by L. A. Casey
The man next to me suddenly fisted my hair in his hand and snarled, "Bronagh, I don't like screaming so cut it out, or I'll cut your tongue out, your choice."
I was breathing heavily as I snapped my mouth shut.
"Good girl," the man said then chuckled. "You trained your bitch well, Nico, I'm proud of you, son. Your woman knows her place."
I began to cry as the man dragging the male body by the legs neared the booth. I could tell it was a male and the closer he got, I noticed more things. I furrowed my eyebrow and blinked through my tears when I recognised who the person was. I narrowed my eyes to see better and when the person's face came into view I screamed out and tried to go to him.
"Damien!" I cried.
He was out cold on the ground and his face was all busted up. If you didn't know who he was you wouldn't have been able to recognise him; that's how swollen his face was.
"Shut it, bitch, you look better when your mouth is closed," the man that fisted my hair growled.
He pulled me by the hair until I was standing up from the booth. He turned me and shoved me forward until I landed on the younger lad whose hands latched onto me and pulled me down onto him so my arse was directly on his groin.
"Fuck me, you have some ass," he commented making my stomach lurched. "Marco, please let me test this one out."
I widened my eyes as I stared at the man who was grinning at me as he still held his phone to his ear. "Be here in one hour or I'll kill the girl and paralyse your brother." He hung up and dropped his phone on the table in front me.
"Marco Miles?" I whispered.
He grinned and asked, "Nico told you about me then?"
I set my jaw. "He told me everythin' about you," I growled.
Marco chuckled. "I hope it was all good?"
I curled my lip in disgust making him laugh as he dropped back down into the booth. "I thought this trip to this country wouldn't be worth it. I figured Nico and his brothers would be hard to keep employed, but you and Damien have made it very easy. Damien left Darkness just as we arrived so grabbing him was easy. Then when we went to put him in one of the back rooms, Trent found you passed out. One of the bouncers identified who you were and just so happened to mention whose girlfriend you were." Marco snickered. "That slut lady luck is being very good to me, wouldn't you say so?"
I processed what he just said and my mind lingered on one thing, the name 'Trent'. I looked over my shoulder to the scumbag who was rubbing my thighs and asked, "Trent Miles?"
He grinned at me. "In the flesh, bitch."
"You're supposed to be dead! Damien killed you!" I shouted and struggled in Trent's arms.
Marco laughed from across the table. "No, Damien shot him in the shoulder, and I told Ryder it was his heart, and that he was dead. I was about to lose those boys and after their father and I had been grooming them all their lives for our line of work, I couldn't let it happen. So when I got the opportunity to put them where I wanted them, I took it with both hands."
I glared at him in disgust. "You pretended your nephew was dead just so you could hold it over the brothers and make them work for you?"
Marco grinned. "Genius wasn't it? The Slater brothers are nothin' if not loyal to each other. They would give up everything to keep each other safe, and holding Damien's life in my hands got me their lives in return. I own that family."
I shook my head. "They want out. Dominic told me they were cuttin' ties with you!"
Marco snorted. "Yeah, he told me that as well, but I'm not very happy with my best boys jumping ship. They each provide substantial income for me, and I really like my money, so we're just going to have to talk about extending their work contracts instead of terminating them."
I felt like getting sick. "You can't make them work for you anymore. Trent isn't dead; you held somethin' over them that didn't exist in order to keep them in line!"
Marco laughed at me again. "That was an illusion; what I really held was the threat of killing their brother over them, and I still hold it over them… the threat of killing you is new but I'm sure it will prove just as effective."
He was fucking crazy!
"You won't get away with this!" I snapped.
Trent laughed, and he gripped my hair. "He already has," he said as he whacked the back of my head causing darkness to consume me instantly.
I woke up when someone called my name. I groaned but didn't answer. I had a killer headache and just wanted to sleep until it went away, but the person calling me wouldn't allow that to happen.
"What?" I grunted.
"Bee? Wake up, please."
I groaned as I blinked my eyes open, and I flicked my eyes around until I realised I wasn't in my bedroom. I shot up and gripped the back of my head when pain filled it. I pulled my hand away and found some blood, fresh and hard, on it.
What the fuck?
"What happened?" I asked as I looked around.
I felt an arm come around my waist, making me jump. I looked to the person who was holding me and gasped. I knew it was Damien but his face was so swollen and cut up that it was hard to recognise him.
"Damien," I whimpered and threw my arms around him. He winced but squeezed me with the arm that was already around my waist.
"Are you okay?" I cried as I pulled back from him.
He nodded his head as I brushed his hair from his face and kissed his forehead. "It's goin' to be okay, I promise."
He squeezed me again. "I know."
I looked at him as tears streamed down my face. "I'm sorry for everything I said to you. You're still a dick, but what I said was wrong."
Damien laughed but his face wouldn't allow him to smile. "Shut up, Bee, you were right about everything you said, and I only reacted the way I did because I knew it was true, and I hated it. I never want to be like my parents, and the shit I've being doing just proves that I am."
I frowned as I looked at him.
"I don't set out to break hearts. I actually don't set out to have anything to do with hearts at all but some girls get attached to me. I swear I never meant to hurt Alannah. I know this will make me sound like a prick. I am a prick, but I just wanted to be with her. She's different."
I gave him a look. "Is that your cryptic way of sayin' you like Alannah?"
Damien shrugged but didn't answer.
I glanced around the room then and groaned. "I can't believe I was knocked out."
"Tell me about it. They did this to me after I was knocked out, the fucking pussies!" Damien growled.
I shook my head then winced. "The back of me head is throbin', it's bleedin' as well."
Damien turned me so my back was to him, and he placed his hands gently on my neck and tilted my head forward. He moved his fingers through my hair and stopped when I hissed in pain. "It's not a deep cut, and it's starting to clot. I can see all the dry blood."
I breathed sigh of relief. "Thank God for that."
"Who hit you? Marco? I saw his face before I was hit."
I swallowed and turned to face Damien. "It wasn't Marco, Damien… it was Trent."
Damien's eyebrows shot up, and his mouth dropped open.
"Trent… Trent Miles?" Damien spluttered.
I nodded my head. "He isn't dead. Marco said he just pretended he was so that he could hold the threat of killin' you over your brothers' heads. He lied to you all, Damien."
Damien looked at me for a moment then turned his head and stared off into space. I was about to ask if he was okay when he said, "For the last three and a half years I've seen his face every night when I've gone to sleep. I was convinced he was haunting me for what I did to him but now I realise it's all just been in my head."
I swallowed the lump that formed in my throat and said, "You can let go of all that now."
Damien nodded his head then looked to me just as the door of the room we were in opened and asked, "Is he really alive?"
Laughter from the doorway caused us to look in that direction. I set my jaw when I saw him while Dami
en just stared, his mouth hanging open. Trent smirked at Damien and gestured to himself with open arms and said, "I'm really alive. Did you miss me, buddy?"
"It looks like I've got to work on my aim," Damien snarled, making Trent laugh.
He tapped his shoulder and winked. "I'm glad you have shit aim. Things wouldn't have worked out for me the way they have otherwise."
Damien got to his feet but froze when Trent pulled out a gun and pointed it at him, "Oh, deja vu. Does this scene remind you of something, bro?"
I scoffed in disgust as I got up from the bed and grabbed Damien's arm. "Leave us alone," I said.
Trent grinned at me and nodded behind him. "Can't do that, baby. Uncle Marco wants a chat."
He gestured for us to exit the room with the gun. Damien held my hand tight as we did so without argument. I was shaking like a leaf knowing Trent was behind us with a real gun in his hand; I was expecting a bang to go off at any second.
When Damien and I re-entered the club from the hallway, we walked up to the booth we were at earlier and just stood there while Marco received a lap dance from one of the girls I had seen dancing earlier. I moved a little behind Damien when Marco flicked his eyes to me and winked. He laughed when he saw me trying to hide. He then slapped the arse of the girl dancing on him and told her to leave, which she did without a word.
I looked around the room and noticed two big men, one of which was the man who dragged Damien out from the private rooms earlier, walking towards the private rooms only to stand outside the hallway like Skull and his bouncer friend did earlier in the night. I tore my eyes away from them and looked at Damien when he started to tense up next to me.
"You let me believe I killed him!" he growled to Marco.
Marco nodded his head and said, "I did."
I wanted to punch him.
He answered that question as casually as if accepting a cup of tea from someone.
"Just to keep my family in the business?" Damien asked, his voice laced with venom.
Marco shrugged as he lit up a cigarette, inhaled then exhaled, and blew the smoke in our direction causing me to cough a little. "Your brothers were born for this line of work, literally. I've heard lately that you have a way of getting pussy by just blinking. I could tie you into what Alec does if you're interested? Brothers on Demand, it will be my, or your, next big hit."
Marco, Trent, and the two men across the room chuckled at this, so I glowered at them.
"You're nothin' but a scumbag!" I snapped.
Damien fully stood in front of me then, which only made Marco laugh.
"Calm down, blondie. I'm not going to touch your brother's bit on the side."
Damien glared at Marco. "He will kill you for this, I hope you know that. Dragging me here was strike one, knocking Bronagh out was strike two, and using her life as a bargaining chip to keep him in the business is strike fucking three."
Marco had a bored look about him. "I can be very persuasive, Damien."
Damien shook his head. "You won't be able to talk your way out of this one, or make up some bullshit story like you did with Trent. We aren't the same people you took advantage of back in New York."
Marco raised his eyebrows and glared at Damien. "You're the men you are today because I fucking made you that way."
"Which is exactly why this is going to blow up in your face, we know all the tricks of your trades. Each one of my brothers knows the ins and outs of how you do business; they do all your work while you sit back and reap the rewards. You would be nothing without them!"
"Nothing?" Marco roared. "Who the fuck built up this empire? Me!"
Damien snorted. "You and my dad until it went to your heads. His head is full of lead now and, trust me when I say, soon so will yours."
Marco looked like he was about to clock Damien until he chuckled and shook his head then glanced to Trent and shrugged his shoulders. "I guess this side of him was what that little chinky bitch loved so much."
I furrowed my eyebrows because I had no clue who or what he was talking about and neither did Damien. Trent snorted at our expressions and said, "She only liked him for his hair colour, which is exactly why I put a blond wig in my hole with her. No one can ever say I gave the bitch nothing."
Once again, what?
"Who did you bury in Trent's grave if he is here?" Damien asked, his voice shaking.
Trent only smiled at him, which caused my heart to beat faster than it already was.
"Who did you bury if he is alive?" Damien screamed.
Marco grinned. "That little Asian chick you were dating or fucking. What was her name… Gala? She came to the house looking for you the day after the 'incident' and walked in on Trent being treated by a doc. Of course I couldn't let her walk out of there alive. She would have told you Trent was alive, and then I wouldn't have been able to cash in on Dominic's talent. Your brothers running shit for me was a plus but getting Dominic where I wanted him was my true prize. After I saw the CCTV footage of him attacking Trent before you shot him I knew your brother was a born fighter. Another plus was that kid's body was the weight I needed for the coffin that was for Trent. She probably weighed as much as him back then."
Marco and his goons chuckled while Trent growled, "Fuck you, I was a late bloomer!"
Marco continued to chuckle before turning back to Damien whose face was so red, I thought his head might pop.
"You killed Nala and buried her in Trent's grave?" he asked lowly, because his voice was shaking.
Marco snapped his fingers. "Nala, that's her name! Cute little chick, put up quite a fight."
I almost missed Damien when he moved; he was almost as fast as Dominic when he charged at someone. He wasn't fast enough though because just as he neared Marco, the man that was across the room at the hallway shot forward and hit Damien in the face repeatedly with the butt of his gun. The other man appeared next to me and fisted his hand into my hair to keep me put.
"Damien!" I screamed and tried to move forward to help him but the grip on my hair tightened, causing strands to be pulled from my head. I howled in pain and tried kicking back at the arsehole that held onto me, but it only resulted in being dragged to the ground by my hair, which hurt even more than just being tugged on.
"Let her go!" Damien's voice bellowed just as a knee was pressed to the back of my neck pinning me to the ground while cutting off my oxygen supply.
"Matt, I need her alive. Nico won't be reasoned with if she is dead!" Marco snapped as I began to kick out with my arms and legs, trying to break free so I could breathe again.
The burning that was building in my chest was suddenly eased when the thug pinning me down let up on the pressure of Matt’s knee. I gasped and choked for air when he lifted off me completely, then lifted my hands to the back of my neck and down the left side because those parts were throbbing and hurting badly.
I lay down on the ground for a moment and flinched when I felt a hand wrap around my arm.
"It's me, Bee," Damien's voice said.
I looked up at him and whimpered. He was bleeding from both of his nostrils, he had a large cut above his eyebrow, and his left jaw and eye were swollen shut; he looked a wreck. I reached up and ran my fingers over the swelling before whimpering and leaning into him. He hoisted me up onto his lap and held me tightly to him, swaying me from left to right.
"It's going to be okay, Bee, he will come for us," Damien whispered and kissed the crown of my sore head.
I knew he was talking about Dominic, and I prayed he was right. If Dominic didn't get here soon I didn't think things were going to end very well. I didn't think Marco was holding us captive just for a good ol' chat about the lads' past.
"Are you fucking your brother's girl, D? That would be boss if you were," Trent's voice laughed.
Damien's hold on me tightened. "Don't."
I looked at Trent as he laughed again and said, "Always the protector of females. That particular trait had you swimming in pussy when we were kids. I'm glad to s
ee nothing has changed."
I was disgusted that Trent nodded in my direction as if the only reason Damien was trying to keep me safe was because he wanted to have sex with me.
"He is a good person, you fuckin' prick. He doesn't need a reason to keep people safe!" I snapped, and then went into a coughing fit because my voice was raspy, and my throat was bloody killing me.
Trent snapped his teeth at me. "Say fucking one more time, baby. Your accent has me tied up in knots over here."
I curled my lip in disgusting. "You're a vile creature."
Trent smiled at me. "You haven't seen anything yet, baby. Let's see what names you call me after I fuck that smart mouth right out of you."
My stomach lurched while Damien pushed us up to our feet. "You touch her, and I will kill you for real this time!"
Trent switched his gaze from me to Damien and his face hardened. "Oh, I'll be touching her; I seem to have a need to fuck Slater bitches. Nala was a fighter, but I'm betting little Irish there will give me one hell of a time."
I widened my eyes not because he said he was going to rape me, but because he just admitted to raping Nala. Damien went deathly still, so I moved directly to his side and gripped onto him as he looked to Marco who was watching the three of us with mild amusement.
"You said you killed her," Damien said to Marco.
Marco shook his head. "I never said that. I said I couldn't let her leave my house alive. She did die that day but not by my hand; she died by his."
I let out a whimper when Marco nodded to a grinning Trent, who was looking at Damien with a smugness that made me feel physically sick.
"I knew you loved her and after she rejected me, what better revenge could I get on you for almost killing me? Killing your heart, of course. She screamed as well, so loud I almost wanted to cap her before I was even finished fucking her, but I didn't. I got a shot at all her holes before I blew her mind, literally."
I didn't even try to hold Damien back when he tore away from me and charged at Trent. No one was quick enough to stop him from getting to his target this time. He crashed into Trent and knocked them both to the ground. If I pretended Damien's hair was brown, I would have sworn that I was watching Dominic beat someone up, because Damien was throwing punches exactly like him.