Chapter 73
DARREN
I crept silently along the edge of the woods. James had sent me this location, telling me this was the place he assumed Juliana had been held, which meant it would also be the place all of the other women were held.
That meant Andres should be here, especially with it being dark. He was going to want pussy tonight. Men like him always did, especially from unwilling women.
I never understood how some men got off on that kind of shit. I wanted my woman crying out my name in ecstasy, not fear. I wanted her to plead for me to fill her up.
Men like Andres Garcia were fucking disgusting.
While I was gone, my job was to follow Andres and his most trusted men to find out as much as I could about their routine. James didn’t want me gone long. He figured Andres had men watching the house, and it would seem suspicious if I didn’t pop up for a few days.
It was my second day of recon. I would be going home tonight, and God, was I fucking ready. I missed Juliana. I fucking needed to feel her in my arms, hold her for a minimum of fucking twelve hours.
It was hell being away from her.
A twig snapped behind me, jerking me out of my head. I spun around, my gun raised, but something hard hit my head. My reaction had been too late.
I crumpled to the ground.
~*~*~
When I came to, I was chained to the floor. I had a chain around my neck, and my wrists and ankles were chained as well. I quickly took in my surroundings and all the scents.
Three naked women were in the room with me, chained as well. The floors and the walls were cement, and it smelled horribly of bleach.
I could feel blood on my temple, most likely from where I’d gotten hit.
Sitting in front of me in a leather chair, his ankle resting on his other knee, a cigar between his lips, was none other than Andres Garcia, Juliana’s father.
“Darren Jackson,” he drawled, his Hispanic accent thick in his voice. “My daughter’s pussy is fucking magical, isn’t it?”
I leaned my back against the wall behind me, smirking at him. “Tight as fuck,” I remarked, playing his game with him.
His jaw tightened. I hadn’t responded like he wanted me to. He’d been expecting me to fight back.
The joke was on him. I was a sick son of a bitch. I knew this torture game like the back of my fucking hand. I dealt with it often enough.
This mother fucker wouldn’t be getting under my skin today.
“She calls me Daddy when I’m inside of her,” I pushed, my lips pulling up into a smirk. I couldn’t fucking help myself.
He waved his hand. Two of his men came forward, a warning glinting in their eyes. I laughed. “Can’t do your grunt work, old man?” I taunted. “I’ve got the energy to fuck your precious daughter into a small coma and still bloody my hands.”
One of his men sent his fist crashing into my cheekbone. I grinned a bloody smile at him, spitting blood onto the ground after. “That all you got?” I taunted. “Let me guess, you got a piece of her, too, before she ran away?” I asked. “Think you should know baby girl’s got a strong as fuck grip when I’m claiming her sweet body as mine.” His eyes darkened. He took a threatening step towards me. “Makes your hits seem weak as shit.”
Andres stood up from his chair, glaring at me with murderous contempt. I spit blood onto his shoe. “Fuck him up, but don’t kill him. I want his entire family to know what the fuck will happen if I don’t get my daughter back. This is their only warning.”
“My little girl is going to kiss all my wounds better,” I said to his back as he turned to walk away. He tensed. I was fucking with his head, and I was enjoying it. “And then, like the perfect little girl I taught her to be, she’ll suck my dick and enjoy it.”
He stormed from the room, slamming the door shut behind him. I
looked up at the two seething men he had left behind with me. I smirked. “Give me your worst.”
I grabbed the chains attached to my wrists and gripped them tightly as they proceeded to beat every square inch of my body, using knives afterward to make me bleed.
I never made a sound. I just closed my eyes, gritted my teeth, and pictured my beautiful woman in my head.
I will always keep you safe, baby girl.
JULIANA
Emmaline and I jerked out of our sleep at the same time. Her phone was blaring beside her, and someone was knocking loudly on the door.
“Little one, get up,” James called.
Emmaline scrambled out of bed and rushed to the door, swinging it open. It was obvious something was wrong. Something told me James didn’t wake his woman up in the middle of the night like this often.Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.
She ran her eyes over James’s face. My heart dropped to my stomach. James was tense, his eyes cold and hard, even as he looked down at his wife.
Something was wrong.
“James?” she asked quietly.
“Darren was supposed to be back last night,” he told her, but his eyes were now on me. I fisted my hands in the blanket, my heart thumping wildly in my chest. “His phone is going straight to voicemail. The tracker on his car is still showing the same place it was last night.”
My breathing quickened. This couldn’t be happening. Not Darren. Please, not him never him.
My chest tightened. James stepped into the room and squatted next to the bed, his eyes locked on mine. “Juliana, breathe,” he commanded, his voice deepening with the order. “I’m going to find my brother, and when I do, he’s going to be alive. Every bit of my soul is telling me he’s still breathing somewhere. I just have to find him. But I need you to breathe and get yourself together so I can focus on doing that, you hear me?”
I jerkily nodded my head, tears streaming down my cheeks. He stood up. “Get dressed.” He turned to Emmaline, reaching up to cup her face in his hands. The tender move made me miss Darren even more, and I wanted to scream for the first time in years. He didn’t deserve this. “Make sure she gets a shower and gets dressed, and then both of you come downstairs for breakfast. Jaxon is taking care of Carter until I can get Darren home.”
He pressed a kiss to the top of her head before slipping from the room, pulling his phone from his pocket. Emmaline gently grabbed my hands in hers. But I couldn’t calm down.
“Darren,” I cried, my chest tightening again.