by Nikki Rose
“I’ll have a burger and fries. She’ll have the same.” The man nodded and moved on to the others.
I leaned in and whispered in Drew’s ear. “I could have ordered for myself.”
“You could have, but I did.”
The guy from the car motioned to Drew when the waiter was at him “put his meal on my tab. The girl’s too.”
Drew and I both snapped our heads over to look at him, surprised considering how things had been between them. He smiled and held up his drink to us both but he only spoke to Drew. “To make up for last night.”
Drew held up his cup in a mock toast. “Thanks, Dmitri.”
It felt like forever before the food came but checking the clock told me it had actually only taken a short time. Listening to the men’s shop talk was so dull although something told me a DA would be most interested in hearing about their shipments and deliveries. We all ate which was the most normal I’d felt in a while. I just focused on my burger and fries. Small comforts. I’d just put a fry in my mouth when Dmitri’s words made me choke.
“So, Drew, you going to put the girl in the pot tonight?”
Drew’s hands froze, holding up his burger to his mouth. “Probably not this time.”
“Pot?” I looked at Drew.
“Oh, come on, Andrew. Have some fun.” Mikhail spoke up from across the table.
“I don’t like to share.” Drew’s jaw tensed as his words came out.
“What pot?” I demanded.
“Tradition of Boss’s party, we put our girls’ names in a bowl and let others draw names to use the girl for the night.”
“Use?”
“But apparently Drew wants to be a selfish bastard and keep you all for himself.” Dmitri spat out the angry words.
“What kind of party are we going to?” I demanded.
“Whatever the hell kind of party I want to and you’ll do what you’re told.” Drew boomed and my blood boiled.
“Like hell, I will.” I stood and stormed off toward the front door of the restaurant.
I could hear footsteps following me out and Drew calling my name from behind me but I didn’t care. I stormed out into the sunlight and stomped off down the sidewalk, not sure where I was going. I didn’t care as long as I was going as far away from Drew as possible.
I was so focused on just getting away from him that I didn’t even see the guy in front of me as we bumped into each other.
“Oh, I’m sorry.” The familiar voice made me pause and I looked up to see a familiar face looking down at me.
“Conrad,” I said surprised.
Conrad and I had met the same night Rebecca had met her Jason. We had fooled around pretty regularly for a while until he eventually wanted something more. He was a great guy and I hated that I’d hurt him so much. If I was honest with myself, it had hurt me to break things off too. I really enjoyed my time with Conrad. I cared about him but I never could bring myself to love him. I doubt I’d ever really love anyone again after all the hurt my heart had endured.
“Hailey, it’s so good to see you again. How are you?” He wrapped me in a hug and as much as I wanted to enjoy it, I knew Drew would be closing in on me soon.
I grabbed his wrist and pulled him into the alley between the two brick buildings.
“Hailey, what are you doing?” Conrad looked at me like I’d lost my mind.
“Shhh.” I covered his mouth but he pulled my hand away gently and whispered.
“When you ran into me, it looked like you were running away. Are you trying to hide from someone? Are you in trouble?” Conrad was always such a sweet guy. He was concerned about me even after everything.
“I’m hiding from someone, I just need to stay here for a few minutes,” I whispered.
“My wife’s going to be looking for me. I can’t stay here.” He was careful to keep his voice very quiet.
“Your wife?”
“Yeah.” He smiled fondly. “I met her not long after we broke up. We’ve been married for six months. Just found out I’m going to be a dad.”
“Oh my god, Conrad, that’s amazing. I’m really happy for you.” I gave him a real hug this time. I truly was happy for him.
“I don’t want to leave you like this. If you’re in some kind of trouble, we need to get you somewhere safe and maybe call the cops. We can —.”
“Look what I found.” Dmitri’s sickening voice chimed with amusement.
Two of Mikhail’s goons followed before Drew came into sight. I looked over at Drew with a pleading expression. Fear gripped me as the men closed in on me and Conrad.
“Seems the bitch has a secret boy toy. You may not like to share, my friend, but it seems you have been without even knowing it.” Dmitri spoke to Drew but his stare bore into me.
“He’s not my boyfriend. Just an old acquaintance I ran into.” I grew more nervous as the men surrounded us.
“That you happened to be alone with in an alley. Seems the little slut likes —.”
“Don’t you talk about Hailey like that.” Conrad stepped forward but I moved my body in front of him.
Dmitri grabbed me by the arm and slung me in Drew’s direction. If he hadn't caught me, I would have fallen onto the rough gravel. By the time I regained my footing and turned around, two of the men held Conrad by the arms while Dmitri punched him in the gut with a sickening thud.
“No, stop it. Leave him alone. He has nothing to do with this.” I screamed at the top of my lungs and lunged toward them but Drew held me tight around the waist as I fought against him.
Conrad grunted and doubled over but they didn’t stop. Dmitri continued to punch him in the stomach and ribs then moved to his face. All the while, I continued to scream and fight against Drew.
I punched at his chest, clawed his arms and hands. “Let me go. Stop them. Do something, please. Please stop. Leave him alone.” I pleaded as Drew held me.
Conrad dropped to the ground and the men began to kick him over and over.
“Drew, stop this. Please. Please stop them. They’re going to kill him. He didn’t do anything.” I screamed. Hot tears poured down my face. Drew was the only thing holding me up as I watched the bloody face of the man who had never done anything but care too much for a girl who couldn’t love him back.
Finally, Drew spoke up. “Enough. Enough.” He yelled and the men finally backed off. “Leave us. I’ll meet you back at the restaurant when we’re done here.” He ordered the men and they left the alley.
As soon as the men were out of sight, Drew released me and I ran to Conrad, dropping to my knees beside his bloody body. “Conrad. Oh my god, I’m so sorry.” Tears poured from my face as I laid my cheek on his chest.
“I’m okay.” The raspy, pained voice rumbled from under my cheek and I looked up to see Conrad looking at me from his swollen, bruised face.
“Conrad,” I cried, now from relief and pain for what had happened to him because of me. “I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry.” I wept heavy, sobbing tears like I hadn’t cried in years.
“It’s okay. A couple of broken bones. Are you okay?” He struggled to talk. When he coughed, he winced and there was blood on his lips.
“I need to call an ambulance.” I felt around for my phone but couldn’t find it.
“There’s already one on the way but Hailey, we have to go.”
“Like hell we do. I’m not going anywhere with you.” I swatted away his hand as Drew tried to lift me by my arms.
“If they don’t see us at the restaurant soon Mikhail’s men will come back for him and probably us too. Is that what you want?” Drew hissed at me and forced me to my feet.
“I can’t leave him.” I fought Drew’s grasp futility.
“I’ll be okay, Hailey. The ambulance is coming.” Conrad rasped out.
I could hear the ambulance’s siren off in the distance and knew help was coming but I just couldn’t leave him. Drew lifted me off my feet and I kicked and squirmed to get away. “If they see us here, they will qu
estion us then we’ll have even more problems. Let’s go.”
He forced me out of the alley and back onto the main sidewalk. He nearly dragged me back to the restaurant, stopping just outside, he pushed me against the wall. “Listen to me. That guy is going to be okay but you have to pull yourself together or things are going to get bad fast. Now chill the hell out and pull yourself together before we go in there.”
I hated him. At that moment I truly hated Drew. I scowled at him and spit in his face. He let out a frustrated sigh and wiped his face with his sleeve. I took the opportunity to jerk away from him and he let me.
“Good, glad we got that cleared up,” he said with a sarcastic bite.
Drew turned and went into the restaurant, keeping a tight grip on my left bicep to make sure I followed. The men were all sitting at the table talking until we got to the table.
Mikhail stood and the others followed. “We’ve paid the tab. Is there anything my men need to handle before we go?” Like what disposing of a body because that’s the sort of thing you do?
“Nah, it’s handled,” Drew said so casually it made me want to claw his eyes out. I gritted my teeth and held my breath, counting the moments until I could get away from these monsters. Every last one of them.
Once we were in Drew’s car again, he closed the privacy divider and turned to look at me as we took off to god knows where.
“We need to talk.”
“I have nothing to say to you.” I pulled my legs up into the seat and hugged them to me as I kept my eyes out the window and away from Drew. It hurt to even look at the man I’d once loved.
“Then just listen. I had to let them do that. If I hadn’t, they would have suspected something. Sometimes we have to let bad things happen to prevent worse things.”
“Bullshit.” I snapped and turned to glare at him. “You keep lying to yourself if you want. But that’s bullshit and you know it. You wouldn’t even let me help him. It was three against one.” Tears spilled from my eyes again as the memories flooded my mind.
“Hailey, they would have hurt you even worse. These men — they hate women — truly hate them. It’s why they enjoy torturing them with these manipulative games. You have to understand, to see you hurt like that would have killed me.”
He placed his hand on my arm and I jerked away as if he’d burned me. “Don’t you dare touch me.” I hissed at him.
“Fine, sulk all you want for the next two hours. After that, you better pull your shit together for the party tonight.”
“Party? You really expect me to go to a party with you after all this?”
“Yes,” he said bluntly, expectantly.
“You are just as bad as those bastards you’re working to take down.”
Before I knew what was happening, Drew had pinned me to the seat. His red, angry face right in mine. “I am nothing like those men.” He roared. “You don’t know what the hell you are talking about. You sit around pointing fingers and thinking you know how the world is but you don’t. Things are not always black and white in this world Hailey. So, wake the fuck up and see things for how they really are.”
This was the first time I was ever truly scared of Drew. Not scared he might break my heart. Not scared he might emotionally hurt me, but scared he might rip my head from my body at any moment. I’d never seen him so angry in all our time together.
He backed up, retreating to his side of the car. Leaning on his door, he stared at the window with as much distance as the car would allow for the rest of our trip.
Chapter 9
The feel and sound of the road changing underneath us woke me from my accidental nap. I must have fallen asleep crying because my cheeks were wet with tears. I wiped them away with the back of my hand and sat up straighter.
Drew was watching me. “You’re so beautiful when you sleep. It’s the only time you ever look that peaceful.”
“I can’t imagine it was very peaceful today.”
“Other than the tears it seemed to be.” Drew’s voice sounded much different. Almost — sorry?
“Where are we?”
“Almost to the estate. We’ll be shown to our room once we arrive so we can rest and clean up before the party tonight.”
“Okay.” I didn’t really have anything to say to him anymore.
“I made some calls about your friend.”
I perked up immediately and turned to face Drew. “Is he okay?”
“Yeah. Had two broken ribs, a broken nose, and fractured arm but he’s going to make a full recovery. Rebecca’s going up to the hospital later to check in on him too. Jason’s going too so he can clear things up a little bit.”
“Oh, thank god.” I sagged down in my seat and let out a calming breath.
“You two involved or something?”
“What?” I sat back up and looked at Drew.
“Are you sleeping with him?”
“No. I mean — I was over a year ago but not recently.”
“That explains a lot.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“He risked a lot to stand up for you. He’s in love with you — can’t blame him. It’s easy to do...to fall in love with you.”
I scoffed and rolled my eyes at him. “Love isn’t for me.”
“It used to be. What happened to change that?”
“What happ —?” I started but the car suddenly came to a stop.
“We’re here.” Almost immediately there were men in suits opening the door for us.
I climbed out of the car after Drew and looked up in awe at the mansion with huge white pillars and balconies overlooking what I could tell would have been a lush garden landscape in the warmer months. The evergreens planted along the large brick wall that surrounded the entire property suddenly filled me with a sense of panic. We were closed in completely once the iron gate we’d driven through closed. I looked over at Drew in a panic. His hand on my back brought me calmer than it should. Somehow after everything, he was still the only one there that made me feel safe.
I didn’t like that one bit. I pulled away from him and he scowled at me before glancing over at Mikhail and his men climbing out of their large limo.
I took a deep breath to calm my nerves. As the three men who’d beat Conrad in front of me walked toward us, I realized how much danger we were really in. I wanted to run, to get out of there but there was nowhere to go.
“Glad to see you got your woman under control now.” Dmitri’s smirk made me sick. Part of me wanted to run and hide from the evil man. The other part of me wanted to jump on him, claw his eyes from their sockets, kick him in the nuts until he was in as much pain as they’d caused Conrad.
Conrad. Poor Conrad was in the hospital broken, bleeding — hurt because of me. I thought about his poor pregnant wife. I wondered what he’d tell her happened. Tears stung my eyes again as the bloody images and painful grunts ran through my mind again.
“Hey, could you at least try to keep your head in the game here?” Drew snaked his arm around my waist and whispered into my ear.
I tensed at his touch but didn’t pull away with the men so close. Mikhail strolled casually up to our group.
He held his arms out in a grand welcoming gesture. “Welcome to my estate. My men will get your bags set up in your room. I assume you wanted the girl in with you?”
“Yes, thank you for your hospitality.” Drew nodded at Mikhail. “We’d love some time to freshen up before the festivities begin.”
“Of course. The guests should start arriving in about three hours, but we have some business to attend to first. So, shall we meet in my study in two hours? Is that sufficient for you, my friend?”
“Two hours should be plenty of time. Thank you.”
“Very good. I have some catching up to do with my Lacy before the event starts anyways.” He rubbed his hands together and grinned devilishly at us before turning away to go inside.
“Lacy? The girl from the club?” I whispered to Drew.
&
nbsp; He frowned and nodded. “She’s his latest conquest.”
“She looked so miserable...” I started but Drew stopped me.
“We can talk later about that. While we are here, never break your role. He’s known for having surveillance so we’ll have to be extra careful the next couple days.”
“A little heads up about this would have been nice.”
“I told you right after I found out. I think he did it on purpose.”
“Why?”
“He’s still suspicious which means we have to really put on a good show. If you need to talk out of character, ask me if we could take a walk in the gardens. We can talk quietly there.”
One of Mikhail’s men led us into the house where we were met by a girl in a dress that barely covered her ass and looked like it was painted on. “Natalia will take care of you from here,” The gruff man said as he gave her an appreciative once over before leaving us.
Upon further study of the house, I noticed many girls dressed similarly walking about as though they were all on an important mission. It was like the freaking Playboy mansion Russian edition.
“Welcome back, sir. It’s good to see you again.” She smiled her first genuine smile when she looked at Drew.
“It’s good to see you again as well Natalie. This is Hailey.”
“Hailey.” Her genuine smile replaced with a forced one was such a contrast that it confused me until realization hit. She had a thing for Drew. “You mean they finally convinced you to join in their game?” She spoke in a lower voice almost conspiratorially.
“It was bound to happen sooner or later.” Drew shrugged but I knew him well enough to know he was having a hard time with this conversation. “Hailey offered an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.”
I glared at him as his hand squeezed my side and pulled me closer.
Natalia or Natalie as Drew had called her, seemed temporarily ruffled but being around these men had clearly taught her to push her feelings aside. She plastered a passive expression on her beautifully tanned face and nodded. “Well, please, allow me to show you to your suite. I’m sure you’re ready to get settled in after your drive.”