AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Yes, bride. Give her back, and I might not supply your Russian and Mexican friends with enough ammunition to kick off a world war.”
And there we have it. He’s their supplier.
“Is that where you got my number?” James asks. “From our friends?”
King starts laughing. It’s a knowing laugh. Can’t say I like it. “Return her.”
“I’m curious,” I say, assessing Brad again, seeing a man on the edge. “One hundred million?”
“Rich, depraved men with too much money will pay up to two hundred,” he drawls, “for a virgin.”
What the fuck? The temperature in the room drops to sub-zero, all eyes bugging.
“They like to get a lead on them, you see,” King goes on. “Train them young. Make sure they know who their master is. Break them in just right.”
I can’t talk. Can hardly swallow.
“You don’t want to fuck with me,” King says candidly. “I eat men like you for breakfast. Return my virgin.” He hangs up, and I slump back, astounded.
“She’s a virgin,” I breathe, looking at Brad. Fuck. I didn’t see that coming.
Brad seems to come round from his daze, looks at us all, then walks off, going into the men’s changing room.
James gets up and follows him, and, of course, I do too. I walk in behind James, and we find Brad on the bench. I know what’s running through his head. “I bet you’re thanking your lucky fucking stars you resisted temptation, mate, because I don’t even want to consider the consequences if King doesn’t get his one-hundred-million-dollar virgin back.” We could take on the Russians, even the Russians and the Mexicans together, but add King, his arsenal, and his love of explosives into the mix? Yeah. I don’t mind admitting that we’d be biting off more than we could chew. “This is fucked up,” I say, laughing. “Everything we believe in, my own personal integrity, being put into question, but I don’t see what other options we have.” I look at Brad. I’ve never seen his eyes so fucking wild. “It’s Pearl or it’s all of us.”
52
BRAD
* * *
James and Danny are watching me. Assessing me. Trying to figure out what the fuck is going on in my head. They’d never guess.
He doesn’t want you or Danny or James. He only wants me.
Leave.
I should get Pearl and leave. But I know if I did that, the whole family would still be exposed. In danger. For the first time in our lives, we are out of our depths. And I can’t even be sorry. Would I change things if I knew then what I know now?
No.
Not a thing.
“It could be worse,” Danny quips, almost laughing. It’s a nervous laugh. One I have never heard on The Brit.
“How?” I ask, looking up at him. “How could this be any worse, Danny?”
“Well, you could have fucked her.” He laughs louder, uneasy, and looks at James. He’s not laughing. I’m not laughing. And when Danny registers that, his amusement slowly fades until his expression is nothing but worried. “Brad,” he says quietly. “Tell me you haven’t fucked her.” There’s an unmistakable pleading edge to his tone. “Please, tell me you haven’t fucked Pearl.”
I inhale and drop my eyes to my feet. “I can’t.”
“Oh fuck,” he breathes, dropping his ass to the nearby bench.
“Shit.” James turns into the lockers, pushing his head to the metal.
“You fucked a virgin?” Danny asks, the disbelief in his tone cutting.
“I didn’t fucking know.” I grind the words out, my fists balling.
