“So you, Ryan and Dean are all brothers?” I ask
“Half-brothers.” Ryan admits “but yeah, we are all brothers.”
“Wow. So where is your mom now?” I ask Adam
“Dean had to go and get them, Red sold them to the same guy named Michael Travers an old friend of dads and high paying client. Dean had no idea that our mothers were alive, until he went to find Stella’s son Connor. He went to Michael after Connor was safe, and the guy offered our mothers in exchange for another slave… A woman for his son. Dean accepted
“So Dean got his mom back too?”
“He did.” Adam replies
“And his son?”
Adam nods
“That’s great news. But I still don’t want to see him.”
Ryan and Adam look at each other
“Olivia, I hate my brother as much as you do for what he has done, but there is a whole shit load more to this story, that all needs to come from Dean, I really think you should give him a shot to explain everything to you. He’s not with Stella, she is the one who told Red where you were being held. She’s the reason you were kidnapped in the first place. He traded her in exchange for our mother’s. He did all of this for everyone else but himself.”
“He still got his son, and I was left here to raise our son on my own. Not knowing if he was dead or alive. He made me love him and then he left me. I am glad he got his child back, but he didn’t give us two thoughts or he would have made contact somehow. Besides the flowers when Landon was born.”
I knew I was sounding petty and selfish
“He’s not my son.”
I hear the booming male voice, which automatically makes my stomach fill with both anger and lust
I turn to look at the front door and see Dean standing there.
“Stella was never my wife, and Connor is not my son. He is the son of an old friend, who works at the fire station. The guy got caught up with Red over a debt on Stella’s behalf. She promised to give Red her son in payment. She never told anyone about the debt though, she came running to me crying about how Red was going to kill her. We pretended to be married to play off that her baby was mine. To protect her child. So that Red would leave her alone. I only just learned the truth that she was the one who had her son sold. For money.”
That woman is fucking horrible
“I didn’t choose to leave you Olivia. I thought I was stuck in this fake marriage with her to save her life. She spun more stories than I can even remember. I slept with her over the years sure, I don’t really have time for anything other than casual sex, but she was spinning lies and keeping me from every getting free. Now she’s gone and no one has to worry about her again. I couldn’t come back, I couldn’t be near my son or you until I knew she would no longer be a problem, until I knew that you would all be safe with me back in the picture.”
I say nothing. I am trying to understand everything he just told me. The only reason he married Stella was to help her, and she took advantage of him for years. They weren’t even really married. But he never told me that either.
“Why did you tell me she was your wife then? Why didn’t you just tell me the truth?”
I glance up at him for an answer, but Ryan speaks for him “Dean’s phone was being hacked left and right. We couldn’t figure out what was happening, so we tapped into it so that each time it was accessed from another location we would know where. It turns out that Red had some of his men access his phone through his phone number. Smart phones might be easy to use, but they are even easier to hack and gain access to information. Red was reading all of Dean’s text and phone calls. We found out when he left for a job for those two weeks. That’s why he cut contact with you for the most part, because he didn’t want Red to find out that you two were together. That would have made you a target. Or so we thought. Of course we didn’t realize at the time that Red already had his sights on you.”
“Where is your mother now?” I ask Dean
“She’s in a hotel. She needs to readjust to normal life before she can be around too many people. She has a specialist who deals with PTSD and all that with her 24-7. Same with Adams mom. They are together, but we are working on making them whole. She can’t wait to meet you though, she knows all about you. She knows about our son.” He stops and looks around
“He’s sleeping.” I whisper
I know that he just shared all this information with me. I know that these three men just gave me every reason in the world as to why Dean was gone. I know that none of it was his fault, but I don’t know if I can just forget it all. Part of me still really hurts that he was so able to have no contact. I am trying to accept it. I am.
I stand up. Dean moves towards me as I do. “I just need a few moments.”
I turn and walk into the baby’s room, closing the door gently behind me.
I sit in the rocking chair and watch him sleep for what feels like forever.
What do I do? This isn’t in the parenting handbook. Do I let the man who kills people for a living see his son? He is his father, I mean that’s the right thing to do right?
But part of me can’t risk it. Part of me wants to keep my son safe to know that his father and all the ties he holds cannot hurt this small little boy.
But I have had people after me as well. So can I really pretend to be any better? Not that my situation is anything like Dean’s. People wanted me because I stuck by my brother. That’s all I have ever done. Not the same as murdering men for a living.
But Dean is here, and he might not be safe, but I have wanted him for months. I have missed him I have loved him, I have hated him, and I have needed him. I’ve waited for him to meet this little boy since the day the small bundle of joy was placed into my arms.
I know that it might not be the safest choice, but the only choice I have.
I lean in to pick up my son and carry him out to meet his daddy.
Chapter 25
Dean cried the first time he held Landon.
He cried the first time I told him I would try to find a way to forgive him.
Three months later, he cried again when I told him I finally forgave him and then he asked me to marry him.
With a ring that he later told me he bought 2 weeks after he met me. He knew I was the one he said. He has known since the very first time he walked through my front door.
I saw tears in his eyes when we got married. He had been more nervous than I had ever seen him before. Scared and happy. Full of love. Proud.
Emotions from a man like Dean is a true gift. Landon and I got the deepest emotions he had.
I could only imagine the emotion that he felt when he first realized that I had been kidnapped. Only hours after we pledged to spend the rest of our lives together.
Chapter 26 –Dean
Mom is holding Landon. Rubbing his back and singing him a soft melody I faintly remember her singing to me as a boy -until Matthew told her I was too old for lullabies.
My heart feels full.
For years I cared only for Ryan and my mom. When mom was sold by Matthew and Red, I took a turn into the hateful man I needed to be to deal with it all.
The hateful man who killed bad men with his bare hands.
The hateful man I remained until the day that she walked into my life.
She is my light. In all of the darkness that is my world, she is my sunshine. The reason to wake up in the morning. She is my whole heart.
It hasn’t been easy. Stella messed up so many things. Ashley hiring another man to kill Liv messed up even more.
But now she is mine. Her and our son. We are a family. Nothing will get in the way of that. Ever. I am the luckiest son of a bitch alive and I fucking know it. I can’t help but smile at the satisfaction.
Ryan takes a seat at the head table. We didn’t have a large wedding. Just close family and friends. A lot of people that Ryan and I work with. Marco and Adam sit at the table as well.
Marco lost the use of his arm, after Red’
s men shot him. He can do basic things, thankfully it was not his shooting hand, but still he has moved down a bit in the business. I still have had a hard time forgiving him for not killing that man who stole Olivia from me the first time, but it’s something I am working on. He’s a good man.
Landon is sound asleep with my mom.
Ryan’s cell phone beeps for a text.
He looks down at it and stands up quickly
“Shit.” He snaps
Everyone at our table looks at him
“What’s wrong Ry?” Alexis asks
Landon stirs in my mother’s arms.
“Stella...” he mumbles
“What about her?” I can feel the small grip of fear taking over at the mere mention of her name. She’s supposed to be out of the country. Out of our lives. She was traded. What could she have to do with anything?
“Where’s your phone?” Ryan asks, ignoring my question
“In the back. I didn’t have it on me during the ceremony.” I reply shortly.
Ryan looks at Landon, then up to me. He turns around and looks at the men who work for us behind him.
“Ryan what the hell is going on?” My mom asks
Landon makes a slight whimper. The kind he makes when he is getting hungry. Where is Olivia? She went off to the bathroom minutes ago. She’s still wearing her wedding dress. I assume it’s just taking her a long time to pull everything back into place.
I know when we had sex right after the ceremony before coming here it took her a while to right everything. But I couldn’t help it, she was the hottest fucking bride I had ever laid eyes on.
“Stella. She... Text me.” Ryan’s hands are shaking. I know something is wrong. Nothing upsets Ryan Corvus, he’s a fucking drug lord. He’s a crime boss. He’s fucking tough. But right now, I can tell he is about to start crying. He’s never cried a day in his life.
“Ryan spit it the fuck out man.” Adam is standing beside me now, he’s scared too.
“Stella talked her buyer into buying another slave. His son didn’t want her.” Ryan answers
“Okay, why the hell would he listen to anything she has to say?” Adam asks
I look at Adam “she’s fucking the guy, she’s his mistress the guy who bought her is in love with her. That’s why he made the trade. She’s a fucking snake… He pretended to want her for his son, but it was for himself.”
Ryan cuts me off
“Dean, they took Olivia.”
Chapter 27 – Stella
He married her.
He had a son with her.
I had to do something. There was no way I could let him be happy with her.
She wasn’t taking my happiness.
He was supposed to choose me.
I planned everything perfectly.
We’d look for Connor. I didn’t want the kid. I wanted Dean. I thought that if I pulled him across the country on this trip, he would forget all about doe eyed Bambi.
I should have known the moment he first mentioned her, the day after he was supposed to kill her for Ashley that he wasn’t going to do it.
I gave Red and Ashley all his information, told them everything they needed to know to get her the first time. Then he had to go and save her.
He was supposed to fall in love with me.
Now he has a family with her.
I made Michael think I loved him. He will do whatever I want.
I put the bug in his ear that she would be a perfect match for his son Max.
I told him that she is young, beautiful and can bear children. That’s all Michael wants… More heirs to his drug kingdom.
He stole that slut. Right from her wedding.
Right after she finished having sex with Dean.
Now I will get him to kill her.
And Dean will be all mine.
Chapter 28
The Spanish speaking man refuses to look at me.
He is angry.
I tried to escape
Three men grabbed me. They pulled me into a truck waiting at the curb around the back.
I tried to scream, but one of the men wrapped his hand around my mouth. I couldn’t even open my mouth wide enough to bite him. The first time I tried, he punched me in the stomach, knocking me straight to the ground.
The second time I tried, before the doors to the truck opened, I was smacked upside the head with another’s boot.
These men were not going to be gentle. I thought that Red’s men meant business. These men were murderous.
I couldn’t stop thinking about Dean and my son inside. Were they okay? Did these men want something with Ryan and Dead? They had to. But what would happen to my family?
The men continue to speak in quick Spanish. I can pick nothing up.
The truck starts and speeds out from behind the hall.
One of the men reaches over to me and shoves his fat hand beneath my wedding dress inching between my legs. I squirm back away from him, and the other man beside him slaps him upside the head. Fat hand man quickly removes his hand.
Then he pulls a needle out of his jacket pocket and before I can even try to move away jabs the syringe into my exposed thigh.
I black out moments later.
Chapter 29
Hector.
That is the name hear everyone calling the old man who has be chained to the back of 16 wheeler truck.
The inside is totally empty, other than the two other women who are chained to the opposite wall.
They don’t look at me. I keep waiting to catch one of their eyes, I don’t know if I feel like I need to reassure them, or feel some reassurance myself.
Hector doesn’t leave my side, but I hear him talking to me. Always in Spanish, always angry, always like he is amused with an insider secret I know nothing of.
We drive for what feels like hours. Only stopping momentarily to refill for gas. I can hear the men outside talking, laughing.
This is life as usual for them.
My breasts are aching, and I think of my son. He needs to eat. I wonder how scared he is that he doesn’t have his mommy with him.
A tear falls down my cheek. Hector notices and issues another painful punch in my direction, this time into my rib cage, rather than my stomach. Then he throws another, and another.
All for one single tear.
“Perra estúpida. Malditos esclavos”
He stops. Moves away from me.
Now I can’t breathe. I can’t pull in deep enough breaths. I try to react quietly, but I know that my lack of oxygen is not something I can hide. My ribs are broken, I can feel the most intense pain I have ever experienced ripping through my back. It feels like it is on fire, I feel like I must be bleeding everywhere.
He’s yelling at me again.
I stand up a little straighter and try to turn my body away from his view while I regain my composer.
I have to. This man will kill me if I do not and I have no idea if he is the one who will decide my fate, or if he is working for someone else.
I almost miss Red’s men who spoke English, and didn’t feel the need to use more than slaps or a random punch. This man wants to hurt me. He wants to break me.
The man is speaking into a cell phone now.
I heard him answer, with a hello. The one word in Spanish I know well. He seemed upset by what he was hearing. He looked back up to me, his eyes lit with fire.
When he hung up, he pulled a knife from the back of his dirty jeans pocket.
The metal reflected off the dim light that was rigged to the top of the truck’s cab.
He brought the knife to the side of my face, gently pulling it down. It wasn’t cutting, I tried not to flinch, but I knew that he was going to hurt me.
“Esclavo”
His voice was quieter this time, almost a whisper.
Then he jerks the knife down near my shoulder, cutting my wedding dress off.
As soon as it is removed, I am left in nothing but a strapless bra and a pair of lacy panties
.
Hector moves across from me, wedding dress still in hand and begins to sort through the material, almost as if he is looking for something.
After a while he grows bored and begins to shred it to pieces, the dress was expensive, Dean insisted I buy this particular one. The whole ‘not seeing the brides dress before the wedding’ didn’t apply to him. When I went dress shopping with Mom and Alexis, he snuck in, when he saw this one he said it was ‘the one’ and insisted I get it. The dress was $22,000. It was a joke between Alexis and me even trying it on... But Dean loved it.
Which means that it kind of hurt when the old man ripped it into nothing. A sinister smile on his face while he tore each square inch of fabric apart.
No one would ever know that mere hours ago, that fabric made up the dress that I wore while I married the love of my life.
A man I might never see again.
Hector looks at me. The truck comes to an abrupt stop.
“Bienvenido a México, Esclavo”
Mexico?!
Chapter 30
When we stepped out of the truck, they didn’t bother blind folding me.
In fact through all of this process, no one bothered to hide from me their faces or our location. Which was odd, Dean and Red had both been careful to cover their tracks.
We were in a seemingly poor town. When I looked around, the majority of the houses were falling apart. Small children were riding their bikes around an empty lot about 50 feet away. A few came closer to inspect what was happening with me and the other women. I notices quickly that these were 7 and 8 year old boys, with guns in holsters on their sides. Nothing innocent about this. I felt sad for them.
Hector pulled me on his own, the other men took the other women. They got into separate cars, but Hector pulled me to a town car of sorts that was standing off to the side. I didn’t want to be separated from the others. No, I didn’t know them but something made me feel good about not being the only one. I didn’t want to be alone with Hector, safety in numbers and all that. Not that it matter where this man was concerned.
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