by Lane Hart
"We'll do it," I agree automatically.
"I have to warn you that you’ll be putting yourselves in danger, and we won't be able to do shit about that since we’ll be a minimum of twenty minutes away."
"I'm in," I tell him. "Mace?"
"Yeah,” he agrees, blowin’ out his breath. “I’ve been to his place plenty of times."
"Hell, I can't miss out on all the fun," Senn says, gettin’ to his feet and crackin’ his knuckles. "Let's go pay a visit to the Godfather."
Chapter Eighteen
Claire
There's no clock in the room, so time seems to stand still. I don't know if it's day or night, because the blinding overhead lights never go off. I hear voices all around me, but thankfully, no one has been in the room since Vito and James left what seemed like hours ago, maybe days. The door’s locked; and even if I got it open, I can tell by the voices that someone’s always around. My stomach has stopped growling. I'm not even hungry anymore. I'm afraid to sleep but unable to stay awake, so I drift in and out of consciousness. The two times I had to pee and just couldn't hold it any longer, I went and took care of business in the far corner of the room. God, how embarrassing! I guess I could've asked them to let me go use the bathroom, but a part of me was scared to remind them I'm in here. At least all the tears I've shed worried about Mandy will hopefully dehydrate me so I won't have to go again, and I can just remain in here, alone and forgotten.
My luck runs out sooner than I hoped. When the door opens, I hold my breath and pretend to be asleep.
"Rise and shine, Miss Reed." The sound of his voice instantly puts me on edge. "I know you're not asleep. There are cameras in here. So we can do this the easy way or the hard way."
I don't move. I'm not sure I have the energy to even if I wanted.
"My informant at the hospital tells me your sister crashed for the third time in twelve hours. Maybe we should just tell him to go ahead and pull the plug-"
"No!" I scream, sitting up in bed. If she’s still crashing…she might not make it much longer. And it’s Linc’s fault that’s she’s there and I’m here. No, that’s not exactly true. I’m just angry and depressed. From the shit James has been saying, this is what Vito’s wanted ever since the first video – me to be Eve. Linc kicking James’s ass is just an excuse.
"Oh good. You're awake,” Vito says with a smirk. “Let's get on with it. We'll start simple, ease you into it to show you I can be accommodating, if you can. Today’s a short, solo teaser scene to get you...comfortable with the camera."
"I want to see her," I tell him.
"All right. Do your scene like we say, and afterwards I'll have my man at the hospital show her live on FaceTime. I bet her condition will be drastically improved by then. Deal?" he asks with his slimy grin widening, since he knows there's nothing else I can do. After I give a slight nod of my head, he says, "Get her undressed and on set. Quickly. I want us to roll in five."
James, and oh God, Bobby Manus come into the room, one moving to each side of the bed. "I-I can undress myself!" I yell to Vito as he starts to walk out the door.
"Yeah, but they'll have more fun doing it," he calls out over his shoulder. "Don't leave any marks on her."
Bobby’s hand grips firmly on my leg and pulls me toward him as I try and move further up the bed. Before my shoe comes off there's a heavy weight pressing on my stomach, pushing the air out of my lungs. James. My eyes are watering when I start swinging at his face, but he grabs my wrists and pins then above my head. Squeezing both of them painfully in one of his hands, the other yanks on the center of my dress shirt, tearing the fabric and ripping buttons off. I cry out when he leans down and puts one of my breasts in his mouth over the cup of my bra. My steady stream of tears turn to sobs as he reaches to pop the button on my pants. He has them unzipped a second later. Starting at my ankles, they're tugged down my legs, and then my panties are ripped away. James’s fingers fondle me between my legs, despite how tightly I squeeze my thighs together and try to get away. "Oh fuck. I can't wait to pound my cock into this pussy," he says. "Help me get her shirt off."
"Put her on her stomach," I vaguely hear Bobby suggest, and then I'm flipped face down on the mattress with James's weight pressing on my lower body. It doesn't take long for them to jerk my long sleeve shirt and bra off, then I'm left naked on my stomach while they both feel me up. Their greedy hands seem to be everywhere.
"Ah shit. I’ve got to fuck her. Won't take but a minute," James says, making me panic. I try to raise up and throw him off of me, but he won’t budge. “Get out your phone and record it.”
"Hell, if you get to fuck her, then I am, too. Hurry up," Bobby says.
Between my sobs and the fear, I’m about to hyperventilate. James’s hard cock protrudes through the material of his pants, wedging its way between my butt cheeks. His grasp on my wrists above my head is so tight it feels like he might break them. I hear the sound of his zipper going down and then feel the head of his cock rubbing against my skin, trying to shove its way inside me. When I clench my thighs tighter together he curses and tries to wedge them apart with his knee. I refuse to budge an inch, ignoring my screaming muscles.
“Help me spread her fucking legs,” he says, his sour smelling breath hot and heavy above my neck. “Goddamn it, she won’t stay still.”
“Here.” I hear Bobby say. “This might help.” I gasp and freeze when cold metal slides down my spine.
“Damn, right. Bet you’ll think twice before fighting now,” James says. “Now spread your legs.”
"That's enough," Vito says, and the breath I was holding comes rushing out. I never thought I would be so glad to hear that asshole’s voice. "I think Miss Reed has learned the difference between the easy way and hard way for future reference, haven't you?"
"Let me go," I cry out. "Please let me go."
"Come on, Vito. We need to break her in,” James says with his hand going back between my legs. “You can go first. It’ll be so fucking good.”
"Put the fucking gun away and stop recording. I’ll get shut down if it got out that we rape our goddamn stars,” the older man says. “Keep your dicks in your pants and get her to the set."
"Fuck," James grumbles, but thankfully climbs off of me.
Bobby pulls me across the bed by my ankle and then throws me over his shoulder. I dry heave from the pressure on my empty stomach.
“If you throw up on me, I’ll make you lick it off,” Bobby warns.
"Hurry up," Vito tells him. When Bobby tries to walk past him, he pulls the man to a stop and grabs my face to make me look at him. “Now her face is a goddamn mess, but thankfully it’s a shower scene,” he says.
The next time my feet hit the ground it’s in front of a big glass stand up shower, the water steaming up the air from the warmth. There’s a man with a camera, and a huge lamp and microphone arranged overhead. He has to be fucking kidding.
“In you go,” Vito says with a slap to my bare ass. “You can either let us video you, happily getting yourself off alone, or I’ll have one of the guys do it. Maybe James. With his tongue. Easy way or hard way? Your choice, darlin’.”
…
Linc
I bang my knuckles against the fancy mahogany and mosaic glass door of the big ass house after I ring the doorbell. What little patience I had is long gone ever since the sun came up. I will fuckin’ kill someone with my bare hands if that's what it takes to find Claire.
The door finally swings opens and a pretty young girl with curly blonde, waist length hair smiles at the three of us. She's the furthest thing from Scarfone's thugs you could possibly get. In fact, she looks like she should be walkin’ down some runway with my sister instead of standin’ in a mafia boss’s house. The girl is also vaguely familiar, but I can’t quite place her.
"Hello, boys. Can I do something for you?" she asks with a flirty smile, despite the fact that the three of us are standin’ in front of her projecting nothin’ but exhaustion, anger, and extreme anno
yance.
"Who the fuck are you?" I ask, not givin’ a shit about my attitude.
Her smile slips, and she pushes a strand of hair behind her ear nervously. "Lexi. Lexi Scarfone."
"Vito's daughter, right?" Mace speaks up from beside me.
"Uh-huh."
"We're lookin’ for his sister, Claire Reed. Is she here?" I ask, right to the point.
"Claire Reed? Nope, the name doesn’t ring any bells," she says with a shake of her head.
"Mace, can you show her that picture on your phone?" I hope seein’ her face might help.
He pulls out his cell his pocket and offers it to her.
"Eve?" she says, her eyes widenin’ as soon as she looks down. "So, her real name is Claire?"
"No, Mandy Reed is actually Eve. She's in the hospital, and Claire, who looks a helluva lot like her younger sister, is missin’," I explain, glancin’ over her shoulder into the house to see if there’s anyone else around. Unlike the night of the party, the whole place looks empty. No other cars are in the driveway, either.
"Sorry, but I haven't seen either of them. Well, not since my dad's party a week or so ago. I think I saw one of them there."
“Yeah, that was Claire,” I confirm. “Where’s Vito?"
She tilts her head to the side and gives a small smile. “No clue. Daddy doesn’t usually let me in on his day-to-day schedule, not unless he needs my help of course.”
“Any idea where we could look for him?” Mace asks, and she swings her big, innocent, chocolate eyes over to him.
“Probably at one of his places? There’s the pool hall, bar and brewery downtown, three sweepstakes centers, gambling hole, fighting pit.” She ticks them off on her fingers as she goes through the list. “Oh, and last but not least, the porn studio.”
That last one sends an almost painful jolt of alarm through me.“What’s the address for the studio?” I ask.
“Um, I have no idea,” the girl says; and unfortunately, I believe her. “It should be in the phone book though, under VS Productions.”
Mace and I both start punchin’ in the words in our phones. “Got it, thank you,” I say to her, then to Mace and Senn, “Six thousand-nine Snow Hill Road. Let’s go.”
As soon as we’re back inside Senn’s truck, I ask for the sake of the wires, “Did you hear that, Detective? We’re going to the studio.” My cell phone buzzes before we pull out of the driveway with his response.
Roger that. Be careful. Don’t get too cocky and get killed.
“What…why do you think she’d be there?” Mace asks hesitantly from behind Senn’s seat.
“You really gonna make me say it?” I ask him, my fist grippin’ the truck’s Oh Shit handle so tightly my knuckles are white. Mace doesn’t respond other than cursin’ under his breath. I tell Senn to drive faster.
So this is the reason Vito wanted everyone to think Claire is the one dyin’ in the ICU instead of Mandy. He can’t have anything bad happen to his famous porn star, now can he? So what’s he doin’? The fucker’s must be tryin’ to make Claire the new Eve, replacin’ the old version for a healthier one, without anyone findin’ out. That shit’s never gonna happen.
Oh God, what if it already has? She’s been gone for hours and…there’s no tellin’ what he’s doin’ to her. I’ll fuckin’ kill him.
Fifteen miles or so later, the address on my phone’s GPS directs us to a huge, unmarked warehouse. “You think this is it?” I ask Senn and Mace.
“Guess so,” Mace says as we all climb out of the truck and start lookin’ for a door. When we finally find the single door, I turn the handle; but it’s locked. I bang my knuckles on it, so loud it sounds like it shakes the whole building. I’m poised to knock again when it finally pushes outwardly open, forcin’ the three of us to take a step back.
An average lookin’ man in jeans and a tee with a recedin’ hairline squints his eyes at us before asking, “Mace, what are you doing here?”
“Hey, Bobby. We’re looking for Claire,” Mace tells him. “You seen her?”
“Nope.” He answers way too quickly, with a smile. He didn’t even fuckin’ think about it.
“You sure about that?” I ask, gettin’ into his face to let him know I’m not messin’ around.
“Linc Abrams, right?” The guy laughs. “Awesome getting to watch you fuck sweet, little Claire. You’re a lucky son of a bitch.”
I grab the front collar of his shirt and tighten my fist so the fabric is chokin’ him as I move him into the warehouse. “We’re comin’ in to look for her.”
The man’s hand moves along his side and then the barrel of a fuckin’ gun is diggin’ into my abs. “Get your hands off me now or I’ll blow a hole right through you and your friends,” he warns.
My entire body freezes, realizin’ just how close to death I am. I’ve never had a gun pulled on me before, and I admit it’s scary as fuck knowin’ a smaller, weaker man could easily take me, one of the best fighters in the world, out with just a little firepower. Now I know what the detective meant about bein’ too cocky. I never considered he’d have a gun. I’m sleep deprived and stressed the fuck out worried about Claire.
“Back off, Linc,” Mace warns, like I haven’t figured that shit out for myself. I force my fingers to let go of the asshole’s shirt, and he immediately retreats, still holdin’ his gun steadily on me. “Sorry, Bobby, we’re just worried about Claire and haven’t heard from her since last night. Will you let us know if you see her?” Mace asks tryin’ to diffuse the situation.
“Yeah,” the fucker smirks. “I’m sure she’s fine. In fact, I bet you’ll even be seeing her star in a few more films real soon. Don’t worry, Vito will take care of her and Mandy as long as you all stay the fuck away from here.”
Son of a bitch! It takes all of my restraint not to say fuck it and attack him, despite the threat of a gun.
“Now, if you know what’s good for ya, you’ll stay the fuck out of Vito’s way. Got it?” he asks.
Without respondin’, I turn and head back to the truck, hopin’ we’ve got enough recorded with the wire for the detective to get a warrant. As soon as we pull down the dusty road, I’m on my phone.
“She’s in there, and you’ve gotta get her out now!” I yell at the detective when he answers.
“Fuck. I know, I heard,” he responds, blowin’ out his breath. “We’ll take this to a superior court judge and see if they’ll give us a warrant.”
“You better do whatever the fuck it takes or we’ll load up and go back in there ourselves!”
“I’ve got my .40 on me,” Mace says from the back, makin’ me turn to look at him in shock. His head’s hangin’ in his hands when he adds, “Didn’t think it would do much good against however many fuckers are in there.”
“No! I’m gonna pretend I didn’t hear you or him say anything about guns,” the detective yells in my ear “If you do that, we’ll lose any element of surprise we’ve got and you’ll all end up dead. Get. The hell. Outta there. You need to let us handle Vito and his guys. We need to move Mandy to another hospital, ASAP. Her condition is…declining, so why don’t you all go help with that?”
“How long is it goin’ to take you? Who knows what the fuck-” My voice cracks with emotion unable to even think of what Claire might be goin’ through. I feel so goddamn impotent, not being able to storm into the warehouse and find her. Knowin’ she’s in there and I can’t help her…
“I promise you we’ll move as fast as possible, and I’ll call you with any updates. But you’ve got to leave this part to us and trust me. We have to do it right so we can lock these fuckers up for a long time.”
“Fine,” I say in resignation, knowin’ I don’t really have any other choice, and end the call.
“This is all your fucking fault,” Mace mutters, each of his words slicin’ through me. “Mandy is hanging on by a goddamn thread and Claire…she’s in there doing God only knows what…because of you.”
“I know and I’m sorry-”
/>
“Sorry isn’t gonna save my sisters!” he yells. “Fuck you and your apology. She’ll never fucking forgive you for this shit.”
Chapter Nineteen
Claire
My teeth are chattering against each other non-stop, my entire body shivering underneath the thin covers of the bed used not for comfortable sleeping, but for sex scenes. I’m groggy, barely able to hold my eyes open from exhaustion. I fight the pull of sleep, trying to force myself to stay awake.
After standing in the shower for who knows how long with a camera in my face, or more specifically, between my legs, Vito finally said I’d done an acceptable job of faking an orgasm. Then he finally let me see Mandy.
More tears slip down my cheeks, remembering how pitiful she was, lying in a hospital bed, unconscious with a tube down her throat, taped over her mouth, helping her breathe. She looked like she may never wake up, and it breaks my heart that I’m not there with her. I don’t know what they did to her, if they pumped her full of drugs or if someone in the hospital is working for Vito, keeping her sedated. At this point, I’m so cold, exhausted and emotionally drained that I’m starting to think I may never get out of here to see her.
The door opens and quickly closes again, making me go still as I listen to try and figure out who it is and what they want now. There’s not much fight left in me. I’m too tired and weak to even lift my head. I feel hopeless knowing that there’s absolutely nothing I can do for myself or for Mandy.
Vito appears before me, alone, with that stupid smug grin on his face. He reaches and runs a finger down the side of my face, making me recoil. “Good evenin’ darlin’,” he says. “Cold? Hungry? I’ll warm you up and then have them bring you something to eat. If you’re ready to sign some contracts and agree to my deal, maybe I’ll even give you a ride to the hospital.”