Heart of a Prick

by Ella Miles

  I feel the light peeking into the room, and I open my eyes. All the boys are sitting around the room on their computers, typing furiously fast. We all stayed in the same hotel room last night so that we could pay with cash and hopefully make it a little bit harder for Gabe to find us. Brody and I slept on the bed. Noah, the couch. And Levi slept on the floor.

  “Morning,” Brody says, getting up from his computer and walking over to the bed to firmly kiss me on the lips.

  The kiss makes my insides warm. I could get used to waking up to kisses like that every morning.

  “This is Jeremy and Kate,” Brody says, pointing to a man and woman who are also sitting in the room.

  They both turn, smile at me, and nod, and then they immediately turn back, typing quickly on the computers.

  “They are here to help us hack into all of Gabe’s systems. If we can break in and hopefully find some hard evidence of Gabe doing something illegal, we might be able to stop him. Our plan is to turn it over to journalists first, so that then when we turn it over to the police, they won’t be able to deny it.”

  I glance around the room, but all the people are working hard on the computers. I don’t know what their credentials are or how good they are with a computer. But I know their skills with a gun and car aren’t great. This might actually be where they are capable of doing some damage to Gabe.

  Brody eyes me up and down as I wear his T-shirt and boxer shorts. I run my hand down my bedhead, and he takes a deep breath. And then his lips kiss me again like it might be the last time. The rest of the room fades. The people, the typing, the danger. It all escapes us as hold each other.

  Noah clears his throat loudly. “You need to be working, Brody. There will be time for making out later. We need all hands on deck.”

  Brody slowly pulls away from me. “I am working. I’m keeping Skye happy and relaxed.”

  “Skye is perfectly capable of taking care of herself,” Noah says, still typing away on his computer.

  Brody sighs and then grabs my hand, pulling me toward the bathroom. He gives me a wink as we enter the bathroom, but just as Brody is about to shut the door, Noah slams his hand hard against the door, preventing it from shutting.

  “Seriously? You’re not fucking in the bathroom again. You do realize we heard everything on the plane, right?”

  My face blushes, but Brody just scowls.

  “Get out,” Brody says.

  “No, you’re the best programmer we have. We have a chance at saving Skye, so your ass needs to be behind a computer the rest of the day.”

  “He’s right,” Brody says, kissing me hard on the forehead again.

  I close my eyes.

  And then he walks out of the bathroom and back to a computer.

  Noah stands at the door a second longer. “We’re going to figure this out. In the meantime, here are some clothes.” He reaches behind him and pulls out some jeans and a T-shirt.

  “Thanks, really. Brody has some really good friends if you are willing to risk your life to help him.”

  Noah shrugs. “He would do the same for us.”

  Noah walks away, and I shut the door. I reluctantly turn the water on in the shower. My heart is torn because I don’t know if I want to shower and wash away every remaining scent of Brody in my hair or all over my body. But, on the other hand, I want to wash away every touch from Gabe. But the water will calm me, and I just have to pray that I’ll get another moment with Brody even if it is for the last time.

  I strip and then step into the steaming hot shower, trying to push both men out of my head and just focus on what I want. I want to be alive. I want to survive to go back to the wonderful life I’ve created for myself. I love my life, and no man is needed to make me feel better about it.

  Still, every time I close my eyes, the darkness of everything that Gabe has done creeps in. And, every time, the only thing I can do to push out those images is replace it with Brody.

  I abruptly turn off the water, refusing to close my eyes again. I get dressed in the jeans and T-shirt, but both are too big for me. I applaud the guys for remembering to give me clothes at all. And then I step back out into the hotel room. Everyone continues typing and ignoring me, even Brody this time. He put headphones on to drown out the world, even me.

  I walk over to Brody and lightly tap him on the shoulder. “How can I help?”

  “By telling me anything and everything you can on Gabe. Tell me some of the worst things you saw that there might be some evidence connected to,” Noah answers instead.

  “What type of evidence?”

  “Threats against you that might have been recorded, threats against other people, money laundering, abuse, anything criminal. Start with the worst, but even something simple that could get him locked away for a few months would be a good start until we can find harder evidence on him.”

  I sit down on the edge of the bed, trying to think about all the horrible things that I just spent my entire shower trying to push out of my head. “Money laundering, I have no idea about, but I wouldn’t put it past him. But I have no idea where to start with that. Abuse? He’s never been physically abusive to me, not yet anyway. And threats, he was very careful to never put anything in writing or say anything over the phone or in any public space really beyond the occasional whisper into my ear.”

  “Tell me anyway. Tell us all the stories you can think of; maybe there’s something you’re missing.”

  I close my eyes and let the darkness unfold in my head. It’s not that I can’t remember all of the horrible things, it’s that I’ve spent the past few months trying to forget.

  “The first time I realized that he was a monster was a couple of months after we met. He asked me out. He asked to have me fully and completely. And, if I said no, he threatened the company.”

  “Tell me the whole story.”

  We would meet up at the LA airport that had become our thing. Every few weeks, I would fly to LA and see him. We’d spend the entire day talking and connecting in the airport. I never left the airport, and he never asked me to. But, each time I flew out, I thought this would be the time that he would ask me on a proper date, this would be the time that we’d become more than just friends.

  We have been talking for a while. My flight back is going to leave in less than thirty minutes. We’ve had another beautiful day of talking and laughing together, but it seems that this time isn’t the time either.

  Just ask him, my heart said, thumping in my chest.

  I should. I don’t know why I’m waiting for this man to make the first move when I’m fully capable of doing it myself. The worst he’ll say is no or that he already has a girlfriend. I could lose him as a friend, but it’s a risk I have to take.

  I open my mouth to ask him out when he says, “Would you like to go to dinner with me tonight?”

  I grin. “Yes.”

  I don’t care about my flight or anything else I just care about having an awesome day with him.

  Gabe leads me out of the airport, somewhere along the way interlinking fingers with mine. And that’s all I can focus on—our hands linked together the entire time—as Gabe leads me into the back of the waiting car on the curb. I can’t even tell you the name of the car. Just that I’m in one.

  I’m blissfully ignorant of everything going on around me until Gabe takes the phone call. He doesn’t talk much.

  He just says in a stern voice, “Yes, it will be done.” Then, he looks at me. “Small detour. I guess you’ll get to know more of what I do sooner rather than later.”

  I smile, happy to learn more about his work. The car stops outside of a hotel. And Gabe helps me out, continuing to hold on to my hand. He opens the door for me to the hotel, and my mouth drops open. It’s extravagant with beautiful marble floors and a high ceiling with a large chandelier overhead. Gabe rests his hand on the small of my back as he leads me toward the elevator. The doors open, and we enter. I don’t know what kind of work he does that he has to meet someone in a ho

tel room, but I’m going along with it. That, or it’s all a ruse, and he’s just trying to get me naked in his bed. I think I like option B better.

  He grabs my face and kisses me hard as my heart beats wildly in my chest. His hands go around my body, consuming me. He’s definitely going with option B.

  The doors open, and he guides me down the hallway to a hotel room where a man is standing. The man hands the key to Gabe, and he swipes it in the lock.

  I curiously look at him as he leads me inside the room, firmly holding my hand. When we step inside, I see a man tied to a chair in the corner of the room. I gasp.

  “Wait here,” he says to me.

  I stand frozen, not sure of what the hell’s going on.

  Gabe walks over to the man, pulls a knife out of his pocket, and slits his throat.

  I watch the blood spill from his neck. I watch the light leave his eyes. And I’m terrified. Gabe is a monster.

  Gabe drops the knife on the man’s lap and wipes the blood that spilled onto his hands off on the man’s shirt before walking back to me.

  “I want you, and I tend to get what I want. I kill for what I want. You’re mine now, Skye, for as long as I want you. For just tonight. Or for much longer.”

  He tucks a strand of my hair behind my ear. “Unfortunately, I have a flight I have to catch. More work needs to be done, and this mess needs to be cleaned up. And I know you have a trip to the Bahamas. Enjoy yourself. This might be your last week of freedom away from me.” He firmly kisses me on the lips again. Then, he takes my hand and escorts me back out of the hotel room.

  “George, take Skye to the airport and get her on the next flight back home.”

  He looks at me. “Not a word to anyone, or I’ll kill you like I did to him. And I’ll take all your friends and family with you.”

  “I went to the police after that. They didn’t believe me; they said it was all some sort of fantasy story. So, instead, I went to the Bahamas for a week and tried to forget. But, when I came back, he proposed and force me to be his. He’s a monster. But he is a very careful monster. He kissed me on the elevator, so the cameras would see us, and people would assume that we went to that hotel room to have a quickie. There is no evidence.”

  Noah puts his hand on my shoulder and then pulls me into a hug that I desperately need right now. He’s a good man, although my judgment of men is not the best. If only Brody could be as good as well. Brody’s already shown me that he is capable of hurting me.

  We hear a loud pop down the hallway, and everyone jumps and stares at the door. We hear a man yelling at his son, telling him not to slam the door so loudly. It was just a kid, but it was enough to get all of our hearts racing.

  Noah gets up and walks over to a bag. He pulls out a gun, handing it to me. I take it from him, getting used to the heavy metal in my hand.

  “You know how to use that?” he asks.

  “No. Do you?”

  “I know the mechanics of how it works and how to make sure that it doesn’t go off when you don’t want it to. But I’ve never fired a gun in my life.”

  “Same.”

  Noah shows me how the safety works and how to load the gun.

  “Make sure it’s always on you, just in case.”

  I nod.

  I keep telling him the stories, everything I can think of, while everyone else works. Occasionally, he will go over and transfer what he feels is some important information to the others on the team to look up but after our several hours pass and they find nothing that we can use against Gabe, I start to lose hope that this will work.

  Eventually, Brody walks over, and he can see the worry on my face. “We are some of the smartest people in the world when it comes to technology, we’ll figure this out. But you have to make me a promise to keep fighting every chance you get. No matter what. Even if you get captured, I will find a way to save you.”

  “I promise,” I say. But I don’t think he’ll be able to save me. But I can save them.

  20

  Brody

  Damn it. I look at the empty bed as the morning light comes up again.

  “She’s gone,” I say.

  Noah nods. “But then we knew she would run if we couldn’t save her.”

  “Time to move on to plan Z.”

  21

  Skye

  It took everything in me to leave. I snuck out in the middle of the night when everyone was asleep, passed out from exhaustion from working the entire day. But it had to be done. They spent all day searching and found nothing. No evidence to use against Gabe. They can’t save me, but I can save them.

  So, that’s exactly what I’m doing. I stole one of the burner phones and snuck out into the night. I called Gabe and told him I’d give him everything he wanted. I’d come back to him, but he couldn’t hurt anybody. He promised, and I have to return to ensure that he keeps that promise. He bought me a commercial flight early in the morning, and I got on it.

  But, now, I can’t seem to bring myself to get off of it. The whole plane has unloaded, except for me. Still sitting in my seat in the fifth row, I stare at the seatback in front of me. I have to get up. I have to leave. But I know, as soon as I do, my life is over. I’m as good as dead. Right now, I have to worry about saving my friends. Then, I can worry about saving myself. So, I force my body to stand. I force my legs to walk off.

  “I’m surprised you had the balls to show up,” Gabe says, grabbing my arm the second I depart from the gate.

  On the one hand, I’m shocked that he is here instead of sending one of his men. But, on the other hand, Gabe likes to do things that are important to him in person.

  “I keep my promises,” I say, letting him guide me through the airport and out to his waiting car.

  I’m surprised to see that he doesn’t have a driver. He tosses me into the passenger seat and then climbs into the driver’s seat, speeding off.

  “Good girl,” he says when I behave.

  I look out the window instead of having to look at him. I try to remind myself that I’m doing this for them. Not for him. Not for me. No one else deserves to die for my mistake in judging men.

  “Look at me.”

  I turn my head.

  He smirks. “You really will behave now?”

  I nod, keeping all the emotion off my face.

  “Stop thinking about him. He’s nothing. Think of me.”

  “I am,” I say. Even though it’s a lie.

  I will never stop thinking about Brody. I’ll never stop dreaming about him. Gabe can control a lot of things, but he can’t control my thoughts or desires.

  Gabe parks the car outside of our condo and then says, “Come.”

  I do, like a dog following a command. He leads me up to our condo. I pray that his damn phone rings with some important client who needs to be killed or secured or whatever the hell it is that he does. It doesn’t ring though. We get up to the condo, and he shuts the door behind us, locking it. I know what he’s going to want. I’m not sure I can give it to him. I want to protect my friends, but I also won’t let him lay a hand on me. Not without a fight.

  “Fix me a drink. A scotch,” he says.

  I walk to the kitchen and pour two glasses of scotch—one for him and one for me. I walk back to him and hand him one. He smirks when he sees the second glass. He clinks our glasses together and then drinks down my entire glass.

  “Now, strip for me,” he says, his eyes staring into my eyes.

  I go to do what he said, but I can’t. My hand stops just short of lifting the shirt over my head.

  “If you hesitate, I will put all your friends’ names in a bowl and pull one out. The name I do dies. And we will repeat that process until you either listen to me or they’re all gone. Understand?”

  “No.”

  He hits me hard across the face, knocking me down to the floor. I can’t think. Everything hurts. My head is pounding. The dizziness overtakes all of my thoughts. I feel something hard jut into my back.

  Gun. I have a gun. I reach into the back of my pants, pull out the gun, and aim it at his heart.

  He laughs and rips the gun from my hand before I can react. He tosses it aside like it’s nothing before I even had a chance to get a shot off. He grabs my hair and pulls me up.

  “You think you’re smarter than me, don’t you? Better, stronger? But you aren’t. You’re just a stupid little bitch with a beautiful cunt that I want.” He slobbers up my neck and my face when I try to push him off, but he’s right. He’s much stronger than I am. If he wants something, he’ll just take it.

  “I’m going to have my way with you over and over again. And then I’m going to do what I said; I’m going to put all your friends’ and family’s names in and pull one out, and that person will die today. And then I’ll keep repeating until they’re all gone, and when they’re all gone, that’s when I’ll kill you.”

  I should be afraid, but instead, it just pisses me off. I kick him as hard as I can in the balls and run. He grabs my ankle, and I fall to the floor before I can take two steps away. I won’t let him do this to me or to my friends.

  We both look up as the door to the condo is pushed open. Three guys tumble in, all holding guns aimed in our general direction. But they aren’t just any men. These are my men. Brody, Noah, and Levi.

  I should be relieved to see them here. But I know how bad of a shot they are, and I know that, if they miss once, Gabe will kill them all.

  “Run,” I plead with them.

  Noah looks at me like I’m the saddest thing he’s ever seen while Levi and Brody both stay fixed on Gabe.

  “Let her go,” Brody says.

  Gabe laughs. “No, she’s mine. But I will enjoy killing the three of you in front of her. It will break her, and then she will be mine completely.”

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