Fantastic. “Sorry to hear it.”
“I was thinkin’, you could make it better.” Harry leered.
“Oh?” Mary definitely didn’t like the sound of that.
“Yup, you could make it all better.”
“Actually, I still have some cleaning to do.” She swallowed and backed away from him.
“Don’t be ridiculous, it can wait.” Harry kept advancing on her. “Did I ever mention how I know your grandfather?”
Wherever this story was heading, it wouldn’t work out so hot for her. Who knows what Tucker had done?
“No.”
“Yeah, our paths crossed a couple times over the years. He knew my fiancé, too. Did I ever tell you about her?”
“No, you didn’t.” Mary tried to think of a way out of this but didn’t come up with anything.
“This happened eleven years ago. She was so fucking beautiful, a blonde with big brown eyes and even bigger tits.”
Yeah, he sounds really sentimental about her.
“Your granddad’s got a thing for blondes, too. Did he ever tell you?”
“No.” Who knows what other secrets he kept from her?
“Yeah, Cobb loves high-priced escorts. Every once in a while, he flies out here and orders two or three of them at a time.”
Um, eww. There’s one image I’ll never get out of my head, my granddad cavorting with hookers.
“Anyway, I digress, we were fixin’ to get married in June of that year.”
Her mouth went dry. “What happened?”
“Your grandfather killed her.”
She gaped at him.
Tucker Cobb killed a woman? Sure, she understood her grandfather was a mobster and a bad man, but she couldn’t picture him harming somebody who was completely innocent.
“Why would he hurt her?”
His hands fisted at his sides. “We did things different back in the day. At the time, women and children weren’t off limits.”
Who are these people? They lived in a world she wanted no part of.
“So he hurt her, to get to you?”
They were less than a foot apart now. Mary had run out of space, and her back was against the wall. There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, not from Harry, and certainly not from this knowledge.
“Yes, ma’am.” His eyes narrowed. “Do you know Buford Beauregard?”
“Of him, yes, he’s one of Byron’s family members.” All of the Beauregards had “B” names.
She’d never met the man, but from what she’d heard, he was a creep. Eventually, he’d been gunned down in a bar brawl after trying to rob the place.
No wonder Byron was so screwed up. His brother, Braxton, had just as many issues. Apparently, they were both hitmen, and the vocation must run in the family, or something.
“Well, he and your granddad took a particular interest in my girl, Alice. That was her name, Alice Spencer.”
Mary trembled, unable to speak or move.
“They took turns with her.” He flattened one palm on the wall by her head. “Holding her down, raping her. Alice must have screamed and cried, begging for help.”
“I’m so sorry.” Her voice quaked and quivered.
“What did you say?” Harry leaned closer. “I didn’t hear you.”
“I said, I’m sorry.”
“No, you’re not.”
“Please, let me go.”
Mary could feel his gun pressing against her hip. Was Harry planning on raping and then killing her too?
She thought back to the Walmart bathroom and the phone she’d held in her hand.
I should’ve spoken up then. If I had, I wouldn’t be in this predicament. Wait, no, I should’ve escaped that night in the hotel room. I could’ve shot Chase in the shoulder and ran to safety.
The point is, Mary had two opportunities to flee, and she hadn’t taken either of them.
“No, not until I’m finished with you.”
Finished doing what? Mary was afraid to ask the question, so she froze, trembling like some kind of frightened mouse. She couldn’t even move.
“Know what I learned from the situation?”
You’re a psychopath in need of counseling?
She licked her dry lips. “No, what?”
He ran a hand down her body, a long, lingering touch.
“That I need to be ruthless, as well. I let nothin’ stand in my way. Not morals or sentiment, or even common human decency. Not anymore.”
“You don’t have to do this.”
“Yes, I do. Weakness will get you killed in this business.”
Mary squirmed. “Don’t do this.”
“Oh, I’m gonna do anythin’ I want with you.” Harry caressed her cheek, then stroked the length of her neck, before sliding down her chest to cup one breast and then he tweaked a nipple.
She stifled a pained groan.
“I’m not to blame for what happened to your fiancé.” Evidently, working for these people and losing Alice had warped his mind.
“No, but this will pay your granddad back for what he did to her.”
“I’m so sorry about Alice.” She’d deliberately used the woman’s name, trying to connect with him, spark any tender emotions he had left.
“We both know you’re not, but you will be.” Harry grabbed her and tossed Mary down on the bed.
Mary screamed. She tried to roll away from him, but he got on top of her, pulling at her clothes.
“Let me tell you exactly what happened to Alice.”
“No.” Tears streamed down her face. She tried to fend him off, but Mary wasn’t strong enough. He had at least seventy pounds on her, and he was so determined.
Harry pushed his hands up under her shirt, grasping her breasts. She tried to tug the fabric down, but couldn’t. Harry squeezed them, pinched the nipples. He dragged one to his mouth and nipped it hard.
Mary howled.
“They caught up with her after work one night, followed her home, and stalked her. The police found her naked, battered body in the ditch. She’d been raped, and they found semen in every single hole.”
“Oh God.” Mary still couldn’t believe what Tucker had done. She felt sick, like she might vomit, and Harry’s hands on her didn’t help either.
After he finished sucking and biting her nipples, Harry groped one thigh and tried to push his fingers between her legs, but she kept them clamped together.
“Harry, don’t. I had nothing to do with her murder.”
“Oh, I ain’t gonna hurt you, not like that. You’ll walk away from this.” And then he tried to kiss her.
So he was fine with committing rape, but murder was too far? What kind of twisted moral compass did he have? Mary turned her head away. Hot tears poured down her face, and she kept gagging.
“Get off me!” Mary shoved at his chest, but it was like a brick wall.
“No, not until I’m finished with you.”
Mary struggled beneath him, trying to push him off, but she didn’t make any headway. He was too big and too strong, and absolutely relentless.
Harry undid the button on her jeans and then tugged them down while she thrashed beneath him. She kept clenching her legs together, but he pried them apart, and then he pushed himself between them.
“No, don’t, please don’t.” Mary tried to twist away, but she couldn’t move. Harry had her pinned down.
“Be quiet, bitch.” He clamped a hand over her mouth, and she bit him, sinking her teeth into the tender flesh of his palm. Harry yowled and then backhanded her.
Blood spurted from her nose and trickled down her lips. Mary closed her eyes and sagged against the pillow because she saw stars. The room spun around her, like she’d gotten on the Tilt A’ Whirl.
Meanwhile, Harry continued to undress her. He tugged the panties down her legs and cupped her sex in one hand.
“Hmph, dry as a popcorn fart, but don’t you worry, darlin’, I’m gonna get you wet.” Harry licked his fingers and then rammed them deep in
to her pussy.
It hurt, and she winced in pain.
“What the fuck is going on here?”
Mary instantly recognized the voice. Chase stormed into the room, and she sagged in relief. He’d come home early!
Suddenly, Harry’s weight disappeared, and he slammed the other man against the wall. Chase punched him in the face once, twice, three times.
“Get off me. I’m teaching the little bitch a lesson.” Harry clipped Chase under the jaw.
Mary was too stunned to move, so she just lay there, shivering on the bed, rolling into a ball and trying to cover herself.
“What lesson?”
“To show some respect.”
“Why would she respect a motherfucking rapist?” Chase shoved him toward the door. “Now get out of my house, before I shoot you right between the eyes.”
“You’re defendin’ her? She’s gotta pay for what her people did. Her granddad killed my fiancé and your own sister! What kind of traitor are you?”
Mary moaned. No, it can’t be true.
Tucker killed Faith?
She couldn’t stop sobbing and moaning. Mary didn’t know what to do or how to handle all of this, so she laid there, shivering, shattering into pieces.
“You’re tryin’ to punish her for somethin’ she didn’t do and it ain’t right.”
“Your father will hear about this.”
“Go right ahead and while you’re at it, why don’t you tell him you’re forcin’ yourself on women.”
With a muttered curse, Harry headed down the stairs, and she flinched when the front door slammed behind him.
“Are you okay?” Chase asked, once Harry had gone. He knelt beside the bed and reached for her, but she shrank away from his touch.
“Yeah, he didn’t…” Mary couldn’t say the words. She’d come pretty damn close to being violated.
No, he violated me, so don’t try to downplay it or hide from the reality.
While he hadn’t put his penis inside her, Harry had stuck his fingers in her, penetrated her, and if she tried to run or hide from it, the pain would come boiling to the surface later anyway. Might as well deal with it now.
“Are you sure?” he asked gently. “Your panties are on the floor.”
Her eyes slammed shut. “He used his fingers, but he didn’t g-get any further.” Mary’s teeth were chattering as though she’d plunged into ice water.
Chase ran a hand through his hair. “Mary, I’m so sorry. I didn’t tell him to come over here.”
“I didn’t think you did.” She barely breathed the words.
“I don’t even know how he got the fuckin’ code. Maybe one of the soldiers let it slip?” His expression was fierce. “I’ll find out, one way or the other.”
“I need a shower.” She sat up in bed and tugged the t-shirt down. Mary felt even more disgusting than when she’d been running around in dingy old clothes.
“Sure, I’ll be right outside the bathroom. When you get done, I’ll work on your injuries.”
“Injuries?”
“You’re bleeding.” He gestured to his own mouth.
Mary placed a fingertip to her lips, and it came away bloody. She stared at it for the longest time, mesmerized by the blazing red on her pale skin.
“Mary?” Chase hovered over her.
“Right. I should get up.” Somehow, Mary stood and made her way to the bathroom. She got in the tub, and turned the dial all the way to the left, forcing the water to get as hot as possible. She wanted to scrub every trace of Harry off her skin.
Somehow, Mary doubted she’d ever be clean again.
Chapter Nine
“Come on, let’s get some ice on your black eye.”
After she’d showered and changed, Mary let him into the bathroom. He’d grabbed a Ziploc bagful of ice from the freezer and handed it to her, while he wiped the blood from her mouth and nose with a washcloth. The wounds must’ve opened up once more while she bathed in hot water.
She sat on the edge of the tub, pale and quiet. Mary wasn’t making eye contact with him, and he couldn’t blame her.
Chase had let her down.
The right thing to do would be to call the police, report the crime, and carry her out of here, make sure Mary was safe, but he couldn’t. He’d sworn loyalty to his father, and the Sin City Mafia. If he ran now, Chase would be running for the rest of his life, which would be short and brutal.
Eventually, they’d track him down, and Noah would finish him.
He wanted to beat the ever living shit out of Harry, but he couldn’t. And his father would probably side with Harry because Chase had “betrayed the brotherhood.”
Mary winced, and Chase turned his attention back to her.
“There, I stopped the bleedin’. I want you to keep ice on it, to reduce the swelling.”
Mary nodded and then looked up at him with glittering eyes, full of tears.
“I wanna go home.” She sobbed. “But I can’t because it doesn’t exist anymore. I want the illusion back.”
“I know.” Chase got down on his haunches so he could meet her eyes.
“And I’ve never felt so lost.”
“I know, believe me I do. I’m so damn sorry this happened to you.”
She shuddered, and he wrapped his arms around her. She stiffened at first and then relaxed against him. Chase gathered her up and took her past the scene of the crime, and carried her into his own bedroom.
Mary said nothing, yielding in his embrace, letting him carry her. He wasn’t sure if Harry had broken her spirit, or she was just shaken up. No, Mary was resilient, and she’d eventually get over this. She’d already endured more than her fair share of tragedy.
“Harry has a beef with the Lone Star Mafia, but he shouldn’t have taken it out on you.”
“No, he shouldn’t have. I can’t believe what my grand—”
“Shh, don’t think on it.”
“I can’t help it. He killed your sister.”
“Maybe he did, but I don’t know for sure.”
“Still, I’m sorry. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because this ain’t your sin to bear, so hush now.” Chase laid down on the bed and held her on his lap. Right now, he needed to touch her, assure himself that she was okay. Chase placed his chin on the top of her head, and they were silent for a long time, just holding onto one another, slowly rocking.
“Are you okay?”
She sighed. “I’ve been better.” The weak attempt at humor cheered him. Mary might be down but wasn’t out. Not yet.
“He could’ve—”
“But he didn’t, and I’m gonna hold onto the thought. This was horrific, a violation, but it could’ve been worse.”
“I’m sorry.”
Mary shook her head. “This isn’t your fault. You didn’t invite him over.”
“I feel responsible, and I wish we could go to the police.”
“We both know it isn’t an option. Testifying against the mafia would get me killed.”
“Yes, it would.”
They fell silent.
“Know what’s funny?” she asked, after a while.
“What?”
“At times like these, you need a support system, someone you can depend on, but I don’t have anyone, not anymore.” Mary laughed without humor, a sharp, broken sound.
“I know what you mean.”
And Chase really did. He couldn’t shake the feeling, there was nothing left for him here. Faith was really gone, and he’d become untethered from this job, his life here, and his father, too. Chase had no one to depend on.
Why the fuck am I still here? I shouldn’t be doing this job.
He wasn’t like these people anymore, and maybe he hadn’t been, to begin with.
“And what about Tucker? My conscience tells me I should hate him, and I should never see him again, but I just can’t walk away, not yet. What if I never can?”
“I know exactly what you mean. Tell me if you figure it out
.”
“You still love your father?”
“Yes, no, I don’t know. How’s that for an answer?” Chase had been conflicted for years.
“Sounds about right.” Mary sighed. “When this is all over, where do I go? And what do I do?”
“I honestly don’t know.”
And then Chase had the craziest thought.
What if they ran away together? He could join the military once more, and she could apply to another medical school, somewhere the old man couldn’t find her.
It was insane, but he loved the sound of it. With Mary at his side, all things were possible, but she wouldn’t want him. He’d snatched her up, interrupted her bright future, for pity’s sake. She had every right to hate his ass.
“What about you? What are you gonna do?”
“I don’t know. I promised the outfit I’d be a member until I died.”
“But you don’t belong here. You know that, right? We’re both at a crossroads.”
And the next step they took, would redefine their futures.
“Maybe.”
“We could go to the FBI.” Mary turned to face him.
“And enter the Witness Protection program? How long do you think we’d live before they found us?”
Her face fell. “Probably not long. Level with me and forget about what’s feasible, or what you should do. What do you want to do?”
Chase mulled it over. “I want to go back into the military and become an officer, and I know you wanna go back to med school.”
“I do, but I can’t do it without official records.”
“And your grandfather or his boys would find you anywhere you went.”
“Yeah, they’d track me down.” Mary leaned against him once more. “Although, I love the thought of running away, just leaving it all behind, so I’d get a clean slate, a fresh start.”
Chase liked the sound of it. He’d made so many mistakes, and he’d love to knock it all down and start over again.
“What if they weren’t after you?” Chase asked.
“Stanford has an interesting program. I could become a doctor and go to the beach on the weekends.”
“Well, the weather’s a hell of a lot nicer in California than Boston.”
“Yeah, it is.” They smiled at one another.
“There are a lot of military installations in California, you know.” He pictured them going to the wine country on the weekends, making love every morning.
Bad Blood (Lone Star Mobster Book 5) Page 10