by Bry Ann
Nix comes back two minutes later, his presence well known from the thumping of his boots around the cabin. He slams a bowl with water, tweezers and washes clothes on the table.
“You are gonna try that again?” Rose shrieks.
He rolls his eyes. “Jesus you two. Obviously not.” He glances at me, for a second his gaze softens. “She’s going to.”
“What?” I ask, blinking.
“Clean yourself up. I’ll guide you through it.”
“I…”
“Am probably not big on the self-healing thing, but you’re gonna try something new. Now get to it.”
I look at Rose, wide-eyed.
“You’re cocky,” she mumbles.
He smiles. Genuinely smiles at her.
“Well, she talks.” Rose glares at him. He chuckles. “Not cocky. You two just don’t know what the fuck you’re doing. I do.”
“Are you kidding me? We’re alive, aren’t we?”
Nix shifts to face her, still smiling. I am too actually. For the first time in a long while. This Nix guy makes Rose the feisty, confident girl she was with Sven. That makes me explicitly happy. More than I can express. I don’t trust Nix. Why would I? But he’s earned points. Big points.
“What are your plans going forward Rose? Huh? You know, food and safety. Avoiding the fucking Mafia. All that. Huh?”
He smirks and nods his head in a ‘go ahead’ gesture like this is all some game.
I miss Adam.
I shake my head. Stop Lacey. You miss not needing your guard up 24/7. That’s it.
“Fuck you,” Rose whispers.
That makes him throw his head back and laugh. “Well sis, I may have underestimated you.”
She glares at him. He smirks as he turns back to me.
“Clean.”
He points to my foot. I can’t move. I’ve never cleaned my own cuts before. It scares me to get rid of them. I need the evidence that it happened. It’s oddly calming to me. I know that makes me sick.
“Start by grabbing the tweezers.”
I look at him and blink. He sighs and leans forward, elbows on knees.
“Listen, kid. I don’t want to send you back to that place in your mind. I don’t know anything about you, alright? But that shit does need to come out of your foot. So if you don’t do it, I will. I ain’t tryin’ to hurt you. It’s gotta happen. We have shit to deal with. I can’t have you getting an infection or worse because you’ve got glass in your foot.”
With shaking hands, I reach for the tweezers. With an encouraging nod, Nix hands them to me. I glance at his thick leather, wrap-around bracelets. He’s so different from the men I’ve been around. I'm not sure if I should be terrified or relieved.
I flip my foot around so he can’t see it and I can. I get to work pulling out the pieces of glass from my foot. Tears start to drip down my cheeks. I don’t like the feelings this invokes in me. Each piece of glass I pull out feels directly tied to a lock on my feelings. Each one that comes out invokes more and more feelings inside of me. I feel like I'm losing something. When I'm just about done Nix turns to Rose.
“So, what do you all do for fun around here?”
I know exactly what he’s doing. He’s giving me as much privacy as he can. Giving me time to get my feelings in order. For that, I am immensely grateful. More points.
I take several deep breaths, trying not to look at the bloody glass now resting on the table. Rose and him are chatting away, or bickering away, depending on how you look at it. Rose is huffing in annoyance, best sound I’ve heard in forever.
“I'm good,” I whisper. “I think all the glass is out.”
Nix turns to me. “Can I take a look? I won’t touch it.”’
“It’s my foot.” I scrunch my face.
He laughs.
“You don’t like feet?”
I shake my head.
“I'm neutral. Don’t go thinking I have a foot fetish or anything, but I don’t mind them.”
We all laugh this time. He’s lightened this dark place up. It wasn’t so much the touching I had an issue with earlier, it was more the fact that he grabbed me so suddenly.
“So, can I?”
“Um…”
I look at Rose.
“Please let him, Lacey. Please. It could get infected.”
She gives me those big, pleading eyes of hers. The ones I can’t say no to.
I slowly extend my leg. I pull it back before it’s all the way out.
“Don’t lift my pant leg at all. Okay?” He’d see all my cuts and scars.
“Okay. I promise, yeah?”
“Yeah.”
I nod and extend my leg. I close my eyes. Rose runs over and rubs my back gently. Nix must have looked at Rose funny because Rose addresses Nix.
“She doesn’t mind touch that much. Long as it’s somewhat familiar or allowed. It’s grabbing she doesn’t like.”
Nail on head Rose.
Her soft comfort continues as Nix inspects my foot without once touching it like he said.
“There’s little pieces still in there. Please let me get them out. I won’t grab you. You have my word. Rose can monitor me.”
I open my eyes. His eyes are dancing with amusement at Rose’s expense. She huffs and rolls her eyes. The two of them make me laugh.
“Okay.”
“Yeah?” he says, sounding almost excited.
“Okay,” I whisper.
“Thank fuck.”
“Alright stay still.”
He gets to work. Rose lets me tuck my head into her side. I cry quietly. This reminds me of the room. Adam, when he was gentle. It hurts. It hurts so bad. Worse than anything else. He managed to hurt my heart. The heart is the hardest part of the human body to leave a mark, but when someone does it almost never fully heals. I know Rose and Nix are looking at each other. Having silent conversations at my expense, but I can’t stop the hurt. Not this kind. I can really handle a lot of physical pain, but this kind. The heart kind. I'm not good at that.
“That one’s done. Hand over the other.”
I guess he brought gauze because when I tuck my leg back in it’s all wrapped up. I slowly extend my other leg.
“Good job,” Rose whispers.
I roll my eyes privately. Nix catches and smirks. He never once grabs me. In fact, he manages to barely outright touch me.
“All done.”
He taps the table and stands.
“I’ve earned food now.”
He did, but my heart secretly sinks at the thought of giving up any of our food. I don’t know how we are going to get more and he probably eats a lot.
Nix notices the dejected look on Rose and I’s faces.
“Good God you two. Haven’t I proved I'm not a dick? My cars parked several miles from here. I have a trunk full of food and shit. Just let me eat so I can get it. Alright? Jesus.”
He rolls his eyes and walks to the pantry. Meanwhile, Rose and I are looking at each other giddy with excitement. New food! Rose pops up and leans against the counter. Every time he looks at her he has a weird pained, soft expression on his face. It intrigues me. He covers it well.
“So what kind of food do you have?”
“You’ll see,” he says as he eats a tablespoon of peanut butter straight from the jar. He starts grumbling about the lack of food selection.
“I know a good combo of food,” Rose says eventually. “I mean, Lacey and I have pretty much lived on it. It’s really not bad.”
He smiles at her. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. I’ll make it for you.”
“I’d appreciate that sis.”
She goes in the kitchen, shoving him out of her way. He laughs and raises his hands as he walks out.
My heart picks up as he moves to sit next to me. Timidly, I look over at him. When I meet his eyes I stiffen and give him all my attention.
He’s serious. Very serious. Deadly looking, but not in a way that feels like a threat to me.
“We
should probably talk, yeah?”
I swallow and nod.
“You two want to live. I have some ideas on how to make that happen.”
Chapter 4:
Sven:
Should we go after them?
Should we?
Great motherfucking question Boss. I growl and shove my chair so hard it crashes against the table. Boss runs a hand through his hair. He looks hurt and then suddenly… boom. He’s Boss. His eyes drilled into me. Instinctively, I reach for my gun, placing my hand there just in case.
“This would have never happened if you hadn’t gotten power hungry and behaved like a fucking idiot! I should kill you,” he growls.
Yeah, I don’t feel comfortable right now. Not even gonna lie. He’s the one by the door, not me. He’s also pissed and scared for his girl.
“Yes. Probably. But we work well together, despite the hang-up.”
He swivels around. His eyes are downright fucking death. “It’s the only reason you are alive right now.”
“I'm very aware.”
He glares at me. He hates me so much right now. I need to watch it. He’s not one to fuck with. As I’ve so aptly learned. My ego was in recovery mode before this happened. Now all I can think about is Rose. Is her foot okay? Is she safe? Is she letting anyone else touch her? That makes my blood boil. Her skin on mine was the closest to nirvana I’ve ever been.
“I'm going after her!” I snap.
Boss cocks an eyebrow, intrigued.
“You really are in love with her,” he says smugly.
“Oh yeah. Like you have no feelings for the prisoner,” I growl.
“Lacey!” he snaps, fingers twitching. We are dancing a dangerous game here.
“Right, sorry.” I grin to myself. Point proven.
He runs a hand over his face.
“I can’t let her go.”
He side eyes me. He’s testing how far he can trust me with his feelings. For some reason, I want him to, because if he can say his, I can say mine too. Games only last so long before somebody loses. I'm beginning to realize real relationships and connections are the true prize in all this.
“Me neither Boss. I won’t.”
He smirks. “You are becoming just as big of an asshole as me Sven.”
I shrug. “Need her. She’s mine. She knows it too. That’s why she ran.”
“I have to agree with you there. The problem I'm having is that’s not why Lacey ran.” His hands ball into fists. “She ran because she’s meant to thrive. Born to do it. She fights for that.”
He’s not wrong, I suspect.
“How did they even get out of here? This is one of the most guarded places in the fucking world.”
“Lacey,” he grits out. “She’s great with security systems.”
I cock an eyebrow.
“You know this because…”
“She broke into my room.”
My eyes go wide. “How.. the… fuck. No one has… I mean…”
“I know! I fucking know okay? She doesn’t even realize how fucking gifted she is. That’s the worst part. She’s been beaten down so much she probably just saw a way out in her head and took it. Thinking nothing of how difficult that task actually is to achieve. I want her back. I fucking want her back, damn it! Shit.”
He paces the room. I can see the thirst for blood in his eyes. The need for an outlet. I stand back, making my breath scarce. Giving him time to cool off.
“Got a plan Boss?”
“Of course I do,” he says as his head whips around to scowl at me.
“Please, do share.”
“Rose’s father,” he says slowly. “If you were two young, single girls escaping captivity with nothing to live for, how desperate would you be?”
I nod, following him.
“Very fucking desperate. He’s their only contact. They would have gone to him. I'm sure of it.”
“I agree.”
He nods stiffly, flips his cell phone open and snaps into the phone.
“Prepare the car!”
He adjusts his shirt and watches.
“Be ready in five.”
He walks out. I'm fucking ready now. I pace the halls, up and down, up and down. All I can see is her piercing blue eyes. The way she challenges me. Sees me. I want her back. Fuck I want her. This hurts. I rub my chest, trying to understand the pain there.
“Ready?” Boss pops in, looking way more put together. He pulls the cuff of his sleeve down.
“Yes.”
He jerks his head. I follow him to the back of the Cadillac. He’s quite the whole drive. It’s only when the prison is in our line of sight that he speaks again.
“If she dies, you die Sven. After watching me kill Rose. Slowly.”
With that, we pull up to the prison. He throws the door open and gets out. Fuck. Just, fuck. Lacey better fucking pull it together and live.
I pace the lobby as Boss talks to the front desk staff. The woman looks slightly terrified seeing him here at the prison. Interesting she knows who he is. Most don’t. After seeing the staff’s reaction, everyone in the lobby keeps a healthy distance from us. Less than two seconds later he walks back over and I notice the staff is immediately working on getting the attention of a guard to take us back.
“Kincaid,” he mumbles, shaking his head.
“What?”
“She gave a fake name.”
“At a prison?” My eyebrows raise. “How the fuck did she do that?”
I know Boss did it too. I have no clue how they pull that shit off.
“I told you. She’s smart. More than. With no clue that she is. She’s a… problem.”
“Yeah. Don’t I know it.”
I earn a smirk from that. “Rose is kind of a coward.”
“I know. I like that about her. She’s strong when she has to be.”
“Roger Federer,” the guard calls. I snort way too loud.
“Roger Federer?”
Boss shrugs, but he’s grinning. He walks up, dress shoes clicking on the floor. He’s pace is quick and confident. Maybe I should have tried to learn from him before I tried to overthrow him?
Lesson learned.
New mission. Not as fun, but more practical.
Once again, the game is Rose Bellemore.
We reach a door. The guard opens it for us.
“One hour,” he says.
Boss side eyes him.
“Approximately,” the guard mumbles.
We both walk in. The door clicks shut. We are greeted by an aging man with the coldest eyes I’ve ever seen. He’s wearing a small smile.
“I was wondering when I’d be seeing you two.”
“I'm in no mood to fuck around!” Boss snaps.
“I suspect you are looking for my daughter.”
“And Lacey!” Boss practically roars.
That makes Marketta grin widen.
“She’s dangerous,” he says, narrowing his eyes.
“All the more reason for me to have her back.”
Boss’s hand goes to his gun. “I will shoot you. And get away with it.”
“Look,” he leans back in his chair, “I could give a shit about the one you are looking for, I’d give her up in a second, but she’s with my daughter. I’d die before letting you two get your hands on Rose. She’s mine.”
That throws both of us a little off. I step forward.
“Really? You fucked her up pretty nicely.”
He looks me up and down. “Clearly, if somehow she ended up sleeping with the likes of you.”
My eyes widen. Even Bosses do. How the fuck does he know that? I want to snap his neck.
“Can I shoot him?” I growl, twitching.
Boss subtly shakes his head, not taking his eyes off the man. How did Rose come from this scum?
“She didn’t tell me directly. If that’s what you’re wondering. I think it was when she started crying saying how sick she is that I was able to put the pieces together.”
I run my
hand over my face. I want to kill him. I want to fucking kill him, and the only reason I haven’t yet isn’t because of Boss or this prison. It’s because Rose has yet to make peace with this part of her life and killing him would really cause problems for her.
“I want Lacey back and I think you know a piece of shit like you isn’t going to stop me,” Boss says calmly. There’s no one more dangerous than Boss when he’s calm like this. I know that first hand.
“No. Either Lacey’s genius or your love for her will do that.”
Boss smacks his hand on the trouble. The echo fills the room, reverberating off the walls.
“She’s hurt,” he growls. “She needs medical care.”
“Really?” The guy really doesn’t seem to know. He shrugs. “Seemed fine.”
“Yeah, cause that’s how Lacey is,” he gets out through gritted teeth.
“Look, you won’t find them. I sent… protection. The man I sent will guard them with his life.”
Boss pushes off the table. I'm fighting for control so I'm letting Boss take the lead on this one for now. Boss seems to be dealing somehow. I don’t know how, because I want to explode. This isn’t fun. It’s not a game. Rose is out there. Anything could happen.
“Who?” Boss finally says.
Marketta grins. “My son.”
Both of us pause, but I just about faint. “Rose has a brother?! Does she know?”
“No. Let’s keep it that way.” He winks.
This fucking piece of shit...
Boss somehow senses what’s coming, because I leap for Marketta. Before I can get to him Boss grabs my shoulders and pulls me back.
“Control,” he growls in my ear. “Control,” he repeats as I try to gather myself. I pull away from him.
“Why keep it a secret? She’s fucking dying inside!”
“I have my reasons.”
“Care to fucking share? What if he tells her!”
“He won’t.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Same reason you two are all worked up. Love.”
Bosses hands are balled up tight. All I see is red.
“The fuck?! Explain.”
“Nix fell in love with some woman. He prefers her breathing. Besides, Nix has done some bad shit. He thinks he’s a criminal. He’d want to protect Rose from all that. Doesn’t want to cause her more pain and such.”
This guy may be more cruel than me.
“You’d kill your son’s girlfriend?”