by Linzi Basset
When Morgan came to seconds later, it was to the sound of his demonic laughter. She didn't move or open her eyes. Disgust and realization that she'd never be free from his viciousness threatened to overpower her. For the hundredth time she wailed in her mind, wondering why she had given in to Will that one time.
"Get up, Morgan. I know you're awake."
Morgan gathered her legs under her and pushed to her feet. She lifted her hand to wipe her mouth.
"No. Leave it. I want you to savor my taste on your lips." His eyes turned glacial. "You dare to defy me again and you'll be sorry. Dan is very inventive with his knife." He regarded her with a cruel smile. "I don't imagine Bruce will be interested in a grotesquely disfigured woman. Not even he is that noble." He gestured toward the sofa. "Sit."
He stood over her with arms crossed. "It seems I need to remind you what you did all those years ago." He sat down opposite her, crossing his legs and watching her like a hawk.
"Killing a young teenager in a hit and run, drunk as a skunk, even all these years later, was a very naughty thing to do, my dear. Imagine how delighted the parents of thirteen-year-old Mary Nunes would be if the murderer was brought to justice? Believe me, with all the political drama in this country at the moment, you'd be crucified and end up spending the rest of your life in jail."
Morgan didn't respond, her shoulders slumped. To this day, she had no idea what had really happened. Her mind drifted back to the incident that changed her life.
“Wake up! Jesus, what’s wrong with you?” Zee shook her from the stupor she was in.
She looked around dazed, tentatively touching the massive lump on the side of her head.
"What the fuck did you do that for, Morgan? All you had to do was wait for the kid to cross the road," Zee snapped.
"What are you talking—”
Her shocked eyes came to rest on the tangled bike and crumbled figure of a young girl lying in a twisted ball in the middle of the road. Even in the dark she could see the pool of blood that seemed to turn into a shiny sticky lake around her small body.
"I ... what are you saying? I wasn't driving," she whispered. They had left the club early because Morgan had started to feel woozy, which she couldn't understand, as she only had one glass of wine. It had been a relief because she hadn’t been enjoying the evening. She never liked the obnoxious man and wanted to end the torture as quickly as possible.
Morgan tried to get out of the car but Zee wouldn't let her.
"Get the fuck out of here, Morgan. Now. Go!"
She automatically obeyed, following his directions blindly until they reached his house. She tried to reason with him, adamant that she hadn't been drunk, that she knew she hadn’t been driving. He conceded to her insistence to have an alcohol test done and took her to a doctor friend at a nearby clinic. Her alcohol level was through the roof. She was stumped and sat in defeat as he drove home. The next day, he showed her video footage taken from a traffic cam at the intersection where the incident occurred. It was the worst two minutes of her life, watching how the car stopped for the little girl to cross and the moment she was in front of it, pulled away with screeching tires.
It was a nightmare she still had, watching how the bike and the girl were tossed high into the air and crashed to the ground like a ragdoll. Her face was clearly visible on the footage—in the driver's seat behind the steering wheel.
That's where her terror began. The video had been his trump card. Zee had used it to blackmail her into submission and becoming his sex slave. Giving him whatever he wanted, wherever, and however. Over time he'd used her to transport drugs, even forced her to watch how they punished prostitutes for defying him, but she’d known it was to warn her of what would happen if she ever defied him. She'd become his puppet. Until the day he demanded from her to entertain his business colleagues in a sexual orgy. She bluntly refused. It was the first and only time she stood up against him. That one defiance ended in a year of sex slavery in Saudi Arabia. If Joanne hadn't saved her, she had no idea what his intention had been with her or what would have happened to her.
"You have one more chance to appease my anger. To apologize for the past."
Morgan simmered but refused to take the bait. She had nothing to apologize for and had no intention of accommodating him in any way.
"I'm a good bounty hunter, Zee but I'm not an assassin or a killer. You're demented if you believe for one moment I'd be able to kill someone like Bruce Rickett. He'll see me coming a mile away."
Reece regarded her thoughtfully. She had been a pleasant playmate, especially because she abhorred every second of it. He reveled in how she’d cringed every time he’d touched her. How she’d bit through her lip until it bled when he’d fucked her. A thrill seeped through his veins.
Yes! That’s how I’ll bring him to his knees. I'll fuck her one more time. With the mighty Bruce watching as I drill into her until she bleeds.
His excitement showed on his face. Morgan bore back inside her mind although her expression didn’t change. She knew that look all too well. She'd always hated seeing it on his face, knowing where it would end.
"I realize that, which is why you, my little slut, will bring him to me."
Morgan's heart missed a beat; she went cold all over.
He sat forward, a calculating look in his eyes.
"I'll email you the instructions, just to ensure there are no misunderstandings and no, don't bother telling me you closed that email account. I know it's still active." His face turned cruel. "I started with Jaxon, Morgan. I’ll continue until all the children and women, dead or hurting, are on your conscience. Bring him to me, or you’ll be responsible for more deaths than that of little Mary Nunes."
Morgan couldn’t remember what freedom felt like. Try as she might, she couldn’t dredge up a single memory of a time where she was her own person, made her own decisions, and lived life the way she chose to.
She sank down against the warm marble tiles of the double sized shower with the warm water beating down on her. Her skin glowed bright red from having scrubbed herself raw to get rid of the smell and feel of Zee’s hands on her. A ritual she’d perfected over the years. She couldn’t even cry … not since she realized it achieved nothing. Over the past four years, her life had become a void—dark and cold—never ending, consuming everything in her soul. She was left feeling nothing. Empty. Not one speck to subside her hollow soul that crept aimlessly in the shadows, away from other human life.
“And all because you made one wrong choice in life. Trusting a man who you should’ve known didn’t have your best interest at heart.”
Her voice echoed back through a watery soundboard.
“It’s no use. What’s done is done.”
All she could do now was to find a way to keep her friends safe. Her presence here had put their safety at risk. She’d made Bruce the most vulnerable of them all. The decision had been made on the way home. She had to leave. Disappear to a place where no one could find her. Not even the bastard Mr. Z.
She pushed to her feet and cut off the water. Wrapped in a towel, she caught sight of herself in the mirror. Her wet hair, darkened now, gave her skin an even more pasty look. The haunting look in her eyes was a mixture of desperation and anguish. She grimaced and winced at the sharp pain from the sides of her mouth. She leaned forward, tentatively touching the deep tears on either side of her lips. The first thing she’d done upon arriving home was brush her teeth, over and over, rinsing it with mouthwash until she felt like gagging.
Her hands trembled as she reached for her toothbrush and with a roughness borne from hatred and disgust she raked it over her teeth, her palate and tongue. Again and again, but still, she could taste the acrid stench of his skin. It was too deeply engraved in her mind.
“Enough.”
Morgan started as Bruce’s large hand yanked the toothbrush out of her hand from over her shoulder. He threw it into the basin and gently rinsed her mouth, not saying a word. His hands were tender
but firm as he wiped her mouth with a small hand towel.
His body turned rigid as he tilted back her head. He traced her still swollen lips, cursing viciously as he saw the tears. Morgan did her best to avoid his eyes but he’d seen it too many times. The haunting look, the despair and disgust. Rape was an ugly thing, no matter how or where penetration happened.
“Who did this to you?” His voice sounded raw and furious in the silence of the room.
Morgan swallowed hard, keeping her eyes lowered. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Bruce had to dig deep to keep his raging emotions under control. His eyes turned hard, as cold as tempered metal as he struggled with the realization that someone had violated her. Her, his sub, the woman he had sworn to care and protect.
When Louis had phoned to report they couldn’t find her at the art center, his heart had missed a beat. They had spent the past hour scouring the surroundings until Dave, the detail that remained at the house, called to tell him she was home.
“Morgan, I’m no fool.” His chest heaved with the heavy sigh as her lips pressed into a thin line. “You’re mine to care for and protect. You gave me that right, an honor I take very seriously, but I can’t do that if you don’t talk to me.” He cupped her cheeks and stared into her eyes. “Let me help you, love. Talk to me.”
Morgan stood defenseless as the emptiness inside her bloomed wider to encapsulate her entire being. No one could help her.
“Bruce, please don’t ask me to …” She bit her lip. “It’ll be better if I leave. Safer for all of you.”
“You're not going anywhere. Don’t you get it, baby? You’re it for me and I know I’m it for you.”
“Don’t. Please,” she begged, forcing her mind to discard the possibility of a happy ending for her.
“I’m not a quitter, Morgan, and I sure as hell know you’re not one either.”
She shook her head and smiled wryly. “I used to think so too. Now, I’m not so sure. Today, I came …” she swallowed hard at the lump in her throat that threatened to choke her, “this close to … I made a mistake coming here. I know that now. I wanted to protect you and all I did—” Her voice cracked. “All I did was give them a gateway to destroy all of you.”
Morgan still reeled remembering how close she’d been to driving over a cliff to end her miserable existence.
“Only if you let them, baby.” His voice deepened, soothing her abused soul with its rich tones.
“Don’t you understand?” she cried. “I don’t have a choice! I have to leave. If I don’t, I’ll be responsible for their deaths. Their blood will be on my hands! Joanne, the baby, Paige, Lauren, all of them. Even … even Beckie.”
“Morgan, no matter what you do or don’t do, their end goal isn’t going to change. They will do everything in their power to destroy us. It’s the only way they will survive, now that we know exactly who they are.” He brushed his fingers over her torn lips, frowning in thought. “Dexter Powell, aka Jaden Bower, is either dead or seriously injured, so it could only have been Mr. Z.”
She went deathly pale.
It took all of Bruce’s willpower to keep his fury hidden. For the first time in his life, he wanted to kill—no, scrap that—torture someone.
She lowered her eyes. Shame and humiliation was riding her hollow.
“No, love, don’t shy away from me. You did nothing wrong, Morgan. You are an innocent—”
“No!” She slammed her fists against his chest, raising her eyes, filled with torture and regret. “I killed someone, years ago. I don’t know … can’t remember how but I saw video footage. Proof that it was me.” Her shoulders hunched in defeat. “He’ll destroy me … my name as an artist.” She trembled. “And that’s all I have left.”
He pinched her chin and forced her eyes back to his. “No, Morgan. You have me.”
Her eyes turned misty as she shook her head and closed her eyes wearily.
“Look at me, Morgan.”
Her lids drifted upward and left her floundering at the message she thought she could read in the darkening depths of his clear gaze. Hope flared to life inside her like a bright star in a hopelessly dark universe. Her soul filled with exhilaration as she basked in the aura that surrounded them in that moment.
“I love you, Morgan. Part of my heart became yours that day I picked you up and lifted you into that chopper. When you disappeared, it was as if my soul turned cold, empty and wanting.”
“Bruce—”
“No, Morgan. I’m a grown man. I know how the human mind works. I know me. You’re the one I’ve been holding out for all these years.” He took her hands in his, staring at her earnestly, his feelings an open book for her to see. “Now that I finally found you, I sure as hell have every intention of keeping you.”
For the first time in years, she felt the need to cry. He bottom lip quivered. Fear destroyed the joy bristling to explode inside her heart.
“He’s never going to let me go.” She heaved in a deep breath. “I defied him once and I ended up as a sex slave.” Her lips twitched into a grimace as she watched the rage burst to life in Bruce’s eyes. “I’ll never be free from him, Bruce. There’s no hope left.”
“There’s always hope, my love. All you need to do is draw it from me. I’ll be your guide to see beyond the present defeat, beyond the ugliness of the past, and beyond the negative words of hopeless voices. It’s time to look beyond the darkness of fighting this battle on your own. Hold onto me, Morgan. I’ll be the hope that perches in your soul and sings the tune without words. Let me be your bright light to the future.” He smiled gently. “You already took the first step to break free from him when you came to me. It was your cry for help. Trust me to help you, baby. Trust in me to protect you from him.”
“But the video footage—”
“Men like Reece Talbot, Mr. Z, have ways and means. If you can’t remember, even after how many years, I’ll bet every cent I own that he fabricated it.”
She frowned. “Why? He didn’t really know me. It was the first time I went out with …” Her voice drifted off. She started to shake, realizing for the first time the possibility that she’d been set up. That Will had known all along what Mr. Z really wanted from her and it went far beyond one date.
Bruce pulled her into his arms and held her tight. “Shh, let’s leave it for now. You need to rest.”
Morgan was beyond tired. Physically and completely drained emotionally. Years of abuse and fear came crashing down on her in that moment of tender understanding and love.
Her chest heaved as dry sobs raked through her body. Finally, she gave in and released the floodgates. Bruce picked her up and carried her to the bed, lying down with her in his arms. For a long time, he did nothing but soothe her as she sobbed and cried. He forced the growing desire to crash Reece Talbot under his fists as she screamed aloud her frustration and anger while the entire sordid tale tumbled from her lips.
It was much later before she fell asleep in his arms, exhausted but feeling safe for the first time with his strong arms around her.
Bruce didn’t move. He continued to hold her. Fury boiled to the breaking point inside him.
Reece Talbot was a dead man and he wasn’t going to die an easy or quick death.
His voice echoed ominously in the darkness, broken apart only with a thin sliver of moonlight that managed to slip through the dark cover of clouds in the sky. “You’re going to suffer, you motherfucker. Mark my words, Reece. Before you die, I’ll make sure you pay for what you did to her.”
Chapter Seventeen
Rhone’s eyes were trained on some invisible spectra, his heavy eyelids a fraction too slow to blink, his irises stationary. His back was ramrod straight where he stood in front of the large two-sided window of his office at Club Devil’s Cove. He couldn’t turn to face his friends. For the first time in his life, he felt like a failure. He could’ve ended the reign of The Sixth Order so much earlier, if only he had paid heed to Bruce’s concern
s about Reece and Jaden. If only he had trusted in the one man who had never been wrong in his assessment of human nature. If only he hadn’t allowed false loyalty to sway him to—
If only! If only isn’t going to change anything. I fucked up. No recriminations now are going to change that. Man up, Rhone Greer and accept the blame.
Bruce’s voice continued to echo in his mind as he relayed the suffering Morgan had endured at the hands of Reece and Jaden. More guilt pestered him, eating away slowly at his resolve, loading every act of violence and humiliation she’d suffered squarely on his shoulders. Remorse hit him like a sledgehammer. He was tired, not physically or emotionally. No, he was furiously tired of the two men and the callous way they used and abused people in their quest for power and money.
A heavy hand came to rest on his shoulder. He didn’t have to look to know who it was. Bruce was the only person who managed to see past his defenses, the iron wall he’d built around his feelings and emotions.
“It’s not your fault, Rhone or mine.”
“Then whose is it? You warned me. I should’ve fucking listened,” he sneered in self-disgust.
“And achieved what? Think about it. At the time there was nothing, absolutely nothing we would’ve found to indicate foul play or betrayal from their side. The reality is, they fooled us. They were too clever and careful to be caught. If not for Jaden’s one slip up, we would still have been in the dark. You know I’m right, Rhone.”
“It doesn’t make it any easier, Bruce. I feel so fucking helpless, like a failure every time I hear these abhorrent things they subject people, especially innocent women, too.”
“Not for much longer.”
“What are you up to, Bruce?” Lance asked from where he leaned against the wall, his expression closed. Bruce wasn’t fooled. It’s how Lance hid his anger while his mind carefully evaluated every piece of information and the expressions of those around him. A trait that made him the brilliant strategist he was.