by K. C. Stone
“Dom,” a soft voice called. I turned to see Cara standing there. “She’s just overwhelmed. Give her some space. A lot has gone on over the past few months, and she needs to blow off some steam. She can’t do that being here under everyone’s thumb.”
“I can’t keep her safe if I give her space! Just like now, she’s off on her own, with no guard. Putting herself in danger!” I shouted back, then lowered my voice. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell at you. But your daughter makes my job so hard sometimes.”
Cara nodded in understanding. “You don’t know where she went?”
“I think I might. That’s the only reason I’m not tearing the world down. I saw a message on her phone that came in just before she took off. Gia asked her to come over. I’m hoping she went there. Still, she knows she wasn’t supposed to leave.” I pulled at my hair. “I’ve got guys out looking for her and I’m waiting on word.”
Pacing the room, I had a sick feeling that something wasn’t right. I decided to message her again, even though the last several calls and texts hadn’t been answered.
Dom: Angel, please just let me know if you’re at Gia’s. I love you.
Hitting send, I prayed I got a response soon. I called Viper.
He answered immediately. “Hey, brother, I was just going to call you. I think we need to talk about some shit. How much do you know about Gia?”
I frowned. “Not much. Tech dug into her but didn’t find a lot. Why?”
Viper sighed. “Well, Tech went back over everything when we hit dead ends and dug a little deeper. Something about Gia wasn’t sitting right with me or him. Seemed like she was fucking hiding something.”
I stood straighter, that bad feeling getting stronger. “Like what, brother?” Frustration settled in. “Why don’t you just meet me in my room and we can fucking talk face to face.”
“On my way.”
Hanging up, I looked over at Cara. “Cara, how close are Gia and Jules?”
Looking at me quizzically, she asked, “What do you mean?”
“I mean, other than the fact that they’re half-sisters. Tell me about their relationship.”
“Until recently, they were inseparable. But after Gia’s father died, things changed. They were still close, just not as close. Gia pulled away, which is completely understandable. I think it hurt her to see Sal with Jules after she lost the man she thought was her dad.”
I glanced at my phone, even though I knew it hadn’t rung. I was feeling sicker by the minute. “Let me ask you this, do you think Gia knows about Sal being her father?”
“I don’t really know. Why do you ask?” She stepped closer, hands on her hips. “Dom, what’s going on?” Alarm rang in her tone.
“I’m not sure. Viper said something may be off with her and Tech is looking into it.”
“What do you mean, something seems to be off? Dom, do you think Jules isn’t safe with Gia?”
“I don’t know. She probably is. We may be reading too much into it because we’re on edge.” I squeezed her shoulder, trying to calm her when I was far from it. “Don’t worry, Cara. I’ll take care of it.”
“No!” she shouted. “She’s my daughter, Dom. Don’t tell me not to worry after everything we’ve gone through!” Her chest was heaving and anxiety radiated from her even as she got all up in my face.
“I know, but it could be nothing. Viper’s heading to my room. Let’s go find out what they know.” I turned for the door. “Damn, woman, you are scary,” I mumbled under my breath.
“Ha, you think that’s scary? Just wait. If you hurt her, I’ll show you scary.” She pushed ahead of me down the hall.
I walked into my room and skidded to a stop. Not only was Viper there, but Tech, Ezra, and Locke too. Their faces were grim. This wasn’t going to be good news.
“Fuck! What now?” I barked. I noticed Locke watching Cara intently as she nervously glanced back and forth from Locke to the floor. “What the fuck?” I mouthed to him.
The slight shake of his head said we’d talk about it later.
Ezra brought me back to the moment. “We got a huge issue. A big fucking problem.”
I glared at him. “Damn it, just spit it out! I got enough shit to deal with!”
“I don’t trust Gia,” Viper rushed out, causing the room to go still. “When all the shit with the kidnapping went down─”
“What do you mean?” Cara interrupted, glaring at Viper.
“I just mean,” he bit out, obviously annoyed over being interrupted. “When her supposed best friend in the whole damn world gets kidnapped and is sitting in the damn hospital, she visits what, fucking once for all of ten minutes?” He shook his head.
I nodded, my blood boiling. “I never thought about it either with everything going on, but that is weird.”
“For someone that was so close to your family, she didn’t appear fucking broken when Sal was killed. She was adamant about going back to her apartment. And she never came back to visit Jules, not even a damn message asking how she’s doing. Plus, at the funeral she was hanging with some dirt bag, talking all hush hush.” He heaved out a breath and closed his eyes. “Then Tech came back with this.” He took a photo from Tech and handed it to me.
Looking at the photo, my heart dropped. It was a picture of Gia with three guys, one of whom was dead. I knew that because I’d tortured him before Locke killed him. I looked up in disbelief, my heart dropping into my shoes even as the top about blew off my head. “You’re fucking with me, right? Please tell me this is some fucked up, sick joke!”
“I wish I could, brother.” Viper looked as sick as I felt.
Locke took the photo from me. His eyes widened. “Where’s Jules?” he asked.
I frantically dialed Jules’ cell again as my blood ran cold.
“She’s at Gia’s. Probably,” Cara said, sounding as crazed as I felt.
Fall Out Boy blared from the bedside table.
“Fuck!” I roared as I stared at her phone.
I turned and ran from the room, dropping the picture on the ground as I raced to once again save the love of my life, the sounds of heavy boots echoing behind me.
Jules
“Did you tell her?” A male voice, deep and dead, registered in my ears as I slowly came around.
“Not yet. I was getting there when the damn pill kicked in.”
Pill? What pill? I kept my eyes closed, not wanting to alert them that I’d come to. I listened to every word my hazy brain would absorb. The fog clouding my mind tried to take me under again. I fought it off, desperate to have my faculties about me so I could get out of here.
“Good. I wanna see the fear in her eyes when she finds out,” the male voice said.
“Shut the fuck up!” Gia bellowed. “This is my plan. It was my boyfriend that was killed!”
“Yeah, by your sister’s boyfriend,” he spit out.
“And he’ll get what he deserves, won’t he?” she seethed.
My breath became erratic as I listened, trying to hold back the tears and rage. My mind raced, but I couldn’t fully comprehend what she was saying. Whatever she’d drugged me with still swirled in my brain. No way could Gia have been a part of any of this. She wouldn’t do that.
I heard the loud slap of flesh against flesh before I felt the burn spreading across my face.
“Wake up!” Gia demanded as another slap rang out and the searing heat on my cheek burned even hotter.
I groaned as Gia and the guy I didn’t know grabbed my arms and yanked me up to a sitting position in the bed. My head snapped back and hit the headboard. Not wanting to open my eyes yet, I stayed there with my head leaning all the way back.
“What in the hell did you give her?” the guy asked.
I listened intently, hoping she’d tell him. I let my head lull to the side.
“Oh, just a little white pill or two I got from your brother,” Gia said, that evil smile evident in the sound of her voice. “Don’t worry, you’ll be fine in a few hours.
” She pried my eyelids open.
Flinching, I snapped them back shut as the brightness of the room seared my eyes. I pulled my head forward, fighting to stay conscious. “Why?” I whispered, my throat scratchy.
“Why what? Why did I drug you? Why did I show you those loving family photos? Why did I call you here?” She smirked. “I mean, honestly, princess, there are so many different whys. What do you want to know first?” Disdain seeped from her tone as she tapped the toe of her favorite black and gold Chanel flats.
“Why to all of it.” I was finally able to hold my eyelids open, but nothing more than a sliver. Looking up at her, at the girl that I’d spent my whole life with, the girl that I’d loved as a sister our whole lives, I knew that girl was gone. In her place I saw a woman who was broken and full of hate. The girl I loved was gone, hardened by death, hate, and pain, her sweetness turned black.
“Well, sweet sister, do you mind if I call you that? I mean, after all, we are sisters.” My eyes flew wide as I tried to remember what had happened before I passed out. It was all a blur. “The look on your pretty little face tells me you have no clue what I’m talking about. Ohh goodie.” Gia sat on the bed and grabbed for my hand, but I jerked it away. “Let me be the one to crush your perfect world. You might not get a kick out of it, but I’m pretty sure I will. I’m looking forward to seeing the reactions on your face.” She jumped up again.
The guy with her stepped forward, but I still couldn’t make out his face. “Gia, come on. Quit dragging this out. They’ll be coming for her. We need to split.”
Gia glared. “We have time.” She turned back to me. “Hmm. I guess I can give you the short version. That way we can move along with my plan.” She tilted her head. “My slut of a mother and your, I mean, our father, they had a beautiful love affair. One especially heated night, our father knocked up my mother. Then they pawned me off on my dad. Kept the lie buried deep. Until the day I got sick. My “parents” thought I was sleeping, but their argument woke me up. My pseudo dad was looking at my chart where it gives important health information in case of an emergency.” I gave her a quizzical look, not really sure where this was going. “Did you know they put blood type on there? Anyway, both of my parents are type A, so when dad saw I was O positive, well, you can guess his reaction.” Her eyes turned black with fury.
I tried to sit up, rage and denial pumping inside me. “No. You’re lying!”
Gia smiled. “Oh no, I’m not. When my dad passed away from his heart attack, I thought I could deal. After all, I had a second father. Mom begged me not to tell Sal I knew. She was afraid it would destroy your perfect existence.” Her face twisted. “She didn’t care if my family was destroyed!”
She stood there staring at me as my mind tried to comprehend all of it. But the effects of the drugs still in my system were clouding my thinking. Just as I was about to say something, she started talking again.
“So, I decided to wait for my opportunity. Then I met this guy when I went to visit my family out in Jersey. He was perfect,” she said, a faraway look in her eye. “He introduced me to some people and we started planning. By this time, you’d met Dom. And honestly, I was sick of how perfect your life was. How Sal would make sure nothing dirty ever touched his princess. I was done with playing the best friend, so Ernie and I, we got some other players involved. Everything was perfect until your boyfriend and his merry band of biker trash got involved. Then everything went to shit and they killed him!” Her voice raised, emotion taking over.
A pounding on the front door caused Gia to pause. She looked at her watch. “Damn, my story will have to be put on hold for a while, sweet sister. I have someone here to see you.” A malicious smile crept across her face and she licked her lips. “John’s been waiting a long time for this.” She said in a sing song voice, heading to the living room and closing the door behind her.
Her words sent a chill radiating through me, past my bones and into my soul. Panic and terror rose fast as I scrambled on the bed, looking for a way out. One word echoed in my head. John!
The drugs finally started to wear off, and I realized I was tied down. I pulled at the restraints, trying to free myself, just as the bedroom door was kicked open.
35
Dom
Racing to the apartment, my mind was on one thing. Getting Jules out of there. After that, any fucker who’d touched her would die.
I slammed my fist into the dash of the truck as Viper drove. “I will fucking kill her! I don’t care what people think about me killing a woman! That bitch is going to die painfully.”
Gia had my girl, my angel, my lifeline. I was sick of people trying to break her. When Viper pulled up, I jumped out of the truck before it stopped. Racing up the stairs, I spotted some fucking wannabe biker guarding her door. The little prick was from the club in Jersey where Ernie came from.
I saw him before he saw me, and by the time it registered I was there, my knife was already at his throat.
“Fucking scream or alert anyone I’m here, and I will slit your throat from ear to motherfucking ear!” I growled between clenched teeth. The piece of shit pissed his pants. “What the fuck!” I shook my head and looked over to see Ezra and Viper coming up the stairs. Handing him over to Ezra, I said, “Take this shit stain back to the compound and put him in the shed. I’ll deal with him when I’m finished here.”
Ezra gave a quick nod, then walked the guy down the stairs as Locke and Tech made their way up.
Viper stood tall beside me. “We got your back, brother.”
I nodded. “Let’s do this shit.”
I pounded on the front door, hoping she was dumb and hadn’t caught on that we knew about her yet. When she answered, the look on her face told me she was hoping I was someone else. Just as she started to scream, I wrapped my hands around her throat, squeezing.
I saw red as my blood boiled.
Leaning in, I whispered in Gia’s ear as she struggled. “Listen here, you stupid bitch. I swear that by the time I’m finished, you’ll be begging to join your piece of shit boyfriend.”
At that statement, her eyes went wide. She must not have figured out yet that we’d put the connection together. A sly, evil smile crept across her face. “Wow. Her shit must be gold to have more than one man fighting to get a piece of her.”
I growled and slapped her across the face so hard she fell to the floor. “What the fuck have you done?” I bit out, glaring down at her as she had the nerve to laugh.
“I got this bitch, brother. Go find your girl!” Locke barked at me as he stormed in the door and grabbed Gia by the hair and dragged her to her feet.
Stomping through the apartment, we opened every fucking door we found, hoping Jules was behind one of them. Viper kicked down the door to a bedroom and screams erupted from it. Jules. I tore down the hall when he yelled my name.
“She called John! He’s coming to get me!” Sheer terror echoed through the room on Jules’ scream.
I ran into the room just as Viper released the last strap that’d held her to the bed. She saw me and leaped from the bed. Thank God we’d found her in time. It wasn’t until she was in my arms and I truly knew she was safe, that my own fear started to calm.
I held her tight to me as I walked out of the apartment and to the truck. The guys already had Gia and the other fucker loaded up, heading out. As we climbed in the vehicle, I situated her on my lap, not even wanting to release her to sit on the seat beside me. I couldn’t let her go just yet. We didn’t say a word on the way home. Both of us were still too scared, too shaken by what had happened.
I’d almost lost her. Again.
Pulling up to the compound, I paid no attention to the others. I just wrapped Jules in my arms and headed to our room. I was gently laying her on the bed when Cara came in.
I glanced over my shoulder. “Call Doc and tell him to come look at her. She doesn’t look too bad, but they drugged her.” I turned my full attention back to my love. “It’s going to be okay, love. I
promise. I’ve got you.” I whispered the words as she stared at me, terror still blazing in her eyes.
Whipping out her cell, Cara called Doc, and within fifteen minutes he was in the room. I left Jules with Cara watching over her and walked to the door when Locke motioned for me. I stayed right by the door, not wanting her out of my sight.
I spoke to Locke while I watched Doc check her over. “Did you string them up?”
Locke nodded. “Yup. Placed her in front of him so she can watch everything.”
I looked at him then. “Damn, Locke. You’re a sick son of a bitch.” I couldn’t help my smile. “Shit, I’m with you, though. I want it known to anyone, you fuck with our girls, and we will destroy you.” Doc stood up and closed his bag and I rushed to Jules’ side.
I shook his hand. “Thanks, Doc.”
“Anytime, Dom.” Doc made his way out of the room, nodding at Locke on the way.
I sat on the bed and pulled Jules into my arms, and she looked up at me with red but clearing eyes. “I’m okay. Doc said that the drugs are passing through my system and I just need rest.” She curled into my side.
Sucking in my first real breath since she was taken, I gently cupped her face in my hands. I looked directly into her eyes. “Baby, I don’t care what the hell you say, I’ll be damned if you ever leave this compound again.” She opened her mouth to argue and I pressed my thumbs against her lips. “I’m sick of shit happening to you. From now on, you’re on house arrest.” She frowned and I grinned. “If you want to argue, I’ll just have to spank the shit out of you. That, my love, is an order!” I placed a kiss on the tip of her nose and tucked her into bed.
She grabbed my hand and her eyes pleaded with me. I understood what she was trying to tell me. Stay. Please stay with me. Jules swallowed hard. She wouldn’t ask out loud, because she knew I wanted vengeance. For both of us.
But she was more important.
I caressed her cheek with my thumb. “I’ll be right back, baby. I just need to talk to the guys right fast, okay?” She looked surprised, then nodded.
