Redemption (The Bet)

by Phal, Francette

  Sophie glowered, seemingly fearless. "Perfectly…dad."

  Tony smirked and released his hold. "You aren't as dumb as you look," He stepped away but not before gently slapping Sophie's cheek. "Good girl."

  "Can't say the same for you."

  Tony's laughter was unexpected, taking Sophie off guard. "You've got guts kid, Ellie would be so proud."

  "She'll find us and when she does you…"

  "When she does, I'm going to get what I want," straightening his clothes, Tony turned and headed to the door. "Good luck getting in the bed, you'll need it." He left and slammed the door shut, taking Sophie's bravado with him.

  Telling herself that now was not the time to cry didn't really help when Sophie decided to get back on the mattress. She struggled, panted and grunted until she finally ended on her side. Her shoulders shook as she tried to hold in her sobs. The pain paled in comparison to the discovery she'd just made. Instead of a father like Nicholas, instead of someone who she admired and loved, instead of someone she could look up too and be proud of, she'd ended up with the worse sort of man as her father.

  Sophie had never really put much thought to her own biological father. He hadn't really mattered so long as she held close the memories of Nicholas. To Sophie, her father had been a sperm donor and nothing more. A faceless nobody her mother didn't speak about and Sophie had been fine with it. However, on some very rare occasions, when she was just a little envious of her brother and sister and the relationship they had with their father, Sophie would wonder who her other parent was. What sort of man was he? What did he do? Was it from him, she'd inherited her dark, dark, eyes?

  Well, she'd gotten her answer today. She now understood why her mother never spoke about him. Why Gabe hated him more than he did Nicholas. Sophie understood now why it was better never having known the truth. The truth hurt too damn much.

  Burying her face in the rumpled sheets, her body aching, her heartbroken, Sophie curled within herself and sobbed. She wanted her Mom.

  Chapter 20

  Billy Sorrento, 'Easy Billy' as he was known in the pen, didn't do children. Ask him to drop to his knees and give you the best blow job this side of the city and he'd drain you clean in seconds flat. Ask him to bend over and give over his ass for a dime bag and he'd fling his pants across the room and beg you to hit it harder.

  Petite, blond and gorgeous enough to pass as both a girl and a boy he began prostituting around fourteen. He was slut. He was good at being a slut. He did time for being a slut and got passed around like a blunt. That was how he'd come to know Tony, not like all the other meatheads in the jailhouse, Tony's quiet reservation had attracted Billy to him.

  The other man hadn't spoken much to him when Billy always came around, but that hadn’t curbed Billy’s interest. A few weeks ago, he'd posted bail and was released on probation. Cashing a few favors in, he'd found out where Tony was living and had taken a few busses to finally find him in this shabby rundown apartment. The raven-haired man had let him in and by ways of repaying his hospitality Billy fucked Tony and even helped him kidnap some random brats. Now those random fucking brats where pissing the hell out of him.

  "I'm thirsty." Cornflower blue eyes glowered at the curly haired Satan child seated a few feet away from where he stood.

  "Did you hear me? I said I was thirsty." Narrowed honey brown eyes stared at Billy.

  "I just gave you some apple juice."

  "I'm allergic."

  "Would you rather I pissed in a cup and gave it to you? Would her majesty drink that?"

  "Only if you drank it first."

  "Or maybe I'll just pour it down your throat and make you choke on it." Billy cheerfully responded.

  "If you touch me, my Mommy will kick your butt."

  "Yo Mommy ain't here. In fact, I don't think you'll be seeing your Mommy for a very, very long time." Mocking a child wasn't something someone would take pride in, but seeing as Billy had about the same intellect as the nine year old girl he spoke to, he relished his momentary defeat over the smart mouthed brat.

  Bella's lip curled. "My Mommy will find us."

  "Keep telling yourself that."

  Tony emerged from the bathroom, pupils constricted, laid back, high off the heroin Billy had scored on his way here. He wrapped his arm around Billy's slim waist and pulled him close. "Let's fuck." He nuzzled his neck and bit down on the pulsing vein there.

  Billy grinned as he turned his eyes to the bounded children seated back-to-back on the carpeted floor. "Let's fuck in front of them," his grinned widened, "Wanna see how you're parents made you?"

  Tony forcefully grabbed Billy's face and turned it to face him. "Stop fucking with them."

  "But it's so fun." Billy pouted only to squeal when Tony lifted him up then and wrapped his slim legs around his waist.

  "There are other ways to have fun." With that in mind, Tony carried Billy to the bathroom and locked the door behind them.

  Soon the small apartment resonated with Billy's vociferous cries. He moaned, groaned, championing Tony to fuck him harder.

  Bella closed her eyes tightly, tears leaked out, "this little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine, this little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine," she began to sing, her throat clogged with tears she opened her mouth and raised her voice, "this little light of mine…sing with me, Dylan." she implored.

  "This is stupid Belle…"

  "Just do it!"

  "Oh yes, Tony! Please! Oh, yes! Faster…!"

  "This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!"

  Bella smiled through her tears and leaned against her brother. "This little light of mine...." They sang in unison, not only to stifle the disgusting noises emitting from the bathroom, but also to reach out to their sister, who they had yet to see.

  ~*~*~*~

  Sophie heard their voices through the walls. She unfurled from her fetal position and strained to hear. It really was Bella and Dylan! Sophie smiled softly, they were singing, a song their Mom would sometimes sing to them when they'd been younger. She wanted so much to call out to them and let them know she was close, but she couldn't. Her tongue felt like she had an overgrown python sitting on it, her ears felt clogged and her body seemed incapable of doing anything else but pulse in agony. The little hairs on her skin rose and bubbled, she curled back into her fetal position, suddenly cold. Her teeth clicked as her lips trembled. Although sweat formed against her forehead and beneath her armpits, she still felt so cold.

  She tried to keep Dylan and Bella's voice from drowning out and opened her mouth to sing with them, refusing to succumb to the call of the fever. Sadly, it was a battle she wasn't mean to win, for soon after she opened her mouth to sing the first line, Sophie drifted and fell unconscious.

  ~*~*~*~

  "Money isn't an issue, I want it done! And I want it done fast!" Nicholas flipped the phone shut and leaned back against the leather seat. Meeting cut abruptly short, he'd called for his jet and left the European continent without so much as a by-your-leave. The Parisian CEO of Pren Industries hadn't been the least pleased, but did Nicholas care? Not in the slightest. There were issues far more pressing than a failed merger with an uppity decrepit codger who was better off sitting at home than helming a Multi-Million dollar conglomerate.

  These issues had to be taken cared of right away. They were now at the forefront of his mind, his attention undividedly focused on it. Someone was seriously screwing with him and given his foul mood, heads were inevitably going to roll. Of that Nicholas would make sure.

  "Sir, we're here." Nicholas pocketed his phone and exited the interior of the black limo. Impervious to its manicured lawns and picturesque exterior, he stuffed his hands in his black slacks and ambled up the three steps that led to the seemingly perfect Victorian mansion.

  "I'm sorry, sir, but visiting hours are over." Turning to the dark haired attendant, Nicholas blankly stared at her.

  "I'm sure you'll
make an exception." He walked away from her and headed to his destination.

  "But Sir…"

  "Madam." Broderick, ever the trusted bodyguard, gently apprehended the attendant's arm and turned her towards him. "Mr. Grayson has some business to discuss with one of your patient. It'll only be a few minutes."

  Nicholas walked through the endless halls, the soles of his black shoes pounded on the polished cherry-wood floors. The crystalline chandelier gleamed and reflected the yellow glow from the bulbs. On either side of his body, hanging high along the walls like disapproving spectators, were the photos of St Anna’s benefactors. But there was only one person he’d come to see in this godforsaken hell. How long had it been since he'd seen his dearest school chum, four---five or was it six years? Time flew by so fast.

  Coming to the intricately carved oaken doors he'd been looking for, Nicholas palmed the brass handle and pushed open the door. He entered and closed it behind him. The somber ambiance from the halls carried into the room, it seemed to seep into the stones walls and permeate every crevice.

  Taking a moment to appraise his surroundings, Nicholas saw that the room hadn't changed from the last time he'd bothered to visit. The king sized mattress, raised on the four-poster dais, was still too immense. The floor to ceiling windows that were at the moment covered by the opaque mahogany drapery, were far too ostentatious. The ceiling was high and splattered against it were the images of cherubs and angels lazing about on dusky clouds. Lined with literature and the written philosophy of the greatest minds of humankind's time, the wall to the far right of where Nicholas stood represented a library and there, standing before its looming stature was none other than Matthew Bates.

  "I've already ordered you to go to bed, Marcy…" Nicholas took great pleasure in seeing fear descend to settle over Matt's face. The man he'd once considered the very best of friends stood across from him. He still looked the same, but the long exposure to treatments turned his once vibrant physique to that of a man twice his age and some part Nicholas should've felt some sort of remorse for it, but nothing came.

  "Hello, Matthew." Nicholas took his hands out of his pockets and stepped further into the room. He leaned down, scooped up the small book sitting on the ottoman, read the cover, and derisively grinned. "Keats. polishing up on our sonnets, Bates?"

  "What the hell do you want?"

  "No need to be so snappish, simply here to ask you a few questions." Nicholas tossed the book back on the ottoman and placed his hands back in his pockets. Despite his exterior appearance, Nicholas was far from calm.

  "Fuck off, Grayson."

  "Let's not make this visit difficult. We both know how difficult I can make it for you, Matt." now there was steel in his voice, his eyes focused, glacier cold, they focused on Matt.

  Matt had good reason to fear his ex-best friend. Nicholas was the reason why he was here, locked away against his will, in this goddamned asylum. Nicholas, who’d had far more influence than Matt initially realized, had carefully utilized Charles's resources, calling in favors owed to his father by executives who had less than sterling reputations. Executives who had owned stocks in the Bates company. Blackballing Matt's father had been so incredibly easy after that for the Grayson heir.

  Instead of testifying against him and sending him off to prison, as had been his original plan. Nicholas had come to an agreement with Gordon Bates. As an alternative to ending up in a jail, Nicholas had been content to take Matt's freedom in another way, a lifetime at a mental institute. A fitting punishment for the shit he'd put Ellie through. In the end, Gordon kept his company, under Nicholas’ unrelenting thumb of course and his son had been saved from doing hard time. Everyone was happy.

  There was however always a dark cloud looming over Matt's head. He'd learned long ago to never again underestimate him. Nicholas was a dangerous man, far more sinister than his father had been. Grabbing his cane from the ladder, Matt headed to a chair and flopped down. Nicholas was also the reason behind his now deformed leg. His arm hadn't faired too nicely either.

  "What do you want to know?"

  "Smart man." he sauntered and leaned against the ladder hanging down from the ceiling. "Carlyle," he crossed his arms and began. "Have you heard from him?"

  Matt reined in his surprise. "I haven't seen him, he hasn't been here."

  "Lying wouldn't be in your best interest."

  "I'm not lying! I haven't seen Tony since that day. The last I heard about him was that he was in prison." Matt meet Nicholas's cool stare and sardonically smiled. "Lost a pawn, Nicky?"

  "As a matter a fact, yes, Matt, I have lost a pawn, and if I find out you had a hand in aiding him, life will not be too pleasant. I promise you that."

  "I told you…"

  Nicholas grabbed his phone from his pocket, cutting Matt off. "Grayson."

  "We've found something you might find very interesting."

  "Be at the location in ten minutes."

  "Got it, Sir."

  Nicholas flipped the phone shut and returned his gaze to Matt's face. "Remember Matt, with one call, I can turn you into a vegetable," he vacated his spot and headed towards the door. "I'll keep in touch."

  Matt watched as the door closed behind him and he couldn't help but rue the day he'd ever met that silver eyed bastard. He regretted ever pulling Nicholas’ drunken ass from that pool that one time so long ago. Had he known then what he knew now, he would've let him drown. Nicholas was just as malevolent as his dead father, if not more so. Charles’s had never concealed his immorality; he had in fact relished it, using it to garner his empire while demoralizing his family.

  But Nicholas was far more cunning. Whatever image he projected to the world, no one really knew the sort of man he was. What he was truly capable of. But Matt knew. He may have been locked up in a mental asylum, but that didn't mean that he didn't have other ways of getting information about the outside world. Nicholas was his father's son. The Devil’s son and Matt knew he wouldn't hesitate to kill to protect what belonged to him. He'd done it before and he'd do it again.

  Tony Carlyle was a dead man walking.

  Opening his book a book on Mahatma Gandhi, Matt began to read.

  He'd pray for the man's death to be slow and torturous, nothing would do otherwise. The same would apply to his own death when it came.

  ~*~*~*~

  When Nicholas finally arrived at Ellie's house it was about ten and nearing twenty four hours since he'd put head to pillow, but sleep wasn't a necessity for the father of two. He was running on nothing but a cocktail of adrenaline and caffeine, it surged through his system and kept him awake, alert. He exited the lacquered import he'd received a week ago, pocketed the keys and hurried up the stone path walkway. It took but only a few minutes before someone answered his knock and Nicholas was surprised to see Maddie's face staring back at him. Appearance wise, she changed quite a bit from the last time he'd seen her, which was a few months after they'd buried their daughter.

  There was no love lost between them. They'd been young and they'd both, equally made mistakes, which they’d spent years repenting for. They'd come to grips with what happened and they'd moved on. Forgiveness only came when they realized that it came from no one else but themselves. For Maddie and for Nicholas forgiving themselves was one of the hardest things they'd ever had to do.

  "It's been a long time, Nicholas." Maddie feebly smiled. "Although I wish it were under different circumstances. You look good." She stepped aside and permitted Nicholas entrance.

  "I could say the same for you. Traveling suites you."

  "Archeology suites me, traveling is just an added bonus." They walked in unison down the foyer and into the living room where Gabe and Ronnie occupied a couch and Ellie's parents occupied another. Devlin was on the phone near the kitchen entrance and Ellie was nowhere to be found.

  Upon his entrance they all turned to him their expressions reserved, they grudgingly welcomed him. Well, Dina and Ronnie welcomed him. Gabe, Phillip and Devlin simpl
y glowered and grunted some offhanded response that could've probably past as a "hello" if ever in the company of Neanderthals. Unaffected, Nicholas looked about the room for only one person.

  As though she understood Nicholas’s silent inquiry, Maddie turned to him and said, "She'll be out in a second."

  As if summoned Ellie appeared seconds later face devoid of color. Her usual vibrant hazel eyes tinged red, the skin beneath them swollen. She looked weak and seemed ready to fall over. In less than three strides Nicholas was by her side.

  "Elle." To see her in this manner nearly undid him, but Nicholas fought the impulse to pull her wiry frame against his chest and hold her until they both couldn’t stand it.

  When she raised her gaze and looked at him, there was nothing, absolutely nothing that could've stopped Nicholas from doing what he did. He brought his hand behind Ellie's neck, the other around her waist and pulled her to him.

  She remained inert, arms at her side, mildly in shock.

  "I'm here now." he murmured. "I swear on my life that I'm going to find them.”

  Ellie knew it was wrong to do it. It felt right, but she knew it was wrong, but she couldn't help it. Like releasing a valve, Nicholas's words broke the dam that held back Ellie's tears. She buried his face against Nicholas's chest, dug her hands in his shirt and silently cried.

  Nicholas held her, held her so tight, so close that he could feel the rapid beats of her heart.

  "You have to trust me, Ellie," He cupped her face and raised her head to look at him. "I’m going to get them back. We'll have our kids soon. I won't let you or them down…not this time."

  "Nicky…"

  “I’ll find them, Ellie, I swear it.” He whispered fervently, thumbing her tears away.

  Maddie sniffed and swiped her tears away. Her heart ached for Ellie and Nicholas but more so for Devlin, who looked on at the tender display of emotion with tight jaw and fisted hands, face like granite. Only a blind or desperate man could overlook the love between Ellie and Nicholas and there was love there, profound…boundless. It was warm and beautiful and filled her with a sort of joy that conjured her tears.