by Brook Wilder
“As ready as I’ll ever be.”
She had to stand on the tips of her toes to reach him, pressing her mouth against his in one last kiss to steel herself, before pulling back reluctantly. Christian gave her a hooded glance.
“Let’s just get the hell out of here, alright? I’m tired, and I want you and me, in our bed.” He rolled his eyes at Bianca and Amanda, who were both watching them with wide eyes. “Alone.”
Melody kissed him again, just because she had to. Because she wasn’t sure what was about to happen. But she knew she couldn’t do another thing without that memory of his kiss to cling to and give her the strength she needed.
All too soon, Christian was stepping back, looking around the room at the other two.
“Alright. Let’s do this,” he said, suddenly sounding as casual as if he was saying they were about to go to the grocery store instead of what they actually had planned. “Ladies? If you would please take your places.”
Bianca just snorted again, but they all did what Christian asked, moving to their prescribed places.
It was a simple plan. One Melody hoped beyond hope would work.
They had built off the original plan that Christian had been so vehemently against, to pretend that Melody was hurt and to make a lot of noise, drawing one of the men. Only this time, Melody wasn’t going to go with them willingly. And if it all worked right, they would all be walking out of there together.
Christian stood just to the side of the door, holding the broken chair leg over his shoulder like a baseball bat. He nodded to each of them in turn, his blue gaze lingering on Melody where she stood in the middle of the room, in clear line of sight of whoever walked in.
“And, action.”
Melody started howling like an animal in pain, Bianca and Amanda backing her up in an odd chorus of grunts and groans. Christian pounded on the door as if the hounds of hell were after them.
Melody felt the odd urge to laugh at all the racket they were making, but underneath that urge was a panic and a fear. Not for herself, but for the others. For Christian and Bianca. For the people that had become her family over the last few months.
But it was too late to go back now. They couldn’t change their plans. Footsteps were already drawing closer. Someone was already at the door.
Melody had just drawing in a breath to let out another scream of pain when there was a hurried jangle of metal as the padlock was undone and the door flew opened.
The man chosen to guard them stumbled in, his eyes wide as they flew towards Melody. He was a gruff-looking guy that Melody recognized as one of the men that had thrown them in there in the first place.
Suddenly, she remembered her role.
With another cry, she dropped to the floor, clutching her middle.
“Help! I’m hurt. Really hurt. I need help. If Enrique finds out…”
She let the sentence trail off as if she was in too much pain to go on, but the man had no problem filling in the rest of it. It was all too easy to imagine exactly what Enrique would do. Especially after what had happened to the first man in the office.
“Holy shit! No, not Enrique!”
He looked terrified as he rushed forward, obviously thinking about the man that Enrique had killed for hitting her. Good. That’s exactly what she wanted him thinking about. She wanted him too scared to wonder where the fourth prisoner was.
The man bent down to check her, and that’s when Christian moved in to strike, hitting him in the back of the head with the chair leg. Enrique’s man collapsed, knocked unconscious, as his eyes rolled back in his head.
Melody jumped to her feet, taking Christian’s hand as if it was a part of herself, and she looked up at her husband.
“Let’s get out of here.”
“I couldn’t have said it better myself.”
Chapter 26
Christian and Melody’s eyes met, and the moment stretched out for an eternity as everyone froze in shock. Then his gaze flicked to the unconscious man at his feet, and, just as abruptly, they were all moving into action.
He rushed towards Melody, holding her hand even tighter, intent on dragging her out of there and not stopping until they were back home in their bed. But he didn’t get more than a single step before Melody stopped him and pointed behind her shoulder towards Bianca.
“No, you have to help her, Christian.”
He grit his teeth, but he knew that she was right. Every instinct inside of him was urging him to get Melody and their baby to safety, but with Bianca’s twisted ankle… she could hardly move on her own.
Christian gave Melody one hard kiss, and it hurt like hell to let go of her, but he knew what he had to do.
He bent to sweep the older woman up in his arms, but Bianca hit him on the back of his head. He jerked back, rubbing the spot that she’d hit with surprising force.
“Ouch, what the hell, Bianca?”
“Don’t you dare try and pick me up. I’m not a sack of potatoes that you can just sling over your shoulder,” Bianca huffed at him angrily. “I can walk just fine.”
“No, you can’t,” Amanda said, cutting in before he could manage to get the words out.
Bianca huffed at her to, but Amanda didn’t back down.
“You need his help. Just accept it so we can all get out of here before Enrique’s men find us.”
She paused, shuddering.
“Or Enrique.”
Bianca finally gave in a little, at least enough to let him help support her weight with his shoulder. She grumbled under her breath all the while, and Christian shook his head. The older woman would never change.
“Come on. Let’s you get you back to Hub, so he stops worrying about you. He’s been tearing out his hair ever since we first found out Enrique had you,” Christian said as he hurried from the room, hoping to distract her.
It worked.
“What hair?” Bianca snorted, and then looked at him with a serious expression on her lined face. “Is your father okay? Hub never could deal with stress very well.”
Christian gave her a wide-eyed look. She was the one who was kidnapped and hurt, and she was asking if Hub was okay.
“He’ll live. And he’ll be a hell of a lot better once he has you back in his arms,” Christian said, and then they moved in silence.
He had to focus all his effort on keeping Bianca upright as they made it up the first harrowing flight of stairs. The first of many more to come. He remembered the long trip down to the lowest underground level of the enormous house.
He glanced sideways at Bianca and saw the sweat dotting her brow and the pained grimace twisting her lips. With a silent curse, he turned his gaze ahead to where Melody and Amanda were waiting for them at the landing.
“You two go ahead. Get help if you can. We’ll be right behind you,” Christian told them.
But Melody didn’t leave. She didn’t move. She just stood there, staring at him with steely determination in her dark gaze.
“No chance in hell, Christian,” she said.
He opened his mouth to argue, but her next quietly spoken words stopped him.
“Together, or not at all. Remember?”
Finally, he nodded, letting out a breath of relief when she turned, and they started moving forward once more.
It was painfully slow going, as they moved up step by agonizing step, and Christian had to support most of Bianca’s weight as they went. The older woman’s face had gone pale from the pain in her leg, even though she hadn’t uttered a word of complaint, and inwardly he worried how much further she had in her to go before he had to pick her up and carry her despite her protests earlier. It would slow him down even more, but it would be the only way. He didn’t think she would be capable of escaping on her own two feet.
They finally made it to the main floor, and Bianca was barely holding on when Amanda suddenly hissed for them to be quiet. She waved her arms until they all froze, stilling, as some of Enrique’s men walked past just outside the opening.
<
br /> All it would take was for one of them to look over and they would be spotted.
As they neared, he could make out their words, and what he overheard had rage boiling in his blood. They were talking about Melody. And none of it was kind. He saw his wife flinch, obviously able to hear as well, and he had to fight the urge to charge them.
But then he felt Bianca’s hand squeeze his arm, much weaker than her normal strength would have allowed, and he noted her look of warning. She had nothing to worry about. His only concern was getting his wife and child out of there, to get them to safety.
Christian held his breath, and he was pretty sure the others did as well, until the men were all past them and the sound of their chatter and footsteps disappeared as they turned down another endless hallway.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity of torture, they were able to creep forward.
All four of them were bottle-necked at the opening that led to the hallway. Amanda nodded towards the far end.
“The front door is just up ahead,” she whispered, just loud enough to be heard by those standing a bare foot from each other. “We just have to get there.”
They all shared a long look before nodding. Christian urged Melody to go ahead of him, but she still hesitated, unsure.
“I’m never going to leave you, Christian,” she huffed, shooting him a look over her shoulder, which melted him on the spot. “Whatever happens, we are in this together.”
He sighed, aggravated at her stubbornness. He wanted to know she was safe, damn it! He needed it. But he was also filled with love for her. He couldn’t help himself. He leaned close and kissed her, hard and fast.
“Uh, do you really think this is the best time to play smoochie face?” Bianca whispered gruffly, giving both of them an arch look.
“Play smoochie face?” Christian stuttered and Melody blushed.
And then they were all moving into the hallway, trying to be as quiet as possible. They all knew that Enrique’s men were close by and could easily spot them, now that they were moving out into the open.
Christian was shaking as they finally made it to the end of the hall, and he could see the front door in front of them. With panic, with relief, mostly with the knowledge that they had made it. They were nearly free. His wife and child were nearly free.
This time, he pushed Melody and Amanda forward, hurrying them towards the exit.
“Go! Get to the door!” Christian hissed at them. “Run, Mel!”
He urged them on, and this time they didn’t hesitate. With Christian and an exhausted Bianca close behind them, they all sprinted for the door.
Amanda reached it first. She shoved open the door, her and Melody tumbling through it to freedom, and Christian wanted to cheer.
But as he reached the threshold, he knew that something was wrong. Melody and Amanda weren’t moving. They were frozen on the front steps.
“Mel? What are you doing? Don’t stop!”
“I’m afraid she doesn’t have much of a choice,” a soft, smooth, terrible voice said from just outside, “and neither do you.”
Confusion melted into fear and dread as Christian made his way onto the front step to join Melody and Amanda and came face to face with Enrique. There was a group of his thugs in a circle around them, and Enrique held a deadly-looking gun in his hand.
Christian’s heart stopped. It was pointed straight at Melody.
Chapter 27
Melody stared down the dark barrel of the gun that Enrique had pointed at her and waited for the fear to come. But it never did.
She’d been right. She wasn’t going to let fear rule her ever again, and she certainly wasn’t going to let Enrique. Never again. She would never let him have that power over her, not now, not ever.
Melody tilted her chin up in the air and forced her shoulders to stay ramrod straight. She took a step towards him, deliberately drawing his attention away from the others and hoping they would use the chance to get out of the line of his weapon.
“It’s me you want, Enrique. You don’t care about them.”
Melody tried to make her voice strong, but it came out more breathless than she’d have liked. She just hoped that he took it for something other than the anger that was pumping through her veins.
“Let them go. They don’t matter.”
“Nice try, angel,” Enrique growled as his gaze focused in on something just beyond her right shoulder.
No, not something. Someone. Melody barely held back a gasp as she realized that Enrique’s black gaze was focused on Christian, who was still supporting Bianca’s injured form.
“But I know who this is,” Enrique said, stepping past Melody as if he didn’t see her at all.
He pushed her out of the way, and Melody stumbled down the step. Amanda stopped her from falling, but her eyes never left Christian and Enrique as he stalked closer and closer to her husband.
“This is the bastard that thought he could take what was mine. She belongs to me.”
Enrique punctuated every word by shoving the barrel of the gun against Christian’s chest, and Melody couldn’t breathe. Oh, there was the fear again. Not for herself. But for the man she loved. For the father of her child.
“Please, don’t hurt him.”
Melody knew it was a mistake as soon as the words slipped out of her mouth, as Enrique turned to look at her and then back at Christian with absolute rage twisting his handsome features into the monster that always lurked beneath.
All that Melody could see in her mind was that moment in the office. When Enrique had lost his mind and shot his man standing right beside her. The blood had splattered across her body, her face, filling her nose with its awful metallic scent. Only, this time, it would be Christian’s blood. The thought paralyzed her.
“She doesn’t want me to hurt you. Isn’t that sweet,” Enrique crooned, his voice so soft that Melody could barely hear it, but it still sent shivers of dread tripping down her spine. “You do think it’s sweet, don’t you? But she doesn’t understand. You do, don’t you?”
Enrique cocked his head, his black eyes never leaving Christian, who was still standing stoically, trying to support Bianca and hide her behind his larger body all at the same time.
All Melody could do was watch on in horror as Enrique took another step towards her husband, examining him like a bird watching its pray, waiting for the moment to pounce and destroy it.
“She belongs to me. I own her. She’s my property. And you touched what belongs to me. I can’t just let that go without… punishment.”
Enrique spoke almost as if he was a teacher, explaining something to a particularly dense child. His voice took on a lecturing tone as he spoke to Christian, patronizing him, condescending. Pushing him with every word. But Christian refused to take the bait, and once more Enrique was enraged.
Melody had to force herself to remain still as Enrique held up the gun, pointing it so hard against Christian’s forehead that it left a mark from the barrel. Amanda still held on to her, holding her back. Enrique’s cousin shot her a look of warning, but all Melody could see was her husband in danger. The father of her child, staring down the barrel of a madman’s gun.
But Christian didn’t flinch.
It made Enrique smile, and it was the most terrible expression that Melody had ever seen in her life. Melody shuddered, barely biting back a cry of warning, but Amanda squeezed her arm hard enough to leave a bruise, drawing her back from the edge.
“No, I’m not going to make this quick for you,” Enrique was saying, still talking in that soft, razor sharp voice of his that always spelled trouble. That trouble was shortcoming. Enrique raised his hand, coming down hard with the butt of the gun against Christian’s forehead.
“NO! Christian!”
Melody couldn’t hold back the cry this time, and only Amanda’s tight grip on her arm, holding her back, stopped her from rushing to Christian’s side, to do something to try and help the man she loved.
Enrique di
dn’t look back at her outburst. It was as if he hadn’t even heard her as he kept talking in that quiet hissing voice. A snake twining around its victim, playing with its pray before going in for the final blow.
“It’s not going to be quick for you. I am going to kill you slow and painful, until you’re nothing but a broken puppet of a man. I’m going to make you beg for me to kill you. But I won’t. Not yet.”
Enrique leaned forward, his words barely a whisper, but Melody still heard them, and they made anger and fear and bile mix terribly in the pit of her stomach.
“I’m going to take Melody right here in front of you, over and over again. And I’m going to make you watch. Then I’ll kill you. But it won’t matter. There won’t be anything left of you to care by then.”
