AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Gabriel leads his own little community. We didn't dig too much into the specifics of what their stupid society represents because, quite frankly, it doesn't matter. These communities always think there’s nobody else out there like them, like they’re something special. The truth is, there are more of them than they realize. The whole "Secret Society" bit is actually pretty common. We've worked with several people who are part of them and have hired us for various jobs. Usually, they need someone to take out the competition for them because it's against their rules to murder within. The solution is always to hire outside help. That's where we come in.
Pulling up to the house, we stop at the gate, waiting for Barrett to buzz us in. Nobody gets through this gate without one of us allowing it. The house is surrounded by a twelve-foot-tall iron fence equipped with both motion and heat sensors. Any slight difference in the normal ecosystem surrounding the place sends an alert directly to our phones. Seb and I don't know much about the ins and outs of it all, but we have been trained enough to know when it's a real threat versus a squirrel running along the fence line. The gate has a biometric scanner that can only be overridden through a program on Barrett's phone. We neverhave to worry unless, by chance, we encounter a better hacker than our guy. The odds of that happening, though, are very slim.
The gate creaks open, and we pull the car through, waiting in front of it to ensure it fully closes behind us. We always wait. We don't want to let any unexpected guests sneak in. Our ruthless reputation wasn't earned by letting someone sneak up on us when our backs were turned. Once the gate closes, Seb drives up the long driveway, pulling my car right in front of the door. I slide out, lifting her bridal style again so she is back where I want her, against my chest. She smells nice. It's the perfect mixture of grapefruit and roses. It reminds me of my childhood.
The guys and I all grew up in foster homes. It's how we all found each other. None of us really enjoy talking about that part of our lives. We got lucky when we were placed with Ms. Monroe. She brought us together. She ran the only group home where I didn't experience any kind of abuse. Seb and Barrett were already there when I was dropped off. Initially, she put us all in a room together because we were the same age. Seb is the oldest, but only three months separate his birthday and mine. Barrett’s birthday falls right in between ours. We formed an instant connection.
Letting yourself get close to people is dangerous when you grow up in the system because you never know when that will be taken from you. You can be moved in the blink of an eye, and the harsh reality is that when you’re moved around so much, it is almost impossible to keep in contact.
Somehow, westayed with Ms. Monroe until we all aged out. We got a place together and built a life for ourselves. A few years later, when she passed away, we decided to take her last name to honor her memory. It felt like the right thing to do to solidify ourselves as a family.
I was in the system the longest. I have very few memories of my birth mother before she was killed and none of my father. My memories of my mother are all a little blurred at this point, but I remember her smell. It’s so similar to how this girl smells. Having another female so close to me with this similar scent has me feeling more protective than usual. I want to hide her from the darkness of the world.
Fuck, I can't be thinking like this. Seb keeps reminding me she's a job and nothing more. We need to make sure we keep our sights set on the prize. Apparently, once we figure out how to best use her to get Gabriel to give us the information we need, she will be out of our lives for good. I'm not completely sold on the idea, but there’s no way she will even want to be anywhere near all of us once she wakes up and realizes we’ve taken her.
Seb walks ahead of me as I carry her back to the smaller building behind our house. From the outside, it appears to be a regular pool house. We designed it that way on purpose. The top floor is your run-of-the-mill pool house, equipped with a bathroom, outdoor shower, bar, and lounge area. Behind the bar is a small storage room filled with miscellaneous supplies. Hidden along one of the shelving walls is a door leading down a set of stairs.
We walk through the pool house and make our way down the staircase. There are two floors below the main building. The first level is an underground surveillance room filled with computer screens and images from various cameras around the property. This is Barrett's sanctuary. Lately, the only feeds he’s pulled up are the ones from the girl’s house. Now that we have her, we don't need to watch them anymore.
The bottom level houses our own personal prison cell. Seb places his hand on the scanner, which opens the door to the lowest level. If someone ever managed to find their way down here, they would never be able to access this room without one of us.
This room is smaller because it was split. Half of the space down here is an entrance area filled with a few chairs. The other half is a sealed room similar to an interrogation room but fully furnished with everything one might need for a long-term stay. The door to the room can only be opened from the outside. There is two-way glass, so we’re able to sit down here and watch our prisoners if needed. The glass appears to be a mirror from the inside, but anyone who’s watched a crime show or two in their lifetime can figure out this is not the case.
I step into the room and carefully place her down on the bed, wiping the hair from her face. She has a small button nose and light freckles that can only be seen up close, as if she spent a little too much time in the sun. She is fucking gorgeous and doesn't even realize it.
We leave the room and shut the door, sealing the locking mechanism on our way out. Seb walks over to the chair closest to him and takes a seat, so I follow. Now we wait and see what kind of reaction she will have to waking up somewhere strange. We don't want her to hurt herself, so staying close is the only option for the time being. We need to be around if we have to go in and sedate her again. If that happens, we may need to tie her to the bed to calm her down. My cock instantly hardens at that thought.
Chapter 9
Callie
Everything is exactly as I remember it in my head. My picture frames, the stuffed elephant, my closet filled with clothes from years ago, the pile of clothes on the floor lying there as if I had just worn them yesterday.
I walk around the room, and it hurts to be here. I hear my mom call for me. "Callie, come down for dinner, sweetie." That's not right, my mother is dead. My father killed her in front of me.
I walk out of my room and down the stairs, turning into the dining room, but the scene changes, and suddenly I’m walking into Julian’s office. He looks up at me, "It's about time you came back. I was about to send out a search party to look for you.
"Come back?" I don't remember going back home. He gets up from behind his desk and walks over to me. His hand reaches out, and he wraps his fingers around my neck, squeezing tightly.
"Julian, I can't breathe." My hands come up to his wrists, clawing at them to try and get him to release his grip. My airflow constricts, and panic flows through my entire body.
This isn't right.
He pushes me back against the wall of his office, never letting up on his grip. It's so tight. Everything around me goes black, and I feelmy body go limp. When I open my eyes, my head is resting on the table at Maria’s.
"Cals, I'm sorry, but I have to go. I love him." Avery is telling me about how she met someone, and they are moving across the country. The fuck? She never wanted to leave me before. Who the hell is this guy? I've never met him, but she's willing to change her entire life for him. She's going to leave me behind like I mean nothing. Everything starts spinning, and all my nightmares blur together.
I hear my mother, feel Julian’s grasp around my neck, and watch my best friend get in her car and drive away from me. I'm frantic. I don't know what to do. Everything feels like it's crashing around me.I jolt awake, my body bolting upright to a sitting position.
That was one of the craziest dreams I've had in a long time. I take a second to bring my heart rate down before my eyes scan the room around me. Am I still asleep? I don't recognize this place. I feel a dull headache similar to a hangover, and things begin to come back to me in pieces.
My first thought is that they found me. My father found me and brought me back to Rogue. I take a few deep breaths to try and center myself as I peer around the room to figure out where they put me. This doesn't look like any of the rooms I remember. I grew up at the compound. I know every space there is to know, and this one doesn't fit. Did they have something remodeled for when they found me? A special prison for my father to throw me in. I don't think my fatherwould get approval from the council for that. They never changed what the founding fathers built unless they had to.
If my father didn't take me, then who did? I take inventory of the room. It’s small with white walls, a twin-size bed, a metal framed door with no handle on the inside, and a large mirror that I am 99% certain is two-way glass. Why else would there be a mirror the length of the wall? Is somebody watching me? Below the glass, there is a two-by-two-foot piece of metal with hinges flush to the wall. It seems like something that can be opened from the outside to place things in and out of the room. To the left of the bed is a small table with one chair, a couple of blankets piled beside the bed, some notebooks with crayons, a stack of old romance novels, and a small hamper filled with clothes. On the other side of the table, I see a small toilet, a sink, and a shower with a floor drain. The floor is slightly angled in that corner so that the water will drain down. The whole area is completely open to the rest of the room. This is my own personal jail cell.
I throw my legs off the side of the bed, feeling a little bit wobbly, and the room spins a little, likely a side effect of whatever they used to get me here. Everything went black, and I lost consciousness so fast.
After a few moments, I regain my composure and walk to the hamper to peer inside. The clothes all seem baggy and nothing fancy. Comfort seems to be the goal. How kind. There is a pair of yellow slippers with smiley faces on them. Sure, because anyone would be happy to be here. Everything looks like my size. Wherever I am, they plan on keeping me here for a while.
