by Chelle Bliss
In reality, I was hers. Ret’s too. I owed them everything, including my life, my happiness, my love.
“Good. I’ll be headed to Atlanta.”
My eyes flew to his, growing wide. “Why?”
Atlanta had been my home for years, but you couldn’t force me back into that shithole town. The magic I thought it held had worn off quickly once I’d found myself trapped in Diego’s mansion.
“A new case has come up.” He tried to hide his face behind the glass, but there was something he wasn’t telling me.
“And? What aren’t you telling me?”
The tension on his face evaporated and was replaced by a small smile. “Am I that easy to read?”
“I’ve spent a lot of time studying your face, trying to read your emotions so I wasn’t caught off guard.”
His face tightened. “Are you worried I’m going to be upset with you?”
“I…” I didn’t know how to answer that. I wasn’t worried he’d hurt me. Ret would never do that, but after being with Diego, I tried to read everybody so I wouldn’t be surprised if they lashed out. “No. It’s just an old habit I can’t seem to shake.”
He slowly turned the glass in his hands. “I’ll always be straight with you.” He paused and rubbed the back of his neck, dipping his eyes toward the desk. “I have to go to Atlanta because of Diego.”
I rocked back in my chair, not expecting his name to roll off Ret’s tongue. “Why?” I asked, my voice small and soft.
“Another girl has gone missing.”
“Shit,” I hissed, imagining and knowing firsthand everything she was going through. I covered my mouth as the whiskey started to claw its way out of my stomach.
He dragged his eyes to mine and dropped his hand back to the glass. “We’ll save her just like I found you, but this time, we’re taking him down forever.”
I swallowed down the wicked mix of bile and whiskey and cleared my throat, trying to find the words, but failing. “God, I hope so.”
“I could use your help, actually.”
“Just don’t make me go back there, Ret. I can’t step foot in that house again.”
He quickly shook his head, and I felt relief. “Never. I just need to know about the first few weeks you were with him. I want to know what I’m going into and where he may be keeping her. Any details you can remember will help us to get everyone out alive.”
I sat in silence, running through the events at the start of my captivity and how stupid I was to believe anything good was going to come out of it.
“You want to know now?”
Ret eyed the whiskey in my glass. “Finish your drink first and have another if you need it, but anything you can tell me may help us stop him forever. I’d like to return this girl to her family in one piece just like we did you.”
But I wasn’t with my family. They were just as crazy as Diego, only on a different scale. Both hid it behind a veil of love and caring, but they all wanted to control me for different reasons.
I lifted the glass to my lips, watching Ret as I guzzled down the contents, wincing as the whiskey burned on the way down my throat. I knew eventually I’d have to spill my guts about my stupidity, and I prayed Ret wouldn’t judge me for any of it.
I placed the empty glass on his desk, tipping my head toward the bottle because I wanted more if I was going to spill the story of how I got myself into such a mess to begin with. It wasn’t pretty.
He filled the glass again, this time a little more than before. “Nothing you tell me will leave this room. Not even Alese will know what you say. You can trust me, Nya.”
I knew I could. He was the person I trusted most in the world. Next to Alese, of course, but she and I had a different relationship entirely.
“The first few days I was with Diego at his place, it was more of a game. I didn’t think much of it because we were leaving for New York in a few days, so I thought I’d play along. He said he was testing my ability and my limits and that I was to think of it all as an extended scene.” I took another gulp of the whiskey, letting the burn settle deep in my stomach as Ret stared at me. “I thought it was odd because we’d done dozens of scenes at the club, but looking back, I should’ve known it was all a sick and twisted game.”
I was too stupid then. I was too enamored of the man…his beauty and wealth…to question anything he commanded or did because I thought he really cared about me.
“He started with mind games, pushing me further than he did at Charmed, but this time, there was no monitor to step in and save me when shit got bad.”
I blew out a breath and tightened my hand into a hard fist. “He’d locked me in a closet, saying he was punishing me and testing my sensory deprivation limits. He’d leave me in there for hours at a time. When I finally saw light again, I’d be so grateful that I listened to his every command just to keep myself from being locked up again.”
“He’s a twisted fuck.”
I nodded. “We’d discussed my hard limits before we ever hooked up, but as soon as he got me in the house, he made sure to hit every single item I’d made off-limits before.”
“Like?”
I couldn’t look at Ret anymore. He wasn’t staring at me like he was judging me, but I still felt the shame wash over me for my stupidity. “I didn’t like darkness and had refused to have my eyes covered during any scene. I think that’s why he went there first, locking me up without any light. He knew it terrified me.”
Ret twisted his lips, but he remained silent as I took a moment to take another gulp. My vision blurred a little, and the words flowed easier than before as the liquor started to buzz through my system. “When he finally put me in the cage under his bed, I was thankful. How fucked up is that? I was so fucking happy for the bars instead of the dark room. What kind of person is happy about that?”
“It was your fear, Nya. He knew how to manipulate you. Don’t ever blame yourself for how you felt. It wasn’t your fault.”
“Back to the first few days…”
I spent the next hour recounting every moment of torture, agony, and pleasure that Diego gave me, indoctrinating me into his twisted games. Ret sat mostly silent, barely making a facial expression in order to keep me talking. I could tell he wanted to say something, but he didn’t as I barely stopped long enough to take a deep breath while I laid it all on the line, and none of it was pretty.
When I finally finished, I dropped my head forward and took a deep breath. “I don’t want to say anything more. I’m sure you can imagine what happened after that.”
The chair squeaked as his weight shifted, and he rose to his feet. First, his boots came into view and then his eyes as he placed his fingers under my chin and forced me to look at him. “He abused your trust, Nya. Never blame yourself for what he did.” My eyes started to tear when I looked up at Ret as he spoke so tenderly to me. “A Dom/sub relationship is about trust, and he made you trust him before he broke his promise. You did nothing wrong. He’s to blame, and I’m going to do everything in my power to stop him.”
“Just be careful.” The thought of something happening to Ret sent a shiver down my spine.
22
Nya
“Let’s surprise Ret for lunch.”
I gawked at Alese as she leaned against the countertop for support, standing next to the small electric scooter Ret had had delivered. “I don’t think you’re up to it yet.”
Ret insisted Alese get a scooter so he didn’t have to worry about her falling. Crutches weren’t easy for her yet because her incisions were still healing, and it would be weeks before the soreness went away. When he ordered the sucker, I didn’t think he meant for us to drop by the office quite so soon.
She scrunched her face and let out a strangled snarl. “It’s been almost three weeks. I can’t be in this house anymore. I need a little freedom before you two make me half insane.”
I knew what it was like to feel trapped all too well, and it was awful. “Fine,” I said as I slid off the
couch and tucked my toes into my flip-flops. “If Ret gets mad, you have to deal with him.”
I could already hear him now. He’d never been one to nag, but ever since Alese got hurt, he’d been a little over the top with his overprotective nature. At times, I knew Alese wanted to lay into him, but she didn’t have the energy to argue. Now that she was on the road to recovery, I knew fireworks were inevitable.
She smiled and straightened a little. “If he gets mad, it won’t matter because he’s leaving in the morning. He can only be grouchy for so long.”
I laughed and rubbed my face in the palms of my hands as I shook my head. “It’ll be the longest twelve hours ever.”
“Psh.” She waved her hands. “I’m sure we can find a way to make him happy.”
“You’ve been planning this all morning, haven’t you? That’s why you had me do your hair and makeup.”
She gave me that sweet, innocent look, batting her eyelashes at me like I’d seen her do to Ret to get her way. “Maybe. Does it matter?”
I laughed, knowing her game but loving her just the same. “I suppose it doesn’t.”
Alese had a plan for everything. I think she’d developed that after being with Ret for so long. I could imagine her free spirit always thinking ahead, plotting her next move to make things go her way when she was younger. Sometimes I could almost see the wheels turning inside her mind.
“Come on. The guys at the office are too much fun, not to mention hot, and the weather’s too nice for us to sit inside all day.”
“Any of those guys single?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. I didn’t know why I blurted that out, but I did. I grimaced as her smile disappeared and her shoulders slumped.
“You leavin’ us?”
“Well, I…” I shrugged, not knowing what else to do. “No.”
“You can never leave,” she said quickly, trying to move in my direction, but stopped as soon as she put any pressure on her cast.
I rushed to her side, grabbing her by the arm, and I grunted. “You know you’re not supposed to put pressure on it. You need to slow your roll, missy. If you hurt yourself, Ret will never let you out of his sight again.”
She let out a loud huff before shifting all her weight to her good foot and plopping herself onto the scooter seat. “Fine. I’ll behave, but we’re not staying here today. I need some fresh air, good food, and those hot men.”
“Let’s do it.”
“Hey,” she said, grabbing my hand as I stood at her side. She peered up at me with a small, sad smile on her face. “Don’t leave us. Not yet. Okay?”
“Yeah,” I answered quickly, not even thinking twice about it.
“I know someday you’ll want to go, but I’m not ready for that yet.”
I stared down at Alese, bruised and still broken, but not letting that stop her from doing anything. My injuries weren’t on the outside, visible to everyone, but they were there, lurking under the surface. Being with Ret and Alese was easy. They knew almost everything I’d been through and didn’t think any less of me. Having to explain my past to someone else would be damn near impossible and almost paralyzing.
“I don’t want to go anywhere.” I smiled and touched her face the same way I’d seen Ret do when he wanted to get his point across. “I’m here until you don’t want me anymore.”
She blinked slowly, moving into my touch. “That day will never come, Nya.”
I hoped her words were true. It was easy to say she wanted me around forever and that Ret liked having another woman around the house, even if neither of us was a domestic goddess.
“Let’s get out of here before it gets too late.”
I didn’t ask what we’d be too late for, figuring she wanted to change the subject just as much as I did. I followed her out the front door and down the temporary ramps Ret put down last night, and I did my best to keep everyone happy.
* * *
Instead of going out to eat, Alese insisted we grab a few pizzas and sub sandwiches on the way to bring enough food for the entire office. She said something about wanting their energy, but I think it had more to do with the pain involved in getting in and out of the car. The scooter was great, but without an automatic lift in the car, the system for her to get around wasn’t foolproof.
She grabbed the subs from my hands and placed them in the basket that hung on the front of her scooter. “This thing kinda rocks,” she said, laughing. “I just need to borrow one of Fran’s old tracksuits, and I’ll be halfway to old age.”
I slammed the lid of the trunk, balancing the pizzas in one hand and praying I didn’t drop them. “Tracksuit?”
“You don’t want to know. Let’s just say, Fran wasn’t always the hot cougar she is today.”
“Okay.” I smiled, wondering what she’d been like before Bear.
Alese raced ahead, beeping the horn on her scooter as she got closer to the door. Within moments, Angel, the receptionist, pushed it open and welcomed us both inside.
“The guys are going to love you two for this.” She smiled, tossing her long red hair behind her shoulder. “They’re always foraging.”
I hadn’t really paid too much attention to Angel the first few times I’d been to ALFA, but today, I soaked her in. She was drop-dead gorgeous. Not surprising considering I’d met all the spouses at the hospital while Alese recovered. There wasn’t a bad-looking one in the bunch. Their husbands were hot too. I’d never seen anything like it before.
Bear, Ret’s hot-ass father, came stalking down the hallway, rubbing his belly with his head bopping around. “What do I smell?”
Alese rolled toward him on her shiny new scooter, finally catching his eye. “Hey, Pop. We brought you lunch.”
I placed the three large and extremely hot pizza boxes on Angel’s desk, thankful to get them out of my hands without dumping them.
Bear stared down at Alese and jerked backward, shaking his head. “You got a scooter?”
She nodded, looking pretty impressed with herself. “Whatcha think?”
“Smokin’ hot, babe.”
“I just need a little more power, and we can race.”
He patted her on the head and smiled. “You’ve got a long way before that bad boy has any chance of beating my bike, kid, but it’s cute you think so.”
I chuckled and covered my mouth. I loved Bear. Ret had a dash of his father in him, but he was way more serious. Bear was playful, funny, and was easy on the eyes. For an older man, he had everything going for him.
“Alese?” Ret walked out of his office, heading right for us, but I couldn’t tell if he was happy to see us or ready to pop his lid.
“We brought you lunch.” She smiled so big, not giving two fucks if he was upset as she lifted his favorite sub from her basket as an offering to keep his ass happy. “See?”
Ret crossed his arms, squaring his shoulders and looking more like a big bad Dom than I’d seen in weeks. He narrowed his eyes as he tilted his head, and for a moment, I readied myself for the ass-chewing we were about to get.
“Don’t you think it’s a little early for you to be out of the house?”
I gnawed on the inside of my cheek as I moved my eyes between them. I knew it was a bad idea to come here, and I should’ve done everything possible to keep Alese home.
“Darling, I missed you.”
He pursed his lips and was about to say something when Bear stepped between them and grabbed the bag of subs from her basket. “We’re happy to see you, kid. It’s always good not to lie around too much. Gotta stay strong.”
Ret turned his gaze to his father, but he stayed silent.
Bear gave Alese a wink before lifting the pizzas off the desk with his other hand. “Let’s take this to the conference room. We could use a little more beauty around this place.”
I giggled with Alese and Angel because none of us missed the snarl coming from Ret. His father shut him down, which was good because if he hadn’t, I knew Alese would have.
“Lunch,” Bear announc
ed, gliding down the hallway with both hands filled.
Like clockwork, the men piled out of their offices, sniffing the air like Bear had done. They didn’t speak in words, but short, deep grunts as if it were some secret male language.
“You two are the best,” James, one of the owners, said after he walked into the room and spotted Alese and me. He gave us each a quick kiss on the cheek.
I stood at Alese’s side as the small army of men pawed at the food, filling paper plates that Angel had brought in just behind Bear. After the men had almost cleaned everything out, I grabbed sandwiches for Alese and me before going back to stand near her.
“Ready for tomorrow?” Alese asked as she unwrapped her sub.
The man at Angel’s side, Thomas, I think was his name, rubbed his hands together and smirked. “We’re ready to kick some ass.”
“Yep. That fucker’s going down.” Bear took another bite of his sub and had a few pieces of lettuce stuck in his beard. “That’s a guarantee.”
They exuded fearlessness and strength. If anyone could bring Diego down, it would be them. I picked off some of the toppings on my sandwich, hiding my eyes behind my hair as they started to talk about Diego and how they had everything in place to bring him to justice.
I just hoped they knew what they were getting into, because Diego always covered his ass.
23
Ret
Sam glanced up from his phone and exhaled. “Everything’s finally in place.”
“Thank fuck,” Morgan said at my side as we sat inside a blacked-out SUV down the street from Diego’s, looking like something out of a movie.
Getting some of our contacts on board had been harder than we thought. The FBI and other agencies were overworked and understaffed, but a favor was a favor. We knew eventually they’d come around because we’d helped them out of more than one jam over the years.
That was the thing about working for the government. It was all about who you knew and if you’d scratched their back before. Being former military and a bounty hunter, I had contacts all over the country, from local law enforcement to the most covert black-ops agencies. Couple that with Sam’s friends in the FBI and James and Thomas’s DEA buddies, and we knew someone was bound to come around.