“Call the doc and have him meet us there. Let the others know what we’re walking into too,” Rafe directed as he loaded the location on his in-car map, all while speeding in the direction we needed to head.
If I weren’t already sure he was driving the car as fast as he could, I’d have pleaded with him to go faster.
We had to get to Cara. We were already too late to stop her being hurt, but I couldn’t lose her, and I would sure as hell make sure every single bastard that had a hand in taking her, touching her, died a bloody and violent death.
The image of her being torn apart by that fucker, her taut body clearly in so much pain, and just imagining how much agony she had to be in, in her head too – it was making me wild. The monster, who lived within me, was going to get his chance to come out that night, that was for sure, and no one better try and stop it.
CARA
I didn’t know when I passed out. Everything had been a blur of devastating loss, pain, fear, my fight to remain silent, and acceptance that there was nothing I could do but lie there and allow man after man to tear me to pieces over and over. After the monster fired those shots, I didn’t have it in me to care about anything anymore.
I guessed at some point the pain had become too much and unconsciousness had taken me. But the peaceful darkness hadn’t lasted for long, and as consciousness returned, so did the thrumming agony drumming through every inch of my body, and the heart clenching devastation of knowing what I would see if I turned my head. But I couldn’t. I wasn’t strong enough to face the truth again.
No one was on top of me now, and around me the room was quiet and still. My entire body was vibrating, but whether that was because of the freezing cold, the pain, or my adrenaline still begging me to fight, I wasn’t sure.
There was no fight left in me though. I knew that. I had fought day after day, for so many years of my life, but I wouldn’t bother anymore. What would I even be fighting for? There was no part of myself left to try and hold on to.
Everything that had remained, had been stripped from me, right there in that warehouse. The broken parts of myself that I had worked so hard to piece and stick together again and again through my life – they were gone, obliterated into dust. Any hope I had that I could find a new life and start over, that was gone too. There would be no more hope after what I had lost that day.
“Move her back into the room and give her some water. I don’t want her dead, yet,” I heard Mikhail Kozlov command from somewhere behind me.
As heavy footsteps moved closer to me, I used everything I had to turn to the side so I could curl my naked limbs in against my body tight. My hands were still bound together, and there was blood and other substances, which I wouldn’t allow my mind to label, all over me. Tears spilled down my cheeks as I pressed my face against the top of my knees, but still I didn’t let a sound slip out. It was the only piece of control I had been able to hold on to, and for some reason, my mind wanted me to cling to that.
As rough and brutal hands grabbed the top of my arms and started to lift me from the cold and bloodied concrete, I closed my eyes and willed the darkness to just take me again. I couldn’t be there anymore. No more hands on me. No more pain or loss. No more.
I was ripped up to my feet, but my legs wouldn’t hold me up. I was broken physically, as well as mentally - exhausted, bruised, and cut up, with a head that felt like someone had taken a sledgehammer to it. Movement made me lightheaded and nauseous, even with my eyes clamped closed. For a moment as heat rushed up my body in a wave, I thought I might get my only hope and black out.
But that didn’t happen, because a door at the far end of the warehouse exploded with a deafening boom, which caused my adrenaline to surge and bring me back. The hands holding me released me, and I just collapsed down to the ground again. I didn’t even look up at what was going on as gunshots rang out around me. I just curled up as tight as I could on my side, right there on the cold ground, and gave up once and for all.
CHAPTER 2
DARIO
We had no option but to enter the building Brax had brought us to, loudly, since the place was secured well, with a steel reinforced door as the only entrance point.
Our men had made short and quiet work of taking out the two guards patrolling the outside, while I set up an explosive charge to blow the door open.
Brax was with the doctor, a safe distance away. He’d held on, the tough fucker, despite a bullet wound to his gut. The doc had seemed confident he could get the bullet out and stop the bleeding, so we’d left him to it.
All Rafe and I could focus on right then was getting to Cara. Of course we cared about Brax, and Arran and Callan who were also inside, as far as we knew, but Cara—we’d seen that video. We had to get to her.
We blew the door, and Rafe led the charge, me right behind him and all ten of the guys that we had with us following closely.
The warehouse was pretty dark other than a small section in the centre which was lit with what looked like some stage lights. I counted five armed guys as they started shooting our way. We returned fire, but it was a matter of moments before our greater number had them rounded up and disarmed. I watched to makesure they were secure as our men started to zip tie their hands, then turned to scan the space again.
Rafe was running to Arran and Callan, both of whom were tied to chairs, looking pretty roughed up, but whole.
“CARA!” Arran roared the second Rafe removed the gag from his mouth, and he was nodding to his right. I started running that way, just needing to get to her.
My steps stuttered to a stop when I finally saw her, on the ground, the shadows of the space hiding her from being easily seen.
She was naked, bloodied, and shaking violently. She was curled up tightly into herself, her hands tied at her wrists, and she wasn’t making a single sound.
“Cara?” I said softly as I forced myself to push through my rage at seeing her that way, and my terror that I could lose her, and moved closer. I quickly scanned the darker space around me, making sure it was clear, before dropping to my knees at her side. “Cara? It’s Dio. Can you hear me, baby?” I asked, but she didn’t move or utter a sound. I leaned in closer and tried to move her hair back so I could see her face, but as soon as I touched her, she jolted violently and curled even tighter into herself.
There were bruises, cuts, and grazes all over her body. She had a nasty cut on her temple that I could just make out through her hair, which was soaked in blood. Her body was also covered with smeared blood and, what I realised with utter devastation and blood-curdling fury, was semen.
“Rafe!” I called, knowing if she were going to allow anyone to get close, it would be him.
