by Kate Stewart
Jesse was gone, and Angel stood alone.
“Class,” he ordered before disappearing through the school doors.
Chapter 13
MIAN
Present
“This is a fine watch. Yes, indeed. I can tell a pretty penny was paid for this. Not a crack or scratch on the bezel. Eighteen-karat gold. Stainless steel…”
He continued to appraise the watch while Caylen slept in my arms. My patience was running low, waiting for the guy to finish eye fucking the watch and pay me.
We were hungry.
After leaving Caesar’s last night, I went home to more bad news. Not only did Caesar deny me a job, but Caylen had also caught a bug. This was the most peaceful he’s slept since last night when I arrived at Brandi’s to hear him screaming away his poor lungs. I’d heard him from the stairs since the walls were thin, and the few moments it had taken before Brandi opened the door with him struggling in her arms were the scariest. I took him away from her and checked him over for injuries while she looked on nonchalantly. I rushed back to my place before she could ask how the audition went.
Anna had still been out on her date with Joey, so I hoped that meant it went well.
“I can give you six hundred for it,” the shop owner grunted. I pushed aside my woes and glared at the shriveled up man with a receding hairline.
“That’s an eight-thousand-dollar watch. Six hundred isn’t even ten percent.”
“I’m trying to run a business here.”
“And I’m trying to survive.” I had no money and no insurance to pay for a doctor’s visit for Caylen. It broke me each time he’d fret and cry. I knew he was suffering and there was nothing I could do about it.
“Fine. Eight hundred.”
“One thousand or no watch.”
He continued to try to talk me down, but I refused every offer until he finally said, “Nine hundred. I can’t do more than that, and no one else will give you nearly as much.”
“Sold.”
I took the money and hurried from the shop just as Caylen began to stir. The pawnshop was only a few blocks away, but the neighborhood wasn’t safe to walk with a pocket full of cash.
Desperate to get home, I hurried around the first corner and bumped into a wall with arms that saved me from a painful fall. “I’m sorry,” I said when I was steady on my feet. “I’m not usually so clumsy.” I checked to make sure Caylen was still asleep and then looked up at the stranger who saved me from a broken ass. Instinctively, I took a step back. His unfamiliar face was harsh and angry. “Uhhh… sorry again.”
I sidestepped him when he didn’t move, but another stranger stepped forward to obviously block me. Panic kicked in so I looked around the secluded street, but there were no bystanders around since the city was still recovering from the fourth. There were two black beamers sitting on the curb. I squinted hoping to see someone sitting inside, but the windows were tinted pitch black.
The engines were running, but the lights were off.
“Mian Ross?”
Cold dread crept up my spine.
He knew me.
“Yes?”
He didn’t bother to answer. His creepy gaze rose over my head, and suddenly, I felt hands wrap around my biceps. My heart thumped fast and hard until it fell at my feet. I fought as hard as I could with Caylen strapped to my chest. He had woken up when I started to struggle and sent a cry into the air.
That’s when the unthinkable happened.
My worst fucking nightmare.
The guy I’d run into unclipped the carrier and ripped him away.
“No!” My scream ripped from my gut. I kicked and fought as he handed Caylen to a man who stepped from one of the waiting cars. He was carried further and further away even as I fought and screamed. Tears stung my eyes and clouded my vision until I could no longer see what was happening.
I heard a car door open and close and then the unmistakable sound of it driving away. It sucked what was left of my self-preservation.
“Ahhhh!” My scream was a cry for war. The first act to saving my son. I bit into the hand of my captor until I tasted blood when he tried to silence me with his hand over my mouth. The metallic tang of his blood on my tongue only fueled me. He cursed from the pain and dropped me. I would have ran, but the man who started all of this quickly grabbed me.
“The easier you make this for us, the sooner you get your son back.” Mention of my son had me slacking in his grip. I studied his face but had no recognition of who this man was—who so coldly took my son—who he could even be.
“Who are you?” I thought they were merely trying to rob me but why take my son for nine hundred bucks? They could have easily overpowered me and taken the money, which told me they weren’t mere street thugs.
“I don’t matter. There’s someone who would like to speak with you.” It was then I noticed the lit cell phone he now held in his hand. I glared at the screen and saw that the phone call had already been going for two minutes. Whoever was on the other line had heard everything. With shaking hands, I took it and waited.
“Hello, Mian.”
I might have died when I heard his voice. I could no longer feel my limbs, and I wasn’t sure I was even still breathing until I whispered his name. “Angel?”
“It sounded like you put up quite a fight.” Pissed off, I wondered if he were actually praising me until he said, “That was stupid.”
“You did this? Where are they taking my son?”
“They are bringing him to me as I requested.”
“Excuse me?”
“Fair exchange isn’t robbery. You have something that belongs to me, and now I have something that belongs to you.”
“I’ll fucking kill you. Do you understand that? Give me back my son!”
“In due time. First, I want to play.”
“My son has nothing to do with whatever sick game you think this is.”
His chuckle was deeper and smoother than I remembered. “So what’s his name?”
“Excuse me?” I gasped and struggled to control my breathing, but it was impossible as I replayed the image of my son being taken.
“You risked a lot for him. Surely, he has a name.”
“His name is Caylen, and I would risk everything for him.”
The silence was brief and then he coldly uttered, “Well, then Caylen will be waiting for you at my father’s home. You have two hours.” I realized a moment too late that he had hung up, so I looked around for answers.
I was alone.
Chapter 14
ANGEL
I hung up and closed my eyes tight. Catching her unguarded gave me some of the sweet satisfaction I had yearned for, but I wouldn’t be completely satisfied until I had her helpless and at my mercy.
She would learn quickly that I had none when it came to her. Not anymore. Leaving her alone these past three years had been mercy enough until she made the first move that put us at war.
I was the Bandit and the Knight.
The position came to each new generation when the last son stepped down or died. Protecting our legacy meant protecting the family and it was now my duty. I would fulfill that duty by imprisoning her under my control.
Completely.
I could have easily taken her when I had her son stolen from her arms, but what fun would that had been? She needed to suffer in the worst way—a way that only a mother could, and while my actions sealed my fate and my spot in hell, I welcomed the rush I felt knowing I’d have her soon.
“Do you think she will come?” Lucas, breaking the silence and stole me from the dark and back to reality.
“What other choice does she have? We have her kid.” Each time I was forced to acknowledge that Mian spread her legs for some faceless man was like a knife stabbing deep. The wound felt akin to betrayal. It was jealousy of another man taking what could never be mine. Secretly, I added the pain she caused to her list of grievances and promised to make her pay.
“She could go
to the police. You haven’t paid off every cop in the city. So what then?”
“She’s a smart girl. She’ll know going to the police is a risk.”
Lucas decided to push. “But?”
His paranoia wasn’t unwarranted. Lucas didn’t know Mian. I knew her all too well. “She’s pigheaded like her father. She thinks she’s a fighter.” I could get lost in memories of just how pigheaded my little bandit could be. Back then, I enjoyed pushing her. It was like luring a fish out of water and watching it squirm.
I would show I was merciful by letting her drown in her illusion of safety before doing it all over again.
“So how will we persuade her?”
Mian’s love was possessive. I’ve seen it in how she mourned her mother and loved her father, despite him being undeserving. Fear would make her seek help, but instinct would drive her here instead. She’s a mother. “He’s all the persuasion she needs.”
“My murder vitae doesn’t include children.” He looked visibly sick. Silently, I shared his sentiment. Of all the bad shit I’d done, stealing a kid was the most fucked up. I told myself it was for the greater good of my family, but what honor can be found among thieves?
“I’ll handle the kid if it comes to that.”
He tilted his head thoughtfully. “And her?”
I held his gaze and spoke only when I trusted my voice would give no reason for doubt. “I vowed on my father’s grave that she’ll suffer.”
Just hours before Mian had waved the red flag, I visited my father’s grave for the first time since he was put there.
It seemed fate wasn’t on her side.
The doubt in Lucas’s eyes slowly faded away. He then scratched his chin and looked beyond my shoulder as if recalling something important. “She’s pretty scrappy,” he finally said and then chuckled at the memory. “It may not be as easy as manhandling her into doing what we want.”
“Hence, the kid. We beat her if we have to, but use the kid to persuade her before it comes to that.” A familiar glimmer brightened by the second. Lucas was nothing if not daring. He got off on pushing limits, same as I.
“And if we could persuade her another way?” I glanced across the room where Z dwelled in a corner. He had been quiet until now.
The three of us had shared more women than either of us could count. When one of us was through, if she proved tempting enough, she would find herself in the next brother’s bed. However, Mian was still alive so we could bring her pain, not pleasure. “Fucking her won’t be on the agenda even if she wants it.”
And with one or all of us persuading her, there was no doubt she’d want it.
I felt my cock harden and swiftly tent the sweatpants I’d slept in. Of all the women I’ve sampled and devoured, Mian was the only one to make me feel anxious like a horny teen again. She made me vulnerable.
And for that, I had to destroy her.
I was thankful for the desk hiding my erection even if I failed to hide my irritation. Lucas was smirking when he said, “We want to know if she means something to you.”
“She’s revenge. She’s the daughter of the man who murdered my father.” I glanced back and forth between the only two men who could challenge me and live to do it again. “Pure and fucking simple.”
He waited a beat before saying, “How many times do you think you’ll need to say that before you start believing it?”
“What else does she need to be?” I questioned coldly.
“For your sake, we hope you never find out,” Lucas answered smoothly. My gaze shifted to Z, and I braced for his two cents, but he remained quiet. He looked as if he was concentrating with a deep frown wrinkling the space between his eyebrows.
When he noticed my attention, his expression slackened into impassiveness. “What are we supposed to do with the kid while we torture his mother?” His swift change in subject wasn’t expected, but I welcomed the opportunity to end the interrogation. “We’re not nannies and hiring one is risky. It could backfire on us.”
His argument wasn’t one that I hadn’t considered before. Outside of Lucas and Z, there wasn’t anyone I trusted. After my father’s death, I was firmly against letting anyone else close. Lucas and Z were left in charge of the men we pay to get their hands dirty—dirt such as kidnapping a baby in broad daylight. Even then, we kept only a few on the books because I trusted no one who hadn’t bled for me or with me.
“I’ve got it covered.”
“How?”
“Milly.” She was my parent’s part-time maid and had been on vacation the night Mian broke in. Whenever she wasn’t cleaning, a silent alarm that rerouted the signal to me instead of the police was activated. Mian had mistaken good luck for fate’s worst hand.
“The maid? You think we should trust her?”
“My father trusted her to clean his home, which meant he was paying her more than a maid’s salary to keep her mouth shut.” Lucas and Z didn’t look convinced, and frankly, I wasn’t either. My father’s death had proven that he wasn’t very adept at trusting the right people. “We use her if we’re in over our heads. Not before.”
Collectively, they nodded. Caring for a baby while I tortured Mian for information and paid Theo back for his death by breaking his precious daughter wasn’t ideal, but my choices were as limited as Mian’s days.
I checked my watched and realized only twenty minutes had passed since we took Mian’s son. If she were smart, she would be on her way by now. There was only one thing left to do.
I snatched up my phone and placed a call to a man who would ensure Mian would obey and come quietly. She lived in one of the most dangerous areas in Chicago, and it just so happened that I had the district’s commander in my pocket as well as the city’s Chief of Police. I should have had eyes on her a long time ago.
But you wouldn’t have just stopped there…
The sour voice of the police commander’s voice chased away destructive thoughts. “Mr. Knight, to what do I owe—”
“Cut the bullshit. Who do you have on rotation tonight?” He immediately ticked off a list of names. Most of district seven was in my pocket, but there were a few straight shooters. When he coughed and mentioned one overzealous cop who thought himself a detective and had been a thorn in my side for years, I cut him off. “Give Office Garrett the rest of the night off.”
“Is there any reason why you’re making such an impossible request? He’ll ask questions.”
“Do you think I give a fuck? Garrett is your problem. Handle him, or I’ll handle you both.” I gave him a detailed description of her even though I haven’t seen her in three years. I’d rehearsed every line and plane of her body over the years when my infatuation wouldn’t allow me to forget she ever existed. I could have found her but forcing myself not to was tantamount to sanity. “If she comes, show her the door. Got it?”
“May I ask why she would come here?”
“I don’t pay you to question me. I pay you to do what the fuck I say.” I hung up and rubbed my temples. A strong drink might have done a better job alleviating the headache, but if I overindulged, I wouldn’t have been on guard for when she arrived.
“Thomas is beginning to ask too many questions,” Z remarked. “Are you sure we’re paying him enough?”
“We’re paying him all he’s going to get. Any more and he’ll be more beneficial to me dead.” The ice around my heart made me sit back with my eyes closed.
When had I become this ruthless?
“She’s left the city.”
My eyes cracked open to see Lucas’s phone lit in his hand and Z’s steady gaze watching me. “Are you ready for this?”
Since I first laid eyes on her.
When the men arrived with the kid, Lucas and Z disappeared to handle it. I could hear his cries no matter how much distance I put between us. I wondered if he cried for her or if he could sense the danger he was in.
I found myself standing in the doorway of the prison I’d made just for her. To the naked eye, it was
a normal guest room, but to Mian, it would be so much more. The large bed rested against the far wall where two tall windows flanked the bed. The sills were wide enough to properly seat two people. The bed’s honeycomb headboard was adorned with black leather cuffs that stood out against the gold finish. They were attached to the head and footboard, and I knew Mian would question their presence when she saw them.
Had they been used on someone?
Would I use them on her?
I knew the way Mian’s mind worked better than she did.
Since she wouldn’t be a guest in the traditional sense, the bed was left bare. My mother preferred zoned temperature control since she chilled easier than Dad and me. The temperature in her prison had been lowered to sixty degrees.
I smiled and pictured her face the moment she realized there was no surviving this. Everything she’d encountered during her time here was designed to overwhelm her. Comfort was the last thing she’d be afforded. This wasn’t the worst I could do to her. How far I went would depend on her.
My father’s lessons didn’t include how to toss a ball or catch fish.
His lessons taught me how to be cruel without lifting a finger.
This was one of many reasons I was grateful for his lessons. Putting my finger on any part of Mian’s body would land us both in fucked up territory. That’s where Lucas and Z unknowingly came in. I’d lied to them earlier. If I ever found myself unable to resist her, I planned to unleash them on her. They’d willingly perform when I couldn’t, and I would no longer want her after they had her.
She wasn’t like the women we share. Once they were through with her, she would finally lose her hold on me.
I was counting on it.
Chapter 15
MIAN
I searched through the cheap plastic phone and found nothing. No contacts. No messages. Only one phone call had ever been placed. It must have been one of those throwaways I’ve seen my dad use.