by Stella Noir
Brooklyn
I recognized one of the men that was walking toward me across the room from when I was picked up outside of the library. He came around to where I was on the other side of the bed and grabbed my hair, then pushed me ahead of him toward Adrian’s father.
“You have no right to do this!” Adrian screamed at his father as he walked in the door behind him.
“Oh yes, I bloody well do,” the man said as he walked up to his son. Adrian towered over his father but it was becoming clear to me that Mr. Bellini always got what he wanted no matter who was standing in front of him.
“That girl is my property. She belongs to me and you had no right whatsoever to take her out of the training grounds. She is leaving with me right now. She’s going to be taken straight to her father so that he has his final chance to pay off his debt and then she is going to the auction block.”
“You can’t do this! She hasn’t even been trained! This is insane!”
“And who’s fault is that? If anything goes wrong, if she’s killed because she doesn’t comply with her new owner’s wishes I’m afraid you will only have yourself to blame, Adrian.”
“New owner? Where are you taking me? Adrian, please don’t let them take me!” I screamed as I clawed at the man who was holding me. He had now picked me up and was carrying me across the room, but Adrian flew at him and grabbed him around the neck. I fell to the floor and crawled underneath a table and watched as Adrian fought with the man.
There was a moment when I thought that Adrian was going to win, that he was going to beat the shit out of the big thick neck lunkhead. But just as Adrian pulled his fist back to throw one final blow his father pulled a gun out of his coat, cocked it, and held it to Adrian’s head.
“Is she really worth this much to you, Adrian? Are you willing to die over a transaction?”
“Will you quit calling her that? She’s a human being. And yes she is worth that much to me,” he said as he held his head down. He looked defeated with the knowledge that his life was being threatened by his own father.
“You’re out, son. I want you to pack up whatever you can put in a bag and get the hell out of here. You’re out of the business, you’re out of the family, you’re out of the will, and I never want to see you again. And if I do, you can be sure that you won’t be very happy to see me. I guarantee it,” he said as he de-cocked the gun and put it back in his jacket.
Adrian’s father looked over at me where I was crouched down on the floor, shivering. “Get up you fucking whore. Now!”
I jumped up and watched as the big husky man took one final swing at Adrian and put him out flat on the ground.
“No! Adrian!” I screamed as his father grabbed my arm and dragged me out of the room.
“Oh, God, please stop! I didn’t do anything! Please don’t do this to me,” I begged Adrian’s father as he dragged me down the stairs to the front entrance of the house.
“The arrangements have already been made. There’s nothing to be done at this point,” he said with a smirk as he opened the front door.
I was taken out of the house and put in the back of the limousine, then Adrian’s father got in the back with me. It was the longest half hour of my life riding to his private jet with him.
I didn’t understand what he had meant by the arrangements already having been made. Did he already know what was going to happen before he talked to Adrian? I was terrified of this man. He was so cold hearted and callous toward me and all the girls he called transactions, but the way he treated his son. It broke my heart to see the look on Adrian’s face when he realized what his father intended to do.
Had his life always been like that? Always hoping to gain approval from his father and never getting it. And feeling like he would just be thrown away if he showed any will of his own? Adrian’s father was the true monster. He had raised two sons with no regard for their own dignity or the dignity of anyone else. They never even had a chance to make any decisions for themselves. He was a vile, sadistic lowlife and I hated him.
We arrived at the family’s private airstrip and I waited while the two men talked about me like I wasn’t even there.
“Take her to her father’s house and let him see her. I know he won’t have the money but he might try to make a deal. Let me know what he says.”
“Wouldn’t it just be faster to take her directly to the auction house? I mean, if this guy doesn’t have the money like you say then what’s the point…”
“This is the way it’s done, Mario, you know that. If I don’t follow through with the terms, if I don’t give Pierce his last chance, I could be fighting a mob war. He has connections too. He’s not stupid. We’re doing it by the book, the way my family has always done it, you got me? I just lost a son today and I need to know that I can trust you. I need to know that I can trust someone in this goddamn world.”
“Of course, you can trust me, sir. I’ll do exactly as you say. I’ll contact you as soon as I hear anything from Pierce.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
I was dragged out of the back of the limo and onto the plane, then thrown into a plush beige leather seat. Mario sat down across from me, buckled his seatbelt, and threw one of his feet over the other knee. He stared at me for quite a while and I was terrified that he was going to take advantage of having me all to himself, but eventually he started reading a celebrity gossip magazine and the stewardess brought us some food.
I was actually surprised that they let me eat. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen but I had a feeling that this was going to be one of my last pleasant meals. Maybe they knew what I was in for and they felt sorry for me. Although I’ve doubted very much that they ever felt sorry for any of the girls.
I couldn’t stop thinking about Adrian. About how his situation and mine were not that different at all. My father had thrown me away to save his own neck and Adrian’s father threw him away because he had the nerve to stand up to him.
I closed my eyes and tried to drown out the fear that was making my whole body shake by thinking about Adrian’s face when I woke up and saw him looking over at me. It was the most wonderful moment of my life and I knew that no matter what happened to me, if I could conjure up that memory and the feeling of pure bliss that it gave me, that I would be able to face anything.
Adrian
I woke up to someone shaking me by the shoulders and before I realized who it was, I hauled off and punched them in the face. When I was able to bring the room into focus, I realized that it was Lucas that was lying on the floor next to me.
I didn’t really have very good leverage since I was on my back, but he must not have been expecting it at all and between that and dumb luck he hit the ground. After I realized who it was, I wasn’t very sorry that I had hit him, though. I’d actually been wanting to smack his fucking face for years.
“What the fuck, man! What the hell happened here?” he asked as rubbed his jaw and looked over at me.
“Are you telling me you don’t know a thing about Dad and Mario showing up unannounced and dragging Brooklyn off? You never said a word to him?” I asked as I rolled over onto my hands and knees and used the bed to pull myself up. I was still pissed that that douchebag Mario had gotten the better of me but I was even more pissed my father was treating me like a child. Like my choices and desires didn’t even matter.
With him, there is only one way, his way. I could see now that when things didn’t go the way he wanted them to family didn’t mean jack shit.
“Look, I never intended for things to get this bad. I mean, I was jealous of Dad giving you full reign with Brooklyn and I wanted to get in on that but I never in a million years imagined that he’d kick you out of the family.”
“So you’ve talked to him?”
“Yeah, just now. He told me you’re out of everything. I couldn’t believe what he was saying. He thinks you’re to blame for everything now. Seriously, it’s like he thinks you’re the devil. What are you gonna do?”
“I have no idea. But right now the only thing I can think about is getting Brooklyn the hell away from him. None of this is right, Lucas. None of this bullshit we do to secure the loans. You guys can knock yourselves out with all of it but as far as I’m concerned I’m glad he kicked me out. I just can’t do it anymore.”
“So you’re gonna go after Brooklyn even though you know that he’ll kill you if you do?”
“What do you care? Seriously, you’ve been nothing but a pain in my ass for a while now. Why do you care all of a sudden? Are you trying to get information for Dad or something?”
“No, I’m not. I’m not gonna tell him anything. If you want to go after her go ahead but I seriously don’t know why you would put yourself in a position like that. You know how easy it would be for him to figure out what you’re doing. And you know what he’s gonna do when he catches you.”
“I’m doing it because I love her, Lucas. And because I believe that what I’m doing is right.”
“Well, I hate to break it to you but so does he. He feels like he’s been betrayed and that everything he’s doing to John Pierce is above board.”
“Yeah, what’s up between him and John Pierce? Dad said something to me while we were fighting about Brooklyn. Dad said that I should ask John Pierce if I really wanted to know why he was so hell bent on taking Brooklyn.”
“You’re kidding, I thought you knew.”
“Thought I knew what?”
“Well, you knew that Dad had an affair with Jennifer Pierce, right?”
“What? Wait, are you telling me that Brooklyn is Dad’s daughter?”
“Well, that I don’t know. I totally thought you knew about all this. I thought that was one of the reasons you were so hot for her in the beginning but you were playing it cool.”
“You mean you knew all this that summer we went to the Maldives? When we first met Brooklyn?”
“No, I didn’t know then. I don’t even remember who told me now. It must have been Mario.”
“How the hell would he know?”
“Well, Dad does seem to trust him. It seems like over the last few years Mario has just about become his right-hand man. Anyway, I guess he doesn’t know for sure if he’s the father. Man, I really thought you knew. And then when you wouldn’t even fuck her I figured maybe you’d lost your edge,” he said with a laugh. “The idea was pretty damned hot to me.”
“Why the hell does he was to punish Brooklyn though? She doesn’t have anything to do with what her father or mother have done.”
“He just hates John Pierce for some reason. I don’t know what the deal is there. I’m sure there’s something that he did a long time ago that Dad has never let go.”
“And now he’s punishing Brooklyn for it?”
“Well, the way he sees it he’s punishing John Pierce. He’s taking away his only child and publicly humiliating him. What could be better punishment than that?”
“God, he’s sicker than I thought he was. He’s gotta be doing some pretty fucking fancy footwork in that brain of his to justify all the killing and torture done in the name of righteousness.”
“So, what are you gonna do?”
“I’m going to go and get Brooklyn. I can’t let him do this to her. I’ve had enough of his crap and his loyalty to the family bullshit. He’s not loyal to anyone but himself.”
“Okay well, I’ll cover for you.”
“You will?”
“Yeah, I’ll tell him you’re here. I won’t tell him anything you told me about going to get her.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re my brother,” he said with complete sincerity.
“Thank you, Lucas,” I said to him as walked out the door. I didn’t know if I could completely trust him but I didn’t have time to worry about it. I had to take my private jet to New York and get Brooklyn the hell out of there before she got back on my dad’s plane and I never saw her again.
I went down the hall to my room and packed a bag and changed my clothes then headed over to the offices and took everything out of my safe. I had a good amount of cash that I had been stashing in there for quite a while. Not as much as I had been transferring to the new account, but a little over a million. And I was going to need at least that much to get Brooklyn safely away from my father. I called my private pilot then grabbed the money and the gun I kept in the safe and I took off.
I pulled into a parking space across from the Pierce house on the Upper East Side and watched a black limo that was double parked out front. I had driven around the block a few times and I knew that one of my dad’s drivers, Grady, was sitting in the limo so that meant that Mario must be inside with her.
I took a big chance showing my face in broad daylight but I didn’t feel like I had much choice at that point. I didn’t know how long Brooklyn had been inside or how much time I had before she and Mario came back out and I knew I had to make my move. I ran over to the passenger side door of the limo and jumped in. Luckily Grady wasn’t expecting anyone but Mario to open the door so he was just sitting there playing a game on his phone. I grabbed his gun away from him when he tried to pull it out of his jacket and shoved it right back in his face.
“I’m gonna make this easy for you, Grady. You can die in the next thirty seconds or you can make a million dollars. The choice is yours”
“Hey, Adrian. Don’t kill me, man. I’ll do whatever you want,” he said with his hands in the air and a startled expression glued to his face. Grady wasn’t a killer, like Mario or any of my Dad’s other thugs. I’d never seen him fire his gun or even punch a guy.
“When the girl that you brought here comes out of that house you’re going to be taking her back to the jet that she flew in on so that she can be transported to her buyer. What I want you to do is very easy.
You’re going to take her to a different jet. My private plane is sitting at the same airport and in the same field. The plane she came in on is on the south end of the airfield. You just keep driving until you’re at the north end of the airfield and you’ll see it. My plane has the same family logo on it. If you stay calm about everything Mario shouldn’t be suspicious at all.
When you get to Farmingdale and he asks why you didn’t pull into the south airfield, just tell him you got new orders texted to you while he was inside the house and that she’s being flown out on a different plane. If he raises a fuss of any kind, kill him. Then put that girl on my jet. That’s it. Can you do that?”
“Yeah, of course. I got you. You can totally count on me.”
“Are you sure about that? I need to know that you’re with me on this. I’m going to be in a car right behind you the whole way. If I see anything funny, I mean anything, I will not hesitate to kill both of you. I don’t have a whole lot to lose here. You got me on that?”
“I got it. Yeah, I got it. Really, you can count on me, Adrian. I don’t want to die. You better get out of here, though. They’re probably gonna be coming down real soon.”
“Ok, I’m trusting you on this, Grady. Just get her to the north airfield.”
I got out of the limo and ran back to my car then waited until I saw Mario escorting Brooklyn out of the building and down the stairs. She was crying and looked incredibly sad. This was the first time I had been on this end of a transaction and I just couldn’t believe how gut wrenching it was to watch her walk out of her father’s house like that. I couldn’t believe I’d been a part of any of it.
Brooklyn
I was still sobbing hysterically as I was thrown into the back of the limo. I couldn’t believe this was actually happening to me. I couldn’t believe that my father just sat there. He never even looked up at me once after he saw who Mario was escorting into his library.
“Don’t you even care about what’s happening to me?” I screamed as my father sat on the couch in his library with his newest girlfriend right next to him. This one didn’t even look as old as I was and, from what I could tell, he had just bought her some jewelry from Tiff
any’s by the looks of the blue box on the table.
“How can you just sit there and let me be taken away forever? Do you have any idea what they’re going to do with me? They’re selling me to some man. I’m going to be someone’s slave, Daddy. Do you hear me? You’re selling your daughter to be someone sex slave!” I screamed at him.
“Do you have any offers to make, Mr. Bellini? This is your last chance,” he said as he held onto my arm. After waiting for what felt like an eternity and my father continuing to ignore the fact that I was sobbing uncontrollably Mario grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the door.
“It’s time to go. There’s no point in any more hysterics,” he said as he started walking away with his steel fist clamped around my arm. As I was being pulled out of the room, I looked back at my father. He never once looked up at me from where he sat on the couch. He just stayed there in the same position, with his elbows on his knees, staring at his hands while his girlfriend rubbed his back and whispered in his ear.
“Dude, are you asleep or something? We just passed the Bellini jet! It’s right over there,” I heard Mario say in the front seat.
“Nah, it’s up here at the north end. I got a text with new orders while you were inside with the girl. She’s flying out on a different jet.”
“What new orders? I got my orders directly from the boss, and he didn’t say anything about a different jet. Let me see the text.”
“I dunno. The boss decided to fly in and wants his private jet available is all I know. Hold on a sec, I gotta get my phone out.”
The next thing I heard was a gun shot. The car swerved a little then continued on until we were on the tarmac then it came to a screeching halt. The driver got out of the car then ran back and opened my door and pulled me out of the limo.
“We gotta go. Come on,” he said as he pulled me by my arm toward another jet. Suddenly, I felt someone grab my other arm and I screamed. But when I looked to my right there was Adrian running right next to me toward the airplane in front of us.
