It’s as I suspected.
“Hello, darling,” Jeremy hisses. “Surprised to see me?”
“Not really.” I pin the full extent of my hatred on him. “Disappointment is more the emotion I’m feeling right now.”
My head jerks back with the force of his slap, and my cheek stings.
“Don’t fucking … touch her,” a choked voice says in between exaggerated breaths. I whip my head around, in the direction of his voice, crying out as I spot Kaden restrained in the corner of the room. All I can think is, thank God, he’s still alive.
For now, that nasty little devil on my shoulder taunts, but I ignore the evil voice.
Kaden is tied to a chair at the wrists, ankles, and across his upper torso. His chin is resting on his chest, his head bowed. His upper body is bare, but his lower body is still encased in the black pants and dress shoes he was wearing last night. Cuts and bruises cover every inch of naked flesh, and bile floods my mouth. Tears well automatically in my eyes.
Jeremy’s eyes narrow scornfully. Turning around, he stalks toward Kaden, slamming his fist into his stomach. “I think that’s my line, asshole.” He grabs Kaden by the hair, yanking his head back, and I gasp at the sight of his beaten and bruised face. One eye is completely closed, swollen and painted in different shades of black and blue. A deep gash in his cheek oozes blood, and his lips are dried and cut in several places. A large, round purplish bruise is mushrooming on his other cheek. It’s obvious they’ve had him for hours, and God only knows what they’ve been doing to him.
My entire body quakes in fear. For him. For me.
“You should’ve kept your filthy hands to yourself,” Jeremy snaps, punching Kaden in the stomach again.
“Stop! Don’t hurt him. This isn’t his fault.” I’m frantically clasping at straws, struggling to concoct some version of the truth that will seem plausible while making it look like this wasn’t really Kade’s idea.
Jeremy strides across the room, crouching over me and putting his face in mine. Although every instinct roars at me to pull back, I don’t move an inch, not even when the putrid warmth of his nasty breath oozes over my face. “Lying at this point is completely futile, my love.” He snarls the words, hissing in my face, and I’ve never seen so much rage, so much hatred, on anyone’s face before.
The stark reality of what we’re facing hits me like a wet fish in the face.
We’re not getting out of here.
Not alive.
Everything I’d hoped to protect Kaden from is coming true. He’s going to lose his life because of my selfishness. So, I do the only thing I can, even if a big part of me knows it’s not going to make any difference.
“He means nothing to me,” I tell Jeremy, eyeballing him. “He was a means to an end. A way to get out of the country. Nothing more.” I snort. “He’s only a fucking kid, for God’s sake.”
Jeremy pinches my chin forcefully. “Don’t fuck me around, Evie.”
“I’m not. I failed the last time I tried to escape because I didn’t know what I was doing. Kaden had the right contacts, so I used him. I was planning on ditching him the minute I was overseas.”
I know Kaden is smart enough to play along, but he doesn’t. “Eva … don’t.”
I glance at him, keeping my expression neutral even though it kills me not to react to the sight of the man I love tied up and beaten, looking defeated. “No offense, Kaden, but you’re way too young and immature for me. You fell for my bullshit so easily.” I send him a look that is part smug, and part faux-apologetic.
An amused chuckle wafts across the room, and my eyes follow the sound. Vincent is lurking in the shadows like the creeper he is. Three other armed men line the walls alongside him, their dark gazes fixed on me in a way that stalls the blood flowing in my veins. Jeremy darts forward, ramming his fist into Kaden’s face, and I scream. Kade’s head lolls back and then jerks forward as he loses consciousness.
Another snide chuckle bounces off the wall. Glancing sideways, I notice Michael Carlisle for the first time, flanked by two men on his left and two more on the right. All are heavily armed. All look scary as fuck, and they have this dangerous, bloodthirsty-slash-lustful glint in their eyes. He shares a look with Jeremy before prowling to my side. “You acted all high and mighty at our house, refusing to fuck anyone, but I knew it was an act.” Michael sneers. “That you were a dirty slut all along.”
He leans down, grabbing my crotch, and a new layer of terror takes hold of me. “I’m going to enjoy fucking you in front of your lover, and I’m going to make you bleed until you’re begging me to stop.” He presses his disgusting mouth to my ear, while his hand rubs back and forth along my crotch. My leggings are too thin of a barrier, and I thrash about in the chair, trying to shake his hand off, to no avail. “You will wish for death when I’m done with you,” he whispers in my ear.
Another strong tremor rockets through me, and I’m visibly shaking, but I keep my nerves at bay as I speak. “Nothing you can say or do will defeat me.” I eyeball him. “You think I haven’t learned how to lock myself in my mind when my husband was fucking me? I’m a pro at blocking it out. Do your worst. It won’t affect me.” I shoot my eyes to Jeremy, who has returned to my side. “I’ve had years to practice the technique.”
Jeremy backhands me again, but I barely feel the sting this time. My insides are starting to numb from the shock. “You disappoint me so much, Evie.” His lips twist into a sneer as he shakes his head. “You’ve disappointed me from the very first minute I met you. Your slut of a mother coaxed me into sticking with the deal, promising you’d come around, but she underestimated your stubbornness. And your stupidity,” he tags on the end.
“You should know better than to believe anything that comes out of her mouth,” I retort. Jeremy is well aware there’s no love lost between Mom and me.
“I happen to be very fond of your mother’s mouth.” He smirks. “She knows how to deep throat like a pro.”
“What?!” A new layer of horror engulfs me.
He laughs, and it’s a condescending sound. “I’ve been fucking your mother, right under your nose, and your father’s, for years.” He presses his face into mine, and his sour breath turns my stomach. “The broad may be getting on in years, but she knows how to please a man. She lets me fuck her wherever, whenever, and however I like. She exists to please me. What a shame she didn’t instill that lesson in you.” He pinches my nipples through my sweater and flimsy cotton bra, and my eyes water.
Kaden comes to, growling at Jeremy. The legs of his chair screech as he thrashes about. “Leave her alone! It’s me you want to punish,” he yells, his tone growing more agitated.
Jeremy ignores Kaden, keeping his focus locked on me. “All you had to do was spread your legs, look the other way with my business interests, and pop out a few brats. Do you know how many women would kill to be in your shoes?” He tweaks my nipple, hard, and tears leak out of my eyes. But I don’t cry out. I won’t give him the satisfaction.
“I would happily have traded places with any of them. I never wanted to marry you. I don’t even like you, let alone love you.”
A muscle pulses in his jaw, and I let him have it. Nothing I say now will change the plans for Kaden and me. If I’m going to die like this, I, at least, want him to know how I really feel. “Every time you touched me, I wanted to vomit. Your touch makes my skin crawl like a thousand fire ants invading my body. There is nothing even slightly attractive about you. You’re a spiteful old bastard who’ll get his comeuppance one of these days.”
He kicks my chair over in a rage, and I fall backwards, my head slamming into the wooden slats as the chair crashes to the concrete floor. Kade is going crazy, screaming and roaring, until he’s silenced, and the sound of fists pummeling flesh sobers me up.
“Get her up,” Jeremy barks at someone, and my chair is lifted off the ground. He glowe
rs at me. “I gave you fucking everything, and this is how you repay me?”
I soften my expression and my tone, deciding to try a different tack. “What did you expect, Jeremy? I was promised to you when I was fourteen. I was only a kid then and barely an adult when I married you. You knew I didn’t want this, but you chose to ignore that. It might’ve been different if we’d met under other circumstances.”
“Save it, Evie.” His fists clench at his sides. “It’s too late.” He looks over at Vincent. “Bring in the girl.”
My gaze flicks to Kaden’s again, and our eyes meet. So much passes between us in that one fleeting look, and I can tell how helpless he feels. How much he believes this is his fault for not protecting me better, but he’s wrong. If I die here today, I’ll die knowing what it feels like to be loved and cherished, knowing my man did everything in his power to save me.
Kaden hasn’t failed me.
He’s the only man who hasn’t ever let me down.
Jeremy is on top of him before I’ve even blinked, landing blows on his face and his chest, as he releases the full extent of his rage. “You don’t get to look at my wife like that!” he roars, continuing to pummel Kaden with his fists, and I’m terrified he’s going to kill him with his bare hands.
“No!” A high-pitched wail fills the air, and I look around in time to see Kaden’s ex-girlfriend thrown to her knees on the ground in front of him. “Don’t hurt him!” She looks up at Jeremy as she struggles to stand—no easy feat with her hands tied behind her back. Her thin white tank is streaked with dark stains, and her nipples are poking out through the fabric, taut in the frigid air. The knees of her skinny jeans are torn, the denim similarly stained with the same dark, oily substance. Her hair is greasy, her normal vibrant curls hanging in frizzy clumps around her face. Her skin is blotchy, and her eyes are bloodshot from crying. “You promised you’d leave him alone!”
“Shut up, you stupid bitch!” Jeremy barks, grabbing her by the arm. She screams, and he backhands her. Vomit travels up my throat.
“What did you do, Tiff?” Kaden coughs out, his voice hoarse and cracked, spitting blood all over himself and the floor. Blood is pumping out of his split nose and leaking from open cuts in his mouth.
Jeremy slams Tiffani into another chair on the other side of the room, and one of his goons restrains her. “Tell him, Tiff. Tell him how you’re the reason he’s here today.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Present Day
Kaden
“I’m really sorry, Kade,” Tiffani cries, tears pumping out of her eyes. “I just wanted you back. Jesse said Mr. Garcia would deal with his wife, and I knew once she was out of the way, you’d come back to me.” Her sniffles turn into full-blown sobs. “He said he wouldn’t hurt you, and I believed him.”
My head is pounding, and black spots dance in front of my eyes. Every part of my body aches like a bitch, and blood pools in my mouth. But that pales into insignificance compared to the chills tiptoeing up my spine.
I’ve no idea how long I’ve been here or how they got Eva, but I’m praying that Jonas—the guy who heads up the company I hired—has figured something is up by now and is trying to work out where we are.
“Jesse?” I croak, lifting my head to look at Tiff. Currently, I’m seeing four carbon copies of her head. She looks rough, and now I know who was doing all that screaming. I shiver at the thought of what they’ve been doing to her. “You mean Professor Sleazebag?”
Eva jolts in her chair, twisting her head so she’s facing Tiffani. “Professor Roberts was involved in this?” She looks up at her husband, her brow creased in confusion.
Tiff sniffs, refusing to look at Eva as she answers. Her tear-stained panic-filled eyes lock on mine as she explains in a trembling voice. “He’s been sleeping with Madison for months. After he got fired, he came to our apartment and told me he’d overheard Professor Garcia telling someone she was sleeping with you and you were planning to run away together. He knew I was really upset over our breakup, and he suggested this plan.”
I’m not surprised Tiff’s roommate, Madison, got mixed up with that douchebag. She has the shittiest taste in men and zero self-worth.
Eva looks completely shell-shocked, and her eyes widen as she stares at her husband. “You know that asshole?”
“Not personally,” the dickhead supplies. “He went to college with Daniel, and Daniel set up a meeting with the girl.” He walks to Tiffani’s side, wrenching her head back, and her sobs grow louder and more hysterical. I want to warn her, to tell her to tone it down, but I can’t see shit out of one eye, and my vision is completely unfocused out of the other. I can’t send her any warning looks or hand gestures. “I already suspected you were up to something,” the asshole continues, tugging sharply on Tiffani’s hair while he eyeballs Eva. “I had Vincent watching you, and I was pretty sure you were trying to escape again, but it wasn’t until the little slut came forward that everything slotted into place.”
“You promised you wouldn’t hurt Kaden, and I helped you! Why are you doing this to me?!” Tiffani blurts, her voice scraped raw.
“You should’ve known better than to get mixed up in things that are above your pay grade, little girl,” he taunts, running his fingers lazily across her throat.
“Leave her the fuck alone!” I shout. “She was naïve, but she doesn’t deserve to be punished for that.” I can’t believe Tiffani was so stupid. For a smart girl, she sure makes some piss-poor decisions.
I brace myself for the gut punch, so I’m not expecting the hit to come from behind. A fist slams into my temple, and I fall sideways, the chair dipping toward the ground as I start to lose consciousness again. Eva is screaming, and Tiffani is crying, but the sounds are muted. Fighting the invisible arms beckoning me to darkness, I force my eyes open, trying to see over the stars coating my retinas and the stabbing pain ripping through my skull. My chair is pulled upright before it hits the ground.
“I’m so sorry, Kade,” Tiffani whimpers. “I didn’t realize who he was when I came to talk to him. When Madison found out what I’d done, she freaked. She knew exactly who he was from stuff Jesse had told her and from campus gossip. I was so scared, and I didn’t know what to do! I came to your place last night, and I swear I was going to tell you, but then Duke showed up, and I ran off, and they grabbed me and …” She breaks down completely, sobbing and shaking, and I wish I could do something to help her, but I’m struggling to keep my eyes open, and I only have energy to focus on Eva.
“Let the girl go, Jeremy,” Eva says, in a remarkably calm voice. “I’d ask you to let Kaden go too, but I know you won’t agree to that.”
Jeremy lets go of Tiffani and crouches down in front of Eva. “I’m glad you know something about me.”
Tiffani is ugly crying now, flailing about and struggling against her restraints.
“We could’ve been happy, you know,” Jeremy says, caressing Eva’s cheek, and I want to charge over there and rip his filthy hands off her, but my body won’t or can’t cooperate, and I’m forced to watch helplessly from the sidelines. “If you had just tried.”
“You can’t force love, Jeremy. That’s not how it works.” Eva’s voice is quiet but confident.
“And you think you love him?” He snorts, gesturing toward me.
“I do love him, and I’ll do anything, anything to save him.” She glances over at me, and I try to keep my chin up, to open my eyes and plead with her to not do this. No amount of begging is going to work, and she knows it too. But she’s still going to do this, and I can’t be mad at her, not when she’s fighting to save me.
She eyeballs her husband. “I mean it. If you let him go, I’ll do whatever you want. I’ll have your babies, give up my career, and you can keep me imprisoned in the house. I’ll participate in the parties and the orgies, and I won’t complain. I swear. I give you my word. Just let him live.” She
stretches forward in her chair, as far as the restraints permit. “Please, Jeremy. Please. I’m begging you. Please let Kaden go.”
Tiffani screams obscenities at Eva in between bouts of tears, calling her every name under the sun. I’m guessing she’s figuring things out, realizing Eva is the cause of my distraction and lack of commitment over the course of our relationship. And that fact is not sitting well with Tiff, but this isn’t the time to go nuclear. Damn it. She needs to shut up and put up. Yelling insults at Eva and crying hysterically isn’t doing her any favors.
I’m probably concussed, so I’m not sure if what happens next is in slow-mo, as it appears to be, or if it’s quick. Jeremy stands up, a muscle ticking in his jaw. Reaching behind him, he pulls a gun out from the waistband of his pants and aims it in Tiffani’s direction. A loud pop goes off in the room, and her head whips back. The crying and shouting stops instantly. Her arms go limp at her sides, and a line of blood drips down her face from the hole in the center of her forehead. I’m too out of it to properly comprehend the fact Tiffani is dead.
“Oh my God!” Eva’s voice is rattled now. “I can’t believe you did that! She was only a harmless, young girl!”
“She was an interfering bitch who didn’t care what happened to you,” Jeremy snaps. He hovers over Eva, scrubbing a hand over his jaw. “As for your proposal, my answer is no. I don’t want a cheating whore for a wife. I should’ve realized sooner that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree—like mother, like daughter.”
He runs a hand over his hair, casually smoothing it back into place. Walking to the side of the room, he retrieves his jacket, putting it on. He nods at someone over my head. A door opens and closes, and then a man squats down at my side, opening a box and placing items on the floor.
Eva gasps. “No! Jeremy! Please, no!”
Jeremy stalks toward her, removing a knife that is strapped to his ankle and leaning into her face.
Seducing Kaden (The Kennedy Boys Book 6) Page 21
