by Kaylee, Katy
Aiden took a quick step forward until he was almost standing in front of me, blocking me from sight as he cleared his throat, his face suddenly iron hard.
“Blood piss.” Aiden growled. I grimaced at that particular word combination but the other man, obviously a bouncer of some sort, just nodded.
“Welcome to Black House. Enjoy your stay.” The man said and then he grinned suddenly and I could see that the few teeth he had left were stained dark charcoal gray.
“Thanks.” Aiden drawled sarcastically, rolling his eyes before he grabbed my hand and pulled me inside after him.
Once we got inside, I was taken aback by the noise. It was so loud that I could barely keep track of my own thoughts.
The place was actually relatively big but it was stuffed with so many mismatched and broken tables and chairs that it felt crowded. It was also packed. I was surprised by how many disreputable men and woman were crammed into the bar.
There was a heavy metal song blaring over the speakers and most of the customers there are shouting to be heard. Even though I noticed a few leaning close and whispering and I suddenly realized the reason for the overly loud music. It was so conversations can’t be overheard.
My gaze was drifting over the bar, but one man noticed me looking and shot me a vicious glare. With a start, I turned towards Aiden.
“What, ah, what now?” I asked, more nervously than I intended but a part of me was beginning to wonder if maybe, just maybe, Aiden hadn’t been right. Maybe this was no place for a person like me.
Don’t be ridiculous, Beth. Be brave. Be brave for Leah.
Aiden shrugged, his expression still forbidding as he leaned close to whisper in my ear.
“Just try and act natural. Like you belong here. No one will give you any trouble with me by your side.”
I nodded. Sure. No problem. Just pretend I belong there, with the worst of the worst of the city.
“Should we, uh, order a drink then or something?”
Aiden gave the dirty bar a dubious look, obviously about to say no but I tugged him down close again so I could talk in his ear without having to shout over the music.
“The bartender. He might have seen something.”
Aiden still looked dubious but finally nodded. “Remember, let me do the talking.”
I nodded impatiently as he took my hand and led me to the bar. We had to wedge our way between the crowded bar rail and I tried not to breathe in the sudden overwhelming stench of body odor, sweat, and stale beer.
After a moment, a greasy, thin-faced man with a bulbous nose came over. He looked surprised to see Aiden, but he obviously recognized the head of the Diorno family. And respected him. Or feared him. I couldn’t tell.
“Two beers. Whatever is on tap.”
The bartender nodded, chewing gum obnoxiously as he grabbed two suspiciously grimy looking glasses and filled them with pale amber colored liquid before shoving them in front of us.
“Just put it on the tab.”
I glanced up at Aiden in surprise. He must come here more than he let on if he has a regular tab open. But he doesn’t see my look. Or just ignored it.
Aiden didn’t drink, just held the glass of beer in one hand and I followed his lead. I was about to open my mouth and tell him to hurry up and start asking question when Aiden waved the scrawny bartender over once more.
“You know what I’m here about.” Aiden said softly but the other man obviously heard. He went even paler beneath the layer of slick sweat that covered his face.
“I don’t know anything. You know that.”
“Two months ago, there was a girl.”
“I don’t see nothing, I don’t know nothing.” The bartender spat. Aiden tried once more, leading the conversation to safer ground but still surreptitiously asking questions. It didn’t get us anywhere. It was obvious that the bartender didn’t see anything. Or if he did, he sure as hell wasn’t going to talk.
After ten minutes Aiden cut his gaze towards me, shaking his head in defeat and I felt a weight crash to the pit of my stomach. All this was for nothing. A waste of time. For absolutely nothing.
Aiden started to lean towards me, to tell me we were going to leave and I was more than ready to follow his lead but before he could a loud voice crashed through the bar.
“DIORNO!”
Aiden flinched and then glanced over as a big, rosy cheeked man pushed through the crowd. At first I thought he was angry but as he drew close I could see it was just the flush of alcohol turning him as red as a beet.
“I thought that was you man!”
“Padre.” Aiden said, shooting me another look but I couldn’t decipher it. A moment later, the man Aiden had called Padre grabbed Aiden, pulling him a few feet away. He was obviously drunk and Aiden tried to extricate himself as gently as possible but the drunk man wasn’t about to be deterred.
I didn’t notice it at first, but as soon as Aiden was separated from me, I was hemmed in by strangers.
I had just felt the first flicker of trepidation when I felt someone grab me from behind and I spun around in outrage.
“Hey there, pretty lady. Never seen you around here.” The man said, slurring his words as he reached out to grab me again. I batted away his hand but there was nowhere for me to go. I couldn’t escape.
“Leave me alone.”
But he didn’t register my words. I wasn’t even sure if he heard them. He grabbed me and pulled me even closer, his grip unbreakable on my arms, hard enough to leave bruises but I wasn’t worried about that. Suddenly, he was pulling me towards a dark hallway, and I couldn’t get away.
He grinned at me, and this time it was full-fledged fear that slammed into my chest.
“I’m going to have fun with you tonight girl. Lots of fun.”
Chapter 28
Beth
I was drowning in fear. I could feel it, oily and slick and as bitter as motor oil filling my mouth, my lungs, choking my throat until I couldn’t speak let alone scream.
My eyes flashed furiously around the bar. There were so many people crowding around them but none of them saw my panic. None of them saw my terror. It hit me with the force of a semi-truck and I felt about as useful as a rodent flattened on the side of a highway as I tried to fight my way free.
But the man’s fingers were locked in a vice like grip around my arms and he’d gotten them twisted around my back so that I couldn’t even use my hands to tried and claw at him or scrabble away.
He shoved me in front of him, using me like a battering ram to try and make it through the crowd. I dug my heels in, refusing to let myself be budged and the man at my back let out a grunt of anger.
He turned me around, my arm still twisted up behind my back and he yanked it up so that my shoulder protested in its socket.
Fear shattered through me then. Fear, and disgust at the man’s fetid breath. I was so close to him all I could see were his eyes. Dark and hungry and vicious and full of mal intent.
I struggled, fighting and trying to break free but the bar was so crowded that I didn’t have room to move. I couldn’t get myself free. There was nowhere for me to go.
“Please.” I had to force the words out past trembling lips, “Please, someone help me.” But my pleas were lost, carried away unheard by the loud, banging music and the raucous laughter and chatter going on around me.
Out of nowhere, a flare of anger lit inside me like a stick of dynamite. Was this how my sister had felt? Had she cried for help and no one had answered? No one had even bothered? As she lay hurt, or dying. All alone. Within shouting distance of this very bar.
With this new tempest of anger raging inside me I renewed my fight against him, crying out for help even though no one could hear.
The guy pulled me close again, groping me and as soon as he loosened his grip my hands shot towards his face, scratching down his cheeks.
His face twisted in anger and pulled one fist back, about to hit me but a large hand stopped the other man’s fis
t in midair.
I gasped, looking up in relief as Aiden stepped between us. I collapsed against his broad back.
With barely any effort at all, Aiden had the man down on the ground and was standing over him, his boot heel against the other man’s throat. A sudden hushed silence fell around the club and Aiden looked around the room, his eyes so icy that everywhere he looked felt like a frozen tundra and the others felt it too. They shuddered whenever his deadly glare fell on them, breathing out a sigh of relief when it passed on again.
“She’s mine. Got that? You want to mess with her, you mess with Aiden Diorno.”
No one said a single word as Aiden reached behind him, grabbing my hand in his and dragged me towards the door, even though I didn’t put up much of a fight. It was just that my legs were still frozen from fear and it took me several moment to be able to keep pace with him.
Just as we reached the door, I felt a pressure on the other hand, the one that wasn’t clenched in Aiden’s grasp but when I looked back, no one was there. Everyone was still studiously looking anywhere else. No one wanted to get on Aiden’s bad side.
We broke through the hidden door in the brick wall and Aiden rushed down the docks towards the street where his car was parked and waiting for us.
“I knew this was a bad idea,” He raged to himself, his voice soft but so sharp it could have cut like a knife. “I never should have brought you there. It was a fucking mistake and it’s not going to happen again.”
He was still pulling me along behind him but he let go of my hand as we neared the car, fumbling in his pocket for the keys. He was still ranting when he realized a moment later that I had stopped.
“Beth? Beth, what is it? Did that man…did you hurt you? I thought I got there in time. Did he…”
Aiden cut off abruptly, rushing to my side but I wasn’t looking up at him. I was looking down at the small, crumpled scrap of paper in my hand.
“Someone must have slipped it to my hand when we were leaving.” I said numbly. My whole body had gone numb as I’d read the words over and over again, without comprehending them. I still wasn’t sure that I understood.
“What is it?” Aiden asked, concern still rife in his voice as he leaned close.
“It’s a note.” I said, still not looking up at him. I couldn’t tear my gaze away from the words scrawled across the paper, “It says that they know what happened to my sister. There’s a phone number on it.”
“What?” Aiden questioned, stepping closer to see and I help it up to the light of the street lamp so he could read it. We both stood there, wrapped in silence for a long moment.
“It’s a clue. It’s the clue we’ve been waiting for.”
Aiden didn’t look at the note then, just at me. Staring at me with those pale blue eyes that flashed almost silver in the darkness, their color drained away by the night. He looked at me long and hard and I fought the urge to shudder, just like those people back at the bar.
“Come on. Let’s go. I want to get you home.”
I nodded, letting him guide me along to the car and set me inside like a china doll. Because the truth was, I felt like I was about to shatter like one.
* * *
Aiden
Everything about this made me nervous. I nearly jumped from the sound of my own car door slamming shut and I had to force myself back into my regular state of control before I could even put the key in the ignition and start the damned engine.
“It’s probably a trap,” I growled as the engine heated up, “You know that right? No one in that place is going to do you any favors. And they sure as fuck aren’t going to help me.”
Beth didn’t answer. She didn’t say anything. And when I looked over at her, sitting curled up on herself in the passenger’s side seat I nearly cursed myself for my harsh words.
“I’m sorry, bella, I just want you to know the truth. And the truth is–.”
“The truth is that someone in that place knows something about what happened to my sister, Aiden.” Beth said suddenly, and I was surprised by the strength and conviction in her voice. She looked like she was about a second away from shattering into a million tiny pieces.
I couldn’t get the thought out of my head though. It was a trap. The whole thing felt…off somehow. It had to be a trap. That was the only explanation.
I could hardly keep my mind on the road as I sped the car back towards home. The drive was made in silence, and with every mile that passed my anger grew. All I could picture was turning around and seeing that asshole groping Beth. To see the fear that was plastered across her pale face and the terror and disgust gleaming from her her eyes that had darkened to pewter.
I slammed my hands against the steering wheel, trying to vent my anger out on that but it didn’t help. It just fueled the beast inside me until I could feel it howling, raging, fighting to tear me apart from the inside out.
I had known it was a bad idea to take her there in the first place. I should have known better. Fuck, I had known better. But it hadn’t stopped me from giving in to her. From letting her pull me in a direction that I knew would lead to nothing good. That would only lead to danger.
The ride home was a total blur. I didn’t remember driving down the highway. I didn’t remember turning on to the long, tree lined drive that would lead to my home. I didn’t remember parking in the garage between two other expensive sporty type cars.
I blinked, glancing around as the overhead fluorescent lights flickered to life but I didn’t get out yet. I was still shaken. More than I had wanted to admit at the bar. I knew better than to let any of those bastards see that I was shaken up.
They were all like sharks. One hint of blood in the water and they would strike. Any sign of weakness and they would pounce. No hesitation. No second chanced. And it was more than likely that Beth would have been caught in the crossfire.
I turned the key, shutting off the engine and had to draw in several deep breaths before opening the door but I couldn’t seem to fill my lungs. It was as if some heavy weight was pressing against my chest and no matter what I did I couldn’t suck in enough air.
I was shaking as I opened Beth’s door and grabbed her hand, pulling her behind me as I rushed towards the elevator. I was still struggling just to breathe as I slammed my palm against the button, waiting for the elevator doors to open.
Neither of us said another word until the sound of a beeping noise filled the underground garage and the elevator lit up a moment before the metal door slid smoothly open.
I waved Beth forward, still trying to still the trembling that had caught a hold of my entire body but I felt like I was at my breaking point. I clenched my teeth together so hard that my jaw ached but nothing I did would make it loose.
“I think we should arrange a meeting.”
“What meeting?” The words felt like a mouthful of rusty metal as I forced them out of my mouth.
“With the person. Whoever wrote that note. I think we should call and set up a meeting.”
“Absolutely not.” I spit out more of the metallic words and they scraped my throat on the way out. She was still talking as the doors slid closed and I pressed the button to take us up to the main floor.
There was a buzzing in my ear, like an annoying bee flying around my head and I couldn’t hear what Beth was saying. I glanced over at her, but she just kept talking as if she couldn’t hear the buzzing. As if she wasn’t even phased by what had happened. By the bar, and the man, grabbing her and groping her and trying to god knows what. Except that I knew exactly what he had intended to do. I’d read it clear as day in his beady, red-rimmed eyes before slamming him to the floor.
But all Beth seemed worried about what the note. The damned note. Over and over again, the note. Note. Note.
With a bit of curse, I shoved my hand forward, slamming my fingertips against the big red emergency stop button and a moment later the elevator lurched to an abrupt halt, stuck between two floors.
The lights flickered f
or a moment, flashing bright white and then settling into a red haze as the backup lights kicked on.
“Aiden? What’s going on? What are you doing?” Beth was looking at me wide eyed like I was the crazy one. She had just been attacked at a bar full of the worst sort of people and all she could talk about was an anonymous note that was more than likely a trap or a fraud and she thought I was the crazy one!
All the fear and worry that I had pressed down deep inside me exploded, drowning me in terror. For her. I knew that I couldn’t risk losing her again. It would kill me. It would tear me apart from the inside out.
“Aiden, what the hell are you doing?” Beth demanded once more, notching her hands against her hips as she looked at me in question, “Why did you stop the elevator? Can you get it going again?”
“Yes. No.” I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts but that buzzing was just growing louder and louder, fed by the fear.
“Well, which is it? Yes or no?”
“No. No, damnit!”
Beth shook her head. “You aren’t making any sense.”
“I’m making perfect sense,” I growled, “You are the one that has fucking lost her mind. Do you know what could have happened back there?” I sucked in a deep breath, tried to moderate my tone but I couldn’t. All of the emotions that I kept locked away were rumbling to life inside me and I was helpless against them. “What if he had…What if that bastard had been able to…”
“This isn’t about that and you know it, Aiden. It’s about the note.”
“I don’t’ care about the god damned note!” I raged, and then suddenly I was right in front of her, cupping her precious face in my hands. My mouth slammed against hers, needing to feel her, needing to protect her and feeling so helpless that it made me shake with it.
Needing her. Beth. Only her. Always her.