Loving Cole

by Roxanne Greening

  My biggest question was what his father was going to do. Was I walking away from this?

  Chapter 17

  Cole

  I watch as she walked out of the house, snuggled up close to that prick Joel. If I didn’t know Lily, I would have thought she was dating him, but I did know her, and this was not a date.

  Her eyes spoke of fear, and her posture screamed I’m fucked. I watched as she folded into the black SUV and that bastard following behind her.

  Pulling out my phone I called Marcus.

  “They have her,” I tell him. My throat was constricting as all the things she could be facing tried to break through my cool tone.

  “Who had who?” My brother’s cold voice resembled mine, except he was missing the tremble I was sure mine held.

  “Lily, the Donahue’s have her,” I tell him. My voice became hard trying to cover the shaking that wanted to escape.

  “Fuck! Okay, where the fuck are you?” he demands.

  “At her little hideaway where you helped her escape me, fucker,” I snarl.

  “Shit! Stay where you are. I’m coming to you. Call Lark,” he tells me.

  I wasn’t staying here while they carted her off to her fucking death. Lily killed Joel’s brother, and he was taking her as payback. That’s how our wars operated. Pressing the circle on my phone to disconnect the call, I press Lark’s contact and watch as the call tries to connect.

  “Cole,” Lark’s dark voice reached my ears.

  “The Donahue’s have Lily,” I tell him in a rush. I swear I can feel my heart ripping from my chest as helplessness took control.

  “I’m coming,” he says before hanging up.

  I wasn’t letting him take over. She was mine even if the fucker was good at what he did. I needed to be the one to get her, the one to save her.

  Slipping back into my car, I headed in the direction they went even though I knew exactly where they were going. To the Donahue family compound.

  Cold air filled my lungs as dread tried to drown me in its despair.

  “I’m coming baby,” I whisper into the car’s interior.

  Chapter 18

  LILYANNA

  So, this is what hell looked like? Something inside me twisted painfully as the Donahue Don settled his cold, dark green eyes on me. He was eerily silent as he stared me down.

  I was sure most men broke as that stare settled on them, but I couldn’t break. I couldn’t and wouldn’t show the weakness that men like him fed on.

  I waited on a suspended breath as he continued to look at me like a bug under a microscope. His eyes were so close, it was like a physical touch, and I feared frostbite as they continued to stay on me.

  “Carter,” he says, his voice as dark as his stare.

  “Mr. Donahue,” I reply.

  I watch as his lips twitch. He expected me to call him Don and fold and beg for mercy. He would be waiting until the sky rained fireballs.

  “So, you started this war,” he says like he knew it was me who killed his son for sure and who knows, maybe he did.

  “No,” I tell him honestly.

  I didn’t start it, I was just followed orders. The war had started long before this, and it was due to their fucking cocky nature.

  “No? So you didn’t kill Nick,” his voice had gotten colder, and it was like a whip to the skin.

  “Orders,” I replied with a shrug.

  I wanted him to believe that I didn’t fear him. Men like him smelled that shit like a bloodhound. I was careful to keep my movements slight and relax my eyes as well even my voice.

  Pretend you aren’t trapped, my mind whispered.

  “You’re lucky, my son has a plan for you,” he tells me. His voice was holding something akin to pride.

  “Plan?” I can’t help but ask.

  “Marriage. A way to stop this bullshit before lots of men die. You don’t want that on your conscious, do you?” He asks, speaking like it was another sunny day and this was a walk in the park.

  NO! My mind screamed out.

  I wasn’t going to let this happen. I couldn’t let this happen. My baby depended on me to get the fuck out of here.

  “I thought you wanted to ransom me…” I left the rest unspoken. Like don’t you need more money?

  “We’re at war, sweetheart,” he tells me. His cold voice dug into my body.

  Fear clenched my heart as my breaths became uneven. I wasn’t getting out of this, not unless my family came for me, and that was a death wish.

  “I’ll give you a week to plan this shit out,” he tells me. His voice held no room for argument.

  “No,” I whisper out loud.

  “You don’t have a choice sweetheart, now get the fuck out of my sight before I decide to place a bullet between your eyes instead of a ring on your finger,” he growls out sharply.

  Standing on shaking legs, I walk to the door where Joel was waiting on the other side. This was it. Either I die, or I marry one of his sons.

  Who was it going to be? Joel?

  “Soon, you’ll be mine,” Joel whispers close to my ear.

  That lump in my throat started to choke me. Plastering a smile on my face, I looked up at Joel.

  “You don’t want to do this,” I tell him.

  His smile is all teeth like that of a hungry predator.

  “Sweetheart, I’ve wanted this since I learned what females were really for,” he tells me with a voice full of heat.

  My heart sunk into my stomach as we walked up the stairs and to the bedrooms I knew awaited us. My only hope was that he was old-fashioned and wanted to wait.

  Oh god, let him wait, I prayed. At that moment, all I could think about was my baby and the life with Cole that would never happen.

  Chapter 19

  LILYANNA

  Fear sunk its icy claws deep into my spine, wrapping around it and chilling the flesh and freezing the bone. Joel was wrapping a lock of my hair around his finger. I watched as he wound it around and around.

  That fear held me paralyzed in its grip, forcing me to accept his unwanted attention. His smile was one of triumph, and I hated him a little more. Being so close to Joel made me want to vomit.

  His brother’s death was the first to weigh on me. I didn’t want to admit it even to myself. But he clung on sinking his fingers into my flesh and casting a shadow of his own.

  We were friends once upon a time. Normally, killing someone would be like a chore; go to the grocery store, do the dishes, oh, and kill so and so.

  “You’re mine now, Lilyanna,” he tells me.

  He leans in close, and his hot breaths were puffing over my flesh, giving me a shudder of disgust that I couldn’t hide.

  He took that as a sign that I wanted him and not for what it really was. It was my way of telling him that I would never accept nor ever want the bastard.

  “Step back,” I growl.

  I felt my feet shift as I backed up against the door frame. I was officially trapped, and like a wounded animal, I lashed out. My palm slammed into the bridge of his nose, and a sickening, yet beautiful sound of cartilage breaking echoed around us.

  “Fucking bitch,” he snarled.

  One hand went to his nose, and the other slammed into my face hard. My head whipped back slamming into the door frame behind me.

  Purple spots blinked in and out like fireflies in front of my eyes. I wasn’t going to be able to fight back the darkness edging my vision.

  My body slid down the smooth and yet bumpy frame of wood that was behind my back. The shocks of what was happening finally took its toll.

  I felt hands grabbing at me and then I was being dragged, not too gently, into the room. I wanted to kick and scream, I wanted to fight.

  My body felt heavy and useless as hands reached under my arms and hefted me onto the bed. I slammed onto the surface as Joel dropped me on it, bouncing slightly.

  “I should fuck you right now,” he tells me while his voice sounded husky.

  That icy fear turned
my blood into cold rivers as he ran his hands over my body, caressing me. To my shame, it also heated slightly.

  “But it will be more fun to take you when you have my last name, and you really belong to me,” his voice was filled with hunger and disgust filled me.

  “You can fight me, baby, I don’t give a shit,” he tells me.

  I hated this man, and I promised myself I was going to kill him if it was the last thing I ever did. I had to at least attempt to fight for my life and my unborn child that I had to protect. We both deserved to go down with a fight. Blinking one more time, I watched as his hand came down one more time. This time it connected with the side of my head.

  Then it was lights out for me.

  Chapter 20

  Cole

  The house was dark, and she has been trapped in there for two days. I felt helpless as we sat and watched the men walk around the permeator.

  Lark’s hand came down heavy on my shoulder.

  “She will survive this,” he says quietly.

  I nod my head. I wasn’t so sure she would, but I couldn’t admit that aloud. I couldn’t even admit it to myself. She was trapped in there, enduring god knows what.

  Lark’s dark eyes assessed me like a bug under a microscope. I wanted to shift under his penetrating stare. I felt like a child caught in a lie.

  My hands started to sweat despite the cool air. My blood was boiling as rage warred along with fear inside of me. The air around me felt heavy, like rocks filling my chest. They left dust that filled my mouth, making it hard to swallow.

  I couldn’t help but feel less. Less like a man. Less like a made man, and more importantly, less like the man she needed me to be.

  Here I was griping about how I was feeling, and she was in there, trapped in enemy territory.

  That hand on my shoulder tightened pulling me from my thought.

  “I found this at her cabin,” Lark tells me. His voice was deep, and it was filled with the first real hint of emotion. Even if it was one, I couldn’t decipher it.

  Looking at Lark, I waited for him to show me whatever he found. When he released my shoulder, he grabbed my hand with his now free one, and I became dazed.

  Something long and skinny was placed in my palm, and my world tilted. My vision went into a tunnel as my eyes connected with the hard yet light object.

  I felt the air leave me in a whoosh and my blood turned to sludge in my veins. I couldn’t comprehend what exactly I was seeing.

  “We’ll get her,” his voice had gone hard before he left me there. My world was even more torn apart.

  Chapter 21

  Lilyanna

  I was like a phantom, gliding through the room as the cold air began stinging my sensitive flesh. My skin burned as it rubbed against the rough sheer curtains.

  There was a thick mist floating over the dark grass as night descended like smoke from a wildfire. It rolled over the ground outside and gave the world and uninviting presence.

  Dinner time was approaching, and the thought had my tongue swelling and my throat closing.

  I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t pretend to be something I wasn’t, and I wasn’t a wilting flower.

  I wasn’t going to bend to their wishes no matter what, but there could be consequences. I wasn’t ready to pay. This child, even though I just learned about it, would be the price I couldn’t and wouldn’t pay.

  My hand pressed gently on my stomach as if it was a barrier. Almost as if it would stop harm from coming to life inside of me.

  Tears rose from my eyes, and I tried to push them back. I wasn’t going to show weakness. Swallowing hard, I blinked them back.

  The dark, silky satin material of the dress that I was forced to wear clung to my figure perfectly. The dress should be worn braless, but I refused to do it.

  If I had to wear this dress, then I was wearing it my way. I pinched the material between two fingers before letting it go. The green silk pooled on the top of my bare feet.

  Turning, I looked at the matching heeled shoes and glowered at them. I hated dressy shoes, especially ones that I didn’t pick out myself.

  I could hear feet pounding on the marble floor outside my door. My heart rate picked up, and my palms turned damp as my nerves kicked into high gear.

  “Lilyanna,” Joel’s voice held a tone of sweet that I didn’t believe for a second.

  “Fuck off,” I snap back at him.

  His deep chuckle may have turned heads, but not mine. I knew the sick person under the beautiful exterior.

  “Listen, sweetheart, open the door and come out on your own,” he replied.

  “Or what? I’ll starve?” I snark back and I probably will.

  “Or I’ll come in there and drag you the fuck out by those dark locks of yours,” he says calmly.

  My throat tightened, and my skin grew damp as fear took root deep inside me. I could tell Joel meant every word that he threatened.

  “I’m going to count to five and if that sweet ass isn’t out here….” His voice turned husky toward the end leaving little imagination to what he was going to do if I didn’t listen.

  “One,” he called out.

  I hesitated.

  “Two,” he breathed out slightly louder.

  This was exciting him. Disgust quickly filled me.

  “Three,” his voice turned husky.

  My fingers clenched forming fists.

  “Four,” that husky tone sounded closer.

  My feet moved first as my brain tried to catch up moving faster and faster as I closed the space between myself and the closed door.

  Those solid wood doors were my only protection against the cold creature outside of them. My safety was in question, and my escape wasn’t happening. I had little options.

  My brain tried to process this, but my heart was screaming in fear and terror. I watched as my fingers wrapped around the knob, not really feeling it.

  It should have felt cold against my skin as I pulled it open. As I came face-to-face with the monster, I knew it was going to haunt me for a very long time.

  “I thought you were going to make me come in their baby,” he tells me as his fingers shift into my hair.

  Bile rose up my throat as the tips of his fingers brushed against my scalp. I hated his touch so much that it made me physically ill.

  “Don’t fucking touch me,” I snarl.

  His fingers tightened in my hair forcing my head to the side and my eyes to watered as the stinging feeling erupted through my head.

  “Listen baby and listen fucking good. You. Are. Mine!” He said as his face came closer and punctuated each word.

  Ignoring the pain, he was causing me, I leaned closer to him.

  “Get your fucking hands off me, or I’ll cut them off,” I tell him quietly. My voice held a deadly calm. One that I wasn’t really feeling.

  I watched as a million-dollar smile was plastered to his ridiculously handsome face. Then I was free, and he backed up a step holding both hands up as if to placate me.

  “Let’s go before father sends someone to come find us,” he tells me. His voice was all business. Like we were talking mergers or some shit.

  “Yes, let’s go,” I snapped and started walking. Anything to put space between us.

  Rushing down the stairs, I looked around and cursed quietly as I realized I had no idea where we were going.

  “This way sweetheart,” Joel calls over his shoulder with a laugh.

  I fucking hated him. Stomping my bare feet, I followed behind him like an obedient puppy.

  Before long, we were facing another set of dark wooden double doors. They loomed before me like the gates of hell.

  Joel turned on me, his fingers gripped my upper arm and squeezing it hard. I knew there would be a bruise there later.

  “Listen to me bitch, you better be on your best fucking behavior, or I swear to fucking god, I will lift that fucking dress and fuck you until your blind; do you understand?” His voice was dark and cold, but it held a note o
f excitement that disgusted me.

  I gagged at the thought of him doing what he promised, and his eyes widened slightly as the sound echoed around us.

  His fingers tightened, and my blood flow ceased to that area.

  “Lilyanna,” he snarled.

  Blinking, I looked from his hand to his face and nodded. His hand tightened even more, and I winced in pain.

  “Use your fucking words,” he snarled in my face. His hot breath nauseated me as it puffed over my skin, stealing my breath.

  “Yes,” I tell him. My voice was small, and for the first time in a long time, I felt a women’s terror similar to the one I felt as a child.

  He squeezed me again before releasing me. He seemed satisfied that I would comply with his wishes and fucking will. One thing that scared me more than his threats was his father.

  Then the doors were opening, and Joel had placed his hand at my back, forcing me forward. I hated the feel of his warm skin against my bareback.

  There were so many eyes, centered on us as we entered the room. All conversation, what little that I could hear, ceased like the silence after a kill.

  Chapter 22

  Cole

  I was going to be a father. That’s what the thing in my hand told me. The men surrounded me, and they were all waiting for the next order. This pregnancy test changed everything.

  We were moving in fast. It seemed that all the men that had once guarded the house had moved inside. Almost like a dinner bell had rung.

  I wanted to laugh at the stupidity of it. This is the third time we’ve seen this, and it’s been at the same time every fucking day.

  Lark grabbed my shoulder.

  “Go for her and don’t worry about the stragglers,” his voice was cold, again, almost chilling.

  I nodded to him and checked the clip in my forty-five, which had the silencer attached. I listened as it clicked into place and then I chamber a bullet.