by Livia Grant
Derek slapped him on the back. "Let it go. You're a good man. You're not Jake Davenport. I'm going to the grocery store to stock up on some staples. If we're going to have all four of us camped out here, we're gonna need supplies."
"Later."
The house seemed too quiet once Lukus was alone. It gave him too much time to think—to worry about the best way to keep Tiffany safe. He'd already asked Markus and Brianna to move in at the loft while he and Derek were out of town. The girls were begrudgingly on lockdown there with Rachel. While they'd balked at first about not being allowed to go in to The Beauty Box for a few days, now they were settling in as if they were having one long slumber party.
He couldn't stop the grin from coming to his face at the memory of saying goodbye to Tiffany the night before. She was like a drug to him. He'd never get enough of her. Even knowing the three women were probably busy maxing out his credit card, online shopping for Rachel and Derek's baby or Tiffany and Lukus's upcoming wedding, he couldn't be happier.
Well, that's not true. Having Jake Davenport dead or behind bars would make me pretty fucking happy.
As much as he hated it, there was one person in Chicago Lukus still needed to bring up to speed on the danger Brianna and Tiffany were in. He reached for his phone, scrolling through his contacts until he found the name he was looking for and pressing 'call' before he could second-guess himself.
The man on the other end of the phone obviously had Lukus's number programed in his phone. "You have some nerve calling me after last week."
"Hello to you too, Aiden."
"Don't 'hello' me. What the fuck do you want? Calling to rub it in that you've successfully corrupted my sister? Or to give me shit because she went to lunch with me yesterday?"
Lukus could hear the anger in Tiffany's favorite brother's voice. Clearly Aiden still hadn't come to terms with his sister marrying a Dom who owned a BSDM sex club.
"Listen asshole, I didn't call to argue," Lukus said.
"So why did you call?"
"Do you love your sister, or what?"
"You know I do. Why else would I be so anxious to get her out of your clutches?"
"Can we set our differences aside for five fucking minutes? I have something important I need to talk to you about."
"More important than saving my sister from being corrupted by you?" Aiden spat.
"How about life and death important? Tiffany's in danger. I thought you might want to help protect her, but you know what, if you're too busy worrying about me corrupting her moral fiber to keep her alive, I'll let you go."
"Wait... danger? What the fuck?"
"Do you remember a guy named Jake Davenport?"
Aiden hesitated for the first time in the conversation. "That name sounds familiar.... but... wait... didn't he date Brianna back before she got married?"
"More like he abused Brianna a few years ago. If you'd get your head out of your ass, you'd know that Jake has been threatening both Brianna and Tiffany for years. So much so that Tiff has nightmares."
"How would you know?" Aiden asked.
"Are you that naïve? Because she wakes up screaming in her sleep, dreaming that he was caning her until she bleeds."
"Why would she think that? That bastard hasn't hurt her, has he?"
"I'm not sure she'd want me to tell you everything. Just trust me, Jake Davenport is bad news," Lukus said.
"Do you want my help or not? I need to know what's going on."
Lukus had started this conversation. Holding back facts helped no one. "Listen, I know you think I corrupted your sister, but she used to go to BDSM clubs with Bri years ago, before I even met her. That's where Brianna met Jake. He was her abusive Dom. He broke every rule in the Dom handbook, even to the point of caning her until she bled, and then would send her home to Tiffany. Your sister was, of course, furious and tried to protect Brianna from Jake. You know how sassy she can be, and Davenport clearly didn't like Tiff threatening to go to the cops. He has a real hard-on against her. Jake showed up in Chicago a couple of months ago trying to weasel himself back into their lives, and now shit is snowballing. The girls are in danger."
Aiden was quiet for several long seconds before answering. "I don't believe you. Tiff knows she can talk to me about anything. She would have come to me for help if she were in danger."
"Well, apparently not. And the reason she didn't tell you or your brothers was because she was afraid you'd judge her about her submissive desires; which, I might point out, you've proven she'd been right to worry about, since all you've done since you found out she was with me was judge her and her choices."
Lukus knew he was being an ass, but Aiden deserved it. Still, he needed the cop's help, so he continued. "Tiff also has nightmares because years ago Davenport compiled a video of himself with Brianna that made it look like the shit he was doing to her was consensual. Then he added on to the end of the video that he felt he was being harassed by a pack of cops from Michigan. Brothers to one Tiffany O'Sullivan. He threatened to lodge a formal complaint against you if she didn't back off. After that, she was too afraid to ask you for your help, not wanting to drag you into the mess for fear you'd do something stupid."
"Fuck, I'm going to kill that bastard," Aiden vowed.
"Not if I get to him first."
"So why are you telling me this now?"
"Because the situation is heating up, and Davenport is wily. I have a whole team out here in California with me trying to get enough dirt on him to put him behind bars, but he's making new threats. The closer we get to him, the more he's feeling the heat and the more dangerous he gets. I have the girls on lockdown at my loft, where I know they're safe. I have a guard with them 24/7, and Markus is staying down there with them while I'm out of town. Still, I decided I'd feel better with you knowing what's going on. Maybe do a drive-by. Check in on them after you get off work. That kind of thing. I know you hate the idea of seeing her at The Punishment Pit, but you could visit Tiff up in our loft. You're welcome to even stay over in one of the guest rooms while I'm out of town," Lukus offered.
The silence stretched between the men for so long, Lukus wondered if they'd been disconnected.
"Why me? You know I hate you, right?" Aiden said at length.
"Yeah, I know. But I also know you love Tiffany enough that you'd give your life for her. Right now, that makes you a damn fine bodyguard."
Aiden's awkward chuckle was the first sign that he might be softening to Lukus. "You'd just love it if I got plugged, wouldn't you?"
Lukus didn't joke back. "Unfortunately, no. I know you don't believe me, but Tiffany's safety and happiness are all I care about. She loves you. You make her happy, so that means that, like it or not, I'm gonna play nice with you until you realize how much I love your sister."
Silence stretched between the men again until Aiden asked, "So, you gonna give me a code to get in, or what?"
"I already programmed one for you. I'll text it to you." Lukus was about to hang up when he snuck in a final thought. "And, Aiden... thanks."
"Don't thank me yet. I'm still not sold on this whole marriage thing."
Lukus finally chuckled. "Yeah, well, I guess I can't blame you. If you'd have told me a few months ago that I'd fall in love and be getting married, I'd have thought it was crazy, too."
Chapter Four
Dylan
The scream of the naked woman being tortured filled the interior of Dylan Parker's rental car as he sat outside the Four Seasons hotel. He wasn't sure what had compelled him to fill the boring hours spent doing surveillance in his car by watching the very websites being broadcast from inside the seedy warehouse owned by their mark.
He was intimately aware of the heinous actions being perpetrated against the unfortunate women working inside the windowless building they'd been watching round the clock for the last few weeks. The fact that most of the employees voluntarily entered and exited the warehouse, as if they were going to work on a production line versus particip
ating in sex for hire, didn't make what happened inside seem any less depraved to Dylan.
On the screen of his iPad, an overweight man in his forties was applying brutal nipple clamps to the pebbled tits of a twenty-something blonde who looked like she could have been the prom queen or perhaps the head cheerleader of her high school just a few years before. She'd fallen from her glory days, taking a wrong turn as she'd chased fame and fortune. Dylan wondered what was going through the woman's mind as she lay tied across a piece of heavy wooden furniture with one purpose; holding victims immobile so they could be punished, humiliated, and eventually fucked by dominant men acting at the direction of paying customers.
This site was just one of the many sites under Jake Davenport's lucrative 'Strictly Disciplined' umbrella of sexually explicit websites featuring live, hardcore discipline sessions in return for hefty subscription fees.
The thought that hundreds, possibly thousands, of assholes were sitting at home in their dark dens, their dicks in their hands, getting off on the tears and sobs of the not-so-innocent woman on the screen turned Dylan's stomach.
The fact that his own cock strained for release from his too-tight jeans as he played voyeur pissed him off.
He'd tried to talk to his brother, Derek, about it earlier, but in the end hadn't found the words. Dylan just couldn't reconcile how close the activities on the tablet's screen were to those his brother and sister-in-law participated in at The Punishment Pit back in Chicago.
A loud, late-model Corvette pulled into the parking lot and dragged his attention away from the flogging on the screen. Dylan went on high alert, recognizing the devil's car boldly parking beside the employee entrance of the Four Seasons hotel.
"Shit," he whispered to the empty car. The arrival of Jake Davenport had screwed up his plan to approach their prime witness as she left her part-time job. Dylan wasn't sure how he knew, but Hannah Martine was the key to their investigation. She was different from every other woman they'd seen interacting with their mark.
Dylan had only worked for Lukus Mitchell's security firm for a few weeks, but he was in complete agreement with his boss that Jake Davenport needed to be in jail, and the sooner the better. Hannah was going to give them the break they were looking for. He was sure of it.
He was about to exit his car to go in and escort Hannah out to safety, when the employee entrance opened and the woman in question appeared at the door. She seemed on high alert, checking her surroundings and freezing at the top of the stairs when she saw Jake Davenport exiting his car, striding towards her with great purpose.
"Go back inside, Hannah!"
She, of course, couldn't hear Dylan shouting from his surveillance distance. She delayed long enough that Jake caught up to her just as she was grabbing the door handle to rush inside to safety. Davenport had her trapped against the steel door.
Dylan rolled down the windows, hoping to pick up on some of their conversation, but they were too far away. His hand hesitated on the door latch, ready to jump out to intervene if Davenport tried to force Hannah into his sports car.
He'd never hear the end of it if he got his ass kicked again. Dylan had already been hospitalized once after Davenport had sicced his goons on him. He wouldn't have the same problem going up against Davenport alone, although he knew the man was armed, making Dylan all the more worried about Hannah being forced into the car against her will.
His cell phone rang. Dylan wanted to let it roll to voicemail, but decided he might need backup. He launched into an animated ramble. "Don't say it. I don't have time for your lecture. I'm at the Four Seasons. Davenport's here and he's harassing Hannah. Fuck... he's pulling her towards his car. I'm going in."
"God damn it! You don't listen worth a shit. You're not gonna back down until you're six feet under, are you?" Zachary Zimmerman lectured the junior investigator.
Dylan was already outside his car, jogging across the street, when a group of four men left through the employee exit. Hannah saw them too, and called out for help. Dylan screeched to a halt, waiting to see how things played out.
"Good girl. She just drew the attention of a group of guys leaving. They're going to investigate."
"Back off, will ya? Don't blow your cover again," Z ordered.
"I'm holding back, but if Davenport tries to get her in his car, I'm going in. There's a lot of pushing going on. I can't hear, but the employees just surrounded Hannah. Looks like Davenport is giving her up to them."
"You do realize he's packing a Glock, right?" Z asked.
"You do realize he is raping and hurting innocent women, right?" Dylan countered.
"You need to get your head out of your ass. A lot of the shit going on in that warehouse may be raw and edgy, but other than that little girl you seem to have a hard-on for, it's all consensual. You may not like the freaky shit going on in there, but it isn't illegal, Parker. You need to back it down."
This lecture was getting old.
Dylan stepped into the shadows to avoid being seen by Hannah or Jake, but he didn't take his eyes off the scene playing out in the parking lot. He watched the four employees walk Hannah to her car, staying with her until she drove away. Then he kept his eyes on Davenport, who stalked back to his Corvette, slamming his door hard, before gunning the engine and speeding off in the opposite direction of Hannah.
Dylan jogged back to his car, determined to follow Hannah home, hoping to get a few minutes alone with her. He didn't forget his partner hanging on the phone. "I've backed down long enough, Z. Every day that goes by, more women are getting hurt."
Dylan had seen enough suffering in his seven years in the Marines to last a lifetime. He hadn't expected his first civilian job to expose him to the same kind of suffering he'd seen first-hand overseas. He hadn't been able to control things over there, but he sure as hell could control what the hell happened in Palo Alto, California. Jake Davenport was going down.
Z sighed as Dylan gunned the car, running a red light in order to catch up with Hannah's run-down sedan. "Your heart is in the right place, kid, but we can't save the world. Keep your eye on the job, will ya?" Z didn't wait for an answer, ending the call abruptly.
Just as well. He wasn't going to stop Dylan from doing what he thought was right. Within a few minutes, he turned into the small parking lot shared by four small duplex apartment homes. Dylan arrived just in time to watch Hannah rush through her front door. He could tell she was spooked by her run-in with Davenport. Not wanting to scare her more, he decided to head over to the warehouse to take his shift. With any luck, tonight would be the night new evidence would turn up—evidence that they could take to the police.
Hannah
Hannah's hands shook as she latched the two deadbolt locks on her front door. Her run-in with Jake had been a close call tonight. Not for the first time, she despaired about how she was going to convince him to leave her alone. The lunatic actually believed she was still planning on working for him, even after he'd drugged, beaten, and forced himself on her the night before.
She kicked off her high heels, crossing through the small space into the galley kitchen. She turned on the cold water and cupped her trembling hands to gather up enough water to swish around in her mouth. The taste of her own blood mixed with the cool water before she spit the now pink liquid into the small sink.
She'd bitten the inside of her cheek when she had been jostling with Jake at the hotel. She'd been terrified he was going to get her into his car again. She got lucky tonight with the group of porters leaving together, but she was under no delusion. Jake had made it clear he was going to pursue her until he succeeded.
She took a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself. She'd made so many mistakes in the last twenty-four hours. She didn't want to make more.
Hannah should have called the police the night before, after Jake had dropped her off at her place. The asshole had had the audacity to open the car door for her and walk her to her door as if he were some damn knight in shining armor. The entire dr
ive from his house, she'd planned to call the police to report him, but when she'd been alone, fear had won out. Jake had made it clear he had friends everywhere. That he would be extremely disappointed in her if she were to discuss their relationship with anyone. The threat was crystal clear.
Hannah walked to her freezer and reached behind the frozen box of lasagna to pull out the Ziploc bag containing the leather journal she'd stolen from Jake the night before. That was the biggest mistake she had made. Of course he'd missed it and, worse, knew she had it. He'd been furious tonight at her refusal to leave with him, and had confronted her about missing something important to him. Why had she taken it on impulse? If she was too afraid to go to the police with it, all it did was tie her to Jake.
Hannah tucked the book back into the freezer, unsure what else to do with it.
She was exhausted. She hadn't slept a wink the night before. When she had arrived at Bloomers for work that day, her best friend, Mia, had known right away something was wrong. Hannah had shared some of the details of her 'date' with Jake, but had been too ashamed to confess the truth about everything she'd gone through. She felt foolish for being lulled into trusting the handsome businessman who'd approached her with a bogus job offer.
Hannah wasn't afraid of working hard. She had two jobs as it was, but she'd studied hard and sacrificed to get her associates degree in accounting, hoping to get the kind of job that could turn into a career. Being a successful businessman, Jake had bowled her over not with his handsome looks, but with an offer to be his new accountant for his many businesses. At the time, she'd looked at the opportunity as divine intervention.
Now she knew meeting him had been a curse.