I didn’t know. I knew there were scientific theories, but that was not what happened to me.

  I couldn’t breathe—that was it. I. Just. Couldn’t. Breathe. My eyes bulged, and I flailed in the chair. My arms were everywhere. Despite the pain, I broke through their ropes. My back arched off the chair, but my head was still tied in place…then I was falling…

  I hit the floor with a smack.

  After I hit the ground, I couldn’t do anything. My body shook, all on its own. My mind was slipping away. There still wasn’t enough air. My vision blurred, and there were voices. I heard them through a fog again.

  A light—one single light burned right through me. Faces blocked it. Shoes hurried closer. I felt them pounding on the floor. A woman screamed. There was shouting. People were shoving, and someone fell.

  Then Carol was on the floor, her head turned toward me. Terror lit up her eyes, and she was pale. I would’ve laughed, if I could. She was scared, and I was going to die. I saw movement at the door. Hands were touching me, putting me back in the chair. The light was blocked. The hallway door opened, and light spilled into the room. For one brief second, I saw him. I saw the man who had interrogated me. I saw his back, then his profile as he turned down the hallway.

  I saw him.

  Someone moved in front of me, and the rope around my neck fell away. Then I could breathe in ragged gulps. Someone lifted me, and my eyes rolled.

  Blackness closed in again, but I’d seen him now.

  I saw Dorian.

  Cold water woke me up.

  I turned my head and saw Carol beside my bed. She sat in a chair, a bucket next to her, and she was washing my face with a