Art of Seduction

by Monique Orgeron

  “It was Senator Rollins. He’s Fallon’s father.”

  Gabriel stands and starts screaming. “That motherfucker! I’m going to kill him!”

  Zander, Liam, and Vin all rush into the room, looking at each other.

  “Stop, Gabriel, wait, we don’t know if it’s him. All I know is he started asking a lot of questions about Fallon. He recognized her face and her eyes, those striking eyes. She looks a lot like Laura. I found out right before the wedding that Laura had been murdered. We have to be careful.”

  The phone starts to ring, making us all jump with alert. I nervously answer it, listen, then hang up.

  “That was Theo. He said he has Richard Shaw Jr. with him, that he’s been bragging about buying some girl to make his slave. The description is one that sounds too close to Fallon to ignore.”

  “Where the fuck does he have him?” Gabriel asks.

  “Come on, I know where,” I tell them. “Gabriel, this is sensitive. We have a lot of dealings with Richard Sr. Please let me handle it. If we’re wrong, there will be repercussions. Vin, Zander, if your brother tries to interfere, you will take him out of there. Understood? Please be good, Gabriel. I owe it to Fallon to bring her home safe.”

  Gabriel

  I don’t care what my mother says; I’m going to kill them all. I’m going to find my wife and bring her home, no matter what it takes.

  We decide to take two cars and drive to the secluded building. Mother exits her car looking like a cross between a trophy wife and a badass bitch. She’s wearing her trademark pencil skirt and heels. Catherine leads the way like she has been here before. Knowing all she has gone through makes me fear her even more. If she could live through all of that and still become the loving mother she has always been, then she deserves all my respect and love.

  We enter through a side door and are greeted by Theo and his son Teddy; they have Richard Jr. sitting in a chair, simply waiting for us. His father is a very important man in Texas, and Mom’s right, we don’t want to piss him off. Besides, I don’t think he wants to fuck with my mother either.

  Mom and Theo sit across the table from the dickhead, while Vin, Zander, Liam, Teddy, and I all stand guard. She crosses her long legs and starts.

  “My, my, look how you have grown. I haven’t seen you since you were just a boy. How is your father, and how have you been?”

  I start to fidget. Why is she so calm? We don’t have time for this shit. I go to say something, and she quickly looks my way to shut me up. Once she knows I’ll be quiet, she starts again.

  “I hear you bought yourself a pretty little thing. I’d like for you to tell me all about her.”

  “No offense, Mrs. Stern, but I don’t see why you brought me here and want to discuss my newest slave?”

  “Oh, Dicky boy, no offense taken, yet. Nothing happens in my city without me finding out, so I need to know who she is. Along with who sold her to you. Once you give me the information I want, you will be free to leave my city.”

  He starts to laugh. “Your city? Fuck, that’s rich. You know who my father is, and you know you can’t fuck with me.”

  Mom starts to tap her long nails on the table. She uncrosses her legs, then yells out, “Vin, Teddy, grab him. Put him on his fucking knees now!”

  I watch my mother give the order like a fucking boss. Vin and Teddy do as they’re told. She is incredible to watch in situations like this. Most people don’t ever get to see this side of her, but as my brothers and I watch her, we are in awe. Especially Liam; he has never witnessed my mother like this, and boy, is he in for a treat.

  She stands and strolls over to him as he’s put on his knees. “Your father, Dicky, has nothing to do with what goes on in this state, do you hear me? You are in my motherfucking house now. You will answer my questions, doing so swiftly before I do call your father and tell him of your fucking disrespect. Maybe I’ll call him anyway; seems he hasn’t taught you the proper way to handle situations like this. You sure are going to be a huge disappointment to him. Now, tell me what I want to know. Who is she?”

  “Mrs. Catherine, I didn’t mean any disrespect. Please, look, let me grab my phone. I have a picture of her.”

  My mom tells Vin to grab his phone. I run to him and grab it from his hands. There she is, my Fallon – but she’s dirty, and it looks like she’s on a mattress.

  I punch Dicky in his fucking face and yell, “Where the fuck is she, you bastard?!”

  Zander and Liam come after me. They grab me and haul me back where I was. I yell for them to let me go, but they don’t listen.

  Mother walks over to me; she reaches for my face and whispers, “We have her. Once this is finished, I will let you have whoever did this. But as for right now, this idiot didn’t know who she was. Calm down. You will have your revenge.”

  She strolls back over to Dicky and picks up his phone off the ground.

  “Do you know who this is?” she asks him.

  “Just some slut. Why is she important to you?”

  I scream and try to fight my brothers for release, so I can kick his teeth in.

  “This, Dicky boy, is my daughter-in-law. You see my son Gabriel struggling over there? You just called his wife a slut.”

  “Fuck me; I didn’t know. I promise. Gabriel, man, Mrs. Stern...I didn’t fucking know.”

  “I know, boy. Even you aren’t that stupid to steal from me. Besides, your balls would have to drop first. Now that you know why she is important, tell me, who sold her to you?”

  “Shit, I can’t do that. I’m really sorry, but fuck, he has dealings with my dad, and I can’t.”

  “All right, we’ll play it your way.”

  Mom goes to the table and reaches in her purse for her phone. Who the fuck is she calling? A few seconds later, I hear her talking to Richard Sr. She informs him of all that’s going on and tells him of his son’s disrespect. She asks him to hold on, then she walks up to Theo and takes his gun out of his holster. I hear him tell her something, which she ignores. She walks back up to Dicky with the gun in one hand, her phone in the other. She shoots him in the thigh. Dicky starts screaming.

  She calmly tells him, “Your father sends his regards. He also says every time I have to ask the same question, to shoot you again.”

  She starts to talk back on the phone to Richard Sr. She then laughs and says something about seeing him soon. Once the phone call is finished, she goes back to aiming the gun at Dicky.

  Theo starts to laugh out loud and says, “Boy, I’d listen to her. She’s a great shot. I should know; I taught her myself.”

  My brothers and I all look at each other, like what the fuck?

  “Dicky, who sold my son’s wife to you?”

  “The Senator. Senator Rollins.”

  “What’s the address you have for pick up?”

  He gives us the address to a small town on the outskirts of Lafayette.

  “Gabriel, take your brothers along with Vin, and go. Theo will make sure I get home safely. Boys, be careful please. There will be men there watching her. Gabriel, hold up, baby!” She walks up to me and says in a low voice, “You need to be careful when you get to her. She could be hurt, and I think she’s...never mind.”

  “What were you going to say, Mom?”

  “I’m not sure, but I think she might be pregnant. She has been sick, and I recognize the symptoms. I meant to talk to her about it, but I never got the chance. If she is, she doesn’t know it. Just be careful with her, and Gabriel, do what you need to do. Just know, I never want to hear from him again, do you understand?”

  I nod my head, knowing exactly what she means, then I become shocked and speechless. Is she pregnant? Is that why she’s been sick? The Senator is going to fucking pay with his life for this shit.

  41

  Fallon

  They’ve had me here for hours. I’ve only seen them once, besides the time they threw me in this room. That was about an hour after I was here. One came back in and took a picture of me, then gav
e me a burger and bucket for what I presume is to be used as my bathroom. The accommodations are atrocious, but the screams and cries from the other room are heart-wrenching.

  “Who’s there? Can you hear me? Please talk to me. Who are you?”

  I ask over and over, but the answers never come; just her screams. My god, I have got to get out of here. Gabriel will come...I know he will.

  I can tell night is coming; the light coming through the boards covering the window is becoming low, then nothing. Night falls, and by now I am in frantic mode. Please, Gabriel, find me.

  I must have fallen asleep during the night. The morning comes, and I’m awakened by a man yelling. He’s asking questions about me. The other girl hears him, too; now she is in overdrive with her fears. You can hear it in the way her voice changes to a higher octave. What the hell is going on?

  My door swings open, and I see him. A man I have met on several occasions. The man who wears a suit and perfect smile now looks devious and sadistic. The Senator appears in front of me without his mask, looking like Lucifer himself.

  He carries a chair in with him. As he watches me crawl backward towards the wall, he sits and yells, “Shut that fucking bitch up!”

  I hear shuffling, then a thud, like something being thrown through the wall. Then there’s silence, and no more screams. He looks my way and smiles at me, like this is a pleasant event.

  “I must say, you are a beautiful girl. Shame, really, since you were supposed to be dead.”

  Dead?! What the hell is he talking about?

  “That’s right, you little bitch, you are my deadly little secret. My shame for all the world to see. I was promised that you and your whore of a mother were taken care of. I should have known William was fucking me over.”

  With a shaky voice, I ask, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Did you know my mother, or maybe my father? Senator, what the hell are you talking about?” I screamed that last part, unable to control my emotions.

  “Your father? Aww, you don’t know, do you?” He begins to laugh out loud. “You are my spawn. I’m your father.”

  The tears begin to fall, and my body begins to tremble.

  “No...no, you can’t be.”

  “Oh, but I am. You were my one and only mistake. You never should have been born, but I was stupid back then. I never thought about the girls getting pregnant, until I heard about you.”

  I can’t make a sound. I can’t move. None of this is making any sense to me. He knew my mother? How and why? What happened? I’m shaking, and my stomach turns as I try to piece together what he’s saying.

  “It took me a while to figure it out, but it was your face and those eyes. You look so much like her. I watched you, not knowing why, but then it hit me; those eyes. Your mother was very beautiful, just like you are right now. Her eyes were what attracted me to her. They haunt my dreams. It’s a shame, really, if you think about it. Such beauty wasted on a whore’s body. See, I was nothing like William. I never believed you could take a whore off the streets and make the world accept her like our own. I treated your mother just like all the other whores. You, my dear child, have my blood running through your veins, but you are still nothing but the child of a whore.”

  I violently throw up, vomit spewing towards the ground.

  He laughs. “Come now, child, you think that’s going to distract me, make me feel sorry for you?” He waves to the next room. “She tries that shit all the time, thinking I will give her a reprieve, but I don’t. I quite enjoy making someone so distressed that their own body revolts back.”

  “You are a sadistic fuck!” I scream through his laughter.

  “That’s right. Let it all out. Tell me, did Catherine have you this whole time? Did that bitch bring you here to taunt me? She wants to destroy my family and me. Is she using you to do it? Well, is she? First, you show up and embarrass my daughter, then you make a fool out of my son. Well, fuck you bitches! If you think you can destroy me, you have another thing coming.

  He throws his chair against the wall, then stares back at me. “I want to tell you, I found your mother when I put all the pieces together. She wasn’t the woman I remembered, but she still had those piercing eyes. I should have taken one as a souvenir when I ended her life.”

  “NO!” I scream. I can’t take much more. “Why did you do that? I didn’t know anything about you.”

  “That doesn’t matter. You are a liability I can’t afford. It would kill my career, and my family.”

  “What are you going to do with me?”

  “I’ve sold you. To a colleague’s son. He is more sadistic than I am. He likes to play with his slaves; he gets his pleasures through their pain, and it knows no bounds. He will ruin each and every part of you before you go poof!” His hands make the gesture of a bomb exploding. “He will make all my problems disappear, and you will be unrecognizable while I walk away free and wash my hands clean.”

  He stands and leaves, locking the door behind him. I hear him talking to the other men, but I can’t make anything out. My ears are ringing, and my body is shaking as I get violently ill again.

  The next thing I know, everything goes black.

  Gabriel

  She has been missing for more than twenty-four hours now. I need get to her fast. I can’t stand the fact that she could be hurt, or worse. I am going to tear apart anyone who stands in my way, limb from fucking limb.

  The trip takes about two hours. The address we’ve been given leads us to an old boarded up house in the middle of nowhere. Liam parks the SUV, and we start scoping out the place. We see there is only one car, and after an hour we see two guards walk out. One is smoking, the other is on his phone. Now that we know what we’re up against, we wait for them to go back inside so we can make our move.

  Zander and Vin go around to the back of the house. Liam and I take the front. We storm into the house from both entrances, taking the guards completely by surprise. A fight erupts. Once we have them subdued, I hear Fallon; she’s screaming my name. I kick in the locked door in and rush to my wife. Slamming our bodies together, unable to get close enough to her, I kiss her repeatedly, starting with her mouth, then her nose, cheeks, and forehead. I can’t possibly show how grateful I am that she is in my arms again.

  “I knew you’d come for me! I just knew you would.”

  With tears in my eyes, I say, “I love you, baby. I love you so much. I will always come for you.”

  Refusing to let her out of my arms, I ask if she’s fine. Did they hurt her? Did they do something to her?

  She shakes her head and says, “No, Gabriel, I’m all right.” She cries out, “I love you so much. We need to leave before he comes back. Gabriel, it’s the Senator; he took me. He says he’s my father. Please, Gabriel, bring me home.”

  “No, baby, I have to stay. Now that I know you’re all right, I’ll have Liam bring you home, but I’m not going anywhere until I kill that son of a bitch.”

  Fallon struggles for me to follow. “Gabriel, please, no, please come with me. He’s not worth it, Gabriel. Please.”

  I reach out for her face and hold her between my hands. “I will, my love, but he has to die. Don’t fight me, Fallon; I need to end him. That’s the only way I can protect you forever. Please, baby, go. I will come to you when it’s done.”

  I release her and walk her to the kitchen, where everyone else is. They all rush her one by one, hugging and showing their affection. The fear they have in their eyes lets me know they will always be by her side, no matter what, whether I am here or not. They all care for her in their own way. I am truly blessed for it, too.

  “Gabriel, there’s another girl here. She has been screaming and crying since I arrived. Gabriel, we must save her, too.”

  “Zander, check it out.”

  He nods and walks back toward the hall. We hear him crashing through a door, then he hollers back at us to come see. Fallon, Liam, and I run towards the back. Through the door, we can see the shell of a girl. She is
in the corner, scared shitless of us. She has been beaten, and you can tell she has suffered plenty.

  Liam pushes his way through. He walks straight to the girl, bends down to her level, then softly calls out to her, “Avery...Avery, is that you? Avery, it’s me, Liam.”

  He turns, and I see tears in his eyes. This seems strange; Even if he knows her, why would this affect him this way?

  “Gabriel, it’s Avery Edwards. She’s been missing for a couple of months. Mom said her family had no leads. They thought she ran away.”

  He turns back toward her, extends his hand, and says, “Avery, baby, it’s me, Liam, and I’m going to help you. I’m going to get you home.”

  She starts to scream and begins swinging at him like an animal. Fallon goes straight to them and grabs her arms. She looks in her eyes, catching her attention.

  “Avery, I’m Fallon. I’m the one who was in the other room. This is my family. They are here to help us, to bring us home. I’m going to bring you to my house. Please, Avery, come with me. No one else will touch or hurt you, I promise.”

  She thinks on what Fallon’s telling her, then she reaches for Fallon. My wife stands with Avery, never losing eye contact, with Fallon leading the way. She pauses by me and puts her hand in mine.

  She says to me, “I love you, Gabriel. Please come home to me when it’s done.”

  “Always, baby.”

  I let them walk past me and out of the house. I watch as Fallon leads her to our SUV.

  Liam is punching the fucking walls.

  “Liam, stop. We need to be level-headed right now. You’re not helping her this way. Take them home. Mom will know what to do.”

  “I’m not leaving. Did you see what they did to her? Did you?”

  “Liam, I don’t know what’s going on, but you need to calm yourself. You are no good to anyone if you can’t calm yourself down.”

  “Calm, Gabriel? Really? Is that what you want? I’ll show you calm.”

  Liam rushes past me and storms into the kitchen. He takes his gun out, and before I know what’s going on, he fires and kills one of the guards with a bullet straight to the head.