Apparently you can take the girl out of the lifestyle, but you can’t take the lifestyle out of the girl.
Leaving the bathroom, I forget about everything, pick up a small clutch bag I bought when I went seeking for the perfect little black dress and slip into a pair of Jimmy Choos. I might look all fierce and beautiful on the outside, but on the inside I am a quivering wreck.
“C’mon, Joely,” I whisper to myself. Trying to offer my inner strength the chance to make an appearance and guide me. “It’s time to get your husband back.”
Sucking in a deep breath, I propel myself forward. My feet work mechanically as they carry me toward the door. I pull the door shut behind me and look down both sides of the corridor. I’m hoping the journey won’t take too long. I purposefully went to a hotel close to the club that I would only need a short cab ride there. However, now that the time is upon me, the hotel feels like a maze with corridors snaking in all directions.
I cover the steps I took earlier to get up here and pray I don’t get lost and delay myself further. When I find the elevator, I sigh with relief and know this will all be over in a matter of hours – or at least for Jace. When I make it to the ground floor, I walk across the foyer as elegant as possible, hoping my nerves won’t trip me up as they claw at my ankles, manifesting into evil demons. It’s the sight of multiple cabs outside that has me ignoring them most. Just a few more feet to go, I tell myself.
It takes me finally sitting in a cab to realize that I’m really in this all for nothing.
Jace saved me before, and now it’s my turn - I won’t be giving up easily.
***
By the time I make it out of the cab, my legs are like jelly. I go to pay, handing over a twenty dollar bill and forget about the change.
“She’s been expecting you,” Shads taunts from behind me.
The sound of his voice has me spinning around to face him just as he takes another drag of his cigarette. He’s hidden mostly by shadows, but I can see his oversized, burly stature enough. He pushes away and walks out into the light cast upon us by the street lights.
“You’re really stupid, you know that?” he continues to tease me with a darkened tone. “First leaving, then coming back.”
I gulp. Just from the tone of his voice I can feel my fate has been decided. There are multiple routes Clara will go, but I cannot let myself believe the one she chooses will be pretty. It won’t be easy and it’ll surely be shameful, but I will survive whatever she bestows upon me.
“She’ll be impressed with how marriage suits you,” he jokes mirthlessly, drops his cigarette and stomps on it to put it out. He then closes the distance between us, towering over me. “And I’m pretty sure that husband of yours will love to see you.”
“What have you done to him?” I ask, unable to withhold the bitterness from snaking into each of my words.
“Not much,” Shads comments blankly and shrugs. “We better go. She’ll love that you finally made it.”
My heart is throbbing at the thought of any more harm coming to Jace. He stepped in to help me - protect me - like he vowed, and he got hurt for it. It’s the memory of him brutally beaten that has me following Shads.
They merge together to protect me as I enter The Viper Rooms, and I’m cast back to my first days here. All attention on the unknown girl, but this time I’m not new. This time I’m the fallen girl. There are so many familiar faces around – Eli, the girls, the guards, the men. They all look at me. All panicked by the mere sight of me. I want to snigger that I could have such a presence to silence a room, but now is not the time. If I knew the fallen viper would make me feel this domineering to men of all wealth and heritage I would have cast myself down a long time ago.
“What are you doing here?” Eli asks me, grabbing onto me as I go toward Clara’s office. I hadn’t even seen him coming for me. “This isn’t safe.”
“She has Jace, so I don’t care,” I state, and Eli releases me. Clearly he never knew. I see his eyes drop to my neck, widening slightly upon the purpling artwork I’m wearing. “We were ambushed in Australia and again Florida. I’m here to free my husband.”
“Not out here you won’t.”
And there it is. The voice of the viper. Clara Delvine stands before me, authoritatively beautiful, ethereal at most. She’s standing with such confidence that I resent my body for bursting out into a cold sweat. She’s adorned in jewels and a midnight blue dress that make sure she stands out as the leader. I feel her eyes burn into me, and I give her direct eye contact.
“My office now,” she commands, and I obey, to which she smirks.
When she turns on her heels to leave, I look at Eli, who gives me a reassuring look. I take his hand, squeezing it for support before releasing it and walk through the rest of the club. I can feel all eyes on me, the whispering are all about me, but I don’t care. I’m not here to satisfy them.
I walk into the room, and I see Clara resting upon her desk, Sam and Shads nearby. And that’s when I see Jace. His head is bowed forward, his hands tied behind his back. He barely looks like he’s breathing as it is, but when I stop a few inches within the door, he brings his head up. The look in his eyes is one I will remember forever, but is one I want nothing more than to forget.
Immediately, my eyes water as a gauntlet of emotions stampede my system, and I want to run to him. I want to kiss the confusion away, nurse away the swelling, beg for forgiveness.
“No,” he grunts, going up on his knees, only to be forced back down by Sam. “No, Joely,” he groans out, Sam’s heavy handedness taking effect and I wonder what damage has been done.
“Your husband doesn’t look to happy to see you, Joely,” Clara chirps from her perch on her desk. She’s sitting with her legs crossed, a glass of champagne bubbling away in her hand. “I thought your reunion would have been sweeter than this. If anything, he seems disappointed in your choice to visit.”
“I’m not here for a visit,” I ground out. I quiet after that, shocked at the voice that spills from me – she’s strong and fierce and even is Clara Delvine astonished. “We both know how this is going to end.”
She takes a modest sip of her drink, but as she pulls the flute away, she’s got a clear smirk on her face. Slowly she nods, placing the crystal glass down and slips from the table. “That’s true.” She begins to approach me.
I feel my body brace her invading my personal space, my skin prickles, and I keep my eyes trained on her, not at Jace. It’s as she approaches I see the smirk fall from her lips and the disgust appear upon her face. She stops stock-still, her eyes lowering to my neck. The ferocity that strikes across her entire face is haunting.
"You marked her?!" Clara shrieks as she notices the bruising patterns across my throat. Her face turns to thunder, and she's electrified with utter aggression. She turns to face Sam, and I feel I can breathe again. "You were given one job! And you failed."
I can't help but smirk. This is just a small piece of karma which Sam deserves. Hearing her anger directed at someone else but me does allow me a moment to calm and look at Jace. His eyes are firmly on me, he looks so sad at me being here. He looks so weak. I want nothing more than to be with him, to kiss the areas that hurt, exactly like he did with me what feels like eons ago.
I hear Clara huff unhappily. “This isn’t important right now.” Clara suddenly calms. Her demeanor straightens itself, her shoulders become boxed, and she turns back to me. “We’ll work on covering those bruises.” She’s not speaking to me, but I know my contract is about to resume.
I allow myself one moment to look at Jace and offer him the most apologetic look possible. It was this or nothing. I wouldn’t have it any other way even if he would.
“Right!” Clara chimes and narrows her gaze upon me once more. “Want to explain to me why you thought it was clever to even attempt to outrun me?”
“She had no choice!” Jace yells out, coughing against the damage to his lungs. “I forced her!”
“Keep hi
m quiet!” Clara hisses at Sam, and I have to watch in horror as Sam hauls Jace to his feet and clasps his hand across his face, gripping so tight across my husband’s mouth, his knuckles whiten.
Clara folds her arms across her chest, one hand coming up to her chin thoughtfully. "I thought at first you'd run, but then I thought, mmm, maybe there's more to it. I panicked at first that you were hurt or worse, but then I got the evidence that you were just doing me wrong all this time. Obviously, my loyalty to you didn't repay me well."
"Loyalty?" I snicker, laughing mirthless as I hear her words. "You're only ever loyal to yourself because as far as us girls are concerned if we're not causing an issue you won't bother with us." I can see her want to bite at my aggression, but she keeps herself refrained. “How long did it take for you to realize I was missing?”
“It was only verified when you didn’t turn up for work on Saturday,” Clara states coolly. “I was busy and someone commented you had left the party early and that added to my suspicions of what I already knew. The moment Shads called from the apartment and said some of your stuff was gone, I started my search party.” Her face holds nothing but anger and it’s only mounting every second that ticks by. “Imagine my surprise when I found you lounging out in the sun in Rio.”
The memory whistles to life in my mind. The sun, the sea, the sex. I know these are memories I will need to see me though whatever is about to become of me.
“I’ll have it back,” I muse, my tone remaining strong and unwavering. “We aren’t staying,” I say, trying to convince myself more than anyone else. I’m living a lie with that statement.
“You are,” Sam declares, revealing a silver revolver from behind him.
“You have a contract,” Clara notions, her tone full of authority and sanctimonious attitude as her placement in this club. “There are certain consequences if you don’t adhere to it.” Clara drops in her five cents and all I can hear is the rush of blood to my ears. “We went over them before, Joely, Dear.” She looks to me again, glee oppressing all other emotions. “Do you remember?”
Now it’s Sam’s turn to move. He brings the gun up from his side, and I feel like every ounce of air is being stolen from my lungs and hung in front of me as I watch the barrel of gun be pressed to Jace’s temple. His eyes close momentarily as the coldness hits his skin, and he opens them with a look of resignation.
“No,” I whisper at seeing that look. “You can’t do this.” I switch my attention between everyone, Clara remaining silent before me. "Please don't kill him," I beg.
I can feel myself unraveling at the sight of Jace with a gun pressed to his head. He looks so beaten and scared, and it's all my fault. If he is killed, it'll be his blood on my hands for life. Killing Dylan all those years ago was a mistake, but this isn't. I can't help who I fall in love with. I can't blame my heart for falling for him, but I can blame myself for keeping it going.
"Please," I cry out, ready to plead with every last breath in me and drop to my knees in preparation. And then it hits me. The bright spark of an idea ravages through me, telling me it's a good choice. "Kill me instead." The words just spill from my lips. I had no control of those words but it felt right.
There’s utter silence for all of two seconds before Jace starts to fight against Sam to get free. His grunts and curse words are disrupted by Clara, who starts laughing. It’s verging on a cackle, and she’s unraveling into hysterics.
“Put the gun away, it did the job!” she yells at Sam, still laughing. “We aren’t killing anyone.” She looks to me, pouts, and shrugs. “Not today anyway.” She resumes her place at the desk, picking up her glass. “This, Joely, this is exactly why I gave up on love.” She points at me with her glass, offering me a sobering glance. “It makes you weak and corrupt and makes you distracted.” She then looks at Jace, his face so horrifically distorted from mistreatment. “Would he do the same for you?”
“Yes,” I reply confidently from my crumpled position on the floor. “He would do anything to save me.”
“He’s not very good at it, is he?” Clara asks, evidently merry at Jace’s inability to prevent us from meeting again.
“You sent three men with weapons to our hotel room!” I bellow, unleashing all that’s within me. “We were ambushed! How did you expect him to save me from that?”
“I didn’t,” she curtly tells me. She leans over everything, pushing a button on her intercom to request another guard. “You’ve got a few minutes, go to your husband. Then I’m taking what’s mine and he can go free.”
As I propel myself toward Jace at her orders, Sam unties Jace and goes to Clara, handing over the gun. She takes it and puts it back into a desk in her drawer, and I fall to my knees. As our new fate settles upon my shoulders, I hang my head. All the life has been sucked from me. I am left weak and, admittedly, scared at the prospect of not having him around me. I wanted to wrap my arms around his body, hold on tight, but I ran out of all viable energy to make it happen. I collapse on myself, ashamed at what I’ve allowed happen.
“Lee,” Jace soothes, dragging himself across the small gap between us, one arm around his body. His arm enclose around me, enslaving me to the horrors transcending around us, and I falter. I cry unashamedly into his chest, my hands clinging on his body. “Don’t cry,” he whispers the command at me gently. He pulls away enough for a hand to come up to my face, wiping my wayward tears away. “This isn’t the end.”
“Isn’t it?” I ask him, my eyes are widen as the onslaught appears ready for their appearance.
“Not even close,” he vows, giving me a weak smile.
This time my hand comes up to trace the markings on him. I have no idea what happened in the twenty-four hours we were apart, but the damage is so clear. He closes his eyes as my fingers graze upon a sore spot on his cheek, and I apologize weakly.
When he opens them, I can see the blues of his eyes swirled with desolation. This is the part where we are torn apart, destined for separation until my contract ends.
"Come back to me," he whispers to me, and this time I close my eyes to allow those words to sink in.
His hand comes up to my face, causing me to open my eyes.
I nod before I speak. "One day." It’s my eternal liturgy to him. My one and only promise I can give him.
There’s so much I want to say, but I have no idea how to voice the words. They’re left dancing, twirling, rhythmically spiraling in the recesses of my brain - unspoken, unheard, but never forgotten, left for the shadows to enjoy them. They’ll haunt me most and beg for an audience later, but right now they remain within my soul.
“I love you,” I whisper to him my head falling forward until our foreheads meet. “This is what we’re meant to do. In order to have our ending.” My words don’t fail me, my tears do.
“No tears,” he soothes, banishing them away with the tip of his thumb. “I’ll be back for you. It might not be tomorrow or next week, but it will be soon.”
I bite my lip as the tears drop into their free fall and hope he’ll make the promise a reality soon.
"I believe that’s quite enough!" Clara interjects our moment and pulls me away from Jace herself. It’s forceful and has me on my ass quickly. “There’s only one plan for you now.”
I scamper to my feet, not liking the vulnerability while I was on the floor. I’m now aware of Benson in the room with Sam and Shads, and I don’t like the odds of what will happen to Jace and me now. With Clara standing before me, her hands behind her back, and Jace fighting against Shads’ hold on him, I feel panic turn to ice in my veins.
I back away, unsure of what’s about to happen to me. I close my eyes, hoping to reawaken upon a white beach, being worshiped by my husband. But when I open my eyes I'm cast back into Satan's fury. Clara's eyes have narrowed on me as I retreat to the far wall. Her lips begin to curl up and I hit something hard - it's not brickwork, it's muscle. I'm grabbed by Benson, his grip on me like a vice, the bruising force burrowing deep down to my bones. I
can feel my pain receptors scream at their torture, and I can't wrangle free. I now see Clara thrust into utter euphoria at this sight. The inhumanity chokes me enough into submission, and I whimper as my eyes fall closed. I bear down with all my weight in the hope I'll be released. But that's when I feel it.
She's collared me. I've been branded by black leather, and she pulls at the ring attached to it.
"You're at the bottom of my viper chain, dog," she sneers at me, tugging hard on the ring for a second time, lugging me forward. "You'll do as I say and you can earn my trust and your worth back in time."
“No!” Jace screams out, not caring for his injured body as he fights with all his might. “You can’t do this to her! She doesn’t deserve this!”
“She made her choice, Mr. Mason. I suggest you live with it,” Clara tells Jace, sealing my fate, and I hang my head again. I can’t allow him to see me like this. “I have my runaway viper, you have your freedom. Fair is fair.”
When I look up, it’s to see Clara dismissing them and again I’m left with Jace being dragged from the room, from me, but I don’t fight or try to get him back.
I allow him to go, allow him to be free.
Chapter Eleven
It's as I stand before her - collared and cornered - that I feel a part of me shatter into oblivion. Clara has bent me so far I'm now broken. She has degraded me passed the point of no return.
I feel as if a darkness has been unleashed from within. A new power becomes me, and I am far more hateful than ever. Before I thought I resented her, but my emotions can't even be labeled, let alone tamed.
I can feel the pulsating hatred within that tells me I am not the girl who feared this club years ago, nor am I the girl who feared it while running. I'm a woman who’s just said goodbye to her husband, the man who's only job is to save me. Now without that promise to keep me going I'm a heartless female with nothing to lose. All I have to do is survive my sentence without trying to be the best. I just need to survive. And in doing so I won't do much to appease Clara's ways. I won't beg for mercy or feel myself preen at the idea of glamorous parties and over-priced dresses. I'll just be here.
The Runaway Viper (Viper #2) Page 11