My eyes fly around the room looking for anything out of the ordinary. Or anyone. After everything that has happened, paranoia isn’t something to be underestimated.
Andreas’ words from the other night ring in my ear, but all I see are Emily and Gabby. They both look to me with questions in their eyes, and I’m sure all they’ll see on my face is guilt. I try to mask it, hoping to find a way out of this.
“What’s going on?” Gabby asks, stepping forward through the noise around us. There's enough accusation in her tone that I almost believe whatever is going on is my fault.
“Hello, Gabriella.” Shit. Andreas appears at the side of our table, and a flurry of men surround us, careful not to draw too much attention in the crowds.
Gabby’s expression registers her brother, first with surprise and then with hatred. She takes a step into him, apparently ready to attack, her hands balled at her sides.
“Ah, ah, ah.” He stops her in her tracks with a simple flick of his fingers. I follow their direction and see that Emily is now in the presence of two large men, hands latched onto her arms, one concealing a gun aimed in the low light. Tears glimmer in her eyes, and I’m punched in the stomach with the guilt they deliver to me.
This is my fault.
“Not again, Andreas,” Gabby snaps out.
“Quiet, bitch. You don’t get to say what happens here.”
She crosses her arms over her chest, visibly defying her brother, and keeps closing in on him.
“Don’t make this personal, Gabriella.”
“Personal?” Gabby’s disgust is palpable, even from my vantage point. “You sat and watched as I was raped and did nothing to stop it. As far as I’m concerned, you’re dead to me,” she seethes, spitting in his face. Two men grab her arms before she gets any further with her disgust, pulling her away from Andreas.
As he takes the handkerchief from his tux pocket, I slink back, stunned at what’s happening in front of me. My heel slips on the edge of the low step from our table area, and I fall, crumbling to the ground. From both sides, I’m flanked by further men, pulling me to my feet with rough hands.
“Don’t fucking touch me,” I shout, trying to slap them away. My eyes swing to Andreas again, fury starting to override any other feelings. “Why the hell are you doing this?”
“Come on, Hope,” Andreas replies, giving me all of the attention. “You don’t think I’d just let you get away with what you’ve done. You don't run out on us. I warned you. I told you to watch your back.”
“Hope, what’s he talking about?” Gabby grits out.
“Take her away,” Andreas shouts through the continued cheers in the room, dismissing Gabby. She struggles immediately, slipping from one man’s grip and rounding on him again.
“Don’t you remember what happened last time I was taken, Andreas? How did that turn out for you, huh?” She struts forward and punches him square in the shoulder. Andreas’ face clouds with anger and he grabs her arm. His men swarm around her, trying to contain what’s happening amongst the charity partygoers.
“You did this? You betrayed Vico to Yakuza?” Gabby’s scorn is clear for me to hear as she’s walked out with Emily and Andreas’ men. “You're the fucking leak?” Her eyes narrow accusingly at me, and I have to fight the urge not to defend myself.
Everyone slips through, swallowed up in the throng of people all looking to have a good night. Andreas creeps towards me, dismissing the men who have me in their clutches.
“Looks like things haven’t worked out for you,” he brags, snatching my arm into his hand.
“Don’t count on it.” My positivity is false. This situation couldn’t be more dire, and I have zero control over any of it. “Where are you taking Gabby and Emily?” The least I can do is try to get an insight to what their plan might be.
“Somewhere we can ensure the Yakuza get back what Cane stole from them.”
“See, this is all to do with Cane. Don’t drag us into it.” My automatic reaction to hearing Cane as the catalyst for all of this is still one of hatred.
“Oh, no. You’ve made this far too easy. Bringing Cane and Vico down will secure my next step on the ladder, plus a reward. You’ve done me the biggest favour, following me that day.” His thumb rubs across my cheek. Revulsion breaks out over my skin as his touch lingers and he allows his eyes to crawl over my body.
“You’re sick, Andreas. Benjamin and Quinn will never let you get away with this.” I heave myself from his grasp, part of me looking for escape and not caring what happens to Emily or Gabby. It’s all Cane. All of this. If they hadn't come here…
“I’m willing to take my chances. I’ll even let you reconsider which side you play for. It’s not too late to ensure you get out of this alive.” He licks his lips, and I’m transported back to the streets of New York, having to look past the individuals who wanted to spend time with me and focus on what the next few hundred dollars would mean instead.
Not now.
“You’re delusional if you think I’ll sleep with you.” I turn my nose up at Andreas and hide the fear that’s beginning to fester in my stomach. He’s isolated me from everyone, kept me alone, although we’re still in the stadium full of people. His next move isn’t clear, although something tells me he won’t kill me. I hope.
“Shame. We’ll see how forgiving my sister is when she learns just what you did to set up her husband.” He snatches my hand back to him and pulls me through the building, a pace in his stride that I struggle to keep up with.
We don’t leave the way we came in. Instead, Andreas marches us through a maze of rooms and corridors in the depths of the building before we burst through a fire escape door into a dark, underground car park.
He tugs on my arm, despite my protests, until I finally use all my strength to pull back. Screw this. I'm suddenly fifteen again, using my skills to get out of trouble on the streets. I slip my feet from my sky-high heels and plant them on the cold concrete, ready to run to… somewhere, anywhere, but no sooner have I taken a step than another man steps from behind one of the pillars. I run right into him, bouncing off his wide, intimidating torso to the ground.
“Hope, you disappoint me.” I look back at Andreas from the floor and see him nod. “You could have been useful to me.”
Pain explodes across my eye, sending me into darkness.
Voices. I hear hushed voices.
“No, I want to know what the bitch has said.”
I recognise Gabby's voice, and I’m aware that we’re moving. As my mind begins to wake up, I can feel the gentle movement of a vehicle. I’m on my side, an ache along the side of my body I’m resting on.
“Wake up, Hope.”
Gabby’s infuriated tone makes me re-think opening my eyes, but I pull myself up to sitting reluctantly. We’re in a van. Emily and Gabby are sitting on a small bench running along the side. I right myself and look at them. Expectancy is leveled at me from both women.
“I’m sorry,” I start.
“For turning us over to the Yakuza? What the hell, Hope? You’re lucky I’m focusing on how to get out of this mess, and not what you’ve done.” I look and notice the venom in her eyes, as if she might well attack me at any minute. “I can only speak for Quinn and Nate, but if they don’t kill you for what you’ve done, I can’t imagine Vico is going to be too pleased with his mistress selling him out.” I scowl at her, frustrated at this whole situation.
“I didn’t sell out Benjamin. I’d never do that.”
“Only Cane? You stupid bitch. There isn’t much of a line separating them at this point.”
“Well, I guess I fucked that part up,” I snap at her. Gabby’s snide comments don’t do anything to keep me calm or help me think of a way out of all this.
“So, you admit to setting up Quinn and Nate?”
“Yes.” My voice echoes inside the tin can. Screw her and her mouth.
“Wow. You are a vindictive bitch.”
“Shut your mouth. You have no idea why I�
�ve done what I have. Until you do, you don’t get to judge me.”
“Oh, yeah?” Gabby leans forward, her thick, dark hair hiding much of her face, but I can hear the malice in her voice. “I swear to God, I'll rip your face off if anything happens to Nate and…
“Tell us, Hope.” My eyes look over to Emily as she cuts in. She's been quiet all this time, and for someone who seems so kind and at odds with this world, she looks remarkably calm tied up in the back of a van. “You owe us the truth.”
I shake my head as anger stirs the tears that seem permanently settled behind my eyes, not sure I owe any of them anything. “Please, Hope.”
I stare at both of them, resolution settling inside my stomach because of the situation we're in, the one my actions have put us in. I didn't mean for all this. I just wanted vengeance on a family that abandoned us and threw me and my mother away like trash.
“I’m a Cane.” I whisper the words like I’m ashamed of them, looking at the metal of the van rather than them. I suppose I am in a way, ashamed of my father at least.
“Sorry, what?” Gabby questions. I look back at her, chin rising at her attitude.
“A Cane, Gabby. I’m Quinn and Nathan’s half sister.”
Silence descends on the van as the two Cane women take in what I’ve said. I take the moment to gather my thoughts, glad that they’re taking in the information. Maybe they'll be able to understand what it's been like for me on the outside, or maybe they won't.
“I don’t have a lot of time when it comes to betraying family, Hope,” she spits out.
“Really?” I don't care what she thinks. “Well, considering your precious family doesn’t even know I exist, I think I get a pass, huh?” I chuckle lightly, disdain in my tone as I remember the long nights I endured because of Cane. Not that either of these two know. Perhaps they'd change their fucking minds on my treachery if they had even the slightest comprehension of how my life has been.
“How did you find out?” Emily again. Her soft voice makes me want to answer her, trust that she’ll hear me. Maybe it's cleansing the horrors again, getting rid of them. She smiles, as if she doesn't blame me for anything.
“My mother didn’t hide it. Quinton Cane Senior was the love of her life.” My voice quivers as I start my tale. “She was some social climber and was his mistress for a while. He promised he’d leave his wife, the usual spiel I expect, but then she fell pregnant.” I pause, imagining my mother at my age—dressed up, excited to be in the presence of the man she loved. Happy for her future. “He didn’t want to know her after that. Sent her away to New York where she slowly died of a broken heart.”
“So, you decide what? That you’ll just sell them out to the Yakuza as revenge for their shitty father? He was pretty shitty to them as well.” Gabby again. Every time she pushes back, showing me nothing but attitude that I’d love to wipe off her smug face.
The van banks right and we all stumble in our seats, trying to stay upright. “Nate and Quinn got all sorts of crap thrown at them, and…”
“Yeah? They had it tough growing up, did they?” I snap out. “They went hungry most of their childhood because their mother was too drunk or out trying to earn some money to keep a roof over their heads and forgot about them? Or, when they were close enough to sixteen that she didn’t care, did their mother send them out to the streets and make them sell their bodies to make the rent?” She frowns at that and lowers her glare. “And after doing that for a few years, were they forced to continue to let the scum of New York take them for whatever they could? Because when your mother's sick, Gabby, and despite how cruel, and horrid she’s been all of your life, you don't just let her die. You do what you need to do to pay the bills. I fucking did what I needed to do because of them and their fucking life.”
My breathing is ragged, my eyes wet with tears, but my chest is filled with anger. The same anger that had me picking up the gun, that made me pull myself up and work towards this plan, to leave the house and meet with Andreas. It fuelled all of my actions, all because of Cane.
“It sounds like it was your mother who put you in those positions, not Quinn or Nate.” Emily's soft voice again, reasoning with me, cutting through Gabby's crap.
“You might think that, but it was because of them—his boys—that he wouldn’t have anything to do with my mother again. She’d go on and on about how he had his sons, how he didn’t need another heir. It was my fault she wasn’t with the love of her life.” My eyes stare blindly at the tin can we're in, seeing her vicious face whenever she looked at me. I close them to shake the image away, and then look back at Emily. “She blamed me, Emily. She regretted having me, resented having to put up with me, but I was her only link to him after he threw her out.” She nods, her eyes searching mine in understanding. I turn away, guilt mixing through my blood at where we are now. “How fucked up was that?” I sigh. “She planted the seed of revenge. I wanted them to know what it’s like to lose everything, to have nothing in the world. No comfort, no wealth, nobody to rely on. Because it could have been them. If things were different and he'd left them and stayed with…”
My voice trails off as I get lost in all the poison from my mother, her voice still shouting inside my mind. Everything I set in place to make it to this position to help ruin Cane is because of her. But it’s too big a cost. A cost to the man I love. The life I loved. That wasn’t taken into account in my plans. I didn't even think anyone could love someone like Benjamin in the beginning.
I dash my tears from my eyes and pull my knees to my chest, isolating myself from the women staring at me. It might have been a mistake to acknowledge who I really am to them, but right now, I don’t have much else to lose.
It's what it is now. Nothing more, nothing less.
The hatch that separates the back of the van from the cab slides open, and Andreas’ laugh fills the space.
“You know, I couldn’t work out why you had it in for Cane so much. What a fucking perfect story. And the boys don’t have a clue.” He stares at me, a lewd smile checking my body over again. “This is priceless. Be ready to tell your little tale again, Hope. I want to be there when Quinn finds out what you’ve done, and that he has a little sister,” he finishes, leaving my view and slamming the hatch closed again.
I’d forgotten that Andreas was riding with us, but really, my truth was well overdue.
The van pulls to a stop a short while after. Gabby and Emily sit up as the door opens, both of them looking out, desperate to catch a glimpse of Nathan or Quinn, but there’s no one in sight. Wherever they are, I’m positive both will be fighting for the women they love. I'm not sure any of them will fight for me now. Why would they after what I've done?
I turn my own head, knowing no good will come of anything anymore, and find Andreas standing outside with a grin on his face.
“Now the fun really starts,” he says.
I know there’s no fun for me, and I resign myself to the fate that awaits.
Twenty-Five
Boats. I hate boats and we’re on one. A big one. I can feel the vibrations beneath me, the dull sound of an engine droning. I stare blankly around the space, unsure what the fuck is coming next. I’ve been alone since we got here. My limp body was tied to this chair, hands behind my back and attached to the metal, and then nothing. No Cane boys. No interrogation. Nothing. I don’t even know if I’m being watched so I’ve stayed slumped to show the drug is still doing its goddamn job. It’s not, not fully anyway.
My wrists twitch in the bonds, quietly trying to move the cable ties around. They’re tight, but not enough so that I can’t get some leverage against them. There’s nothing of use in this room. A few more chairs and some old scattered containers, signs of wear on the innards of this ship.
We were together for the ride over here. I watched Quinn and Nathan in a pissing contest with some of the men. Didn’t work. The fucking riot that erupted nearly had two Yakuza scum over the side. We were separated after that, and I was hauled through t
he decks, no sign of the other two before I was dumped. Alone.
It’s fucking monotonous.
After a while some noise starts out in the corridors around this room. Footsteps echo through the walls, quick and hurried. At least six sets of them, two of them dragging their asses and making the movement hard work. I’d smirk if I dared give myself away. The Cane boys are obviously making themselves felt. Still, I don’t move. I’m not moving a goddamn muscle until it’s useful to me. They’re alive. It’s a good start.
Then the goddamn door opens, finally, one man’s heavy footfalls coming in from behind me somewhere. I stay latched onto the view in front of me, eyes directed at some rusting remnants of an old dividing wall in the space. He wanders around in front of me, a suit showing some fucking pretence of importance.
“The great Benjamin Vico.” Yeah, that’s me. “Not such a concern after all. She said you might be, but here you are.” My hands twist in the bonds a little again, trying to manoeuvre my wrists to where I can reach. “No point pretending. I know the drugs will be wearing off now.” I’ll give him something then. My eyes turn to look at him slowly, head moving slightly. The fact these fucks had to drug me should prove a point. Didn’t see them drugging the Cane boys. “Talking yet?” No.
Not to a goddamn monkey anyway.
I stare, eyes like fucking slits because this cunt is getting all kinds of fucked up before I leave. He’s one of those pompous asses, chest puffed out like he owns the world. He doesn’t.
“My name is Andreas Alves.” By the look of his smug grin, that’s supposed to mean something to me. It doesn’t, other than the fact that this must be the brother of Nate’s woman. Yakuza scum is all he is to me, an American who defected. Sad fuck.
He pulls one of the chairs up and comes closer, his beady eyes attempting to threaten me in some way as he sits. Self-important dick. If I thought it useful, I’d rip his fucking head off his shoulders. “How does it feel to be so vulnerable, Vico?”
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