PUSHED (Capitol Corruption Series Book 1)

by Linny Lawless

  With swift force, I shoved Decker against the wall, my forearm pressed against his throat. His eyes flew open, full of shock. His mouth dropped wide open, my face only an inch from his. I hissed, “What did you do to the boy!”

  Dane pulled me off him, “He’s in the other room, Push. He’s ok, considering.”

  I held out my hand, “Give me the key card!”

  Swiping the card, I opened the door to the other room and saw the young teenage boy sitting on the couch. He was Asian, and wore a white robe. Streaks of dried black mascara caked his cheeks, red lipstick smudged over his lips, and one eye was swollen shut and turning blue.

  More fresh tears fell, and his bottom lip quivered. I cupped his chin tilting it up, “Its ok to be afraid. You are alive. We’ll get you a doctor to check you out.”

  He wrapped his arms around my legs, clung to me, and sobbed like a small child.

  I sat with Nolan at a bar in Caesars later that afternoon to drink and decompress.

  Nolan loosened his tie, and leaned his elbows on the bar, “If you want that sick fuck congressman to disappear, we can make that happen.”

  I raised my glass of bourbon, “No. He’s more valuable breathing than being buried six feet under by the Potomac.”

  My phone vibrated in my jacket. Mack’s name glowed and I answered, “Yeah Mack.”

  “Mr. Push! Lucas took Nadia! I’m sorry I tried -”

  I moved off the barstool, “When?”

  “Just a few minutes ago! Lucas’s men busted me up some. I’m sorry, Mr. Push!”

  “Get to a hospital, Mack. I’ll be there in three hours.”

  Nolan finished off his bourbon in one gulp, threw some bills on the bar and we were back on the Jersey turnpike, heading south to DC.

  CHAPTER 11

  NADIA

  I opened my eyes and sat up. Daylight was muted by the curtains drawn over the big bay window. I was back in the same bed that Lucas violated me in night after night. My stomach turned, bile rose in my throat. I leapt out of the bed, rushed into the bathroom and vomited in the toilet. The nausea was getting more intense. Along with the morning sickness from the pregnancy, I felt intense fear.

  I knelt on the bathroom floor, folding my legs underneath me and touching my belly. I was not in fear for my own life. I was in fear for the life of the baby that was growing inside me. My own mother died when I was so young that I couldn’t remember what she looked like. I grew up alone, with no sisters or brothers. I was surrounded by men who terrified me and I never felt any warmth from my father. Tears fell down my cheeks as I looked down at my belly.

  “Will I be dead before you are old enough to remember me?” I whispered.

  Everything that happened earlier that day came flooding back. I was pregnant. The only friend I could trust had betrayed me and handed me back to Lucas. His monsters punching and kicking my gentle giant friend, Mack. Then everything went black and I woke up in that bed.

  The four-carat pink diamond ring on my finger stared up at me as I held my belly. I yanked the ring off my finger and pitched it into the toilet. I had to escape from this house! I needed Push! I couldn’t survive without him. He was the only person I could trust with my life and the life that was growing inside me.

  I changed into some comfortable sweat pants and opened the bedroom door quietly. I heard hushed voices coming from Lucas’s office. Then the sound of Christina’s voice drew me out and I crept down the hallway, listening the tone of their voices. I rounded the corner and watched with my own eyes as Lucas yanked Christina’s dress up. He ripped her panties away and shoved himself inside her roughly as she leaned over his desk. I inhaled sharply and clamped my hand over my mouth to muffle my scream. Lucas’s eyes pivoted to me first and stopped thrusting into her. Christina’s head swung around and looked right into my eyes and gasped.

  Lucas’s head fell back and he laughed as Christina pushed away from him, pulling her skirt down.

  I ran from the doorway and down the hall to the front door. But the monster stood there blocking my way. “You’re not to leave the house, Blondie. Mr. Peterson won’t allow it.”

  “Tony’s taking us to your father’s house, Nadia.” Lucas appeared, buttoning and zipping his dress slacks and rolling his shirt sleeves down, like nothing had happened between him and Christina.

  I snapped, like the striking of a match! I screamed, hurling myself at the monster called Tony, digging my nails down the side of his face. He roared from the pain, and struck me with the back of his hand. I fell hard, landing on my hands and knees. Everything spun around me again and I started to heave, bile rising in my throat.

  He grabbed my arm, wrenching me off the floor. I tried to pull away from him “Don’t touch me, you vile disgusting pig!”

  Lucas was there, pulling me away from Tony, then slammed a fist into his jaw. “She’s pregnant, you stupid fuck!

  Tony stumbled back, spitting a blood on the floor. “Sorry Boss.”

  Christina appeared in the doorway of Lucas’s office, her cheeks flushed, her hair messy. She folded her arms as tears streaked down her flushed cheeks.

  The sight of her crushed me. “You were my only friend, Christina. You killed my heart.”

  Lucas’s tight grip on my arm would later leave black and blue marks as we walked up the steps to my father’s mansion with Tony trailing behind us. His other monster they called Jules, sneered at me as he opened the front door. The curtains were drawn, leaving the house dark and foreboding. The hair on the back of my neck stood up as Lucas pulled me along into my father’s office.

  He sat at his desk, smoking a cigar, with a glass half-filled with his favorite bourbon. The expression in my father’s eyes as he looked into mine was the same as always: contempt and hatred. “If you came here to give her back, I’ll just pawn her off to someone else, Lucas.” His words did not affect me like they did when I was child. I hated him.

  “Nadia is going to have my child, Lucas. We will marry tomorrow- “

  “No, we will NOT!” I shrieked at the top of my lungs.

  “Insolent bitch!” Lucas roared, slapping me across the face. “You run away from me, and let that freak put his hands on you while you are carrying my child? If you say another word, I will have Tony staple that slut mouth of yours shut!”

  “She’s like her mother. A whore.” Father sneered, puffing on his cigar.

  “Once we are married, I’m taking over, Gabe. Your partnership with the Russians and the sex trade, your dealings with the Feds, political contacts, contractors, the dealings in Jersey – all of it will belong to me.”

  A low chuckle came from my father and then his head fell back, laughing loudly.

  “What is so fucking funny?” Lucas growled, his eyes full of fiery anger.

  He puffed on his cigar again, chuckling, “You think I gave Nadia to you as some kind of partnership to my business? That I built all on my own? You are dead wrong, Lucas. I wanted to be rid of her! She’s not even my daughter for Christ’s sake!”

  The words the old man spoke felt like an old, scabbed-over wound had been ripped off. But I had felt it all my life. Deep down inside, in my heart, I knew it was true.

  Then it happened so fast. I didn’t have a chance to scream as Lucas pulled out a gun from the inside of his suit jacket and aimed it directly at Gabe. “No. You’re dead wrong, old man!”

  Gabe’s eyes went wide with shock, raising his hands. Lucas fired three shots into him. Gabe convulsed from the impact and slumped dead in his desk chair.

  I twisted and jerked out of Lucas’s hard grip and stumbled backwards. I was in shock.

  Lucas sneered at me, “Jules, Tony, break it or take it. The house is yours.”

  Tony stalked toward me first, “Anything Boss? What about Blondie?”

  Lucas walked past me, “She’s worthless to me.” and disappeared out of the office, leaving me alone with the monsters.

  I was tossed onto my father’s pool table, my arms pinned down above me effor
tlessly. Monster number one slammed his hand over my mouth. I thrashed my head back and forth, fighting against him, my screams muffled. Monster number two climbed onto the table, and gripped my thighs, spreading them roughly and positioned himself between them. They chuckled as I cried, tears spilling from my eyes. The monster between my legs yanked and ripped my sweatpants apart with his bare hands. I kicked as much as I could, struggling and twisting my body. His sinister smile and fiery eyes focused down between my legs as he shoved his fingers inside me. I screamed out in pain, but the other monster’s hand pressed down even harder over my mouth.

  Warm wet droplets splattered on my face and on the monster’s hand that covered my mouth. I smelled blood but didn’t hear the trigger pull. The hand came away from my mouth. My eyes turned upward to see blood at his temple, his body falling back into darkness. The other monster on top of me didn’t have time to reach for his gun. His eyes went wide as a bullet pierced his forehead. More blood splattered. His dead body slumped on top of me. This time I was able to hear myself scream. Then the heavy suffocating body was lifted off me.

  There he was. Push. Looking down at me, his eyes dark, his brows drawn together. I rose up and threw myself against him, clinging to him tightly, crying and screaming uncontrollably.

  One strong arm came around my waist and another under my thighs, lifting me off the table. “You’re ok, Nadi. They’re dead now.” His warm breath caressed my cheek.

  I wrapped my arms around Push’s shoulders, crashing my face into his suit jacket as he carried me out of that house and into the passenger seat his car. He pulled off his suit jacket, and covered my nakedness. I laid my head on his lap and closed my eyes as he put the car in drive and sped away.

  My sobs turned into hiccups. Then I went silent. I was still in shock. “I took your leather glove. Years ago, when you came to this house to play card games in the parlor…” I whispered.

  Push’s low chuckle rumbled in his chest as he kept his hands on the steering wheel, “I know, Nadia. You were a clever teenage thief.”

  “I smell your blood, Nadi. Wake up.” Push’s low voice drifted to me.

  I felt wetness between my legs then convulsed as the sudden sharp pain hit me in my lower belly. I grimaced at the pain and panicked. I cried out when another intense contraction of pain struck me.

  “I’m taking you to GW Hospital.”

  CHAPTER 12

  PUSH

  I cradled Nadia close to my chest in the hospital bed after the doctor sedated her. She sobbed and hiccupped, then went silent. Her steady breathing caressed my neck. I moved slowly, climbed off the bed and covered her with the blanket. I walked to the door, but looked back at her. She had lost a lot of blood and miscarried.

  I left her room to find Yuto standing right outside the door. He looked down at his feet, and when I touched his shoulder, he lifted his head and looked into my eyes. “Yuto. All that is important to me in this world is Nadia. I can only trust you and those loyal to Osamu Takata to protect her.”

  He bowed. “Yes, Mr. Push. I will help you protect her until my last breath.”

  Nolan appeared from the elevator, striding down the hall toward Yuto and I. His hair was disheveled, his shirt unbuttoned, and his sleeves were rolled up. His eyes were bloodshot. “How is Nadia?”

  “I headed to Lucas’s house, but Nadia’s friend, Christina, called me. Told me Lucas took Nadia to Gabe’s. He killed Gabe. Then he let his men have Nadia. I killed them both and carried her out of the house.”

  “The word is out all over the metropolitan area. Lucas disappeared. But we’ll find him.”

  “Nadia had a miscarriage. She’s sedated now.”

  Nolan raked his hand through his unruly hair, shaking his head and turned away. When he turned back, his eyes were full of as much rage as mine were.

  I drove Nolan with me to meet with Mr. Takata. It was late, but the lights were still on inside the Ginza sushi bar. Four of Takata’s men stood outside. We walked in to see Osamu sitting at the small bar, drinking a warm cup of sake. “Push, Nolan. Drink with me.”

  Nolan lit a fat Cuban cigar as the three of us drank the warm sake together. Osamu’s eyes showed compassion. “My thoughts are with Nadia. She has experienced much pain and loneliness in her young life.”

  The warm sake soothed my aching throat as I took a sip. “Thank you, Osamu. She’s resting at GW now. Yuto is watching over her so I could come see you, but I cannot stay long and need to get back to her.”

  “I understand, Push.” He pulled a card from the inside of his jacket pocket and slid it across the bar. “I want you to call the number on this card. It’s the pilot of my private jet. When Nadia has recovered and is well enough to travel, take her to my private home in Maui. Stay as long you need to.”

  I took the card from him, and bowed my head, “I am overwhelmed by your gracious hospitality. I’m truly grateful.”

  “Good.”

  Nolan puffed on his cigar, “You leave everything else to me and Osamu.”

  We sat together, sharing another cup of warm sake and strategized Nadia’s vengeance upon all who took from her. I killed my monsters. And I would help Nadia slay hers.

  CHAPTER 13

  NADIA

  My mind rehashed the events of the past three weeks over and over again. It was like a nightmare that I could not seem to wake from. The world suddenly tilted on its axis when Lucas shot and killed the man I called ‘Papa’ all my life. The two monsters tearing at my clothes and violating my body. Their blood splattering on my face. Push appearing from the darkness in the parlor and carrying me out of that house. Push smelled the blood as he drove me away. The sudden severe pain racking my body as I screamed hysterically in the hospital gurney.

  I was empty, a hollow shell. I spiraled into dark nothingness when I lost my baby. I didn’t want to breathe anymore, let alone eat anything. I laid in a hospital bed for a week, with Push standing at times to watch over me, or climbing into the bed to hold and comfort me.

  Another week went by before Push finally took me away from the wicked, malicious world that I grew up in. We flew on Mr. Takata’s private jet to his beachfront mansion on the island of Maui. I was able to breathe again. Push was so attentive to all my needs and never left my side. I started to regain my strength, and my pale skin took on more of my natural color.

  It was well before daybreak when I climbed out of the oversized four-poster bed in the huge mansion. I was slow and quiet, trying not to wake Push. I watched him as he breathed steadily. I admired his muscular toned body and his well-defined V-shape. My eyes lowered to the white sheet that covered his manhood.

  I dressed in a simple white nightgown and walked down to the sandy beach and I stood in the wet sand to watch the sunrise. I closed my eyes, folded my arms and breathed in the salty sea air. The ocean caressed my feet as the waves crashed onto the sand.

  Push’s muscular arms came from behind me, wrapping around my stomach. He pressed my back against his bare chest. “I felt you gone. I want to breathe in the salty air with you.” He whispered next to my ear.

  I leaned my head back against his broad shoulder and inhaled deep. “It smells so clean.”

  “Just like you.” His breath brushed along my neck, as he pressed closer to me.

  “I’m not clean.”

  I tried to lean away from him, but he pulled me back. “Yes, Nadia. You are clean. Fresh and pure. I’ve been drawn to you ever since you were a young girl. The world around us is dark, like grey fog, and I just existed in it. But your energy has helped me breathe again.”

  I turned around to face him. “I lost everything that I loved. And all that I was capable of loving. I was despised by a man because I was not his child, and my mother was taken away from me. Lucas took my innocence. I had a baby growing inside me. And I lost her, too. So much cruelty and violence.”

  Push’s pitch-black eyes were full of darkness “My life was taken from me. But I was re-born.”

  I can rememb
er having feelings of warmth and security once before… at a very young age. But that was a far cry from the life I now lived: in coldness, hunger, and fear. I was confined to a small cage in an underground basement. A metal collar was locked tightly around my neck, as if I were a wild animal. Two men kept me hidden from the world above. One man was tall and strong, with dark hair. I remember the other man was older, smaller in size and had grey hair. They gave me clothes to wear, which were usually just rags or bits of cloth. On rare occasions, I was fed, given water to drink and to wash my body with. Sometimes the men forced themselves upon me in trade for food and water. They used my body with cruelty and violence. That was my world back then and I could remember nothing else.

  I couldn’t remember my past life or my real name. I had no idea how long I had been living in that cage. At times they led me outside on the chain, where I could breathe and feel the natural air. I discovered that they kept me locked up in the basement of a huge house in the middle of nowhere. I saw no other human being aside from my captors. I was occasionally set free for very short periods of time to walk barefoot on grass, dirt, or cement. I never thought to run away, even when they took from me and I endured physical pain – whipping, slashing, punching, bruising, fucking.

  As time went on, I was let out of my cage more often to walk in the grass and feel the heat of the sun on my skin. Those times were the only reason I existed, and blood still pumped through my veins.

  Then, images of my past life started coming to me in my dreams: Feelings of comfort as arms embraced me. Laughter. Running. The taste of sweetness on my tongue. The smell of grass, trees, dirt, and even salty sea air. I developed a very strong sense of smell from being in captivity and my body had changed drastically. I was a boy, growing into a man.

  One night, the tall dark-haired man came down the stairs into the basement. I heard the jingling of keys attached to a ring on his belt. One of those keys fit the huge metal lock to the shackle around my neck that kept me chained to the cement floor. I could smell his putrid breath mixed with alcohol from yards away. He weaved and staggered toward me, holding a half-empty bottle of alcohol.