by Bry Ann
Go.
Let me shatter.
Gladly Boss.
It only works in my favor.
Chapter 23:
Sven:
“Do they have her?”
“Yes.”
Boss is sitting in the main area with his feet propped up on a couch with a bottle of wine listening to the audio. I’ve never seen him drink. Then again, I'm gonna need a drink to listen to this too. I grab an uncharacteristic beer and sit next to him. I have no clue what the fuck to say to him. The man is a robot. One wrong word I'm dead. So I just listen.
“Turn it up,” I say.
He grits his teeth but does. Then the audio fills the room. Guys laughing like high school boys.
“Wait ‘til we tell the boss,” one laughs. “Fucking hell she’s hot as shit.”
Boss jaw clenches and he takes a large drink of alcohol. We hear Lacey screech.
“Get your hands off me. Ow. Please.”
She’s crying. It’s a lot of that. A lot of her crying and begging. Boss is listening. He’s breaking. I can’t imagine it being Rose. I just can’t. When it gets late and all we hear is more of Lacey’s torture and no confessions Boss turns to me.
“You can go. Come back tomorrow afternoon. I’ll call you if anything comes up.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah.” He cocks his head. “Go. And Sven, you can’t keep her locked up forever. Better start training her or get rid of her. Pick one. I won’t have her locked in there forever. Fair warning.”
“Understood.”
He’s right. She can either be trusted or she can’t. I quietly enter the room. Rose is under the covers. I look at the clock. It’s 1AM. Damn. We were at that a long time. No wonder I feel a little fucked in the head.
“Sven?” Rose mumbles groggily from the bed. “It’s late.”
I strip my clothes and crawl into bed next to her. I'm too tired to do anything else. She stays turned away like she always does when she’s not breaking down. I wrap an arm around her.
“Rose. Tomorrow. We’re gonna do something. I'm getting you up early because I do have to work to do in the afternoon.”
She props up on her elbow and looks at me. “You’re letting me out of here?”
“Supervised. I'm not an idiot.”
“Okay, well. I’ve been stuck in this room. It’s still outdoors, even if I'm stuck with you.”
“I don’t want you to be a prisoner Rose.”
“I don’t know what the fuck you want from me. Go to bed Sven.”
She’s not getting it! I want to wack her over the head. She goes to her side, tucks her hands under her head and starts to move away. My arm snakes out. I pull her into me. She struggles for a minute, but eventually relaxes. Her breathing evens out and mine follows. When the alarm goes off I jump out of bed. Rose slowly peels herself from the bed.
“You’re such a morning person. It’s annoying,” she grumbles.
I laugh while we both get ready. I throw on blue slacks and a loose white button down. Rose puts on a pair of ripped jeans shorts and a button-down white and black tank top.
When we are both ready I place my hand on her lower back and usher her out the door. She no longer flinches when I touch her which is a huge win. She’s not going to like where we are headed first, but, oh well. She’ll live.
I move her to the dining room. She freezes in the doorway when she sees Boss. He takes his headphones out when he senses our presence. The headphones no doubt containing Lacey’s audio. It’s clear he hasn’t slept. His suit is wrinkled, he looks tired and his hair is a mess. He doesn’t look nearly as threatening, but one would be stupid to underestimate him.
“Sven.” He nods his head. “Hello Rose. Glad to see you out of your room.”
“Yeah me too.”
“I suspect you won’t be causing trouble.”
Rose looks at her feet. “Will you ever let me see Lacey?”
“Okay time to go.”
I grab Rose’s hand and jerk her from the room. I keep dragging her behind me while she protests until we get to our destination. It’s outside in the garden by the pond. I had them bring breakfast too. Today they are serving turkey bacon, yogurt and oatmeal.
Rose stops talking and looks at the sight in front of her in shock.
“Is this a… date?”
She looks at me stunned. Is it? I guess I never thought about that. I have no clue. I just did it. I shrug.
“I don’t know. Are you gonna sit?”
“You did this?”
“Uh, yeah.”
I stare at her like she’s stupid. Cause she is being stupid. Who else would have done this?
“Now are you going to sit?”
She shakes her head several times and then looks at me.
“I don’t understand you at all. You make no sense. This is… nice. Like this is really sweet.”
“Okay.”
“And you have no problem with that? No problem that this is sweet and romantic.”
I shrug. “No.”
“You should! Men like you don’t do stuff like this. They don’t. This doesn’t… you don’t make any…”
“Okay!” I need to shut her up. I want her seated. We have limited time. “Listen to me.” I grab her arms. “A man who is scared of what people think of his actions is insecure. I wanted to eat out here, so we are. Period. Now please, dear God, will you sit?”
She sits down hesitantly, staring at me like I'm gonna poison her.
“Quit acting weird Rose.”
“I don’t know who you are right now.”
I extend my hand. “Sven Evane Xander. Nice to meet you.”
She chokes as she slaps my hand away. I laugh. She’s laughing so hard she has to struggle for air.
“Your initials are S.E.X?”
I smirk and wink. “Yep.”
“Explains a lot.”
“Does it? What does it explain Rose?” I grin.
“Oh shut up. You know you know what you’re doing.”
“Yeah, but you wouldn't. You haven’t let me fuck you yet.”
She side smiles. “Sven,” she turns in her seat, “Seriously why am I here?”
“I’ve told you so many times. You’re mine.”
“How can I be yours?! You just met me!”
I shrug. “I don’t know what you want me to say here. I felt something for you instantly. You give me something I’ve never had.”
“Why do you have to be evil? Ugh! Why? Why does everyone who actually gives a damn about me hurt other people?”
She drops her face into her hands and shoves her food aside, sending it crashing it to the floor.
“I rarely actually hurt people Rose. I'm not a good person. By any means, but I usually use other methods. I don’t actually like to see people physically suffer. I prefer to use people’s weaknesses against them. Ya know? But what if I promised that after things calm down, and my plan falls through, to try and use even less violence. I’d give you my word. Would you give me a chance then?”
“You’d do that?” She looks skeptical, but I completely would. Compromise. I rarely do it, but in this instance, well, if she’d fucking let me in, hell yeah I’d hurt fewer people.
“I need a real life too Sven. I actually do like working.”
“I know. We’ll work on it. Just let me trust you. Give me a chance.”
I push my plate in front of her since she spilled hers. She looks at me blankly. I nod, encouraging her to eat. She does.
“You’re alive with me Rose. Admit it. You eat. You don’t smoke. You’re healthy. Your eyes have life in them. You have an attitude. You stand up for yourself. You’re coming alive. You know it. I don’t treat you bad.”
I almost sound like I'm fucking begging. Oh well, I want her to see what I see.
“I know.”
She nibbles at her turkey bacon.
“This is just so wrong.”
I snatch the bacon from her and kiss her hard.
“Wrong’s never felt better babe.”
She laughs and throws the other piece of bacon at me. I eat it and wink at her. We have a playful breakfast before I have to take her back to see if we have anything new on the Castello’s. Everything is playing out just how I planned.
My emotions. Yeah, those I could have never predicted, but they shouldn’t be a problem.
Chapter 24:
Boss:
Two Weeks Later:
I’ve done the absolute minimal amount of sleeping and eating. But it doesn’t matter what I feel. It’s what she’s feeling that matters. I haven’t stopped listening to these tapes.
Every depraved thing they’ve done to her, and still no confessions that will hold up in a court of law. There have been confessions from minions, but no one high up. She needs more time with their boss. How much more can she take though?
They’ve beaten her.
Touched her.
Groped her.
Whipped her.
Burned her.
Punished her in cruel ways even I wouldn’t have thought of.
I want to die. I wish my mom hadn’t left me and I never would have become this machine. This monster. It’s the whole fucking reason I'm doing this. I hate myself. I broke her trust in every way. I’ve hotwired her family money anonymously. Like that helps anything.
It’s midnight. I'm in the main area, drinking, listening to the Goddamn tapes so I can get what I need and get her out of there. I know exactly where to go, thanks to the hard drives.
I hear the now familiar sound of her crying and then whimpering in pain. Going back and forth between the emotional and physical pain she’s feeling. Then it’ll go quite for a long while and I’ll know she’s cutting herself. Trying to cope. Trying to deal with the hand I dealt her in the only way she knows how.
I hear the cell door open. I hear her shuffle around, probably hiding what she was cutting herself with.
“Hey baby.”
That’s their Boss. I sit up straighter. There are several other men in the room. Damn it say something I can fucking use. I have every man on call.
“Care to show me your pretty little tits baby.”
I grit my teeth and dig my nails into my palm. She chokes on her cries, then screams. Wait, what’s happening? I hear lots of noises, laughter, then an ear-piercing scream. A feeling of dread settles inside me. Are they doing what I think they are? No, they wouldn’t. They didn’t when they had her last time. No one raped her. Not even they ever crossed that line.
“Hold her down for me Vince,” their sick Boss yells out drunkenly. “I said hold her!” he screams.
I see red. I slam my hand on the red button sending an alarm throughout the house. My men are prepared for this. They know the layout by heart.
“NOW!” I roar.
I run to the hallway where Sven is already meeting me half dressed, throwing on his shirt.
“We need to go. Now.”
“They say anything?” Sven asks, keeping pace with me as I bolt to my car. “You’re driving?” he asks, shocked.
“Get in” I growl. He makes sure his gun is in place and jumps in.
“What the fuck is happening?” Sven yells.
“Don’t question me!” I seethe, quickly pulling my gun out and pointing it at his crotch. I will fucking shoot too.
He knows I will because he shuts up. I drive full speed there. I can drive like hell. I'm a great fucking driver. It’s a passion of mine. Sven keeps calm. Considering what a psycho I'm driving like, it’s rather impressive.
We pull up to their compound. My men are doing their job. Distraction.
“Have my back,” I call out to Sven. Then I turn back to him. “Now would not be a good time to betray me.”
He keeps his face impassive, but I know it shocks him every time I admit I know he’s planning on taking me down. Let him try. Right now I have to get to Lacey. We follow the path we laid out when studying the map on the hard drive. Sven shoots anyone who comes even remotely close to us. I know he’s not a huge fan of violence and prefers to outsmart people, which I generally like, but right now we both know violence is in the only way. When we get close I turn to him.
“Stay here.”
He furrows his eyebrows.
“Stay the fuck here and make sure no one comes in there. There will be a bloodbath.”
I know he doesn’t want to see that. He nods and hides in a nook with his gun at the ready. Then I go in. My vision is red. The monster in me is unleashed and I have no desire to hold him back this time.
I make my way down the stairs quietly. What I see will never, and I mean never, be erased from my brain. You can imagine. It’s not something I can even say.
ARGHHHHHHH!!!!
I scream a sound of pure rage and immediately shoot the man on top of her.
Sorry Lacey.
She hates seeing people die. He falls on top of her, crushing her with his weight. She’s crying so hard. She doesn’t know how to get him off her. She’s kicking around frantically and sobbing. I shoot in a frenzy to get to her. I don’t even care about the bloodlust I once felt. I just want to get to her. That’s all I want. She keeps crying. Her tears drive me until every last one of those motherfuckers is dead. When they are, I sprint over to her, kicking aside all the dead bodies in my way. I slide to the ground and immediately push the sick fuck off her.
I know I'm no better. No fucking better, but I can’t see her hurt anymore. I can’t. It’ll kill me. They… I can’t even say it. They did that to her because of me.
When he’s off her I look her body over. My throat closes. She’s gonna die. Despite everything, she’s gonna die. She’s beaten, bruised and bloodied to all hell. Hearing it is one thing, but seeing it….
She’s crying so hard. I don’t even know where to touch her. There is no amount of strength in the world strong enough to hold up my guilt. And there shouldn’t be. I deserve to be crumbled by it. But later.
“Lacey. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.”
She cries, oblivious to my presence, eyes closed. I want to cry too, but I can’t with Sven out there. He can’t know my feelings for her. Not yet. Not when he so desperately wants to overthrow me.
“Don’t look. Okay? Don’t look.”
She’s still crying so hard. I look around the room frantically. I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to save her. To help her. She’s in her worst nightmare. Death. Blood. Pain. Violation.
“I have to get you out of here. Can you hear me?”
Her arms, covered in scabs and cuts, fly up to cover her eyes, hiding from reality.
“I'm so sorry Lacey.”
I go to slide my arms under her. I see my tattoos and gold rings glitter in the light. They all seem so stupid, so ridiculous, given what they represent in this moment. I'm Boss. I'm the one who did this.
To the one person, I respect more than any other.
She screams when my arms go under her.
“Don’t touch me! Don’t…. Help me… Someone help...”
A tear slips down my cheek. It’s the first time I’ve cried since I was a boy. I know Lacey’s never stopped screaming for help since she got here, and none ever came. I take my jacket off and throw it at her.
“Shh…” I say when she starts to panic. “It’s a jacket to cover you up. It’s okay. It’s okay.”
She doesn’t fight that. I take that opportunity to slide my arms all the way underneath her, trying to be careful of any major injuries. I quickly lift her off the ground, as to not delay her panic and suffering.
She starts kicking and screaming.
“Let me go! Get off me! Help. H... help,” she cries.
When I don’t let go and start walking her body falls. She cries quietly, knowing she won’t get out of my hold.
I pause in the cell doorway and drop my forehead to hers. “Don’t look. Okay? I'm a monster. I'm saying this to you. Don’t open your eyes.”
I pull my head away. Her
eyes flicker open a little more, only looking at me. She finally realizes who’s holding her.
“It’s you.”
“Close your eyes Lacey,” I whisper. “If you can sleep or pass out. Do so.”
She slowly closes her eyes. Tears stream down her cheeks. She grips my upper arm, trying to deal with the pain.
“You’re too late,” she whispers when we get to the top of the stairs.
Then she goes limp. I feel dead weight in my arms. I know she passed out. Her words pierce me like a knife. I'm glad she passed out. Her suffering is immense. The less hours she spends conscious, the better.
“Where there’s life there’s hope, remember little dove?” I whisper to her unconscious form. She can’t give up. She can’t.
I walk down the hall with her in my arms. I find Sven watching the halls carefully. He turns to face as. He lowers his gun to his side. His eyes flicker down to Lacey and then back to me.
“Fuck.”
“We need to go,” I say, blankly. Numb. Hurting.
We walk down the hall in tense silence. The house is eerily quiet. The taste of death lingers in the air.
“What happened down there?” Sven asks hesitantly. He figures I can’t shoot him with her in my arms I guess. I completely can. I won’t though. There’s been enough death today. Enough pain and suffering for a lifetime.
“They’re dead,” I say coldly.
“All of them?”
“Yes. Their Boss is gone too.”
“What? You haven’t been able to kill him for years. Hell, even your father couldn’t kill him.”
My rage boils over.
“It’s easy to kill someone when they’ve got their dick inside someone!” I scream.
Sven goes deadly quiet. Not one word. When we get to the car my men are waiting there. I can’t even look at the massacre around me. I have Sven send a few texts, already working my connections. How I'm going to frame everything, so this mass murder doesn’t come back to us.
“Ricardo!” I snap to one of my lowest ranking men. “You are driving me. Sven, go with someone else.”
He nods and walks off. He puts his gun away and wipes his hands on his slacks. He doesn't like what happened today, but he knows why I did it.
Ricardo opens the back door. I shift Lacey and turn to him.
