“I know he’s in bits here, but surely you recognize one of your boyfriends?” The Detective’s smirk made Susie feel ill, as did the image. They seemed to have pieced his body parts back together. Neither his head, nor his limbs were still attached to his body, his face was almost unrecognizable due to the beating he’d received, and the next picture Wonsan shoved in her face made Susie retch.
It was his severed penis and balls.
“Rather a coincidence that he was done over like that, when you’ve shacked up with the cleaners, wouldn’t you say? This was a personal attack, a jealous new boyfriend maybe, going by the name of Ren, by any chance?” He paused in seeming effort to let his words sink in, and when she didn’t react he shouted loud enough to make her jump. “Damn it, all hell is breaking loose out there, and it all traces back to you, Ms. Elliot. That’s not a fucking coincidence. You’re going to cooperate and help me put these monsters behind bars or—”
“Jim, stop.” His partner’s sharp command stopped the man mid angry diatribe, and Susie took a few steps away from him. “What my partner means to say is that we would value your cooperation in this matter. We will be able to keep you safe and you would protect countless innocent lives by speaking up.”
The woman frowned at her when Susie couldn’t hold back her laughter. Slightly hysterical laughter, for sure, but really, it was laugh or cry and rock in a corner somewhere.
“You’ve got this all wrong. If there are any monsters here, it was Brian. He groomed me for fuck’s sake, like he did to countless women before me, and would no doubt have done to countless women after me. Whoever killed that bastard did society a favor. He was never my boyfriend. He was a sick, sadistic monster, who tried to control me with threats to my life and the use of his fists. He ran up debts in my name with loan sharks who threatened my life and the house I called home, trying to force me into prostituting myself for the Priestly brothers. I ran the first chance I got, and Huntly was kind enough to offer me a job as a waitress, and his protection. If you think for one minute that I am going to repay him by ratting on him, then you’re deluded. You want to go after the bad guys, go after the Priestly scum. And no, I’m not going to testify against them either, so save your breath.” Susie paused, and glared between the two detectives, before she stepped over to the desk and pressed the intercom.
“I want out of here, please.”
Wonsan swore, and out of the corner of her eyes she saw Ren jump into action. It took a matter of moments before he wrenched open the door, and not caring what anyone thought of her, Susie threw herself into his arms.
“There, I’ve got you, baby.” His deep rumble in her ear soothed her internal horror, and taking his beloved scent deep into her lungs she clung on for dear life, oblivious to what else was going on, until she was forcibly wrenched out of his grasp.
“Your girlfriend has proven most cooperative to us, and you, Ellis Reynolds, are under arrest for the murder of Myrtle Jones and Brian Monk. Anything you will say will be taken in evidence…”
Susie didn’t hear the rest of the arrest spiel, too horrified by the look of betrayal she glimpsed in Ren’s eyes, before he pulled down the proverbial shutters, and he became a man she didn’t recognize.
“You can’t do that. I didn’t say anything. I … umph.”
Ty clamped his large hand over her mouth to stop her from talking, and even though she fought him, she was no match for his superior strength.
In truth she could hardly breathe, as he also cut off her air supply, and the world grew fuzzy. Through the ever narrowing light of her fading consciousness she was dimly aware of Huntly’s solemn promise to get Ren out of this mess, before the world faded to black.
Susie struggled back to consciousness, and she blinked in the bright lights of the locker room. Kim’s concerned face appeared in her vision. Her friend helped her to sit up when she struggled.
“Here, take it easy now. You’ve been out a while. Drink this.” She pressed a cold bottle of water into her hand, and Susie dutifully swallowed. The cool liquid felt heavenly as it slid down her bruised throat, and she blinked away tears of relief at being alive.
“Tell the boss she’s awake, will you, Ty?” Kim’s words brought Susie’s head up, and she swallowed hard when she saw Ty approach. He didn’t look happy, and neither did Josh, who pushed away from the wall and took off, presumably to tell Huntly that she was awake.
Bile threatened to come up, and she struggled to her feet, as Ty stopped in front of her.
“I … I didn’t say anything to the police. I didn’t.” She flinched when Ty raised his hand to her throat, and his deep sigh ghosted across her face. Instead of choking her anew like she’d been expecting him to, he stroked his thumb along the bruised flesh and clucked his tongue.
“Relax, we know that. I’m sorry I was so hard on you, but you were going to drop us all in it in your distress, and this was the quickest way to shut you up. I hope it doesn’t hurt too much?”
Susie blinked in confusion. It took her scrambled brain a while to catch up with the meaning behind his words, and when she did, she sank back down on the bench she’d been sitting on.
“Oh, but I thought, you thought … Ren looked so angry, and why did they arrest him, when—”
“Mind games, sweet thing.” Huntly’s deep tones interrupted her warbled words, as he strolled through the doors to the locker room. “They think by arresting him, they’ll get him to talk. Make him believe that the woman he loves betrayed him, and he’ll lose his cool.”
“They don’t fucking know him very well, if they think that’s gonna work,” Alex said, and his brother hooted in laughter. Ace smirked, and Josh crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head. Susie had no idea how they all came to be there. Maybe they had always been there. Her mind was still stuck on the L word.
“But that’s ridiculous. Ren doesn’t do love.”
Huntly seemed to find her croaked protest most amusing, and the rest of his men all sniggered. Even Ace, which was most disconcerting, especially when he strolled over to her and flicked her nose.
“He doesn’t do love, but he certainly does you, girl.” Ace grinned, and the rest of the men all dissolved into laughter, which rang round Susie’s hurting head like clanging cymbals and she winced.
Kim urged her back to her feet.
“Sir, with your permission I’d like to take Susie home. She’s in no fit state to work tonight, especially not with all these cops still sniffing around.”
Susie tried to protest, but it all fell on deaf ears.
“I don’t want to go home, and what about Ren? I need to be here when he gets back. I need to explain.”
Kim sighed, and Huntly grasped her chin to make her look at him.
“Listen to me, girl. You’re exhausted. There is nothing you can do, and they’ll keep Ren in for twenty-four hours to try and wring a confession from him.” At her horrified gasp, he nodded. “They’ll try for an extension, but my solicitor will make sure they won’t get one. They have no real evidence against him. Ren is too good at what he does.”
That simple phrase brought those terrifying images she’d seen back to the forefront of her consciousness, and wrenching free from the loose hold Huntly had on her, she made a dash to the toilets, afraid she would bring up the contents of her stomach. Kim, like the good friend she was, followed her, but there was no need as Susie managed to get a hold of herself in time. Kim smiled at her over the sinks as she freshened up.
“This seems to be becoming a habit of yours, girl,” she said. “Glad that passed, because you’re gonna have to work on that constitution of yours if you’re gonna stick around, you know. Now, let’s get you back to my place for a bit. I’ll promise I’ll bring you straight back here if we hear anything from Ren.”
Exhausted after all the events of the last few hours, Susie allowed herself to be led away. Josh drove them both back to Kim’s, and despite her friend’s protestations that they didn’t need a bodyguard,
the big guy stayed.
Much to her surprise Susie did sleep. And it was an even bigger surprise when she encountered a half-naked and sheepish looking Josh emerging from Kim’s bedroom the following morning. She sure hadn’t seen that coming.
Despite Huntly’s assurances, twenty-four hours turned into forty-eight, and Ren still hadn’t been released. The not knowing when he was going to be was slowly driving Susie ‘round the bend, and she threw herself into her work at the club with renewed vigor. It was the third evening following his arrest that she felt his stare on her ass. As she looked up, her heart stopped and then turned into a jackhammer when their gazes connected in the mirrors behind the bar.
Something hot, hard, and dangerous flashed across Ren’s expression as he strode toward her with a single minded determination that made her whole body tingle in anticipation. He had never looked more dangerous than right now. He hadn’t shaved, and the thicker than usual stubble, combined with the creased, dirty clothing, and the way he ignored all greetings aimed at him made her feel like the prey about be devoured. His thick forearms came round her trapping her against the bar, and with his body heat against her back, she had nowhere to go. All the previous days’ tensions left her body, and she sagged against him when he nuzzled into her neck.
“What are you doing here, pumpkin?” he asked.
One of his hands grasped her chin and lifted her head up, until his intense gaze bored into hers in the mirrors. The rest of the crowded club faded away at the wealth of emotions she read in his eyes.
“Waiting for you, Sir.”
Ren drew in a sharp breath at her whispered reply and the hold on her chin grew painful.
“You shouldn’t. I’m no good for you. Besides, I’m setting you free.” He stepped away, and Susie was sure the whole club ought to hear her internal scream. It certainly rang around her head with the force of a banshee.
“No.” Only a whisper escaped her lips though, as she turned around and looked up at him.
“No?” he asked. Susie frantically shook her head and breathed a sigh of relief when he stepped toward her again and yanked her to him. Her arms went around his neck, and she rose on tiptoes, pressing her full length against his. The feel of his cock hardening against her lower belly made her moan, and Ren’s amber eyes darkened to the deepest, darkest molten chocolate, as he bent his head and brushed his lips across hers.
“Last chance, girl. I’m not so fucking noble that I can keep my hands off of you, if you stay.”
Susie drew back and closing his eyes, he tried to push her away, but Susie jumped up at him. With a curse, he grasped her ass cheeks steadying her, while she wrapped her legs around him and clung on like a monkey.
“I don’t want you to, Sir.” His eyes widened, and a slow grin spread across his harsh features. “In fact, please, Sir, I seem to recall you saying I need to beg for your cock, so, please, Sir, I want your cock.”
Ren froze, and she couldn’t even begin to guess what was going in his head right now as he studied her.
“Is that so, girl? Is that all you want from me?”
Susie swallowed hard and smiled at him.
“If that is all you can give me, then that’s what I’ll take.” She paused and wriggled against him, loving the way his dick jumped against the fly of his jeans. Ren swore under his breath and digging his hands in held her still.
“Stop that now, minx. It’s been three long days. I’m likely to come in my jeans like a fucking teenager if you keep that up. My street cred would never survive it. It’s bad enough that I seem to have saddled myself with a missus.”
He flicked her a glance, and Susie marveled at the uncertainty that she could read in his eyes now.
“Missus, huh? Aren’t you jumping the gun a bit here, Sir? After all, it is customary to ask first.” She grinned and gave a mock pout when Ren pinched her butt cheek hard enough to leave a bruise.
“I’ll ask when I’m good and ready, which isn’t now, pumpkin. Fuck, I’m no good at this shit, but you must know what I’m saying here.”
Ren dropped his head and claimed her mouth in a kiss so intense it stole her breath and left her in no doubt as to what he meant. Her Sir, her very own killer, and the last man she ought to be feeling like this about might never say the words out loud, but she knew anyway.
When he eventually let her come up for air, they were both breathing heavily, and Susie knew her grin was in danger of splitting her face in half.
“I’m just going to have to keep telling you then, Sir. I love you.”
It was almost comical to see Ren flinch as though it was the worst thing ever she could have said to him, so she said it again, and again. All the way through the crowded club, until Ren pinned her against the wall of one of the private lap dance rooms.
“Shut up, woman, and kiss me. You’re mine now, and I intend to have you any which way I can, starting right now.”
Susie gasped at the rip of her knickers, and seconds later, Ren did what he did best. Fuck her to oblivion and back.
The End
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His Prize (The Cleaners Book 1) Page 9