by Alexa Riley
TAKING THE FALL
Vol. 3
Alexa Riley
Copyright ©2015 Alexa Riley
Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, contact [email protected]
http://alexariley.com/
Cover design : © L.J. Anderson at Mayhem Cover Creations
Formatting by L.J. Anderson at Mayhem Cover Creations
This book is dedicated to my best girl, Jeanette. She's tough as nails, doesn't take shit, but has the biggest heart of anyone I know. Let's never break up... I'd miss the food talk the most.
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Epilogue
Sneak Peek at Taking the Fall Vol 4
Prologue
CARTER
“Fuck!” I scream.
“What just happened?” Saint asks in a panic. He knows if I’m losing my shit, that something just went wrong.
“Something happened. Layla is leaving the house. Check the tracker on her phone,” I growl as I turn the car around and head back in the direction of the warehouse.
“Jeanette,” Saint whispers, and I know he’s thinking the same thing. She wouldn’t have let Layla go alone. “Step on it.”
I’ve gotta get to my girl. My heart is in a panic, and I don’t know what to do other than drive as fast as this car will go. My Layla.
It takes Saint five minutes to pull up the info I need, but it feels like years. “She’s at the library? What the fuck? That doesn’t make sense.”
I turn the car in that direction, screeching tires towards the exit. It’s been too long. I can feel it. The time has gone by too fast. “We aren’t going to make it,” I say.
“Shut your fucking mouth and drive, Carter,” Saint bellows.
I fly around the corner, hoping I don’t flip the car and I jump out with my gun drawn. I see two of the cars from the warehouse sitting in the parking lot with no one else in sight.
I fall to my knees, throw my head back, and let out a scream loud enough to wake the dead. “Layla!”
A moment later, Saint runs over and grabs me.
“I think I’ve got movement on her tracker. It’s fading in and out, but wherever she is, she’s moving.”
I check the tracking and see they’re headed to the desert. “O’Leary’s got her, I know it. And he won’t kill her. Not until he gets what he wants. If you want out, now is the time to speak up. I’m going in prepared to not walk out.”
“You gonna drive or you want me to?”
LAYLA
I close my eyes to the light that floods the inside of my cramped compartment when the trunk pops open.
“Move your asses,” a gruff voice barks. I try to shield my eyes from the blinding light to see where we’re at.
Jeanette climbs out first, and I watch the man run his hungry eyes over her. I hadn’t noticed what she was wearing before, but it’s clear she didn’t have time to change out of her pajamas before she went running after me. She’s wearing a white tank top and really tight red cheer shorts, which show off her extremely long legs. She probably put it on earlier to piss off Saint, but now she clearly has someone else’s attention.
“What the fuck are you looking at, asshole?” I hear her snap as I crawl out of the trunk, making sure my hoodie doesn’t rise up and reveal the gun I have stashed in my waistband. I’m shocked we haven’t been patted down. My father used to pat down anyone who ever came into the house, but looking around I can tell this is pretty far from my father’s usual accommodations.
The man eyes Jeanette’s chest and reaches out to tweak her nipple poking through her thin top. She smacks his hand away.
“What that fuck?” she snaps again.
“Jeanette,” I warn her through clenched teeth. I don’t want her getting hurt, and with a mouth like hers that’s what’s going to happen. We need to stay calm and draw as little attention to ourselves as we can.
“She’s feisty. I like that,” the man says to my father who is leaning up against the side of the car, looking at me. I still can’t get over how different he looks. He used to be slick and put together, dressed in thousand-dollar suits. I’m sure the one he’s wearing now still cost out the ass, but it looks just as tired as he does. Worn down.
“You can play with her later, Marco,” he states firmly, pushing off the sedan and walking past me towards wide metal doors. “Bring them inside.”
Looking around, I try to get a feel of where we are. We drove for a while after we left the library, but I never felt like we picked up any real speed so I’m guessing we didn’t get on a highway. The area we’re in now looks like a massive garage with a few vehicles parked in it.
Marco grabs us each by the arm and starts to pull us forward.
“Where’s my mother?” I ask while Jeanette breaks free of his hold. She isn’t bolting; it just looks like she doesn’t want to be touched by him. Marco releases me from his hold and grabs her with both hands, pulling her to him. He kisses her with an open mouth, licking at her feverishly.
I try to jerk them apart but his hold on her is so strong. Screaming out, he suddenly pushes her from him and I can see blood dripping from his mouth.
“I bite,” Jeanette snarls, spitting the taste of him out of her mouth. She stares at him with a smug look on her face. I feel my stomach roll because I know what’s coming. I fought back against Marco too. He likes the fight, I remember that much. He also likes to dole out pain.
And he does just that – one solid punch to Jeanette’s stomach and she’s on her knees. Running to her side, I try to run my hand through her hair to give her some comfort. I ignore Marco because anything I throw at him he’ll only enjoy. I look at my father watching us with a bored look on his face.
“What the hell is the matter with you? Why are you treating us like this? I’m your daughter!” I yell, looking into his eyes. Yelling at him like this was not something I ever really did. My father didn’t abuse me when I was growing up; he was just cold and dominant. Everyone was to respect him and his word was law. I remember moments of tenderness, but as I grew up they became more and more fleeting. I never would’ve thought it would come to this. Even when I have flashes of the night I was beaten, it’s still hard for me to believe it was something he orchestrated.
“I’m treating you like this, daughter,” he spits the word like it tastes bitter in his mouth, “because you chose your side, and you chose wrong. You’re a lesson. An example.” He strides towards me until he’s right in my face. It takes everything in me not to divert my eyes from him. I’m not the little bird he caged away, and I want him to know that. He doesn’t control me anymore.
“And what have we learned from this lesson? We’ve learned that if you cross me I will destroy you, family or not.”
All I can do is shake my head at that. What can I really say? But he’s wrong. He’s not my family anymore. I have Carter, Jeanette, and this baby growing i
nside me. I need to remember that. I can’t provoke him or do anything that could get me hurt. This isn’t about me and my pride right now. It’s about surviving until I can get us free.
I drop my gaze from him and my shoulders slump. I want him to think I’m defeated. Maybe the less we fight them, they more they’ll let their guard down. I need to find out where Justin and my mom are and then make a move.
Grabbing my chin, he makes me look back at him. My father isn’t tall like Carter. I don’t have to strain to look at him.
“You look nothing like your mother. It’s such a shame. I could’ve gotten a good price for you if you had.”
I don’t know what that means. Does he plan to sell me?
“Speaking of whom, she’s right inside. Get your friend and come.”
Helping Jeanette back to her feet, I pull her close.
“Calm down and think. Your temper isn’t going to help right now. It’s just going to get us hurt,” I whisper.
“Fine. But if they come at you, Lays, I have to draw their attention. We both know you can’t fight them right now,” she whispers back and looks pointedly down at my belly.
I grab her hand and squeeze as I follow my father through the door. Luckily Marco doesn’t try to touch us again.
When we enter the next room it’s completely different from the massive garage. It smells of smoke, musk and sex. The ceilings are at least 30-feet high and the glass windows are too high for anyone to access – no way can we get out that way. There’s a bar to the left where three men are sitting, drinking and openly staring at us. In the center of the room are multiple couches adorned with barely dressed – and some entirely undressed – women. They look strung out. The place looks like it was thrown together and it probably was, if he came to Reno to get me and doesn’t plan stay. My father always likes things to look nice and grand, and this place looks like a hole in the wall.
One of the women crawls from the couch and stumbles towards us. It takes me a minute to realize who it is but as she comes closer I see it’s my mother.
“Jesus, Dean had to go get more girls? Aren’t there enough sluts for you to fuck here already?” my mother slurs at my father. She glares at me and Jeanette.
“Didn’t know you liked them chunky. All those years of dieting wasted, I guess. I could have been packing on the pounds if I knew that’s what got you hard,” she rasps, getting in my father’s face.
Clearly she has no idea who I am. He pushes her back and she stumbles but manages somehow to keep her footing and not fall on her ass.
She looks nothing like the woman I remember. She might have been just as cold as my father, but she always looked beautiful. She was unceasingly at her best – from her hair, to her makeup, to expensive clothes and handbags. Even if she wasn’t going anywhere she would be all done up, but she was always going somewhere – events, parties, concerts, she was always doing something. Things that I could never go to.
My father always said it was because he didn’t want people to know about me, that they would use me against him. My mother said it was because I wasn’t pretty enough. This was often after she had had a drink or two. But today it looks like she’s had more than alcohol. Her eyes look dead, her cheeks sunken. I can tell from her half-naked state she doesn’t have an ounce of fat to spare. Her ribs are poking out.
“Fine! Fuck her for all I care. I like Sam’s cock better anyways,” she smirks at him.
I squeeze Jeanette’s hand tighter as I watch her stumble towards the bar, almost falling on her ass again.
I can’t believe how deluded I was. Or maybe I just lied to myself. I made myself think things had been wonderful before the night I lost everything. They just grew so much worse after that, and what I had before seemed to be more wonderful than it really was in comparison.
“I’m not too inclined to fuck my own daughter. I know I’m into some shit but that’s a little much don’t you think, Claire?” my father says casually.
I hear Jeanette gasp beside me as she finally catches on that this is my mother.
My mother snaps back around and what I think is going to be happiness to see me is quite the opposite. She comes lunging at me. I haven’t seen her in over eight years. She disappeared the same night I was beaten. My father would never tell me what happened to her. Every time I asked, he brushed me off until he finally snapped at me so I quit asking all together.
“You fucking bitch!”
Stumbling back, I knock into Jeanette who keeps me from falling. My father holds my mother back as she continues to lunge at me.
“You stole my man. He was mine, you little slut!”
“Come take her, Sam,” my father orders one of the men at the bar. I have no idea what my mother is talking about. Stole her man?
“Carter was mine, you fucking whore. We were in love and you took him from me.”
I just stare at her in shock. She and Carter were lovers. I feel the vomit rise in my throat but I push it back – my Carter would never do that.
“Put her in the back room until she calms down. Give her something. I don’t need her running around here in one of her crazy moods,” my father says, passing her off to the guy they called Sam.
“I still don’t get why you brought her here. She’s a fucking nightmare,” Sam grumbles and takes her from my dad.
“It’s not your concern why I brought her here. It’s your job to do what you’re told.”
My father fixes his tie and jacket. “And a word of advice, if you fuck her again make sure you use a goddamn condom. You don’t want to know where she was when I found her. I don’t need you spreading her shit to other girls.”
My mother continues to scream about Carter as Sam drags her down a hallway. I think she’s has lost her grip with reality.
“Lays, your mom is fucking crazy,” Jeanette murmurs to me.
“What’s wrong with her?” I whisper, more to myself than anyone else.
“I told you, you chose wrong,” my father says.
“Chose wrong?”
“Carter,” he says simply.
“It wasn’t a tough choice. I love Carter and he was the only person in that house who ever loved me back. So the way I see it, I chose right.”
He starts laughing hysterically, and I can’t help but wonder if he’s taking whatever my mom seems to be on as well.
“Lays, your dad is fucking crazy too.”
I just nod my head in agreement.
When my father finally stops laughing he drops a bomb.
“Don’t you get it, Layla? You were just a toy. Carter slipped into our lives to rip my world apart, first by fucking my wife. Then he went after you when he saw I couldn’t care less where your mother’s attentions were, as long as she wasn’t in my way.”
“He would never!” I snap back, letting my anger get the best of me. No way did Carter sleep with my mother. He would’ve told me that. But then again Carter doesn’t like me to know things he thinks might hurt me or that would make me run from him.
“Vengeance is a powerful thing, Layla, and it’s all that drives a man like Carter. You saw your mother. Clearly they had something…no?” he says, a smirk dancing across his face.
“Think about it, Layla. Think.”
I search my mind for what he’s hinting at. I don’t recall my mother and Carter being close. She flirted with all my father’s men to try to get a rise from him but it never worked. I remember a few times she would flirt with Carter but he always just blew her off. My father didn’t seem to care what she did with her time. But I know without a shadow of a doubt Carter loved me and would never do anything that could hurt me. He tries to be my shield, never would he do something that would cause me pain. It’s why his plans all went to hell. It’s why he sat in that jail cell for eight years – all for me, all to keep me safe because, to Carter, family is everything, and I’m his family.
“No. I don’t believe you. I don’t remember anything like that,” I say firmly, shaking my head.
“You’re a monster. Why would I stay with you? You were cold and heartless. It wasn’t a life I wanted. I knew what you were, and I just wanted to go. I wasn’t choosing to kill you or go after you. I was just choosing to leave. I had no idea what had gone down between Carter and you. Carter told me we would run and take off. Never look back. Carter was letting you go. You. You did all this,” I shout and throw my hands in the air.
If he’d only let us leave that day none of this would’ve happened. Carter told me he had every intention of leaving his plans behind to just be with me. But my father came after me, and everything went to hell that night.
“I’m the monster? Your Carter is just as much a monster as I am. At least I don’t hide my viciousness. He played you, Layla, and it seems he’s still playing you. He tried to get at me through your mother and when he saw that wouldn’t work, he went for you. And you just played right into his hands, packing a bag and going to run off with him. He was just trying to get you out of the house because he knew I was finally on to him. He was going to use you against me. Don’t be so dumb, Layla. You think one little girl can make a man change his whole plan? That he would give everything up for you? No pussy’s that good. I know I kept you somewhat sheltered, but you can’t be that naïve!”
His words bounce around in my head. This can’t be true. They aren’t true. I know this with every fiber of my being.
“What about now? He got out and came for me. He went to prison for me.”
“It’s all lies. He’s using you now as a tool to get to me. He’s trying to force me out of hiding. Don’t you get it? You’re a pawn in this game. A minnow. Still the dumb little girl who can’t see what is right in front of her face.”
