by Hart, Rebel
A few more pills can’t hurt much. I’m a big dude.
I fumbled around for the pills in the passenger’s seat. I picked up two more and tossed them back before chugging more of my soda. My vision finally focused for good. I felt my feet planted firmly into reality again. The clouded fog of pain lifted, allowing me to think clearer. See clearer. Carve out a path in front of me quicker.
And as I raced by the signs ushering me into the city limits, I diverted quickly to the left.
“I know a better way than that,” I murmured.
I raced along the backroads that I knew cops never policed. There were no stoplights. No cop cars. No stop signs. Nothing. Just winding, open roads that carried me closer to my father’s house. Closer to that hill he sat on top of. Closer to that looming house off in the distance. The full moon mocked me as it hung heavily in the sky. The gray clouds slowly covered it up, completely darkening the world below. If there were ever a perfect night for my father to come out and play, it was tonight. A full moon, and yet the world was still dark.
Like his soul.
I’m coming for you, Dad. This is the last playdate you get.
I charged around the corner and skidded onto the main road. My father’s wrought iron gates came into view and I made a split second decision. There was no time to punch in the code. And it sure wasn’t tactically safe for me to alert my father to the fact that I was here. So I gripped the steering wheel, gritted my teeth, and watched as the speedometer needle in the SUV clocked a buck-ten.
Straight through those fucking gates.
37
Dani
I still couldn't process it. It was like my brain refused to accept the truth right in front of me. This dark, cold, wicked man who had sentenced me to death was Max’s father. What a fucking piece of work. This man held me captive like an animal. Tied to a chair, like a pig on a spit over a roasting fire. How in the world did the man I love come from this monstrous man? How was that even possible?
I didn’t see any part of Max in him. They didn’t look a bit alike. Right down to the fishy little lips on this asshole’s face.
Except for those eyes.
The man walked toward me, closing the distance between us. I felt sick to my stomach as the scent of his cologne approached. I wanted to slash him across the face with my nails. I wanted to tell him exactly what I thought of him. His men gave him a wide berth, stepping back the more he stepped forward. From beyond their sunglasses in the dead of night, I saw the fear in their eyes. The whites of their eyes, widening the more he approached me.
They were terrified of him.
And so was I.
“You really aren’t what I expected.”
He stopped in front of me and he was so close I felt his body heat.
“What did you expect? A model?”
He chuckled. “Nonsense. My son has never been into such trash before. But he usually does take his women a bit more… nonsensical.”
“You mean dumb?”
I looked up and saw his grin widening into a plastered-on smile.
“I suppose that’s an apt word, yes.”
I nodded. “I’ll take the compliment, then.”
“I wouldn’t be so quick to do that. You do have some traits my son seems to gravitate toward.”
I flicked my hair away from my face. “Yeah? Like what?”
“For starters, you’re a virgin. Or you were, at least. Correct?”
I froze. “Why the hell do you care about that?”
He sighed. “My son enjoys a few of the finer things. Not many of them. But he does have a taste for… soiling the innocent.”
“He didn’t soil me. If anything, he showed me who I truly am.”
“Oh? And are you proud of where this ‘new you’ is currently sitting?”
I wanted to kick this man right in his balls.
“At any rate, Max has always been selfish. Always thinking of himself before anyone else. I mean, if he had considered you--even for a second--the two of you would’ve never kicked anything off.”
I lunged at him. “I don’t give a shit what you think.”
He smacked me across the face. “Well, you very well should. Because even though you don’t like the reality of your current situation, that doesn’t make it any less real.”
My head wrenched to the side and I moaned in pain. Holy shit, that hurt. I groaned as I moved my jaw around. I felt something warm trickling against my skin. I whipped my head around and looked up, watching as this disgusting man pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket. Wiping his knuckles. Removing my blood from his hands before he slid a golden ring off his finger.
And began polishing it in front of me.
The rings. Didn’t Max say something about rings?
“I must confess, it would’ve been interesting getting to know you.”
I snickered. “Enjoy that one-way road by yourself.”
He slipped his ring back on. “But desperate times call for desperate measures. And Max never did enjoy learning lessons as a child. He was my most stubborn one. Then again, all younger children are. Or so I’ve been told.”
He tossed his handkerchief onto my lap and I parted my legs, watching it fall to the concrete at my feet.
“So, I suppose we should get right to it, yes?” he asked.
I shrugged. “You’re the one obviously stalling for time.”
His eye twitched. “Is that so, little bird?”
“If anything, I’m a little deer. But who’s keeping track?”
“My, my. You really do have a mouth on you.”
He cocked his hand back and I flinched. My fear took hold and I cowered away from the man. I didn't want to give in to my fear. I didn’t want to show him how absolutely frightened I was.
But I also didn’t want to be hit again.
“A good beating always solved things with my oldest son. John. I believe you’ve already met him.”
The man put his hand down and my heart broke for the two brothers.
“He was always so… nosy. I really had to do a number on him to get him to find his place. Max didn’t take to that, though. He never liked staying in his lane.”
I nodded. “Sounds like the Max I love.”
He sighed. “Ah, young love. It’s always so romanticized. Tell me, Miss Young. Is this romantic to you?”
He held out his arms as my eyes scaled his body.
“I don’t know. I guess, in the right context, this could be considered foreplay.”
I heard one of the bodyguards let out a small bout of laughter. And as quick as lightning, Max’s father had his gun out. He pointed it at one of the men in back and pulled the trigger, causing me to scream out. My eyes widened. I watched the shadowed man drop to his knees. I heard him gurgling. And as my eyes widened, I watched him fall face-first into the grass as dark liquid tainted the ground beneath him.
“Anyway, where were we?”
I drew in ragged breaths, trying my best not to panic. But I couldn't pull my eyes away from the man on the ground.
“Holy shit, you killed him,” I said breathlessly.
“Focus, little bird. We don’t have much time.”
My eyes whipped up to his. “You killed him!”
“And you’re not giving any consideration as to why I brought you here tonight?”
I’m so sick and tired of being compared to hunted animals.
“I take it you’re going to tell me. So get it over with,” I said.
His frown grew on his face as he walked toward me. I leaned away from him, but it didn’t get me out of the way of his touch. His finger traced along my jawline, where his knuckles had connected with my face. He brushed something away and I winced. Then he cupped my cheek.
Making me jerk away from his touch.
“Don’t you dare,” I growled.
He patted my cheek softly, causing me to wince.
“I have recently discovered that you are quite special to my son. Which is interesting
, since it’s been so long for him. I haven’t had any access to any real leverage against my son. Max keeps himself locked up tight. Like a vault. Again, not like my eldest. Not like John. John was easy to manipulate.”
I shook my head. “You’re a monster.”
He nodded. “I suppose most would consider me as such. But that’s not the point. The point is, now I have you.”
He turned around and faced me with a wolfish grin on his face.
“I now have access to leverage in Max’s life. Through you. And I’ve waited years for it. That boy has defied me for far too long. He’s disobeyed me for far too many years, has hated me his entire life. He never did learn to fear me the way his brother did. To respect me, the way John does. All he ever wanted was to be what I’m not.”
I hissed. “Because he’s better than you. And he always will be.”
The man chuckled. “No. Because he’s a fool. Because he doesn’t have what it takes to be something more. Because he’s willing to let other people overshadow him while he plays in the kiddie pool with his little Red Thorns. Destroying what I created. Dismantling what I willingly handed over to his brother.”
I blinked. “You created the Red Thorns?”
He put his hand over his heart. “Oh, that wounds me. I see Max doesn’t talk much about it.”
I shrugged. “I didn’t even know what you looked like until just now. I still don’t know your name.”
“Such rudeness. Allow me. My name is Ashton Ryddle. At one point in time, I was the president and owner of the Red Thorns. I created them after leaving a crew I was part of. Want to know why I left?”
“Because you’re a monster and they wanted no part of your existence?”
He snickered. “So judgmental. But no. I left because I wanted no part in their drug smuggling operations. Not quite my taste in crime.”
“A murderer with morals. How quaint.”
“Do you know what they did to me, little bird?”
“Deer.”
He took a step toward me. “They chained me to the ground, like an animal. They beat me. Kicked me. Gagged me, so I could barely breathe. They took hot irons from a fireplace and burned their tattoos clear off my back. Leaving nothing but roped, thick, disgusting scars I walk around with every fucking day of my life.”
I bit my tongue as I heard the man’s anger growing in his voice.
“I paid a high price to leave that club. To leave them behind. To this day, I’m the only person to walk away from them. And in my anger, I focused. I established the Red Thorns and ushered them into greatness. I did so well with them that it opened up other doors for me in the business world. Other doors I would’ve much rather walked through. So it only made sense to pass the crew onto my eldest.”
I grimaced. “You mean, the one you can control.”
“Of course. It’s my club, after all. At their peak, those men made five figures a month with contract work and running weapons. Dealing in shipping artifacts from continent to continent. They were living the high life. Until John decided to get himself wrapped up in a turf war.”
I blinked. “Is that why he walks with a cane?”
He waved his hand in the air. “Ah, some shooting. Some accidents. A coma, I think. He really should’ve known his limits better. Left him unable to ride his stupid bike, so of course he handed my precious club over to Max.”
“The one who doesn’t listen.”
Anger filled his face. “He defies me at every turn. Barges into my home like he owns this place. Demands money and clients and payment as if he actually had any power. Well, he wouldn’t have any of that power without me. Without my efforts. Without my sacrifice!”
I tugged at the bonds on my wrists. “If you knew Max at all, you’d know none of that is true. He cares about those men. About that club. He does what’s best for them, even if it means sacrificing himself.”
His eyes met mine. “Is that what you really think?”
“That’s what I know.”
He walked over and crouched down in front of me.
“Do you love him, little bird?”
I blinked. “What?”
He gripped my chin. “You heard me. Do you love him?”
I swallowed. “No.”
He smiled. “Liar.”
I stayed quiet as panic gripped my soul. I saw evil in this man’s eyes. They weren’t Max’s eyes at all. The only thing they shared was color. And that sure as hell didn’t make them alike. His hand slid against my cheek. I gritted my teeth to keep the pain at bay as I felt it swelling. His fingertips played with the tendrils of my hair as he twisted one around his index finger. I tried to shake him off, but his finger didn’t move. I tried to lean back, but he only came closer. Until his abs sat against my knees and his disgusting breath pulsed against my face.
“In my line of work, little bird, I’ve become gifted at spotting a liar. At watching for the tells. A fluttering at the throat as the pulse quickens.”
His finger slid out of my hair and pressed against the pulse point on my neck.
“Or maybe a brief reflex. A twitch of the finger. A quirk of the lip. A widening of the pupil for the briefest moment.”
His finger ran up my neck. Along my jawline. Until he traced my lower lip. I leaned away from him as far as I could get. I felt my chair teetering along the edge of the pool as the two front legs came up. I felt his free hand grip the leg of the chair. He tilted me back quickly and I yelped. He dangled me there, my hair touching the top of the water as I wiggled and strained for dear life.
Then he brought my chair back down onto all fours as he snarled, “You love him, little bird. I know you do. Don’t you dare convince yourself that you can lie to me and get away with it. Many people have made that mistake in the past, and it’s gotten them killed. And it will be your undoing.”
My eyebrows rose. “My lie? Or my love?”
His eye twitched. “Both.”
I felt my fear morphing. It spiraled in my gut and fogged up my brain. I kept tugging at my restraints, only feeling them grow tighter as my hands started to tingle. I couldn't wiggle my toes any longer. I felt trapped, like the small animal I had become to these people. And as my tears betrayed my solid façade, I fought to stay in control, to blink them back, to keep a strong outer force against this terrible man as his hand came up to my face.
He wiped away a tear that escaped the side of my eye.
“Don’t cry,” he whispered. “This will all be over soon.”
My lower lip quivered. He stood up and turned his back to me, his hand in the air. With a snap of his fingers, the bodyguards moved. They moved to the body still lying on the grass. The smell of blood and sweat filled the air around me. I closed my eyes, not wanting to see them drag that poor man off. I listened to his body sliding across the grass as more tears leaked down my face. I was in hell. This was what hell felt like.
And I wondered if anyone knew I was even here.
When the shuffling around stopped, I slowly opened my eyes. It took a second for them to adjust through my tears. But when they did, I found myself alone. His father wasn’t there any longer. I saw none of the bodyguards. It was just me, this stupid chair, these damn leather bonds, and the very dark puddle in the grass.
That had drag marks leading back to the mansion.
What are they going to do with him?
I started tugging again. As furiously as I could. I didn’t know what else to do, and I prayed that one of the knots would come undone with enough manipulation. I craned my neck back to see if I could figure out how the knot was tied. But the more I shifted around, the closer the back legs of my chair got to the edge of the pool. They came so dangerously close that I felt the chair wobble, causing me to cry out.
And as I leaned forward, trying with all my might to keep myself from falling into that damn pool, I smelled something in the air. A stench I couldn't place. One that wrinkled my nose, curled my toes, and brought my eyes to the sky.
Smoke.
I saw smoke rising into the air. Thick, black, heavy smoke coming from a chimney at the side of the mansion. The smell was rancid. It made my stomach turn over onto itself as I sat there, begging myself to wake up from this nightmare. And as my watery gaze fell back onto the pool of blood in the grass, I put two and two together.
Causing me to vomit between my legs.
38
Max
The gates blew open as I soared through at over a hundred miles an hour. I grunted as the tires rumbled over the spikes that shot up from the concrete. I heard guns firing. I heard the dents in the outside of the SUV getting deeper and deeper. But this was one of my father’s SUVs, so I knew it was decked out with the best of the best.
Things like flat-proof tires. Bulletproof windows. Double metal coats to catch hollow-pointed bullets.
I’m coming for you, Dad.
The gunfire kept up until I heard a bullet penetrate the car. I ducked down, trying not to let up on the gas pedal as I careened into one of the apple trees. The entire front of the car dented. I swerved out of the way, scraping the entire length of the car on the passenger’s side. Guns kept firing. I heard my tires screaming for mercy as the bullets penetrated to the core of the tire.
Forcing me to race away on the rims.
“Come on. Come on, you piece of shit.”
I heard the apple tree crash behind me. The gunfire stopped and men started yelling. I skidded to the stairs of the porch as the rims of the car started sparking. I hoped the damn thing burst into flames and took the entire mansion down with it. With my father trapped inside. I slammed the door open and raced up the porch, listening as men sprinted up the driveway.
They wouldn’t catch me, though.