NEARLY Trilogy

by Ashley, Devon

  But was I seriously going to let him do this to me? Track me all over again? Even if I had complete control over the password to this app, I wasn’t foolish or naïve enough to believe for one second that he didn’t have one of those programs that tracked every finger stroke I made. Even if I didn’t give him the password, he’d have it regardless.

  “You’ve got your serious face on,” I heard him say.

  Turning to meet his eyes, I lifted my brows. “When have I ever not had one of those around you?”

  “When I fuck you.”

  My gaze turned into a glare. I totally opened myself up for that one.

  Not wanting his thoughts – or mine – to linger on our sexual past, I held up the device and said, “Where exactly is this supposed to go?”

  He stood and made his way around the desk, moving ever so close. Close enough the scent of his body wash made me feel touched without actually being touched. I could see the fine hairs of my arms lifting, as if reaching out for him. My feet instinctively took a step back.

  At least some part of my brain was working right.

  His fingertips brushed mine as he took repossession of the tracker. “I figure we’ll put it right where he had the other. Even if he catches us and sees that your incision cut is red, he’ll most likely assume it’s because you took his out, not because you put a different one in.”

  “I did take that one out.”

  “And that’s all you’ll have to say if asked.” His gaze lingered long enough to make me uncomfortable. As stubborn and brave as I’d been, the softness of his voice was the exact opposite of what I needed between us. I needed yelling, agitation. Particularly on my end. And a little bit on his end, because I knew how to deal with an angry or annoyed Zander. I knew what to expect. But this softer, kinder version – the version of him who didn’t keep me locked down in some way – I wasn’t exactly sure how to tread these waters.

  He passed me the phone. “Make your call but keep it short. Get a number she’ll have on her at all times.”

  Not surprisingly, O’Neill wasn’t completely happy about me going off the reservation with Zander, but she felt some relief learning a failsafe would be in place. Provided that it worked like he said. I had no reason to doubt him on it – it wasn’t like he had to offer. And I was already with him, so tracking me at his side seemed a little pointless. Yeah, he could probably track me down if we separated, but honestly, when was he ever not able to do that? Witness protection didn’t even keep me hidden.

  I kept it brief, but I still had to call her twice to keep within Zander’s time limit.

  “Do me a favor,” I asked of her. “Talk Nick down if you can. He’s beyond pissed right now.”

  “Can’t say I blame him. I’ll try,” she placated, “but I’m no heavenly saint, so don’t expect any miracles.”

  I couldn’t even mutter a laugh. I had long given up on miracles of any sort.

  My head hurt.

  Echoed with the rushing sound of blood.

  Pulsating… Thub-thump… Thub-thump…

  The pressure so tight I was sure it would explode. Swallowing helped, but it took forever. Like I forgot how. My tongue tasted like pennies. And now I couldn’t stop tasting it. So disgusting it made me gag. My eyes were heavy. Too tired to move. I groaned weakly on an exhalation.

  What the hell?

  Why couldn’t I move? My brain was hazy, so thick with laziness it took forever to think. And my body was sluggish. I wanted to move, even told myself to, but nothing happened. Like there was a disconnect.

  “Stop!” I whined in slow-motion.

  At least I thought it was me. Though how I managed to do it, or why…

  I heard a slap, then felt the sting in my cheek.

  “Stop!” I whined again, more forcefully this time.

  “Rise and shine, cupcake,” a man said to me.

  My body finally began to writhe around. Something tight and scratchy bound my wrists together, but I still found the strength to push myself into a sitting position before my eyes even tried to open. A man I didn’t recognize was too close for comfort. Probably in his thirties, his scruff was thick and his hair as dark as his glare. I could go the rest of my life without coming face to face with him again, so I was elated that he stepped the fuck back.

  I was still in the same room I found Mateo in, and it seemed not too much time passed. It was still dark outside the windows and he was still in nothing but pants.

  I reached for the back of my head, hissing once I made contact. That fucker hit me with something! “What did you do?” I growled, but my words were too slow to reflect the anger I felt.

  “I find it’s easier to dope someone when they’re not conscious to fight it.”

  It took me a moment to process that, to realize it wasn’t just the bruise going at my head like a jackhammer that was entirely to blame for my sluggishness. “What did you give me?”

  “A cocktail of my own making. You’d like it. A little of this, a splash of that.” Matteo squat down before me. His eyes were hard now, that loving gaze long washed clear of his cool brown eyes.

  Which was fine with me. Clearly whatever I felt for him was dead now anyway. “There’s nothing I like of yours anymore.”

  His hand smacked my cheek and my jaw fell open in pain.

  “Mind your mouth. I’ve only given you a small dose but if you’re uncooperative, I’ll be happy to increase it. Or if you’re interested, if I give you just enough you’ll have some wicked hallucinations.”

  “I’ll take the fucking hallucinations over a view of you any day,” I spat back, not caring too much about his warning. Quite frankly, I didn’t think my mind truly processed the threat before my mouth shot off.

  Realizing the stupidity of my snark, I prepared myself for the backlash, already flinching.

  But Matteo just stared back, his expression lacking the details of his thoughts.

  “Is your name even Matteo?” I asked.

  “No. Nor is it Friggs like your sister thinks.”

  A heaviness slowly overtook my entire body. “Ffffffuuuuuuccck,” I muttered. My head hadn’t quite made it to that assumption yet, but hearing him admit it so nonchalantly… My head dropped and I gave in to the tiredness of my eyes. “Fuck, fuck, fuck,” I continued to mutter.

  How could I be so stupid?

  Or was I even? I tried to push through the fog, tried to scan the memories of our time together. Was it ever even obvious he wasn’t what he appeared? I honestly couldn’t think of a moment where he might’ve slipped the tiniest hint of deceit.

  But the hell I’d be able to figure that out right now. And seriously, what was the fucking point? It wouldn’t get me out of this clusterfuck situation.

  “What the hell do you want?”

  He looked at me like the answer was obvious, and fearfully, I knew what was coming. But I hoped I was wrong.

  “Your sister, obviously. Now where is she?”

  My face felt numb from the drugs, but I was pretty sure it was representing the fuck you I was clearly thinking. I didn’t know where all the courage was coming from, but I answered with, “Timbuktu, maybe? Atlanta? Helsinki? Hell if I know, she’s in witness protection. But even if I did know where she was, I’d never tell you.”

  A smile crept up his face, but not one of those alluring ones that used to make my heart skip beats. This one showed the evilness I knew was inside the man known as Friggs. “Even if I’d swap you for her?”

  “FUCK. YOU,” I told him defiantly.

  “Do you think she’d come if she knew where you were?” His hand brushed back my hair. The way he palmed my head over and over again, I almost felt like a damn dog. I turned my head and leaned away, but it did nothing to stop his petting. “Would she willingly trade herself? Or would she stay hidden in that new world and kiss you off?”

  I closed my eyes to roll them. I even managed to silent my annoyed sigh. What the hell has happened? How the fuck could I be taken so easily, so w
illfully. There was only one man my sister was desperate to keep at bay and I willingly let him into my life.

  “So how do you think your parents are coping, now that you’ve been missing for a week?”

  His question was so abrupt it plucked me from my thoughts, shooting my eyes wide open. “Missing?” I whispered with fear.

  All too amused, he wickedly mocked, “Oh, you hadn’t figured that out yet? So sorry. I mean, given your current situation, did you really think I called your work ahead of time and had your absence excused?”

  It took a moment, but I could feel the anger seeping out from behind my eyes. It was one thing to call me stupid, but it was another to rub it in my face. It wasn’t my fucking fault my head was in a fog. Bitterly, I replied, “If you wanted my brain to function properly then you shouldn’t have given me your fucking special cocktail.”

  “On the contrary, I’ll actually be increasing the dosage shortly.”

  When I looked to him with confusion, he added, “It helps to loosen the tongue on the weak minded. And cupcake, you come across as very weak.”

  “I told you. I don’t know where Megan is. Only her handler does.”

  “Once again you’re assuming she’s still in hiding. Tell me, when she first went missing, did you simply go about with your life without a care? Give up on her right then?”

  I could feel my eyes widen the more I thought on it. Hell to the no. The first few weeks were the ones we searched the hardest, when we still had hope she could be found. We exhausted every media source, followed every tiny lead. Nothing was inconsequential when it came to Claire. We would’ve done anything to get her back.

  Anything.

  I closed my eyes and tried not to cry. Because I knew. If I’d already been gone a week, no way in hell my family didn’t know. No way in hell Megan stayed home. I may not have known Megan as well as I had known Claire, but enough of her base character was there to know she’d never be left on the sidelines. She’d have to be part of the action, have to insert herself into the game.

  “Your eyes don’t have to be open,” that godawful voice told me. Hot air kissed my ear when he quietly added, “I can see the tick-tick-tick of the gears going inside your head.”

  I could feel hairs rising on the back of my neck, could feel my shoulder lift to brush his mouth away from my neck. He was chilling me in a way that was seriously beginning to creep me out. Once I felt his head retreat, I opened my eyes and turned to meet his hard gaze. “What do you want? You know I can’t tell you Megan’s location. I get you’ve brought me here to be the fucking bait, but why are you here? Right now in this room with me?”

  “Because you do have something I want.”

  I shook my head with disbelief. “What?”

  “You may not know where your sister is, but I’m willing to bet she’s made herself known by now. Which means there are at least two people out there who probably have a pretty good idea where that cunt sister of yours is.”

  It took it me a few seconds to realize he meant my parents, and once I did, I immediately went on the defensive. “Megan doesn’t remember much about us. She’s uncomfortable around my parents. They’ve hardly said five words since she was found. They know nothing.”

  “I’ll be the judge of that. Now, I have three ways of extracting information from people. My special little cocktail, using loved ones against each other, or flat out physical pain. Because you’re pretty and sellable, we’re going to start with option one.” I was suddenly snatched from behind, that man who I’d completely forgotten about wrapping his arms so tightly around mine he might as well have been a fucking anaconda. Struggling was useless, but I offered as much as I had. Still, it didn’t keep Friggs from stabbing the back side of my upper thigh with a syringe. It burned even after he was done, a flush of heat that felt like the worst bee sting ever.

  The massive jerk behind me let go, but I could already feel the effects of the drug, my body feeling heavier and hazier more and more with each passing second. My skin shivered relentlessly, goosebumps roughing up my smooth skin. And I thought my face felt numb before. Massive heat could melt my skin off like a wax doll right now and I wouldn’t feel a thing.

  “But if your lips don’t loosen and tell me what I want to know, I’ll have no problem going with physical pain. Because you know what beautiful? I can fix whatever damage I inflict, just ask your sister. I may not be able to sell you right away, but that’s okay too. The boys here could always use a fresh toy to play with.”

  Birds were chirping as sunlight bled beneath my eyelids. I felt tired, but I forced myself to wake. Last thing I wanted to do was remain groggy around Zander. I thought the shot he gave me would just numb the area, not knock me out like that. According to the clock, it was already mid-afternoon, so I slept at least four hours.

  “Zander, damn you!” I cried on a mumble.

  “For what?” he replied.

  I jerked my head up. I hadn’t realized he was upstairs with me, lounging on one of the chaises, reading a novel.

  “You didn’t tell me you were knocking me out.”

  He removed his reading glasses and put them down on the table with the book. “Of course I knocked you out. You would’ve jerked the moment you felt pressure from the cut. It would’ve been a bloody mess if you weren’t unconscious.”

  That might have been true, but I sure as hell wasn’t going to admit it. Unconscious and vulnerable around Zander was a horrible combination. I rolled over without thinking and a shot of pain stabbed my right butt cheek. I screamed and cried and rolled back onto my stomach. “Son of a…” I screamed into the pillow, fisting the sheet.

  “Would you like a pain killer?”

  “Hell no you’re knocking me back out again!”

  “It doesn’t put most people to sleep. Just helps with the pain.”

  “Again,” I began, “hell to the no–OH-OH-OH-OH!” That time all I did was shift my back at my hips, but it was more than enough to sting my ass. “Okay, okay,” I whined dejectedly. “Pill me. Fast.”

  His chuckle was barely audible, but he got to his feet and disappeared into the bathroom, soon coming back with a glass of water and a white pill. I swallowed it all down, then let my head collapse back down again. I groaned in frustration. My butt was pulsating now, and in a constant state of aching. “God,” I whined, “how come it didn’t hurt this bad before? I mean, I never even knew you put one in me. Now I can’t understand how the hell I didn’t know.”

  “Friggs has access to a laser for all the surgeries he does. I only had access to a scalpel, so it’s going to be a little more painful and take longer to heal.”

  “I don’t recall reading that in the brochure,” I tiredly mocked.

  “Your boyfriend used a knife to get the last one out.”

  “Yeah, but it never stung like this.”

  “I don’t know what to tell you. Maybe because we keep cutting into the same scarred tissue. It’ll probably take half an hour for that to kick in for you to be comfortable moving around. You should stay on your stomach or opposite side for the next several days. And don’t walk too much today. Bathroom trips only.”

  “How in the hell am I supposed to go pee?”

  That got a better chuckle out of him. Getting to his feet, he said, “I’m sure you’ll figure it out. In the meantime, yell if you want something from downstairs. I’ll bring it up to you.”

  I made a noise that defined defiant acceptance. I thought about reading a book myself, but he’d probably bring me something like War and Peace or The Art of War back.

  “Any news on the search? I mean, are you anywhere on it?”

  “Possibly. One of my contacts found someone who is in league with a man who sells girls. Everything he’s learned makes it a strong possibility of being Friggs. He thinks he can get an invite.”

  “Then get the invite already. What’s the freakin’ holdup?”

  He eyed me hard. Either my tone was beginning to annoy him, or I was slowly
enticing the beast within who I didn’t want to awaken.

  “You can’t rush these things. If a buyer seems too eager they’ll be too suspicious of him. And with me recently tipping the scales against Friggs, all sellers will be more cautious.”

  “Fuckin’ lovely,” I muttered as I smothered my face on the pillow. I prepared myself mentally, then pushed myself up. “What are you doing?” he asked.

  “I need to pee.”

  The fucker actually chuckled, but he did help me climb off the bed without hurting myself. Even guided me into the bathroom. But that was where I drew the line. “Thanks, I’m good.”

  “Don’t flatter yourself, love. I figure this is going to take you forever, so I’m getting my computer now.”

  “Huh?” I said dumbly as he abandoned me. His computer?

  He pushed on one of the tiles in the wall and a group of eight popped open towards him, revealing a safe within. “The bathroom? Really?” I asked with a look of disgust. I watched him type in the same digits that unlocked the security system downstairs to open it.

  “If you were a thief, would you ever pay too much mind to what’s going on in the bathroom?”

  Huh. “No, I suppose not.”

  He closed the safe and the tile behind it. It snapped perfectly back into place, and the more I looked at it, the more I realized I really couldn’t tell there was anything special about that particular block of eight. He left me to do my business and headed downstairs, laptop in hand.

  It actually didn’t take that long to pee once I realized I could just hold myself over it without sitting down. Finally a win. But it wasn’t pretty the way I collapsed back down on the bed. And I so didn’t care. I hardly corrected an inch as I drifted off back asleep.

  I screamed in pain.

  At least I tried to. Whatever drug was in my system was fading away, but enough of it lingered that my reactions were completely slow. Two fuckers were dragging me somewhere, and by the constant bumps and bruises I could feel up and down my legs, they weren’t being particularly careful about it.