Chapter 2
Barrett
I need to figure something out. Every lead I stumble upon ends up being a dead end, and it's all starting to piss me off. I'm frustrated as fuck and feeling things I haven't felt in a long time. For the first time in years, there are moments where panic threatens to overtake me. I have to get this shit under control and focus on getting our girl back. I'm a damn mess without her.
It's up in the air as to when Kyler will wake up. Dr. X had to put him in a medically induced coma after surgery to prevent complications. Thankfully, it didn't take long for him to stabilize enough to be taken off of the coma meds. Now, we just have to wait. It could be a few hours or a few days; there’s no way to know for sure. It's been four days, and Seb has fully convinced himself that Ky isn't waking up. Leave it up to him to be so morbid.
He hasn't been able to leave Kyler's bedside, the guilt eating at him from the inside out. For some reason, he thinks this is all his fault. He’s convinced he failed us, which simply isn’t true. The only person at fault for this is Callie's piece-of-shit father .
Ping . An alert sounds on my phone, and I pull it up to see an encrypted message. It's from a number I don't recognize, and instantly, alarm bells ring out. Since I’m working in the security room under the pool house today, I connect my phone to one of my computers before opening the message to see if I can track it. When I click the screen, the letters appear one at a time.
Unknown: I know what you're looking for. I think the two of us could benefit from one another.
Me: Who is this?
Unknown: You want her back. I can help.
Me: Where the fuck is she? I'll hunt you down and slit your throat if you touch her.
Unknown: That's not the way to make friends, Barrett.
Me: I don't give a fuck about being friends with you. Tell me where my girl is.
We've been trying to get confirmation that Callie is actually at Rogue's compound since she was taken from us. Seb is hell-bent on not storming the place until we have proof they're not keeping her somewhere else.
I try to run a trace on the incoming messages, but they’re bouncing all over to different IP addresses. Whoever this person is, they know what they're doing. There’s no way I'll be able to catch up with them before the conversation ends.
Me: Who are you?
Unknown: I already told you. I'm a friend.
Me: I don't have friends. They always turn out to be liars.
Unknown: I'll help you if you help me.
Me: How do I even know you know where she is?
Unknown: She is with Damien, of course.
Me: Who is Damien?
Unknown: Sorry, you probably know him as Julian.
Julian? The guy she was dating before we took her? I think back to Callie’s story about how her father expected her to marry someone named Damien at eighteen. She ran away before it could happen. If Damien took her, there is a good possibility they are going to try the same shit now.
Hearing them talk about Damien having my girl pisses me off. I don't want to work with whoever this is. I want her back in my arms while I burn the compound to the ground, but I can’t exactly do that without knowing where she is. I need more information, and right now, this is my only avenue to get it.
I've run into too many dead ends on my own. As much as I want to kill whoever is on the other end of this computer screen, the fact is, I need them to help bring Callie home. Life doesn’t have the same spark without her here.
Me: Julian was the guy she was dating before we took her?
Unknown: Yes. He’s been working for her father the entire time.
Me: Do you know where she is?
Unknown: I want your word that if I help you, you will help me and my wife disappear. We need somewhere to start over. You and your brothers have a reputation. I know you always stick to your word.
Me: How do I know you won't betray us?
Unknown: I’m worried for the woman I love, just like you are. It's not safe for us here. I'm being watched, and it doesn't matter what I do; they will continue to use her against me. I won't keep putting her at risk.
Unknown: I will help you get your girl back if you help me protect mine.
I consider their words for a moment. Part of me wants to say fuck whoever this is. I don't trust them. The other part of me says, don't be stupid. This could be the opportunity I've been looking for to find out if she is at the compound. What's the harm? I decide to give it a shot, taking it upon myself to make the decision alone.
Me: Fine. We'll help you. Now tell me who you are.
Unknown: I'm their hacker. My name is Soren.
Me: You piece of shit. You let them breach my system to get inside our home.
Soren: They threatened my wife. They would have killed her if I didn't give them what they wanted. I don't think you understand what Gabriel is capable of.
Me: If you think I care about you or your wife, you're mistaken. You are part of the reason my girl was taken, and my brother was shot.
Soren: I can't change what I had to do in order to protect my wife. Do you want my help getting Callie out or not? I'm running out of time. They will notice I’m missing soon, and I need to know how to move forward.
Me: I'll get her out myself, and then I'll kill you!
Soren: I assure you, you will not get her out. They will have me working tirelessly to ensure it doesn't happen. Gabriel is not willing to risk her escaping him again.
I hate even having to consider this. It's not right, working with the person who helped that piece of shit take Callie and shoot Kyler. I’m beyond conflicted because having him on our side could mean fewer obstacles in our way. It could be the safest way of getting Callie back.
Me: Have you seen her? How is she?
Soren: I need to know if you will work with me to get my wife out or not. Once I have your word. I’ll tell you whatever you want.
Me: Fine. You have my word. Stop fucking around and tell me how Callie is doing.
Soren: She's strong. She has been vocal about you three coming to rescue her.
Soren: They watch her closely. I won't be able to get close to her for a while. They are not going to risk her getting away like she did before. As you know, she is a lot more resilient now.
Me: I want to talk to her.
Soren: That's not possible.
Soren: I have to go. They're coming.
Soren: I'll be in touch as soon as I'm able. It may be some time before you hear from me, but just know I am on your side. I need to get my wife out before they hurt her again.
I go to type out a response, but the chat closes out, indicating he shut down access from his end. FUCK! I hate not being in control of the situation. I hate having to trust someone else to get Callie back.
If Sebastian was in a better mental state, I would have consulted with him before making the decision to work with the hacker, but he's been unreachable since Ky was shot.
I'll dive in tomorrow and attempt to do more research to find answers, just like I’ve done every day since they took her. I'm always unsuccessful, but I still try, and that's all I can do right now. I miss her more than anything.
I bring up the camera feeds from a few weeks ago to watch her. The way her eyes light up when she’s happy causes my heart to ache. I love the way she smiles, and I want to see more, so I scroll through the footage. I stumble on one that feels like a knife to the chest. It was one of the first times we really connected.
We were down in the gym in another kickboxing session when she finally got a nice hit to the side of my face. Spit shot out of my mouth, and my head flew to the side. Almost immediately, she pulled the gloves from her hands and rushed over to grab my face to make sure I was alright.
"You've been trying to get a good hit in for weeks now, princess. My face is fine. I'm so damn proud of you."
"Yeah, but I hurt you."
"I should be thanking you. You know I love the pain." I smirked.
She shoved me playfully, so I reached out to grab her wrists and pulled her into my chest. My arms wrapped around her, and I held her there, just looking down at her for a few moments before she finally broke the silence.
"Barrett," she whispered.
"Yes, princess?"
"I think we should be done with our gym session for the day."
"And why is that?" I questioned.
"Umm. Well…"
I slid my hands down to grab both of her ass cheeks and leaned in to whisper in her ear. "Are you feeling like a dirty little slut again? Do you need me to take care of that for you?"
She let out a breath as I bit down on her earlobe, sending shivers through her entire body. Her arms reached up to wrap around my neck, anchoring herself to me. I lifted her up by her ass, forcing her to wrap her legs around me, and walked us to the closest wall before slamming her back against it. She gasped at the impact, and I leaned in to devour her mouth with mine, catching every kiss she was willing to give. I bit down on her lip with enough pressure to make it bleed before leaning in to lick the blood from it, savoring the coppery tang that permeated my taste buds.
I kissed the length of her neck, watching as she moaned with every single nip and bite. I loved that, with me, she was so responsive with such little effort. I took a moment to glance around the gym to see what I had at my disposal to use on her before carrying her over to the weight bench and placing her down on it.
"Be a good slut for me and strip. I have plans for you," I told her with a wicked grin.
"Barrett, let's just go upstairs," she said while taking off all her clothes.
"Always talking so much. If we go upstairs, I'll have to gag that gorgeous mouth of yours. Is that what you want, princess? Do you want me to tie you up, gag you, and fuck you senseless? Maybe I should grab my knife. We had fun with that last time."
Her eyes lit up with lust, and I knew the answer to that without her even saying anything. I abandoned my original plan to use the resistance bands to tie her to the weight bench and made a mental note to make sure to place a few toys in every room of the house for future moments like this.
Before she could protest, I bent down, threw her naked body over my shoulder, and sauntered out of the gym. She pushed up on my back to try to keep herself from flopping around, and I smacked her ass.
"Quit wiggling," I said, but she didn't stop, so I smacked her ass again. I knew it was most likely turning the faintest shade of pink, and my cock was hard just thinking about it.
When we walked past the lounge room, Ky looked up, locking eyes with me.
"Can I come too?" he yelled out, but I kept walking past the room to go upstairs. "Hey!" he yelled again.
"No," I said firmly. Callie was giggling over my shoulder, and the sound of her laughing was like a melody to my damaged soul.
"Come on, just let me watch, at least? You won't even know I'm there."
"Fuck off, Ky. Take your puppy dog shit somewhere else. I've got plans for our girl."
"You need to learn how to share," he said.
"Come on, Barrett, can't you share me with Ky?" she suggested, and I slapped her ass two more times.
"You can't prance her around here naked and expect me to not want to join," Kyler said while trailing behind us. This fucker wasn't going to take no for an answer.
"Fine. You can watch from the corner until I decide whether or not you can participate," I told him, turning briefly to look at him before walking into my room. "Keep your opinions to yourself."
He looked at her reddened ass, and his eyes lit up with desire before making a movement across his mouth to indicate his lips were zipped shut. Ignoring him, I tossed her on the bed. She looked up at me and then over to him with nothing but pure burning desire.
I slam my fist down on my desk and shut off the feeds. Watching these memories with her hurts, and not in a pleasurable sort of way. Ever since she was taken from us, I haven't been able to find pleasure in anything. This is a different kind of pain, and it’s one that I’m not fond of.
I let out a sigh and dive back into my work. Seb needs to know about my conversation with Soren and the new development about Julian being Damien.
I start compiling new identities for Soren and his wife. The sooner all the details are in place, the sooner Callie will be back in my arms. I'll finally be able to feel something again besides the panic that's eating at me. I remind myself that I just need to keep control a little longer, for Callie.