Chapter 2
It takes me a moment to figure out what I’m looking at. For my eyes and brain to work together and make sense of what’s resting in the white satin interior.
And then, a barrage of emotions rip through me.
Confusion. Betrayal. Agony. Relief.
My eyes flick up, locking with Ringo’s as tears streak down his cheeks, even as his lips quirk up a little.
“Angel.”
I shake my head, another sob lurching from me as I force my gaze back to the casket.
There inside is a small hessian sack of sand. And nothing else.
“Where the fuck is my baby?!” I scream, my hands fisting into my hair as terror and grief slam into me.
Grief that nearly killed me.
Grief that consumed me.
Grief that fundamentally changed who I am.
Gasps echo around me as I lurch to my feet, rage twisting my face as I spin on the spot.
“Where is he?!” I scream, and Ringo rushes to my side, knowing exactly who I’m talking about.
“He’s up in one of the vans.”
Spinning, I storm towards the orchard, figures shifting out of my way, their faces not registering as my tunnel vision locks in.
Daniel Stone better give me answers, or I swear to fucking God, I will make him bleed in ways he never imagined.
Hurrying up the hill, I hear Ringo at my side, and others at my back as I go in search of answers.
“We interrogated him on the drive here,” Ringo updates me as we storm forward. “But he said he’d only talk to you.”
I barely acknowledge Ringo’s words as we reach the top of the hill to find a few vans parked in front of the barn.
“Which one?” I snap, and Ringo’s pointed finger comes into view, gesturing to the van flanked by four Marx security guards.
I head that way, and Ringo orders them to open the door as we near, and as it slides open, my eyes fall on a badly beaten Daniel Stone.
My ex-boyfriend.
And my cousin.
Vender steps up to the van without hesitation, fisting Daniel’s hair and yanking him out as he screeches in pain, getting shoved to his knees in the gravel.
Without missing a beat, Vender presses a gun to the side of his head. “Give her the truth, and I won’t kill you today.”
“O-ok-kay,” Daniel stutters, blood bubbling at the corner of his mouth, his puffy bruised eyes landing on me.
“Where is she?” I snap, swiping at the tears still streaming down my face, as Ringo steps closer.
“Let’s move this into the barn,” he suggests quietly. “There are innocent eyes that don’t need to witness this.”
Glancing over my shoulder, my heart splinters as I find Tahli crying, being led away by Alana, whose arm is around her as she tries to get my sister to look away from me.
She doesn’t. Tahli may have innocent eyes, but she’s worried about me right now.
Ringo is right. This needs to be taken into the barn.
So, I nod at Vender, and he yanks Daniel to his feet, dragging him into the barn while we follow.
I try to get control of myself, working at steadying my breath, but no matter how hard I try, I can’t make my hands stop shaking.
Vender shoves Daniel down onto his knees in the middle of the barn, the sound of tables getting dragged out of the way loud as I start pacing.
My rage is building like a pressure cooker as I glare at the guy who destroyed my life.
Everyone shifts back, forming a loose ring around him, their dark gazes pinning Daniel in place as he squirms under their scrutiny.
Daniel dares to meet my eyes, and I bare my teeth like a savage as I fight for control.
I want to kill him. But it’s not enough. That would be mercy, something he doesn’t deserve.
He deserves pain, drip-fed over time, until he begs for an ending I’ll never give.
But first, I need answers.
“Where’s my baby?” I snap, pacing like a predator as Daniel’s eyes track me.
“B-before I t-tell you,” he stammers. “I w-want a-assurances…”
Is he fucking serious?
I see red!
I snatch up the cold bottle of beer on the nearby table, and lurch forward, smashing it across the side of his head.
He screams, tumbling sideways as glass and beer spray through the air, his eyes rolling to the back of his head as he whimpers.
“Where the fuck is she?!” I scream, grabbing a fistful of his hair and yanking his head back.
The jagged glass still clutched in my hand presses tight to his throat, and a drop of blood beads beneath it.
“I-I don’t know e-exactly where s-she i-is. B-but I know s-she is s-safe,” Daniel stutters, his Adam’s apple bobbing against the glass pressed to his skin.
“If you don’t know where she is, then why should I keep you alive?”
He blinks up at me, tears spilling from his eyes as his lip trembles. Our faces are mere inches apart, and I fight the urge to lurch forward and bite his nose right off his face.
“I h-have other information y-you need t-to know. A-about our f-families. About the c-church.”
“The cult,” I snap, and he nods frantically.
I glare into his eyes for a long beat, debating if I should let him talk, and while it’s not directly about Bobbi, I know this is information I need.
Still, Bobbi takes top priority right now. Always.
“How do you know Bobbi is safe?”
He hesitates, a frown pinching his brow. “B-Bobbi?”
I roll my eyes.
“Her name is Bobbi. Stop fucking stalling, or the next thing you know you’ll be drowning in your own blood.”
“W-what’s h-happened to y-you?” he stutters in disbelief, and my eyes go wide as I stare at the shitbag that started it all.
“You happened to me, Daniel.” I dig the glass deeper into his skin, watching blood trickle down his neck. “What’s wrong? You don’t like what you created?”
His bottom lip quivers, and I see it now.
His fear.
He’s scared of me. Not the men surrounding him. Not Ringo, or JD, or Vender. Not Riggs and the Marx security.
Me.
He knows what they will do to him. But me? That’s a different level of crazy he doesn’t know how to handle.
“I-I’m sorry,” he whispers, and I scoff, shoving him back and pointing the blood-coated glass towards him.
“You’re only sorry you got caught, you sick fuck!” I snap. “Tell me how you know Bobbi is safe, or I swear to God, I’ll end you right now.”
“Okay! Okay!” he sobs, his hands flying up in surrender.
“Y-your baby is w-with my m-mum.”
My brows shoot up. “Your mum?” I ask and he nods. “How?”
“I don’t know. My m-mum bailed the morning we were meant to be m-married at that c-chapel.
After I told h-her everything I’d learned…
” He shakes his head like he’s trying to shake the memory of it away.
“T-the next day, s-she sent me a picture of her holding your baby. Her m-message said, ‘That cult church will never get their hands on this baby.’”
I stumble back a few steps, Ringo’s big gentle hands gripping each of my shoulders from behind before he runs his hand down to mine and subtly eases the bottleneck from my grip.
Elizabeth Stone has my baby?
I don’t know how to feel about what Daniel just said.
On the one hand, it sounds like she’s protecting Bobbi, which I suppose is a good thing.
But on the other hand, she fucking kidnapped my child!
“Tell me everything you know. Leave one detail out and I’ll make sure you suffer for it,” I snap, and Daniel nods quickly.
“The day Donny’s uncle and his men brought you to the chapel grounds, my old man told me it was time I knew everything.” Daniel swallows hard, his eyes flicking to Ringo like he’s watching for the moment my husband will strike in my honour.
“I didn’t know what he meant, but I knew something wasn’t right. At first, I thought you were just being hunted so they could shut you up… you know… from telling the world about what me and the guys did to you.”
A deep growl rumbles from behind me as Ringo’s fingers dig into my hips. I can feel the tension radiating off him. How hard he’s working to hold himself back.
God, I love him for how much he loves me.
I also love how Daniel’s gaze drops to the floor, like he’s too scared to see the rage emanating from my husband.
Maybe he is just as scared of Ringo as he is of me.
“Then I realised the church… I mean cult…” he corrects, “was in on it too. Banes was offering a shit-ton of money for your capture. Like serious cash. So, when Dad started spilling everything, it began to make sense as to why Banes was trying so hard.”
Daniel coughs then, the sound a little too wet to be considered normal, like he suffered some real damage on the drive here.
Catching his breath, he swipes at the blood that bubbles at the corner of his mouth again, and continues, peering up at me.
“When I first started seeing you, it was because my dad told me you were considered a prime vessel in the church. As a mother and a wife.”
My jaw tightens at his words, and my stomach twists.
Don’t kill him yet, Abbey. You need to know everything.
“Securing you as mine would not only get my family to the top ranks in the church but would secure us some decent money.” Daniel shrugs like that’s totally a normal reason to start dating someone.
“I didn’t really care at first, and kind of liked you.
You were a nice girl. A good friend. Pretty.
I figured it wouldn’t be so bad doing what my dad asked of me…
even the part where he insisted I have sex with you. ”
I nearly retch, my mind going back to when he first showed an interest in me. How he seemed so nice. So normal. And so into me.
What a fool I’d been.
“I mean, what guy doesn’t want to have sex, right?
” Daniel keeps talking, his gaze dropping again, like it’s easier to get it all out if he doesn’t have to see my face.
“I figured it was a win-win, even if my dad was going on about how claiming your virginity would secure our place in the church.” Daniel’s face contorts with pain then.
It’s not physical pain but the kind of pain that comes from the weight of traumatic memories.
“When my dad filled in the blanks after Allen kidnapped you, I realised not only had I been lied to and used, but that I had made things worse for everyone. Especially you.”