The sound of a door banging open makes all three of them jump, their heads turning in unison towards the entrance of the gym. Grayson automatically puts himself into fight mode, rising up onto the balls of his feet, ready to strike if he has to. However, as the mystery intruder stalks towards them, he stands down, a little relieved, until she opens her mouth.
“Where the hell is she, Fletcher?” Willow starts prodding him in the chest with her index finger in a way that has become entirely her own. The expression on her face is somewhere between anger and fear. He knows it well. It’s how he’s been living since he found Adriana’s smashed cellphone and the note from Morrison.
“Willow, I need you to calm down.” Grayson talks to her in the same tone he would a frightened animal, but it doesn’t have the desired effect. If anything, it swings the other way.
“Calm down? Are you kidding me? Did you seriously just ask me to calm down when my best friend is missing?” Willow is hysterical, her eyes flashing. Her breath is so shallow Grayson wonders if she might be about to pass out.
“I know how you feel. But if you really want to help Adriana, then I’m going to need you to take a few breaths.” Grayson makes calming gestures with his hands, watching her warily as she surprises him by taking his advice.
It’s at that moment that she takes in where she is and the fact that she and Grayson aren’t alone. He wonders if he’s imagining the blush that crosses her cheeks when her eyes land on Tommy.
“Sorry guys, I guess I’m just a little outside of my comfort zone. My best friend doesn’t disappear every day.” Her voice is dripping with sarcasm, but Grayson can see from her shaking hands that it’s just a front.
“You don’t have to apologize here.” West gives her a fatherly side hug, and she looks up at him so gratefully it’s hard to reconcile this person with the one who just burst into the room, almost throwing the door off of its hinges. “I’ll get you some water while the boys fill you in.” He disappears off towards his office, leaving the three of them standing awkwardly together.
“It’s bad, isn’t it?” Willow looks between Grayson and Tommy, not needing a response from them apart from what’s already written all over their faces. “I knew it. I friggin’ knew it! She was supposed to call me this morning. Then, I called the hospital, and they said she hadn’t shown for work and hadn’t called in sick. That’s not Adriana. I don’t think she’s ever missed a day of work in her life!” She passes a shaking hand over her eyes, pulling herself together. “It didn’t take much to figure out that whatever’s happened to her has something to do with you.” She fires an accusatory look at Grayson, and it hits home like a poison-tipped arrow.
“Easy, Willow.” Tommy’s hand comes to rest on her shoulder, and she visibly relaxes. “Grayson isn’t the enemy here. He didn’t take Adriana.”
“Then who did?” She looks up at him, miserably, her bottom lip trembling as if she’s about to cry. “Is she alright? Please can someone just tell me that she’s okay?”
“We’ve just spoken to her. She’s fine.” The lie tastes bad in Grayson’s mouth, but there’s no reason to make Willow any more worried than she evidently already is.
“Well, where the hell is she? What’s going on, Fletcher? What have you got her mixed up in?” Willow’s impression of a lioness protecting her cubs is a pretty good one, and Grayson finds himself unable to avoid a grudging respect for her. Anyone that cares about Adriana as much as she does is someone whom he can get on board with.
“We’ll get into that, but first we need to figure out where she’s been taken.” Grayson holds up a hand to stop her from interrupting him. Every minute they waste is another minute that Adriana has to spend with Morrison, and he has no intention of extending that any further than necessary. “You’re in PR, right? You must know this city better than any of us.”
“So what do we know?” She looks between the two men, the epitome of cool professionalism, and Grayson can’t help but appreciate that she’s willing to put explanations aside for now.
“Tommy will fill you in on the way.” Grayson turns towards his friend, looking at him meaningfully. “Call me every half hour. I want to know everything.”
“On the way to where? Where are we going?” Willow plants her hands on her hips, looking confused and clearly not enjoying being left out of the loop.
“You’re going to start looking at places near Adriana’s place and moving outward from there. Morrison can’t have risked taking her that far. Besides, if I know him, he’ll want to be close by to keep tabs on me.” Grayson looks at them, waiting for them to move into action. “Are you guys waiting for a formal invitation? Let’s go!”
Tommy nods quickly and takes Willow’s arm, starting to lead her out of the gym. She twists in his arm, looking back at Grayson and lifting a threatening finger. “If anything happens to her…” She doesn’t need to finish the sentence.
“Trust me, Willow. If anything happens to her, there won’t be anything that you can do to me that I won’t want to do to myself a hundred times over.” Grayson’s sincerity seems to catch her off-guard, but her mask of control is back in place in no time.
“As long as that’s clear.” She turns on her heel, twisting out of Tommy’s grasp and marching towards the exit.
Tommy gives Grayson a look over his shoulder that speaks volumes before hustling to catch up with her.
“I’m coming, Adrie. Hold on, I’m coming.” Grayson says the words under his breath, and it’s the closest thing to a prayer that he’s spoken in a long time. He stopped believing in miracles after years of his father’s abuse. However, if there was ever a time to have some faith, it was now.
CHAPTER FORTY ONE
ADRIANA
She must be asleep. This must be a dream. It’s not possible for Grayson to be here. She peers through the darkness, making out his unmistakable shape coming towards her. She reaches out to him and her wrists aren’t bound anymore, she can move freely. She scrambles to her feet, rushing towards him, and he catches her in his arms.
“Grayson.” She barely manages to get his name out before his mouth is on hers, claiming her, possessing her. She melts into him, feeling the strength of his body against hers, letting his warmth seep into her and chase the cold of the damp, dark basement away.
She pushes herself up against him, pressing her chest against his, feeling her nipples grow hard and sensitive. He runs his fingers along her cheeks, tracing a line down towards her mouth, touching her in a way that only he knows how.
“Adrie…I love you, Adrie.” He feathers kisses over her mouth, and she feels her knees go weak at the contact. He lets his hands drift down over her body, towards the heat that is blooming between her thighs.
“I need you, Grayson.” She breathes the words out, letting herself go as he touches her. For a few delicious seconds, nothing exists outside of them. They are the center of everything and nothing else matters. “How did you find me?”
Grayson looks at her in the way that makes her heart beat out of her chest. His eyes are tender and soft, and she feels like she could fall into them. “I’ll always find you, Adrie. Always. We’re supposed to be together; we’re soulmates.”
She bites her bottom lip, tears springing into her eyes at his words. She’s about to respond when a blinding light turns on overhead. She blinks against it, seeing spots, as her eyes slowly acclimate to the light. That’s when she looks around and finds that she’s alone.
There’s no Grayson. He hasn’t come to save her. He hasn’t found her. It had been a dream. She feels the tears spill out over her eyes. It is one thing for Morrison to torture her and punish her, but it is another for her own mind and body to betray her. Having Grayson in front of her and then losing him again—when she needs him most—is almost worse than missing him.
The unmistakable sound of the door being unlocked breaks through her depressing thoughts, and she gets to her feet as best she can with her wrists still tied together. She expects Morriso
n to come bursting through the door, with some new story about Grayson that he wants to tell her to make her question everything she thinks she knows about him.
However, it’s not Morrison that makes his way down the stairs. It’s his goon; the man that he’d called Mr. Elliott. She remains rigid, wondering what he has in store for her now. The way he looks at her, like she’s a piece of meat, makes her uncomfortable and without the calming influence of Morrison, she doesn’t know what he might do.
He grunts at her, nodding towards the table where Morrison had been seated during their little tête-à-tête. That’s when she sees that he’s carrying a tray of something that smells like food. Her stomach grumbles, chasing away any thought she might have had of refusing the food. She has no idea how much time has passed; but, if her hunger and thirst are anything to go by, it’s been at least twenty-four hours.
He puts the tray down and steps away, watching her the entire time. Adriana moves forward, her legs carrying her despite her brain telling them that she doesn’t want to get any closer to this man than she has to. However, her basic instincts have taken over. She needs to keep her strength up, and right now, she feels like a stiff wind might blow her over.
She grabs the glass of water, drinking it down in a few greedy gulps. The plain bread sitting on the plate looks like the best thing she’s ever eaten, and she rips off a piece, stuffing it into her mouth as if she hasn’t eaten in weeks.
“Thank you.” She nods towards the big man, who is still watching her like a hawk. Perhaps he’s just following orders, she thinks. This is the first act of kindness that I’ve been shown since I was brought to this place, and it’s come from him. Perhaps he can help me.
“You don’t have to do this, you know?” She looks up at him, gauging his reaction to her; so far there is none. “If you let me out of here, I won’t say anything to the cops about you.” She studies his face for a flicker of recognition, for a sign that he’s actually hearing her, but there’s nothing. “You don’t even have to let me go; you can just get a message to Grayson and tell him where I am.” He remains still, looking at her with that unfazed expression of his. “You don’t have to do this.”
Mr. Elliott doesn’t respond; it doesn’t even look as if he’s blinking. Talking to him is like talking to a brick wall, except a brick wall seems more dynamic.
“You could let me go. You don’t have to do what Morrison tells you. You can think for yourself.” She tries not to sound so desperate, trying to moderate her tone so it sounds encouraging. It’s the same voice that she uses when she talks to kids who are scared before their operations.
As the silence stretches out between them, she feels her frustration building. “Answer me.” He just stares at her. “Say something!”
Eventually, he smiles at her, but there’s no warmth in it. It’s the kind of smile that a predator might give to its prey when he knows that there’s no way of escape. “No.” In that one word, he crashes any hopes that she had of him helping her.
“Why? Because you’re Morrison’s little pet? Because you’re not smart enough to think for yourself?” She spits the words out at him, knowing that getting him angry probably isn’t the smartest plan she could come up with, but she’s reacting purely on emotions, to hell with everything else. If she can catch him off-guard, that will be her best shot of getting out of this place. She catches a flicker of rage pass across his face and notes that her arrow has hit its mark.
“Doesn’t it bother you that you’re taking orders from someone who thinks of you like a little dog that will follow him around wherever he goes?” Adriana shuffles her way around the table so that she’s nearer the steps, but also nearer Mr. Elliott. She’s only going to get one shot at this, and she has to make it good.
“Is that all men like you are good for? Tearing down real men like Grayson? You’re pathetic!” She braces herself as she sees that her words have struck a chord within him. He starts advancing towards her, menacingly, and Adriana gets ready for the swift kick to the kneecap that she needs to inflict before barreling into him, knocking him off-balance, and running up the stairs. She can see exactly what she needs to do. However, it doesn’t mean that she’s prepared for the power of the man who is coming towards her.
She kicks her leg out, making contact with his shin but just missing his kneecap. He acts as if he hasn’t even noticed, reaching out to grab hold of her bound hands and yanking her around. She cries out as he pulls on her sprained wrist until he’s maneuvered her into the position where he wants her. He has her trapped between his body and the table, her back to him.
Adriana tries to wriggle out of his grasp, but he’s too strong. Plus, he’s holding her too tight. Every time she moves, he sends a shock of pain through her injured hand. “Hijo de puta. You son of a bitch!” she screams. Then, she rails at him, kicking backwards, and making contact with his legs. She feels a moment of satisfaction, as she hears him grunt in pain as she hits target. However, it’s short-lived.
No matter what she does, he refuses to let her go. If anything, he’s enjoying the fact that she’s trying to writhe and wriggle out of his reach. He pushes his hips towards her, and she feels the hardness of his erection against her ass. He pulls back her hair, as his other hand holds her tight around her middle, moving upwards to fondle her breasts.
She feels sick in the pit of her stomach as she realizes what is happening and what this man is going to do to her. “Get off of me!” She uses all of her strength to try to shake him off of her, but she isn’t any match for him—he’s three times her weight and doesn’t have his hands tied.
He forces her head down so that she’s leaning over the table, as if she’s inviting him to take her there. She feels tears of rage, frustration, and dread gather behind her eyes, as he reaches round towards the fastening of her shorts, pulling the buttons open impatiently. “Stop. Don’t do this!” Her voice is shaky, and the bastard has the gall to laugh, as if her pleading with him makes it even more exciting for him.
She hears him grunt like an animal behind her as he fiddles with his own zipper, and she tries to wish her mind somewhere else, somewhere other than here. She doesn’t want to feel anything; she wishes her whole body would just go numb. However, she hasn’t given up yet. She has one more push left in her and now is the time to use it.
She allows her legs to buckle underneath her, catching him off-guard so she tumbles to the floor, throwing herself backwards onto him at the same time. Her body is jarred with the force of the impact of landing on top of him, and she finds herself perfectly placed to elbow him hard in the groin. He squeals like a girl as she connects with his erection, and she figures she has a few seconds before he recovers. She scrambles to her feet, but she’s underestimated how far away she is from the stairs and how stiff her muscles are from lying on the cold basement floor. Just as she reaches the first step, she’s pulled back from behind and slammed into the wall like a rag doll.
“You little bitch.” Mr. Elliott’s face is a mask of rage and pain, and she smiles to herself at the thought that no matter what happens, she’ll always know that she made him squeal like a pig. The slap that comes out of nowhere serves to wipe the smile off of her face, knocking the breath out of her.
He punches her in the stomach, a gut shot that makes her feel like she can’t breathe and like she’s lost all control over her legs. Her knees buckle, and she stumbles, feeling like she understands for the first time the phrase ‘seeing stars.’ But he’s not done with her yet. He pulls her up by her arms, slamming her back against the wall again and lifting his hand for what looks like a slap that will send her head spinning.
“Enough!” Morrison’s voice echoes out in the basement, and Adriana leans back against the wall, more grateful than she thought she would ever be towards the short man.
Mr. Elliott seems conflicted, looking between her and Morrison as if he can’t decide whether to beat her silly like he clearly wants to or to obey Morrison, as he presumably always has. Ad
riana steels herself for whatever comes next, still taking gulps of air to recover from the gut shot he’d so expertly executed just a few moments ago.
“Enough! We need to keep her at least in relatively good condition.” Morrison chuckles lightly. “Grayson’s going to see her at the fight, so she needs to look like the same person he remembers, not a mess of bruises and swelling.”
Mr. Elliott slowly lowers his fist and steps away from her, but his eyes remain trained on her, filled with overwhelming hatred. Adriana is grateful for the wall behind her. Without it, she doesn’t think that she’d be able to remain standing. The last thing she wants is to fall to her knees in front of these men; they don’t deserve to feel any more power over her than they already do.
Second Chance: A Dark Bad Boy Romance Page 22
