We all stand and I pull my gun. “Fucking take one step, Porter, and I’ll shoot you in the foot!”
He points his gun toward my side. “Go ahead, I’ll put one right back in you.”
Dad slams his fists on the table “Both of you knock it off, or so help me I’ll make you sorry! Guns on the table, now! All of you!”
Porter glances over at him, with his stormy blue eyes before he huffs and stomps over to slam it on the table.
Dad picks it up and disarms it, removing the sleeve before placing them on the table. We all do the same until all our guns lay dismantled on the table.
With that out of the way, he clears his throat. “This is what we’re going to do. As of right now, she’s missing and so is your hit, Sacha. We’ll let Michail think she was kidnapped by him, when he calls to find out what happened, you’ll tell him that he never showed and you’ve been trying to track him down. You tell him you haven’t heard from Josie and that you’ll work on finding them both. I figure we have a week maybe two tops before he gets impatient.” His brown eyes meet mine. “That means you have to convert her to our side within that time. You must be absolutely certain she has come to an understanding before you return her to her father with proof the man is dead. We’ll take care of the photos in another location, so he doesn’t happen to connect his death happening at the bakery. We’ve already taken care of his car. It’s been crushed into a cube and set on fire, no one will be able to ID it. I’ll take care of his body personally to make sure it’s never discovered even a hundred years from now.”
I run my hand through my hair. “I don’t know how to get her to believe me. She thinks I’m full of shit and a serial killer, I tried to tell her the truth.”
He shakes his head. “Of course she doesn’t believe you, you killed a man in front of her. I’m certain that girl idolizes you. When you did that it shook the foundation she has with you. You’re going to have to get that back. I’ll bring something over as proof for her about our families’ histories. But you have to get her to trust you again. It’s not going to be easy, but you have to do it fast.”
My heart hammers. I’m normally the cool and collected type, but when it comes to Josie I feel like I no longer know which way is up. “Okay. Yes, sir.”
He looks at Beckett and Silas. “You two can go. Get your jobs done and report back. Don’t breathe a word of this to anyone.” His gaze then goes to Porter, who paces like a caged panther. “And you, come with me. We need to have a talk.”
He picks up his gun and Porter’s putting them back together. “We have a plan in place. It should work. Michail is a genius when it comes to business and deals, but an idiot with everything else. This should play into our hand just fine.” His gaze meets mine again. “As long as you don’t let anything slip about what has actually happened. And, Cason, if she can’t be turned, we have no choice but to kill her and blame it on the bodyguard. Do you understand?”
My blood runs cold at the mere thought. I nod. “Yes, sir.”
They all leave through the front door of the small cabin. It’s a safe house, one of many, used for various reasons. We also torture and interrogate when it’s needed. I didn’t bring her to one of the houses where that happens. This one is for if we’ve been caught and have to lay low while records and other things are scrubbed. It’s a one-bedroom, but I’ve reversed the lock on the bedroom door. Eventually, I have to let her out of the binds, but I can’t let her leave the room. Not until I’m certain that I can trust her.
I don’t want to see her hateful look again, but I can’t leave her in the binds forever. I need to set her free of them and let her use the bathroom. I’ll keep using the binds off and on until I’m certain she’s not going to fight me at every turn. I can take her on, but it’s exhausting fighting her when I’m trying to not hurt her in the process. I’ll just have to make her see that I’m not the bad guy. That she can trust me. That I’m still the man who would do anything for her.
With a sigh, I take off my holster and leave it on the table before pushing up the sleeves of the black shirt I wore to kill Sacha. The less intimidating I look, the better. It would help if I didn’t also have a busted nose.
Making my way down the short hall, I open the door. It’s almost dusk at this point, and hardly any light makes it through the trees outside to shine through the window.
She turns her head to look at me, it’s clear she hasn’t stopped crying. I switch on the light and make my way over to her. My eyes widen at the wet dark mark in her sweats. “Oh, baby, I’m so sorry! I should’ve come in here sooner.”
I pull the tape off her mouth and she whimpers, “Don’t look at me.”
I gulp and I run my hand over her hair. “Don’t be embarrassed, this is my fault. I should’ve taken you to the bathroom sooner, but I wasn’t thinking.”
I move to untie her wrists and ankles, all her movement caused the ropes to get tighter. Her hands and feet are bright pink. I hadn’t expected the meeting with my family to take so long. I have to use a different binding method on her from now on. Get some chain and chain her to the bed so she can’t go further than the bathroom which is across the room from the entrance.
She moves her arm but it flops at her side. “I don’t think I can move.”
I shake my head. “Don’t worry, I’ll help you.”
Placing one arm under her knees and the other under her back, I lift her and she gasps. “It hurts.”
I nod. “I know. I won’t tie you like that again, but this is what happens if you run, keep that in mind.” It pains me to be slightly cold with her. She doesn’t deserve any of this, but there’s so much at stake. Not just for me, but her as well. If she says something to her father about what she saw, he’ll have me killed, but on top of that, she’ll get the nasty reality that everything I told her was true and she should’ve trusted me.
Turning, I carry her into the bathroom and use my foot to flip up the lid. I then set her down on it before helping her get off her soiled pants and underwear, all the while trying to avert my gaze to her face to give her some bit of modesty, even though every part of me wants to look down and perhaps get a glimpse of the pussy I’ve been dying to taste for a year. Some of the feelings must’ve come back in her arms because she tries to move them in front of herself. “Don’t look.”
I toss her soiled clothes out the door so I can wash them later with the bedding. Reaching over to the deep clawed tub, I plug the hole and turn on the hot water. It will take a moment for the hot water to kick in. We try to keep our safe houses up to date, at least we do with the ones that are meant for living in, but I don’t know the last time the water heater got a tune-up and it hasn’t been used in a while.
Crouching, we’re about head level and I can look her in the eyes better without towering over her. I place a hand on her shoulder. “I’m so sorry you had to experience that, Joie. I?”
“Don’t call me that. You don’t get to call me that anymore. You’re a monster.”
My heart aches. “Josie, please. Don’t say that. I’m not a serial killer. I don’t go around killing people to get my rocks off and I would never hurt you.” I raise my hand to her cheek and she moves away from it.
I reach over to test the water and add some cold so it won’t scald her. I look back at her. “I know you hate me now, but I’m hoping you’ll still hear me out eventually. I’m going to get you into the bath. The soaps are in that little alcove right next to it. All I ask is you don’t try to escape or run. There’s nowhere for you to go and when I catch you it’ll be back to the bed like you were. If you’re good, I can at least let you walk around the room. Okay? I need to go change the bedding so you have somewhere comfortable to sleep when you’re tired.”
