Virtue & Vengeance

by Tabatha Vargo

  “Monty wants us back by tomorrow morning, so if we’re going to do this, we need to do it now.”

  I had no idea what they were talking about, but I was now fully awake.

  “Think we can trust her to do what needs to be done?”

  At that, they both turned and looked at me.

  “I’m sure we can,” Winston said.

  “What’s going on?” I asked with a shaky voice.

  “Monty did a little more digging into your Zander Hale, and he’s decided that he’ll do just fine in getting his money back.”

  “But I told you-”

  “I know what you said, but there’s only one problem with that.”

  I swallowed. “What’s that?”

  “We don’t fucking believe you. So, here’s what you’re going to do. You’re going to go to Zander, and you’re going to do whatever you have to do,” he said looking up and down my body. “Just get him to give you five hundred thousand dollars.”

  My jaw went slack, and I thought my heart stopped for a second.

  “Five hundred thousand? Allen said-”

  “Allen’s dead. And unless you want to end up the same way, you’re going to do exactly what we say.”

  “And if he doesn’t give me the money?”

  There was no way Zander Hale was going to hand me half of a million dollars with no questions. It was a joke even to consider it.

  “Well, for your sake, you better hope we don’t have to find out.”

  “He’s going to see right through this. Look at my face! How am I going to explain this?” I said, referring to the damage Allen had done, even though I had yet to see it myself.

  “Looks to me like you’re just a clumsy girl. What do you think?” Winston asked Rodger. Rodger nodded slowly and then shrugged. “In any case, we got some stuff that might help tone it down some.”

  He dropped a bag on the counter and then moved toward me. After the last twenty-four hours, I couldn’t help but flinch.

  “I’m just going to untie you,” he snapped, and then he pulled something out of his pocket.

  I breathed again when I realized it was just something to cut the zip ties. He cut each wrist that was tied to the armrests of the chair, and then he cut the one around my ankles.

  “Now, go freshen up in the bathroom.” He handed me the bag and pointed toward the bathroom.

  I stood, but my legs felt like they were going to give in at any moment, so I stood there for a minute. Once I was able to feel my feet again, I made my way into the bathroom, shutting the door and leaning into it.

  My head dropped forward, and I stared at the tiled flooring. I didn’t want to look into the mirror. I could feel the swelling and pain. I didn’t have to look to know it was bad, but when I finally lifted my head and saw my reflection staring back at me, I instantly wished I hadn’t looked. It was much worse than I’d envisioned.

  I gasped, moving toward the sink and leaned into the mirror. I examined the bruising that pretty much covered the entire right side of my face. My eyes were swollen, but thankfully not completely shut. I lifted the bag and set it on the counter of the sink, knowing whatever was inside wasn’t going to cover enough of the bruising.

  I hadn’t been in the bathroom more than ten minutes when Rodger was pounding on the door to hurry up.

  “We don’t have all damn day!”

  I sighed, looking in the mirror.

  I was a mess.

  My hair was dirty and matted from not having been washed for the last two days. I felt filthy and grimy from the hotel and the fact that I was still in the same stained clothes.

  All I wanted was a hot shower and ten hours of sleep, but that wasn’t going to happen, so there was no sense in dwelling over it.

  Instead, I cleaned the crusted blood from my face and hairline the best I could before opened the bag and emptied its contents on the counter in front of me.

  I attempted to use the cover-up they had bought, but it wasn’t doing much good. Instead, it made my face look too dark and filled the broken skin of my face making the cuts more noticeable.

  When I finished, I washed my hands, scrubbing the dirt and blood from my nails before I went to pull the door open. I stopped when I heard Winston and Rodger’s hushed voices filtering in from beneath the door.

  “So, we’re taking her back with us?”

  “That’s what Monty said. He thinks she’ll be more useful to him alive and in Arizona than dead here.”

  My heart hammered against my chest and fear choked me.

  They weren’t going to let me go after I attempted to get their money. They were going to take me back to Arizona with them and hand me over to some man named Monty. My choices were limited.

  Either I was going to go with them.

  Or I was going to die.

  Unless, of course, I told Zander everything.

  As much as I didn’t want to involve him, I knew he had the power to help me get out of this mess. He had money, and as he had said before, he had reach. I’d seen myself that he had a few very valuable people in his pocket. He was my only hope.

  “All done,” I announced, coming back into the room.

  “Finally,” Rodger grumbled.

  With new resolve, I was more than ready to meet up with Zander.

  I would go to him.

  I would tell him what was happening.

  And hopefully, he would help me out of this.

  After that, I could disappear.

  “So, you just drop me off at Empire Sevens, and I get the money?”

  Winston stared at me funny. “Yeah. Do you think you can do that?”

  I shrugged. “It’s not going to be easy.”

  “Well, I suggest you do something that convinces him you’re worth it. If you get my meaning. You have until tomorrow morning. We’ll pick you up in front of Empire at six am.”

  I nodded.

  That was plenty of time to come up with a plan to get rid of these guys.

  His eyes narrowed as if he could read my thoughts. “And if you even think of trying to run, we’ll kill everyone you love. Your aunt Kennedy sure is a pretty piece of ass. It would be a shame to let her go to waste. Maybe I’ll have a little fun with her before I kill her.”

  Both laughed at the remark, but my heart dropped to the bottom of my stomach.

  My plan to tell Zander dissipated and the realization that there was no getting out of this if I wanted the ones I loved to be safe, killed me.

  “I’m not going to try anything,” I said softly.

  He smiled, knowing he had killed my hopes of being free of them. “Good girl.”

  Thirty minutes later, I found myself in front of Empire Sevens as Winston and Rodger sat in the black Sedan across the street. They warned me they would be there all night. Not that I was even thinking about running now. No way would I put anyone else in danger.

  Walking into the lobby of Empire, I pulled the hoodie they had given me over my head and speed-walked toward the employee lounge.

  From there I made my way toward the kitchen and then to the back elevator that Zander had taken me to his penthouse on the night of the gala. There was a code to enter to get to Zander’s penthouse, but thankfully I remembered it.

  Quickly, I pressed in the numbers, checking around me and making sure none of his security members were around. Jerome and Joey would stop me, of that I was sure, and I didn’t need anyone else involved in this mess.

  The door opened with a ding, and I stepped into the small space and pressed the button that would take me up to the penthouse.

  As I rode the elevator up, my stomach was in knots. I twisted my fingers together and nibbled at my bottom lip as worry and anxiety ate away at my insides.

  I had no idea how I was going to get five hundred thousand dollars from Zander without tipping him off that something major was happening, but I would have to think on my feet and be smarter than him.

  I already knew he was going to flip when he saw my face since
no amount of cover-up was going to fix what Allen had done, but I couldn’t think about that. I needed to focus on the task at hand, get it done, and disappear from Zander’s life for good.

  The elevator dinged, and the doors opened to Zander’s floor. I stepped out and turned toward his room. The entry area was warm and welcoming. It smelled fresh and clean, reminding me of how filthy I was.

  Once I made it to his door, I stood for a few seconds, breathing deeply and trying to bring my heart rate down a notch. When I felt like I could speak without losing my breath, I reached up and knocked.

  A few seconds passed, and I knocked again, praying that he was there. I scanned the area around me, making sure yet again that I was alone, and when I turned to face the door again, I began to feel a bit lightheaded.

  I shook the sensation away and blinked against the wave of strange feelings taking over. When he finally opened the door, I looked up to see the shape of his broad shoulders in the darkness of his entry space.

  The sight of him was more than I could handle. A rush of emotion moved over me mixed with longing and exhaustion. My world tilted on its axis, and a wave of relief crashed over me. The corners of my vision grew dark before the world went black and I dropped.

  21

  ZANDER

  I ALMOST DIDN’T CATCH Eden when she suddenly wilted toward the floor. Seeing her on the other side of my door had stunned the hell out of me, and my reflexes were delayed momentarily.

  I caught her before she hit the ground, and I tucked her body safely against me. I couldn’t see her face behind the hood, but I’d known instantly that it was her.

  The shape of her.

  I knew her body and its curves like the back of my hand.

  Stepping back into my suite, I closed the door with my foot. It shut with a loud thump that echoed through the room.

  I moved toward the couch, lying Eden down gently and going to my knees next to her. Her head rolled to the side, and her hair covered her cheek.

  The blond strands were dirty and greasy. Lines of red streamed through the limp locks, and I knew it was dried blood. My eyes followed the path of crimson until they landed on the cracked and broken skin along her hairline.

  I pulled the hood back and pushed her hair from her face, and the sight shocked me.

  I gasped.

  Sucking in a deep breath as my eyes moved over her face.

  Rage filled me, and my fingers shook with it as I softly touched the swollen part of her face. There were cuts and bruises everywhere. I ran my knuckle over her cheek and the caked on make-up she had used to try to cover the damage stained my skin.

  I wanted to shake her awake.

  I wanted to howl and demand that she tell me everything immediately, but it was more than apparent that she had already been through something. The last thing I wanted to do was harm her or upset her even more.

  “Eden,” I whispered her name softly as my hands moved over the rest of her body.

  I unzipped the hoodie she was wearing and pushed it open. Lifting up her shirt, I examined her, making sure she had no more marks anywhere else. When I was satisfied, I went back to waking her up.

  “Eden.” I shook her slightly. She moaned, and the sound broke my heart in two. “Eden,” I whispered again.

  This time her head moved to the side a little before her eyes slowly opened.

  “You’re here,” she said, her eyes devouring my face.

  She tried to smile as she brushed her fingers across my lips.

  She looked as though she hadn’t slept decently in hours.

  She was exhausted.

  Broken.

  Battered.

  And I was beyond livid at seeing her in that state.

  Whoever had touched her would die.

  No.

  They would be tortured and then murdered.

  I would personally make sure of it.

  I nodded. “I’m here, angel.” Her eyes slid shut again, but I nudged her softly. “Don’t fall asleep on me again.” When her eyes opened again, I asked. “Who did this to you, Eden? Tell me, and I’ll take care of them. I swear it.”

  She stared at me, a mix of confusion and sorrow moved across her expression before she whispered. “It was Allen.”

  “The man who was looking for you?”

  She nodded. “He was my mother’s boyfriend. I ran away from them, taking his car and all the cash he had in his wallet. I ran here, to Kennedy, but he came looking for me because…” she swallowed hard. “He wanted his car back and the money I stole from him. He’s gone now.”

  I frowned.

  That’s wasn’t the full story.

  I could sense that there was so much more she wanted to tell me.

  Also, she was lying to me again. I’d found Allen’s body in the shitty motel he was squatting in, which meant I knew for sure she was being dishonest.

  What I didn’t know, was why she was lying.

  Someone else was involved, that much was evident since I was positive by the look of things that Allen hadn’t shot himself.

  Something else was going on.

  “He just left?” I asked, already knowing the answer to my question.

  Her eyes shifted away from mine, her poker face still as bad as ever. “Yes.”

  Lie.

  She moved to sit up and winced slightly. “What happened?” I asked, touching the side of her face.

  She sighed. “He hit me.”

  “With what?”

  It looked like he used something more than his fists.

  The fucking coward.

  She shook her head. “I don’t want to talk anymore. I just want to be with you, Zander.”

  She moved to shift closer to me, and I couldn’t deny her soft plea. My arms went around her, and I turned, lifting her up into my arms. She didn’t protest. Just wrapped her arms around my neck and rested her head on my chest.

  Just then her stomach growled.

  “When was the last time you ate?” I asked.

  “Honestly, I don’t remember.”

  Leaving her side, I ordered from the restaurant downstairs and had them bring it up. Then I watched as Eden inhaled her food like a woman who hadn’t eaten in days.

  Afterward, once she was settled and feeling much better with a full stomach, I took her into the bathroom, setting her down on her feet so I could turn the water on. When I moved back to her, I started to undress her, and again, she didn’t protest.

  When she was completely naked, I left her briefly so I could undress. Once I was also naked, I led her into the shower. She followed easily, and for once I missed her spark. All of her fight seemed to be gone, and that scared me worse than the cuts and bruises.

  Once the warm water coated her body, she trembled and sighed as if she was finding comfort and warmth for the first time in days.

  Again, anger ripped through me, but I pushed it away so I could focus on her and only her.

  “I’m going to wash your hair,” I told her as I poured shampoo into my palm. She nodded, watching me the entire time.

  I lathered her hair, massaging her scalp until her eyes slid shut and she moaned. She made a whimpering sound when I removed them, and I couldn’t help but grin.

  “I have to rinse, but I promise to massage again when I wash it out.”

  I moved her under the spray and followed through on my promise until no more shampoo was left in her hair. I repeated the same steps when I put the conditioner in.

  “Are you ready for me to wash your body?”

  “Please,” she whispered.

  I lathered my sponge and pressed it into her chest before squeezing. Suds bubbled from inside, spilling down her breasts and stomach. Moving in circles, I washed her shoulders and down her arms. That’s when I saw the bruises on her both her biceps.

  Rage simmered in my stomach and I promised each bruise as I ran the sponge across it that I would make it right.

  “Zander,” Eden said, pulling me from my red filled haze. She pal
med my cheek, turning my face to look at her. “I think I’m all clean now,” she whispered, and the look in her eyes took away my anger until desire filled its place.

  Carefully, I pressed my lips to hers. I wanted to devour her. After worrying and not seeing her for so long, I was worried I would be too aggressive considering she was hurt. But some other part of me took over, and I was gentler than I’d ever been in my life.

  She slid her palms up my chest before hooking them around my neck. I rested my hands on her waist and let her take the lead. She kissed me back, and it was harder than I expected considering how banged up she looked.

  When she pulled away and looked up at me, rage filled me once again when my eyes moved over the bruising and broken skin on her beautiful face.

  “Make me forget it, Zander. Replace the bad memories with pleasure from you. I want to remember this night for the rest of my life.”

  She made it sound as if she were leaving me, but the fact was, Eden was never leaving me again. My mouth burned to form the three words I was feeling, but the sounds became stuck in my throat.

  Looking down at her.

  Feeling her body slide against mine.

  It was all too much at one time.

  After feeling like I might never see her again, all that matter was she was there. The words could come later because from that moment on, Eden was in my life to stay.

  I kissed her, giving her all that I was and taking everything she gave in return. The shower water washed over us, cleansing our pasts in a way. At least I liked to think it was, but deep down I still had a black mark on my soul—one that murder had left behind—one I wasn’t sure I would ever be able to get rid of.

  Her nails dug into my shoulders when I pushed into her, filling her as deeply as I could. Her eyes remained closed, but I needed her to see me. She was the only person who ever really could. When her eyes were on me, I was exposed and vulnerable, and while I should have hated that feeling, with Eden, I needed it.

  I needed her.

  “Look at me, angel. I need you to see me. Always see me,” I said, my hips thrusting into her with each word.