Saving Olivia (Team Cereberus Book 1)

by Melissa Kay Clarke

  "Never again." She grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and dragged him off his throne. "You will never touch another woman again," she hissed as she kicked him in the groin again. As he screamed a second time, she kicked him in the ribs. She counted off for each offense as her blows rained on him unmercifully. "For me, my brother, my Aunt, and Bruiser. For every second I was in this hell hole and making them hurt and wonder what happened to me. This is for Catori," she hissed as she balled her fist and slammed it into his face. The satisfying crunch of his nose breaking made her smile. "This is for Rana, even though you have her brainwashed, she doesn't deserve this life." Olivia's fist slammed into the nose again, splattering blood across her stomach. She barely registered the pain to her knuckles. "For Mishi," she hissed. "You didn't break her, but you bent her. She's stronger than you." Another hard punch in the mouth and several teeth fell out, along with more blood.

  She stood up and hurried over to the discarded shoe. Picking it up, she approached him and dropped to her knees. Tossing the silver chain over her shoulder, she leaned in until only a few inches separated them. Gripping the toe of the shoe in her hand, she raised it above her head. In one quick motion, she brought it down, burying the stiletto heel into his cheek. "For every woman who won't be going home. For their families and friends. For every time you turned that box to ten and watched another woman die." She was screaming now as the shoe flew in a bloody arch, spraying De Jääger's blood on the wall. He had long stopped moving, and she didn't know if he was still alive. At this point, she didn't care.

  There was a noise behind her as the door opened. She heard a male voice say, "Jesus" followed by another's "Oh, sweet Mother of God." Tears mixed with the deep red blood of her tormentor ran down Olivia's cheeks as she continued to pound the shoe into his face over and over. "Never again. You'll … never ... touch ... another ... woman ... again!"

  Bruiser, Cowboy, River, Railroad, and Hick stood dumbfounded as they watched Olivia swing a shoe into the hamburger meat that had once been Garritt De Jääger.

  "Shouldn't we stop her?" River asked.

  "Nah, let her have her fun," Cowboy replied. "I think she deserves it."

  Bruiser winced as the sickening sound of the heel made another landing. Holstering his piece, he entered and knelt beside her. "Hey, sweetheart." He placed a hand carefully over hers to stop the next downward swing. "I think you got him."

  She blinked and looked down at what was left of her tormentor. "Is he dead?" she asked in a shaky whisper.

  Bruiser knew the answer but checked for a pulse anyway. "Yeah, honey. He's not going to hurt anyone ever again."

  "Good." She dropped the shoe and looked at her hands. "I have blood on me."

  In her shocked state, she hadn't realized she was still naked. "Here, let me get you covered," Bruiser murmured gently. He started to take his shirt off, but Railroad stopped him. "Yours is white. All that blood will soak through and remind her of this." He yanked his shirt off with one hand and gave it to Olivia.

  She took it and started to wipe the blood off her bare stomach. Bruiser stopped her and tugged the shirt out of her hands. He pulled it over her head. It reached only to mid-thigh, but at least it covered her. "Come on, sweetheart. Let's get out of here. We'll get you cleaned up in a bit."

  She nodded and stood, looking down at the dead man. She whispered, "You have no control." Together, they walked out of the room.

  In the gym, the other three women stood huddled together with Toad and Finch standing nearby. Olivia saw them and immediately went to them. Standing there, covered in De Jääger's blood, she bit her lip, obviously unsure what to say to them. She settled for, "It's over. I killed him. He's gone."

  Relief shone on all three of their faces. Mishi grabbed Olivia and pulled her into an embrace, squeezing tightly as all four of them cried. When no more tears would fall, Olivia took a step back but held Mishi and Catori's hands. Looking over her shoulder, she whispered. "I'm ready to go home now, Bruiser. I want to see Jayden and Auntie."

  "I want to go home, too," Catori whispered in a raspy voice.

  Olivia stopped and looked at her. "You can talk?"

  Catori blushed. "I don't have to ask permission anymore. He..." she lifted her chin toward the playroom door, "told me never to speak unless I asked permission. If I asked permission, he would punish me for speaking without permission." She lifted her shoulders in a shrug. "I got used to never talking."

  Her words must have reminded Olivia of the collar. She lifted her hands up and pulled at it. "Off. I want this off. Bruiser, take this thing off of me." She clawed at her neck until scratches appeared on the skin between the strands.

  "Shhhh," Bruiser took her hands and pulled them away before she could cause more damage. "We'll get it off. Let's go upstairs and get you cleaned up. Then we'll get it off you."

  She shook her head. "Now. I want it off now." She pulled her hands, trying to get them out of Bruisers.

  "Let me see," Toad said quietly.

  Olivia raised her chin even as she shook. "Off. Please, get this thing off me," she whispered.

  After studying the device, he shook his head. "There's an indention, but the house key doesn't fit it. We'll have to take it off en route out of Suriname."

  Olivia shook her head. "We can't. The sensors. If we get close to the wall, the collars will shock us. If we leave the area, they will kill us. Please get them off."

  Bruiser cursed. "We are wasting time. Spread out and find that key. We need to get out of here before those guests call the Suriname authorities. De Jääger knew a lot of very influential people in the government. I rather not get caught here when they arrive."

  Rana's voice broke the silence. "I think the key will be in his office. There's a safe in the floor under the window."

  "Toad, you take Rana to the office and find that key. Railroad, go to the nest and watch our six. Cowboy, raise Digger and get us some transport the hell out of here. River, you and the others round up the captives and bring them down here. We'll leave them in the gym." Bruiser looked at the women. "We'll need to get you ladies something better to wear. It's going to take a while to get back to the states, and I'm sure you will want to be comfortable. Go with Cowboy. We'll meet in the party room when everyone is done."

  Everyone dispersed, and Bruiser led Olivia back up the stairs. "Let's get you to your room and cleaned up."

  She stopped dead in her tracks. "I don't want ever to see that room again. Please don't make me," she implored.

  "Alright." He lifted his fist and spoke into the microphone. "Cowboy, ask one of the ladies to stop by Olivia's room and get her something comfortable to wear."

  "Roger."

  "Thank you for calling them, 'ladies.' I don't think they remember that they are," Olivia whispered. "I'm not sure I remember it myself."

  The broken tone in her voice about brought him to his knees. "Honey, you will always be a lady to me. I don't care what others think. You are a lady. You are my lady, and if it takes the rest of my lifetime to convince you of that, then I'll gladly do it."

  "But..."

  "Shh, no buts. Olivia, what you've been through would break a lesser woman, but you've managed to survive. There are no words to tell you just how damn proud I am of you. I've loved you since the day you walked into Nat's living room on your leave. People talk about love at first sight, and I always thought it was some scam designed to sell romance novels to lonely housewives. It wasn't real." He slid his fingers through her hair. "You taught me differently. Instant love is real. Not only is it real, but it's the start of something so much deeper. What I felt that day is nothing in comparison to how I feel now." He stopped in the kitchen and gently lifted her up by the waist. He settled her on the counter. Taking a cloth, he ran it under the warm water and began to wash the blood from her face gently. "You sure you don't want to take a quick shower?"

  She shook her head. "I just want to get the hell away from here as fast as I can."

  "Okay." H
e continued to tenderly wash the evidence of De Jääger's death from her skin. "I'm proud of you."

  "Me? Why?"

  He gave her a half smile. "Look at what you've been through, and yet you didn't let him break you. Takes a hell of a lot of fortitude to do what you did. I'm so damned proud of you." He grinned at her wider.

  She chuckled wryly. "It's all his fault," she murmured."He shouldn't have kept me strong by making me work out every day. Cocky bastard just thought he was making us toned and perfect. He was making us into weapons."

  "Yeah? I thought you looked a little more ripped than I remembered. Forced exercises? Reminds me of PT every day."

  She smiled at him and, for the first time, it reached her hazel eyes. "Yeah. But it wasn't like going through boot. His fitness regime was nothing compared to that."

  "I hear you. Our instructor would work us until somebody puked. We caught on after the first two weeks. We drew straws each night to see who would 'take one for the team' the next day." He chuckled as he knelt down and washed her legs.

  "Bruiser?"

  "Yeah, honey?"

  "Am I too damaged? "

  He stood and wrinkled his brow. "What do you mean?"

  She looked down at the floor, but he gently lifted her chin. "What do you mean ‘damaged’?"

  She blew out a breath before lifting her eyes to meet his. "All this," she waved her hand around to indicate the room. "Everything that happened here. When my mom died, it messed me up bad for a while. I think this is going to be worse. I wonder if I'm too damaged to come back this time."

  "No, I don't think you are too damaged. I know you feel broken right now, but you aren't. You are strong, stronger than you know. You are a survivor. You did what you had to do to survive. That's not being damaged. That's strength of a magnitude that most can never attain. Did this affect you? Yes. Will it change you? Hell, yes. Everything that we experience changes us. It's what we do with those experiences and changes that make the difference."

  She thought for a moment. "I still want to go to school. I've wanted to become a trauma therapist since meeting Ara all those years ago. I want to help others as she helped me but I also want to make a difference. People need to know about the De Jäägers of this world. They need to know that trafficking is going on right under their noses. People disappear every day, and nobody ever knows what happens to them. They don't have a Bruiser, Cowboy or Finch looking for them. They just disappear. I want to do something about that."

  "Then we will. Together." Bruiser smiled at her. Leaning in, he stopped a hair's breadth from her lips, uncertain if she would accept his kiss after all she had been through. His silent query was answered when she crossed the last of the distance and touched his lips shyly with hers.

  They had shared kisses before, tender ones and even a few passionate ones. This one took his breath away. Sliding his hand to the nape of her neck, he pressed in closer, careful not be too harsh and scare her. Instead, her lips parted and granted him access. He groaned as he captured her mouth with his, teasing her gently with little flicks of his tongue and nips to her full plush lips. He felt her hand slide around his shoulder and her knees part. He stepped into her personal space and deepened the kiss, swiping her lips with his and plunging inside. A tiny moan escaped her as she pressed herself closer to him, clinging to him tightly. As he ended the kiss and pulled back, he saw her lashes were wet. It almost shattered him. Wiping them gently with his thumb, he asked, "Why the tears, love?"

  "I was afraid you wouldn't want me. You know, after everything." She whispered so low he barely caught it.

  Shaking his head, he lifted her chin until she looked into his eyes. "There is nothing... nothing that will ever make me not want you. When you disappeared, I thought I wouldn't be able to draw another breath. I thought at that moment, if the world ended, it would be okay with me because I didn't want to live if you weren’t with me. You are everything to me, Olivia Parker. You are my heart, my soul, my reason for getting up every day and for taking each breath. Please, don't doubt what you mean to me." He lifted one side of his mouth in a smirk. "I dragged six of my best friends thousands of miles to find you. Don't doubt me now."

  The sound of a throat clearing brought Bruiser's attention back to the room. Cowboy stood in the doorway with the Mishi and Catori. He was looking at the ceiling while the women stared wide-eyed at Olivia. Muttering a curse under his breath, he took a step back as Olivia giggled.

  "Digger has us an exit. We have three hours to get to the Afobaka airstrip. We need to leave ASAP to meet the plane."

  Mishi squeezed by Cowboy and handed a bundle of clothes to Olivia. "I tried to find something you hadn't worn before," she muttered.

  "This is fine. Thanks." Olivia smiled warmly. Hopping off the counter, she began to pull the shirt up.

  "About face, Cowboy," Bruiser snapped. He was done with others seeing his woman naked.

  Olivia dressed in a long sleeve tee shirt and workout pants. Hopping back up on the counter, she pulled on some yellow and white socks along with a pair of bright yellow sneakers. "I'm beginning to hate this color," she muttered. Standing again, she looked around. "Who's Digger?"

  "The newest member of our team. We couldn't have found you without him."

  "I look forward to meeting him," she said honestly.

  "So do I," Bruiser answered.

  The group entered the party room where the night had begun to find all of the team except Railroad waiting. Toad had the key to the collars in his hand.

  "Thank God," Mishi muttered as Toad stepped up and unlocked the contraption. It fell from her throat and the girl almost sagged with relief. "Two years," she muttered as she rubbed her neck.

  Toad removed the collars from Catori and Rana before turning to Olivia. He held out the key to Bruiser. "I thought you would want to do the honors."

  "Absolutely," Bruiser agreed. Within moments, the device fell to the floor, and Olivia sobbed in relief.

  Bruiser held her in his arms as he whispered to her, "It's ok, love. It's finally over."

  Epilogue

  Five months later

  Olivia and Bruiser sat at one of the small tables scattered around the large exhibition hall watching Jayden as he talked with one of the instructors for the Artistic Institute of Greater Los Angeles. Whatever he was saying, he was enthusiastically flinging his hands in wild gestures, barely missing Auntie Nat as she stood next to him with a proud smile on her face. Livy loved watching how excited he got. She smiled as she toyed with her wine glass. Thank God for Joselyn Benson and her reward money. Since Jayden's sketch had given both the authorities and Bruiser's team a nudge in the right direction, Joselyn had determined Jayden should have the reward. That $25,000 will cover the costs of his attendance in the program. She was grateful for the generous gift - especially since her plans were on temporary hold. Her trauma therapist, Ara, had assured Livy she was getting better. She felt better.

  Her mind wandered to the little woman who was such a huge presence in Livy's recovery. She thought she had escaped the entire incident mostly undamaged. However, that wasn't true. At first, Livy jumped back into life as if nothing had happened, barely acknowledging her experience. She ignored the pitying glances from her friends and coworkers and waved off any attempts to engage her in conversation. Livy didn't mention the incident to Auntie and carefully refused to answer Jayden's questions. She was fine. She hadn't been there for years like the other women. They were the real victims, not her.

  The first day of classes, she sat down in a massive room with hundreds of other students, took out her book and prepared for class. The instructor, a handsome man in his mid-thirties, began to explain the course to them. It wasn't until halfway through that she noticed a young man a dozen or so rows below her wearing all white with pale blond hair. In an instant, she was transported back to that office when Petr and the ghost-like friend of De Jääger scrutinized her.

  Apparently, she had screamed then blacked out, for when she awo
ke in a panic, a paramedic was trying to hold her flailing arms to check her blood pressure. She screamed and fought against him. Thankfully, the instructor had her information file handy and called Auntie who, in turn, called Bruiser. Once he arrived, she had calmed down enough to recognize him. He gently picked her up as she sobbed in his arms, and took her to his apartment. Bruiser stayed with her that night, holding her while she cried, letting her beat on his chest with her fists and scream at him as she worked her way through the emotions she had bottled up inside until she fell asleep exhausted. The next day, he had talked her into going to see Ara Palmer. The therapist had been instrumental in incorporating Livy back into her life. It had taken months, but she finally felt ready to try school again. Spring classes start next week.

  Livy was brought out of her muse by his voice. "So, which one is your favorite?" Bruiser asked as he lifted her hand and pressed his lips to her knuckles. He was always doing that now. He took every chance he could to show her how much he loved her.

  She viewed the three offerings Jayden had done for the show. "I love them all, but the one he did of your memory is my favorite. Most people would think it would represent a bad time, but it doesn’t. I look at that picture and see myself through your eyes. It doesn’t represent captivity. It’s hope and strength. Even at that moment, when I was at my lowest, I still knew you were out there somewhere. We shared that time, although I didn’t even know you physically were there." She smiled wistfully."I'm amazed at how he captured your description of seeing me on the balcony that night. I'm really glad he didn't put the collar there. It helps that you don't see me as an ex-slave."

  "You were never a slave, and I didn't tell him about the collar because I didn't think it was important. It's bad enough that you will have scars on your neck for the rest of your life from the shocks coming from that monstrosity."

  "Hhhm," she hummed. "Is it strange that they don't bother me?"