Jackson pulled out his cell phone and made a call. A couple minutes later he said, “Security is going to check the video and see if they can spot when this guy first showed up.”
“If they don’t see him entering or exiting then we’ll start counting heads,” Cade said. “See who disappeared and came back in disguise.”
Luc nodded. “Logan and I are going to stay here with Cassie.”
“We’ll bring you a change of clothes in the morning,” Cade said. “Are you armed?”
Logan grinned and Luc nodded. “We’ve got it covered,” Luc said.
* * * *
Cassie shivered then froze. She cracked her eyes open just far enough to be able to see the blinking lights of some kind of machine to her right. Inhaling a soft breath, she recognized the scents of a hospital then heard hushed voices to her left.
She listened to Luc and Logan as they speculated about what they thought had happened to her at the club. Apparently, they knew about the whip touching her and throwing her into one of her black outs. She could’ve told them they were right on the mark although they had no way of knowing about the memories that had overwhelmed her right before the world had faded away. There was no way she could ever tell them, or anyone else, what she’d remembered the fourth man telling her—that her dad had been a part of the cartel and he’d betrayed his team for money. She closed her eyes, and refused to let her tears fall.
Hearing another voice, Cassie held still and strained to hear what was being said. She wasn’t sure who the unknown speaker was until she heard Logan call him Doc. She listened as Doc explained to Luc and Logan that her memory was returning now because she was finally able to deal with the truth. He added that there was no way to know what she had remembered until she woke up and told them.
Cassie felt a fleeting moment of hope then knew she couldn’t live with herself if something happened to one of her friends because she withheld the truth. But, what if she remembered just enough to point them in the right direction? The only way she could keep her dad’s memory intact was to avoid being questioned. That left her with confessing and trusting them to believe she was guilty of all the things they had accused her of doing. That way they would never know that her dad had betrayed them, and Thor and the Ramseys would have the information they needed to find an enemy who was out to kill them all.
Closing her eyes, she wondered if there were still other things she would remember in the coming days and shivered. What she had already remembered was just about more than she could bear and knowing they would hate her after she confessed would take all the energy she had left.
* * * *
“Sugar, time to wake up now,” Luc said.
Cassie moaned then opened her eyes and saw Luc hanging over her. She reached up and slid her hand behind his neck then tugged him down and placed a little kiss on his lips. She smiled into his eyes, then blinked and looked around as she remembered what had happened and what she had decided to do. “What happened?”
Luc brushed his hand over her hair. “You’re safe, Cassandra. You’re in the hospital in Rendezvous. How are you feeling?”
Cassie scooted up and Luc adjusted the pillows beneath her head. “I’m thirsty.”
Luc reached for a clear cup with ice water in it then held the straw to her mouth. “Not too much, sugar.”
Cassie drank then asked, “Did I fall down? Did I hit my head?” She reached up and felt her head.
Luc took her hand and held it. “No, you didn’t hit your head. Do you remember what happened last night?”
“Last night?”
“Yes.” Luc narrowed his eyes. “What do you remember about last night?”
Cassie wrinkled her brow and pursed her lips. “I, uh, remember going to dinner at the hotel and I remember we went to the club.”
“That’s right. What else do you remember about going to the club?”
“Well, you and Logan went off and did ‘important things’ while I sat by myself and thought about my behavior.”
Logan had heard what she said as he entered the room. “Sugar, we were giving you time to think about why you were going to be punished. We let you watch other scenes while we worked. We could have locked you in a cage until it was time for your punishment.”
“I wish you would have, then that horrible man wouldn’t have dragged his whip over my shoulder and scared me half to death,” Cassie said before bursting into tears.
Luc and Logan surrounded her while she cried. The more they tried to comfort her the harder she cried until finally she got the hiccups and leaned against them. Then, she thought about how she had decided to lie to them and she began to cry again but this time soft hopeless tears.
“Cassie, it’ll be okay,” Logan said.
Cassie shook her head. “No, it won’t. I can’t do this. I just can’t.” She struggled to get away from them, but they held her tight. “You don’t understand. You don’t know what I know.”
“Then why don’t you tell us what you know, sugar?” Logan asked.
Cassie shook her head. “No, I want everyone to hear what I have to say. I only want to have to say it once before you have me arrested.”
“Cassandra, we’ll decide what Thor and our brothers need to know,” Luc said.
“No. I want to tell them now,” she said.
Luc pulled out his phone, dialed a number, and then said, “Cassandra is ready to confess.” He held out the phone so she could see it was connected to Cade.
Cassie straightened the covers, then picked at a loose thread as she gathered her courage. Finally, when she looked up she knew this was the last moments she would ever spend with them. She gave herself a minute to look at them and filed the memory away in her heart where they would live forever. Her two fierce warriors. So much alike and yet so different. Logan with his laughter and sweet caring ways, and Luc with his fierce frowns and the moments of surprising gentleness when his guard was down. She felt tears glaze her eyes and quickly lowered them. She cleared her throat, swallowed, and then said, “Everything Julie said I did was true. I lied to you.”
“What?” Logan asked, his voice clearly puzzled.
Cassie glanced up, saw Luc’s narrowed eyes, then looked back down and watched as she smoothed her hand over the sheet then let her hands drop to her lap. “I did all those things Julie said I did. We sold drugs to lots of people, and Tyson was my, uh, boyfriend.”
“I see,” Luc said. “So, you and Tyson were lovers?”
Cassie nodded then remembered the men listening on the phone and said, “Yes.”
“And, you sold drugs,” Logan said.
“Yes. I don’t know the name of the leader but I could identify his house if I saw a picture of it. It’s huge. Like a private estate and it has a huge garden and the bushes are trimmed into shapes, like animals and things like that. There’s a large maze with a fountain in the center.”
“When you say leader do you mean the fourth man?” Luc asked. “The one who used his whip on you?”
Sensing a trap, Cassie hesitated then shook her head. “That was just an accident when, uh, Tyson got carried away. You know how it is?” She cleared her throat and swallowed to keep from throwing up. “It doesn’t matter now. What matters is that I can help you find the leader and I remembered something about my Aunt Velma’s boyfriend Chuck. He showed up around the same time I met Julia, and there was always something suspicious about him. After my aunt died I caught him in my house searching it.”
“Was he looking for the blue dragon?” Logan asked.
Cassie’s head went up in surprise. “No, that doesn’t make sense. The dragon is enameled gold and too big and heavy.”
“How big?” Luc asked.
“About the size of a cat,” Cassie said, holding her hands out and showing them the dimensions. “There’s a picture of it in the file Thor has.”
“What room was the dragon in?” Logan asked.
“The den,” Cassie said. “On the mantel with two other
dragons. A green one and a red one.”
“Describe the room to me,” Logan said.
“It was large with bookshelves on all four walls but windows on the two outer walls. There was a large desk across from the door. Between the door and the desk there was a large, dark red leather couch facing the fireplace and two chairs on either side of it. There was lots of dark wood including the floor but it had one of those really expensive-looking area rugs in reds and blues. The three dragons were on the mantle, and above the fireplace there was a painting of a woman in a cream-colored dress. She’s really beautiful and has long black hair and gray eyes. She looked sad.”
“How long were you in the room and how did you get there?” Luc asked.
Cassie didn’t dare tell them the truth—that she’d fought the third man and managed to escape from the room and down the two flights of stairs to the first floor. She’d been looking for a way out of the house when she’d stumbled into the den and had seen the computer. She’d managed to grab the flash drive and hide it in the blue dragon before she’d run from the room and been caught in the hallway. If the beating she had taken was any indication, whatever was on that flash drive was important to its owner.
Cassie fisted her hands, determined to tell them everything she could to help them find the leader and the third man. “Tyson took me to the house but I was blindfolded so I don’t know where it is. It can’t be too far away though because it only took us about thirty minutes to drive there. I think it was east of the lake. It had a large entry hall with double doors and it had two staircases going up to the second floor. One on each side of the entry that curved toward each other at the bottom. The floors were wood and there was a large chandelier in the entry. I was only in the house for a few minutes.”
“You said Tyson got carried away when he was playing with you,” Logan said. “Did that happen at that house? In the den?”
“Uh, no, that was upstairs. In a room on the third floor,” Cassie said. “It has a black door and an electronic lock. It takes up most of the top floor.” Cassie pleated the edge of the sheet then dropped it and looked up and wished she hadn’t. Luc and Logan looked absolutely enraged. Logan’s eyes were a burning golden color she had never seen before and Luc had a tic next to his lips—lips that were white with rage.
“Go on,” Luc said.
“I remember a little bit about the third man,” Cassie said. “I might be able to sketch him. At least enough that you might be able to identify him.”
“I’ll go find Doc,” Luc said. “You get her dressed.”
“No, I’ll go find Doc,” Logan said.
Cassie watched as the two of them held a long and drawn out silent conversation and she realized they were fighting over which one of them had to stay in the room with her. She took several deep breaths to hold off the tears that wanted to fall. “I understand that you don’t want to be around me now. You can both leave and I’ll take care of myself.” She swung her legs over the side of the bed. “If I remember anything else I’ll call you.”
When Luc and Logan turned to look at her, she cringed then slid her feet to the floor.
“Is there anything else you want to say at this time, Cassandra?” Luc asked.
“No,” she said, shaking her head.
“Good, then while you can still sit down be quiet,” Luc said. “I’ll be right back.”
Cassie heard laughter coming from the phone Luc held before he stabbed the disconnect button and shoved it into his pocket. She waited until Luc left the room then opened her mouth to tell Logan he could leave, too. He stopped her by putting his fingers over her lips and shaking his head.
“You’re in enough trouble. You have ten minutes to shower and get dressed, then we’re leaving.” He stepped back and waved her toward the bathroom. “Get going.”
“But, don’t you want to leave me here?” she asked, then squeaked with surprise when Logan grabbed her, sat down on the edge of the bed, and pulled her over his lap. He shoved one leg between her legs and forced them apart. She grabbed for the sheets on the bed to keep from sliding off his legs. “Logan!”
“I told you to be quiet.” He swatted her ass six times, once for each word he gritted out. He put her on her feet, made sure she was steady, then said, “Get out of my sight, sugar. Now.”
Cassie backed away from him then turned and ran into the bathroom. She slammed the door behind her. Once alone, she rubbed her stinging ass then wiped the tears from her face. Logan couldn’t even stand to look at her now. Before she could turn the shower on, the door flew open and Luc stood there, staring at her with cold eyes.
“Get in the shower, Cassandra, or we’ll take you home the way you are.”
“Logan spanked me.” Cassie sniffled, still shocked at how quickly he had grabbed her and turned from her sweet Logan into another version of Luc.
A dark brow rose over narrowed eyes, then Luc smiled and glanced at Logan before turning back to her. “You have five minutes to shower.” Luc tossed some clothes on the counter, dropped a pair of sandals to the floor, and then leaned against the doorframe.
Cassie waited for a moment, realized he wasn’t leaving, and moved to the shower. She adjusted the spray then stripped off the hospital gown and stepped into the stall. She washed as quickly as she could then dried off and struggled into her clothes
“Let’s go,” Luc said and turned away. “Doc’s waiting to take a look at you before he discharges you. Then, we’re going home.”
“I’ll just get my things and my car then I’ll leave,” Cassie said.
Luc stopped, pointed to the bed. “Sit down and be quiet.”
Cassie shivered then hurried to sit down. She watched Logan’s back as he stood at the window looking out. He wouldn’t even look at her now and Luc was standing next to him and they were having a quiet conversation. Too quiet for her to hear what was being said.
Doc entered the room, smiled at her, and then asked, “How are you feeling today?”
“Better,” she said, watching Luc and Logan as they turned to watch Doc examine her.
After a few minutes, Doc stepped back, frowned and rubbed his chin. “I don’t feel comfortable releasing you unless I know someone is going to be with you.” He turned to Luc and Logan. “Will she be staying with you?”
“No,” Cassie said.
“Yes.” Logan stepped forward and held out a paper and pen to Cassie. “Sign this.”
Cassie took the paper, glanced at it, then looked up in surprise. “But this is our contr—” she stopped herself before she could blurt out their business in front of Doc. Shaking her head, she said, “I can’t sign this.”
“If you don’t have anyone to take care of you, Cassie, then I’ll have to keep you in the hospital for a few more days for observation,” Doc said. “Just let the nurse know your decision.” Doc gave Luc and Logan a stern look, then left the room.
Cassie held the contract and thought about how hopeful she had been when they had negotiated it. Now, it represented something she could never have. She looked up, met their gaze, and lowered her eyes again, hiding her devastation from them. She needed to get moving to stay ahead of the men hunting her but she couldn’t sign the contract knowing she didn’t intend to keep it. She also couldn’t stay in the hospital where she would be a sitting duck and endanger the lives of the nurses and other patients.
“Sign it,” Luc said. “We’ve already signed it.”
“I can’t,” Cassie said. “I can’t sign a contract I don’t intend to keep.”
“Really, sugar,” Logan said. “You just confessed to being a drug dealer and a killer. Surely signing a contract you don’t intend to keep can’t matter to you. Not if it gets you out of here.”
When she didn’t answer, she heard Luc tell Logan, “Let her stay here. Come on, Logan, we have things to do.”
Hearing their footsteps leaving, she panicked, knowing she would never see them again if she let them go. “Wait, wait,” she said, jumping to her
feet. Without giving herself time to change her mind she scribbled her name on the contract. Logan grabbed the paper and stuffed it in his pocket as Luc stalked toward her. She put her hands up as she backed away. “Wait.” She squealed in surprise as he shoved his shoulder into her tummy and gave her a hard swat.
“We’ve got you now,” Luc said, “and your ass belongs to us.”
Chapter Eight
As soon as they entered the house, Thor stepped out of the den, frowned at Cassie, then said, “Cassandra, get your ass in here now.”
Luc and Logan ignored him as they headed for the stairs. “We’ve got something to do right now. We’ll be down in an hour or so,” Logan said.
“Can’t it wait?” Thor asked.
“Nope.” Luc took the stairs two at a time with Logan a couple steps below him.
Once in the playroom, Luc dropped her to her feet then pulled her shirt over her head as Logan worked on undoing her pants. In seconds they had her naked and Luc had her over his lap.
“Your confession was bullshit and you will never again lie to us,” Luc said as Cassie struggled and tried to get away. He rubbed his hands over her ass, then down her legs and over her back. Cassie kicked her legs and a hard arm pressed down on her lower back, and held her still just before a large hand snapped a stinging swat against her ass cheeks. Followed by another then another. They rained down so rapidly she couldn’t distinguish one from the other.
“Stop, Luc, stop.” Tears fell from her eyes as the stinging swats increased in intensity on her ass.
“Be quiet.” Luc’s hand snapped against her ass.
From that point on it was a long series of sharp slaps that ran over her ass and down the backs of her thighs. Cassie continued to scream and struggle but it was no use.
“Oh, yes, sugar, now we’re getting some color on this ass,” Luc said.
Cassie sobbed then felt Logan lift her from Luc’s lap. He turned her into his arms and she hugged her arms around his neck, and hiccupped and cried, but thankfully it was over. Her ass was on fire and she wanted to sink into a tub of cold water and ease the pain. Instead she screamed, “No, no,” when Logan sat down, pulled her over his lap, rubbed her ass a couple times, then began swatting it. When she kicked her legs, he slapped the backs of her thighs then squeezed her ass cheeks.
Their Temporary Sub [The Doms of Club Mystique 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 18