“Natalie,” I croaked.
“Liam, what have they done to you.”
I blinked several times to clear my vision and saw her pretty face. It wasn’t the time, but I blame the concussion for leaning forward and pressing my lips to hers.
When she kissed me back, I knew I wasn’t dreaming or at least I hoped I wasn’t.
“My hand,” I said.
“What?”
“My hand,” I said again.
When she shifted, I opened it slowly feeling the wetness there. I cut myself, I had no idea how deep. My head throbbed too hard for me to figure it out without seeing.
“Jesus.”
“Take the razor. Be. Careful. Use it to get me free.”
“I’m so sorry,” she said.
“Don’t be. But hurry.” I had no idea when they would be back.
If someone noticed she was gone, coming for me would be the first thing they did.
I closed my eyes again, fighting the urge to vomit. A soft hand lightly cupped my right cheek, which had survived the assault unscathed, waking me from the nightmare I was in.
“Liam. You passed out. You’re free.”
My arms tingled as blood rushed through my veins. I stumbled to my feet and Natalie was there with a shoulder for me to lean on.
“Let’s get out of here.”
She didn’t reply, just guided me to the door.
“Turn off the light and lock the door again.” I shifted to lean on the wall as she did it. My eyes were closed again when she urged me forward.
My feet didn’t quite work well as my ankles had been tightly zip-tied to the feet of the chair. Every step sent a shock of pain as much needed blood flow returned. I had no idea how long I’d been there and didn’t bother to ask her. It was long enough for me to suffer the effects.
As we walked down the path from which I’d been driven, I asked, “Should we go this way?” I knew we would be seen if guards were monitoring the outside.
“We don’t really have a choice,” she said. The house to the left had a large stone wall divider. There was no way I could climb it. “Let’s walk close to the wall.”
Luckily, I was dressed in dark clothing and Natalie appeared to be as well. It would give us some cover but far short of what we needed.
More cars were parked in front. I stopped her short. As I caught my breath, I watched for signs of muscle standing guard outside. When no movement came, I began to lope forward as my feet no longer felt like I’d been stung by a thousand bees with each step.
We crossed the street and continued a half jog toward my truck. I opened the door and sighed in relief when I found my phone and wallet under my seat where I left them. That didn’t last when I let out an audible groan.
“What?” Natalie asked from behind me. She hadn’t gone to the passenger side of the car.
“They took my keys.” I’d left them in the ignition, counting on the neighborhood to be safe from car jackings. Not that a thief would target my truck. It wasn’t worth enough for someone in that line of business.
From her pocket, she pulled out my keys. “They were on a table.” I hadn’t remembered there being a table but didn’t take the time to go back through my memory.
“Good girl. Let’s go,” I commanded.
She didn’t move. “I can’t.”
“We don’t have time for this.”
“Liam, you don’t understand.” I shook my head to clear it as another spell of dizziness overcame me. “Liam.”
This time I couldn’t stop it. I doubled over and puked the remnants of what little I’d eaten. She wasn’t grossed out and came closer, touching my head.
“Do you have a headache?” she asked.
I nodded but stopped quickly from the growing pain.
“Dizziness?”
“Yes,” I croaked.
“Ringing in your ear?”
“Not now, but earlier.”
“What day is it?”
“What?” The question seemed out of place when we needed to leave. “I don’t know. What does it matter?”
“Because I’m sure you have a concussion. You need to go to the hospital.”
“You’re going to need to drive me,” I said, using this medical issue to my advantage.
Her features softened as if I was a patient assigned to her. “Fine. Get in. But I’ll need you to give me directions.”
“I can do that,” I said. Though I had no intention of taking us to a hospital.
When we got to a red light, she asked me for the directions again. I had a hard time keeping it together. I managed to put my destination into the map on my phone and activate the voice mode. Then I leaned my head against the cool glass and drifted off.
“Liam.” There was such desperation in hearing my name, I awoke with a start. A quick glance was enough to prove we had arrived exactly where I’d hoped. “We were supposed to go to the hospital,” she said, sadness covering her pretty face.
“We need to leave New York,” I said, feeling slightly better than I had before. “This was the best way.” We were parked next to the curb in the departure lanes at the airport.
“How do you expect to get past TSA with your face looking like that?”
“What? Are you saying I’m not pretty anymore?” I flashed her a grin unwisely as a spark of sharp pain hit. I rubbed at the ache.
“I can’t go with you,” she said,
“Why not? Who are these guys?” A tap came at my window. I expected a cop because these days you weren’t allowed to idle near any US airport. Only it was the guy I referred to as Thing Two. The guy that had tuned me up earlier. I whipped my head back in her direction. “What have you done?”
Her eyes were filled with sadness, but it didn’t explain why she’d betrayed me. “I made a deal. You were supposed to end up at a hospital, safely. Then, I would return of my own accord.”
I didn’t like the sound of ‘my own accord’. “They tracked your phone,” I accused.
She shrugged but it hadn’t been a question.
A man appeared at her door and opened it. “Well, you must be Hotel Romeo,” he said.
I might have laughed from all the bitterness I felt, but it would hurt too much. Thing Two had gotten in some body blows as well. Now that my head didn’t hurt so much, I felt other aches. The voice, however, was familiar given the slight accent.
The only thing good about that was Natalie looked surprised as well by the nickname the man gave me.
“My guess is my daughter hasn’t told you the good news.”
Panic covered Natalie’s face as shock covered mine. Father? “Natalia is getting married to David Royal. I’m telling you so your quest to save her ends now. You can look him up. He’s everything you’re not. Though it’s hard to see what you look like under those bruises. My men can be… too eager at times. Anyway, David Royal is the son of the hotel mogul Dwight Royal.”
“Married?” Though I’d said the word, I wasn’t really asking anyone but Natalie.
“It’s not what you think,” she pleaded as her father ushered her out of the car.
“Marriages of convenience are as old as time. I’m sure Adam wouldn’t have had anything to do with scheming Eve if there had been another option.”
I wasn’t sure his analogy worked. I was more concerned about what I heard or didn’t hear.
“Remember what you told me about your purpose the first time we met,” she said, cryptically.
That was a fight I wouldn’t forget. I’d told her I came to New York not only to meet my father but to ultimately help my mother by getting what she deserved. Was she doing this for her mother? Her father didn’t give me a chance to ask.
“Don’t follow, lover boy. As you can see, this is her choice. I have to thank you for your choice of destination as it works well for us. Now we will take an earlier flight. No need to follow as you won’t get past the guards.”
Then, they were gone. I moved to shift to the driver’s seat when
another tap came on the passenger side window. Thing Two lifted his jacket enough for me to see the gun. Meanwhile, Natalie disappeared into the car ahead of me. It quickly pulled out and drove off, likely to the location where private planes took off.
When Thing Two stepped back, I didn’t wait for him to follow. I peeled off and sped away, hoping to shake them. No matter what Natalie believed, I didn’t think they would leave me alive if they could. I pulled into a daily garage and drove far too fast until I found a spot in the mostly full lot. I quickly turned off my car and laid down on the front seat hoping against hope if they’d taken chase, they would be looking for a truck with lights on.
The word married rang in my head. I bet my life she’d known. That was likely why she’d come over and given me her virginity. From that I took it to mean she didn’t want to marry this David Royal. The question was, what would I do about it? My thoughts scattered as I was dragged into the unconsciousness yet again.
Three
Natalie
Furious didn’t cover completely how I felt. “How could you tell him that?” I raged.
“Darling daughter of mine, your lovesick Romeo needed to know the truth. You can’t possibly believe that leaving him to think he had a shot was fair.”
It wasn’t. “I would have told him.” Though that was a lie.
“I didn’t have time for your come to Jesus moment with him. I was able to get us a flight and we leave now.”
He was right about one thing. I wouldn’t have told Liam about the marriage because I didn’t want to see the betrayal on his face, which would have been worse than the bruises he’d gotten from the beating he’d taken to save me.
“I would have come back.”
His brow arched. “Really, when you swore you were taking him to the hospital and ended up at the airport.”
“I didn’t know. I don’t know my way around and followed the directions he provided. Still I didn’t park in a garage and go in. I was dropping him off or myself if it came to it. I would have called and told you where I was.”
“Plausible, but you can understand why I can’t fully trust you.” He held out his hand. “Give me your phone.”
“Why? I called you. That should have earned me something.”
“You shouldn’t have left in the first place. I had to end a meeting early to come after you.”
“I couldn’t stay and let you kill him, and you agreed,” I spat.
“After the fact and you only delayed the inevitable.”
“What? No!” I cried in misery.
“He would have never given up. It’s for the best. At least you got to say your goodbye. Now hand over the phone.”
I gripped it in my hand tighter. “I need to call Mom, so she doesn’t worry.”
“Your mother has been notified of your situation. She knows if she interferes in any way, she’ll die.”
Choking sounds left my throat. “You wouldn’t?” I dared, but it was a child’s cry for help.
“I would. Now this is the last time I’ll ask. Give me the phone.”
I handed it over.
“If you follow the rules, I let you talk to her.”
“When?”
“When it pleases me.”
I bit back rage, as it wouldn’t do me any good. All too soon, the car came to a stop. The driver spoke to a man at a gate before we were ushered through. We pulled in front of a small building.
“I expect obedience. Don’t make a scene and I’ll let you call your mother when we land.”
Though I didn’t want to, I nodded. Not so long after, we boarded a private jet without the hassle of long waits through security.
My bag, which I hadn’t brought, meaning my father had, was shoved in a bin at the front. The plane had four rows with the two in the middle facing each other. When I wasn’t given an assigned seat by my father, I sat in the back row with a single seat on the left.
Father spoke to the pilot, but we didn’t immediately leave. We waited for his two goons to appear.
“Was it taken care of?’” I caught him ask them.
He shifted his position, giving me his back. That left me unable to see or hear as they spoke in hushed tones. Father didn’t blow a gasket, leaving me to assume they’d completed their task. Tears streamed from my eyes as I dealt with the guilt of getting Liam killed. He’d come for me and because I hadn’t been honest, he’d died. What choice did I have? If it wasn’t for my mother, I would want to die as well, it hurt that damn bad.
Yet crying was useless. It wouldn’t change my circumstance. I had to be smart about this. Father would pay. He wouldn’t get away with murdering Liam.
Play the game, Natalie. Wall up your emotions and get through this. Though as the day went, I could have been a shambling zombie as I continued on. I ignored the food that was put in front of me and focused my attention outside the window.
When we landed, I went where I was supposed to go with no argument. I hadn’t given up. I was biding my time.
“Home,” my father said when we arrived at a gated compound. I’d only seen pictures when I’d been curious enough to search him up on the web.
“Not for long,” I muttered.
“Home for now. We still have some details to work out. I can always find a different man.” It irked me he kept throwing out these threats to keep me in line because, after Liam, I believed that he would follow through.
“You keep throwing in my face that you will marry me off to whoever. It doesn’t really matter now does it?”
“Love is overrated, Daughter. You’ll find that out soon enough.”
There was no point in arguing because he certainly wasn’t a shining example of that word. I turned my head away in disgust.
Even though the car came to a stop, he didn’t move until the door was opened for him. When the door opened for me, I was startled, but got out. The house was huge from the outside. I followed him in to see he lived in extravagance. Marble floors, a grand staircase and an over-the-top chandelier made up the foyer we stood in.
A woman in a black dress with a white apron came scurrying in the room. “Marta, this is my daughter. She will be staying with us and I want you to treat her like family. However, she is not allowed to use the phone. No matter what excuse she gives you, don’t allow her any use of the phone.”
The gall of him to say it right in front of me. From her reaction, rolling my eyes turned out to be an admission of guilt rather than he is crazy look I thought in my head.
A woman, whose beauty hadn’t changed much from her younger self, strolled in. She was all smiles until she saw me. Before she spoke, she waved off Marta. When the housekeeper disappeared, her expression turned frosty. “Who is this?”
Father held out a hand like he was introducing his prized puppy and maybe I was just that. “Valentina, this is my daughter, Natalia.”
Disgust purpled her face with annoyance. “You brought her here.”
“She is the key to the future we want,” he said, dismissing her ire with a warm grin.
“What you want?” she spat, like literally, spittle flew from her mouth.
“Don’t be crass. Your usefulness died the day our son did.”
Her eyes rounded like she’d been slapped. “Because of you.” She aimed a manicured finger at him.
“Maybe, but had you been able to give me more than one child…”
His verbal assault was done without ever changing his nonchalant tone.
“You asshole. I gave you everything!” she cursed.
“What? A surname that means nothing in America. You were the fifth born daughter. You were lucky to marry me.”
“I hate you!” she screamed.
“So you say, yet you beg me to share your bed. Now I expect you to train Natalia how to be a lady. Her mother was useless there.”
I allowed his insult to break my stone heart and I aimed a dagger filled gaze his way.
His goons came in. Their chatter announced their entrance. I di
dn’t bother to turn to see them.
“As we discussed,” he said to them. “Marta has her rooms ready. Take her there.”
I expected a shove. I didn’t expect a black cloth bag put over my head and to be lifted off my feet. I gave in to instinct and fought against the man who held me.
As it turned out, it was probably what they wanted. The house was likely a maze, and I was so busy fighting I hadn’t paid attention to which way they were going. Then again, since I wasn’t walking, I was that much more disoriented.
When I was sat down, I kicked and hit someone in the shin. The bag was snatched off my head and he hadn’t been nice about it. Some of my hair went with it.
“Ouch,” I yelled and blinked against the sudden brightness.
“Enjoy your stay,” the asshole said, and tried and failed not to limp out of the room.
I double flipped him off before looking around. Father hadn’t been exaggerating when he told them to take me to my rooms. I stood in a small living room area. Straight ahead were two windows. An open door to the right led to a bathroom. A doorway to the left was a bedroom. Before I explored either, I checked the door. I wasn’t surprised to find it locked. Then, I went to the windows. They opened, but as it turned out, I was at least three stories up.
Without a tree, trellis, or rope ladder, I was stuck. From the view outside, the house was surrounded by acres of unencumbered land. A high stone wall with trees outlined the property. If I somehow got down, I’d be seen trying to reach the wall to escape. There was nothing to hide me from the house to the wall. Knowing my father, that design aspect was intentional. I wondered if I would be trapped here long enough to call myself Rapunzel before I was set free.
It could be psychological as well. I’d probably be happy to marry anyone to get out this place.
None of it mattered. Finally, alone, I allowed myself to dissolve into tears over Liam’s brutal death. I cried until I couldn’t cry anymore. My father would pay even if it was the last thing I did.
Four
Liam
The sound of a car horn jolted me awake. I scrambled to sit up, having already forgotten where I was for a second. From my limited view in the above ground garage, the sky was bright. It was morning, but when?
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