by B. B. Hamel
I tried to support him as best I could. I took his arm then draped it around my shoulders. He stared stoically ahead though I knew he was in pain. My ankle throbbed and would probably be swollen.
If he hadn’t come, I’d be dead.
That was his super power. He managed to show up as I was about to be killed.
We reached another intersection. He looked around then tugged me to the right. At the next stop sign, a car pulled up, screeching to a halt. The window rolled down and a grizzled-looking man gestured.
“Get in. Redmond sends his regards.”
Kaspar pulled me into the back seat of the car. It smelled like gasoline and tobacco. The driver spit out the window then sped off.
I gently got Kaspar’s jacket off and used it to sop up his bleeding wound.
He stared out the window with a pale and set jaw.
“What now?” I asked, leaning my head against his neck.
He turned and kissed my cheek softly. “Now we go interrogate the prisoner. After that, we find Maeve and kill her nice and slowly.”
I tried not to smile, but all of a sudden, the idea was appealing.
28
Penny
Present Day
Chicago
Kaspar was right. Redmond had done most of the work. There were three prisoners: two men and a woman. All three were bloody wrecks. Both men were missing fingers. The woman had slices along her thighs and an ugly cauterized stump where her big toe should’ve been.
I’d never seen something so repulsive. Kaspar sat down and spoke quietly to the prisoners while Redmond’s doctor tended to his arm. I tried not to be sick as the prisoners came in and out of consciousness, and Kaspar was forced to slap them to keep them awake.
The girl talked first. She told him whatever he wanted to know. Maeve was staying somewhere outside of the city in one of her businesses; she probably sent the attack as a desperate last-ditch attempt at taking Kaspar out; they had orders to delay him as long as possible.
“Why do you need to delay me?”
“So the other Oligarchs can get involved.” The girl’s voice was a croak. The other men looked disgusted and exhausted, and neither of them spoke up to stop her. “Maeve would’ve killed you if you hadn’t come for her first. She knows you’re a threat.”
He glanced back at me. “And what about the others? Darren and Roman? Redmond?”
“She doesn’t care about any of them,” one of the men said. He had dirty black hair and a torn button-down shirt. He spit blood onto the floor. “Maeve knows you’re the catalyst. She’s afraid of you.”
The last man looked disgusted, but said nothing.
Kaspar nodded, thanked them, and stood up. The doctor was finished cleaning and suturing his wound. He gestured for me to follow him upstairs into a simple safe house. Redmond wasn’t there, but it was swarming with his men. Kaspar steered me to the second floor and into an empty room.
“What did we just learn?”
I shook my head, walking to the window. Outside was quiet and nice. It seemed like a good evening to go for a stroll, aside from all the bullets flying around.
Kaspar closed and locked the door.
“I don’t know, honestly.”
“We learned Maeve was going to come after me if I hadn’t attacked her first. We learned she’s afraid.”
“Because of me.”
“That’s right.” He stepped closer. “How much more convincing do you need?”
I closed my eyes. I saw Alice under his hands, turning blue, dying. I shook my head. “I don’t need more. I know you did the right thing.” I turned to him. Something broke in my chest and tears sprang into my eyes. “She drugged me. I thought we were friends. She was the first friend I made in my entire life. Can you imagine that? Going through life without a friend? I didn’t know anyone outside of my family except for the staff, and I couldn’t be close to any of them.”
“I understand better than you realize.” He walked to me. His hands pressed against my hips. He smelled like blood and spice. I tilted my chin up, wanting to look at his lips, tugged back into a sad smile. “I’m so sorry about Alice. I only wish I could’ve protected you better.”
“None of that was your fault.”
“I have a feeling I was a wrench in her plans even before I strangled her.”
I chewed on my lip. I hated hearing those words. But they meant something different now. I used to think he killed her because he was a monster, but now I realize he killed her to keep me safe.
Though he was still a monster. Those things weren’t mutually exclusive.
The light around Kaspar shifted yet again and I could see him clearly.
I kissed him. I stood on my toes to do it. He stooped down and I touched his face. I did it as gently as I could, afraid of hurting him.
He growled and shoved me back against the wall.
“Maeve has to die,” he said, kissing my neck, then chewing and teasing my lips with a wild fervor. “You know that now, right?”
“I see it,” I whispered as his hands pulled at my shirt then unbuttoned my jeans. “I’m afraid what’ll happen afterward. I’m afraid for my family.”
“We’ll worry about that later. Maeve is the more pressing concern.” He slipped a hand down the front of my jeans. I gasped as he bit my lower lip. I kissed him hard, losing my mind in a frenzy of need.
I wanted this. I needed this. Every time he touched my skin, it was like waking up from a long dream. I was pulled back into my body and suddenly all I could think about was him, and pleasure, and more.
I tossed back my head as he kissed my neck and slipped his fingers down between my legs to tease my soaking pussy.
Redmond’s men swarmed downstairs. If I wasn’t quiet, they’d hear me. I should’ve pushed him away and told him to wait.
Instead, I bit back my moans and unbuckled his belt.
To hell with Maeve. To hell with Redmond, and Erin, and my brother, and Roman. To hell with them all.
I’d been nothing but an afterthought all this time. Locked away in the manor, waiting for my family to tell me what to do.
I was done waiting. It was time to take what I wanted.
I grasped Kaspar’s hair and pulled him to me. We kissed passionately as he tugged off my panties. He spread my legs and I gasped as he dropped to his knees, burying his mouth on my pussy. His tongue was heaven, his lips were hell, and I wanted to get lost between them.
He did his filthy work and I wrapped one leg around his neck, back shuddering, breath panting. He took me right to the edge and threw me over in a spark of wild ecstasy as I came against his lips, but he wasn’t finished with me yet. He stood, made me kiss him, made me lick my pussy from his lips, before he turned me around and slapped my ass.
His fist gripped my hair and he slid his cock deep inside.
I moaned. I was crushed against the wall. His hands were iron manacles, keeping me locked up tight. His cock was a glowing, thrusting jolt of pleasure, and I moved my back against him, rolling my hips down his length.
He was incredible. Insatiable. I bit his fingers when he put them in my mouth to keep from moaning. He slid himself deep and hard inside and held me there, cock filling me to the furthest reaches of my cunt. He leaned forward and pressed his lips to my ear.
“I’ll burn the world down if you let me,” he whispered, his voice sultry and laced with lust. “But I’d be just as happy lying in bed with you. Worshiping your body. Teasing your skin. Making you moan. Hearing you come and tasting your pussy are my two greatest pleasures in life. Can you imagine how badly I’ve wanted this? Since the moment I saw you, and even worse since the moment I lost you, I’ve dreamed of having your touch.”
He filled me faster, deeper. He stroked in and out as my mind tingled with need. Little arcs of electric pulses rippled down my skin.
“I never should’ve hated you,” I said, looking over my shoulder. He kissed me and I reveled in his taste. “I was stupid and angry.”
<
br /> “You were grieving. I can’t hold it against you.” He fucked me harder, rough, slow thrusts. “But now you know. I’m here for you, love. I’m here to take you, Penny.”
He fucked me then. I pushed against the wall, rolling my back. I wanted him to destroy me, to rip me into tiny pieces and leave me a torn wreck on the floor. My world was nothing but Kaspar, his hands, his cock, his growls. He fucked me over and over and I didn’t care who heard it, didn’t care who was outside of this small, empty room, because nobody else existed but him.
When he slapped my ass hard enough to hurt, I threw back my head and gasped his name. He slapped me again, and again, and I’d have bruises soon, but it didn’t matter. I came in a fire-hot fury, a molted incredible explosion, and he kept going, drilling me down, and filled me up with his own massive orgasm.
He kissed my ear and held me. We sank to the floor, tangled, soaking, panting. I held him so tight I thought my chest might explode.
“I want something,” I whispered in his ear.
He met my eyes. “Anything.”
“I want a phone.”
“Then you’ll have one.” No hesitation.
There was nothing but trust now. I tasted it on his lips. Felt it between my legs. My warm pulse. My sultry body. He was mine and I was his, and it was all tangled up in this complicated world we lived in.
And none of it mattered. He’d give me anything. That’s all I cared about.
He kissed me again, helped me get dressed, and we left.
29
Penny
Present Day
Chicago
I balanced my phone on my palms like a holy relic. I was alone in the hotel room. Kaspar was out killing Maeve’s men and preparing to hunt her down.
A thousand thoughts swirled through my brain. I could do so much with this thing. My world was wide open. If I wanted to run, I could run.
I could escape back to my family.
I entered Darren’s number. I knew everyone’s cell by heart. We all did.
It rang and rang and I was afraid he’d ignore an unknown number, but finally he answered. “Darren Servant. Who is this?” He sounded annoyed.
“Hey, Darren. Is that how you greet your sister?”
His tone changed immediately. “Penny, holy shit! Is this really you? Are you safe? Where’s Kaspar? Where are you? Tell me where you are and I’ll come get you right now. Are you okay?”
“Slow down,” I said, smiling as I paced around the room. Kaspar’s guards were waiting outside in the hallway. I had some privacy.
This was my chance. All because Kaspar trusted me.
“Seriously, Pen. Are you okay?”
“I’m okay. He hasn’t hurt me at all. Honestly, if it weren’t for him, I’d probably be dead right now.”
“If it weren’t for him, you’d be safe and at home.”
“Okay, that’s true.” I hesitated. I wanted to tell him about Erin. I didn’t know if he realized what she was doing behind his back—
But something stopped me.
If I opened my mouth now, Darren would lose it. He’d rip Erin’s head from her shoulders. I had no doubts he’d kill her and be done with the whole thing.
Sister or not, she betrayed him and worked against the family.
It would break Darren’s heart. Killing her would be a mark on his soul that he’d never get over, but he’d do it.
If I told him now, it would ruin him.
I kept my mouth shut, even though I wanted him to hunt down Erin and stab her through the eye over and over again.
I loved my brother, and I didn’t want to see him suffer.
Besides, it didn’t matter anymore.
“Where are you? How are you calling me?”
“Kaspar gave me a phone. I’m safe. I’m in a hotel room right now. It’s actually pretty nice.”
“He gave you a phone? Are you kidding me?”
“Nope. All I had to do was ask.” And fuck him a few times. And start to fall in love.
“He’s insane. This is insane. Tell me the name of the hotel and I’ll come get you. I have fifty men waiting for my orders.”
I didn’t doubt that. I could imagine the manor right now littered with soldiers. It was probably a madhouse. I bet Erin hated it.
“Actually, I need something from you.”
“Pen? Just tell me where you are. We can worry about anything else later.”
I closed my eyes.
It would be so easy. The hotel stationary had the address. He could roll in here, guns blazing, and take me back home.
But I didn’t want to leave Kaspar.
He was right to put his trust in me now. We understood each other.
We knew the truth.
“I need you to lie low for a little while. Don’t interfere with Kaspar’s plans.”
He was quiet. I could picture his face: confused, angry, hurt, betrayed.
“Why?” he asked, his voice soft and pained.
“I need you to know that I’d never betray the family. You believe that, right?”
“Of course, but—”
“Then please, do this for me. Lie low. Don’t get involved.”
“My people say Kaspar’s close to Maeve. He and Redmond tore her spy network to pieces, killed her main men, and they’re narrowing in on her. They’ll have her in a day at most.”
I thought as much, though Kaspar hadn’t said so outright.
“Do you believe Maeve is on your side?”
He let out a grunt. “I don’t believe anyone’s on my side. Roman is close.”
“Then don’t be so quick to rush to her defense. She did things, Darren.”
“Whatever she did isn’t worth this. We can still—”
“She tried to kill me. You remember my roommate, Alice? The one Kaspar killed? Well, Alice was sent by Maeve to assassinate me. To start a war and send a message. Kaspar stopped her. I know it sounds crazy, and I didn’t want to believe it, but I can’t deny the truth any longer. Kaspar saved my life and Maeve tried to kill me.”
Another long silence. He was digesting and processing. I didn’t know where he’d land on this, but it didn’t matter.
I needed him to stay away.
“How sure are you? Are you basing this on Kaspar’s word?”
“Partially, but it’s not that simple. Can you please trust me?”
He let out a frustrated sigh. “I’ll give you two days. That’s the best I can do. But if we hear that he’s moving in to finish off Maeve, I’m coming out there to bring you home.”
“Darren—”
“No arguments. I miss you, kid. I love you. You’re my sister and you belong in the manor.”
“I’ll come home when I can, okay? Maybe when this is all over.”
“I’m holding you to that.”
I smiled and nodded to myself. “Good. I’ll see you soon then.”
We hung up.
I dialed another number. It rang and rang until my mother answered.
“Yes?” Sharp, in control.
“Hello, Mom.”
She sounded more surprised than happy. “Penny.”
“How are you?”
“I should be asking that of you. Where are you right now? Wait here, I’ll get Darren—”
“I just finished talking to him,” I said quickly before she tried to hunt him down.
She sounded wary. “Really? And is he riding off to save you?”
“No, he’s not, because I’m not in trouble.”
“What are you talking about? I’ve been worried sick—”
“You know what Erin’s doing, don’t you?” I couldn’t hide the anger from my voice.
Of everyone in my family, I should’ve pitied my mother the most.
She had the least power. She married my father because she was well-bred and came with money and influence. They might’ve loved each other once, but toward the end, things fell apart. After he died, she was left alone to try to manage the best she could as
her oldest son took over the Servant power structure.
She was vestigial and worthless. She wielded little power—and that always rankled her. Mom liked control, believed in hierarchy, and would do anything to regain what she’d lost.
Including helping my sister.
She let out a long, exhausted breath. “I’m aware, yes.”
“Are you helping her?”
“It was my plan to begin with, but she took it over.”
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
“Yes, Penny. I’ve been helping her.”
It was like a knife to my guts. “Do you know she sold me to Kaspar?”
“Only after the fact,” she said, pleading. “I didn’t approve—”
“You didn’t stop it though.”
“There was nothing I could do.”
“You could’ve gone to Darren.”
Ice returned to her voice. My mother wasn’t the kind of woman to lose control. I could see her sitting up straight in her chair, eyes hard.
“I did what I thought was right.”
“For you and Erin.” She didn’t say anything. I rubbed my eyes and my hand came back wet with tears. “When this over, I don’t want to hear from you.”
“Penny,” she said. “I’m your mother.”
“And I don’t care. When this is over, don’t contact me.”
“What will you do? Ignore me? How can you do that when we share a home?”
“I’m not coming back to Servant Manor.”
It was the first time I said the words out loud. It sent a ripple down my spine, but it was true.
I’d never go home again.
I didn’t want to, not since all of this happened. Erin betrayed me and my own mother did nothing to fix the situation. I was a sacrificial lamb playing the part assigned to me from birth, but I was sick of all that, sick of the lies and deceit, sick of doing what was expected.
No, I wasn’t going home, not ever again.
“Penny. Now you’re being absurd.”
“Goodbye, Mother. Tell Erin that if I ever see her again, I will kill her.”