The Kidnapper's Brother: A Dark Criminal Romance

by Alice T. Boone

  I knew this thing would blow up in my face eventually.

  Just didn’t think it’d be so soon.

  “Giving you the god damn detonator would be like handing a monkey a loaded gun,” I explained, but that only seemed to darken his features further. Jax leaned back, his fingers tugging at his hair before releasing a dark laugh. “I gave you what you paid for. Don’t like it? Find someone else.”

  Jax may have been the immediate threat, but it was Toby’s insidious nature that pulled my attention. Across the way, my brother’s teeth gnashed together, and I struggled to resuscitate my still heart.

  “Alex.” When his hiss couldn’t pull the reaction he demanded, Toby crossed in front of me. “What the fuck, man?”

  My eyes narrowed, sickness taking over reason. “I gave him what he asked for!”

  It wasn’t until I noticed the shift in Jax that the world really slowed, that the implication of my action really settled into my stomach. Everything here was linked, every mistake leading to the next disaster. To give Jax a legitimate bomb would have made me responsible for the death of hundreds, thousands if he placed it in the right area. I wouldn’t wear that shame for me, for Toby, and so I made a decision. I just didn’t realize what the fuck I was going to be giving up in the aftermath.

  My head turned to the side when Jax’s eyes widened, gaze glued to the stairs. My shout must have drawn the doe from her meadow, and as concern laced her features, Lilah peeked her head around the corner. Dressed in her jeans and another one of my favourite t-shirts, the brunette stiffened as much as she could, and while her eyes scanned the room, they rested only on me.

  Why the fuck could no one listen, could no one trust me, could no one think?

  My life became disposable the second Toby was born.

  What the fuck was so hard to accept about that?

  I knew the action was stupid, but one mistake fed the next. I jerked to my feet, the pup following close behind me as I adjusted my jacket, my sleeves. Everything was in an attempt to look casual, but with the panic that flooded my system, my eyes, I was certain it was anything but. My heart thumped only once in my chest, and I jerked my chin in Lilah’s direction.

  “Upstairs.”

  “Who the fuck are you to bark orders?” Toby spat, his hand on my chest as he pushed past me and towards the only thing in the house worth protecting. Panic raced the blood to my muscles, but when Jax’s hand wrapped around my bicep, a new kind of dread took over.

  “Fuck off,” I snarled, another weak attempt to pull my arm free. When Jax’s grin took over my vision, I shifted my gaze to Toby. Lilah couldn’t fight him off on her own— not when he was like this. Not in front of Jax. The only hope I had was pulling him back towards me, pulling his attention off the woman he was so deadest on ruining. “Toby.”

  “What’re you doin’ down here, baby?”

  Lilah’s eyes shifted between me and my brother, finally stealing away the last bit of courage I had. She straightened herself in a way that seemed unnatural on her, but the steely backbone was something I was grateful to see.

  “Nothing.”

  “Toby, come on.” My growl only brought another laugh out of Jax, and the humiliation forced another failed escape. “You’ve got enough shit to do down here.”

  “Didn’t know your girl was a freak,” Jax chuckled.

  When Toby’s brow furrowed, the final ounces of hope left my bones. Once more, we were left in the dark. The only difference was, Toby had wandered too far into the shadows for me to pull back. His blue eyes jumped back to Jax before shifting between Lilah and I, and a disgusting piece of me was almost relieved. I wanted to feel like if he knew about Lilah and I, then I could deal with it. I wouldn’t have to waste my time trying to hide the craving in my bones, the hunger of my soul. If he knew, I could just deal with the pain, the punishment, and move on. Though, the darkness that fell over him would offer no hope.

  Whatever piece of Toby I could control was gone the second Lilah’s eyes shifted to me, a confirmation of the fear that had been eating away at him for years.

  Rest had brought Lilah a bit of fight in her bones, but she’d never truly be prepared for the animal Toby could become. His hand jutted out to her before Lilah had a chance to move, her cry of pain bringing an animalistic cry from my chest, my stomach. I couldn’t recognize the beast that pulled the priestess over to me, that brought her to this filth. Another cry filled the room, and for once, I watched Lilah’s face twist in a hot anger. As my brother grinned, tugging her attention up to him, Lilah’s hand slammed down on Toby’s fingers.

  “Worried about Alex?” Toby mocked, a slick jealousy coating his features. “You fuckin’ worried about Alex?”

  Lilah firmed her shoulders, her gaze. Even with his teeth in her god damn jugular, she’d keep true to her word, she’d give him a chance he didn’t deserve. “Toby, stop.”

  “You just open your legs up for any prick who walks by you?” His laugh brought a sickness to my stomach, a narrowing to her eyes. “Why the fuck are you always—”

  “I said stop!”

  The action was almost too quick to recognize, and it forced a beat of my heart just as much as it forced the collapse of my chest. Toby screamed out when Lilah’s slammed her knee into his balls, wriggling free from his grip with the first opportunity, but when all common sense told her to run, Lilah held her ground. Now on the opposite side of the couch, Lilah had earned the attention of the dog as well, and when the two peaceful warriors stood, the air seemed to chill.

  Fear choked her throat at first, but Lilah pushed through. “I told you to stop.”

  When he lunged forward this time, his hand didn’t land on her arm. Toby’s fingers tangled painfully in her hair, and Lilah’s cry of pain mixed with my snap of anger. As I lunged for the two again, Jax’s grip landed on my only free arm, and a hot rage blurred my vision further. When Lilah’s scream bounced off the walls, the mutt on the couch summoned a courage I should have found years ago. Toby dragged her back towards the stairs, and his darkening vision left him defenseless as the dog sunk his weak teeth into Toby’s calf. My cry dulled the sound of Toby’s pain, dulled the scent of blood in the air, and with a final kick, Toby’s anger sent the aging mutt flying across the room.

  “You think you’re gonna treat me however the fuck you want?” Toby snarled, his grip tightening and Lilah’s whimper growing. “I own you, you little bitch.”

  “Toby!” My voice fell weak, a plea on deafened ears as he dragged the woman I loved upstairs. “Toby!”

  Jax’s laugh didn’t fill my head until the image of Toby and Lilah were already gone, and I didn’t slip out of his grip until the sound of a slamming door shook the house. Fear launched me across the room, and as my ears strained for any signs of danger, I let myself fall to the ground in front of the wounded creature. The poor pup Toby had brought home for Lilah was braver than any of us, I was sure, and yet rest wouldn’t come for him. Old muscles couldn’t raise his greyed muzzle any higher than my hand, and pained whimpers filled the room.

  Once again, I’d let another friend down.

  Once again, my attempt to save my brother had cost me more than I could bargain for.

  My muscles twitched painfully as regret hardened every piece of me. I couldn’t feel the sickness anymore. I couldn’t feel the guilt, the fear, couldn’t really feel anything other than this hatred in my stomach. My last ounce of sympathy was spared on the boy on the ground, my hand running over his coat in an attempt to relax him, and my clenched jaw pulled me back up.

  “I’ll take you down with me. You understand?” My voice shook as darkening eyes drifted over to Jax. “You got him hooked on that shit to keep him under your finger, but we both know Toby doesn’t know shit.” For a moment, the man’s grin faltered, and the moment of peace was all I needed to begin my stalk towards the staircase. “I’m the one you want, alright? And I’ll fuckin’ die before I give you shit.”

  This time, when her muffled
scream filled my ears, I wouldn’t be held back. My body rushed towards her, my soul desperate to connect with the only calling I had left, and my ego blocked out the pain of everything else. My prayer for grace, for fairness, for justice looped in my head, but maybe that was just another desperate attempt to block out the sickening laughter from the floor below.

  “We’ll see.”

  Chapter Eleven

  I was used to feeling lonely. Childhood, adulthood, the messy years in between, I’d never much fit anywhere, and as much as they wanted it to be, my place would never be between the two brothers. I’d felt lonely my entire life, but I didn’t think I’d ever get used to feeling alone, to feeling so cold, to feeling so lifeless.

  My stomach twisted painfully when his hands ran over me, but when Toby’s hand slapped over bruised lips, I couldn’t find the strength to scream. Not like I used to, at least. Not when his fingers were busy trying to pry at my jeans, desperate for a love that I wasn’t willing to give. All I wanted to do anymore was feel sorry for him. I wanted my chest to swell the way it used to, for my heart to shatter at his pathetic attempt to keep me, to hold me, to have me. I wanted to feel anything other than the fear building in my stomach— one I couldn’t block out this time.

  This time, I wouldn’t be frozen in time.

  This time, I wasn’t ready to let go.

  When he finally got what he wanted, when tears streamed down my face as his cock tore me apart, I wouldn’t be able to numb it out. I wouldn’t be able to think of my Gran, to think of Alex, to think of the kindness that I’d held onto so tightly. I wouldn’t be able to feel anything other than the pain of a shattered existence, and I’d never been more afraid in my life.

  But maybe things hadn’t ever been that simple.

  If he was going to get my body, I’d die before I gave him my heart.

  Toby’s grip didn’t loosen until my teeth sunk into his flesh, until the coppery taste of blood filled my mouth. His screech filled my ears, and at the very first chance I had, my knee slammed into his stomach, earning me another two feet to collect myself. When Toby stumbled onto the ground, his head cracking against the wood, I kicked my way out of blood-soaked sheets and onto the opposite side of the mattress.

  “You fucking bitch.” The snarl didn’t ignite this thing in my chest— not yet. I squared my shoulders, refused to give the softness he craved the most. I wiped the remnants of his blood from my lips. Not that it would matter. I could have gnawed off his entire hand and Toby still would have worn that grin, still would have thought I was playing hard to get. A shiver ran through my system as he shifted back into a hellish form, as he moved so careful in his stalk around the bed. “This how you fuckin’ like it? You like it rough like this?”

  “Toby, I don’t know who you’re looking for, but it’s not me, alright?”

  The slightest tremble of fear brought him a moment of clarity, but that wouldn’t be enough to stop this hunger. As quickly as his grin lowered, a sicker one returned, and he crawled along the floor again. “You’re all I’ve ever wanted, baby.”

  My breath caught in my lungs— another repressed scream when the man was just feet in front of me. When he straightened, the hell hound almost resembled a man, but Toby couldn’t hide those darkening eyes. Nothing could hide those eyes.

  “No, I’m not,” I choked out, forcing a step back when his fingers extended back towards me. My stomach convulsed, contracting painfully as my back pressed into the wall behind me. Nowhere else to run, nowhere else to hide, no one else to depend on. “I don’t love you, Toby! I don’t want anything to fucking do with you!”

  When he paused, my body reacted on its own. Every joint in his body seemed to stiffen, and my hands slammed against his chest with a force I could hardly imagine. I sent the man backwards again, but I wouldn’t bow to him, wouldn’t pray for forgiveness the way he wanted me to. My entire life had been wasted living for nothing. Now, I refused to die for just anything.

  “Why?”

  The brokenness of the boy in front of me gave me pause, but I wouldn’t let another ghost lead me into the abyss. My lip stiffened, and I held firm. “Toby, we don’t even know anything about each other.”

  “I know everything about you!”

  When his hands wrapped around my throat, I refused to fall, refused to beg, refused to barter. Toby’s grip brought a reluctant cry of pain, a gasp of surprise, and his eyes lit with something I hadn’t seen before. Hurt had mixed so completely with the disgust that it was hard to tell one from the other anymore. He wouldn’t look away from me. No part of Toby would break the spell, would abandon the image that I was certain he’d been chasing since that first phone call. He was desperate to be my first, to be my last, to be the one who took my life and kept it entirely to himself. But Toby was just another addict, and when a body slammed against the door of the bedroom, all he could really do was panic.

  Hurt transformed into a dark rage, and his grip on my throat loosened just enough to pull an answer from broken bones. My vision blurred when he slammed me back against the wall, and the fuzziness blocked out the sound of Alex’s cry on the other side of the door.

  “Is this because of him?” Toby snarled, his lips against my skin for a final time. “You fuck him?”

  “Toby.”

  “What did he do?” His scream brought a weak whimper from my strangled chest, and my eyes squeezed shut as his lips danced dangerously close to my own. Another hungry kiss, tainted by his own blood as he demanded my attention, my obedience, my undying devotion. Another mouthful of his tongue as he demanded another list of things I could never give. His breath grew heavy, labored as he pulled away, and when I let out a sob of pain, my lungs filled with shame. “Just tell me what he did, baby. Tell me what he said to make you love him.”

  “No one did anything.”

  “Don’t defend him!” Another cry as my head cracked against the rotting drywall, those dark walls the only thing protecting me from blood pooling in my skull. “Don’t you dare defend him.”

  As his hands around my throat tightened, my head slamming once more into the wall behind me, my vision finally darkened. The world around me started to slip, and my prying fingers felt powerless against his icy skin. Nothing would release his grip on me— not until the faint sound of wood splintering filled the air. Not until a new target arrived. When Alex finally broke through the door, Toby fingers loosened enough to let me breathe, but tired legs couldn’t support my weight anymore. As I collapsed into a pile on the ground, I struggled to remember how to breathe, how to speak, how to cry out for Alex to leave me here in the jaws of the beast.

  His voice came through so softly, a gentle authority that I would never be able to imitate. Even through blurred vision, I could feel Alex step into the room, could feel the transformation of the animal in front of me. “Toby, please, just listen to—”

  The only heat I felt was the fire from Toby’s attention, and when that shifted to Alex, another shiver ran through the room, ran through me. My head ached, my throat screamed, and desperation was the only thing that tried to make sense of the scene in front of me, of two brothers who would love each other straight into a grave.

  “What the fuck did you do?” Toby’s low snarl brought another ache to the back of my skull, and my eyes drifted shut. “What did you do to her?” Louder, angrier, filled with a new kind of venom. My hand drifted to my head as I tried to steady the pounding in my skull. “Say something!”

  “I need you to calm down.”

  “Calm down!?” Toby repeated, a sick laugh filling his chest, overflowing my lungs. “You love this slut?”

  “She’s not—”

  Alex didn’t need to finish his defense. Not when the stench of death filled the air. My eyes peeked open as Alex stood, frozen at the mouth of the room. Hesitancy was an admission of guilt to Toby. To hear his brother defending me, I was certain, would only be cannon fodder. Through clearing eyes, I watched Alex shift into another careful approach.
/>
  “Toby, this can’t go on any longer,” the elder brother started. “I know you know that.”

  “When?” Toby snarled, a demand that just made my head fuzzier. When the answer wouldn’t come, all I found was another laugh, another twist of my stomach. “I knew there was something fuckin’ wrong with you.”

  “Toby, this isn’t you.”

  “When, huh?” The bark filled the room, and finally, fear had gifted me the strength I needed to lift my head. Toby had stepped out into the room, desperate to watch his brother defend himself, but Alex remained firm. “Were you fuckin’ her when I sent you over there?” Toby’s grin brought another wave of clarity through my head, but the question only clouded it further. “Sitting outside her god damn house like it was a favor to me? Fuck you.”

  My hand braced against the wall, lifting me just enough to look out at the man I thought I knew, the one who made so many promises he couldn’t keep. For once, Alex’s gaze shifted over to me, but I’d never understand the guilt, the shame, the hurt that washed over his face. He had sworn he didn’t help Toby, didn’t he? When that hope inside me was dying, when I clung so tightly to the only things I could find, it was Alex who had promised he had nothing to do with this, wasn’t it?

  His attention shifted, and another mask graced the older brother’s face. “Would you listen to yourself?” When Toby wouldn’t shift, wouldn’t bow, Alex tilted his head incredulously— humiliation the only language the two spoke. “You’re my god damn brother, Toby.”

  “Then say you didn’t do it!”

  Panic filled my chest, the only natural reaction Toby could bring out of me anymore. His snarl pulled every last ounce of oxygen out of the room— but then, maybe that was why Alex didn’t scream when his brother lunged at him, didn’t cry when their bond was torn apart. When Toby’s grip landed on Alex’s shirt, when his fist collided with Alex’s jaw with a blunt and bloodied impact, the brother didn’t even raise a hand to defend himself. In front of me, I watched the execution of the only man who’d ever been kind to me, who’d ever risked himself for me, who’d ever lied to me, and he couldn’t even defend himself anymore. The hatred had run too deep, had infected his very marrow, had taken away the man I thought he was.