by KL Donn
Creed was still feeling suspicious about Jeffries’ motives as they walked into his office to find out exactly what the fuck he wanted. Without knocking, Linc opened the door and there he sat with one of their biggest rivalries in the business. Creed was beyond pissed. Linc was, well, Linc was fucking Linc and whipped out his gun pointing it at Jeffries’ head.
“So was this your play then?” Creed asked leaning against the door casually. Anyone who knew him knew it was too casual.
“What? How did you get in here?” Jeffries tried to act like they were in the wrong. Like he’d been the one that was played.
“I don’t fucking think so you shit head,” Linc answered him. “You tried to play us, didn’t you? But we found the girl faster than even you thought we would. Thought by having Dom here we’d what, screw up? Get her killed? Or get us killed?”
When he didn’t say anything at all and Dom just sat there looking more and more pissed off by the moment, they waited.
Silence was a guilty person’s worst enemy.
This time was no different.
“Fine, I was sick of you two. Always raking in the big bucks and never handing a little my way. Fucking greedy blokes. Never thinking of the people that get you the money. I was sick of it!”
“That so?” Dom asked.
Dom wasn’t necessarily an enemy, more of a work adversary Creed figured. Competition. There wasn’t any hate, not on their part anyway. They each had a specific skill set that made it so they didn’t cross paths very often.
However, the fact that Dom was so calm now meant bad news for Jeffries. He’d just sit back and watch, see who killed him first and worst, Linc or Dom?
“What did I say to you earlier, Jeffries? Do you remember? I sure as shit do. Did you think I was lying or wouldn’t do it?” Linc asked him menacingly.
Watching him start to fidget gave Creed some satisfaction, but he was getting annoyed and just wanted to get back to Kenny. “Let’s get this shit over with Linc, we got better shit to be doing than wasting air with this puke.”
“You guys still in Italy?” Dom asked suddenly.
His blood ran cold.
·٠•● ●•٠·
Swiveling on Dom, Linc pointed his gun right at his head and asked, “What the fuck do you know about Italy?”
Looking him straight in the eye he answered, “I know you took a red eye there about a week ago. Tracked you to Rome and then that’s it. You forget I know your alias’s Linc? So what’s the big secret? I know you and normally you’d have this idiot filleted and hung out to dry by now. What I want to know is what’s holding you back?”
Not wanting to show his hand before they knew what he knew, he waited.
“Or maybe it’s who is holding you back?”
Linc had a tick just above his eye. He could feel it with every beat of his heart, and if this mother- fucker mentioned one word about Kennedy he would blow his head off, no questions asked. No remorse.
“You got a point, Dom?” Creed asked, never taking his eyes off Jeffries.
“Just wondering if the person keeping you is maybe the same person that’s keeping me. Because she’s in Italy, too.” At that bombshell Dom got up, shot Jeffries in the knee, and walked out the door leaving the pathetic man a screaming mess of blood on the floor.
“You won’t get away with this!” Jeffries yelled at them.
Walking towards him, Linc crouched down so they were eye to eye, pressed his gun to his other knee and told him, “You ain’t fucking worth it,” before whipping him in the head with the butt of it, knocking him out and shutting him the fuck up.
Turning to Creed, he saw his brother holding in a laugh. “What?”
“Not a thing bro, not a damn thing.” He laughed.
“You keep it up and I’m gonna go back and slaughter his ass,” he threatened, not really feeling it.
As they were walking out the doors of the empty building, his phone started ringing. Looking at the caller ID, he didn’t recognize the number so he hesitated for a second before putting the phone to his ear, biting out, “Yeah?”
“Where the fuck are you?” a female voice demanded.
Pulling the phone from his ear and looking at it again for answers that weren’t there, he answered back, “Who the hell is this?”
“Argh! Stupid fucking men! It’s Deedee you shithead, now where the fuck are you?” she demanded sounding no less pissed off.
“Why?” Linc asked putting the phone on speaker as they made their way back to their rental car.
“England,” Creed told her. Not knowing what she was up to had him leery.
“Well get your asses back here and quickly. Ken’s in trouble.”
“What the fuck you mean she’s in trouble?” Creed bit out.
“Look, I don’t know, ok. I found her when she fell yesterday but she’s refusing to go to the hospital. Though I don’t think she’s hurt more than a few bruises, she’s in bad shape guys. You need to get here before she gets worse, you understand?”
“Yeah, we got you. We’re on our way. Just… Take care of her Dee, yeah?” Linc would have begged if need be but she was a good friend.
Eleven
Hell. Kennedy was in hell. She could practically feel the flames licking at her skin, pulling her deeper into the abyss. She still wasn’t sure what had happened or how she got to be in this place, but she did know that she was stuck and hated being lost in her mind. It was one of the worst feelings she’d ever experienced.
The terror from her waking nightmare still felt so real. The way the thunder had taken her under, back to the place that scared her more than actually being there. She hadn’t slept since Deedee found her. She was afraid to close her eyes. Afraid that she would wake up only to find herself back in hell. She couldn’t bear it.
As she sat on the rock wall wrapped in a wool blanket with a lantern beside her, her thoughts turned darker, back to her abduction. She was fighting a losing battle to forget her most horrid memory that was coming to life right before her eyes again.
The pain from each forceful thrust was so strong she could nearly taste it. She could feel each stab as it sliced through her skin over and over. It was so vivid she could almost feel the blood dripping down her limbs. When the scars started to itch, she dug her nails in so deep that she ripped her skin and peeled back her nail beds.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the worst of it. What truly kept her anchored to the abyss was the violation, the pain, the brutality of it all. The rape. Please stop, she begged in her mind, maybe even said it out loud, but she couldn’t hear anything over the blood rushing through her ears. Every spray of water from the crash against the rocks felt like drops of ice on her skin, splintering her open for all to see.
“Kennedy?” A new voice was calling her but she couldn’t find her way out. Away from the suffering. She was trapped.
A gentle hand on her shoulder, a hand that was meant to be soothing had her jumping up and tripping over the blanket she had wrapped around her and tangled in between her legs. She could see the water rushing towards her and the scream that was lodged in her throat came out a soft exhale, accepting her fate of drowning in her nightmares.
·٠•● ●•٠·
“Stop fucking fidgeting, Linc,” Creed growled as they sped away from the rental place in Rome on their way back to Kennedy. He couldn’t believe things had turned so wrong. She’d been upset they had to leave but said she understood. However, from what her friend just said, it sounded like she’d had a flashback. She was so stuck in her head she couldn’t think straight. He was terrified of what they’d find when they got there.
“I think it’s time we stop giving her the time she needs, Linc. She has to know we’re going to own her completely. We need to get her through this so she can accept that.”
“I hear ya. She knows what we want, we just have to make her believe it.”
The farther he drove the quieter they got. The silence was nearly brutal, deafening. He was
at a loss for words. Neither of them had ever felt the need to own someone before, but Kennedy brought the feelings out in him. The need to possess, to worship every perfect flaw she had.
When they’d met her the attraction had been instant, electrically charged. She’d zapped her way right into his body. She was a part of him now and he wasn’t ready or willing to let her go yet. Until she explicitly told him to take a hike, he wasn’t going anywhere and he didn’t think his brother was either.
Being twins they’d always had a certain closeness, an unexplained connection. It wasn’t often they disagreed on things, which was a huge deciding factor when they realized how fulfilling sharing a woman was. How easy it was. The worries and fear they would normally have with a woman alone weren’t there. Or at least not as present. It gave them a sense of peace knowing she’d always be taken care of if something happened to the other.
As they got closer to Porto Venere Creed’s tension built higher; he could see a shift in Linc’s demeanor as well. It was almost as if they’d been preparing for battle rather than bringing their woman back from the edge.
When they finally arrived, he slowly pulled up to her villa. Ever watchful of their surroundings they both spotted her sitting on the rock wall she loved drawing on.
·٠•● ●•٠·
Fear slammed into Linc so hard he was breathless. Seeing Kennedy on that wall had shivers running up and down his spine. Afraid she was down so deep in the dark that she would harm herself had him panting to catch his breath. “You don’t think she’ll jump, do you?”
“No, she’s waiting,” Creed murmured as they exited the car.
They walked towards her. Seeing Deedee standing in the frame of the back door watching her friend, he nodded at her when she gave them a dirty look. Probably pissed they’d left.
As they got closer to her, he could feel her emotions running off her in waves— heartache, fear, the need to belong. Yeah, he knew how she felt because they’d been the ones to send her into this spiral of self-doubt.
Calling her name softly, she didn’t move or acknowledge their presence so he said it a little louder as they reached her before placing his hand on her shoulder. Scaring her so badly, she jumped and nearly tripped right into the water before they both reached out and grabbed her.
Heart hammering in his chest they all seemed to slam into each other at once, breathing heavily with her between them. Linc pressed his forehead to the side of hers closing his eyes and breathing her in.
Hearing her harsh breaths reassured him she was fine, only to start worrying that she was going to hyperventilate into a panic attack. “Slow it down, Sunshine,” he whispered hoping to soothe her.
When she started shaking, he wasn’t sure if it was fear or shock shooting through her system. “Let’s get her inside,” Creed said as he scooped her up in his arms cradling her small pale frame to his chest.
·٠•● ●•٠·
She didn’t want them touching her and that damn near killed Creed. She freaked out so much that she had almost fallen off the rocks that she felt so sure were going to be her death months ago. When they’d finally gotten her settled down enough that he didn’t fear she was going to go over the wall again, he looked in her eyes and they were dead.
The life was gone from them. She’d been more skittish than when they’d rescued her, and that had fear coursing through his veins. Now, she sat between him and Linc on her sofa with Deedee in the small chair beside them. No one was saying anything and the silence was like a coffin in a crypt.
He needed to know what was going through her mind. To know how to bring her back from the edge, and honestly, he didn’t think she was going to be as easy to reach as when they had gotten there.
Movement from Deedee had him following her around the room as she went in search of something, slamming cabinet doors and drawers as she went.
“Dee, what are you doin’, girl?” Linc asked her softly not taking his eyes off Kennedy.
Growling in frustration, she glared their way before answering. “She sees a psychiatrist in Florence a handful of times a week; I’m looking for some hint as to who he is so I can call him. When she got here, this is how she was. After weeks of seeing him she finally spoke to me, so I’m thinking he might have some idea as to how to help her.”
“Any idea what his name is?” Linc asked pulling out his phone ready to search for the doctor.
“Gee, Linc, if I knew that I’d be looking him up myself!” She snapped, a blush immediately working its way up her cheeks. “I’m sorry. I don’t know his name, she never said anything. Honestly, it was a miracle I even found out she was seeing him.”
“Fuck,” he growled out. “Do you know anything about him at all?” Creed asked her looking at his hands in defeat.
“Ummm… He’s from England? Some big wig I think.”
As Linc started searching on his phone for acclaimed psychiatrists from England in the Florence area, he kneeled down in front of her trying to make eye contact, to get her to look at him. When she didn’t, he started to hum the lyrics to their song. Almost immediately, she began humming with him. It gave him a small fraction of hope that she wasn’t too lost to them yet.
They sat there interacting like that for what felt like hours while Dee searched the house and Linc searched their secure databases for her doctor. As the day faded he never moved; she never moved. They were stuck in a never-ending loop of humming. Every time he thought she might accept a touch from him, he would lift his hand to place it on her knee only for her to flinch away from him and a single tear to fall from her eye.
It was like it hurt her that she couldn’t accept his touch just as much as it hurt him. Seeing her so achingly broken was something he never thought he’d see again. They’d been making such good progress before they’d left that coming back to her this way was a shock.
“Got him!” Linc announced triumphantly. “Dr. James Schroder sound right?” He looked to Dee who just shrugged. “Whatever, I’m calling him anyway.”
·٠•● ●•٠·
Relief was nearly immediate when he found the name of the possible shrink she’d been seeing. Dialing the number he watched as Creed tried to reach her, tried to get her to come back to them. Whatever had happened while they were gone must have been bad to have her in this nearly catatonic state.
As the phone picked up, he was brought out of his thoughts. Not wanting to disturb Kennedy and Creed, he took the call outside. “Hello?”
“Is this Dr. James Schroder?” he asked roughly.
“Yes. Who is this?”
“You don’t know me but my name is Lincoln Black; I’m a close friend of Kennedy Maxwell’s. She’s a patient of yours, right?”
His hesitation in answering was all the answer Linc needed. “I really can’t divulge any information, Mr. Black.”
“Look, doc, I don’t need you to divulge fucking anything right now. Ken’s in trouble and we can’t help. Her friend seems to think you can, so here I fucking am trying to get your help because she’s in a bad fucking way! So you’re either her doc or not but don’t waste my fucking time if you aren’t!” Linc could feel his temper spiraling out of control, getting more pissed by the second.
“What happened?” He acquiesced, finally admitting he was without saying it.
“That’s the tricky part doc; we don’t know exactly. We had something come up and Creed and I had to leave— “
“You left her again?” he interrupted, anger lacing his voice.
“Look, she knew why we had to leave. In fact, she pushed us to when I told her what was happening. She was ok; she was opening up to us. We were gone less than twenty-four hours,” he tried to defend.
“You guys abandoning her before broke her; you do understand that, right? Leaving again would have destroyed her.”
Nothing they didn’t already fucking know.
“Yeah, look, we know that. Stop being a fucking dick and get your ass here and fucking help her, doc!” H
e was fed up with the whole explanation and blame game and just wanted Kenny to get better.
“I’ll be there in a couple of hours,” he said flatly.
·٠•● ●•٠·
She could feel their frustration. It was an entity in the room. Hopelessly locked in her mind, the fear was so overwhelming she could barely breathe, and when they tried to touch her all she could see were fists coming at her, a hand with a knife ready to slice her skin. She was losing her fight; it was almost a welcome relief until she thought about what she would be losing out on.
Leaving Creed and Linc wasn’t something she had to face before, but since they came back into her life she’d felt hope. As if things would get better; they would help her get better, make her whole again. But she was a sinking ship with no way to survive.
Hearing them fight and talk as if she weren’t in the room wasn’t helping either. When Creed started humming, she’d closed her eyes and begged for mercy, begged to break free of the quiet she was stuck in. Begged to connect. She’d started humming without thought on her part, but when he tried to put his hand on her knee all she saw was that hand. The one that brought her so much pain.
Whispering drew her attention to where Linc was standing with Dee at the door. She had no idea how much time had passed since the guys found her on the rock wall and scared her so bad she nearly fell in, but it was dark now, so she figured a few hours had to have been passed at least.
They stepped back from the door and she was shocked to see Dr. Schroder standing there assessing her with his kind eyes. When it got to be too much, she looked back down at her hands in her lap.
“Hello, Miss Maxwell,” he greeted as he came to sit in the chair beside her couch.
Fear held her throat closed so tightly she could barely swallow. She was so tired of fear being all she felt anymore. It was sickening, but she was trapped. It held a death grip on her heart and mind.