Protecting it All: Dark Romantic Suspense (Punishment Pit Book 6)

by Livia Grant

  Jake's humor was gone. "Do that, and you'll never see them again."

  "That sounds suspiciously like a threat. I think the police will be interested in that, as well," Hannah countered.

  "I'd shut up if I were you. You're only making things worse for yourself."

  Dylan respected her bravery, but he had to agree with Jake. She was only pissing the sadistic fuck off more. He shook his own head to try to prevent her from doing more damage.

  Jake helped by cutting the conversation short. "Come to the warehouse. Thirty minutes, Hannah. Don't make me come for you. You won't like what happens if I do." The call cut off.

  They stood silently for thirty seconds, each weighing their options. Dylan wanted to load the car and drive in the opposite direction of the warehouse, only stopping when they were hundreds of miles away. But Hannah would fight him. Of that he was certain.

  He wasn't prepared for her to lean in, hugging him tightly as she laid her head against his chest. The scent of her shampoo calmed him, filling him with a longing for more... a more he wasn't sure they'd ever have.

  "I don't want you to go in," he murmured.

  "I don't want to go in."

  "Then—"

  She cut him off. "I'm going."

  He had two choices: kidnap her, or help prep her to send her in with the best possible chance of coming out the other side unscathed. With reluctance, he chose the second option.

  His call to Derek rang several times before his brother answered with a gruff, "Yeah."

  "Davenport made his move. He kidnapped Hannah's best friend. Hannah has to be at the warehouse in thirty with the ledger or he says we won't like what happens next. You'd better get back here in ten with the surveillance shit, or I'm packing her and the kid in the car and we're out of here."

  Dylan hung up without waiting for a reply. He didn't want to spend the few minutes he had left with Hannah arguing with Derek. He'd much rather spend it with her in his arms.

  He lifted the trembling woman, carried her back to the couch and sank down, cradling her in his arms. Neither spoke, until they heard the front door being unlocked.

  They were out of time.

  Chapter Nine

  Hannah

  "Can you hear me?" Dylan's voice sounded in her left ear. As comforting as it was to maintain a connection with the outside world, Hannah was terrified Jake would notice the tiny transmitter.

  "Yes, but I still worry he's gonna see the earpiece," she answered, trying not to move her lips in case she was already being watched.

  "He won't. We're using state-of-the-art tech gear—shit even Davenport doesn’t have in his arsenal. The most important part is keeping your earrings in. They are our eyes and ears in there."

  They didn't need to tell her that. The only way Hannah could even consider stepping foot in the warehouse was knowing that four hulking men were listening in, ready to pounce as soon as they could gather the much-needed evidence. They'd returned to her apartment with another intimidating man named Z who, on the surface, looked even more menacing than Jake Davenport.

  She took comfort in knowing he was on her side.

  Hannah parked in the first empty slot she came to. The parking lot was surprisingly full for late afternoon. Stepping out into the sunny heat, she walked tentatively towards a solid steel door marked simply with 'ENTRANCE' in block letters. Each step she took came slower... shorter... it grew harder to voluntarily put one foot in front of the other. Too soon she was at the last barrier protecting her from Jake, not sure whether she was brave enough to ring the bell for entry.

  She didn't have a chance to find out. A fierce-looking man sporting a goatee, with a tattooed neck, and wearing an expensive suit opened the door. He looked of middle-eastern descent, his hair and eyes black—matching his soul if he willingly worked for Jake Davenport. He yanked her forward into the dimly lit foyer, closing the heavy door behind them with a loud thunk.

  I'm committed now.

  A matronly woman in her forties sat at a desk behind the small sliding window that reminded Hannah of being in the foyer of a doctor's office. Instead of being asked to put her name on a clipboard, as she might in a real doctor's office, the hard man clamped her right elbow tightly in his grip as he stepped up to a retina scanner at the steel security door to the right of the window. A quick beep sounded before he leaned back, placing his right thumb on a pad under the scanner. The steel door popped open a crack, allowing him to push forward, pulling Hannah along behind.

  The thick door slammed closed behind them with an ominous, automatic locking sound. As she was dragged along, Hannah noticed his leather holster containing a fierce looking handgun. She'd known she was going into danger, but the fact that he wore his weapon so visibly alarmed her.

  They were in a narrow hallway, lined with six-panel doors. Cheap wood paneling covered the walls, giving the space a 1980's feel. There was a musty smell in the air, as if the threadbare carpet was in need of a good scrubbing.

  The hall was quiet enough that the muffled sound of people having sex in one of the rooms they passed could clearly be heard. There was no mistaking the steady pounding rhythm of a headboard banging against the wall, accompanied by masculine grunts and female groans.

  They passed several more doors on each side of the corridor before coming to a double door at the end of the hall. Another retina scan and another thumbprint had to be given before the door popped open just as the first had.

  Hannah tried to watch as closely as possible, hoping she was giving the men watching from afar the information they needed to get to her when they needed to. She pushed down the panic that threatened to rise when she wondered just how they would get past the intense security measures.

  This time, a cacophony of sound barraged her senses as the heavy door opened. It started as a loud din, but within seconds, the noises began to separate, reaching her ears in frightening snippets. Her heart had already been thumping with fear, but the screams, moans, and cracks filling the air kicked her pulse even higher.

  Hannah stopped dead in her tracks, refusing to proceed further into the large open space. Her escort's hand pinched her arm harder in an attempt to get her feet moving again as she scanned the expanse.

  The huge, two-story space was sectioned-off into a half-dozen recording stages that ran down the entire length of the room to her left. The stages, each with a different theme, consisted of three walls, leaving one side open for camera equipment. Sound system equipment hung from the tall warehouse ceiling, while cameras on tripods blocked the view into some of the spaces from her vantage point. The two sets closest to the entrance had active scenes in progress; the other four stages were dimmed and empty.

  A redheaded woman tied to a St. Andrew's cross drew Hannah's attention first. Her bare arms and legs were splayed wide, strapped immobile. Her protruding artificial breasts made the perfect target for the bare-chested Dom who was in the process of cropping her nipples. Heavy weights swayed between her legs, held there by vicious clamps attached to her swollen labia. Only the oversized ring gag prying her painted lips wide kept her screams from overpowering the space. The strands of spittle dripping down her chin to her chest indicated she'd been restrained there for more than a few minutes.

  The screech of another submissive jarred Hannah's attention away. She briefly recognized that the man holding her arm like a vice was allowing her to watch and wondered why. She suspected he wanted to scare the shit out of her by letting her take in the sight of the staged torture in progress directly in front of them.

  It was working.

  The second scene was in a replica of a medieval dungeon, the temporary walls covered in fake stones. A stained glass window at the back of the set was backlit, giving the space an unholy flare.

  The focal point of the area was the severe punishment in progress. A naked woman was kneeling, center stage, on the uncomfortable stone floor. Her body was contorted, her knees spread and held wide by barbaric chains. Her arms were tucked be
hind her back. Thick ropes wrapped around her overlapping forearms ensured she wouldn't break free until her tormenter allowed it.

  It was the vicious metal hook protruding from between her bottom cheeks that stole the scene. A too-short length of rope was tied to the end of the anal hook, connecting it to her bleached-blonde hair. Her head was yanked back, forcing her back to arch in an uncomfortable bend, serving up the entirety of her front for a palette of pain. It was clear she would topple over if it weren't for another rope looping up to the menacing irons hanging from the ceiling.

  As if the position weren't bad enough, the Dom in the scene was dressed like a medieval guard borrowed from the set of Game of Thrones. The twin strips of the tawse in his hand struck the woman's striped breasts and dragged blood-curdling screams from the captive. The pain of each stroke was enhanced by the chaser of agony caused by each flinch, which yanked the anal hook deep in her bowels. Tears streaked mascara down her face as the leather marked lower, catching the undersides of her breasts and leaving raised welts.

  Hannah shuddered in fear, unable to believe she was so close to the horror show in progress. What the hell had she got herself into? She pulled hard against the man at her side, trying to go back out the way they'd come in.

  He leaned down to talk against her ear with menace. "Come on. We're late." They were the first words the tall, olive-skinned man had spoken to her. The accent supported her assumption he was from the Middle East.

  She didn't have time to dwell on it as she was pulled through a door at the far end of the room, gratefully leaving the sounds of pain and torture behind.

  "You're doing great, Hannah. Stay calm." Dylan's voice in her ear made her jump. She'd been so distracted by the nightmarish scenes that she'd almost forgotten the men were seeing the same visions through her small camera feed. She knew she couldn't answer, but his voice did help slow her pulse with relief.

  They passed another security check, this time with an added keypad requiring a six-digit entry code. She wished she'd asked more questions about what the men had known she would be encountering. Maybe it would have been easier to have known what to expect.

  Maybe not.

  The décor in the foyer they passed through next was like the difference between riding in a Hyundai and a Cadillac. Her heels clicked along the upscale marble floor as goatee-guy pulled her past walls of expensive looking art. Her escort knocked briskly on a mahogany door, which was an obvious upgrade from the cheap paneling of the previous space. His fingers dug into her arm painfully just before he opened the door, shoving her inside ahead of him.

  Jake Davenport stood in front of a mammoth desk, half sitting, half leaning against the surface. He looked smug, his ankles and arms were crossed leisurely.

  She stopped dead in her tracks, hoping to keep as much distance as possible between them, but the clamp on her arm only got worse as she was pressed farther into the room.

  Hannah's eyes dropped to the half-naked woman kneeling on the floor before Jake, her back to the door. Her arms were tied behind her back in an uncomfortable way, thick rope constricting just above the elbows, forcing her shoulders back uncomfortably. Even without seeing her face, Hannah knew it was Mia at his feet, and her anger flared hot. She lurched forward as if to run to her friend, but the brute next to her held her tight, she was unable to break free.

  "Nice of you to join us, Hannah. I'm disappointed you chose to take the hard route. It didn't need to be like this," Jake said evenly.

  Anger burst out. "Oh, really? And how was it supposed to be? You're a sicko, you know that? I only came here to give you back what I took and to get Mia and Lucy. Then we're leaving."

  His menacing chuckle sounded like it belonged on the soundtrack of a horror movie. "Oh Hannah, my dear, you're in no position to negotiate with me. I'm the only one who calls the shots around here. You work for me. I believe I explained clearly my expectations regarding your employee performance. I'm going to enjoy delivering a very harsh corrective discipline session. As you can see, I've already started with Mia here."

  "You sick fuck. There's no way I'm working for you after you raped me," Hannah snarled.

  Jake's eyes darkened. "I'd be careful if I were you. You're only making this worse for yourself."

  Dylan's voice in her ear pretty much said the same thing. "Stop antagonizing him, honey."

  "Go to hell!" She wasn't sure if she was addressing the man in the room or the one surveilling from afar.

  Jake's lips formed a lopsided smile that didn't quite make it to his eyes. "You'll find this place is going to be your own personal hell if you don't shut your mouth and start listening."

  Her breath caught in her throat as the man next to her shoved her further into the room until she stood directly behind Mia. There was no way her friend could push to her feet without the use of her arms. Hannah reached out to free her, but she was yanked back.

  Trying to stay calm, she glanced around the room, more to give the men on the outside a picture than out of interest. She was surprised to see Lucy hiding in the corner, an out-of-place smile on her face. As their eyes met, Lucy moved out of the shadows to stand beside Jake. Alarm bells went off in Hannah's head. How in the world could she be letting Jake hurt her own sister?

  Ignoring Lucy, Hannah remembered she only had one goal she wanted to accomplish, and then they could all get the hell out of there. Reaching into her purse, she pulled the leather journal out, holding it close to her body.

  "I brought your journal. We had a deal. I'm taking Mia and Lucy out of here."

  Lucy laughed, turning to Jake with joy in her eyes. "See? I told you I was an excellent actress. She totally believed we were in danger. Does this mean I get the part?"

  For the first time Jake took his eyes off Hannah, sliding his predatory gaze to the over-dressed young woman who was the only person in the room completely clueless about what he was capable of.

  Jake reached out to cup Lucy's face, deceivingly gentle. "You are indeed quite the actress. I have just the spot for you in a show we have starting tonight."

  Lucy's face lit up with a victorious smile.

  He didn't take his eyes from his prey as he addressed his second-in-command. "Mohammed, take her to the vault and strip her. Have Doc check her out and prep her for the final party tonight. I have a few clients who've been requesting Asian meat. They'll be pleasantly surprised."

  Lucy looked confused, but Mia groaned a protest through her gag. Quick as lightning, Jake's arm swung, backhanding Mia across the face so hard she fell sideways to the floor. Lucy screamed, lurching to move towards her sister only to be backhanded herself, throwing her to the floor in the opposite direction with a thud.

  The man named Mohammed held Hannah back from rushing to her friend while Jake leaned over Lucy, gripping her by her arms and yanking her face up until it was only inches from his gloating grin. "You see, Lucy dear, I win the prize for best actor. Your sister and Hannah were right. I'm a dangerous man. Now be a good little girl and go quietly."

  "Are you fucking nuts? I want to leave. I didn't sign up for this. I'm not willingly going to be part of some freak show," Lucy said defiantly.

  Hannah tried to press her hands over her ears to block out the sound of Jake's sadistic laughter. "That's great! My clients absolutely love playing with unwilling sluts. It makes breaking you all the more fun."

  He yanked Lucy to her feet and then shoved her hard towards the door. She would have fallen if Mohammed hadn't let go of Hannah to catch her. He scooped her up over his shoulder and stalked out the door, her screeching quieting only when the solid mahogany swung shut behind them.

  Now free, Hannah rushed to Mia and knelt down next to her crying friend. She pulled her into her arms as best she could. In her rush to help, she'd thrown the ledger to the floor and Jake reached to leisurely pick it up.

  From her peripheral vision, Hannah sensed him leafing through the book to check it hadn't been tampered with. She prayed he wouldn't figure out that th
e men had photographed each page before sending it back with her.

  "I'm so disappointed in you, Hannah. I had such high hopes for you. I haven't quite decided what I'm going to do about your insubordination and deception. All I know for sure is that I'm going to make sure you hate it so much you'll think long and hard before you try anything like this again," Jake said evenly.

  As he turned to walk back behind his desk Hannah started working feverishly to untie Mia, hoping the two of them together might have a shot at overpowering the crazy man in the room.

  "Let go of Mia and come stand before me, Hannah." It was an order.

  No way was she stopping until her friend was free. She could see the terror in Mia's eyes, her left cheek already bruising from the vicious blow she'd just suffered. Hannah's hands shook as she tried to get the knots of the ropes loose.

  Jake's next words froze her. "Mohammed, as soon as you get Lucy secured, return to the office for her sister. Seems Hannah isn't going to be able to focus on me until I get her alone." She glanced up and saw the cell phone at his ear. As he ended the call, his eyes bored into hers. His ominous promise only made her move faster.

  She couldn't understand why Jake wasn't getting up to stop her as she successfully got Mia's hands free. The two women worked together feverishly to untie the ropes on her ankles, finally freeing Mia.

  With relief they pushed to their feet, Mia leaning heavily on Hannah as her legs cramped. Jake still wasn't moving to stop them, but Hannah wasn't going to question it as they rushed to the door, yanking at the knob only to find it locked. Feeling like a caged animal, Hannah grabbed the handle with both hands, yanking at the door with all her might—to no avail.

  The haunting sound of Jake's laughter chilled her blood. "Did you actually think I'd let you leave? I didn't take you for a fool, Hannah."

  She spun around, feeling braver with the full room length's distance between them. "Fuck you, Jake. You got the ledger back. I held up my end of the bargain. Now you need to do the same. Mia and I are leaving. Now!"