Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
ANGELICA
Silas jerked his head toward the den. “You can walk on your own, or I can drag you. It’s up to you.”
No.
No. No. No.
This wasn’t happening.
I caught Gabe’s wide eyes behind him. “I don’t understand what’s happening.”
There was pain in his stare. Desperate, cutting pain. Still, he didn’t come to my defense, staying silent as Silas stepped closer, driving me along the hallway, but as I turned I caught Lincoln at the rear of them, those dark eyes fixed on mine.
I only wanted to say goodbye. Tears welled in my eyes, until I bit down on the inside of my cheeks, stopping the ache in the back of my throat.
I should’ve left when I had the chance. I should’ve grabbed my bag and called the shelter.
I could’ve been miles from here by now. I could’ve been…
no one and lost in a sea of those desperate to escape.
My back skimmed the wall before I turned and scanned the hallway, desperately seeking a way out.
“You run and you won’t get far.” Silas warned. “You don’t want me tackling you to the ground now, do you?”
The thought of him crashing into me was terrifying. He’d be cruel…because that’s who he was when it came to me. My chest tightened with the thought, almost feeling the weight of him on top of me. My gaze went to the doorway of the den as my knees trembled.
Don’t let them see you’re scared . Mom’s words suddenly rose inside me. You’re an Ares, Angel. That’s who you are and Ares don’t break for anyone, just remember that. I stopped walking, dragging in a hard breath and straightened my spine.
No.
We don’t break…not even when it comes to our own.
I fixed my gaze on that doorway and forced myself to move.
My knees stopped trembling as I walked in and stopped in the middle of the room before I turned to face my accusers.
Silas eyes shone in the murky amber light.
This wasn’t a room I came to often. It was a masculine room, dark, gloomy, the air tinged with the faint scent of expensive cigars.
Deals were made in this room, secrets too…
“We want the truth and we want it now.” Silas strode closer, bearing down on me.
The others flanked each side of him and stood there staring at me silently. Even Lincoln. My face grew hot as I glanced at him.
“We know you’re lying.” He held my stare. “Where were you on the day of the attack?”
I shook my head. “What?” I glanced at my brothers. “I told you and the police. I was here.”
He took a step. “Doing what?”
My cheeks grew hotter. “I was…I was with mom.”
Promise me… Mom’s faint voice tried to push it. But I kept it at bay, focusing on the men in front of me. Men who were once family.
“And what were you doing?”
He thought we were scheming, was that it? Scheming the murder of our father. “Nothing.”
“Nothing? You have to be doing something.”
“I wasn’t planning murder, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“How do we know that?” He spat, his lips curling. “I don’t trust a single thing that comes out of your mouth.”
Promise me.
I pushed that voice back. “I could ask you the same thing.”
He scowled, his voice growing dangerous. “What did you say to me?”
“I said,” I met that stare, holding it. “I could ask you the same thing. Any of you.” I scanned every gaze in that room. “I did nothing. I know nothing.”
Silas reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell. “Where do you and mom go when you go out?”
“Where we go?” My mind raced. “Functions, fundraisers…shopping. I don’t know, where do you go?”
He clenched his cell in a fist and strode forward, towering over me. “This isn’t about me, is it?”
I searched his eyes finding the glint of rage. “Then why is it about me?”
“What is the Order?”
I froze. My breaths racing.
Promise me on your life you’ll never tell them.
That whispered plea grew louder. Only I didn’t know what I was supposed to keep secret.
I…didn’t remember. The dark patches in my memory were far to frequent for me to piece together.
Vague words flashing behind my eyes. Daughter.
Owned. Control. The moment I tried to remember more a heavy weight smothered my mind, suffocating every memory I’d ever had of that place.
I closed my eyes as that weight descended. Fragments flickered and my senses sharpened. The hard floor against my knees as I knelt. Someone’s heavy breath against my ear. A sudden stretch between my legs, my body trembling.
“Tell me what you do there?”
That’s the girl, now open your mouth.
Heat moved, spreading through my belly and plunged down. The pressure between my thighs grew bolder.
That’s it…Jesus Christ, Angel, that’s it . The man’s grunt filled me.
Panic flared as I opened my eyes, finding that hateful glare from my brother.
“What is the Order?” He demanded.
My pulse was dull and booming in my ears. I shook my head, my voice croaky and distant. “Nothing.”
“Liar.”
“Silas.” Lincoln warned.
But Silas didn’t care about his uncle. Instead he lifted his cell and swiped his thumb across the screen. Theo, Jude and Lincoln stood mesmerized as he opened some kind of message. But Gabe never looked at them, he looked at me.
“It’s…it’s an orphanage.” I whispered.
“Liar.” Silas barked and pressed play on the video.
“You will be on your knees. Do you understand?”
I jolted with the sound of that voice. The same one from my mind. No…no…
“Yes.” My own voice echoed through his cell.
“Yes, what?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“No.” I whispered and took a step backwards. “No!”
Theo looked smug. Jude was riveted. But it was Gabe who jerked his gaze to Silas. “What the fuck is going on, Silas?”
“That’s something you need to ask your sister about.” He jerked that glare over his shoulder. “There’s more. Do you want to hear it, little brother?”
His lips curled into a cruel smirk as he turned back to me. He was enjoying this, reveling in my destruction. But none of this had anything to do with the murders now, did it?
No.
This was personal.
He pressed his thumb against the screen.
“Open.” The voice commanded and that pressure built in my head. I couldn’t remember any of this and yet…yet it felt as though I should. Black holes lingered in my memory.
“That’s it. Jesus, that’s it.” The guttural growl filled the air.
“Turn it off.” The words were a whisper. “I said TURN IT OFF.”
Silas hit the video and moved, lunging toward me so fast I barely had a chance to move. But I did, throwing myself backwards until I hit the wall in the den so hard the painting above me rattled.
“What do you do there?”
NO!
Nonono…please…
I slipped away from his reach, moving deeper in the room. “I…I don’t know what you’re talking about.” His face blurred as my voice thickened.
“Show me.” He snapped. “ Show me what you do there!”
Show him?
My stomach sank. The icy touch of terror plunged deep, carving through the last traces of heat. “No.”
Those dark eyes blazed. “No?”
“No.” The word was a husky whimper.
He didn’t look at the others anymore. No, his rage was all for me. “You will show me, or I’ll hand you over to the police and tell them you conspired with our mother for murder.”
The floor seemed to fall out from under me. “No…you wouldn’t .”
“Wouldn’t I?” He pushed. “Dare me.”
Dare him? No…no…this wasn’t happening. I shook my head as my throat tightened and that memory surged even bolder than it had before.
The hard floor.
The weight of someone against me.
The warmth of his skin.
And that husky, deep voice in my ear, open your mouth, Angel.
You’re going to suck what I give you, do you understand?
You’re going to suck and lick and you’re going to be good at it.
His hand fisted my hair. The sudden jolt as he jerked my gaze up to his, and yet all I saw were those eyes…
those dark eyes. You’re going to be my good whore and if you’re behaved I might even let you come.
How does that sound? So open your mouth, take it all inside, just like you’ve been trained…
“Show me.”
I was wrenched back to that den in my house…and the row of men in front of me. Gabe’s eyes were impossibly wide as his brother lifted his cell. “Or do I keep playing the recording?”
Tears blurred his face, just like the man in my memory. Slowly I shook my head.
“Show me what you do there.”
“You don’t,” I whispered. “You don’t understand what you’re asking me to do.”
“I have a fair idea. But I want you to show me…I want you to show us all, just what a lying fucking traitor you are, Angelica. Now, walk over here and show me before I drag you from this house and have the cops throw you into a cell where you belong.”
But I didn’t do it.
I had nothing to do with our parents murder.
I had nothing to do with any of this.
“It’s your decision. Stay here and tell us the truth of it all…or…”
I took a step, then another moving to him. “You’re asking me…no, you’re forcing me to.”
He lifted his cell. “On your knees… sister.”
On your knees…on your knees…ON YOUR KNEES. Just like you’ve been trained . That husky voice urged in my head. Neon words flickered.
OWNED.
CONTROL.
DAUGHTER.
No…no…no…no. My mind said one thing, but my body did the opposite, knees buckled as I slowly sank in front of him.
“Now, show us what you do at the Order.” Silas growled.
I lowered my gaze, my body trembling out of fear, until those blinding words collided inside my head.
Then something inside me took over. I lifted my gaze to his.
Just like you’ve been trained . I wasn’t this person, not the one who reached up, sliding her hands over his thighs and squeezed, staring into those rage filled eyes and leaned in.
No, I wasn’t the woman who turned her head, rubbing my cheek against the denim of his jeans and slowly rose upwards.
“What the fuck is she doing?” Gabe croaked.
“Shut the fuck up.” Theo snapped. “This is happening.”
“Show us.” Silas savage tone was husky now. “Show us what you and our mother did there.”