His To Keep: Beasts In The Dark (Book 2)

by Richards, S. S.

  “Anything to drink?” I ask.

  She shakes her head. “No, it’s okay. Thank you.”

  My gaze drops to her fingers as she plays with them nervously. She’s the third woman to walk into my office and look like she’s walking into the devil’s nest.

  “Thank you for agreeing to meet with me. I won’t take much of your time.”

  I lift the phone off my desk and click on the picture.

  “Do you know this woman?” I ask. My heart is in my mouth despite looking all powerful and strong behind my desk.

  She stares at the picture and narrows her eyes. I wait for her answer impatiently. A short moment later, she shakes her head slowly.

  “No, I’ve never seen her before.”

  My nostrils flare, but I remain calm and collected.

  “Are you sure?” I ask, and she nods her head frantically.

  She’s the third woman to not recognize Elena.

  I smile.

  “Thank you. The driver will take you wherever you wanna go.”

  She shoots up from her seat immediately and storms out of the room. I loosen my tie and inhale sharply. How many more women are going to tell me that they’ve never seen Elena before? How many more hours until I lose my fucking mind?

  I haven’t shut my eyes to take a nap ever since Aleksandr told me that he heard Elena talk in her sleep. She was begging someone to not hurt her, and she mentioned something about killing someone. I made my team bring me the list of every single slave that Leonardo owned as well as everybody that was locked up in cells while Elena was there. And for the life of me, I can’t find who the fuck she killed.

  Most people that were killed in that nasty place were killed by my men, and they were all males. My team made me a list of all the fuckers that died. They even checked the whole place to see if there were any bodies buried somewhere in the area but they couldn’t find anything.

  We hacked into Leonardo’s files and studied the list of slaves he owned during the period of time Elena was there versus the number of slaves we saved, and the amount came to be equal. Thirteen were held hostage and thirteen were saved. Any other man or guard was killed by my men and me.

  So who the fuck did they make her kill?

  A soft knock comes at the door.

  “Come in.” I invite.

  A red-haired woman probably in her late twenties walks into my office. Just like all the other girls, her face is pale, and her eyes are wide with fright.

  “Anything to drink?” I ask as she makes herself comfortable in one of the chairs across from my desk.

  She shakes her head.

  Getting straight to the point, I show her the picture on my phone. For the first time ever since I started interviewing the girls, her eyes grow a size bigger as she swallows hard.

  “Do you know her?”

  She nods her head and drifts her gaze away. Her eyes fill with tears as anxiety swirls around her, making the air crisp with unspoken words.

  “How do you know her?” I ask softly.

  “They made her watch me while another man raped me.”

  “Go on.” My eyes darken, and my voice has risen slightly in anger.

  “She was really upset and screamed for them to let me go. She even tried to get inside the cell but she couldn’t. She was really brave and wanted to save me.”

  She smiles at the memory despite the tears that keep seeping down her cheeks. “It felt good to have someone care and want to help you even if they couldn’t.”

  My bones ache, and I feel like my soul is being ripped out of my body. Leave it to Elena to try to help someone else despite being so deep in hell herself.

  Clearing my throat, I ask, “Do you know if they made her hurt or even kill anybody else while she was there?”

  Her eyes widen. “Hurt or kill? I don’t think she would do it even if they forced her to. She’s a good person. I didn’t know her, and I might have seen her only once, but I know a good person when I see one.”

  I nod my head politely and rise from my seat to shake her hand.

  “Thank you,” I say.

  “No, thank you. For saving all of us.” She smiles and walks over to the door and exits the room.

  Sinking back into my chair, I close my eyes for a moment and focus on steadying my heavy breathing. The room spins around me and glistening sweat beads my forehead.

  Who did you kill Elena?

  Holding my head with my hands, I wonder if I’ll ever be able to free her from the pain that’s eating her up on the inside. Elena is suffering because of her guilt. She is destroying herself because she can’t get over that fact that she committed an unforgivable crime that she didn’t have any fucking control over.

  If Leonardo’s main goal was to destroy her mentally, he wouldn’t ask her to kill one of his guards. He would make her kill an innocent human being because he knows how much it would shatter her to pieces. Which means he has had to make her kill one of his slaves for her to get to the point of giving up on everything, including us.

  The door opens with a soft click, and another woman walks in. She has long, blonde hair and sparkling green eyes. She smiles politely and seats herself at one of the chairs across from my desk. Her eyes roam around my office before landing on mine.

  “Hi,” she says in an almost soundless voice.

  “How are you? Thanks for coming.”

  “Of course. And I’m fine, thanks for asking.”

  Lifting my phone off the desk, I show her the picture.

  “Do you know the woman in the picture?” I ask.

  Her lips part and an expression of gloominess crosses her pale face.

  “Of course I do. How can I forget the woman who saved my life?”

  I frown.

  “What do you mean?”

  She swallows hard and leans back in her chair.

  “I think they were making her hurt slaves or even just stare while they were hurting them. She was a special person to the big man. The first day they brought me in and locked me in a cell, I saw the big boss, his guards and her walking down the hallway. Then I just heard her scream for them to let another slave go and to not hurt her.”

  “And how did she save your life?”

  “Well,” she continues, “They made her beat me up and she didn’t really wanna do it until they threatened to kill me so she started crying and she just had to do it.”

  “So, she beat you up?”

  She nods her head.

  “And?”

  “And that’s it. I don’t remember anything because I think I passed out.”

  I swallow the lump in my throat.

  “Did she hurt you?” I ask.

  “She was trying not to hurt me, but they were forcing her to just hit me as hard as she can. I’ll never forget the look on her face. She was so tired, weak and I could tell she felt so bad I just wanted to hold her even though she was the one causing me pain.”

  “And?”

  “That’s it. That was the last time I saw her.”

  I rise from my seat and shake her hand.

  “Thank you for the information,” I say.

  “Do you know her?” she asks, and I nod my approval.

  “Can you tell her thank you for saving me. They were going to kill me if she didn’t follow their orders despite not wanting to.”

  I smile weakly, feeling like my knees can barely hold me with the amount of sadness that’s crushing my insides.

  The young woman walks to the door, as soon as her hand fists the doorknob, she stops and turns around to look at me.

  “I just remembered something,” she says, “I think it was the next day but I remember waking up to some loud laughter coming from the hallway of that dark place. Then I heard her voice – the woman you showed me in the picture.”

  “What did you hear?” I ask. There’s a slight edge to my voice that I didn’t mean, but the blood in my veins heats with every passing second as I wait for her to finish her sentence.

  �
��She was saying my name, and they told her that she killed me. I was so weak and hurt both physically and mentally that right after hearing those words, I fell asleep again. I remember being confused as to why they would tell her that she killed me when she didn’t.”

  My heart sinks into my stomach at her words, and every hair on my body stands up. A cold shiver runs down my spine and my breathing gets more pronounced. She has to be the key and answer to all of this.

  “What’s your name?” I ask in a barely audible voice.

  “My name’s Lydia,” she smiles, “Lydia Marshall.”

  Elena

  I search for him everywhere among all the guests in the room, but he is nowhere to be found. Maybe he didn’t come. I swallow hard. Maybe it’s better this way. I’m leaving tonight and nobody will be there to stop me from finally getting out of this house. Every single corner reminds me of him. I even slept wearing his dress shirt last night because I missed his smell and I couldn’t help it. And for the first time in so long, I slept peacefully and I didn’t even have a nightmare.

  Snatching a glass of champagne from the waiter’s tray, I chug it all in one gulp. The coldness of the liquid travels down to my stomach, cooling down some of the flames that are burning at my lower abdomen.

  Across the room, I see Mikhail and Yeva holding hands and grinning widely while talking to some guests. When Yeva’s eyes land on mine, she motions for me to join them.

  I smile at the guests and stand by Yeva’s side.

  “This is Elena Romano. My best friend who organized this whole party.”

  One of the guests smiles gently. His eyes travel up and down my body then linger on my lips. I inhale sharply and draw a friendly smile on my face.

  “Nice to meet you, Elena. I’m Joseph. An old friend of Mikhail.” The gentleman says, extending his hand out for me to shake it.

  “Nice to meet you too.”

  I shake the man’s hand politely and pull my hand away from his grasp. There are two types of people I cannot stand – assholes and perverts.

  “You made it, boss!” exclaims Mikhail as he looks past me.

  Boss…

  My heart picks up its pace, and my lips part as I begin panting for air.

  “I wouldn’t miss it.” His voice, strong and powerful, reverberates off the walls of my ears.

  God, how I missed his voice. He’s standing right behind me as I remain rooted in my place. Unable to breathe, let alone move.

  “Elena did a great job organizing this, didn’t she?”

  I swirl around at the mention of my name coming out of his velvety mouth. His gray eyes sparkle as he scans my face. His tongue comes out to lick his lower lip when his eyes land on my lips. I don’t know if it’s the red lipstick I’m wearing that’s making his gaze blaze with fire or the fact that his body is craving me the same way I’m starving for him.

  “Hi,” I greet in a quivering voice.

  He smiles smugly.

  “How you been?” he asks.

  “I’ve been better. Yourself?”

  “Same. I heard you’re leaving tonight.”

  Yeva… I told her not to tell anyone.

  I swallow thickly. “Indeed, I am.”

  “We’re gonna miss you. I wish you the best of luck.”

  His words stab me right in the gut. Pain grips my chest, and hot tears pool in my eyes as they threaten to come out. But I swallow them and smile softly like he hasn’t just plummeted my mood with his words.

  “Thank you,” I say breathlessly and drop my gaze to the floor with searing shame.

  You asked him to fucking leave, and you wanted him to. Remember? You deserve the pain. You deserve to drown in your own guilt and humiliation.

  “Excuse me.” I blurt out and storm out of the room without meeting his sharp gaze. As soon as I’m in the hallway, I start running until I reach the library. I get inside and close the door behind me. The tears that I was holding in stubbornly spill down my cheeks uncontrollably.

  I’m so hurt my whole body shudders with irritation. It hurts to see him completely moved on when I haven’t yet, and I don’t think I’ll ever be over him. My sobbing echoes in the room for so long that I lose track of time. When there are no more tears to shed, I wipe my cheeks and turn around to leave.

  I freeze.

  Maksim stands tall and still at the door. His eyes studying me, practically looking into my soul.

  I tuck a lock of hair behind my ear and look him straight in the eye. There’s a long silence as we stare at each other. Our eyes speaking all the unspoken words we have kept locked inside of us this whole time.

  “I want to show you someone.” He breaks the deadly silence.

  That’s not what I was expecting.

  I frown. “Someone?”

  He nods his head slowly.

  “She’s in my office.”

  Is he trying to break my heart by showing me his new girlfriend?

  I lift my chin up and walk past him into the hallway. My heart slams against my ribcage, its speed increases with every single step we take toward his office.

  He opens the door wide and motions for me to walk in first.

  She stands up as soon as she sees me, and bile rises up my throat immediately. I haven’t hallucinated ever since the drugs wore off. She’s so beautiful compared to the way I see her in my nightmares.

  The room spins around me as soon as she smiles at me. I turn around swiftly and shake my head at Maksim. The words are stuck somewhere in my throat; I can’t even move my jaw to speak.

  “Hey, look at me. It’s okay baby, I’m right here.” He holds me in his embrace like he knows that she’s watching me. As if he feels the pain gripping at my chest.

  “I need to go now,” I whisper against his firm chest.

  “She just wants to say a couple words to you,”

  I lift my head up and look at him through my eyelashes. He sees her too?

  “Can you see her?” I ask, a hint of fear and confusion crossing my face.

  “Of course I do, I’m the one who asked her to come here. Isn’t she the woman you hurt?”

  I nod my head helplessly. Silent tears escape my eyes and cascade down my face like a waterfall. This has to be a dream. None of this is true.

  He holds my head in his hand and sweeps my tears away with his thumb. His touch is so soft and thrilling, and it’s proof enough that this is just a dream. In reality, Maksim abhors me. He’s over me.

  Leaning his forehead against mine, he whispers against my mouth, “If you trust me, you’ll listen to whatever she has to say.”

  I nod, and he turns me around to face her. She’s still standing still and clutching her purse in her hands. In my nightmares and hallucinations, she always wears white. This time she’s wearing a pink dress.

  “Hi, Elena,” she says softly.

  I look at her like a woman in a daze. Unmoving and unable to believe that for once, she’s not glowering at me and accusing me of being the worst human on this planet.

  “I’m Lydia, and I’m the woman they asked you to hurt when we were locked up. I just came here to tell you that I’m not dead. They lied to you and I’m doing fine. I’m back to living with my family and my boyfriend and I couldn’t be happier.”

  She pauses as her eyes fill with tears.

  “And it’s all thanks to you. Simply because you didn’t let them kill me. You did what they asked you to do despite it being so hard for you.”

  Pulling myself away from Maksim’s hold, I walk toward her slowly. I only stop when I’m standing right in front of her. I remember the sparkle I saw in her eyes. She gave me the same look she’s giving me right now when I was hitting her mercilessly.

  “Are you real?” I ask her in a trembling tone of voice.

  Her eyes sparkle. “Of course, I am.”

  Then she does what I never thought she would do. She wraps her arms around me and hugs me so tightly that I almost feel like I’m about to lose consciousness.

  Her hea
venly vanilla smell and the warmth of her body are enough to prove me wrong. She’s alive and healthy – the woman who haunted my dreams and turned me into a pitiful mess is holding me into her embrace while crying hysterically in my ear.

  I hug her back and shut my eyes. Our sobbing goes on and on for a long moment before she decides to pull away.

  “I’m sorry they made you think you killed me.” She says softly.

  Overwhelmed with emotions, I chuckle and drop my gaze to the floor.

  “You shouldn’t be the one apologizing. I just… I can’t believe you’re actually still alive. I’m so sorry for what I did to you.”

  “Elena, if anything, you saved my life. They would have killed me if it wasn’t for you. So thank you.”

  I smile weakly before turning around and facing the man that did all of this for me. The man who’ll always fight for me and would never give up on us no matter what.

  A man who loves you will fight for you.

  Alyona’s words rumble in my head as Maksim takes a step toward me.

  “Do you still believe you don’t deserve happiness? Do you still want to make us suffer more than what we’ve already been through?”

  My eyes fill with more tears as he takes one last step toward me. Invading my space, he stands an inch away from me, and I can hear the loud thumping of his heart as it matches mine.

  He smiles softly and holds my hand.

  “Can you give me one last chance? There’s a whole world eagerly waiting for me to introduce you to it.” He pauses, “Only if you would let me.”

  I forget about Lydia who’s standing right behind me. I forget about my past and everything I’ve been through because my absolute joy and my happily ever after is standing right before my eyes, begging for me to give him a chance. Only if he knew how shattered and broken I was when I thought I’d lost him.

  Raising his palm to my lips, I kiss the surface softly and look up at him through my eyelashes.

  “I’m yours. Always been and always will.”