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“Why didn’t she show?”Oliver asked.
There were so many answers to that question. The one thing I knew, Missy wasn’t stupid. She was conniving, and she was going to fight for whatever she thought she deserved. And right now, she apparently had her sights on us.
“Maybe she thinks it would be best to wait until more time has passed since Brooklyn’s abduction,”Gideon commented.
“She’ll show up, eventually. And when she does, we’ll know how to deal with her,”I said.
Knowing we weren’t doing any good sitting in the empty club, the four of us made our way back to our car. Jaxon checked his phone every few minutes with a sigh, hoping for word from Cain. The man wasn’t clear about the type of lead he thought he had, and it was putting Jaxon on edge.
At home, I quietly left my brothers and went to my room. I resisted slamming the door in anger, because breaking things wasn’t going to change the situation. Throwing my cup against the wall the day before didn’t make me feel better, just created a dent in the wall that will remind me of how I lost my cool. I roughly yanked my clothes off as I walked toward the bathroom, dropping everything at my feet.
I cranked the water in the shower to as hot as I could stand. Stepping under the water, I stepped right to the wall and leaned my forehead against the cool tile. I didn’t know how long I stood there, but when I straightened to wash myself, I felt stiff and exhausted. Thinking about Brooklyn and the constant fear made my body feel as if I had participated in a triathlon.
Water still beaded my skin as I flopped onto my unmade bed. I laid there naked, trying to not imagine what could be happening to Brooklyn in the darkness. I would kill Lyle with mybare hands if he hurt our woman. Even if he didn’t, his life was forfeit.
Chapter
Twenty-Eight
Brooklyn
I wasn’t as confused comingfrom under the effect of the drugs this time. The horror of my situation came back in a blast. Some questions answered from the time with Missy, some additional that I still didn’t understand. Waking up still on the cold concrete of the warehouse had my heart thumping loudly in my chest.
I didn’t move a muscle as I listened for sounds around me. Everything felt so quiet. As I shifted, I was surprised to find that my bindings had changed. As soon as I realized my wrists were free, I shot up into a sitting position.
Sun streamed through the high dirty windows of the room. I blinked rapidly against the sudden light. As I looked down at myself, horror settled in my gut. My clothes were gone, shreds of fabric sat in a pile nearby. I was left in my bra and thong, which did nothing to hide me from any eyes that could be watching me at the moment.
As the shock of my missing clothing still rolled around in my mind, I took stock of the rest of my body. My wrists were free, but there was something new. My ankle was wrapped in a leather strap that was closed with a fucking padlock. I pulled at the strap, tried to slide my fingers under it, but there was no gap between my skin and the leather.
Tears sprung to my eyes as I pulled and yanked at the rope that was wound around a pillar and then attached to the leather strap with a tight, intricate knot. I stood up and tried to pull with all my strength, but neither the rope nor the leather cuff would give. As I tried to push the cuff down my ankle, it dug in painfully and I cried out.
I collapsed back onto the concrete, the tears I was holding onto, streaming down my cheeks. If there was sun, that meant I had been drugged through the night. I couldn’t be sure if it was day two or three. What I did know was my men hadn’t found me yet. And things were getting serious.
More questions formulated in my head. Was Missy selling me to a sex ring? Was this just her trying to torture me further? Did her partner have some sick sex slave kink, and I was just there to fulfill his desires? Or was this just the next phase of her staging my murder?
I knew without a doubt, Missy’s goal was to get rid of me so she could move on with the Knights. She wasn’t stupid enough to believe that they would move on so easily if there was no news of my abduction. Getting rid of me permanently was the only way to cement the next steps in her plan.
A male voice filtered into the room then, someone on the other side of the door. Immediately, a foggy memory triggered something that felt real and tangible, but I could barely reach out and grasp. It was on the edge of my mind and I was positive I could hear it. It’s time to come home, Bee. The realization of whose voice it was caused me to go frigid. Fear caused me to start clawing at the leather cuff again, shoving my fingers under it, scratching my skin. Anything to try to force myself free.
The door across the room opened and when I looked up, my nightmare materialized into the sunlight. Lyle slowly walked across the room, his eyes eating up my exposed flesh, a delightful gleam on his weasel face. His dull brown hair was slicked down on his head, in an attempt at a fashionable style, but it only made his forehead look larger. It was impossible to look at him and imagine what reason I thought I needed him so badly years before.
Realizing I was on full display for Lyle, I crossed my arms across my chest and pulled my knees up, trying to hide my bottom. The movement seemed to entertain him, as he tilted his head to the side and a sick smile crawled across his face. When he got closer to me, he didn’t come within reach at first, instead, he circled me. I moved in a circle, to keep him in eyesight the whole time, afraid to allow him an opening.
“I so hate seeing you like this, Bee,”he said.
“If you did, you wouldn’t have done it. I knew Missy couldn’t be working alone.”
“That woman is infuriating, but she has some positives. Her cunt isn’t bad either,”he said with a shrug.
I couldn’t help the disgust that flashed across my face. Instead of seeing it for what it was, Lyle showed his teeth in a smile.
“Jealous, Bee? Well, don’t worry. I won’t touch her again. I have you back,”he said.
“I won’t allow you to touch me,”I said, my voice coming out with a harsh edge.
Lyle’s head went back as he laughed loudly. He had circled back around to the front of me and, quick as lightning, he stooped, grabbed the rope that was tied to my ankle and yanked. My foot was pulled from me, causing me to fall back. I hit my elbows on the concrete as I struggled to catch myself and not hit my head again. Tingles ran up my arms and I collapsed onto my back.
Before I could back up, Lyle stood over me, his feet planted by my hips, a large knife in his hand. He squatted over my stomach and ran the knife along the scar he had left on me, his gaze shining with delight as he pressed above my breast and the point nicked my skin. I hissed out a breath, but I didn’t take my eyes off of him.
