by Lana Grayson
Just how I crawled when I escaped Darius.
Helpless and fighting to escape.
Degraded. Dehumanized.
Terrified.
Max swore. His leg gave out, and he nearly collapsed, his grip white against the table’s edge. Reed rushed to help. Max only batted him away with a swipe that looked more like a sucker-punch.
I meant to apologize. I meant to help. But every word I might have uttered lodged in my throat.
Darius emerged from the archway of the dining room.
I ground myself against the wall, ripping my dress low over my exposed slit. My stomach turned as Darius grinned.
He watched me fight Max and crawl away in panic as though his son tried to attack me.
And it made him proud of his boy.
Reed hid his bitten, bleeding finger. “Didn’t know you were home, Dad.”
Max was unable to stand. I had no idea how hard I kicked him, but he had yet to unclench his jaw or look at me.
Darius nodded. “I came home early to speak with Sarah.”
My stomach dropped. Max grunted.
“She’s busy.”
“Oh, by all means.” Darius grinned as I tucked the dress tighter over the places he never deserved to see again. “Please finish. Send her to my office once you’ve…done your part.”
My step-brothers didn’t answer, but I nearly screamed as he left me to their mercy.
Son of a bitch.
The memories and horrors emerged from my nightmares—a new form of torture. Darius didn’t even have to attack me to destroy my courage. My chest ached. I coughed. Groaned.
I was not losing another breath on Darius Bennett.
“You okay?” Reed offered his hand.
He’d touch me.
No.
I pushed him away before he helped. I pretended that it was pride and not fear of being touched by a Bennett that drove me to my feet.
Christ. Darius hadn’t even raped me, but I still sickened with damp sweat and the crawling, shuddering itch of grimy hands and chapped lips.
Max swore and rose, wincing as he rested his weight against the table.
I didn’t know what to say or how to say it or if I needed to say anything. I flushed and hated the heat on my cheeks. “Max, you touched…it made me remember...”
He wasn’t mad. Why wasn’t he mad?
“I get it. Wasn’t thinking, baby.”
“No.” I didn’t want him to get it. That only made it worse. I edged further from Reed. “I…it’s fine. Goddamn it. Sorry. I’m sorry. I didn’t... Sorry.”
“Stop apologizing.” Reed spoke too softly. “It’s okay. We understand.”
“No, you don’t.”
“Sarah, you’re allowed to be upset.”
No. I wasn’t about to let myself panic over what Darius tried to do. It was done. It was over. He was a monster, and he could do nothing more to terrify me. Nothing.
If I got upset, he’d win. I wasn’t giving him that much power.
Reed called my name until I met his gaze. I hated the sympathy in the charmed green of his eyes.
“Don’t try to be brave. He almost raped you, Sarah.”
“Yeah, well, so did you!” I snarled, but the words ripped through my chest, as though the truth punctured my lungs.
My step-brothers silenced. It was the wrong thing to say. I didn’t mean it, and yet I did.
Fuck. Everything was wrong. Ruined.
And it was Darius’s fault.
“I won’t let him get in my head,” I said.
Reed didn’t give up. “Sarah, he hurt you.”
“So? I’m not going to live my life afraid of where the bad man touched me.” I brushed the hair from my face. “He won’t control me. I refuse to fear Darius Bennett.”
Saying it didn’t make it true.
Only one way to get my closure. I unceremoniously dressed and faced my step-brothers.
“I’m going to meet with him.”
Max laughed. “The fuck you are. We’re calling Nick. I have no idea what Dad plans to do with you.”
“And I don’t care. This ends now.”
Reed took my wrist as I turned to stalk after Darius. “You’re not going in there alone. Not after what happened last time.”
“He won’t try it again.”
“How can you be sure?”
The thought sickened me. “Because he already taught the lesson.”
Max’s expression darkened. “He’s not in it for the lessons, baby. He wants to hear you scream.”
“I live to disappoint him.”
“Fuck.” Max hobbled after me and pointed at Reed. “Call Nick. Get him home before she gets hurt. I don’t feel like killing Dad today.”
Now there was a possibility.
A bloody, horrible, deliciously appealing possibility.
Before his tortures, I never considered ending a life. But some people didn’t deserve the chances they had or the souls they damned.
“I’m going alone.” I didn’t wait for Max to limp after me. “I’m owed an apology.”
Too many fears nauseated me. Too many unspoken threats stuck in my throat. I suffered too many nightmares and offered myself to his sons in too many ways just to pretend I was safe.
But no safety existed in the Bennett Estate. Nothing they did was right, and yet, I still surrendered to the lesser Bennett evils if only to prevent Darius’s cruelty.
Or did I submit to my step-brothers because I enjoyed it?
Christ, I didn’t know anymore, and only blood would offer clarity. Spilled or betrayed, it didn’t matter. Darius intended to hurt me, and so I’d make my very existence a reason for him to hate waking each morning.
I’d ruin Darius Bennett before he ruined me even if I had to offer my body again and again to the men who wanted nothing more than to claim me and reap the benefits for their own wealth.
Money didn’t matter.
Family didn’t matter.
But I’d endure every torture of hell if it meant I could watch Darius suffer through the same horrors he inflicted on me. Nick didn’t have a majority for the takeover? That was fine. I’d crush his father for him.
And they’d all be lucky if they recognized the Bennett Empire when I was done.
Hate thickened into venom in my veins. I stormed the corridor to Darius’s office, the same hall where I once fled from the raging beast only to trap myself within Max’s punishments.
Then, I feared what pain he’d inflict.
But in my irrational, frantic anger, I denied every beat of my heart punishing me with fear.
It ended now.
I kicked the office door open.
And my rage bled into shock.
Darius welcomed me from behind his desk. He clicked his tongue and sent the fluffy golden hairball scampering in my direction. His words trapped me between pounded heartbeats.
“I brought you a present from home, my dear.”
I crumbled to the ground as the goldendoodle slammed into my chest. He yipped around me, licking my face, hands, and plopping onto his side to demand belly rubs.
“Hamlet?” I stared at Darius. “Why do you have my dog?”
A dozen horrible, heart-breaking tortures scoured my mind. I searched his curly coat, but Hamlet didn’t look injured. Or worried. Or anything but a couple pounds heavier and spoiled with a fresh grooming. He wiggled, kicking his hind legs in desperation for my scratches.
“My little girl shouldn’t be without her puppy.”
Tears replaced the rage. “You’ll hurt him.”
“Nonsense.” Darius dismissed the accusation with a frown. He offered me the chair opposite his desk, but I learned his tricks from the last time. I stood, holding Hamlet’s collar to keep him close to my legs. “I rather like dogs, as do your brothers. Hamlet is perfectly safe. I promise.”
“Like I’d ever take your word.”
He pretended he hadn’t heard the bitterness in my voice. “My first wife was
allergic to dogs. We didn’t know about hypoallergenic breeds then. You are fortunate to have a pet with your asthma.”
Hamlet was one of my greatest loves in the world, and he never once judged me for a single attack, even when I hid my wheezing in my bedroom and hugged him to avoid worrying Dad.
Aggravating Dad.
This was wrong.
All of this.
I expected Darius Bennett to attack me, hurt me, rape me. Instead he delivered my dog and even throw him a damn milk-bone from the bag he kept in his desk.
What was he doing? The hair on my neck prickled. I prepared to run.
“I figured it’d be wise to bring Hamlet to the estate. Your pup requires more attention than your mother can provide.”
“Why? Did you kill her?”
Darius also pretended he hadn’t heard that. The frustration mounted in my chest. He showed no restraint before. Even a foul glance would have earned me a slap across the mouth.
What was his game?
“Sarah, she can’t possibly take care of Hamlet. Not with her early onset dementia.”
Now I did sink into the chair. Hamlet’s cold nose pressed against my knee.
“What did you say?”
He held my gaze. “Last weekend’s trip to the farm included an appointment with the best neurological specialist in the country. Fortunately, the doctor suggested many experimental avenues we may pursue. Also, she spoke of some promising pharmaceutical products. You’ll be pleased to know I invested a considerable amount of money into those companies to facilitate their research.”
He lied. He had to be lying.
“She’s depressed, Darius. It’s not dementia.”
“You must have known. You saw the signs.”
“Well, she married you, so obviously something’s wrong. But that’s nothing medication and an annulment won’t fix.”
“Is it so strange for you to believe that I might love your mother?”
“You’ve never loved anything in your life.”
“That’s not true. I love my sons.”
And that’s why he threatened to kill Max and Reed if Nicholas hadn’t convince them to breed me. I snorted.
“You love your power over them, your power over everyone.”
“My power over you?”
I arched an eyebrow. “No, you just get off on that.”
Darius poured an ounce of whiskey into his tumbler. He offered me my own drink. Apple juice.
It was the first time he treated me as a guest.
Was it poisoned? Drugged?
Sweat beaded my brow. I’d be sick before he finally attacked me.
“Your mother’s safety depends on your behavior here.” He said it as though it were obvious. Rational. “But I would never willingly hurt her, not unless you gave me no other option.”
“That makes me feel so much better.”
“I don’t care how it makes you feel.”
“How can you say you love her when you tried to hurt her only living child?”
Darius tapped his fingers around the tumbler. “You’re still upset about the incident at my office.”
“Incident?”
“The world is larger than your wounded pride, my dear. There are more important matters for your consideration.”
“You tried to rape me.”
“But I didn’t.”
“You still tried.”
“Nicholas and I have an arrangement. And you have your own duties.”
I stood, regretting not taking the juice. At least then I’d have something to shatter on his desk.
“You don’t come near me again, do you understand me?” I hissed. “You don’t touch me. You don’t look at me. You don’t even think of me.”
“Are you pregnant, Sarah?”
Rage hurt. I never realized how painful hatred could feel. It slashed at my chest and infested my mind.
“No.” My voice lowered. “I’m not.”
“Then I can’t guarantee your safety, can I?”
“You’ll regret this.”
“So will you…if you don’t obey my sons and provide us the heir we demand.”
Wouldn’t he be surprised?
“You will never control me.” I stared into the eyes of the devil and shielded myself in borrowed bravery. “You can kidnap me, hold me, beat me. Hell, even rape me yourself. It won’t matter. You can do nothing to me.”
He didn’t react. Why didn’t he react? “Is that so?”
I’d scream and ruin it all.
I’d praise my family’s foresight and scratch the word Josmik into the pristine hardwood of his desk. The blood in my veins sparked and ignited. I’d whisper it. I’d tell him that I had won. And then I’d cackle as he raged in a pitiful fury when I stole everything from him.
But I didn’t say it.
Revealing the trust would bury me before I had my chance to witness his destruction.
“We’re done here.” My warning didn’t move him. “Don’t touch me. Don’t touch my dog.”
He didn’t need to strike me to crack every bone in my body. His voice captured me in quiet dread.
“Sit down, my dear. Your manners are atrocious. You will not address your father this way.”
“You aren’t my father.”
“Sit. Down.”
I debated running, but I remembered what happened last time I tried to hide in the Bennett Estate. I was done fleeing, done with the abuse.
I sat.
Darius was pleased. “That’s my girl. I only ask that you act as a proper lady.”
“Provided you act like a man and not a demon.”
“You’ll regret those words.”
I tensed. “When you beat them out of me?”
“No.” Darius pushed a folder across the table to me. “When I offer you everything.”
Oh, Christ.
Last time he offered me secret documentation, my entire world crumbled under the weight of my father’s hypocrisy. I still hadn’t collected the shattered pieces of my life I lost when I tangled myself in the Bennett’s insanity. My ill-fated attempt to honor my undeserving father ended only in tears.
I opened the folder. My original research journal rested between the pages of a contract.
He gave me Hamlet and my research.
No threats. No raised fists.
No unbuckled trousers.
The anticipation of his violence would kill me. What the hell was he doing?
“I’m willing to enter into negotiations with you,” Darius said. “My research division was very interested in your work. They understood you were early in the experimentation process, but they insisted the ideas were sound and profitable. I’m interested in buying your research.”
My heart stopped, but that was fine. Not like my lungs were willing to breathe.
“Buy?”
“I understand your…situation is difficult. You’ve lost Atwood Industries whether you realize it or not. Your company is held in trust for my future grandson. I am offering to buy this research from you, Sarah, not your company. The money you’d make would be yours.”
Money?
I flipped the page.
I hadn’t seen that many zeros since my attorney revealed how much Josiah and Mike spent when they took control of Atwood Industries, when I thought they squandered it instead of purchasing the stock and influence they’d use to ruin the Bennetts.
It wasn’t real.
It was a trick. A distraction. I expected a knife or gun in Darius’s hand. I flinched away.
He handed me a pen.
Any agreement with Darius was signed in more blood than ink. Nothing he offered came without conditions. No way was I reading the contract now, not when it was just as likely he’d attack and rape me over the scattered pages.
“You’re going to kill me, aren’t you?” The words trembled from my lips. I pushed the folder away. “You’d never give an Atwood that much money for college genetics work.”
“I’m not
paying for the scribbles. I’m paying for the vision.”
“And once you get it?”
Darius chuckled. “My dear, we can pretend you’re a guest of this family, or I can lock you in the basement for your brothers to fuck until you were ripped, raw, and bleeding. If I wanted to kill you, you’d be dead, just like your bastard father and his wretched sons.” He folded his hands. “However, your womb is worth a great deal to me, and so I am offering you a choice.”
“You never gave me a choice before.”
“Our original arrangement stands. You will bear a son for this family, and that child will inherit Atwood Industries.”
“If you think—”
“I’m presenting you with a proposition beyond that original agreement, an offer extended between two like-minded businesspeople doing what is best for their company and their lives.”
“I’ll never entertain any offer from you.”
“Care to view the dollar amount again? I assure you, it’s generous. As is the opportunity to work in our R&D division once the child is born and weaned off your breast.”
“What?”
“And once you’ve completed your education, of course. I’ll need someone to head a new Agricultural Engineering Research and Development department. Who better to oversee your own projects than you?”
“You’re kidding me.”
“You are not meant to run Atwood Industries, my dear. Once my grandson is born, Atwood Industries and the Bennett Corporation will be forever linked. I am offering you a chance to do what you’ve always wanted.”
Bullshit. I didn’t even know what I wanted. I never had a chance to do what I wanted. My father chose my path from a young age, forcing me into genetics and engineering. I did as I was told until his death. Then the Bennetts kidnapped me before I could even try to run my family’s company.
And now this?
Money and a goddamned job in their company?
Why hadn’t Darius just beaten me to a bloody pulp and had his way with what remained?
“Think it over, my dear. Or…speak about it with Nicholas.” His eyebrow rose. “If you’re so inclined.”
Shit.
I threw the papers at him.
“Nicholas and you can rot in a shared grave for all I care. I’ll never sign anything over to you.”