Vow of Retribution

by Emma Renshaw

  Aiden stands in front of us again. We both look at him. He smiles when he looks at my face. I can feel it swelling and have no doubt it is turning an ugly shade of blue. “The bruises are a nice touch for the next part of my plan.” He looks back at Olivia. I can see his plan before he even takes a step toward her. I scream and plead over the gag, pulling against my restraint.

  His punch to her face is quick and swift. I break down sobbing, hating myself for bringing people into my life who Aiden can hurt.

  When I look back to him, he is setting up a tripod in front of us, mounting a camera on top of it. He looks through the lens, muttering, “Perfect.” He turns back to us, walking slowly, his gaze shooting from one of us to the other.

  He steps in front of me first, caressing my cheek again. “I hate that you make me hurt you. If you would just listen.” He sounds like a petulant child, not getting his way. He shakes his head. “If you don’t look at the camera for our picture, I will kill her,” he says, pointing toward Olivia. I glare at him. He gives me a smile before walking over to her.

  “The same goes for you,” he tells her. “If you don’t look at the camera for our picture, I will kill my lovely Savannah. Don’t think I won’t. I will kill her.”

  Olivia’s tears rush faster down her face.

  “Okay,” Aiden calls. “Let’s take a picture. Eyes forward, ladies.” He quickly pushes a button on a remote he took from his pocket. He stuffs it back in his pocket. The camera’s red light is blinking. He must have set a timer, I realize.

  Shock fills me, and I swing my eyes forward, obeying him for once when he pulls two guns from his waistband and comes to stand between us. He has a gun pointed at each of our heads. I look toward the camera, tears falling faster, watching the blinking light come faster and faster. And, finally, the flash goes off.

  45

  LIAM

  “Not glad to have you back, boss,” Rachel says as I pass her desk. “Now how will I file and paint my nails at my desk?”

  I give her my largest grin.

  “That happy to see me?” she asks.

  “Nope,” I tell her. “This smile is all about Savannah.”

  Rachel smiles. “She’s too good for you.”

  “Let’s hope she never figures that out,” I tell her, walking into my office.

  My face has been split in a smile since this morning. Through my shower, getting dressed, and driving to work. No, our threat isn’t gone. It’s breathing so closely down our necks, I feel it, but I’m committed to telling Savannah I love her today. I wanted to blurt it out after she gave me the best blowjob of my life, but I stopped just before it slipped past my lips. I didn’t want to even chance her thinking I was telling her because she sank to her knees before me. She’s worth so much more than that.

  I send Savannah a message.

  Liam: How’s The Witch this morning?

  Liam: I’ll be fantasizing about this morning all day. I’m taking you out tonight. I’ll ask James to keep Harper company.

  I stare at my screen, expecting the text bubbles to pop up, but they don’t. I sigh, keeping my phone on my desk, eagerly awaiting her reply. I start to go through the files that have been piling up on my desk in my absence this week. I grin when my phone vibrates across the desk. I pick it up and turn it over, looking at the screen.

  My heart races seeing Savannah’s name. I swipe across the screen.

  My phone clatters to the desk when I see the image with one word. “Fuck!”

  I bring the screen back to myself, not wanting to believe I saw what I did. Rachel comes crashing into my office. I hear her speaking, but I don’t register the words.

  The photo on my screen is worse than my worst nightmare. My heart stops beating, my blood freezes over as I become a statue of a man. My grip is so tight on the phone, I’m surprised the screen hasn’t shattered. Rachel is still speaking, trying to get my attention, but all I hear is a dull roar. It isn’t a moment later that I realize it is me roaring.

  The woman I am endlessly in love with and my baby sister stare at me through the screen. A man stands between them. His face is not shown. I know it’s him. Aiden. He has a gun pointed at each of their heads. A simple word is below the image.

  Choose.

  That fucking, spineless bastard. I will destroy him. The ice in my veins melts in the place of the fire now coursing through me. I take a few deep breaths, making a plan. I scroll through my contacts until I find the name I’m looking for. As I listen to it ringing, I scribble two numbers on a Post-it, handing it to Rachel.

  I will never choose, I will never have to choose. I’m getting both of them out of there. Then, I will gut him like the pig he is. He’ll never be a thought in their heads again after I am done with him. I choose them both, I will not play into his little games. I’ll find him, destroy him, and bring them home safely. I’m burning to tear the bastard apart. I want to feel his blood spraying on my skin when I rip his heart from his chest, smashing it beneath my boot.

  I hold up my finger to Rachel when he answers the phone.

  “Wells.”

  Maddox Wells. Hudson’s brother and the only family member to break tradition and not join the family business. Maddox makes his own set of rules, able to find the gray and toe the line to his advantage.

  “Maddox, it’s Liam Adler. My girl’s ex kidnapped her and my sister. I don’t give a shit what laws you have to break, trace her phone. The bastard just sent me a message from Savannah’s phone.”

  “He has Olivia?”

  Most people would feel terror over his tone that just seeped through the line. I relish in it, knowing it will fuel him to help me find Savannah and Olivia. Maddox and Olivia dated in high school. He broke up with her before he left for his service, not wanting her to put her life on hold. I’m not sure he’s ever gotten over her.

  “Give me the number,” he demands.

  I rattle off Savannah’s number. “Find it fast, call me back.” I hang up the phone, grabbing my keys. “Call those numbers and tell them to meet me at the gym.”

  Rachel’s eyes are wide and shiny with tears, but she doesn’t ask questions. She follows me out of my office, already dialing by the time I get to the stairway. I run as fast as I can down the flight of stairs, peeling out of the parking lot not even thirty seconds later. I call James as I’m racing toward his gym.

  When he answers, I grind out, “He took her. He also took my sister. I’m on my way. Hudson and Josh are meeting us at the gym.”

  James doesn’t answer before hanging up the phone. I know he’s going to the locked room at the very back of the gym and loading up on weapons. One night while Savannah and I were working out, he pulled me aside. He asked if I knew how to shoot. I assured him I did and told him I’ve been carrying every time we left the house.

  He had pulled me into the back room, showing me his massive collection of weapons. Guns, rifles, shotguns, knives, brass knuckles. He looked like he was ready for war. His collection could outfit an entire militia.

  I whip into a parking spot, seeing Josh and Hudson pull in at the same time.

  “What’s going on?” Josh asks.

  I don’t answer, just nod toward the inside of the gym. I walk straight to the back, knocking on the locked door. James pushes it open a second later, and we all slip inside.

  “What the fuck?” Josh and Hudson both say.

  I turn toward Josh. “When was the last time you spoke with Olivia?”

  “This morning after she dropped Tanner off at daycare.”

  Relief washes over me that Tanner is safe at his school, unaware that his mother is in danger.

  “Savannah has a psychotic ex-boyfriend who was recently released from prison after he attacked her several years ago. He kidnapped her and Olivia this morning,” I tell him as calmly as possible.

  His face drains of all color, eyes widening in shock. “What the fuck do you mean?”

  I tell him everything I know. I try not to show him the picture, kn
owing that it will be burned into his retinas for the rest of his life, just like it is in mine. It won’t matter when I have Savannah wrapped back in my arms, safe. The image of her beaten and crying with a pistol aimed at her head will surely greet me each time I close my eyes.

  “I have Maddox searching for her phone. It’s obvious they’re in a warehouse.”

  James pipes up. “We’re loading up then driving through the warehouse district. I called some of my contacts to see if they’ve noticed any usual activity.”

  “What contacts?” Hudson asks, still bewildered by the scenario playing out. His face is still in shock, but he’s grabbing rifles and ammo. His brother is the one who served, but he’s a skilled marksman, as well. He was on the shooting team in high school, excelled at hitting distant targets.

  James shakes his head. “No one you would dare to know. They’ll let me know if they see anything happening. They have eyes everywhere.”

  No one questions him further. I tell Josh, “We’re going to get them back.”

  “You’re fucking right we are. If he hurts her or my baby, I will massacre him.”

  “Get in line,” I tell him. “I know Savannah will do everything in her power to keep Olivia safe.” I pray that while she’s keeping her safe, she watches and takes care of her own life, too. I shake my head. There is no other option than returning perfectly intact. I will accept nothing less.

  “Let’s go,” James calls, moving a shelf aside,that leads to a hidden back exit.

  “What the fuck?” Hudson mutters under his breath.

  46

  SAVANNAH

  I know in my gut Liam is tearing apart Austin looking for us. Tears stop flowing, determination setting in my bones. I’m grinding the cuffs along the wood of the chair, slowly giving my hand more space to slip through. I will get Olivia out of here, even if I die trying.

  Aiden comes back into the warehouse from that door he keeps disappearing into. He walks up to me, lifting my chin.

  “I can’t wait until Liam gets here, so I can kill him in front of you. It will be so fun to destroy the last person standing in our way. We need to have a little chat before he gets here, though. Tell me you’ll behave if I take this gag off of you.”

  I harness the flames I’m dying to unleash, needing him to take this gag off. I have to get out of these binds. He slowly unstraps the gag and peels it away from my mouth.

  “Hi, love,” Aiden whispers.

  “Fuck you,” I spit back. His blood from when I bit his tongue is still sitting in my mouth, pooling with saliva. I spit it in his face.

  He slowly wipes it away, choking me again. He holds my neck while alternately slapping and punching me in my face and sides. “You will listen to me, you ungrateful whore. Look at everything I’ve done for you. Don’t you see how much I love you?” Each statement is punctuated with a slap or punch somewhere on my body. I hear Olivia’s cries, but I never take my eyes from Aiden, challenging him every step. I don’t let out my whimpers of pain. I hold them in, facing him down. “I’ve watched over you this whole time. I’ve always been with you. You will listen to me.”

  I gasp out around his hand clutching my throat, “I’ll do anything you want if you let her go.”

  He releases his hand. “Say that again.”

  “I will do anything you want if you let her go.”

  Aiden stares at me, never breaking eye contact. “You mean that.” It’s not a question. He sees the sincerity in my eyes.

  I will. I will do anything to get Olivia out of here, and then I will battle to the death for my life over his.

  He sighs. “Unfortunately, I can’t let her go. I promise that if you keep your promise, I won’t hurt her. She’ll survive this. I can’t say the same for her brother, but she will survive as long as you keep your word.”

  I nod, agreeing that Olivia will survive. I don’t voice that Liam will also survive. I’ll do anything to ensure that happens.

  “How?” I bite out.

  “Ah, my curious little love, you’ve always been that way.” Aiden smiles proudly, looking at the pictures filling the walls from top to bottom. “This is my masterpiece.”

  I don’t say anything, and I refuse to look at the pictures gracing the walls. I will not take in all the moments he stole from me, stalking me.

  “You left me, but my friends didn’t. They’ve helped me so much while I was away. I told you, you are mine, Savannah. You shouldn’t have sent me away. I did what I had to do to keep you. And how do you repay me?”

  He steps up to me, pulling a knife from his pocket. He flicks the blade open. Bile rises in my stomach—this scene is too close to the memories that haunt me. Aiden slices my dress completely down the front. He touches the blade to the hollow of my throat, my breaths that I can’t stop press me farther onto the point. The first drop of blood spills. Aiden smiles when the knife breaks my skin.

  “You look so pretty when your blood washes over your creamy skin.” His eyes are dancing. Sanity left him years ago. He’s utterly mindless. He probably thought about this day every day for the past several years.

  He pulls the knife from my neck, using the tip as a pointer. He flicks his wrist, moving the knife up and down my body. “How dare you do this to my body. Your body is mine. For my pleasing. You don’t mar it without my consent and you sure as hell don’t cover my brand.”

  I continue to stay silent watching him, trying to school my features as if I am taking all of this in, listening to him. Understanding him. I have to get him to release me.

  “By the end of the night, I will cover your body with my name and come so many times, that you’ll never again forget who you belong to.”

  Bile once again rises in my throat. I can’t stop my legs from trying to close. He mistakes the movement for something else. “Do thoughts of that night get you hot, too? That’s what kept me going in prison, thoughts of you on those crisp, white sheets in the log cabin. I love when you clench your thighs.”

  I don’t correct him that I was trying to close them to keep him out. If he thinks I want him, that will work to my advantage. I need him to keep going, keep talking, keep trusting.

  I think back to his friends who I never got to know. I didn’t like them, so I didn’t want to be around them. Aiden and I mostly stayed in our bubble back then. I would have recognized his friends if I’d seen them.

  “Where were we? Oh, yes. My friends helped me keep track of you, delivered pictures to me. It was easy enough to break into your house and install cameras. Your poor little Liam didn’t know that while he was taking my woman out, I was in his house installing cameras. How dare he try to take what was mine. How dare you—” Aiden continues pacing in front of me, and he flicks the knife in my direction when he refers to me. “Let another man have what is mine. I was disappointed to find you became a whore while I was away. It didn’t matter it was only with one man. It was enough.”

  Aiden looks at me, disgusted. “I hate that someone else has touched you. I need to do something to punish you.”

  He rubs a hand along his jaw, as if in thought. He steps closer to me, hand still skimming his jaw, knife hanging loosely at his side. He acts so quickly I don’t anticipate his next move. He stabs me twice, once in each wing on the phoenix of my tattoo. I cry out in pain, unable to hold it in. Blood pours from each cut. I clench my jaw, begging myself not to cry, but tears sting my eyes from the pain slicing through me.

  “Did that help you learn a lesson?”

  I look down at my feet, trying to mask my features. I want to scream, but I need to free myself from these binds. I look up at him, letting him see the tears, and nod. Olivia gasps around her gag, not understanding the game I’m playing. I need Aiden to be stupid enough to fall for my lies again.

  I let the tears fall harder. I choke around the bile threatening to rise, “No one has ever loved me like you.”

  Aiden’s eyes light immediately, filling with tears. “You’re right about that, love. No one. You’re m
ine. You’ve always been mine. I hate that I have to remind you this way.” He turns his head to the side, contemplating while looking at me.

  “Last time you acted this way, it was a lie.”

  I let the tears fall, not confirming or denying. I sob harder, looking up at him without blinking. “You just have to understand, I was so scared, Aiden. You were scaring me. I don’t want to be scared of the man I love.”

  He shakes his head. “If you would just do what I asked, none of this would happen.”

  I put my head down. “You’re right,” I whisper.

  Olivia is crying harder, screaming at me. I don’t look at her, I can’t. I can’t break this character. I wish she understood. I wish she knew me better, not to doubt me. Blood is still pooling from my stomach, dripping down my legs and to the floor. I’m starting to feel woozy from the effects.

  “I don’t feel well,” I tell Aiden.

  Aiden tsks. “I need to finish my story, my love. I want you to realize how brilliant I am.”

  I nod slowly, letting him continue, praying he will release me when it’s over.

  “After I watched you on that first date with that asshole, I stabbed his tire. It was a warning that he didn’t heed. The next day, I wired his place with cameras so I could watch if you ever went there. Cameras had been in your house since before my release.”

  He chuckles to himself. “I saw everything. It was wonderful watching you, seeing videos and pictures of you. I know each time that hand was between your legs, you were thinking of me.”

  I don’t deny his grotesque assumptions. They’re not true, but he doesn’t need to know that.

  “You really should separate your important documents. It was too easy to find the ID number for victim services.” He bites out the last two words. He roars, “You were not a victim. It was your own doing. I needed you to listen and trust that you are mine. That I am best for you.” He pulls his hands through his hair, one of them still clutching the knife stained with my blood.