by M Never
“This is way bigger than some adolescent pissing contest.”
“If you say so.” He reaches the first floor, and I finally get a good look at him. Thick black hair with wicked eyes to match. Complete psychopath wrapped up in a pretty package. “But I will tell you this, parking lot, knife fight, or gun fight, I always win.”
I grin almost insanely. “What about fist fight?”
“That too.” He rolls up his sleeves as he walks toward me. I don’t move a muscle, inviting him closer.
“This is your last chance to walk away.” I offer him an out before things turn violent.
“I never walk away.”
“Bit of an inflated ego, huh? Always win, never walks away.”
“Mmm hmm.” He nods, his eyes as black as a shark’s, completely void of humanity.
That’s when he strikes. Like I didn’t see it coming. Nino tries to coldcock me, but I dodge his fist and dance on my feet. He comes at me hard, swinging away, but I’m too fast for his juvenile street skills. I know his moves before he does. I guard my face looking for the perfect opportunity to jab, keeping my composure as he grows frustrated, missing the hit every single time.
“Punk.” He drops his hands, clearly aggravated, giving me the opening I need. I sucker punch him right in the nose then hit him with a kidney shot. He slumps forward but keeps coming at me. Adrenaline spiked stupidity fueling his fire.
“What’s the matter? I thought you never lose.” I punch him in the face again and then again. The whole left side of his cheek is swelling up.
He drops to his knees, panting as I wail on him, blood from his mouth dripping onto the floor. My knuckles are torn up from the repeated blows, but I ignore the stinging cuts, determined to finish him. Still on his knees, swaying from probably multiple concussions, he actually has the audacity to smile at me. His teeth are stained red with blood and both eyes are turning black and blue.
“I told you I always win.” His eyes dart over my shoulder and just as I turn my head, I see the blur of the baseball bat.
Then there’s only black.
CLOSE TO TWO HOURS LATER, we pull up to a dark house somewhere on Long Island. The doors have child proof locks, so we have to wait for the driver to get out and open one from the outside.
“Let’s go.”
Philly and I slide out one at a time at gunpoint.
“Walk,” he directs, motioning the gun at the house. The three of us walk silently to the front door. Once we are under complete cover of darkness, the driver pulls out his phone and hits a button. “We’re here.”
Moments later, the front door creaks open, and we’re forced inside. Nino’s minion pokes me in the back with the barrel as we walk through the dark shadows of the house. It isn’t until we make it all the way to the back that we begin to hear voices. I’m pushed into a large room that’s washed in harsh yellow light with the shades drawn. There are several men standing around, mingling. Nino grabs me just as I cross the threshold, his face badly beaten.
“Your free pussy is tough, I’ll give him that,” he says with amusement.
“Where is he?” I demand.
“Exactly where I left him.”
“Nino!”
“Shut up!” He drags me into the center of the room.
“Attention, gentlemen,” he announces. “As promised, we have one last lot for auction.” He strips off my coat and pushes me so hard I fall forward onto my hands and knees in the middle of the room. “She’s a little banged up, but still in perfect working condition.”
“Nino!” Philly vocally attacks his brother. “Are you fucking crazy? That’s Tara!”
“I know who the fuck it is.” Nino pulls a gun on Philly and my heart stops. “Now, shut the fuck up or you’re next. Don’t make me hurt family.”
“You have lost your goddamn mind,” Philly condemns him.
“I was born on a path paved to Hell,” Nino returns with no remorse.
Philly glances at me on the floor. His daunting look tells me all I need to know. The only way out of this is death.
Nino lowers his gun then turns his attention back to me. Surrounded by a half dozen seedy men, he grabs my hair and pulls my face up, as if showing off merchandise.
“The bidding starts at fifteen thousand.”
“Fifteen.” Someone shouts immediately.
“Nino!” I struggle, but he yanks on my hair, causing me to cry out in pain.
“That’s right, Tara, show them your fear. You’ll fetch a better price,” he hisses in my ear.
“Asshole.” I shake scared out of my mind, my scalp on fire.
“Do I hear twenty thousand? I can tell you from experience, she’s worth every penny.”
My heart is ready to explode as a bidding war breaks out. Twenty, thirty, forty thousand dollars.
This can’t be happening.
“One hundred thousand dollars!” An anonymous voice bellows, silencing everyone. I nearly die on the spot.
A man appears from an obscure corner of the room, the group parting as he walks up to Nino and me. He’s wearing all black—boots, pants, and shirt—but it’s the baseball cap that gives him away.
“One hundred thousand dollars,” he publicizes with authority. With finality. “But I want to sample the merchandise first.” He glares down at me as I stare up. My stomach roils.
“Be my guest.” Nino lets go of my hair and steps back. His tone way too favorable.
I FEEL LIKE I’M FLOATING.
My stomach is sour, but the pain has virtually disappeared.
I found Nino and nearly finished him, but he got the upper hand. Actually, his sneaky scumbag friend did when he caught me behind the head with that fucking baseball bat. When I came to, I was tied to a table with my arms draped over the sides. I actually found satisfaction in his swollen bloody face before he slit both of my wrists.
I don’t know how long I have been lying here, but I surmise a while. My vision is nearly gone, my mouth is bone dry, and my veins are brittle. The one silver lining as I drip slowly to my death are the hallucinations, the visions of Tara smiling and laughing, wearing a diamond choker, calling my name. Beckoning me into the light.
A rush of regret suddenly washes over me. I failed her.
I almost wish I didn’t stop Kayne from coming. I can almost hear his voice as if it’s right next to me.
“Juice, you stupid fucking idiot!”
My eyes roll into the back of my head, but I still hear him berating me. No one can rip you a new asshole like him. I laugh deranged.
“Jesus Christ, what the fuck is he laughing at?”
“He’s lost a shitload of blood. Might be hallucinating or in shock,” I hear Jett reply as I drift buoyantly in and out of consciousness.
Then, suddenly, I’m moving.
“Juice?” I feel a slap on my cheek. “Juice?”
They sit me up, and just as my eyes come into focus, a wave of nausea hits me. I look between Kayne and Jett as if I’m drunk, and then puke all over the floor.
“Jesus!”
“Ohhh!” They both express their own disgust as they step back as far as they can without letting go of me.
“Ugh.” I wipe my mouth, disgusted myself. I don’t think I’ve thrown up since my twenty-first birthday.
“You okay, man?” Jett holds me steady.
“I think so.” I survey the blood on the floor. It’s a lot.
“We need to get you some medical attention. Kayne’s undershirt is only going to last so long.” They bandaged both of my wrists with a ripped up t-shirt.
“No.” I grab Jett’s forearm.
“Juice!” Kayne barks.
“We have to get Tara.”
“We know. It’s next on our ‘shit’s fucked up’ list.”
“No, we have to go now. She’s in trouble.” My head swims. “Big trouble.”
“What kind of big trouble?” The affliction is blatant in Kayne’s voice.
“I’m not exactly sure. I jus
t overheard Nino talking about a market on Long Island.”
“Market? Like black market?”
“I don’t know. But I heard him tell his buddy with the bat the address.” I try to stand up, and my legs give out.
“Whoa.” Kayne and Jett both grab me. “Okay, the only place you’re going is the ER.”
“Fuck that.” I nearly bite Kayne’s head off. “I’m going to get Tara.”
“Juice!”
“I’m going!” I fight to get on my feet, swaying as I do.
“You’re pale as a ghost and can barely stand.” Kayne continues to argue with me.
“Would that stop you from going after Ellie?” I shout.
Kayne accosts me with what I think is the deadliest look on the planet and then grabs me by the shirt. “Let’s go.”
SLADE CROUCHES DOWN IN FRONT of me. I have no words. He then leans in and whispers, “Do everything I say if you want to stay alive.”
His statement should bring me some small bit of comfort, but it doesn’t as I kneel there like a statue.
“You’re going to suck my cock like the good little whore you are,” he informs me.
“In front of everyone?” I squeak.
He nods, then smiles sadistically. “It shouldn’t be that difficult considering your background. Just think of it as another day at the office.” He stands up, and I want to shrivel away to nothing.
“Let’s go, sunshine. We don’t have all night.”
I glare up at him, the angry tears already clouding my vision.
His gaze turns cold. “You don’t want to cost Nino any money, do you? That would be very bad for business.” He thrusts his pelvis in my face. “And what’s bad for business is bad for you. And your friend.” He glances at Philly and it makes me want to scream. “Take my cock out. Get me hard.”
I scan the room repulsed by all the perverts nearly salivating as I unbuckle Slade’s belt with clumsy fingers. I don’t know how I’m going to do this.
“Hurry up, sweetheart,” someone urges and all the men laugh.
With a wave of shame, I begin to stroke Slade, it taking him all of three seconds to become erect.
“Do it,” he orders me impatiently. Fisting my hair, I barely have time to open my mouth before he chokes me with his cock. I hear Philly’s string of sickened profanities as I go down on him in front of an entire room of strangers. My tears burning hotter as he fucks my face without a care in the world; no regard or concern.
There’s no warning when he comes. Just a flood of semen drowning me when he explodes. I gag, barely keeping the contents in my stomach. He pushes me down once he’s done with me as if I’m dirt.
“I’ll take her.” Slade zips his fly, thoroughly satisfied.
“Sold to the scary man with the scar!” Nino announces just to humiliate me further. I don’t really need him for that, though. I’ve humiliated myself all on my own. I curl into a ball, wishing I could just disappear. Shrink so small, the cracks in the floor would swallow me up.
“C’mon, sunshine.” Slade bends over and grabs me by the arm.
“Where are we going?” I demand in a whisper.
“To play.” He drags me out of the room, away from a worried Philly and the rest of the horny pervs.
We walk back through the deceptively large dark house until we come to a bedroom. Slade tosses me inside, and before he even has the door locked, I attack him.
“Why did you make me do that!” I bang on his chest as my resentful tears fall, the fury so blinding I end up slapping him right across the face.
“Because I could!” He hits me back so hard I slam into the wall and am nearly knocked out.
KAYNE IS DRIVING THE STREETS of Manhattan like a madman, while I fight all at once to stay conscious and not get sick on the fucking carnival ride.
Jett is on the phone coordinating with Simon and Commander Adams. All I can remember Nino saying is market and money.
Market and money. Market and money.
It makes the ominous feeling in my gut grow every time I think about it. I look up at Kayne while he drives and get déjà vu. It wasn’t so long ago we were in a very similar position on a mission to get Ellie back. I understood the severity then but lacked the empathy. I didn’t truly understand how he felt until now. How helpless and scared and petrified he was at just the mere thought of losing her. I’m feeling all those things right now. Every single emotion. I keep playing out different scenarios in my head—if I find Tara hurt, or worse, dead. I can picture all the things my fury will unleash as I finish what I started.
Finish Nino, so he can never take advantage or hurt another human being again. I stare down at my wrists. The makeshift bandage is working for now, but the white material is already soaked through with blood. I don’t care, though; I would drain every single vein in my body if it meant getting Tara back alive.
“There’s a chopper waiting for us on the roof of the executive building.” Jett puts his phone down and updates us.
“Perfect.” Kayne swerves, jumping several lanes, cutting off a cab, a delivery truck, and some chick in a sports car. Jesus. I grab the ‘oh shit’ handle of the sedan for dear life.
“You don’t have to kill us on the way there,” I snap, irritated. “That would sort of defeat the purpose!”
“Pipe down, backseat driver!”
Jett rolls his eyes at us and continues. “Adams has reached out to local PD on Long Island. This is going down quick and dirty. They already have a team assembling to raid. Turns out ‘market’ is code word for auction.”
“They’re going to auction her off?” I nearly fly into the front seat as Kayne slams on the brakes.
“Let’s hope we get there before that happens. The Feds have been investigating Nino for quite some time. He’s good. Lays low. Knows how to fly under the radar. They haven’t had enough evidence to arrest him but have had him under surveillance for months. If this goes right, a lot of people are going away.”
“Just away? I was hoping for dead.”
“There’s always that option, too.” Kayne leers in the rearview mirror. Motherfucker is always thirsty for blood, and right now, I’m thankful for that.
We pull into an underground garage, and Kayne comes to a screeching halt in front of the elevators. Endeavor owns property all over the world that doubles as office space or apartment buildings. Each is equipped with whatever an agent or operative might need at any given moment. Like a helicopter and heavy artillery.
We take the elevator to the roof, me swaying on my feet the whole time. Kayne and Jett eye me worridly but are smart enough to keep their mouths shut.
Waiting for us on the rooftop helipad is a souped up Eurocopter EC 155. That probably means little to most people, but to me, it’s a thing of beauty. Top speed of 200 mph and a range of up to 530 miles. The only thing more fun to fly is an Apache attack helicopter.
“I want to fly.” I stare at the machine starry-eyed.
“I’m glad you still have a sense of humor at a time like this.” Kayne hits me on the back. “Strap in and hold on,” he says in all seriousness.
I don’t have the energy to argue with him, even though we both know I’m the better pilot.
I sink into the leather seat as Kayne communicates with air traffic control, and the blades start to spin. The sound has a calming effect. It always has.
“All right, ladies and gentleman,” Kayne’s voice sounds deeper through the headset. “Estimated flight time thirty-five minutes.”
“You’re definitely the lady, Jett.” I lay my head back on the seat, close my eyes, and chuckle.
“Blood loss has made him a comedian,” Jett snarks as we lift off.
“I’ve always been a comedian.”
“Keep telling yourself that.” Kayne laughs melodramatically. We banter most of the way there, the two of them knowing I need the distraction. Knowing I need to keep my mind off what may be happening to Tara so I don’t go completely and totally insane.
; I BARELY REGISTER SLADE RIPPING off my clothes. Barely register him stringing each of my limbs to the posts of the four-poster bed. My head is still swimming from the hit I took, but when I regain my awareness, I stir with a fright. “What the fuck!” I try to move, but I’m tied too tight, my toes barely touching the ground. I’m stretched spread eagle, the ropes rapidly cutting off the circulation to my fingers.
Slade switches on a bedside lamp and inspects his handiwork in the dim light. It only illuminates one-quarter of the room, but it’s enough to see his face and the darkness in his eyes.
“All tied up with no place to go,” he taunts me as he walks around the side of the bed and settles behind me. He growls low and guttural in his throat. “So pretty. So . . . flawless,” he muses, running one finger down my spine. “Your skin, I mean. The rest of you is still a sleazy whore.” He slaps me hard on my ass.
“Ah!” I cry out from the sting. “Why are you doing this?” The ropes creak as I try to move.
“Why?” He leans in from behind me. “Because I can. Because I need to. Because pain and suffering are the only things that truly get me off.”
I screw my eyes shut and shake from his use of the words pain and suffering.
“You’re supposed to be CJ’s friend! You saved his life! You don’t have to do this!”
“Yes, I do.” He slides all my hair over one shoulder. “I was a different person back then. Trying to hide who I really was. Trying to pretend the monster inside me wasn’t real. But I was only fooling myself. Grow up around monsters, and it’s only inevitable you become one.”
“I don’t believe that.”
“I tried not to believe it either, but here we are. Saving CJ’s life was the last decent thing I did.”
“So you’re going to ruin that by hurting me?”
“I’m not just going to hurt you, sunshine. I’m going to destroy you. I’m going to make you scream, fuck you until you’re raw, and then slit your pretty throat.”
The terrified tears come on faster than a fire hose.
“I’m doing CJ a favor, if you really think about it.” He pops a switchblade open next to my face. “Imagine my surprise when I saw him all smitten over one of Nino’s girls.”