Sinister Shadows

by Brittany Cournoyer

  “Why? You’re an attractive man, Pierce. I’m sure you could have anyone you wanted.”

  “I didn’t want anyone else. I wanted you. We’re meant to be together, Duncan. The sooner you accept it, the better we’ll both be.”

  “How can we be together if I’m already married to someone else?” Lucas blurted out.

  Pierce’s eyes snapped to his and flashed in anger. “That’s enough questions for now. I need to pack.”

  “Pack? Where are you going?”

  Pierce stood up and walked toward the closet. “We are finally doing what we should have done when I first brought you home.”

  “What is that?” Lucas wasn’t sure he really wanted to know.

  The smile on Pierce’s face was cold. “We’re going on our honeymoon.”

  Lucas wanted to protest, but he was paralyzed on the bed and couldn’t even open his mouth to utter a sound. He knew what’d happen with Pierce if they left. Any hope of him ever being found and returning to Shaw would be lost. His heart broke as he finally accepted the fact that he’d never see his loving husband ever again—if he was even still alive.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Getting Duncan into the car wasn’t easy, since Duncan offered no assistance walking down the stairs. When Pierce started to sweat after Duncan kept dragging his feet, he finally had to resort to lethal measures. It was time Duncan learned who he was married to. With a low, vicious growl, Pierce released the grip he had on Duncan’s wrist and wrapped his hand around Duncan’s throat, shoving him into the wall.

  “Enough,” he hissed in Duncan’s face. “I know you can fucking walk. Now, if you don’t want me to wind up a widower, I suggest you stop fighting me and walk your ass down these stairs.” He tightened his grip on Duncan’s throat, and Duncan’s eyes widened as he struggled to gasp for air. Pierce stepped even closer and kept their eyes locked together. “Do. You. Understand?”

  “Can’t…breathe,” Duncan choked out.

  “Then fucking nod your goddamn head.” His tone was lethal.

  Duncan’s eyes glistened with tears as Pierce continued to add pressure to his throat. Finally, he jerked his head down before moving it back up, and Pierce loosened his hold. “That’s what I thought. Now move.”

  Duncan sucked in a deep breath before he started to slowly make his way down the stairs. Pierce noted how his body shook with every step he took, and Pierce reveled in the fact he had finally gained the upper hand when it came to his husband. No more Mr. Nice Guy. The loving, doting husband was gone.

  A few minutes later, Pierce shoved Duncan in the car and stowed their bag in the back seat. Pierce watched the war play out on Duncan’s face while Pierce started the car and pulled away. It was only a matter of time before a question would be asked, and Pierce was intrigued to hear which one it’d be. He didn’t have to wait long.

  “What happened to Shaw?” Duncan asked as they drove down the road.

  Pierce sighed and gritted his teeth together. Out of all the questions, it had to be that one? He hated that Duncan remembered his other husband and still cared about the bastard.

  “He’s not your concern, Duncan. I am. Just forget about Shaw and Lucas Wheeler. They are no more. What you need to focus on is us—Pierce and Duncan Reynolds.”

  Pierce gripped the wheel as the SUV sped down the street. He had a specific destination in mind, and it would take at least three hours to get there.

  “Where are we going?”

  “Has anyone ever told you that you’re extremely nosy?” Pierce asked.

  “Can you blame me? I just got my memory back, so it’s a lot to take in. Of course I have questions.”

  “I’ll tell you what. I’ll answer one question for you right now—except for the two you just asked—so make it count.”

  Duncan’s throat worked, and he swallowed, causing the red, angry marks on his neck to stand out even more. Pierce didn’t feel the tiniest bit of guilt that he had to finally show Duncan who he really was. Duncan had pushed him time and again, and he’d finally had enough.

  “What’s your real name?”

  Pierce sighed at the question. Why did real names matter? They were Pierce and Duncan Reynolds now, not Lucas Wheeler and… “Damien. It’s Damien Pierce Scherrer.”

  Pierce took his eyes off the road for a second to see Duncan’s reaction. All he did was lick the lips Pierce longed to kiss and nod slightly. “I like the name Damien.”

  “Too bad he doesn’t exist anymore. It’s Pierce. You’re Duncan. End of story.”

  “You never finished your story.”

  Pierce raised an eyebrow as he flipped on his turn signal. “What story is that?”

  “How you caught me.”

  A harsh chuckle burst from Pierce’s lips as he slowed the SUV down to turn. Even though the locks were engaged, he didn’t trust Duncan enough to stop the car completely. “I didn’t catch you. I brought you home.”

  “How, though?”

  “You already know how.”

  “I want to hear your version. Maybe my returned memory is skewed.”

  Pierce sighed again. He knew in his gut that Duncan’s memory wasn’t wrong, but maybe telling Duncan his side of things would help convince him they were meant to be. It was worth a shot, and besides, they were stuck in the car for a while, so he might as well keep his audience captive as much as possible.

  “You didn’t come easily, that’s for sure. I knew the second I saw you that we were supposed to be together. It didn’t matter there were obstacles in the way—they were no match for me and my determination.”

  “Obstacles like Shaw and the fact that he and I married?”

  Pierce scoffed. “You’re married on paper only. I followed you for four weeks, Duncan. I know more about you than you do.”

  “You forgot about my strawberry allergy and how my favorite color is blue,” Duncan dared to point out.

  Pierce rolled his eyes. “Those are insignificant things. What I know is bigger than that. I know you’re both in debt up to your eyeballs and on the verge of filing bankruptcy. I know you were in marriage counseling and you thought that Shaw was having an affair because of your insecurities. I know Shaw’s been unemployed since his job was outsourced to a company in another state, and he hasn’t been able to find one since, meaning you’re footing all the bills and it’s been a strain—not only on you but your marriage. I even know how long it’s been since you two had sex. I know everything.”

  Duncan paled at Pierce’s words. “You…you were very thorough.”

  “I’m the best at my job, and having a reason to investigate as diligently I did made me even better. You two might’ve been married legally, but we’re married spiritually. In the past few weeks that you’ve been recovering, we’ve acted more like husbands than you and Shaw have in months. Forget about him, Duncan. He’s a distant memory you need to tuck far away in the back of your mind. I’m your future now, and he’s your past.”

  Duncan’s throat worked some more as if he were swallowing the dose of reality Pierce had given him. He didn’t respond to Pierce’s words, and Pierce didn’t expect him to. His answer had been loaded with more information than he was sure Duncan had expected to hear, and Pierce knew he needed time to process it.

  When they were halfway to their destination, a chiming in the car had Pierce groaning. He needed to stop at the gas station. He didn’t want to stop, since he had Duncan out in public, but he had no choice. Turning into the first station he saw, he pulled up to the pump and groaned when he saw a note on it: Card reader broken. Please see clerk inside.

  Fuck. Going inside was the last thing he wanted to do, but he had no choice. He didn’t trust leaving Duncan alone in the car, but his only other option was to take him inside. The decision wasn’t easy to make, since neither was a good one, but he knew it was time to show Duncan he still had the upper hand.

  Pierce opened the car door before turning around to face Duncan. “I will be right inside that stor
e, but I will be able to see every move you make. You try any funny business, and I will kill you. Do you understand?”

  Duncan swallowed audibly and gave a jerky nod.

  “Say the words out loud.”

  “I…I understand.”

  Duncan’s voice sounded wooden, and his shoulders were tight. Good. He received the message loud and clear.

  “I’ll be right back.”

  Pierce slammed the door shut and walked around the front of the SUV to head toward the gas station. He kept his stare on Duncan until he walked inside the store. As he stepped up to the counter to pay, he made sure to periodically look at Duncan to make sure he wasn’t up to no good. Each time he checked, Duncan had his eyes facing forward.

  “Need help with something?” the cashier, an older man with a gravelly voice, asked.

  “I need some gas, but the card reader isn’t working,” Pierce answered. He gestured toward the pump and looked again at Duncan.

  “Damn thing’s been on the fritz for weeks,” the man grumbled. “This entire dump is falling apart.”

  Even though he wasn’t in the mood to chat, Pierce felt compelled to comment. “Maybe the owner can order some new equipment and spruce the place up.”

  “I am the owner, and I’m not fixing anything. The minute this place falls apart, I can retire.”

  Pierce chuckled. “That’s the best retirement plan I’ve ever heard of.”

  The old man grumbled and accepted the card Pierce handed him. Pierce glanced at Duncan while he waited for the slow reader to accept the transaction. After a few beeps, the machine spit out a small receipt.

  “Do you need a receipt?” the gruff man asked.

  “Nope.”

  “Sign here, then.” He handed Pierce a pen.

  Pierce quickly scrawled his name and exited the store. Duncan appeared to not have moved an inch, and Pierce was beginning to wonder if maybe his scare tactic had finally broken through to his husband. Hopefully, Duncan had accepted the fact that his old life was gone and the life he was making with Pierce was the one he’d be living from that point on.

  After pumping his gas, Pierce climbed back inside the SUV and slammed the door shut, causing Duncan to jump a little in the seat.

  “Ready?” Pierce asked.

  Duncan slowly nodded. “Yes.”

  Pierce wanted to crook his finger at Duncan and tell him to lean across the console. He wanted to meet him halfway, press his lips against Duncan’s pouty ones, and run his tongue across the seam until he could sweep in and lick inside Duncan’s mouth. But he didn’t. Even though he was starting to get Duncan’s submission, he didn’t want to press his luck. He could be a patient man, but he was determined to bed his husband before the week was over.

  For that to happen, Duncan would need a little more persuading to forget his past.

  “It sure is a shame what happened to your car,” Pierce said, and finally, he had Duncan’s full attention.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Lucas’s head snapped to the left, and he rested his eyes on Pierce. The look on Pierce’s face was one Lucas had never seen before. The grin was wicked, and his eyes were black and cold. An involuntary shiver shot down Lucas’s spine, and he had to grit his teeth to keep them from chattering.

  “Wh-what happened to my car?”

  “It was a shame you guys had to sell your black Jeep. It made sense, since the vehicle was a gas-guzzler and you two could share a vehicle while Shaw looked for work. But the sedan you guys kept was older and not so reliable. Systems fail all the time, and older cars seem to fall apart.”

  Lucas had a hard time comprehending what he was hearing. “The car wasn’t that old, and we’d just gotten it serviced.”

  Pierce shrugged. “It was old enough. And brake lines can blow at any time.” He continued talking through Lucas’s gasp. “It’s a real shame how unreliable brakes can be. You go to slow down, and your foot hits the floor. Before you know it, you’re slamming into the car in front of you, or…”

  “Or?” Lucas asked hesitantly.

  “You’re going over a guardrail.”

  Lucas’s hand shot up to cover his mouth, and he choked back a sob. “No.” He shook his head wildly. “Please tell me you’re joking.”

  “Obstacles can easily be removed if you’re determined enough.”

  Lucas stared at Pierce in shock as the weight of the words settled over him. If what he was saying was true…no. Lucas refused to believe Shaw was dead. He couldn’t be. They still had a lifetime to spend together. As soon as Lucas was free from Pierce and this entirely fucked up situation, they’d be together again.

  Numb. That was the only way Lucas could describe how he was feeling as the car continued down the road. The numbness he felt over the possibility of losing Shaw outweighed the fear. He was too shocked to even cry, but he knew tears wouldn’t do any good. Crying would mean admitting to himself that Shaw was gone, and it’d also piss Pierce off. So rather than cry, he just sat there, completely still and emotionless, even though inside he was filled with nothing but pain and turmoil.

  “It’s just you and me now, Duncan. Once you accept that we’re meant to be together, you’ll realize how much happier you’ll be with me instead of him.”

  Every time Pierce referred to him as Duncan, Lucas wanted to cringe. He wanted to remind Pierce that his name was Lucas, but he didn’t dare. He could still hear Pierce threatening to kill him in his mind so, he kept his mouth shut.

  As they continued down the road, the tension was thick and heavy in the car, and Lucas’s mind whirled as he tried to think of different scenarios to flee. Jumping out at a stop sign or red light. Catching Pierce by surprise and sucker punching him before slamming Pierce’s head into the steering wheel, knocking him out. Each one seemed plausible, but Lucas was too scared to try anything. What if he failed and only succeeded in making the entire situation worse?

  Pierce had shown time and again how psychotic he truly was, and if Lucas tried to flee, what was to stop Pierce from running the car off the road? No, he had to force himself to relax and try to come up with a plan. The longer they drove, the plan started to come together in his mind. He didn’t think he’d have the stomach to pull it off, but he had no other choice but to try.

  “We’re almost there, Tiger,” Pierce said after a while.

  Lucas squelched the urge to wince at the nickname as a memory hit him with so much force it was almost hard for him to breathe.

  “I can’t believe you’re dragging me to the zoo,” Shaw said ruefully as they pulled into the parking lot.

  “It was my turn to pick our date, and you said I could choose anywhere I wanted,” Lucas reminded him.

  “I know, I just haven’t been to the zoo since I was a kid.”

  Lucas gave Shaw a huge smile. “Me either. This will be fun for us.”

  “You’re really excited about this, aren’t you?”

  Lucas nodded. “You know how much I love animals, and think about how much fun it’ll be when we come back here again with our own kids.”

  Shaw flashed Lucas a smile of his own. “Which animals are you most excited about seeing?”

  Lucas didn’t hesitate. “The tigers.”

  Shaw leaned over and gave his husband a quick kiss on his lips. “You’re a tiger.”

  “I’m your tiger.”

  Lucas swallowed and blinked rapidly to stave off the tears that burned his eyes. “Where’s here?” he finally asked.

  “Boulder Lake.”

  Lucas’s anxiety rose a bit higher at the answer. It was bad enough being confined to a house in the middle of nowhere, but at least there was the possibility of neighbors being nearby or cars driving down the road that he could’ve flagged down for help if he managed to escape. But a lake? As they continued down the road, Lucas could see the lake off to the left. The sun glittered off the cerulean surface like diamonds, inviting any passerby to stop and dip their toes in the cool water. As they drove past, Lucas didn’t s
ee anyone sunning on the shore or prepping a boat to take it for a ride. From what he could see as he looked out the window, there were no signs of anyone else around. Lucas would be in complete isolation once again.

  Pierce turned the car down a dirt path that anyone else could’ve easily passed as they drove by. The farther they continued down the road, the more Lucas’s fear and anxiety increased. He was beginning to wonder if Pierce was even taking him to a house or if he was taking him out to the woods to kill him. He wasn’t sure which one would be more welcoming. Either option seemed dismal. Shaw was probably dead, if what Pierce had said was true, and he didn’t want to be Pierce’s prisoner again. Maybe death was the best option.

  Lucas started mentally preparing himself for his untimely death and wallowed the fact that no one would even know he was gone. His parents—who were very much alive—were living out of state helping his sister with her infant twins while her husband was stationed overseas with the military. And it wasn’t like he was exactly close with them. He saw them at weddings, funerals, and holidays, but it wasn’t like they spoke daily. Weeks and months would pass before they exchanged a few words over the phone. Would they really miss him if he was gone? He doubted it. Any friends he and Shaw had were busy with their own lives, and they saw them few and far between when they had time to meet up for a quick dinner every few months. No one probably knew he was missing, so why would they be looking for him?

  Lucas had finally accepted that death was the way to go when a small cabin came into view. It was nestled deep in the woods, and the word cabin was an overstatement. It looked like a shack, and it probably had enough space for a small bed and possibly a toilet. Was there running water or electricity?

  “We’re home,” Pierce said cheerfully as he pulled up to the cabin and parked the SUV.

  “How’d you find this place?” Lucas blurted out.

  Pierce shut off the car, unlocked his door, and pushed it open. “Don’t you worry about that. It’s our home for the time being. Let’s go.”