Damaged!: A Walker Brothers Novel: (The Walker Brothers Book 3)

by J. S. Scott

  “You expect me to believe that, you little bitch. Tell me where it is.”

  So he could kill me immediately afterward? Oh, hell no. Even if I knew where his money was, I wouldn’t tell him.

  I knew this game. I grew up on the streets. All I had to do was give him a location, and I’d get a bullet in the head. I wasn’t really hoping to convince him that I hadn’t stolen the money out of the car the day he’d killed a drug buyer. I was pretty much just stalling for time.

  My cheek exploded as my father backhanded me so hard I hit the dirty floor of his hotel room. I saw stars for a moment before I opened my eyes.

  We weren’t far from the resort, but at the moment, it felt like a million miles away.

  Dane had to be looking for me. I wished I had told him all of my history instead of leaving out the part about having a homicidal father.

  I thought it was over. I never stopped being afraid that one of my father’s mobsters would find me, but I thought they lost interest.

  Had I known that my father had been paroled, I would have been more careful. I wouldn’t have left anything to chance.

  I should have told Dane that I love him.

  Because I did.

  With all of my heart.

  “You can hit me all you want,” I said stoically. “It won’t change the fact that I can’t lead you to the money.”

  My suspicions were that it had been spent a long time ago. There had been other junkies and dealers on the street that day, people who wouldn’t have hesitated to swipe satchels full of money.

  “Then I’ll find another way to get what I deserve,” he said maliciously.

  I propped my upper body up, using the bedframe to support me. “How?” I asked, dreading his new idea.

  “You were with Dane Walker, one of the billionaire Walkers. Does he want you back?”

  I panicked, afraid to draw Dane anywhere near this crazy bastard. “No. I’m only an employee. He can find another assistant.”

  My father hadn’t aged well in prison, and his expression was crazed. He looked the same, but older. Much older. And he still scared the shit out of me.

  “I’m thinking you’re lying, girl,” he said as he held up the 9mm pistol, leveling it near my temple. “Look at you in your fancy dress, and where else would you get jewelry. Are those stones real?”

  I cringed at the way he was eyeing my birthday present from Dane. “I’m not lying, and I bought this cheap costume jewelry at a thrift store,” I argued, knowing I’d die before I told him what Dane really meant to me.

  He’d twist it and use it.

  If he knew that Dane would be worried, he’d use me to get anything he could get.

  The only thing I could think about at the moment was my need to protect Dane. My life had brought me here to finally confront the man I’d run from for so long. My father didn’t have to tell me he wanted to see me dead. I already knew. I wasn’t leaving this filthy room alive unless I could manage an escape, and my chances weren’t looking very promising.

  “If he thinks I know where you are, I could snatch him. His brothers would pay for his safe return,” Victor mused.

  “You wouldn’t return him. You’d kill him,” I said angrily.

  No innocent victim who knew anything ever walked away from my father. He preferred not to leave witnesses. Luckily, I’d stayed alive, but I’d always feared this moment, the day that I’d have to face the father I’d betrayed.

  Victor Jordan was ruthless, and I already knew this wasn’t going to end well.

  “You know me well, daughter,” he said with an evil smirk.

  Unfortunately, I knew way too much about him.

  “I do,” I answered simply. “And you can’t kidnap a Walker. They’re too high profile. You’d have police on your tail before you ever forced him into a car.”

  Victor hated the police, and I was hoping he’d back down.

  No such luck.

  “Fuck the police,” he ground out. “I’m smarter than they are, except for when my own family member rats me out.”

  “You killed somebody,” I reminded him. “Do you think you deserved to go free?”

  “Yes. I’m your father, but you never did have any respect for me.”

  I could have respected him if he hadn’t loved hurting people so much, or if he’d wanted to get out of a criminal life. Maybe even if he’d had the capability to care about his daughter.

  But this man didn’t know how to love.

  My father was pure evil.

  “You tried to kill me. Several times,” I said.

  “You deserve to die,” he said maniacally. “And you will. Nobody betrays me and lives to tell about it.”

  I swallowed the large lump in my throat. I knew I was going to die, but I wasn’t going to beg him for anything, even my life. He’d never spare it, and I didn’t want to bow down to him during the last moments I had on Earth.

  “Do it,” I instructed. “Just kill me.”

  “Not yet,” he said. “I’ll do it when I feel like it.”

  I knew I’d be taking a risk by challenging him, but I did know him well, and if I wanted something, he’d do the opposite of what I wanted. He was just twisted that way.

  He leaned down and hauled me up by one arm, his hold so brutal I felt like my limb was going to snap.

  “What are you doing?” I asked, trying to keep the fear out of my voice. He’d get too much pleasure out of that.

  “Taking your freedom, just like you took mine.”

  He body slammed me to make me move, and I stumbled toward the bathroom.

  I shielded my head as he forced me into the bathroom, knowing I was going to fall.

  My protective measure didn’t help much. I could hear my head slamming against the bathtub.

  I wasn’t fast enough to get to my feet. I laid there for a few moments, trying to get my brain to work.

  I listened as he locked the door from the outside. Had he bought the lock and put it in place before I’d arrived? I had no idea, but it would be pretty strange to have an outside locking bathroom door.

  A tremulous breath escaped my lungs as I heard a slam of the main door, signaling that my father had left the room.

  Looking around frantically, I realized I was trapped.

  The tiny window over the tub was miniscule. Probably small enough to fit my hand or part of my leg.

  I got up from the floor and yanked on the doorknob, but the door was locked tight.

  “Dammit!” I cursed in frustration and fear. “I have to get out of here.”

  I was fairly certain that Victor had gone after Dane. He was desperate enough to go after anybody right now.

  “Watch your back, Dane,” I whispered to myself as I continued to try to pull the door open.

  But it wasn’t budging.

  “Please, Dane, please. Don’t go anywhere with him,” I uttered as tears filled my eyes.

  I was desperate and frantic, trying and failing at fighting off my fear of my father hurting Dane.

  I had to focus.

  I had to figure out an escape route fast.

  My life and Dane’s depended on it.

  CHAPTER 42

  Kenzie

  The next evening, I was still stuck in the tiny, dirty bathroom. I’d worked on getting the door open until my fingernails were bleeding, and then I’d finally collapsed in the bathtub, unable to stay up any longer without any sleep.

  I’d heard my father return in the morning, then leave again this evening. I was assuming he’d slept. He certainly hadn’t let me out of the bathroom, even when I’d screamed at the top of my lungs to get the hell out.

  I wasn’t sure how long I’d slept, but I’d just been awoken by a noise coming from the bathroom door.

  It was still dark, so I probably
hadn’t been asleep for long.

  Jumping out of the tub half awake, I stood near the door, hoping I could escape if my father needed to use the restroom, or if he was coming to kill me.

  There was no way I was going to let him shoot me dead while I slept in a bathtub.

  I held my breath as he fumbled with the lock, hoping I could slip by him before he turned on the light.

  Jesus, I really wasn’t ready to die. Not now. Not yet. Not when I’d discovered the most amazing man on the planet, and he cared about me.

  After thinking about my situation and Dane’s, I knew there was no way my father was going to be able to actually capture Dane. The only reason Victor had been able to conquer me was because I was unaware.

  By now, the Walkers probably knew everything about me, and Dane would be on high alert. More than likely, security and police would be everywhere around the Walkers, or at least I hoped they would be.

  I was ready to push my way through the door when it opened, but rather than moving forward, I was pushed backward by a very solid form before the door swung shut again.

  I stumbled from the weight of the body that crashed into me, trying to keep myself from flying back against the bathtub—again.

  Victor hadn’t even turned on the light, so I squealed in the darkness as the unknown form stepped in behind me, keeping me from taking another tumble into the porcelain tub.

  “Kenzie?” A familiar voice said into the darkness.

  “Dane?” I couldn’t believe he was actually here with me.

  I flipped on the light as soon as I regained my balance.

  It was Dane, and he looked much worse for wear. “What in the hell did Victor do?”

  I was furious. Dane looked like he’d been beaten up, his face sporting some fresh bruises and a few lacerations that were still bleeding. His arms were bound in front of him with some kind of cheap twine, and I debated about whether I could get it undone.

  “It’s nothing,” he grumbled. “But it looks like that bastard hit you.”

  Dane was angry, an emotion I didn’t see from him that often.

  I shrugged. “I’m used to him hitting me. What did he do to you?”

  We were stuck in a small space together with very little room to move. Since the room was so small, I hopped back into the tub. “Sit down,” I demanded. “You don’t look very steady.”

  He sat, resting his back against the wall next to the tub as he asked, “Can you get into the pocket of my jacket? I have a knife to cut this rope.”

  “Why in the hell did he hurt you?” I said angrily.

  “I called him several names he didn’t like,” Dane said, sounding more satisfied than regretful. “I would have killed the bastard if I’d had the chance. But I didn’t. I needed to get to you.”

  Dane was sporting a light leather bomber jacket, an article of clothing he hardly needed in a tropical climate. I didn’t have to reach far to get inside the garment. “How did he get to you? I was hoping you’d be protected. I didn’t want him to take you.”

  I found the jackknife in his pocket and started cutting the twine from his bound hands.

  “I wanted him to take me,” he answered matter-of-factly.

  I looked at him in shock. “For God’s sake…why? Do you have a death wish? Victor doesn’t let any witnesses live. He’ll kill you, Dane. He’ll kill both of us.”

  Finally, Dane’s hands were free, and he tossed the rope underneath the sink before he dug into his jacket pocket again. “Nobody is dying.”

  “You don’t know Victor—”

  “He’ll be leaving soon. And then we can get the hell out of here.”

  I watched as he pulled out a small object that looked like a remote and switched it on. “Is that a tracking device?” I asked, still flabbergasted that Dane was here with me.

  “Yes,” he answered simply.

  He put the small tracker back in his pocket.

  “I don’t understand.” Maybe I still wasn’t quite right from the blow to my head because I didn’t get why Dane had let Victor take him.

  Dane moved onto his knees and put his hands on my shoulders. His tone was a husky whisper as he said, “My brothers will lure Victor out of here with a promise of money. Then somebody will come in and let us the hell out of here.”

  “You set all this up?” I frowned at him, not happy that he was risking his life.

  We kept our voices low. Victor wasn’t far from the bathroom door, and if he knew Dane had tricked him, he’d shoot first and never ask questions at all.

  “Did you think I’d ever leave you here alone?” he asked, his mouth close to my ear.

  “You should have,” I answered honestly.

  “Not happening. I just found you. I’m not losing you now.”

  Tears leaked from my eyes as I answered, “I don’t want you to get hurt. What if something happens to you?”

  He pulled back and our eyes met and locked. His gaze was turbulent. “How in the hell do you think I felt? You were there one moment, and gone the next. I almost went fucking crazy. When my brothers and I found out about your father, we knew there was a chance that Victor would come after me or at least call to try to get something from us so we could get you back if he couldn’t get money any other way since you and I were connected. I made sure I was prepared just in case, and I made myself available. Luckily, he showed up.”

  My tears were pouring down my face without stopping. “You’re crazy,” I accused, my heart clenching hard in my chest.

  Even after I hadn’t told him the truth, he’d still made himself a sitting duck to rescue me.

  His stare was intense as he whispered, “I’m insane when it comes to you. I’d rather fucking die trying to save you than to live without you, Kenzie.”

  His mouth enveloped mine before I could blink, his embrace rough and urgent.

  Winding my arms around his neck, I sighed into his mouth, trembling with fear for him, and the emotions coursing through my body.

  I needed him.

  But I wanted him safe.

  The last thing I’d wanted was to have him anywhere near my crazy father.

  When he finally lifted his head, I stumbled to my feet. “You’re bleeding,” I said.

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  I reached over him and swiped a thin washrag and got it wet in the sink. I crouched back down and started to wipe the blood from his face tenderly. “It matters to me.”

  Once the blood was removed, I could see the lacerations on his face, and the swelling near his eye. “Why did you let this happen?”

  “I couldn’t fight very hard,” he replied. “I wanted him to take me to wherever you were.”

  “You shouldn’t be here at all.” I was suddenly confronted with the fact that Dane knew everything. “He’s my father. My problem.”

  The outside door slammed shut, and I realized that Victor had finally left.

  He took the rag from my hand and tossed it under the sink. “He’s not your father, Kenzie. He’s a goddamn monster. And he used to be your problem. He’s not anymore. He’s our problem.”

  Even if we escaped, Victor would never stop looking for me. When he had a vendetta, he never gave up. He was crazy that way. “He won’t go away, Dane. He’ll never go away.”

  “He’s going to meet up with my brothers for ransom. The cops will be there. He’s going back to jail, Kenzie.”

  “It doesn’t matter. He’ll get to me somehow,” I answered. Victor had always found me if he wanted to, whether he was incarcerated or not. He had too many outside contacts, too many affiliates in organized crime. Maybe they’d all lost track of me for a period of time, but if my father got sent back to prison, he was going to do anything to get his organization back on track to kill me.

  Victor was going to be pissed when he got caught so soon af
ter he’d gotten out of prison. He’d reach out to somebody from the inside who could kill me. Maybe he’d gone on to other things when he hadn’t been able to find me before, but now, he’d never stop looking for me.

  I’d be running.

  Always running.

  My life would go back to the way it was before I’d moved in with Paige.

  I flinched as Dane put a finger on my face, tracing the mark where my father had belted me.

  “Does it hurt?” he growled, the muscle in his jaw flexing, his expression angry.

  “No. Not anymore,” I answered honestly.

  “I could kill the bastard myself. Believe me, I wanted to, but I wanted to find you more.”

  “You’re crazy,” I told him again. Who did that? What man would let himself be kidnapped just to find somebody else?

  He shrugged. “I’m not crazy. I love you.”

  My breath seized in my lungs as I looked at the sincere expression on his face.

  He did love me. I could see it in his eyes.

  I thought of all of the things I regretted not telling him as I answered, “I love you, too. Which is why I don’t want you here putting yourself in danger.”

  “There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you, baby,” he said. “Nothing.”

  I felt like my heart was being torn from my chest. After all of the years I’d spent running alone, his words and actions nailed me. “I feel the same. Dane, you have to get out of here.”

  I was terrified that Victor would come back, that he’d hurt the man I loved more than anything or anyone else in the world.

  “We have to get out of here,” he corrected. “And I expect our rescue any minute now. You promised me a birthday cake and dinner, and I’m going to collect.”

  “Today is your birthday,” I said remorsefully, having thought about it being Dane’s date of birth several times before I finally collapsed in the tub.

  “Actually, it’s after midnight. It’s actually your birthday.”