by J. L. Beck
As we made our way out into the garage and then into the Tahoe, she asked, “Who are you picking up?”
“I don’t know. I’m never given a name or what they do for a living. I simply take them. Sometimes they might request for me to pick up a package for them or drop one off,” I said as we pulled out of the garage, down the driveway and onto the road. Heading toward the destination Xavier had sent me, I noticed the GPS coordinates were sending me to a warehouse in the business district.
“Do you like doing this?” She shot me another question, her hand reaching over the center console and landing against my knee. Her touch was causing my blood to boil. The need to ravish her was dangerously close.
“Yes, I suppose I do. I never really had time not to like it. Even my dad used to be a driver for Alzerro King’s dad actually. He would take me on drives sometimes and that was how I met Zerro. We were childhood friends growing up, and when I got older, I took over for my dad as he did for his.” I ignored her touch, which was causing my cock to rise in my pants.
“How did you meet him?” Her hand moved closer to my zipper. This woman was about to find out just how not under control I truly was.
“Alzerro used to be part of the mafia. He ran all of French Island and the surrounding areas. He was a cold-blooded killer who was hell bent on making others pay for the destruction that had happened in his life.” Her hand stopped moving as the car filled with tension.
“He killed people?” she asked. I didn’t want to tell her about the past, about the man he used to be, but she had every right to know how I came to know him. About my past. If I wanted to move forward, I needed to let go of the past, and opening up to her was the first step.
“Yes. He killed a lot of people. Most deserved it, but some didn’t. Just like myself—he wasn’t in a good place in his life. Then he met Bree and everything kind of changed.” Thinking back on it, Alzerro’s change was similar to my own. He had lost his mother and needed to find vengeance for her. I had lost my mother and the absence of her had caused a coldness to settle over me. I thought finding out Bree was my sister would help. I thought seeing my dad the happiest he has ever been would change things, but the truth was nothing could cover up the ice that had settled around my heart if I didn’t let anyone in.
“You’re a good person, Jared. You were just lost, hurting, and alone. Everyone does weird things when they feel as if the world is slipping from their hands. ” Her hand gripped my thigh hard, trying to grab my attention. The fact that she understood made my heart rate rise. She knew everything I had failed to tell others, even her. She paid better attention than I had ever expected her to.
“Just remember that when times get hard and the darkness starts to encompass me. I’m not an easy person to be around at my best, let alone my worst,” I warned. I didn’t want to push her away, but I wanted her to know what she was getting herself into, I thought as I pulled into the factory parking lot, noticing just how vacant the place was.
“I’ll remember and I’ll be the person to bring you out of it. You just remember that,” she whispered just as a man in a black suit started walking toward the car. His hair was slicked back, his chin held high and his eyes dialed in on the car. Each of his steps held a purpose as if it were bringing him one step closer to something he was desperately seeking. Her eyes lifted toward the man, and I saw the fear resonate with them.
“It’s going to be okay.” I soothed her, knowing how meeting new people had to be a shock to her. What she had gone through to get where she was wasn’t an easy feat.
“Okay,” she said simply, smiling. It was in that smile I knew she had lied to me. It wasn’t going to be okay. It was going to be far from okay. I just didn’t realize it right then.
Chapter Nineteen
I wanted to laugh loudly and uncontrollably at the man behind the wheel. This was him? The hero of the story? The man housing my soon to be wife, my queen, my fucking pet. I could feel the anger in me waiting to be unleashed. All it would take was a simple snap of the neck or a shot to the back of his head delivered by me. Yet as I took my seat, I knew I couldn’t do it.
I wouldn’t because I wanted him to suffer, to know who it was that was making him bleed. As I sunk further into the leather, I allowed my eyes to linger over them, eventually stopping and narrowing on the back of her head. I could see her hair and the slope of her neck. It was far darker than I remember it being. I couldn’t see her face, but from the movements she was making, I could tell she knew something was wrong. Her sixth sense telling her danger lay within touching distance.
My teeth ground together as the man sitting next to her placed his hand on hers. That one movement almost made me change my mind.
“It’s okay,” I heard him whisper to her. He had no idea just how wrong he truly was. Nothing would be okay until her life was put in my hands. He was giving her false hope, teaching her the unknown was okay. She was foolish to believe him if she did.
“Thank you for coming on such short notice,” I interrupted, not wanting them to continue on with their intimate conversation. They were disgusting.
His eyes flashed to mine in the rearview mirror. He was sizing me up and down, and I could see the panic forming in his head. He had every reason to be afraid.
“Of course.” He cleared his throat. I continued to stare at Isabella in the front seat afraid if I looked away, she would disappear. Pulling my phone out, I knew I needed to make a phone call to my men. The drive I had scheduled was only a half hour long, long enough for me to be able to verify it was her. Having done so, I could now put my plan into motion.
“French Island is a nice place, yes?” I asked, wanting to make light conversation. It was best for people to not see you as an enemy. That way they never saw the attack coming, they never would expect you to place a bullet in the back of their head.
“Yes. Great schools, a nice small community.” Again, he was telling me about shit I couldn’t care less about, yet I played along as if I had known him the entire time.
“Have you two lived here long? My poor manners, assuming she is your special someone in your life.”
Silence met my ears as I watched Isabella fidget in her seat. She couldn’t have realized how close to danger she truly was.
“Uh, yeah. I have lived here my whole life. Isabella is my…” He seemed to linger on the word that he wanted to say. “Girlfriend, we just started dating so, yeah, she’s my special someone…” He finally got the words out, but behind them was a feeling that told me he was unsure. His eyes flickered from the road and then back to her.
“What a beautiful woman she is.” I complimented her just to get a rouse out of him. I wanted to do anything I could do to make him squirm in his skin. I wanted him weak, vulnerable.
“Yes, very beautiful.” He seemed tickled pink with love. Again, I felt myself on the verge of vomiting—that or revealing who I was just so I could make him suffer. My phone rang right on cue, as it should’ve—my men knew that if they failed to follow orders given that they would lose something.
“Sir.” Antonio’s voice sounded in my ears.
“Его онa,” I spoke in Russian.
“Confirmation is in order, moving to the next step in our plan.” He repeated the words that needed to be said back to me before hanging up. I pressed the end key on my phone, placing my hands on my lap.
Then I sat back and watched.
Their lives would be ending soon. Hers because she would no longer have freedom, and his for touching something that was mine.
Chapter Twenty
Isabella
Everything about today felt off, at least from the moment we pulled into the parking lot of that abandoned parking lot. The air around me filled with tension and danger. The man in the backseat oozed money—his suit, even his smell. He reminded me of the man Jared had said Alzerro was before he found Bree, not just that, but he reminded me of everything I wanted to distance myself from. I fidgeted with my hands nervously, f
eeling as if the man in the back seat was staring straight through to my heart as if he could see the fear within me.
Jared held my hand, attempting to soothe me. It worked until it came time to drop the man off. It was when Jared removed his hand from mine the fear slithered its way back into me. I felt naked and cold without him.
I could feel the man in the back seat glaring at me, his eyes practically burning my skin. I was rooted in place while I waited the minuscule amount of seconds it took Jared to get to his door and let him out. The entire three seconds I felt he had something he wanted to say—as if there were unsaid words floating between the two of us.
“Thank you,” he said to Jared. I didn’t miss the fact he had spoken Russian in the backseat. I knew better than to dismiss something that big. When Jared got back in the car, I tried to seem unaffected by the man’s presence but the thing was, I couldn’t shake it.
“I thought I could grill out tonight. We could sit on the porch swing and eat dinner together.” I could feel Jared’s hand on my own but felt disconnected from him. I was putting up a wall, shielding myself from the destruction I felt was going to take place soon.
“That…” I paused. “That sounds great.” I faked a smile, not wanting him to know just how alone I was truly feeling.
He was worried about me. I could see it on his face, yet he failed to let it hinder him. Instead, he pushed it away just as I gripped his hand in mine. I didn’t need him asking more questions or wanting to delve deeper into things. I knew I was a hypocrite for doing this, for failing to tell him what my instincts were telling me, but I needed to protect him.
He had finally opened up to someone, and there was no way in hell I would take that away from him. As we drove back to the house, I searched my mind for a memory, a picture, anything to tell me who the man was.
Then something hit me. It could’ve been the smell that still lingered in the car or the way his voice sounded in Russian as I replayed it over and over again in my mind. The repeating forced a memory to come forward.
“Which one is mine?” a male voice asked. I didn’t move. I knew better. I had heard many of the other girls beat for moving.
“This one right here.” One of the men gripped my arm pulling me up onto my unsteady legs. It had been days since they removed the bag from my head. They only ever removed it when we ate. One girl told me it was easier for the men if they didn’t have to see our faces all the time.
“She is so tiny,” the man commented. I could feel his hand on my waist, his fingers lingering on my skin. His scent engulfed me, reminding me of high-end collagen. He had money—that much was true.
“Most of them are, sir. We buy them as is and due to certain circumstances, we cannot offer them everything needed. Sometimes we have to discipline them. As you can see, some of them have flesh wounds and bruises. It comes with the territory.” I had seen death many times over since I was sold. They didn’t care if we lived or died. Only the ones worth a pretty penny survived.
I could feel the air around me grow tense. It was thickening making it harder to breathe. I stood very still, afraid if I moved even an inch, I would be backhanded, and maybe even have my chance at freedom taken from me.
“You’re to treat her with respect. She is more expensive than any of the others you’re holding. I paid far more than anyone else,” the man growled. There was violence in his voice, and it consumed me.
“Yes… yes, sir,” the man stuttered over his words as if he were afraid of my soon to be owner, which made me wonder if I should be, as well.
“Good. I want no ill harm to come to her, and if I find out that any has, blood will be shed in her honor.” There was no lightheartedness to his words. He cupped my cheek and whispered near my ear, his breath fresh and sweet.
“Дитя, ты в порядке с предприятием.” I didn’t know what he had said, but I did know it did very little to soothe me. I knew better than to hope the place I would be taken to would be much better than this one.
“Protect her at all cost. Otherwise, it’s your life that will be taken.” Those were the last words he had said before his footsteps sounded off in the distance.
“Izzy…” Jared called my name. His hand was gripping mine as if he wanted to keep me here with him forever. It was as if he knew and understood I was going to drift far away.
“Yes?” I turned to him. The memory had felt so real—as if I was truly there again enduring the pains of my past.
“Are you okay? You seemed lost in thought for a second there.” It was then I noticed we were parked in his driveway. His other hand lifted up, cupping my cheek just as the man in my memory had.
“Everything is okay now, no one can hurt you. I promise you that. I would die before I let anything happen to you.” What Jared was saying was supposed to comfort me, talk me off that cliff of insecurity, but it didn’t. I knew what the future held. I could feel it in my bones. The uncertainty of it all.
“I know, and thank you for that.” I placed a kiss on his lips, wanting him to know although my mind was elsewhere, he impacted me in so many ways, ways words would never be able to describe.
“You have no idea how much you have changed me for the better.” His words weighed heavily on my mind as we got out of the car and headed into the house. I took small steps, knowing closing the front door of the house would be when I needed to clear my mind. I didn’t want to worry Jared any more than he already was. Alzerro had him protecting me, but he also had the stuff of his own going on.
Once inside, Jared found himself searching the fridge for food to make for dinner. I couldn’t think of anything else but him as I stared, watching his every move.
“Keep staring at me like that and I’ll bend you right over this island.” He smirked, looking up from the veggies he had grabbed out of the fridge. I smiled innocently, pulling the top of my dress down to expose my bra covered breasts. As I rounded the island, I caught the sound of the knife hitting the counter and Jared’s footsteps right behind me. I stood very still as his hand worked its way from my shoulder down to the top of my breast.
“Do you want to be fucked on this counter?” he asked curiously, his mouth against my neck. His lips were causing my mind to drift away, and the current was about to take me out to sea.
Instead of answering him, I pulled the side of my dress up revealing the secret I hadn’t told him about yet. His other hand slid up my thigh giving way to what it was I was hiding. With a light push, I landed against the countertop, my breasts reacting to the coldness of the marble beneath me.
“No panties?” he said shocked, his finger slipping in between my folds. I released a sigh from my throat as the pleasure overwhelmed me.
“I did it for you,” I moaned as he hovered over me, his lips sucking on my earlobe. My eyes drifted closed just as his finger slipped into me. I was sore from the night before, but the pleasure seemed to override the pain as he slowly slipped in and out of me.
“You’re far more than I ever deserved, far more than I ever needed.” He was speaking to my heart taking me closer and closer to the finish line with every push of his thick digit inside of me.
“Come for me,” he growled into my ear, his teeth sinking into my sensitive flesh once again. His hand cupped my sex as his free hand lifted one of my legs off the ground while he continued to pump in and out of me. The intensity of his movements with the raspy panting of his voice caused my core to clench. My legs tingled and my back arched as pleasure moved through me.
“So fucking beautiful. You’re soaked for me. Now I can fuck you like I’ve wanted to all day long.” He grunted as he undid his pants. I could hear the clanking of his belt as it fell to the floor. I was ready for him, ready to be possessed.
“Give me every last inch of you,” I whimpered, feeling deep inside of me that this might be our last time together, and if that was so, I wanted to remember this moment for the rest of my life.
His cock pressed against my entrance as he
lifted me, pushing me further onto the counter causing the items upon it to fall to the floor, without a care in the world.
“You’re mine,” he hissed out, his hand landing heavily on the back of my neck as he pressed my front down and pulled my ass up. I sighed as he slammed into me without warning. His balls slapping against my clit with so much intensity, I almost came just from the friction alone.
“It will always be you,” I spoke, my breath hot against my skin as I tried to muffle my screams. His nails bit into my flesh as if he understood the finality that this last session had between us.
“Every time you move, I want you to feel me. Every time you finger yourself, I want you to think about my cock deep inside of you.” His hips gyrated as my eyes rolled to the back of my head.
“I’m going to come,” I screamed. It was then I felt him pull out of me, the absence of him making me grow cold.
“No. You come when I say you can.” I felt his cock slip back into me, only to be pulled back out and slipped in between my ass cheeks.
“Please...” I begged as I tried to dig my nails into the counter. It was the singular beg that pushed him over the edge allowing me to have what he was giving me.
His hands gripped my flesh hard as he pushed me harder to the edge of the counter. I could feel his cock, but whimpered as it slipped away from my entrance.
“You want to come, you’re going to have to ride me,” he growled, placing his cock at my entrance. That was the only warning I needed. I slammed myself back into him, our flesh slapping against one another’s echoing throughout the house.
“Ride it, baby…” Jared’s voice turned dark as his hand pulled my hair tightly against my scalp. It was with that pleasure and pain that I came. My pussy clenched around him like a vice as I rode out each wave of pleasure. The waves grew bigger and bigger as he took over pumping into me until there was nothing left of the two of us.
It was at that moment I realized I loved him and I wanted a future with him—but it was all too late.