by CR Robertson
Adrenaline pumped through my veins in a tribal beat coaxing me on down the small country road. It was the perfect location for someone to hide away from prying eyes. The house Cassandra had been staying in was to my right. Nothing looked out of place, even though I knew a few hours ago she’d been in there talking to me on the phone.
The fact that I was the one she reached out to when she was scared gave me hope that I could save our relationship at the end of this. She could have phoned anyone, including the police, but she phoned me. Somewhere deep inside, Cassandra knew that I’d keep her safe.
I would destroy everything in my path to keep that promise.
***
Chapter Eight
Cassandra
My hands were bound with ropes to the arms of a wooden chair. My legs were attached to the legs after I kicked one of the men. He glared at me while tying my legs in place, his hand deliberately feeling between my legs even as I struggled. The chair would have fallen only he caught it.
“Behave, or I’ll gag you. I’d use my cock, only you bite.”
A dark smile curved my lips up that I’d managed to avoid one type of violation.
The phone still sat under my right breast, the mouthpiece slightly exposed. It burned a hole in my flesh that they might discover it at any second. I was hours and hours from London. Too many hours that anyone would be able to get to me. Even if they phoned the police, they wouldn’t know where to look.
“Cassandra.” A man in his late fifties wandered into the room. “It’s so lovely to see that you’re still alive. I often wondered if it was you or Kimberly who’d survived. We exhumed the bodies a few years ago, but you were so similar in age it was hard to tell…”
His words shocked me so much I could barely breathe—never mind think of a response.
He stood in front of me, towering over me. “Your father left some very important documents and keys before his untimely end. I need them. We’ve systematically searched this house over the years but can’t seem to find them.”
“Mum used to hang all the keys on a rack in the kitchen.” I deliberately played stupid. I’d read the documents in those safety deposit boxes a long time ago. Maybe they were worth killing my family for, but I could never see the value in them.
He tapped his finger to his bottom lip. “There is no need to be a smartass, Cassandra. Those are car and house keys.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about then. They’re the only ones Mum and Dad ever used.”
He leaned forward to grasp my arms. “Someone has been maintaining his houses in the background. His business partner took control of the daily running of his corporation, but that money goes somewhere.”
It went to an account in a foreign tax haven, far from greedy grasping hands. I had the codes to access it but never had.
“I was ten when my family died. All I know is that when I woke up in a hospital they were all dead and buried. Mum was a single child and Dad’s brother died years ago, so there was no family to take me. As an orphan, I was taken by social services.”
“Yet, there is no trace of you,” he commented in a low tone. “Did you search the house she was staying in?” His brown eyes snapped to one of the guards.
“No, we extracted her as you asked.”
The man questioning me rolled his eyes. “You just can’t get the help nowadays,” he muttered. “I need to know what name she’s been using so I can begin to track down my missing assets.”
“I’ll get someone onto that,” he replied and left the room.
When I arrived, I put all my stuff in the false bottom in my wardrobe. They’d find nothing with my name on it. My purse contained cash and no cards.
“It would be so much easier if you just tell me what I want to know,” he coaxed.
“What if I don’t know?”
“Then I’ll just have to vent my frustrations and continue my search.” The smile he gave me sent goosebumps rising on my flesh in revulsion. “You look so like you mother and I always did have a fancy for her.”
His right index finger trailed down the side of my cheek and I tried to jerk away. His dark laugh made my blood chill. “Do you know what type of torture works best on women?” he asked casually as if we were old friends having a chat. “Woman can withstand pain, but you stick you dick anywhere near them and they get all squeamish.”
I gasped when his fingers grasped my chin to tilt my head up suddenly. “You have three holes, Cassandra. Which one do you want me to use first?”
Everything inside me froze because I realised the truth of his words. I would never be the same if he raped me and he knew it. He just didn’t care. My gaze trained on his hands as he produced a flick knife from his pocket. He cut through the ropes on my legs.
“You kick me and I promise to make you scream. My men didn’t harm you because they were bringing you to me. Any of my slaves will tell you, I never allow insubordination.”
Fear paralysed me as he cut through the ropes on my arms. He dragged me behind him in my socks.
“I dated your mother before she met your father. She walked away from me without a second glance. I vowed that she would regret that day. You, Cassandra, will do as part of that revenge. She never submitted to me and I will enjoy breaking you as I gain the information I require from you.”
I grabbed onto a doorway to try and stop him. Pain radiated through my face as my head whipped back. My hands left the doorframe in shock as I jolted back. His right hand grabbed my throat, the pressure making my eyes bulge.
“I told you that I wouldn’t tolerate your attitude. Take that as a warning. Next time I will punish you severely.”
My lungs burned from lack of oxygen and my fingers stretched out in a futile attempt to try and free myself. “Please,” I managed to grate out.
“Yes, you will beg me, Cassandra. You will learn to kneel at my feet and beg for my affection.”
That would never happen.
He was delusional.
My hand finally found his fingers on my neck. His other hand wrapped around my wrist to jerk my arm back. My mouth opened in a terrified scream. Agony ripped up into my shoulder and a sickening pop sounded.
“Never touch me without my permission,” he hissed in my face.
He released my wrist and my arm hung useless at my side, pain throbbing in sickening waves. His grip lessened on my throat and I slumped onto my knees. Tears sprung to my eyes. All those years I dreamed about coming home and it’d turned into a nightmare. The devil lived here now instead of the angels I imagined, his face dark and sinister lurking over me. All he was missing were horns and a tail.
“Where are the keys and the documents, Cassandra?” He crouched in front of me, his finger caressing the side of my cheek. “Tell me and it won’t hurt as much.”
The image of my dead sister flashed through my head, followed by the fresh mounds of earth on their graves after I left the hospital. Summoning what little strength and courage I had left, I took a deep breath and head-butted him in the face.
A huge growl emerged as I scrambled to my feet, using the memories from my past to propel me forward. I knew these rooms because I’d played in them so long ago.
“You fucking bitch!” he snarled, his feet pounding behind me. “You’ll pay for that.”
The kitchen doors were locked, so I used the staircase at the back of the house. I’d almost reached the top when his hand grabbed my leg and hauled me off my feet. A screech emerged as I landed on my dislocated arm.
“For that little display, your ass will hurt for a month in more ways than one.” His words were clear, he’d punish and violate me there. What was men’s obsession with anal sex? He practically dragged me onto the rear landing of the first floor that I used to watch the pond from. One of my children’s books still sat on the window seat.
His hand wrapped around my hair as he dragged me toward the bedrooms. There wasn’t a part of me that wasn’t sore. I’ll fallen on my knees, I couldn’t mo
ve my arm, my throat already felt swollen, and breathing was difficult.
My socks slid on the polished wooden floor, all the air forced from my lungs as I fell onto my face. The man stood over me, rage emanating from him in waves. His foot connected with my abdomen and pain radiated deep into my chest.
I tried to curl myself into a ball, but he was a feral animal, grabbing me by the front of my jumper and hauling me to my feet. There was no fight left in me. I stared into his brown eyes and saw cruelty. My defeat excited him. His nose trailed along the side of my face.
“You have no idea how much I’m going to enjoy this,” he whispered in a tone that made my heart sink.
He practically carried me the remainder of the way. The first bedroom was one of the guest rooms and it was the only thing I was grateful for. That he hadn’t taken me to any of the rooms that the family had used at the front of the house.
I wanted to scream, to beg, to demand that he release me. All my words dried up until my soul fractured. He tugged at my yoga pants I’d worn for comfort when I had gone out for that walk earlier. The psychopath bent me over the end of the bed, my ass in the air.
The jingle of his belt tormented me before he leaned over me, his breath nauseating as it blew over my face. “Welcome to the first day of the rest of your life, Cassandra.”
I squeezed my eyes closed, trying to distance myself from the room I currently resided in. I tried to pretend I was in The Midnight Rooms with a faceless man. His flesh pressed against mine and I whimpered.
His body was dragged away, and cold air touched me instead.
“Xavier, what are you doing here?” I jolted when I heard the man say the name I’d been clinging to.
I used my undamaged arm to try and pull my yoga pants up. The man lay on the ground with Xavier looming over him. My heart hammered in my chest and my legs gave way as I slid down the end of the bed to the floor.
“Malcom, I’d like to say it’s a pleasure to see you, but you were about to rape my fiancée.” Xavier’s tone was hard, his face tight. He never even looked at me.
“Your what?” The man stared up at Xavier as if he was mad.
“That woman is my future wife and mother of my children. I don’t think anyone would object to what’s about to happen to you.”
He held his hands up. “Xavier, be reasonable. This is Council business, we’ll take it to them to decide…”
Xavier crouched low, his hand grabbing the man’s throat. “Consider me the judge, jury, and executioner of the Council.” Xavier’s eyes came up to mine for just a moment, then back to my attacker. “And right now, consider yourself on death row.”
Several days ago, I’d ran because I saw this side of him. Now, I was grateful he had this side.
“My men are on their way back.”
Xavier turned those ice-cold blue eyes to him. “Your men are dead. The clean-up crew will be here in a few hours to ensure there is no evidence left.”
He tried to crawl back from Xavier, who reached behind his back to retrieve a gun from the waistband of his jeans. “Goodbye, Malcolm.”
“Wait! I have information that the Council can use.” His hands tried to ward Xavier off.
Jordan stepped into the room, his dark gaze roving over me. “You okay?” he asked in a low tone.
I blinked, unable to move or vocalise anything.
“All the blood has been spilled outside, Zee. A good rainstorm will wash away any evidence. Let me take him to our facility. You can deal with him there.” The smile on Jordan’s face made me shudder.
“No! No! Fine, shoot me! Just fucking shoot me!” the man called Malcom screamed.
A dark smile tipped Xavier’s lips up as he dragged Malcolm to his feet. I couldn’t make out the words of what he said in a low tone into his ear.
“No, you can’t. No!”
Xavier pushed him toward Jordan. “Leave him in our facility. I’ll deal with the coward myself.”
“No worries, man. Hello, Malcolm, you’ve been a very bad boy. Come with me and I’ll tell you about all the new toys we’ve installed in our interrogation room. I’m so excited we’ll be sharing them with you since you’re a fucking rapist.” Jordan twisted his arm up his back until there was a sickening pop followed by a whimper. “It’s called karma, Malcolm. Be a good boy and take your punishment like a man.”
My gaze moved from Jordan and his bizarre conversation, to Xavier. He knelt in front of me, his blue eyes the only thing I could focus on. “I need to get you to a medical unit. Can you stand?”
My mouth opened and closed. It was only when his fingers weaved through the ones on my uninjured hand that I finally found words. “You came for me.”
“Always will, baby. Let me fix your arm and then I’ll get you out of here.” He gently lifted me, his fingers moving around my shoulder and arm. “Take a deep breath, this is going to hurt.”
My lungs expanded and then all the air emerged as he twisted my arm and my shoulder popped back into place. My scream filled the room before I collapsed.
Everything was a blur around me. Xavier helped me into the Jeep I’d arrived in, the smell of sick still in the back. I was vaguely aware of being in a helicopter, all the while held in Xavier’s arms. Even when we reached the private hospital, he sat by my side, holding my hand.
When we were finally alone, I looked at him. He was pale and hadn’t shaved in days. The circles under his eyes made them appear bluer. “When they took me, there was only one thing I could think of.”
His eyebrows rose in question, his fingers still stroking mine.
“I never told you that I loved you.”
His full lips curved up into a smile. “I already knew, baby. I loved you before I ever saw you in the light. There was nowhere in this world you could have gone that I wouldn’t have followed you.”
I lay back in the bed. “I still don’t like blood on the carpet.”
“Noted. I’ll try my best to keep our enemies outside.” His mouth twitched.
My eyes fluttered closed. “Thank you for saving me.”
“You saved me first, baby. I was just saving you back.” His lips covered mine in a gentle kiss that made me feel safe for the first time in days.
***
Chapter Nine
Xavier
My numb fingers took the piece of paper from the doctor. Cassandra was finally sleeping, and I was stretching my legs. Jordan had that twisted fucker locked down in our bunker, far from prying eyes and listening ears. He always came across as being a pleasant, quiet man. I’d heard every word he said to Cassandra and saw every bruise on her body when they were changing her into a hospital gown.
“We suspect she has a fractured rib, but since her pregnancy test is positive, we’d prefer not to x-ray…” The doctor prattled on, but my mind didn’t move past one word.
A few inches lower and his kick could have had different results.
“Yeah, no worries. I’ll get her home to rest.”
Jordan had been a busy boy in the twenty-four hours I’d been stuck here. He’d been through Cassandra’s house and removed everything with any of her names on it. She’d stashed it under her wardrobe as she had in her apartment. All the bodies of the security guards had already been incinerated and the grounds cleaned. Her family home once again looked like no one had been near it. Ash discovered a hidden camera in the graveyard trained on her parents’ grave. Malcolm must have arrived when they saw her visiting it. We still didn’t know how a Council member had died and none of the rest of us knew. It smelt like a ten-day-old corpse sitting in the room.
Jordan had even found the keys they were talking about in a bible with small slots carved into the pages.
“Zee?” Cassandra tried to push herself up when I came into the room.
“No moving. Looks like you have broken ribs on top of the shoulder injury.”
She slumped back on the bed. “I feel like I’ve been run over by a bus.”
I tucked her hair behind her e
ar and watched her.
Cassandra took a deep breath and met my eyes. “I need to tell you who I really am.”
“Already know. You left a letter with your name on it in the secret compartment at the bottom of your wardrobe. We’d worked out that your family home was the only one not rented out and I was going to head in that direction yesterday morning only you phoned me a few hours before I got on the road.”
“You’re not angry?”
I shrugged. “We all have secrets. You would have told me when you were ready.”
“How did you know that man?” She chewed the inside of her mouth.
“I’m guessing the same way your father did. Through an organisation known as the Council. He was on it before he died in the car accident.”
A huge tear formed at the corner of her eye before rolling down her cheek.
Climbing onto the bed, I tucked her in beside me, her head on my chest. “We’ll talk about all this another day. Right now, you need to get better.”
She nodded, her hand opening and closing on my T-shirt. “You told him I was your fiancée.”
A smile curved my lips. “Did I?”
“Hmmm.” She snuggled closer, pressing her head against my heartbeat. “And your future wife and mother of your children.”
A faint laugh escaped me. “About that. We seemed to have already been working on that prediction.”
Cassandra tried to look up but moaned in pain. I tugged her against me. “You need to stay still and heal. Broken ribs are an absolute bitch because you have to breathe. Doctor got your test results back and I guess all our practice paid off. You’re about five weeks pregnant.”
Her body froze before she slowly moved to look at me. “I’m what?” If it was possible, she got even paler. “Oh, God, now you’re going to think that I tried to trap you. I take my pill every day.”
“Cassandra.” I grabbed her head between my hands. “Calm down. I don’t give a fuck if you’re pregnant now or five years from now. I told you in your office when I saw you in the light for the first time that you were mine. I meant it.”