by Mia Downing
“You’d make them proud.” Tia reached over with her fingertips and brushed Kate’s hand. Kate took Tia’s fingers in hers and squeezed, hard.
“Well, I have to hide it, or when he comes back, it will be fast. We don’t know if he’ll rape you. He could just slit your throat and move on to me. And then where would our men be?”
Kate had a point. “Can I ask you something personal?”
“Why not? I’m not going anywhere.”
“What’s your safeword?”
“Christmas. Why?”
“Because Jake said a safeword once, and I thought it was yours.”
Kate inhaled sharply, and from the look on her face, it wasn’t because of the pain. “He told you about Paris.”
“Yes.”
“Then he loves you. He wouldn’t tell me about Paris. Not without Chase’s permission, and then he just made Chase tell me. I still don’t have all the details, but enough to know the hell Chase went through, and that Jake is the best friend a man could have.”
“I didn’t believe him when he said the safeword wasn’t yours.”
“Sometimes it’s hard to tell when Jake’s full of crap and when he’s being honest. He lies, he cons, he sweet talks, and he always gets what he wants.” Kate squeezed her hand then. “But he won’t lie to you about the important things. Not the things that matter.”
I don’t lie about the important stuff. Like loving you… Tia squirmed, wanting to believe them both.
“It explained a lot when he told me about his cover with Chase.” Tia shifted. “Why we all hate Paris for various reasons.”
“Yes.”
“Did you ever go home with Jake?”
“Not with Jake. Chase took me. That’s where he proposed, because I would have to follow the crazy house rules and say yes if I wanted sex. I sent Jake an engagement announcement photo taken in front of the house. I thought he’d like it.” Kate shifted.
“You didn’t ask how we got around the rule.”
“No, because Jake told me when he called Friday morning. He was upset with himself, and he didn’t know what to do. He hasn’t been in love in a long, long time. He used to talk about a Maria in his sleep, and I guessed she hurt him enough to make him the way he is. I never asked, though. I wasn’t brave enough.”
Tia never thought she’d feel anything but hatred for perfect Kate. Not anything that resembled a growing respect. Maybe even one day, a friendship. “You don’t love him.”
“No.” Kate bit her lip then, her face contorting for a long moment. It passed, and she gasped. “He’s all yours.”
“How much pain are you in?”
“An eleven on a scale of ten.” She breathed deep, and it was hard to believe she could get any paler, but she did. “I’m upright because I’m bound. The minute he unties me…” She shuddered. “It hurts more, because I know a part of Chase is dying. A part I hadn’t wanted, until right now. Sad, huh?”
“What about the part that is you?”
“It’s already gone.” She smiled very sadly. “Just tell them I’m sorry, okay? Tell Chase I love him, and I’m sorry.” And another wave of pain came, one she couldn’t hide. Tia squeezed her hand, harder, and felt like such a bitch. Kate didn’t deserve this, or anything Tia had felt for her. The anger, the hatred. The jealousy. She wasn’t the monster Tia imagined her to be.
The door rattled, and the key engaged in the lock. Their captor entered with a grocery bag in his arms. Tia hadn’t seen him before, because he’d been behind her the entire time. He was about five-ten, lean and disheveled looking in a short-sleeved button down shirt and jeans. His hair was dark brown and fairly short, the goatee and mustache well-groomed at one point but now starting to look unkempt. “How are my girls?”
Kate closed her eyes again, and said nothing. He set down the bag on the table and came to inspect them with a leering grin. “You not so glad to see me, pretty girl?” He kicked Kate’s leg, and she flinched, her eyes squeezed shut.
Tia knew then and there she couldn’t give up, let this man hurt Kate and then face Jake. There had to be something she could do, a way to lure him to her, to make him want her, first. She could make it last somehow and give the guys enough time to find them.
“Leave her alone,” Tia demanded.
“Why?” He arched a brow, and a shiver of fear rattled through Tia’s soul. His eyes held a hint of madness in their depths, madness that hinted of dark things to come. She reaffirmed her vow to save Kate. This man would rip her to shreds.
“She’s sick to her stomach, that’s why. She wants to barf.”
Kate opened her eyes and stared at her, the coldness there demanding Tia to go with the original plan. Tia shrugged in answer. She was doing this her way, not Kate’s.
“Yeah?” He grabbed Kate by the back of her head and made her stare up at him. He grinned down at her, his fingers delving deeper into the blonde strands, clenching harder. “When I’m done with her, she’ll do more than barf.”
Kate closed her eyes in surrender.
“What about me? What will you do to me?” Tia drew his attention the best way she could. He looked at her, assessing her with calculating eyes that made her skin crawl.
“Don’t,” Kate warned.
He laughed, but let go of Kate’s hair and stepped over to stand in front of Tia, his shins touching her bound legs. His fingers dove into her hair, his nails biting her scalp. She counted the buttons on his shirt to keep herself calm—there were six she could see.
He leaned forward and breathed in her ear, “You’ll die, too.”
“But you don’t have an issue with me. I can make things very enjoyable.”
He yanked her hair, pulling her head backward. She met his brown, insane eyes, unflinching in the gaze of madness although all she wanted to do was run like hell and take Kate with her.
“Maybe I like it rough,” she whispered, baiting the trap.
He tightened the hold on her hair, as if to call her bluff. “How rough?”
“How rough can you make it?” Tia asked, glad for once she didn’t mind pain of certain sorts. “I like it really, really rough. If you raped me, I’d love it. I’m a pain slut.”
He looked confused for a moment and released her with a small shove, as if disgusted. “Fucking Americans.”
Tia laughed softly. He had a little sanity left it seemed. But his madness liked the idea of her screaming in pain, enjoying the blood he’d spill. There’d be a lot of blood, from the look he now gave her from across the room. She tried not to think of how Jake would react, when he finally found her. She had a job to do.
“I like blood,” she whispered. His head snapped up from the bag on the table, his snake gaze absorbing hers. “I used to cut myself, all of the time. I made a man choke me once, to get me off. You could use me several times. Cut me, hurt me. I’d last a long, long time. If you did it right, I’d come as you killed me. Have you had a woman come as you killed her before?”
Asshole licked his lips, the madness intrigued. Tia shook away the pain, because it hurt to share her secrets with a madman, even if it was to save another. Suddenly, she was thankful she could compartmentalize her emotions. Fuck him or die now became an act without a safety net. She hoped she lived, though. She had so much to tell Jake.
Kate was staring at her now, all sorts of shocked, like Tia had killed her pony and trampled her flowers.
Their captor stared for what seemed like forever, the battle between crazy and sanity heating up behind his eyes. His breathing ratcheted up a notch, his chest rising and falling. She didn’t want to know what madness pictured doing to her, because his gaze was cold, slimy, and hateful.
Then sanity burst through for a second, looking confused, shocked, until madness took the bait she offered and shut down any hope Tia had of him releasing them.
She’d just sealed her deal with a monster, and the last minutes on her life’s clock were counting down at Mach ten. Fuck him or die had just become fuck him and die. She hoped Jake
would hurry, but was losing faith. Very quickly, losing faith.
He withdrew a knife from a sheath attached to his belt, and instead of going to Tia, he went to Kate and stepped between her legs.
“I can’t wait for you to bleed, pretty American,” he said to Kate. He ran the tip of the blade along her jaw to her chin. He dug the point in so she had to tip her head up to look into his eyes. “I should just kill you first, and then use the high from revenge to make killing your friend even sweeter.”
No no no. Fuck. The deal wasn’t for Kate.
Tia cleared her throat. “She’d hate it if you made me bleed first. Killed me first. You want revenge? Real revenge? Make her suffer by using me first. It’s her fault I’m here. You think she’s happy about me being here? She’s scared shitless because if she survives this, her husband and boyfriend will kill her. She’s weak. That’s why you caught her. Use her weakness to make revenge even sweeter. She’ll be in agony.”
The knife point dropped from Kate’s chin, leaving behind a dribble of blood. He looked from Kate back to Tia, unsure. Damn it, this was not the time to go sane on her. Sanity led to trouble in this case, not release. She had to tempt madness again.
“My blood is just as red as hers. Use my blood to take revenge.” His pupils dilated, and a look akin to desire crossed his face. Tia knew she had him. “Untie me. You can’t use me, tied up like this.”
Asshole closed the distance, and his knife traced her jaw, the blade sliding under her chin to tip it upward so he could stare down at her. The madness was full-blown now, promising her pain like she’d never felt before.
His lips twitched, and he dug the tip of his blade deeper into her chin. Tia fought to be still. “I’ll kill your girlfriend if you give me a hard time.”
“I know. I’ll behave.”
He worked Tia’s bindings and dragged her to her feet, her hands still tied behind her back by an independent set of ropes. The knife glinted in his hand. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, the blade cold at her throat, the blade sharp but painless for some reason. It should hurt more than this. A dribble of wetness trickled down her chest. Then he released her and shoved her forward. She stumbled, almost going to her knees.
“On the bed.”
Tia cased the room, looking for anything to stop him. It was only one room, a single bed, a dingy kitchen in the corner, a TV at the end of the bed. She and Kate had sat closer to the kitchen area, bound next to each other.
And out the single window behind the TV, was a rooftop adjacent to this building. One perfect for a sniper’s shot. The fire escape scaffolding could make the shot harder, but Tia had faith in Chase. Jake trusted him with his life. Tia now put that same trust in Chase’s hands.
Her captor grabbed the bedding from the mattress and tugged, ripping it down to the fitted sheet. He tossed them to the floor. “Your blood will be beautiful on my white sheets,” he whispered.
Kate sucked in a breath, and Tia prayed she’d keep her mouth shut. She couldn’t let him do this to her and her child.
“I hope you make me come as you kill me,” she offered madness, hoping it was enough to distract him from anything Kate might do.
“Yes. That would be nice.” He sounded like he was addressing the weather, that a sunset could be just as incredible. Madness, Mach ten.
Kate kept still, and Tia sank to the bed at the foot. He stepped up, his hand brushing her shoulder. Then he sat down on the bed next to her and shoved the point of his knife into her left side. The blade sliced in tip deep, and she closed her eyes on the flash of pain. It was nothing. She could handle it. If she waited for the perfect moment, she might be able to take him, even with her hands behind his back.
“You do like the pain,” he whispered almost reverently as he stared at her. “Most women would scream by now.”
“Aren’t you glad you chose me first?”
Kate made a strangled noise from her chair, but said nothing. Asshole didn’t seem to notice.
“Yeah.” He leaned in and kissed her then, biting her lip, forcing his tongue into her mouth. She tasted blood—hers—and it excited him because he shoved the knife into her side a little deeper, his hand trembling. He kissed her harder, and Tia retreated deeper into the emotional compartment, locking away any dignity she had. He could have her body, but not her heart. That was Jake’s.
Asshole broke the kiss. “How will I make you bleed first?”
She slid up the bed, away from him, and opened her legs in invitation. “Use me. Rape me.” If he was over her, one of them might get a shot off without harming her or Kate. If he raped her a few times, Kate would have more time. She didn’t see any other solutions. She had to wait for him to make a mistake, or she had to wait for Jake. Not very good odds. “Make me scream.”
“I don’t want you to attract attention, pretty girl. Maybe you shouldn’t scream at all.”
“Whatever you like. I can be whatever you want.”
“Maybe I should kill you.”
“Dead women aren’t much fun.” Tia looked up at him, meeting his sadistic gaze. “Why don’t you use that knife to cut off my shirt?” She’d rather have him cut off her shirt than stab her deeper. The wound was on the left. He’d just hit intestines or something boring. But it still would hurt like hell.
“Don’t,” Kate whispered.
Tia tried not to think of how it had felt when Jake had used his wedding knife to do the same thing. Asshole slid the bloody knife though her shirt, up the middle, the back of the blade grazing her sternum. When he broke through the seam at the collar he pushed the tip under her chin and lifted her face to look at him. “Very pretty. I like your blood on my knife.”
“I bet you do.” She swallowed, and over his shoulder, she saw movement through the window, across the way, something so faint she could brush it off as pigeons taking roost. She hoped to hell it was Chase.
He wouldn’t take the shot if she was in the way, so she leaned back on the bed. If they shot Asshole, she’d be clear as long as the angle was right. She prayed the angle was right. “Why don’t you strip for me?”
He looked confused again. “Crazy American.”
Damn sanity for popping up. Sanity would take the madman back to Kate. “Where am I going? If I roll, you’ll get me. I can’t make it to the door faster than you can with my hands behind my back. I can’t kick or hit you from here. So just strip for me. Blondie would hate that.”
“Don’t,” Kate said again.
“See? Strip for me,” she said on a breath, watching over his shoulder. She couldn’t see much. Chase would know better than to be visible. So would Jake.
Her captor ran a hand through his dark hair. Then he took one lick of the blood on his knife—her blood—and placed it between his teeth like a lover would a rose stem. He began to unbutton his shirt, his brown eyes boring into her, taking in her curves.
“That’s it,” Tia encouraged. “Strip. Then come give me the ultimate orgasm.” If you’re there, take the shot.
He tossed his shirt and undid his belt, then unbuttoned his pants. He slid them down his hips, off his legs, and kicked his feet out, never taking his eyes off her. He was aroused already, and Tia looked away, knowing her time was almost up. At least this time, she’d be a whore for a noble reason. To save Kate.
He crawled on the bed, between her legs, knife still between his teeth. Over his shoulder, she saw a finger at the window, giving her a signal. Pointing to the left with a jab. They wanted her to roll. Her heart should be hammering, but she felt nothing but cool, calm as she looked back at Asshole and smiled. “You forgot to undress me.”
He took off one sneaker, then the other. Then grabbed her pants at the waist and yanked. She lifted her hips, and the second the material cleared her feet, she kicked him square in the chest. He grunted and fell back, and she rolled to the left, and prayed. Asshole roared with anger as he stood, and a nanosecond later, the bullet streaked through the window and into her attacker. He looked at her f
or a moment, his anger turning to confusion. Then he slumped to the bed.
Jake lifted the window and climbed in from the fire escape, wearing body armor over his street clothes, and a full body harness over all that. On his head was the hat she’d made him, and she gaped, shocked because he looked like an ass and all sorts of wonderful all at the same time. He assessed the room quickly, gun in hand, and then his gaze locked with hers from her spot on the floor.
“Tia?” He rushed to the bed, first checking vitals on Asshole. He holstered his gun and knelt, his gaze searching hers, then her body, his hands flying across her skin. “Did he hurt you?”
“I’m fine.” More than fine, because Jake had come to her first. Which was sad, because Kate really needed him right now. She wanted to cry, ask him to hold her, but she sucked it all back and said words she never thought she’d utter. “Kate needs you.”
“You’re bleeding.” He touched her stomach right above the wound the asshole had given her. Then he touched her chest, and her chin with a hand that trembled. “Jesus, what else did he do to you?”
“It’s small. Please, you need to help Kate. She’s losing the baby.”
Fear crossed his face, but he lingered a moment, his hand on her cheek. “If anything had happened to you—”
“Now is not the time to put me first, Jake.” She kicked his ankle. “Go to her.”
He rose, and she called, “Wait. Cover me, first. Please.”
Jake must have realized then she was naked and inhaled sharply. He grabbed the sheet Asshole had chucked to the floor and covered her gently. Then he went to Kate.
“Sweetheart, you with us?” He touched her cheek, then her throat for a pulse as phoned out. “I’m in. You know the shot was good. Send up medical.” And he hung up. Tia could hear Chase hollering questions into his phone as it disconnected. Jake looked at Tia.
“Make sure she’s okay. Don’t leave her until Chase comes.”
Jake went back to work. But moments later, Chase kicked the door in, pistol in hand, a herd of SWAT members behind him. He took a moment to assess the room, holstered his gun and crossed the room to Kate. Jake was working at her bindings. Chase tipped her chin with trembling fingers, then slid a hand to her throat to check her pulse. “He’s dead?”