Chance

by Lagomarsino, Giulia

  Another fist to my face sent me sprawling in the other direction, only to be yanked back to my knees again. Wes was glaring at me, but I was seeing double.

  Sobs built in my chest and tears leaked from my eyes. My face throbbed and the rope was pulling too tight on my wrists. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I swear.”

  Blood dripped from my mouth and I could feel my eyes swelling shut already. But even the look of me beaten had no effect on him. He didn’t care right now because he thought I had betrayed him.

  “My men have been looking into how we were tracked. Obviously, anyone could have followed us to the hotel, but nobody should have known where in the hotel we were.”

  “Maybe it was an employee or-”

  “No, believe me, that was the first thing I looked into.”

  “It wasn’t me. I didn’t talk to anyone when I was in New York,” I said frantically.

  “Liar!”

  I flinched back at the violence in his voice. This was the angriest I had ever seen Wes and it was all directed at me.

  “I’ll give you another chance to tell the truth before we start using other methods to get the truth out of you.”

  Tears spilled from my eyes as I stared at Wes, trying to plead with him to see reason, but nothing helped. He really believed that I had done something. I stayed silent. Nothing I said would convince him that I wasn’t guilty. He nodded and something scratchy wrapped around my throat and then was yanked back. My breathing was cut off immediately and I struggled to stay upright, but with my hands tied behind my back, it was useless.

  I gasped and stared at Wes, “Please,” I begged, but he just watched as I slowly ran out of oxygen and started to black out. Suddenly, there was air again and I coughed and gagged as I tried to gulp up as much air as possible.

  “Are you ready to tell me now?”

  “Wes, I swear to you, I haven’t said a word or even looked at someone. I followed all your instructions. Ask your bodyguards. They were with me.”

  “I did, and do you know what they said?” He stepped toward me with a glint in his eyes, telling me he knew something I didn’t. “They said that you ran into a man at the hot dog vendor.”

  I thought back to that moment and tried to think of what could have happened that could have been misconstrued as something else, but there was nothing.

  “Somehow, someone knew to meet you there. You were the one that suggested getting a hot dog. None of my men could have known where you would go. In just a few minutes, I will have the proof I need and then you’ll be dead. You’ll never see your daughter again and I’ll make sure that she suffers for the rest of her life for your betrayal.”

  “She’s innocent,” I cried. “I’m innocent. I haven’t done anything and I never would.”

  “If only I believed you.”

  He nodded again and I couldn’t breathe. I was having the life choked out of me all because of something I didn’t do. I wanted to plead for my life, but there was no pleading with a monster. My vision went fuzzy and then I was released, just as another man walked through the door and handed Wes a piece of paper. I couldn’t hold my head up right now and I didn’t want to. If he was going to kill me, I wanted him to do it fast. I didn’t want to see it coming.

  “So, you’re sticking by your story that you didn’t tell anyone.”

  I didn’t speak again. I stared up at him defiantly, refusing to say anything to him now that he had made up his mind. He pulled his gun from his back and aimed it at my forehead. I closed my eyes and thought of my baby girl, wishing I could have saved her.

  The bark of a gun jolted me, but I wasn’t dead. I didn’t even feel anything. When I opened my eyes, one of Wes’s bodyguards was lying on the floor with his brains scattered behind him. I turned away quickly, taking deep breaths to keep my nausea under control. Just because he hadn’t shot me didn’t me he wasn’t still going to.

  Wes kneeled down in front of me and ran his hand down my face in a caress that I was all too familiar with. Only now, all I felt was disgust.

  “You made a big mistake. You let someone tag you.”

  “Tag?”

  “Someone put a tracker on you because you weren’t paying attention. Turns out, your bodyguard was responsible for the betrayal. He was having you followed and when you stumbled into the man, he slipped it right into your bags. You never noticed a thing.”

  “What are you going to do to me?” My lips were quivering and my whole body shook. I felt numb and cold, like I was going into shock. My throat was scratchy and dry. I needed water and a reality check.

  “I think you’ve paid enough. If you were anyone else, you would have been dead on the floor the moment I found out.”

  He made it sound like I was supposed to be grateful for his mercy, but all I felt was hate. Mostly hate for myself. I had let him manipulate me into feeling something for him. I had fallen into his web of sweet words and great sex, even though I was still trying to get my daughter back. I had let down my guard and had almost died for it. I wouldn’t make that mistake again. Wes could use my body in any way he wanted and I would find a way to pretend that I still was infatuated with him, but now that my eyes had been opened again, there was no going back.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Reed Security

  Florrie

  “What’s everyone doing?” I asked as I walked into one of the large living rooms. The women were all sitting around drinking, looking lost and bored.

  “You know, this really sucks,” Emma grumbled. “I’m so bored. The guys get to run around and play with their battle stuff and we’re stuck here, just drinking wine and watching tv.”

  “And there’s not even anything good on!” Vanessa exclaimed. “Florrie, you must have some idea of what’s going on. Can’t you tell us something?”

  I shrugged, not really sure of what they wanted to hear. “We haven’t found out anything yet. We have some hunches to go on, but no solid intel.”

  “What about the building?” Ali asked. “Have they started to rebuild yet? I mean, it’s been six months.”

  I looked down the hall both ways to make sure no one was headed this way and then leaned in to talk quietly to the ladies. “The building has been put on hold.” The ladies stared back at me in shock, none of them looking too happy. “Look, we aren’t working any jobs and Reed Security footed all the hospital bills. We’ve already gone on a mission looking for Chance and came back with nothing. None of us are willing to just forget that one of our teammates has gone missing, and even if we don’t find him, we still have the issue of the Broker being on the loose along with whoever is running the prostitution ring. We just don’t have the money to start building right now. In fact, we’re going to have a meeting about all of this next week after Cap, Derek, and Cazzo have a chance to go through all the different aspects and what everything will cost.”

  “Why didn’t they say anything?” Lucy practically shouted. “We’ve been over here getting liquored up when we could all drink water. We can find ways to save money. We’re all thrifty.”

  “They’re men.” Ivy said matter-of-factly. “They will never do anything that will make them seem like they are unable to provide.”

  “What about our 401K’s and other investments? We could borrow against that or sell off stock.” Ali looked to everyone else, almost as if she was asking permission to even make the suggestion.

  “Honestly, it would help a lot, but convincing the men that you’re okay with putting everything you own into the company would be difficult.”

  Lindsey snorted. “Please, it’s their money too. Besides, our jobs aren’t really that big of a deal anyway,” she mocked. “Listen, ladies, I don’t know about the rest of you, but if we’re going to stay here and our men are going to keep going out on missions to look for Chance and end all of this, they’re going to need money. I would rather give up everything I own and stay alive than run out of money and have a home to go back to, only to be killed by these a
ssholes.”

  “My brother is back home,” Cara thought out loud. “I bet that if I asked him, he could pack up all our stuff, sell off anything we don’t need, and put the house on the market.”

  “I would put my business on the market,” Lindsey said, “but we can’t just sell off all our stuff. We need something in return.”

  I had a feeling this wasn’t going to be a simple request. “Do I want to even ask?”

  “I think they should train us.”

  “Ooh.” Claire jumped up and down excitedly. “I can make the costumes. Obviously, I’ll be superwoman.”

  “You want us to fight alongside them?” Cara asked.

  Lindsey shook her head. “I’m not suggesting we go on missions with them, but it would be nice to be able to defend ourselves instead of being sent to the panic room whenever there’s something happening. I mean, come on, even our kids are in training. Are we really that delicate that we can’t learn some of this too?”

  “What do you think, Maggie? Do you think they’ll go for it?” I was really hoping she would say no, but it was Maggie, so she would definitely be on their side.

  “I’m not sure that they’ll be happy about it, but why shouldn’t they teach us how to defend ourselves? And not just like that self-defense class they taught a few years ago. We should know about all the weapons and run the courses. If these guys are really that dangerous, then it’s only fair that we’re all prepared for anything that might happen.”

  “I wouldn’t mind knowing more,” Cara said.

  “What about your panic attacks?” Surely those would keep her from doing this.

  “Well, that’s just the point. Fear is driven by not feeling in control. What better way to gain control than to be trained to handle all of this? I think it’s a great idea. Imagine if I had been trained all those years ago? I might never have been taken and I might actually be a fully functioning adult right now.”

  “She’s right,” Ali agreed. “When I started doing self-defense when I was with Slasher, I finally felt like I could actually get away from the Blood Devils.”

  “Raegan? What about you?”

  “I agree with Cara. Let’s kick some ass and blow those assholes up.”

  I stood, laughing slightly as I looked at all the women, determined to do this no matter what the guys decided. “You know, I thought Sebastian and Derek were the only ones that had trouble on their hands. I can’t wait to see how they react to your bloodlust.”

  ✯✯✯✯✯

  Claire

  I was practically jumping out of my skin from all the excitement. It was so boring around here since we didn’t really get to do anything. But now we had a plan and it was going to change everything, if we could persuade the guys to go along with it. The problem was how to approach the men. We couldn’t just offer up our money without insulting the men, and even though it was their money too, they would see it as emasculating.

  “I think we should just tell them they have to train us,” Lucy said. “Think about it. We have all the power on our side. All we have to do is tell them that we need the training because of the attack.”

  “That’ll never work.” Maggie sat down on the couch, trying her best not to look like she was pregnant. She was six months along, but didn’t want to admit that the pregnancy was slowing her down. “You know that if you tell the guys that you want to be trained because of the last attack, they’ll take it as us thinking they can’t protect us.”

  I was standing by the hallway, watching for any of the men so they didn’t walk in on us talking. I peeked down the hallway and then moved a little bit toward the group. “So, what do we do?”

  Lola and Florrie were our best chance at convincing the guys. They understood how their brains worked. “You need to make a game out of it,” Lola finally said. “Cap loves a challenge, so tell them that you want to learn because you’re bored.”

  “They’ll laugh at us,” Lindsey said.

  “Exactly.” Lola and Florrie grinned, sharing and evil look that I didn’t understand. But the answer seemed to dawn on Maggie because her face lit up and she practically jumped out of her seat.

  “And then we challenge them to a tournament or something. If we win, we get to be involved in what’s going on and the missions. They’ll agree because they’ll think there’s no way we could ever beat them.”

  “We can’t.”

  Maggie turned to Vanessa with a grin. “But they don’t know that our plan is to learn how to use the weapons just for fun. They’ll think that we have a different endgame.” Florrie snorted, looking away from all of us. “What?”

  “Maggie, maybe everyone else has a different endgame, but Cap knows you too well to believe that. Besides, you’re six months pregnant.”

  “That doesn’t mean that I can’t participate. I’ll be careful.”

  We all burst into laughter. Maggie being careful was a joke. She would be careful to an extent, but Maggie always thought she was invincible. I sighed to myself. I wished I could be like her.

  I can be like her.

  “I’m with Maggie,” I said brightly. “I want a little adventure. I had so much fun with Derek when I saw him break people’s necks. It didn’t look too hard. And I’ve read so many novels where there’s some idiot that goes somewhere they’re not supposed to. And I always know what they should be doing. I think deep down I was born for this.”

  “Born for what?”

  I screamed and spun around to face Derek, who was eating an apple as if he didn’t have a care in the world. But his eyes told me that he saw more than I thought.

  “Nothing,” I said quickly. I thought back to what I had just said, trying to figure out what could make sense. “We were just talking about…me becoming an investigator. Like a private eye. You know, because I love my novels so much and I always know what the characters should be doing. And I could go undercover and infiltrate all kinds of businesses. Like strip clubs and, I mean, not strip clubs. I would never pose as a stripper. Maybe for you. We haven’t tried that one yet, but I could always buy a wig and get the spiked heels that go with it. I would need to buy some lingerie since all of mine gets ripped every time we have sex. Which you should really stop doing, by the way. It’s such a waste of money. Except for your weird fascination with my panties. It’s really weird that you carry them around with you. Especially when-”

  Derek had been grinning right up until I was about to reveal what he did with my panties. But he slapped his hand over my mouth before I could let that slip. It was probably for the best. Nobody around here needed to know just how twisted Derek could be.

  “Especially when what?” Lucy was grinning at me, just waiting for me to reveal my deepest secrets. It wouldn’t happen though. I was strong and I wouldn’t cave to the pressure.

  Derek stepped into my space, his breath fanning against my ear sending tickles down my spine. “Careful or I won’t give you the fantasy we discussed last night.”

  Oh, he was evil. He knew just how to control me. I nodded and stepped back from him, blushing furiously as his hands skimmed my ass before he walked away. I was smiling like a lunatic when I turned back to the ladies. They all waited for me to say something, but I just sat down and pretended like I didn’t know what they wanted to know.

  “Oh, come on,” Isa said. “You can’t hide that from us. We need to know.”

  “I can’t. It’s a secret.”

  “Yeah, well, everyone knows that Gabe likes to watch people have sex and I deal with it. It’s not a big deal. We’re all adults and we all have sex.”

  “No, my lips are sealed. It’s locked up tight and I will not tell you anything.”

  I sat there, staring them all down. I would not say a word. I was strong.

  “Fine,” Raegan shrugged. “We’ll just find out some other way. I mean, the guys walked in on Jackson and I having sex, so I’m sure it won’t be too long before we uncover your secrets.”

  I stayed silent. They were bating me,
but I had learned my lesson in the past and I now knew how to hold out. Derek had taught me and his methods never failed. I just had to think about other things, like blowing things up. Learning to shoot a gun and going on a mission with Derek. I could be wounded in enemy territory, about to be taken as the sultan’s mistress when Derek breaks in and kills everyone with his bare hands, wrenching their necks with his powerful arms. He would untie me from the bed I was strapped to and tear the clothes from my body and thrust his large…

  I was jolted back to reality by everyone laughing lightly at me. “What?”

  “It must be something really good if you’re getting all hot and bothered right now.”

  I shook my head at Florrie, refusing to tell her what I was thinking. “No, I’m not saying anything.”

  “I bet it was a superman fantasy,” Maggie said.

  “No, they were already caught doing the superman thing,” Lola said. “It has to be something else. Maybe Batman.”

  Then they all started shouting out different comic book characters, leaving me dizzy.

  “Iron man.”

  “The Joker.”

  “No, he was evil. Dr. Strange.”

  “Spiderman.”

  “Ant-Man!”

  It was all too much and I snapped. “Derek likes to take my panties on missions with him!” I shouted. “He makes me come in my panties right before he goes on a mission and then he takes them with him so he can…take care of himself while he’s gone. He keeps them in his vest for good luck.”

  I breathed hard, feeling really guilty that I had just spilled my secret, but I couldn’t take the pressure anymore.

  “Jackson has a thing for Rod Stewart,” Raegan confessed after a moment of silence.

  “In a sexual way?” Lola asked.

  “No, like, he really likes him and can do a really good impersonation. He always wanted to wear his jumpsuits.”

  “You mean all this time Jackson could have been babysitting my kids and entertaining them with karaoke?” Isa said.