The black steel gate rolled open as I pulled into the drive of my Darkwood estate. This place was my escape, my reprieve from the madness, and not a place I brought someone home to…not like her, at least. I pulled the now ruined Audi inside the gate and hit the button for the garage door, listening to the silence in the trunk.
Was she asleep?
Dead?
Gone? Was she gone?
Jesus.
I clenched my jaw, wincing at the blinding glare as the headlights bounced off the white walls before I killed them. I moved fast, driving my shoulder into the door and left it open as I rounded the car before I stopped.
What if she wasn’t in there?
What if this was all…over?
The idea of that hit me. I could see it now. One press of the button and the trunk was empty. I lifted my gaze to the garage door as it closed. She could be anywhere…I’d never find her. That savage need inside me would hunt. I knew that…even if I hated it. I’d spend the rest of the night driving darkened streets until the morning.
Then I’d search her name…and track her down.
I might even find her holed up with Michael DiAngelo, how about that?
Find her in his arms.
The pathetic bastard smoothing her fucking hair and crooning of love and protection.
Fuck that.
Thump!
I flinched with the blow.
“I know you’re there.” Her muffled snarl made the corner of my lips curl. “Let me the fuck out or I’ll piss all over your brand new carpet. Try getting that stench out.”
My smirk died instantly as I stabbed the button. “Do that and I’ll…”
She shoved upwards, hate burning in her eyes. “You’ll what?” She stilled. “Tie me up? Strip me naked? Rape me? How about that, Mr. Cruz?”
Shit, that’s right…she knew my name.
I said nothing, just stepped forward, grabbed her hands and her waist in one move, and lifted her out. She gave a grunt when her feet touched down. But it wasn’t one of anger…it was of pain. She gave a hiss of agony, lifted one foot, and looked down.
The overhead lights glinted off a shard of glass embedded in her foot.
Fuck.
I thought I’d carried her over the glass from the crash? Looked like I was wrong. Only it wasn’t just the glass, was it? She bent sideways a little and there was fresh blood on my shirt…
Her wounds filled my head. Had she hurt herself trying to escape? Had she hurt something? Maybe it was when she’d almost fucking killed me? Yeah, maybe then. I narrowed in on her, very aware of the sting around my goddamn neck, reminding me just how close I’d come to the end.
Only she hadn’t finished the job…why, I wasn’t sure.
Not yet at least.
I stepped closer, watching her snarl and take a limping step backwards, leaving smears of blood behind.
Her DNA was going to be all over this goddamn place.
Just like it was back at the apartment.
My cock came alive at the memory of her come all over my sofa.
I wanted more.
Over my mouth.
My cock.
Any way I could get it.
I wanted in that cunt…so fucking bad. Balls deep, coming all over her and down that pretty throat. My pulse sped. Jesus, what the fuck was I doing? I swallowed hard as she stumbled backwards. “You’re getting blood all over my floor.”
She looked down and winced. “Good.” Her tone was spiteful as she met my gaze. “Come near me and I’ll pull out the shard and stab you in the eye.”
“It’s about all you could do with it,” I muttered and strode forward to grab her around the waist.
“Wait!” She kicked.
But I didn’t lift her over my shoulder this time. Instead, I carried her across my chest in my arms as I strode to the interior door into the house. She fought for a second, then stilled, lifting those brown eyes to mine. They weren’t honey or mahogany, or even amber for that matter. They were burned coffee, almost black. The eyes of a survivor. She scowled, then turned away, breaking the connection.
I carried her along the hall and past the expansive foyer that encircled the rainforest I had growing half inside. The place was crafted around the look. Lush greens of the tropical gardens softened the harsh steel and cold glass. Paired with polished timber floors this place was…perfection.
My perfection.
My private paradise.
One I’d brought no one to…not until now.
She turned her head, mesmerized by the hiss of the mist and the lush gardens as I carried her past the kitchen and along the hallway to the main bedroom.
“Lights,” I commanded, and the room lit up with a soft amber glow.
“What do you know?” she muttered, scanning my bedroom. “A monster with taste.”
I jerked my gaze to hers, stopping long enough to snarl. “Bathroom lights on.”
Her feet dropped, maybe a little too hard, before I drove her against the cupboard.
“Better watch that pretty mouth of yours, Helene Montgomery.” I pushed harder. “Before I fuck it.”
The lines at the corner of her eyes creased as she scowled. Jesus, she was cute when she was mad. I fought the need to prod her anger a little deeper. But I lifted her instead, placing her on the edge of the vanity. A quick yank of the drawer and I pulled a pair of tweezers free and reached for her leg.
She pulled away, causing me to glare at her. Then she stilled, allowing me to grasp her leg and gently lift it upwards.
Look at that…
Trouble could play nice after all.
My gaze went to the hemline of my shirt as it rose on those creamy thighs, ones criss-crossed with razor fine scars. I exhaled slow and hard and bit my lower lip.
“What?” she croaked.
I met those scorched-earth-colored eyes and answered. “Nothing.”
But it wasn’t nothing as I searched her foot for the glass, but my other goddamn senses were on her body and the way she shoved my shirt between her thighs. I wanted to yank it out, to tear the buttons off and the ripped fabric free. I wanted…I wanted her spread out on my bed so I could look at her.
No.
So I could look at what was mine.
My gaze flicked between her thighs as I dropped her leg.
I had to shake myself out of this. She wasn’t mine. She wasn’t anyone’s…she was dangerous.
Not dangerous because I was scared—dangerous because I was desperate.
I glanced at the blood on the shirt. “Your side.”
“It’s fine.”
I gave a shrug as my cell vibrated, then jerked my head toward the toilet. “You wanted to use it so bad, then use it.”
She seethed. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
My smile was cruel and fast.
Resignation met humiliation in her eyes as she glanced at the toilet, then back to me. “At least turn around.”
I stayed right where I was.
“Sick motherfucker,” she muttered under her breath.
I let it slide because she was right. I was sick. I watched every twitch in her body as she limped to the toilet, then turned, pulled the ripped bottom of my shirt upwards, and sat.
The rush of liquid came barely a heartbeat later. Her cheeks reddened as she grabbed a wad of paper, then reached between her legs.
“See,” I murmured, my focus fixed on the glimpse of her snatch before the shirt fell. “That wasn’t so bad now, was it?”
“Not for you, you creepy old perv.”
A twitch came at the corner of my eye…old?
“At the foot of the bed,” I snapped.
“Or else?”
Anger rose. “Want to find out?”
She held my stare while the phone in my pocket buzzed and jittered, before she gave a slow shake of her head and turned. Christ, she was a pain in my ass.
My cell fell silent as she limped into the bedroom, leaving bloody smears behind, then sank to the floor at the foot of my bed.
I moved to the dresser, pulled it open, and punched in the code. I kept weapons and armor in every damn house I owned, but particularly in this one. Steel glinted in the light. I plucked a set of cuffs free and turned, finding her glaring up at me. Her knees were bent, the shirt slowly falling down around her hips.
The sight made me freeze.
She was playing me.
And I was falling for it.
I stole a heavy breath and forced myself to step forward. “Hands.”
“Should be around your goddamn throat.”
I lunged, grabbed hers, and forced them above her head, pushing her back against the bed until her spine bowed. Her eyes widened, her hands trapped between mine as I clenched my grip. “Keep pushing me.”
Her neck was stretched, tendons tight. My breaths came hard and fast as I dropped my head, breathing in the scent of her, that fucking intoxicating scent. Jesus, I needed to fuck her. It wasn’t a want anymore, but a damn compulsion.
I licked her throat, tasting the tremble of her pulse. “I’m two seconds away from tying you to that bed, Helene Montgomery. Two fucking seconds from strapping your arms and legs on either side and tearing what’s left of my shirt from your body. I’ll take my time, but by Christ, know this, by the time I’m done with you, you won’t remember a single fuck when my cock wasn’t buried inside you.”
She unleashed a sound.
A suffering, tormented thing.
One that tore an ache across my chest.
I eased my hold and pulled away, finding her eyes closed.
“Look at me.”
There was a shake of her head.
I tightened my grip. “I said look at me.”
She did, meeting my stare. Her dark eyes were so fucking empty it made me ache. I lowered my head, my lips parting, swallowing her breath as I almost—
“Don’t,” she whispered. “Don’t.”
I pulled away, searching for that longing.
It wasn’t just me she battled now, was it? It was her own need…her own infernal goddamn monster. The one she felt like a slow, possessive lick between her thighs.
I released my hold and slowly rose, standing over her. She looked good down there, almost on her knees. “Hands,” I croaked.
This time, she lifted them without so much as a whimper.
“Good girl.” I held her stare, plucking the knot in the cord I’d used to bind her.
The cord she’d used to almost end me.
There was something about that which didn’t sit right. But I didn’t linger, just tugged the cord free and replaced it with the handcuffs, ones I made sure weren’t too tight.
“Now stay,” I murmured.
My cell was already vibrating as I strode back to the dresser and pulled out a black t-shirt. My guest needed clothes and a shower in case there were more shards, but that would have to wait.
“Yeah,” I answered my brother’s call.
“What the fuck happened?”
I tugged on my shirt and strode from the bedroom. “I crashed the car.”
“You crashed the car?” he repeated in that tone. “Are you okay?”
I headed into the kitchen and pulled a glass from the overhead cupboard. “I’m fine. I…”
“Are you having problems? You know you can talk to me.”
I stilled, my hand hanging in the air as anger moved through me. “You going to fucking diagnose me now, brother?”
“No, you know this isn’t like that.”
“No?” I placed the glass on the counter. “Then what is it like?”
His voice was steady, cool. The same distant fucking tone he took with his clients. I yanked open the refrigerator and grabbed cheese and tomatoes, then pulled two steaks from the freezer.
“This isn’t you,” he said carefully, finally remembering who he was damn well talking to. “The killing, the crash. Maybe all this is too much. I warned you of this when we started. I said getting this close to Hale would influence us, that it’d change us.”
I threw the steaks into the microwave and hit defrost. “Yeah, well, we didn’t really have a choice then, did we? Just like we don’t have a choice now.”
“We always have a choice, brother.”
I shook my head and lowered it, clenching the edge of the counter. “No. We don’t. Not unless you’re prepared to throw away years of planning, years of…terror…and of degradation. Christ, the things I’ve done, the things we’ve all done.”
“We don’t even know if she’s still alive.”
I snapped my head upwards, rage searing the back of my throat, until in an instant the choking avalanche of emotion just died away.
“We just don’t,” Kane urged. “We’ve had no response for over five years. That’s a long time, Riven. A long time.”
“I won’t give up on her.”
“No one’s asking you to. But we need to be realistic here.”
Beep.
The microwave beeped, pulling me back into reality. “The reality is this. She is our sister. She is our blood. If Hale still has her, then I will find her and save her, with or without your help. If this is too much for you, brother, then say now. No hard feelings.”
He gave a hard bark of laughter. “Riven, everything about you is a hard feeling. There isn’t a damn soft spot in your entire existence. I doubt you even know what being soft means.”
“It’s kept us alive, hasn’t it?”
“Yes…yes, it has.”
I stabbed the button, pulled out the now defrosted steak, and grabbed the skillet from the hook overhead, placing it on the stove. “Then we stick with the plan,” I replied, turning on the heat and moving to the cupboard to grab the olive oil. “We keep going until we get confirmation either way.”
“Then we pull the pin.”
I lifted my gaze. “We pull the pin…and watch the entire fucking thing explode.”
“And finally, bring our brother home.”
Our brother.
That ache in my chest moved deeper. “Yes. But for now, leave him out there. He’s better in the dark.”
“Will do, and Riven.”
“Yeah?”
“We couldn’t do this without you.”
My breath caught in the back of my throat. I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t even breathe. Instead, I forced that torment all the way down, back into the abyss. When I spoke, my voice was cold and steady. “I’ll contact you with further information.”
“Until then.”
I lowered my hand, pressed the button, and ended the call. My pulse was booming, carried away by my brother’s words. I forced myself to focus on the steaks, swirling the oil in the skillet before I placed them down on the heat. This is what I needed. Focus. Tasks. And a plan that would pull this all back together.
I took my time, cooking the steaks to perfection and sliced tomatoes and hard cheese, laying them expertly on both plates, then froze.
What was I doing?
Feeding her. That’s what.
I was feeding the woman I’d abducted, assaulted, and allowed to hear my fucking name. Because…because she had to eat. I wiped the edge of the plate and looked down. The meat was sliced to perfection, worthy of a five-star restaurant. I grabbed a set of utensils and buffed the fork before I took the plate and a bottle of water from the refrigerator and headed for the bedroom.
The moment I saw her, that compulsion roared to the surface. She sat exactly where I’d left her. Her knees bent, her hands still cuffed. There was a flicker of satisfaction as I neared, watching her flinch and placed the plate on the end of the bed before I uncuffed her.
“Eat.” I commanded, giving a jerk of my head toward the food.
She jerked that smoldering stare my way, took one look at the plate, and turned away. “I don’t eat meat.”
The smugness died. “What?”
She looked my way. “I…don’t eat meat.”
Motherfucker.
I looked from her to the plate, then turned around and strode away. Goddamn woman. GODDAMN WOMAN! She was pushing me. Testing my limits. I strode back into the kitchen and scraped the entire meal into the garbage.
My breaths were savage.
My pulse was out of control.
And there was a tic in the corner of my eye again.
“I don’t eat meat,” I muttered. “I don’t eat goddamn meat.”
I turned around, eyed the small basket of fresh fruit my housecleaner had left for me, then snatched the bright red apple from the top of the pile. I strode back, my fist gripping it tight and stepped into the bedroom.
“Here.” I tossed the damn thing toward her. “Unless you don’t eat apples as well?”
She grabbed it with both hands, glaring at me. Then she pulled it toward her, bared her teeth, and bit down hard.
Spiteful fucking thing.
I wanted to let her starve.
To let her—
Juice dribbled down her lips and down her chin. She never even wiped it, just took another bite. Those brown eyes filled with poison as she chewed in wounding gnashes of her teeth.
I’d never seen anything so fucking sexy in all my goddamn life.
The rage.
The promise.
Fuck, this woman was devastating.
Beep.
I jolted at the sound and wrenched my gaze down to my hand. I still held my cell…and the bottle of water. I swapped it over, scanning the caller ID. Julius Harmon.
“What the fuck?” I answered the call. “Yes?”
“Our mutual acquaintance isn’t happy,” Harmon warned. “And he wants you gone. You and your brothers.”
My jaw clenched.
Sweat rose along the top of my brow as his words hit home. Hale wanted me gone?
He wanted me gone…
“But I’ve convinced him otherwise,” Harmon added carefully, his tone crooning. “I still believe you’re an asset, Riven. Please don’t cause me to think otherwise. I told him from now on you would be a team player. Are you, Riven? Are you a team player?”
My lips curled. “Yes.” I stared at the woman on the floor in front of me. “Yes, I’m a team player.”
“Good. I was hoping you were going to say that. Very glad. I’m taking over operations from here on out. We have other…shipments coming. I will need you and your brothers to oversee their arrival. You’ll house them…clothe them…get them ready as you’ve done in the past. I will contact you with further instructions. Until then, get your fucking shit together. Do you hear me? Get it together.”
“Yes.” I forced the word through clenched teeth. “I…get it.”
“Good.” He exhaled hard into the phone. “Lie low. Make no further rash decisions. I’ll be in contact.”
“Fin—” I started, but he was already gone.
Leaving me to unravel.
“YOU GODDAMN BASTARD!” I roared, hurling the bottle of water across the room. “I’LL FUCKING KILL YOU! I’LL…FUCKING KILL YOUUU.”
I stilled, sucking in hard breaths, and came back into myself…to lower my gaze to hers.
“You’ll eat what I give you. Do I make myself clear? You’ll eat, shower…do everything I tell you to do,” I warned, my rage simmering under the surface. “You call me a monster now, but you haven’t seen the things I’m capable of. You don’t want that, Helene Montgomery. Trust me.”
