by Fawn Bailey
I gave a small nod and he closed the limo door. The car started to pull away.
The beautiful redhead sat in the farthest corner of the car while the man blabbered on and fucking on. I sat across from them, popping open a bottle of Veuve Clicquot and laughing with the prick as we drank down the liquid.
It was all a pretense.
Revenge was going to catch up with this piece of shit fast.
"Say, I didn't know you were... inclined the same way I am," he said with a slimy smile. "Are you in the market for a new toy, by any chance?"
"I could be," I lied through gritted teeth. "What do you have to offer."
He motioned to the redhead.
"Getting a bit bored of her," he said. "Had her for a while now but she's just too old for me. Practically untouched, too."
The girl stared blankly ahead but I could see the tears gathering in the corners of her eyes.
"Too old for me too," I lied smoothly, and she looked down at her lap. "So, tell me, you like children, do you?"
"No need to be so crude," he replied with a cold stare. "But you could say my taste... differs from the usual."
"As in, you fuck little girls?" I said, and he glared at me again. "No judgment, obviously."
"Obviously," he replied icily.
"You know," I said, a cheerful tone in my voice as I pulled a gun from my pocket. "I've always thought pedophiles were the scum of the earth, but add your fucking abusive tendencies to the mix, and I'm ready to blow your face off."
The girl scrambled against her seat, obviously terrified, but I wasn't paying any attention to her. My eyes were on Van Acker who was now openly staring at me.
"You've got to be kidding me," he growled. "This was all a ploy?"
"You should have been more careful," I said in a sing-song voice. "Isn't that the first thing they teach you? Don't trust strangers. I guess for you it's easy."
I clicked the safety off and the girl let out a wail.
"There's nothing to be afraid when you're the monster everybody is running away from," I went on, and the man swallowed nervously.
"Look, whatever you think I've done, we can resolve this," he said, raising his palms in the air. "I can have five girls sent to you."
I glared at him and he corrected himself quickly.
"Or boys," he said desperately. "I can do as young as four..."
The gunshot sounded out and for a second there was nothing but silence. Then the girl started to scream.
I put the gun away calmly and reached out for her, but she wouldn't take my hand. She was shivering in the corner of the car, covered in blood and crying loudly.
"What's your name?" I asked her gently.
"A-A-Amber," she stuttered.
"It's okay, Amber," I said. "I'm sorry you had to see that. He was a very bad person. Did he ever hurt you?"
"Not..." She took a deep breath. "Not as badly as the others..."
My blood boiled, and I wished I could've shot the bastard again.
"You're going to be alright," I told her simply. "I hear you have a friend in the city. Harlow Granger?"
Her eyes widened, and she nodded slowly, her body trembling from the shock.
"I..." she started. "H-he said I couldn't see her."
"You will see her," I said. "I'm going to take you there now. Only a little while to go. Want to come sit with me?"
"Yes," she whispered and came to sit by me.
I didn't touch her. She was attractive, but I had no need to touch her. My mind was permanently on Ophelia, wanting her, missing her. While Amber was a beauty, I hadn't wanted for another woman since I got Ophelia, and that was never going to change. She was the only woman that mattered to me.
"But what about..." She awkwardly motioned to the slumping body with its face shot off. "What about him?"
"He's gone," I said simply. "Aren't you glad?"
I watched her closely. She really was a looker, with freckled skin and fiery hair that must've been a natural shade of red. She was classically beautiful, her features pretty and dainty. I wondered how she'd ended up with a man as fucked up as Van Acker, but I figured I’d find out soon enough. She was going to a better place now, anyway.
She stared at me and I watched a change happen inside her head, a hardness come over her features as she clamped her lips together and slowly nodded.
"Yes," she whispered. "I'm glad he's fucking gone."
"You and I," I winked at her. "We're going to get along just fine."
Chapter Eleven
Ryker
It was the middle of the night when I first heard the screams.
I sat up straight in my bed, then got out as fast as I could, running toward Ophelia's room.
The door was ajar, a small sliver of light shining on the hallway and soft little whimpers coming from the room. I walked inside wearing nothing but pajama pants and saw Ginger and Ophelia sitting together on the bed, the younger woman consoling Ophelia as she cried.
"What the fuck's going on?" I asked, my voice shakier than I would have liked it to be.
Ophelia hadn't slept in my room on that very first night.
The next day, she was gone when I woke up and didn't look up at me when I saw her at breakfast. It pissed me off to no end - the blatant disregard she showed toward me even when I was the one saving her ass from her little psycho boyfriend.
Ginger, however, had been nothing but gracious, sweet to Ophelia and willing to accommodate her every whim. But instead of appreciating her hard work, I found myself resenting the sweet younger girl because Ophelia gave her the biggest reactions, the smallest smiles and the fleeting looks that meant she acknowledged her presence. I wasn't nearly as lucky.
"She's..." Ginger stuttered. "I-I think s-she had a nightmare."
"Okay, so?" I argued, my eyes flitting between the two of them. "She's a fucking grown ass woman, Ginger. You can't cause a panic just because of a dream she had."
"I d-didn't mean to," she said, giving me a surprised look. "I thought you'd want to know..."
"Well, you thought wrong," I interrupted, glaring at the both of them. "Don't bother me unless it's an actual problem."
I was getting sick of these goddamn games. Ophelia refused to acknowledge me, and we were getting nowhere with her progress. All I wanted was for her to get back to normal and pick me over Kain. But I'd gotten nowhere with it and seeing my woman in a crumpled mess on the floor only made me think we were still a way off from our goal - to get her healthy and responsive again.
"I don't have time for this shit," I muttered, turning toward the door.
In a flash, Ophelia appeared in front of me. For the first time in ages, she turned her eyes to mine, her gaze burning through me.
"Oh, now you see me?" I snarled at her, so pissed off I wasn't about to choose my words wisely. "What do you want now, Ophelia? I think I've done you enough fucking favors without ever being paid back."
I was bitter and angry, and sick of fucking hiding it.
Her little fists started pummeling me, punching my chest as she growled an angry battle cry.
I grabbed her by the wrists and her eyes met mine as I forcefully backed her up against the wall. Only then I noticed that she was stark naked, her chest rising and falling fast with the force of her breaths.
"You going to keep fighting me?" I growled at her. "Going to keep arguing with no words, spewing your fucking silent venom, Ophelia? You should be fucking grateful. Nobody would want you like this. Not even your little sicko boyfriend."
Her eyes stared into mine with disbelief, the biggest rise I'd ever gotten out of her. I watched the tears welling in her eyes with a sick kind of satisfaction, pleased that I was getting to her, on a sick high because I'd managed to hurt her.
"I don't give a shit about you anymore," I told her, seeing just how deep my words cut when Ginger gasped next to us.
Ophelia tried to wrestle free off my touch, but I wasn't letting go. My eyes bore into hers and I stared her down wit
h a viciousness I didn't know I had in me.
"You're going to regret ever coming here," I told her. "Because now, life's going to get a lot harder for you. Think you can freak out over a little nightmare, slut? I lost my brother. Practically lost my fucking father."
"I lost my whole family!"
Her battle cry rang through the room, and I started laughing in her face, victorious because I'd gotten a big enough rise out of her to get her to speak.
"You can talk back," I snarled at her. "You just refuse to, you little bitch."
I left her standing against the wall, with Ginger shaking only a few feet away.
"Mr. M-Marino," Ginger stuttered. "I think that's e-enough..."
"You don't tell me when it's enough," I told her sharply, shutting her up right away. "You're in my home now, and you're going to follow my rules. Not some little girl's, or some fucking psychopaths. Understood?"
She nodded, the motion hesitant but growing surer by the second.
"Say it to me," I told her. "Tell me you understand, Ginger."
"I..." She swallowed thickly. "I understand."
"You understand?" I repeated. "And what else?"
"Sir." The word was barely above a whisper, yet it still made my cock rock hard, tenting my pants for both of them to see.
"Better," I growled at her, turning on my heels and throwing one last look at Ophelia's shaking form by the wall. "I don't want to hear you sobbing again unless it's for a good reason. And if you can't, I'm happy to provide you with one."
With those words, I left the room, my hands forming fists at my sides and my head swimming with thoughts of punishing them both. I was a sick fucking bastard because the thought of punishing those two got me off like nothing else, and as I got into my walk-in shower, my cock was begging for a release.
I jerked myself painfully slowly, letting the pressure build and milking, juicing my cock until I spurted creamy white cum all over the glass walls of the shower.
After I was done, I dried off and got dressed, deciding to leave the house to attend to some business in the city. I'd already lost my patience once and I wasn't ready to do it again in one day, so I thought it best to distance myself from the two women causing my head to spin.
As I drove to the city, my mind was swimming with too many thoughts to make sense of.
There was Ophelia, the girl I'd been lusting after since we were both children.
For a long time, I wasn't sure whether my obsession was born out of jealousy because my brother was supposed to be the one to have her. But there was no denying that Ophelia was a smart, beautiful girl. She wasn't just arm candy - she was the perfect companion, the girl that would make my life interesting, never dull. With her by my side, I could rule not just my own famiglia, but hers too, now that the Sokolovs had been wiped out.
And then there was Ginger...
With only a year's difference between the two girls, it was hard to acknowledge just how innocent the younger girl was. Ophelia had been through a lot in such a short amount of time, but Ginger... Ginger was sweetness personified. Fucking vanilla as fuck, I was willing to bet on it, and yet the desire to break her, to show her the darker side of love, never failed to appear in my mind.
She was beautiful, too - no denying that, either.
Beautiful... and off limits.
Just like Ophelia.
I groaned at the thought of them - two women I'd never be able to have, yet somehow ended up in my house, tempting me every damn second of every day.
I wasn't looking forward to my meeting.
Kain would be expecting updates, and what the fuck was I supposed to tell him? That I'd made progress the first day, but then been frozen out since, and then even lost my temper with his precious little dolly. God, how I fucking hated that nickname, even though it suited her to a T. I hated their intimacy, hated that they shared a history. That she was his willing prisoner. I wanted to destroy him for what he'd done to her, yet her strange connection to my half-brother made me rethink everything.
Kain was waiting for me by the time I got to my office, nervously pacing the room and giving me death glares as I got in.
"You're late," he growled at me, and I rolled my eyes in response, not willing to take any shit from him.
"You're early," I corrected him, pointing at the art deco wall clock on the office wall.
"Tell me everything," he demanded. "How is she doing? Is she eating? Is she okay? Does she miss you? Is Ginger taking good care of her? Are you? Does she miss me?"
"You already asked that," I got out through gritted teeth. "And slow down with the fucking question, Kain. I can't even answer them before you pop a new one."
He ran his fingers through his hair, nervous and obviously upset, but not willing to acknowledge what a fucking prick he was being.
"Just tell me what's going on with her," he finally mumbled. "I... I miss her so much."
I gave him a sideways glance, trying to decide whether he meant it or not. But there was sincerity in his eyes, and I knew he was telling me the truth. No matter how much I tried to deny it, there was a connection between the two of them, a strange kind of love that threatened to destroy them both. I was still determined to stand in the way of it, get Ophelia to kneel only for me, not for some jackass psycho who had already tried to hurt her permanently once before.
"She's... pretty much the same," I shrugged, heading for my desk and pouring us both some Scotch.
I handed Kain the drink and we downed them in silence, the tension of what we were discussing hanging heavily between us.
"She doesn't want to sleep in the cage," I told him. "And she had an awful nightmare today. I lost my temper. I can't deal with this shit. It's like you fucked her up so much, she can't fucking handle anything. Not the smallest problem, not even a goddamn dream. She falls apart at the mention of you."
He furrowed his brows, refusing to meet my eye while I stared at him. I had to admit, I was genuinely curious about Kain. I hadn't ever imagined having another brother, but he was the only family I had left now - I had written my parents off long ago, when I found out what my father had done and that my mother had gone right along with it all.
"Do you think she's ready to see me again?" Kain asked, and I raised my eyes to his again.
Seeing the hopefulness in his gaze fucking killed me, because we both knew what the answer was.
"I don't think so," I admitted. "She's in no state to see anyone. She doesn't even wear fucking clothes anymore."
This made him smirk, and I wondered why, but didn't get the chance to ask as he turned his thunderous eyes to mine again.
"Don't you even think about touching her," he told me darkly. "She belongs to me."
"She belongs to nobody," I cut him off sharply. "She's her own goddamned person, brother dearest. And if you hadn't fucked her up completely, maybe she'd be able to pick the sensible choice out of the two of us."
"Don't count on it," he snarled at me. "She would always pick me."
"Dream on," I laughed out loud. "Ophelia's always been in love with me. There's no goddamn way she'd pick you over me."
"No?" he asked mockingly. "So the times she did it before don't count?"
I approached him, but he didn't back down.
"Watch your mouth," I told him darkly. "Or these little meetings will come to a very swift fucking end."
"Whatever," he hissed. "We both know it's the truth."
I slammed my glass down on the desk, but he didn't even jump. The man deserved credit for that stone cold front he had. And it did seem like he genuinely cared about her... Not that I didn't. But they'd spent more time together, had more fucking history. It was a tough act to compete with.
"I'll see you next week," I told him, my eyes never leaving his. "Don't do anything stupid."
"Like what?" he demanded.
"Like come see her," I told him plainly. "It's off limits... for now."
"Fine," he grunted. "But I'm taking her back. First chance
I fucking get. Once you fix her."
I smirked in his face.
"You know, a real man takes care of what he's broken," I told him. "A real man provides relief for the pet he's hurt."
"I did," he told me, and his voice broke over the words. "I did what was best for her."
I stared at him for a long moment before turning on my heels and walking out on him, my entourage of security personnel following close behind.
Perhaps he was right, but I still believed he should have been the one to fix her, bring her back to normal. He took the coward's way out.
Chapter Twelve
Kain
After seeing Ryker, I wasn't feeling much better about my situation with Ophelia. But there was one more man who could offer me peace of mind, and as I drove away from the city, I headed straight to his new home.
Rueben Thorn was the one who could surely offer insight into the predicament. I knew he'd gone through a lot with his woman, and I figured he'd be able to help me with mine.
They greeted me in front of the door, Thorn and his Rose, with the redhead I'd given to them to take care of standing close by.
Amber looked marginally better than the last time I'd seen her, color staining her pale cheeks and a smile on her lips - one I hadn't seen when I took her away from the sick fuck who'd been using her.
They greeted me with warm smiles, with Amber shuffling shyly behind them, and led me into the gorgeous house that was now their home. It was a beachfront property, stunning in its simplicity and breathtaking with its panoramic views of the sea underneath. I fell in love with the building and relaxed instantly, but the weight of the world was still heavy on my shoulders as Thorn led me to his office.
"You seem troubled," he told me, plainly addressing the elephant in the room.
I laughed nervously, grateful that he hadn't skirted around the issue, instead choosing to address it directly.
"You know what's been going on," I told him. "I've lost her. And I fear it's for good this time, and of my own doing, which only makes it fucking worse."
"Ryker told me what happened," Thorn said thoughtfully. "But I'm sure you can fill in the missing pieces. What happened to Ophelia, Kain? Why is she not speaking? I heard she's practically catatonic."
