I quenched the fire blazing within and looked at the fucker now standing with his gun trained on me. His face was flushed with amusement. “We’ll see how fucking funny you find things next time we meet,” I said as Caleb released me.
He glanced back at the ten men advancing on us and laughed. “I doubt there’ll be a next time.” He jumped in the driver’s seat and the car drove away. I wished for all the fucking world to see inside and see the look on Thea’s face, to let her see mine and know I was coming for her, but the black tinted windows blocked my view.
The ten men advanced, looking like a bunch of fucking dandies in Armani suits, and with muscles built from steroids and not hard graft. The closest swung his arms and cracked his neck from side to side, gearing up for a fucking fight like some sort of boxer in the ring.
“You fuckers packing?” Caleb asked.
“Nah, who needs them,” said a burly blond as he cracked his knuckles.
“You do,” Caleb said, his tone flat, before surging forward.
My brothers and I did the same. I dashed towards the blond fucker. Time seemed to slow. A gentle breeze carried an empty chip packet along the ground. The faint sound of traffic droned in the background, drifting on the air from nearby streets.
A brief flicker of concern flashed on Blondie’s face before my fist found it with a satisfying thud.
The fucker fell to the ground and attempted to rise, but was too slow.
I kicked out, landing a gut-smashing blow.
A second later, some other fucker aimed his fist at my head.
I ducked and planted a right hook in his ribs, and second to his head, knocking him out cold.
In the two seconds it took Blondie to stand, I noted my brothers engaged with the other dandies, and that Caleb had one pinned to the wall and seemed to be asking him questions.
Blondie jabbed hard and fast with his fist, knocking my head back with the power of the blow and drawing blood from my split lip. I wiped it away with the back of my hand and swept out with my leg.
He fucking dodged, but I followed up with a knee to his giblets.
I grabbed his head and flipped him to the ground. Then grabbed it again, full on ready to snap his fucking neck.
“Wait,” Caleb said and put a restraining hand on my shoulder. “We need one of the fuckers conscious to know where they’ve taken Thea and Cherrie.”
I scanned the area and found all my brothers safe. The rest of the dandy fuckers were unconscious on the ground, having been dealt with swiftly by my brothers. The tang of blood drifted on the air as it seeped into the asphalt and gleamed crimson in the bright sunlight.
“What the fuck happened to the guy you were questioning?”
Caleb shrugged. “I bopped him too hard.”
I shook my head. “We need to call in the rest of our brothers and a clean-up crew,” I said before turning to Blondie. “I guess this is your lucky fucking day.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Thea
We arrived home at around seven in the evening. The walls, gates, and surrounding forest cut us off from our nearest neighbors and made me feel more isolated than I had in Cane’s cabin.
I waited in the car when it stopped in the courtyard, too numb to move.
“Thea,” Daniel said and offered me his hand. I took it and he pulled me outside.
No-one else greeted my arrival. He looped my arm in his and walked me to the pool house. The light was on in the kitchen of the main residence, but I resisted turning to see if anyone was inside. Not able to look at the pool house either, I focused my every thought on the pool and the paddock beyond. The water rippled in the faint breeze and the artificial garden lighting dappled its surface. The scent of chlorine and straw drifted on the air along with the sweet aromatic fragrance of petunias. A horse in the stable block on the other side of the paddock whinnied. Another part of the grounds, I was forbidden to go. A horse could too easily be used as a means to escape.
“It’s such a beautiful evening,” Daniel said. “You couldn’t have picked a better night to return to us.” Daniel patted my arm as we walked, as though he were bringing me home from a stay at a mental hospital and not as a captive prisoner. “It’s lovely, don’t you think.”
“Yes, Daniel. Although, I’m cold.”
“You’ll be warmer inside.” He ushered me into the pool house.
Having never been inside before, I noted the furniture for the first time. Everything was pristine and orderly. Two white leather sofas faced each other in the middle of the room with red cushions displayed on top. A match to the drapes that covered the window. A small glass circular table sat to one side with a vase of roses on the top, and two chairs facing it.
Daniel waved to the door on the right. “The bedroom and bathroom can be found through there. Perhaps you would like to freshen up, have a shower and change while I tell our parents of your return and arrange an evening meal.”
“That would be lovely. Thank you, Daniel.”
My heart beat as though trying to escape. I wished my feet would move as fast and follow suit, but they were stuck to the floor. I felt as though I was in the eye of a storm and a hurricane raged outside, making ready to whip me from the ground and toss me around like a ragdoll.
He paused at the door. “I took the liberty of laying out some clothes on the bed, be sure to wear them. And put your hair up.”
I winced when the door clicked shut and he left me standing alone in the room. An icy dread, colder than liquid nitrogen, clamped around my heart. Daniel had left, but I remained rooted to the spot. A sobbing gasp escaped my lips and my hands rushed up to stop it. I clutched my stomach and moved to the bedroom as though in a daze. On the bed was the red lingerie Daniel had bought me for my birthday and a short black cocktail dress.
I wanted to scream and tear it to pieces, but knew that if I did anything other than Daniel asked, he would consider all deals off and hurt Cherrie. Instead, I showered, dressed, and did my hair as instructed before returning to the living room where I found Daniel waiting.
“You look lovely,” he said and lifted a glass of champagne that fizzled and popped as though just poured.
I felt almost naked before him with the low cut of the dress. Daniel smiled and handed me my glass. I took a sip before downing the entire glass, not registering the taste. He took it from me.
“Pace yourself.” He touched my cheek and placed his hand on the back of my neck, using it to guide me to the table. After he’d pushed me down into the chair. I noted the cuffs attached to it for the first time.
My eyes darted from the chair to Daniel. “No, Daniel, please,” I said.
He lifted my chin and turned my head to look at him. “You lied to me. You’re a bad girl and bad girls need to be punished.”
“I haven’t. I promise. I would never lie to you.”
“Oh, Thea. You are such a disappointment. I can still smell him on you.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Thea
I stirred. Bright light licked at the edge of my consciousness. My chest hurt and my head and wrists ached as though both were bruised. The chill from the stone floor seeped into my bones through the spattering of straw on top. It drained my energy and muddled my thoughts. From the earthy waft of manure and the distinct scent of leather, I knew I was in the stable before opening my eyes. The soft neighing of a nearby horse confirmed my suspicions.
I lay still, unwilling to move until I had a better understanding of my situation. I focused my hearing, vaguely aware of the soft murmur of voices in the distance, but no amount of focus made sense of the words they were saying.
I remembered being in the car on the way home with Daniel, but after that, all my thoughts were muddled. I remembered the clothes. The champagne. The chair.
I stiffened and stilled my breathing. Fear pulsed through me and tears sprang into my eyes. I was too afraid to open them or show any signs of being awake. If Daniel saw me, he’d hurt me again. But nothing made se
nse. While relief that I wasn’t still in the chair washed through me, it was soon replaced by another thought. Daniel had never brought me down to the stables before, but then, he’d never taken me into the pool house either.
When I finally found the nerve to crack my eyes open, the wooden room with a gated front confirmed my location. The stall was a standard twelve foot by twelve foot. Wooden panels traveled to the ceiling on three sides. The fourth contained a wide, stable gate with iron fencing above.
Feeling the bite of the cold against my bare legs, I reached out and tried to pull my skirt down, but it was too short. I willed myself to stand and forced back the bile rising in my throat while battling nausea, churning in my stomach. On unsteady legs, I tottered towards the iron bars.
There wasn’t much to see through the bars, aside from the standard tools you’d expect to find in a barn. None were in reach, but I noted my stall was one of a number lining one side of a large stable. The door at the far end stood open, allowing entry to a night-time breeze that stirred up dust and traces of horsehair.
It had been around seven when I’d returned with Daniel and the light was fading, but now, a night-sky greeted my gaze.
The distant voices stopped, and the near silence unsettled me. Although I was loath to make a noise, I grasped the bars with both my hands and shook them to test their strength.
“Hello.” The voice startled me, and I froze unable to answer. “Hello, Thea,” it said again, and my heart soared when I realized it was Cherrie.
“Cherrie are you okay?” I asked.
The faint rustle of hay accompanied the sound of movement from a stall to my left. “Thank fuck, you’re alive. When they brought you in, I couldn’t be sure.”
I sucked in a breath. I was alive, by whatever miracle had saved me, this time. “Has... has Daniel hurt you?” I asked. “Did he... did he put you in the chair?” Her silence was all the answer I needed. I rested my head against the bars and clenched my eyes tight shut.
“Is that what he did to you?” she asked after a moment.
“Yes.”
I opened my eyes. Her pale hand clasped the bars of the adjoining stall before her head appeared next to it. I could only see them on the edge of my vision, and the view wasn’t clear enough to get a read from her face.
“Is Greg alive?”
“He was alive last I heard, but Lucky said it was touch and go if he’d make it. I’m so sorry.”
“He’ll make it,” she said, and I couldn’t help but admire the certainty in her voice. “How about you? How you holding up?”
I chuffed out a laugh. “I’ve had better days, but worse ones too. Yourself?”
Cherrie sighed. “Same.”
I pushed my head against the bars, desperate to get a better look at her. She was a tough cookie, but the strain in her voice made me believe she was hurt more than she was letting on. The brief glimpse I was able to catch showed me her skin was pale, her pink hair was flat and plastered to her head, and dark circles ringed her eyes, giving her a haunted appearance.
“Daniel has promised not to hurt you anymore,” I said. My way of offering Cherrie some small hope. “You’re to be released in two days. The same amount of time Cane kept me from Daniel.”
At the mention of his name, my vision swam, and for the first time, I worried that he might be dead. That Tony’s men had killed him.
The walls closed in around me. The dust in the air was too thick and my breaths struggled within my chest. I dropped my head against the cold bars of the gate. Dizziness threatened to overtake me, and silent tears streamed down my cheeks, though I wondered at my capacity to still cry.
“You believe him?” Cherrie asked, breaking me from my thoughts.
“He gave his word.”
“What about you?” Cherrie muttered.
“Me. I’ll be here until the day I die.”
“Which may come sooner than you think.” My mouth opened in a silent scream at the sound of Daniel’s voice. He carried another glass of champagne and took a sip. Phillip walked next to him.
“You won’t get away with this,” Cherrie said, sounding braver than I felt.
“Really?” Daniel waved his hands in the air as if to demonstrate no-one was around. “And who’s going to stop me? Your charming husband?”
“You motherfucking sonofabitch.” Her voice broke on the words and my insides broke with it.
“Mind your language,” Daniel said. “I gave my word not to hurt you, but Phillip is under no such oath.”
My temperature spiked and a new-found boldness washed over me. “No. You promised Cherrie would not be harmed. That she would be treated well for the remainder of her stay. Every member of this household is bound by that promise.”
Phillip sneered and twisted his mouth into an ugly smile. Then he reached for a yard brush on the opposite wall and twirled it in his hands. “You think so?”
Daniel glanced at him before turning to look at me. I stood my ground, refusing to flinch under his gaze. “Thea is quite right,” he said, after a moment. “A slip of the tongue and an oversight on my part, but a promise is a promise.”
He threw his glass to the ground, making a shattering sound that pierced the night air. Daniel took the brush from Phillip and ran it over the bars of my stall. I flinched at the clang of wood against metal. He pulled it back and swung it at the bars in front of me. It hit with such force, it snapped in two. I recoiled and shrank to the ground, shielding my head to avoid the splinters that flew in my direction.
“I made no such promise about you, now, did I, Thea?”
Cherrie found her voice while mine had left me. “You touch her, and I’ll rip your fucking throat out.”
“So brave,” Daniel said. “For one so vulnerable.” He dropped the remains of the brush and straightened his cuffs. “Now, here’s what we are going to do. Thea needs a lesson on how to properly behave.” He steepled his fingers as though thinking. “I’m sure I can stretch the necessary sessions to encompass two days. Cherrie, as promised, will remain untouched. But she will remain where she is. Fully able to hear every last thing that happens. When the two days are over, she’ll be free to go and tell Cane Landon exactly what I did to you.”
His gaze locked onto mine on his final words. I stood and tried to stand defiant. Whatever he was going to do was going to happen. He knew about Cane and me and had finally decided I’d outlived my purpose. About time, as far as I was concerned.
“And Thea?” Cherrie asked as though the answer wasn’t obvious.
He tilted his head to the side and turned to face her stall. “I’ve yet to decide her final fate. But rest assured, Thea’s not going to be in a state to go anywhere.”
I tried to stay calm at his words, but my insides pleaded for him to let me die, and my heart thundered, and stomach churned at the possibility of what he could do me during the length of Cherrie’s stay. Afterwards. My legs threatened to buckle beneath me, but just once, I was determined not to give him the satisfaction of seeing me crumble.
“You stay away from her, you sick fuck,” Cherrie screamed, but her voice echoed with the hopelessness of our situation.
“Bring refreshments for our guest and myself,” Daniel said to Phillip. “She’s in for a long night and I’d hate she miss anything. And bring me the chair from my pool house.”
He stood on the opposite side of the fence. His face a few inches from my own with just the bars between us. Without warning, he reached through and clasped hold of my hair, pulling me forward. The side of my face pressed against the bars. Despite myself, I whimpered while Cherrie screamed at him to stop. If anything, he pulled me closer. I thought my head would explode from the pressure.
“I thought beating a woman in this manner was beneath you,” I hissed out.
When Daniel spoke, his breath was a whisper on my cheek. “I treated you like a princess,” he said. “Beating a lady in this manner is beneath me, but you’re nothing but a dirty slut.” He brushed his lips a
gainst my forehead. “You have no idea how disappointed I am in you.”
He pulled my head back by my hair and slammed it against the bars. Pain lanced through my skull. My vision swam. My cheek throbbed and the metallic tang of blood tinged my lips. I fell to the ground in a stupor.
The click of a padlock preceded the sound of a gate being drawn open. Through my daze, I noted Daniel’s dark shadow looming over me, then felt his boot in my stomach. I rolled in pain, but knew Daniel was holding back. The kick had been hard enough to cause untold pain, but soft enough not to cause any lasting damage. Though his reasons escaped me until I remembered I had to last two days.
He grabbed a handful of my hair, pulled me to my feet, and slammed me against the wall. One hand circled my throat, pinning me motionless. My hands flew to my neck. I tried in vain to pry his fingers loose, to push him away.
I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think.
Daniel smiled, brushed the hair from my face, and stroked the grazes Jacob had left on my cheek, as well as the bruise flaming to life beneath it.
“Beg me to stop. Promise me, you’ll be a good girl. Tell me how little Cane Landon means to you. Maybe, together, through pain, we can make you pure again. We can start afresh.”
I tried not to whimper as he trailed his mouth along my jawline, toward my own. “But couldn’t stop the sob that escaped my lips.
“I can’t hear you.” He licked the blood seeping from my lips.
“Please, Daniel.” My voice came out a harsh rasp.
He yanked me forward by my neck, only to slam me against the wall again. “Please, what?” He pushed his whole body tight against mine and trailed one hand over my breast and down my stomach. My skin tightened and crawled.
“Please, fuck off and die.”
Daniel laughed. The sound was as cold as a bucket of ice. “I’m surprised to find I like this new feisty Thea. Maybe, I’ll keep you around to use as a plaything, after all. But rest assured, you will soon be begging me to stop.”
Forever Midnight MC Collection: Books 1-3 Page 12
