by Bella Jewel
She nods.
“Also, if he asks you to get into his car, or come to his house, you’re goin’ to say what?”
“No fucking way,” she grins. “I’m not stupid, boss.”
“I know you’re not, but we gotta make sure this goes well. Zariah is goin’ to have eyes on you at all times, and she’s goin’ to be reporting back to us. You ready?”
“I’m ready,” she says, and then gets out of the car.
We’re sitting a few blocks down from where the meeting is taking place. We couldn’t be sure we weren’t being followed, so we had to make quite a few fucking swaps just to get here. A bunch of us left the club at the same time, six different trucks. I’m not in mine, but instead Kendric’s. We all swapped to ensure if someone was watching, they can only follow one. At least, that’s the fucking hope.
I kept eyes on the road the entire time I was driving and didn’t see anyone behind me, so I’m fairly certain we’re safe.
“Okay,” Waverly says, glancing back in before she shuts the door. “Wish me luck.”
“Good luck.”
She disappears down the street and I pull out my phone and message Zariah.
A – You got eyes on her?
Z – Yep.
A – Keep me updated.
I sit and wait for what seems like fucking hours, but is more like one. Finally, my phone rings, and I see Zariah’s name flashing across the screen.
“Fill me in,” I tell her.
“She’s got him hook line and sinker. I’m sitting at a bar, just a little ways away. I can see them clearly. She tripped over, he helped her, and then she started crying and waving her arms around. It was beautiful, really. Then she got talking to him, and they’re still going. I think she’s goin’ to make him putty in her hands.”
Thank fuck.
“Okay, keep eyes on her and make sure she doesn’t get into any trouble. I’ll be waitin’ here for her when she’s done.”
“Copy.”
She hangs up ,and I keep waiting, thankful this is going to fucking plan. So far, at least. Couldn’t handle it if things started going south right about now. This is our last and only hope, and we need it to go right. Fuck do we need it to go right.
This is weighing down on my club, weighing down on me and there seems to be no fucking end in sight.
I exhale and stare over just as the truck door opens and Waverly jumps in. She turns to me, smiles, and swipes the fake tears from her eyes before saying, “Well, that went well.”
“Goin’ to need more information than that, darlin’.”
“He fell for it, just as you wanted him to. He told me he’ll take me out to dinner tomorrow night, to cheer me up. He was such a gentleman. I have no doubt that he thinks I’m weak. You should have seen the show I put on for him, god, it was good.”
This girl.
Fuck me.
She ain’t afraid of anything.
I wonder, though, if she’ll be afraid of it when she’s in the middle of it.
Right where the horror lies.
HOT WATER RUNS DOWN my skin, and I tip my head back, exhaling, trying to remove the day’s weight from my shoulders. Everything went well with Waverly, but it’s only just beginning. So many things can go wrong and I have the lives of so many in my hands. One wrong move, and they all fucking die. They all suffer. They all go down because of me.
I close my eyes and let it wash away.
A warm body presses against my back. For a moment, I stiffen, not having heard anyone get into the shower, but when I feel a tiny hand reach around and grab my cock, I know exactly who it is. Her cheek presses against my back and her tits feel full against my skin. Fuck. My cock starts hardening immediately as she slowly starts to stoke.
“You look stressed, my big man. I don’t like it when you’re stressed.”
I growl, low, as she jerks harder on my cock, making it come to life far quicker than I’ve ever been able to achieve on my own.
“Been a long day, honey,” I murmur.
“I think I can do something about that for you, what do you think?”
“I think you need to come around here so I can put you against this wall and sink my dick so deep inside of you, I forget the day.”
She releases my cock without hesitation and slips around in front of me, looking up as water cascades down her body. She’s fucking perfect, so damned beautiful it makes my fucking heart ache when I look at her. A good ache, but an ache all the same.
“Not goin’ to make this long. I need it hard, and I need it fast.”
She smiles up at me. “I’m all yours, take it however you need it.”
Giving her a lusty expression, I lift her into my arms, hooking her legs around my hips and then I push my cock up to her entrance. She bites her lower lip, and that’s all I need to see. I sink into her, deep and slow, feeling her stretch around me, feeling her pussy grip me with need. Fuck. I need this. I need it so fucking bad.
I start fucking her, slowly at first, dragging my cock in and out, relishing in her whimpers of pleasure. Then I fuck her.
I unleash.
I drive my cock into her body, showing no mercy as her tiny frame slams against the wall. I fuck her until our skin slaps together and she can’t contain her screams. I fuck her until we both forget the days ahead of us.
I just fuck her because I need her.
We both cum at the same time, me shouting my release, her moaning hers. Then, I slowly let her down, placing her feet on the ground. I look down at her and love the way her cheeks are rosy pink and she’s panting, hair wet and sticking to her body. She’s perfect. Fucking perfect.
“Come out here and tell me about your day,” she murmurs, running a finger down my chest. “I want to hear about it.”
I turn the shower off and we both get out, drying our bodies and making our way out into my room to get dressed. When we’re done, Briella sits on the sofa and leans back, looking over at me, her eyes warm and her body relaxed. I walk over, wearing nothing but an old pair of grey sweats, and sit down beside her.
“I have to say, the way your cock jumps around in those sweats is making me ready for round two,” she murmurs, looking up at me through hooded lashes.
I chuckle. “Give it some time, baby. Got to gas her up again.”
She giggles. “That will give us time for you to tell me how things are going.”
“They’re goin’.”
“That’s such a typical man answer, but it’s not the answer I want. Waverly told me everything went well today, but you seem stressed, uptight. Is something bothering you?”
“Everything is botherin’ me, Briella. This whole thing is dangerous, and I feel like we’re just skimmin’ the fuckin’ surface of it. I think we’re about to walk into somethin’ that we might not be able to take down.”
“That’s what we have Zariah for, that’s her job. We just find them, and she deals with the taking down part.”
“Don’t even think it’ll be that easy for her. These men are fuckin’ clever, but more than that, they’re dangerous. They’re managin’ to get girls to do exactly what they want, that’s a terrifyin’ fuckin’ thought in itself.”
“Yeah,” she agrees. “Yeah, that is scary. It’s scary because I often wonder how bad these girls lives must be, if they’re willing to let themselves get tangled up in that sort of thing, and yet at the same time, I think Magnolia was in there, and Sally-Anne, and I know they didn’t have bad lives. So, how did this man manage to convince them to stick around?”
“Magnolia was lookin’ for answers about your momma, she was smart.”
“Not smart enough,” she whispers. “She’s still gone. And that only leaves me with more questions. What was Mom doing involved in it? Was she having an affair with Dax? Or is there someone else involved? Or was she looking for something? Someone? There are so many loose ends, and I don’t know how to tie them all up.”
I take her hand, squeezing it. “That’s exactly why we�
�re sendin’ Waverly in, because we need to find them so we can get those answers.”
“Alarick, can I ask you something?”
I nod, staring at her.
“What happened to King?”
It feels like a punch to my chest when she asks me those questions, those questions that lead to nothing but lies and betrayal. Those questions that I can’t answer without her knowing that what she thinks happened to King, and what actually happened are two different things. I can’t go down this road with her, not now.
“We’ve been over this, Briella. Don’t really want to get into it right now. It’s been a long day.”
She looks disappointed, but she doesn’t argue, she just nods and leans over until she’s pressed against me. I lean back on the couch and adjust her so we’re both comfortable, and we lie there, in the silence, both of us wondering what the fuck is going to happen next.
“I love you, Flick,” she murmurs.
“Love you, too.”
Fuck.
Please let this go right.
9
BRIELLA
I stare around, my heart thudding. I’m scared. I shouldn’t be out here alone. I’m supposed to have one of the club members with me at all times, but I needed to see King. I needed to have him explain whatever the hell is going on right now. The only way I could meet up with him, like we planned, was for me to sneak out in the middle of the god damned night while everyone is asleep.
If Alarick wakes up, and I’m not there, he’s going to flip.
He’s going to lose his mind.
If he does that, he’s never going to let me out of his sight again.
Still, I had to get my answers.
I sit on the park bench, terrified I’ve been followed, terrified that this will be the last damned place I’m ever seen.
I glance around, and when I hear the rustle of some leaves in some bushes nearby, I look over to see a dark figure emerge from the path that runs behind those bushes. King comes closer, and I exhale a sigh of relief. I stopped breathing there, for a moment, I stopped breathing. The whole world seemed to close in around me.
King approaches, glances around, and then sits down beside me. For a moment, we both sit in silence, not sure who should start first, but I decided we don’t have long, and I need to ask him so many things. “Why did you fake your own death?”
The most obvious and yet the most important question.
King exhales, “I had a feelin’ you were goin’ to lead with that.”
“I came here for answers, King. I didn’t come here to chit chat about your day.”
He chuckles. “You’re just like your momma sometimes, you know that?”
I go silent, and an ache forms in my chest. An ache, a longing, a desperation to see my family again. To feel my mom hug me, to laugh with my sister. Tears spring to my eyes, and I can’t stop them as they roll down my cheeks silently.
I know I have the club, but sometimes, it feels like I’m so damned alone in this world.
So damned broken.
“I miss her too, honey. Every fuckin’ day,” King says into the darkness, and then his hands reaches out and curls around mine. His big, rough hand. “But you got me. You’ll always have me. When this is over, I won’t leave you again.”
I cry harder.
God dammit, this is not what I came here for.
This is not how it’s supposed to feel.
King jumps right into it, and I’m thankful. I need something to distract me from the crippling pain in my chest right now.
“I faked my death because it was essential Dax thinks I’m not here anymore. If he thinks I’m not here, I can look around and ask questions and get closer than I’ve ever been. He knew I was lookin’ for him, and he knew I wasn’t goin’ to stop. He would have brought that entire club and everyone I loved down if he thought I was still alive. I had to do it.”
It makes sense. I’ve seen what Dax is capable of, and I know that he isn’t going to stop until he either dies or he gets rid of everyone trying to stop the cruelty he’s inflicting on women.
“He thinks I’m dead, and because of that, I’ve been able to watch him. Been able to keep an eye on everythin’ he is doin’. I’ve got around this fuckin’ world locatin’ women and returnin’ them home.”
“Wait, you’ve been bringing women home?”
“Yeah,” he goes on. “Yeah, I’ve been trackin’ his sales and findin’ where the women have gone and returnin’ them. It hasn’t been easy, though. You gotta know that I haven’t been able to save nearly as many. Fuck, there are so many out there, stolen from their lives, some with no family to even come after them. They’re with monsters, some not so much. It depends how lucky you are ...”
“It’s horrible,” I whisper. “It’s so damned horrible.”
“You have no fuckin’ idea. He runs a big operation, bigger than you can possibly imagine. He’s manipulatin’ women into thinkin’ he’s goin’ to provide them a better life, into thinkin’ the horrible world they’ve left behind is goin’ to be better where he sends them. He makes them believe that he’s givin’ them a home, a lovin’ life, and he even has it set up to show them what they’re walkin’ into—an act, of course. They believe they’re bein’ sold to better themselves. Until they get there and the curtains are open, and they see that they’ve been set up. By then, it’s too late.”
“How ...” I shake my head in horror. “How does he get away with this ... How do they believe him ... I just ... it’s almost unfathomable.”
“You’re right about that, it is. But it works. He’s so fuckin’ clever. He makes the women sign themselves over so it doesn’t link back in any way to him. He can say they made the choice. He’s smarter than you can even begin to realize. As for the how they believe him, that’s easy. You put yourself in the shoes of a broken, sad woman. No—or a very small—family, no friends, hard fuckin’ life. In comes this incredible man, who makes you feel safe, who shows you a safe world and safe people and you believe it’s true so you choose to take that life ... it’s not so hard to believe if you’re in their shoes.”
“How ... how many have you brought back?”
“Only six, honey. It hasn’t been easy. There are probably hundreds more, those are the ones I spent my time trackin’ over the years. One a year, basically. It takes that long to find them.”
“Some are better than none,” I say softly. “You did a good thing.”
“Yeah,” he murmurs. “Listen, there’s more. So much fuckin’ more. I need you to hear me out on the next thing, and not lose it. Yeah? I need you to just listen. Can you do that?”
My heart starts racing, whatever he’s about to tell me is going to shock me, that much is clear. I take a deep shaky breath. I’m ready to know everything. I’m ready to hear it all.
“Yes,” I say carefully. “Yes, I’ll listen.”
“Your momma wasn’t havin’ an affair, or doin’ something she shouldn’t be, so whatever stories you’ve told yourself over the years, they haven’t been true. I need you to know, before all of this, that your momma is an incredible woman.”
Here come the tears again.
I let them roll down my face silently.
He continues.
“A few years before she had you, before she met your daddy, she had another boyfriend. She likely never told you about him, because, well, he wasn’t a good man. He wasn’t a nice fuckin’ person. She fell pregnant to this man and had a child. A daughter—her name is Cova. She put her up for adoption, thinkin’ it was the best thing she could do for her. She didn’t want her raised anywhere near this man. That was the last she heard about Cova, until years later when she went to look for her. To see how her life was goin’. She contacted her adoptive family, only to find out they had passed away and Cova had gone into the system.”
I can’t breathe.
I can’t think.
My whole world is spinning.
King continues.
�
�She traced her to where she could, but the poor girl had been tossed around until eventually she had moved out on her own and had gotten into a relationship, a bad relationship. After that, her life spiraled downhill. She was using drugs, drinking alcohol, selling her body for money. The girl had nothing. No one. She tried to get clean, and then she met a man ...”
“No,” I whisper, gripping my chest.
Everything hurts.
Everything is fucking burning.
“His name was Dax. After that, she disappeared, and nobody knew where she had gone. Your momma and I had spent years lookin’ for her, trackin’ her down, and Dax was where it ended. Your momma, she wasn’t about to give up, and got herself involved. I didn’t know, I was lookin’ into it for her, but she went behind my back and started talkin’ to him, started foolin’ him into believin’ she was broken, she wanted to find her daughter. Then, he found out who she was ...”
I’m sobbing now.
So heavily I can’t hear his words anymore.
His big arms go around me, and he pulls me into his arms, hanging onto me so tightly I can’t breathe, but that’s okay, I need it.
God do I need it.
My mother, my beautiful mother, had been searching for a daughter she never knew for so many years. She had been fighting for a life she had brought into this world and wanted to fix. She got killed trying to be the best mother she could. Dax took her from me. He took Magnolia from me. He took Cova from me.
I’m going to make sure he suffers.
I will make sure he never breathes the fresh air of this earth again.
Anger bubbles in my chest—wild fury. Something I can’t even begin to understand.
I want blood.
I want his blood.
“There are a lot of reasons why your momma didn’t tell you and Magnolia about Cova. She didn’t want to risk you in any way, she didn’t want to bring any danger into your world. I hope you understand that everything she did, she did out of the pure love in her heart. Don’t ever be angry at her for what happened. She loved you girls more than life itself.”
“I love her so much,” I say, my voice wavering with pain. “I would never blame her for this.”