by Nicola Jane
Most guests go through the body scanner. The head of security ushers us around with a wink. Bonnie hooks her arm through my own. “I hate shit like this,” she utters. “A bunch of rich asses pretending to give a crap about the charity. It’s an excuse to wave cash around and drink champagne.”
“I’ve got to get Ziggy and then we can leave.”
“You really think it’ll be that simple?” she asks. I shake my head.
We stay by the bar, giving me the perfect view of the entrance. After an hour, there’s still no sign of Reggie, and I’m beginning to get impatient. I head to the bathroom, and as I’m passing the female door, Anna steps out, almost running into me. I push her back into the bathroom so fast that she gasps. There are two other women in there who look surprised to see a six-foot male in their bathroom. “Get out,” I hiss. They don’t wait around to be asked twice.
My lips crash against Anna’s before the door closes. I feel around for the lock, clicking it into place. I rub my hands over her waist, along her ass, and pull her flush against me. “Fuck,” I pant against her lips. She wriggles against me and I realize she’s pushing me away. I grip her wrists and hold her still. “Don’t fucking push me away,” I growl.
“He’ll come looking for me,” she hisses.
“Then let him find me balls deep inside you,” I snap, lifting her onto the sink unit and stepping between her legs. She hits my chest hard in protest. “You fucking him, Anna?” I growl and she stills, avoiding eye contact. “Are you with him? Like for real?” I ask. She shakes her head but still won’t meet my eyes. “Anna,” I hiss.
“What do you want me to say, Riggs? I stepped back into the lion’s den and now I’m paying the price. I have to play along or he’ll kill me. Do you know what the thought of leaving Malia alone with that monster does to me?” she cries. “He’s changed, and not for the better. If I was you, I’d leave London like he wants because he won’t stop.”
“Until he’s dead,” I say, and she laughs sarcastically. “You think he’s invincible?” I ask.
“I think he’s dangerous. I’ve spent days watching him torture a woman who I think deep down, he loves. He makes her watch us.” A choked cry leaves her throat and she sucks in a deep, shaky breath. “She sobs because she loves him too, but he’s fighting it. He’s scared to love her in case it makes him weak like you.”
“Like me?” I repeat.
“Love is what will bring you to your knees. That’s what he keeps saying. Your love for Ziggy. Your love for Michelle.”
“My love for you,” I mutter, stroking my thumb down her cheek.
“No,” she snaps, pushing my hand away. “You don’t love me. Get Ziggy and Michelle back and then leave London. None of this is as important as them. You can move your club anywhere.”
I step back, confused by her behaviour. “I’m not leaving London. I’m not giving him what he wants.”
Anna jumps down from the sink unit and straightens her black silk dress. “Then you’re stupid. I’m doing what I have to, to survive. You need to do the same.” She heads for the door.
“I’m coming for you, Anna. You and Malia.”
She pauses with her back to me and her hand on the door. “I don’t want you to, Finn. We’ve said too much, you’ve said too much, and you hurt me.” My name on her lips makes me shudder. She continues. “Ziggy will be returned to you tonight. Michelle is still locked up somewhere. He’s using her to push you out. Keep everyone close. He’s still watching the club and he’ll take anyone he can use to win this war.”
“What if I was to take you,” I mutter, moving behind her and wrapping my hand gently around her throat. “Right now,” I whisper into her ear.
“Then he’d kill Ziggy. He realized quickly that our bond wasn’t enough to get you to leave London. That’s why I have to play along. If I’m no use to him, he’ll kill me.”
“Tell him the warehouse is being watched by the cops. It’ll gain his trust. Wait until I have Ziggy back before you tell him.”
She glances over her shoulder at me. “You need his trust.” I run my hand along her collarbone and down her chest. She closes her eyes and I know she feels my erection pressing against her ass. I slip my hand into her dress and into her bra, and she hisses. “This is for emergencies,” I whisper, leaving a small cell phone in her bra. “It’s small enough to hide anywhere. And just for the record, I’m sorry for what I said. I was pissed. But I meant what I said about you being mine, Anna. No words, no argument can break that. So, I’ll be coming for you and then I’ll make you listen to me properly.” I unlock the door and step out of view as she rushes out.
I re-join Chains and the women. “Everything okay?” he asks.
“I saw Anna,” I whisper in a low voice so only he can hear me. “Ziggy will be returned tonight. I gave her information about the cops raiding the warehouse,” I add.
His eyes almost bug out of his head. “Fuck, Riggs, are you thinking straight?”
“Are you questioning me?” I ask, raising my brow. He shakes his head. “Good. She needs to build trust with him. The mayor will need to find another way to bring him down.”
Reggie glides towards me with Anna on his arm. He gives a smug smile. “Good evening, boys,” he says.
“Where’s Ziggy?” I snap. “We did what you asked.”
“Follow me,” he says and smiles. His hand slips down to Anna’s ass as they lead us outside. He takes us out into the parking lot, where there’s a black minivan with dark windows waiting by the entrance. “There’s a further shipment coming in tomorrow. Let me know when it’s clear for the boat to dock,” says Reggie. He taps the side of the van and the driver steps out.
“Too much traffic at the docks will attract attention. It can’t be a daily drop-off point,” I say.
“You’ll make it work,” says Reggie firmly.
“Just give me my kid,” I growl. The driver opens up the side door to Ziggy lying lifeless on a mattress. Anna gasps and covers her mouth. “What the fuck is wrong with him?” I yell, moving to the van. Reggie pulls out a gun and points it at my head. I freeze.
“Do we have a deal, Riggs?” asks Reggie.
“Reg, please. Stop this,” whispers Anna, glancing around nervously.
Reggie grins at her. “What did you say to me?” There’s a dangerous edge to his voice. “Are you defending this piece of shit?” he asks, clicking the safety clip of the gun.
I press my head against the gun and stare hard into Reggie’s eyes. “Do it,” I growl. “Let’s see how you get your shit into the docks without me.”
He smiles with ease, then pulls Anna into his side and turns the gun on her. She closes her eyes and grips the hand that holds her tightly. “Maybe I need to start pulling the trigger on the people you love,” he says.
I shrug my shoulders. “I don’t want her now she’s fucked you. I’m bored with these games, Reggie. I’ll bring your goods in tomorrow, but if it alerts the cops, that’s on you, I’ve tried to warn you.”
Reggie shoves Anna away from him and she stumbles and falls to the ground. I ball my fists, desperate to beat the shit out of him and to scoop Anna up from the ground. Instead, I reach into the van and gather up my son. He doesn’t stir but he’s breathing.
Chapter Seventeen
Anna
We arrive home and I go straight upstairs to check on Malia. She’s sleeping soundly. I remove the small cell from my bra and hide it deep in Malia’s wardrobe. Reggie never comes in here, so it should be safe. I move to the bathroom to wash up the cuts to my hands and knee, which I grazed when I fell. “Get undressed,” mutters Reggie as he steps into the bathroom behind me. I glare at him through the mirror.
“You pointed a gun at my head,” I snap.
“You should be thankful I didn’t pull the trigger,” he quips.
“Where’s Michelle?” I ask coldly. “Why didn’t you give her back to Riggs?”
“Michelle is enjoying her stay. She’s earning her keep well
and is proving popular with my customers.”
“What are you talking about?”
He pulls his cell from his pocket and holds it out to me. I watch the screen as a video recording begins to play. I recognize Michelle, naked and laughing as she leans over a table and snorts a line of white powder. A man snakes a hand around her throat and licks her face. Another man slaps her across the face, then she opens her mouth as he stuffs his cock into it. I pass the cell back, unable to watch any more.
“She isn’t in her right mind. You can’t get her high on drugs and then say she’s enjoying that. She’s too high to make a choice.”
“I don’t give a fuck if she’s consenting or not, Anna. Neither do they. She’s a crackhead. She gets what she needs and she pays for it. I gave her a choice— she could go home with Ziggy or stay at the whorehouse and work for me. Guess what she chose.”
“That’s unfair,” I sob. “Of course, she’d choose drugs, she’s an addict. You preyed on her weakness.”
Reggie rolls his eyes and loosens his tie. “Enough of the dramatics. Get naked.” I ignore his request, and instead, I stare at him blankly through the mirror. The sex doesn’t bother me. I willingly slept with him for many years. We’re married, so I don’t feel violated even though I don’t want to have sex with him. But he’s got peculiar tastes, tastes that he acquired later in our marriage.
He smirks, probably delighting in my lack of response. He grips the silk dress at the shoulders and tugs it down my body. I stare at myself in the mirror. Bite marks cover my breasts and stomach. Bruises where he’s restrained my ankles and wrists too tightly are visible.
“Gorgeous,” he whispers to himself. He turns me to face him, pushing me against the washbasin. He sucks a nipple into his mouth as he unfastens his shirt, and as he shrugs out of it, he bites the soft skin of my breast hard. I hiss and grip the unit behind me. He smiles, his eyes alight with lust. He sinks to his knees and runs his hand down my leg before gently kissing my inner thigh. I grip the unit again when he sinks his teeth there and sucks hard enough to draw blood. He leans back to admire his handy work and I wonder for the hundredth time what possible pleasure he gets out of this. He pushes his face between my legs, and I scream out loud when his teeth scrape against my sensitive area.
I manage a few hours of unsettled sleep. Reggie didn’t ease up for hours last night and my body is feeling the after-effects of that as I stretch out. The bedroom door opens, and Crystal comes in carrying a tray full of breakfast. Reggie’s new cruel thing is to have her serve me. She avoids my eye and places the tray on the bedside table. “Crystal,” I whisper. “Please stay and eat.”
She shakes her head. “He’ll never know. He’ll be in his office now for hours.” She stares longingly at the croissant. “Please,” I beg. I hold it out and she takes it carefully. “I don’t know why Reggie is doing this to you,” I say.
“Because you’re back,” she mutters.
“But he doesn’t want me. I don’t get it.”
“He’s obsessed with you,” she adds. “He told me that. He needs you nearby, and he doesn’t know why, but he can’t be without you.”
“That makes no sense,” I mutter. “He treats me like crap. How did you end up here?” I ask.
“We met in one of his clubs.” She shrugs, nibbling at the pastry. “I fell for him.”
“Even after everything he’s done these last few days?” I ask, and she nods her head. I feel like I’m looking at my eighteen-year-old self. I was infatuated with Reggie and how powerful he seemed to be. No one could touch me with Reggie by my side. “There are other men out there who will protect you and not treat you badly,” I sigh. “Reggie will never treat you good.”
“You’re wrong,” she mumbles. “He did before you came back. He’s testing my loyalty. We’ll get back to how we were,” she nods.
“Breakfast for two?” comes Reggie’s voice and Crystal drops the croissant to the floor and spins to face him. He lingers in the doorway, looking back and forth between us.
“She was helping me eat,” I say. “My arms hurt.”
“Is that true, Crystal?” he asks.
She shakes her head. “Sorry,” she mumbles.
“You’re hungry?” he asks, and she nods. “Why didn’t you just say?” he asks. He steps into the room and closes the door.
“I have to sort Malia,” I mutter, not liking the uneasy feeling spreading through the room. I throw my legs over the side of the bed.
He points a finger at me as he saunters towards Crystal. “Stay,” he growls. I grit my teeth, knowing whatever he’s about to do will be cruel. He wraps his hand into her hair and pushes her to her knees while he unfastens his trousers.
“Please, Reggie,” I groan. “I can’t watch this.” I cover my face with my hands.
“If you don’t, then I’ll make it worse for her,” he says. He wants to humiliate her and make her feel worthless. “Every protest, every sob, and I’ll make it worse. Am I clear?” he asks. I nod my head.
Crystal takes his cock eagerly and I hold back my tears. She’s so in love with him that she’ll do anything to be close to him. He fucks her mouth so hard that she gags several times. Tears stream from her eyes and as he gets closer to release, he chokes her until she passes out and then slaps her to bring her around. I clench my fists so hard, my nails cut into my palms. I want so badly to stab him and to make it all stop. When he finally releases into her mouth, it’s with such force that she chokes. He places his hand over her mouth, forcing her to swallow. He pulls her to her feet and brings her face close to his. “Next time you are hungry, you come to me. Understand?” She nods her head and he shoves her away from him. “Get out of my sight.”
“Why are you treating her so badly when I know you love her?” I ask bitterly once Crystal’s left the room.
He laughs. “I don’t love anyone. She shouldn’t have put a gun to your head. Only I am allowed to do that. She thought she could make rules up around here.”
“So you thought you’d put her in her place?”
“Get dressed. We have some business to attend to,” he says. I stand and let the sheets fall away from my bruised body. His eyes run over me.
“If a man did this to Malia, would you be angry?” I ask.
His face turns stony. “Get dressed, Anna.”
“Would you want this for her?”
Reggie leaves the room, slamming the door behind him. I smile at my small victory. Despite his cruel behaviour, he loves Malia very much, and I’m sure he’d kill any man who treated her like he treats women.
The car stops outside a warehouse. “Why am I here?” I ask.
“Because I don’t trust you to stay home.”
“I could just as easily run from here,” I point out.
“And leave Malia?” He smirks because he’s right. I could never run unless she was with me, and he’s doing a good job of making sure we’re never out of the house together.
I follow him through a packing warehouse and realize I never passed on the information to Reggie about the police. I glance behind me at the entrance. Nothing seems out of place. “You package toys?” I ask as women all around me stuff dolls into boxes.
“Something like that,” he says.
He pulls a plastic sheet back for me to step through and we’re at the back of the warehouse, where two long tables run down the room, women in underwear standing on either side, spooning white powder onto weighing scales. Men dressed in black and holding guns are positioned down both sides of the room and at the entrances. “Shit,” I hiss. Reggie smirks.
“Sit there,” he tells me, pointing to a stool. I sit and he turns to a man holding a gun. “If she moves from that seat, shoot her in the leg.” The man nods once, and Reggie heads off towards an office at the back of the room.
I watch the women packing the drugs like it’s nothing, like what they’re handling won’t destroy lives. Reggie is gone for at least half an hour. My ass is numb and I’m relieved whe
n I see him coming towards me. “Onto the next thing on my list,” he says, and I groan. This is going to be a long day.
I wince at the sound of a fist hitting flesh. I close my eyes and picture my life before all of this, even before I ran from Reggie. Yes, he was controlling, and yes, he beat me, but at least I had some freedom. In the daytimes when he was working, my life was easy, and I never witnessed anything like this.
A man hangs on a meat hook, his hands cuffed. His head is lolling to one side and both eyes are swollen shut. His top half is naked, and bruises are appearing in front of my eyes. Reggie wipes his hands on a piece of cloth and throws it beside my feet. “Finish him off,” he pants to the two men standing nearby. I pick up the cloth and stuff it in my bag, then follow Reggie from the warehouse.
“What did he do?” I ask.
“Marshall Ankers is a scumbag,” he says through gritted teeth. “Running back and forth between two men at war.” He gives me an annoyed look as we climb into the car. “Why do you care anyway?” he snaps.
“I don’t,” I shrug. “Just wondered.”
Next, we go to what Reggie refers to as ‘the club’. On the outside, the building is covered in graffiti and looks abandoned. It’s not the sort of place you’d stumble across because the buildings all around it are empty and derelict.
He pushes through a metal door and we go down some stairs. He knocks three times on the door at the bottom and someone looks through a peephole on the other side of the door. It opens and Reggie shakes hands with a huge man dressed all in black.
It’s two in the afternoon and the place is busy. It smells of sex and alcohol and a low beat pumps out in the background. The lighting is dim, which gives it a dirty feel. There are some couches near the bar area where five women are lounging in underwear. None of them are engaging in conversation, just staring around the club idly. They look unkempt and in need of a good wash.
