by Dani René
“You knew he was my father?” I murmur, gesturing with my hand to my chest. The needle in my arm pinches, and I can’t help wincing. I’ve been through far worse. I don’t know why this is getting to me. But after what he did to me in that warehouse while I was chained, I’m surprised I’m alive.
A shudder wracks through me involuntarily, and I meet his concerned eyes. “Yes, the night you found me in your living room, I knew.” I stare at him for such a long time. The heaviness in the room is stifling. He knew who I was, and he still wanted me? I don’t understand.
“Why did you stay?” I ask.
His gaze meets mine and heats me in the coolness of the room. “You know why, Tia. Or did you want me to tell you word for word?”
Do I? Would it heal my mind if someone said it? Those three words. Shrugging, I lean back and watch him. His hair is mussed, as if he’d just woken up. There are also dark circles under his eyes, and his clothes are crumpled.
“Did you sleep here?” I question, needing to fill the silence, but not wanting to tell him I so desperately need to hear the words.
He nods. Nearing the bed, he leans in and reaches for my hand. His eyes pierce my soul.
“Tia, I’m in love with you.” Six words that steal my breath. Gold eyes glisten with unshed tears, the sincerity in them shining through as if I’m looking through a window. His soul is there, calling to mine. We need each other to survive. It’s clear now. I’ll never be without him. For some reason, he loves me, wants me. And as much as I’d like to push him away and save him from me, my mind, and everything else, I’m going to be selfish. I’m going to walk with him into the dark. I just hope he’s strong enough to pull me out.
“I’m in love with you too, Brax.” My confession has my heart leaping into my throat and my stomach fluttering with anxiety. I’ve never loved anyone before.
“I know, you told me before.” One side of his mouth lifts infinitesimally, it’s the smallest smirk, but on him it lights up his whole face.
“What?” I squeak.
He nods slowly, chuckling at the memory that I don’t have. “When I carried you from the warehouse, you murmured it while you were in my arms.”
“Oh, God,” I groan in embarrassment. I was so drugged; I didn’t know what was happening or where I was. I must have been dreaming.
“Look, we’ll talk about that soon, but what’s more important is what your father wanted from you and what your sister has to do with all this?”
Questions.
Questions.
Tell him, Tia.
No. I can’t.
You can’t hide forever. He’ll find out. One way or another.
“My sister hates me. She believes it’s my fault she was sold and taken away. My father told her I chose for her to go instead of me. She thinks I killed our mother, but to be honest, I don’t know if I did or didn’t. It’s all a memory that’s locked so deep in my subconscious that I’ve never been able to recall it. I came to San Antonio to find him. Innuendo was registered in his name, and it was my only link to finding him and making him pay for what he did. All the secrets are unravelling before me, and I don’t know what to do, Brax.” I sneak a glance at him, hoping he doesn’t run the other way, but he shocks me by nodding.
“Your mental condition is what’s shielding you from it. You need to let go of the place you run to in your mind, and you’ll be able to focus on the real memories.”
The serious tone of his voice stills me for a moment. “What? How do you—?”
“I went through the same thing you did, Tia.” His gaze bears down on mine, watching for something. Recognition. He’s like me. Broken.
“But—”
“I saw your medical files, Vixen. I know about you, your mind. It’s going to be okay. This will all be over soon, and we’ll go away. Okay?” Confidence in his words, surety in his eyes, love in his smile, it all slams into me, leaving me breathless. Nodding, I turn away, but his fingers reach for my chin, making me look at him again.
“Don’t run from me. I’m not leaving, and I don’t want you going anywhere. We’re in this together. Tia, since the first day I saw you, I felt you” — he places my hand on his chest — “in here.” My vision blurs, and when I blink, all the emotion from the past hits me as if a dam has burst, and I can’t hold back anymore.
Somehow, he manages to shift his way onto the hospital bed beside me, and he cradles me. My body wracks with shivers and sobs. He doesn’t tell me it’s going to be okay. All he does is hold me and allow me to purge all the pain and anger.
I don’t know how long we sit there, but when the tears finally stop, Braxton moves and regards me. “We’re going to get revenge, Vixen. I’ll make sure of it,” he promises. His vow grips my heart and tears spring to my eyes.
“Thank you, Brax. I’m ready to kill him. The time has come to end this.” My own pledge is enough for him, and I get that smile. The one he always gives me. The one that makes my heart fill with want, need, and love.
“Then that’s what we’ll do.”
Braxton
The Past
We’re outside the warehouse where Miguel is meant to be holed up. I’ve got a team behind me, Tia and Grant on either side flanking me. We’ve taken four days to plan this, but I know for a fact that Miguel Alvarez is not stupid. He’s not someone who’s going to sit back and wait for us to come at him.
“Are you sure you’re ready?” I ask Tia.
She nods. Her body has healed quickly, but her mind is still broken. I see her thoughts drift, and when they do, I’m here to bring her back. I’m her anchor as much as she is mine. I don’t know if this is going to help her or not, but revenge is something we both need.
Slowly, we make our way through the dark building. My heart thuds, echoing in my ears. I wonder if anyone else can hear it. Can she? Does she know how much I want this to be over so I can finally be with her?
“Brax?” she whispers quietly, and I turn to her. “Thank you for doing this. I . . .” Her words taper off, and those ice-blue eyes lower to the gravel below our black combat boots. Whenever she turns away from me, it feels as if my world tips off its axis. As if she’s my moon, and I’m her tide.
The Retribution team behind us is armed and ready for any shit that arises. I’ve told them she comes first. I don’t want anything happening to her. Not again.
“I would do anything for you. That’s how this works, Tia.” The honesty in my tone is clear. This is what I want. She is who I want. The decision was easy. When I told Corp I was ready to move on, he was supportive and gave me everything we needed to take Tia’s father down once and for all.
As we enter the main area of the vast metal warehouse, the lights flicker on, and we’re surrounded by men with guns. They’re trained on us, and fear grips me. My chest is tight, and my heart is about to break its way through my fucking chest.
“Ah! My daughter and her boyfriend. Welcome.” Miguel Alvarez steps forward, his filthy, leering gaze on Tia. I want to rip his eyes out. I know what he did to her when she was bound and helpless. She’ll forever have the scars to remind her. Not that she was taken and hurt, but that she was strong and survived. That’s what I remind her every day. I don’t want to think about what he did when she was a child.
Bile rises in my throat, burning with need to spew on this monster.
“I told you I’d kill you one day. Today is that day, Father.” My girl’s stare is venomous, her words laced with hatred, and I don’t blame her.
A loud guffaw falls from his lips as he regards her.
“Don’t be silly, child. You were always one for theatrics. I suggest you all drop your weapons. My men will be storing them away safely.” He turns to walk farther into the bowels of hell, and we follow.
But before I can take a step forward, I’m ripped back by the collar of my shirt. “Gun!” A grunt from behind me has anger threatening to take hold. Spinning on my heel, I strike the fucker behind me. Two others step forward, grabbing
my arms, and I’m met with Ryker’s dark glare. “Hitting your best friend? That’s no way to greet me, Brax.” He chuckles, bringing his gun up and hitting me across the face with it.
Tia’s scream echoes around me, and then I hear her father again. “Bring my daughter.” And with that, I’m dragged, along with Tia, leaving my men behind with guns trained on them.
We’re taken into a room lit only by a single bulb hanging from the ceiling. “Sister.”
I turn to find an older version of Tia staring at us. Her hair is long and wavy with golden highlights. Everything about her physical appearance is like my girl except her eyes—her hair, her face, even her skin tone could be Tia. They could be twins, but I can tell the difference. What separates Tia from her sister is the strength and fight in her heart.
“This is a good-looking man you’ve got yourself, little sister. Does he know what a whore you are?” She cackles evilly, stalking toward me. Dressed in a tiny leather skirt and a black tank top that pushes her tits up, she nears me. Leaning in, she grips my chin, and tilts my head to the side with the strength of a man. She runs the tip of her nose up my neck, inhaling me. “Mmm, so delicious. I think I may have to figure out why my sister is so infatuated with you.” Her lips brush against mine, and I shudder in revulsion.
“Get the fuck away from me,” I growl.
“Oh now, don’t be so picky. Just ask Ryker. I’m a good fuck. Maybe you and Ryk can take me at the same time.” Her deep laugh surrounds me. I have to bite back my anger.
“Just let us go. We’re—”
“Enough!” Miguel bellows, dragging our attention away from his eldest daughter. “It’s time for Braxton and me to get acquainted. Since my little girl wants to be with him, I need to make sure he’s worthy of her. Bring him into the office,” he orders the two men. They obey, dragging me toward a small, dark, dank-smelling room. Shoving me into a chair, they bind my arms and legs, and then leave the room. “So, Braxton Carter, the man who thought he could fuck with my business. Do you know why I’ve been doing this for so long?” He leans in, his face inches from mine.
“Because you’re a fucking asshole who’s been lucky,” I taunt, met with a dark chuckle from the man before me.
“Lucky? I am a legend!” Gripping my neck, he tugs me closer, ensuring the restraints burn into my wrists. “You see, Braxton,” he spits my name, “I’m going to kill you. Slice you from ear to ear. And you know what the best part will be? My fucking whore of a daughter watching her boyfriend bleed to death.”
“You can kill me, you can do anything you’d like to do, but let me tell you one thing. Tia is stronger than you think. She will kill you.” His guffaw booms through us, but I continue. “She’s no whore. She’s a woman.”
His fist answers for him, smashing painfully into my face. My eyes lose focus, and I see black . . .
“Braxton, wake the fuck up!” Grant’s deep voice drags me from the dark. I crack my eyes. “Man, you better look at me.” His warning has me rousing. When I meet his gaze, my heart leaps into my throat.
“What? Where is she?” He’s tugging at my wrists, and my arms fall to my sides. The blood rushes through my veins, and the tingling sensation wakes my limbs from their slumber. “What happened?”
“He knocked us both out. They’ve got Tia. We need to get in there,” he whispers carefully, his eyes darting to the door. Mine follow. It’s flimsy. The lock doesn’t look like it can withstand much.
“Do you think Corp has a second team on the way?” I ask. Grant nods. I know my boss, and he’s always got a backup. A light shining through the small window close to the ceiling catches my attention. Then I hear it. Gunshots.
“Corp brought Team Two in, we—” My partner’s words fall away when I push to my feet and storm the door. With my adrenaline pumping wildly through my veins, I shoulder it open and find Miguel holding Tia with a knife at her throat.
“Get down!” he orders, but the chaos in the warehouse takes hold, and the noise is bearing down on me. My girl’s gaze flits around, taking in the commotion. I’m about to rush them when I hear one resounding shot, and I see them both collapse. Everything plays out in slow motion. The large metal gate is bashed in, and more of the men I trained with swarm the area, taking out Miguel’s brutes. I race to Tia’s side.
“Baby?” When she glances up at me, there’s only one emotion in her eyes. Revenge. We both dart for Miguel who’s limping away, but he’s wounded and doesn’t get far. Gripping his neck, I tug him back, and he stumbles. “Time for some revenge, don’t you think, Tia?” I ask, and she smiles. It’s not her sweet, innocent smile she always gifts me, but one filled with the desire to kill. Hunger to annihilate the man I’m dragging toward the rope hanging from the ceiling.
My woman stalks up to me with unfathomable strength. We work knots around Miguel’s wrists, and with the help of Grant, we heave him up and latch the rope to a hook in the ceiling. The energy in the room is electric. We’ve got the asshole, and he’s not getting away again. No more women will be hurt. No child will ever be maimed by this piece of trash.
Moments later, with the help of some of the men, I look toward her, and I see it.
I’d call it a vision.
A dream come true.
Revenge in its best form.
Miguel is bound, bleeding, hanging from the high ceiling by the metal chains I asked them to bind him with. Tia kneels, gripping the handle of a long, sleek blade—the same one he used on her. She wields it back and forth, and the glint shimmers in the low light from the bulb. “Baby?” I call to her, but she doesn’t hear me. It’s as if she’s in another world. Her world. The place where she’s safe from him and the evils that have haunted her for so long.
As much as I’d like my own revenge, this is more than I could have ever asked for. My woman is about to exact her revenge, and I want a fucking front-row seat.
Her hand reaches up, and the silver glints in the low light. I watch it as she slices from his ear to his neck. Blood trickles and dots his dark skin, and I watch it drip, slow and steady. His loud chuckles vibrate through every inch of the space. Dark and evil.
“Father, it’s been a long time coming, but today, you’ll pay.” Her voice is dark and sinister, and when I reach her, she drives the knife into his thigh. She twists it so slowly I feel the twinge in my leg. “You feel that, Daddy?” she bites out in anger. I don’t notice it until I see her other hand move. Another sharp blade slices at his shirt, and it falls away.
“You can’t kill me, little Tia, you love me,” he growls with poison dripping from his tone.
“Love? Love!” Her voice is shrill, and when I place a hand on her shoulder, her head twists toward me, and her eyes meet mine. With a dark smirk, she hands me the knife and steps back. “He killed your parents,” she informs me with confidence. I turn my cold, hate-filled gaze on the man in question.
“Of course I did. That fucker didn’t help me when I needed it most. A lawyer? He was a fucking nobody,” the evil piece of shit shouts, and my blood boils.
“Fuck you!” I growl and sink the knife that was handed to me into his stomach. A gurgle falls from his mouth, but even then, a sinister smirk is present on his face. When I finally step back, I watch my girl take the lead. She carves into the skin of the man she calls father.
“Do you remember, Daddy?” she spits his name. “When you forced your fist into my body, when I cried and screamed?” With every word, she slices into his skin. The merlot color drips from the wounds on his torso and pools on the floor below him, creating a thick, almost black puddle; his eyes flutter closed.
She recalls scenes from her childhood. She recollects the moments her innocence was stolen. She tells him about the day her body bled for days. With each story, my blood boils, and it heightens to the point of pain.
“You loved me,” he argues, and suddenly, she rears her fist back, and it slams into his jaw.
A loud crack resounds from his face, and blood oozes from his nose. “
I fucking hated you, every moment of my life.” With that, she glances at one of the men on my team and points to the canister of gas he’s carrying. I know we’d planned on burning this place down, but what she does next leaves me speechless. Gripping the handle, she douses him in the strong-smelling liquid. “Now, you’ll burn in hell for what you did. For raping me, selling me, for making me a whore.” Before anyone can get near her, she lights the match, and the man she calls father lights up in flames.
“Tia.” My voice is thick with emotion. Shock.
“It’s over now.” She turns to me and meets my eyes with a sadistic smile. “Take me home.”
And I do.
Tia
The Present
The room is exactly the same as it always is. Light streams through the blinds, warming me in the chair opposite her. She’s smiling. It’s a smile I’ve seen since I was young. I remember it so clearly, as if all this is real. “Tia, it’s time for you to leave. Are you happy to be walking away from this place now?” she asks.
Glancing around, I take in the paintings, the dark wood desk, even the fish tank that sits against the wall beside the bookshelves.
“I’ll miss you,” I tell her honestly, because I will. My whole life I’ve been alone. I’ve been hidden in a world by myself. My mind had been split in two. I suffered from Bicameralism, where one part of my brain “spoke” to the other, and the second part would listen and obey.
When I killed my father, I broke, shattered even. I was no longer just crazy; I was completely locked away in the world I’d made up. I’ve spent a year talking, telling my story. Brax and I healed each other, but he is my anchor to this world. He’s the one that keeps me in this reality.
That’s why when he told me he wanted to take me home, I agreed. There was nothing more that I could want than to be his wife one day. To have his children. They tested me when I was brought in, and my body had healed in a way that would allow me to carry a baby. When I was younger, my father’s doctors told me I’d never be able to have children. They told me I was broken.