Let It Go (19 page)

He stood there a moment and ran his palms up and down her back and her ass then eased out slowly.

He grabbed a handful of tissues from the box on her desk and helped clean her up. When she turned around to look at him, he hadn’t expected to see tears in her eyes.

He squinted at her. “Brooklyn? What’s wrong? Did I hurt you?” he asked, feeling like some monster for needing her so badly that he fucked her over her desk at work.

She shook her head. “That was incredible. I don’t know if I’ll be able to walk, but it was incredible.”

He cupped her cheeks and stared down into her eyes. “Tell me, why the tears?”

She blinked and one stray tear fell. “I’m afraid to tell you, Finnian, and tell your brothers, too.”

“Tell us what?”

She swallowed hard.

“I can’t let go. I was hurt so bad in the past. Every man in my life I ever knew or came in contact with, even my mother’s boyfriend, were evil. They tried things or did things to me. Things that left lasting scars and have made me place this wall around my heart.”

“I know about your ex. We talked about him and we’re working through those fears. What do you mean your mom’s boyfriend?” he asked her.

“He was abusive. He constantly tried to get me into bed.”

“What?”

She shook her head.

“I don’t want to get into it, but as far back as childhood I’ve had men trying to manipulate me, use me for my body. I’ve had to protect Antonia from him, from that, as best I could. Even after all that fighting, we both wound up with abusive men. Men who used our secrets, our fears, to possess us. Kevin knew that my mother’s ex wanted sex from me and tried touching me numerous times. I admitted my fears and he used them against me.”

“We’re not like that. We aren’t using your fears against you. We want to protect you, make you feel special, because you are so special to us, baby. Look at me, Brooklyn. I’m older than you by a lot of years. That’s damn intimidating even to a successful businessman like me who is used to having his way and getting what he wants. With you I feel different. For the first time in my life, I want to give a woman everything I got and then some. Baby, I love you. I’m glad you shared this additional fear with me because it lets me know that you are learning to trust me and my brothers. That you’re trying to let go of the past. You can do it, Brooklyn. You can trust us to love you. Hell, I already do and you’re the only woman I’ve ever said those words to.”

She hugged him tightly and he pulled her into his arms and ran his hand along her ass and then up her back, just holding her. His woman had truly gone through hell, still was suffering now that this dick was trying to hurt her. Enough was enough. When were they going to catch this guy? When would his woman be truly safe?

* * * *

Brooklyn felt the hands on her shoulders and gasped. She closed her eyes the second she realized they were Jagger’s. She was standing in the middle of the room of the construction site. It was moving along quickly, just as Jagger and Finnian said it would. The crew had just finished up, along with the plumbers and electricians. Tomorrow they would begin sheetrocking.

“What do you think?” he asked, whispering against her neck.

She turned around and hugged him tightly. “I think it looks amazing. I’m going to have to make some decisions on the new employees. I can’t believe how many people have applied for positions,” she told him.

“Well, if you need any help, I can help you with that. Finnian is pretty good at reading people, too.”

She smiled and then stepped back. “I think I have it covered, plus Dominick, Ledger, and Antonia have given input. It’s pretty funny how they picked out the same group of people to consider and those not to consider.”

He smiled and then reached up and placed his hand against her cheek. “Things are working out well. Antonia seems to like her new position.”

She smiled.

“She does, and I think it will be good for her to focus on this new life, this new beginning and career. She’s smart, she’s determined to do well, and I really think once she gets the hang of things she’ll find her niche.”

“She’s lucky to have you in her life,” he said to her and she felt tears fill her eyes. Last night they’d all gathered around the bed and talked about what she revealed to Finnian about Owen. She told them everything that happened, except she didn’t tell them in detail about Antonia’s battle with her ex, just that she got away from him in time, and that she now had a scar, too, from it.

“I love you so much, Brooklyn. I love that you came here to Repose, and that my brother finally got his head out of his ass and we showed up here to meet you and see what you did to Grandpa’s old gas station.”

He smiled and she chuckled.

“I’m glad that I came here, too, and maybe it was better timing, meeting you guys a year after being here. I was still fighting my battle, trying to get over my past and make a new life.”

He leaned forward and kissed her. She heard some scraping across the floor and then Jagger jerked against her. She gasped as he fell, knocking her down to the ground. Looking up, there stood her attacker, holding a piece of wood. She looked at Jagger. His head was bleeding. He was out cold. She shoved at him.

“Jagger, Jagger.” Then strong arms lifted her up.

“You fucking whore. Fucking four guys. Giving up what’s mine to them.” He struck her across the mouth and she screamed out and then tried pulling from his grasp. She shook and screamed as loudly as she could, hoping someone might hear her. The guys were all out by the bar. She fell to the floor and he kicked her. She saw the piece of wood on the floor, grabbed it, and turned around to strike him. She hit him in his leg, but from her bad position it wasn’t hard enough. He struck her in the jaw so hard that she fell back, hitting her head on the hard flooring. She felt him grip her blouse and pull her up. She swung at his arms, but he was just too strong, too determined to get her. She looked toward the floor, seeing Jagger lying there. He was moaning and trying to open his eyes.

“Jagger!” she screamed.

“Shut up or I’ll kill him,” he told her and shoved open the back door. It was dark outside as he hurried toward a van. He threw open the door and got inside. She fought with him, scratched at his face, his neck, anything she could reach, all the while screaming at the top of her lungs.

He forearmed her to the throat as he straddled her body.

“Shut up. It’s over. I came back for you and no one is going to stop me from taking what I want.”

She couldn’t move. He had her arms pinned underneath his knees. She tried kicking upward and moving her head side to side but he slapped tape over her mouth and then flipped her onto her belly. He made quick work with the rope, tying her hands behind her back, nearly pulling her arms from their sockets.

She moaned and gasped for air. She could hardly get a breath through the thick tape. Fear like nothing she’d ever felt before began to encompass her every thought. Then he grabbed her legs, squeezed her ankles together, and wrapped them with rope, too. When he was done, she could hear him breathing heavily.

“I see you’re going to be a fighter. I like fighters, baby, especially while I’m fucking them.”

He ran his palm up her skirt to her ass and squeezed. She cried out and tried moving but she couldn’t. She was helpless. He won. This monster, this insane criminal, was going to take her life away from her and there was nothing she could do about it now. She instantly thought of Jagger and prayed that he would be okay. She thought about Zeke, Aero, and Finnian and her heart ached for never telling them that she loved them. Then she thought of Antonia. Poor Antonia. This could have been her. She felt him move off of her and shivered, wondering what he would do next when she heard the engine start and the van slowly pull away from the Filling Station. This was it. No one would know where to find her.

He won. The sick son of a bitch won.

* * * *

Antonia screamed and called to whoever could hear her. She knew that Jagger went to see her sister. They hadn’t come back to the bar yet. She thought maybe they were fooling around and she didn’t want to interrupt, but it was late and she was tired. Aero and Finnian were at the bar and the Chief had just come in, too. Then she started to get this bad feeling in her gut and she quickly headed back to the construction to check on them. She saw the back door open and then heard the moaning. Immediately, she’d spotted Jagger lying on the floor and blood around his head.

She screamed for help, opening the door and gaining Dominick’s attention. He came running and then the others arrived.

“Oh, fuck. Call an ambulance now. Jesus, Jagger. Jagger, can you hear me?” Dominick asked him and Jagger moaned. “Here, put pressure on this wound. Hold it there.” Everyone was running past her and to the back door.

“Fuck, I think he took her,” the Chief said.

“No. Oh, God, no,” Antonia cried out.

“I need everyone on this. Call it in right now,” the Chief yelled out and then lifted his phone to his ear.

“The surveillance cameras. I just hooked up the outside ones today. Maybe we can see something on them,” Aero said.

Jesse was there, too. He pulled out his cell phone. “We can log in from our phones. She gave you the password, right?” Jesse asked Aero.

“Yes,” he said and they waited for the images to come up. They all gathered around Aero as the paramedics arrived.

She could hear the guys talking and then Aero and the Chief cursing as Finnian looked up from where he sat by Jagger. “What? What are you seeing?” Jagger asked.

The Chief spoke into his cell phone.

“I got a blue van, license number—”

He was rambling off a description of the vehicle and a positive identification of one Edward “Skull” Lewis.

“Finnian?” she said to him as the paramedics took over caring for Jagger.

Finnian pulled her into an embrace. “We’ll find her. I swear we’ll do whatever is necessary to find her.”

* * * *

“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Brooklyn heard him yelling and slamming the steering wheel. The engine had cut off a while ago and he just sat there in the dark. Wherever they were, it was pitch black.

She thought she heard sirens in the distance. It seemed to her that he hadn’t driven that far, but she wasn’t certain. She held on to the hope that help was on its way. She heard the door open and then close. Then the side van door slid open.

She cried out as he grabbed her by her thighs and pulled her from the van. Her blouse was ripped, her skirt, too, as her belly scraped against the dirt on the metal flooring. She fell to what felt like concrete flooring with a thump. Her chin hit the concrete because her hands were tied so tightly behind her back.

He lifted her up, turned her around, and threw her over his shoulder.

“I have to stash her. I need to grab the supplies. I fucked up. Fuck, I have to leave and then come back. Where can I put her? Shit, shit, shit.” He was talking to himself.
God, he sounds insane.
She was shaking and the anticipation of where he would drop her and how badly it would hurt was all she could focus on. He opened a door. They were in some sort of building. She looked around her. It was dark and there was a short hallway and moonlight illuminated what looked like a kitchen. Maybe. He opened another door. It had lots of locks on it. He went downstairs and she thought he would drop her as he swayed a little on the dingy old steps. It smelled so bad down here. Musty garbage and a rotten stench. She felt like vomiting. She could only breathe through her nose and it felt like her senses were in high gear.

In a flash, he lifted up and then dropped her down on the concrete floor. She grunted in pain. He pulled something out of his pocket. Keys, something. She heard them jingling and then he opened a door.

“A little while. Just a little while.”

He bent down next to her and rolled her to her back. He stared down at her and licked his lips, running his palm over her throat and then to her breasts. He was fondling them, squeezing them. He moved lower and she shoved side to side to try and get him to stop. He slammed her shoulder down to the side, making it feel like he broke it but it wasn’t broken.

“I’m leaving you for just a little bit. I need things. I don’t have them here. Our time needs to last, and without supplies it won’t.” He ran his finger along her bruised and battered face. “We’re going to have a lot of fun. I can’t wait to hear you beg for mercy. You’ll be able to take more than the others. The whores seem to last the longest.” He lowered down over her body and peeled back the tape, not giving her a moment to get over the sting of the rip or to catch her breath, and he covered her mouth and kissed her. He plunged his tongue in and she cried and spit and bit at him until he pulled away and struck her again. The hit was so forceful that she felt her head spinning. He covered her mouth, cutting off her supply of air until her nostrils took over breathing in and out.

He yanked her up off the floor and pulled her into what seemed like a cubby hole. He had to lower down to his knees to put her into the small, compact area. She couldn’t even see his face as he spoke to her.

“Don’t even try to move. You better hope that I make it back here or this will be your grave.”