Chapter 10
Tatum
After taking a shower in the room I first woke up in, I pull some clothes from the duffle bag, then climb onto the bed, still wearing the towel wrapped around my body and clutching the clothes in my hands, unable to find the will to change. Tears prick the backs of my eyes and I take a deep breath, trying to ward them off. I’m not the type of girl to cry. The fact Alexander is the one who is causing the urge to shed tears angers me further. My phone rings and I sigh, I may be kidnapped but unfortunately that doesn’t mean I can stop working. I find my daily cell inside the duffle and pull it out to see it's my boss.
With a sigh I answer the call. “Hey,” I say.
“What’s wrong?” Vivian asks.
“Nothing, just living my best life in the Bahamas,” I snark.
Vivian sighs. “I’m sorry Tate?—”
“For what? You didn’t kidnap me, that was all that asshole.” Bitterness laces my words.
“Can you talk?” I straighten and dart my gaze around the empty room.
“Yeah?”
“I’m working on a way to find you but unlike Alex I don’t have a hacker as good as Halo, so it may take us some time to find you.”
I reel back in surprise. “Why are you helping me?” I ask in disbelief.
“Because you’re my friend, Tate.” The honesty I hear in her words surprises me and honestly, floors me a bit.
“T-thank you but I wouldn’t waste your time. You can’t reach me where I am.” I explain how I’m surrounded by nothing but open land and woods and that the driveway is so long I gave up trying to escape. “He’s a fucking asshole. I want to slap him so fucking hard his teeth come loose,” I growl.
“Tate, are you attracted to Alex?”
I scoff and shake my head even though she can’t see me. “Fuck no, never. He’s hideous and I hate him.”
“Yes, you’ve said that but for someone who has been kidnapped you don’t seem desperate to leave him.”
I growl low. “Vivian, this isn’t some fucking love story where I fall in love with my captor. This is real life where the cunt uses me and then kills me because he wants to hurt my brother, who you hate as well, I might add.”
“Then answer me this, has your white knight of a brother tried to save you?” Her tone is loaded with accusation and I cringe when I recall my conversation with him from earlier. “I didn’t think so.” A knock sounds at the door.
“I have to go. I’ll finish the reports and email them to you and place the order for the restock at Lividica,” I say then end the call just as the door opens. Omen stands there staring at me with a mix of unease and loathing in his eyes. “I guess this is your room?”
He works his jaw side to side then nods. I sigh and stand, then stuff my clothes back into my duffle and zip it up. When I sling the bag over my shoulder and move toward him he raises his hands halting my movements.
“Why aren’t you changed?” he grits out.
“I was about to but then you knocked,” I answer.
He scrubs a hand down his face and sighs. “Get dressed, meet me in the living room.” He doesn’t wait for a reply, he just closes the door behind himself. I exhale and make quick work of changing and running my brush through my hair, then piling it into a messy bun on top of my head. I toss my bag in the corner of his room, then dump my towel in the hamper in his bathroom before heading out to the living room. I pause in the entryway and look between him and Pope. Omen has black hair, it’s long enough that it can be slicked back while Pope’s is short and brown in color. Pope has soft brown eyes, Omen’s are blue but you can see an edge of danger in Pope’s while Omen’s eyes are riddled with ghosts and pain. Out of the four of them, Omen is the one that scares me.
Pope notices me and nods for me to join them. I slowly make my way toward the sofa that has Alex’s blanket draped over the back. I pull it over my lap and look between them both. Pope has his gaze focused on the laptop in his lap while Omen just sits there looking off into nothing, clearly lost in his own thoughts.
“Are you hungry?” Pope asks. I shake my head. “When was the last time you ate?”
I scoff. “How about we skip the part where you act like you give a fuck about me and just ignore each other?” I snap. I don’t wait for a reply as I pull my phone out of my pocket, bring up my Kindle app and search for a book to read. I nearly laugh out loud when a book pops up but it's the name of the author that has me shaking with silent laughter.
Alex Denver .
That’s the fucking author’s name and she even has a duet called Bloodlust . Either this is the universes way of mocking me or fate has a cruel sense of fucking humor. I can’t decide which one it is right this second. I download the book and start reading it. Just as I hit chapter three and start really getting into it, I’m dragged out of my book by the sound of Omen’s voice.
“He won’t keep you.” I flick my gaze to him and narrow my eyes.
“Well that’s fine with me because I’m not a woman who wants to be kept,” I snark at the fucker.
“You cloud his judgment and need to go before you destroy what he’s worked for.” I scoff and roll my eyes.
“What exactly have I done, Omen? I never came to any of you. I kept my head down and tried hard to stay off your fucking radar. He sought me out and hunted me down!”
Pope shakes his head, urging Omen to shut up but he ignores him and pushes on. “He watched you for months, for the four of us it was a job. We waited for you to fuck up and lead us to that cunt but he obsessed over you.” My face slackens and I suddenly feel cold.
“W-what?” I sputter.
Omen’s features darken as he leans forward and rests his arms on the tops of his thighs. “The night on the plane may have been the first time you spoke to him but it was your second time seeing him. Want to know how many times he’s seen you in person?”
“Omen, that’s enough!” Pope snaps trying to reign him in but it's too late, Omen is on a roll and he wants to prove his point that I am fucking things up for them without even trying to.
“How many hotels did you stay in thinking you were safe because you locked the door? Want to know how easy it was for him to break in and stand over you while you slept?” My chest rises and falls as terror grips my airways making it hard for me to breathe. “You are a fork in the road that needs to be removed.”
“I don’t want to be anything to him,” I spit out.
Omen just sits there with a ghost of a smirk on his face and shakes his head. “I would have believed that if I didn’t hear you fucking him a couple of hours ago. Seems like my opinion about you was correct.”
Anger ignites inside me. “And what opinion is that, asshole?”
“That you’re like every other bitch in the world, you spread your legs to make your point,” he fires back.
“Fuck you!” I scream at the bastard. “I fucked him because I wanted to, not because I wanted anything from him. And let’s get something straight, asshole. I don’t fuck men, ever point blank period, bitch.” Realization dawns on his face. Pope coughs and gapes at me.
“Alex was your first?” Pope mutters. I cross my arms over my chest and slouch back into the sofa. I fight the urge not to blush in shame. I hate that he brought up hearing me and Alex but I have no one to blame but myself.
“Shit,” Omen mutters. I see him and Pope share a loaded look before they both turn to me.
“Get your ass up,” Pope snaps then tosses his laptop to the side.
“Why?” I ask.
“Because you can't stop what’s done to you, you can only survive it and you won’t survive him if you stay here.” I stare at Omen in confusion. “Does he know you were a virgin?” I duck my head. “Answer me!” he roars. I flinch and nod. “Get up, we need to move now before he gets back.”
“Why?” I push as I climb to my feet and keep the blanket wrapped around me, suddenly chilled to the bone. Omen rushes out the back door as Pope comes toward me. I take a step back, making him halt his advance.
“Alex is a fixator. He may not have shown it tonight, but him knowing he was your first will make him hyper focus on you and he’ll want to work out your breaking point. He’ll destroy you if you stay, Tatum.”
“Why do you suddenly care?”
He sighs. “Because I was in love with a girl who gave me the gift you gave him tonight and much like Alex, I would destroy everything in my path to get to her. We need him to keep his head clear and finish what he started so we can all move on. Until he accomplishes that, we’re all stuck here living like this.”
I scrunch my face. “You all hide out here because you’re hunting for my brother. Why do you stay with him?”
Pope’s eyes darken. “Because he’s the only person in this fucking world that we trust without question. What he did for us we can never repay. Alexander Denver is our brother and we would die for him without a second thought. Having you around will complicate things. We’ll take you to the airport and put you on the next flight out. We’ll keep Alex from coming after you.”
“Why? I don’t understand what the fuck just changed.”
“What changed our minds is you telling the truth, and Omen knowing that you don’t use your body to get your way swayed him. Omen hates every female because our stepmother raped him.” My eyes widen and I gasp as remorse thrums through me for him. “Let him save you, he needs some form of redemption and helping you will give him that.”
“Redemption from what?” I whisper.
He takes a shuddering breath. “For killing my mother.”
* * *
I haven’t allowed myself to relax for a single second. I was waiting for Pope and Omen to declare this was all a joke or drive me to Alex so he could kill me but they didn’t. True to their word they dropped me at the airport with all my bags and wished me well. The part that shocked me to the core was Omen inputting his number into my phone and telling me to call him if I ever need anything or I’m in trouble. I cleared security and kept checking over my shoulder. Even when I found my seat on the plane I started to get anxious, but my row was empty.
I finally take my first full breath as the plane evens out in the sky and I actually allow some of the tension to flee my body.
I did it!
I escaped. I actually fucking did it and I’m still alive to tell the story. I close my eyes and rest my head back against the headrest, inhaling the sweet scent of freedom. I’m heading to Chicago and it may be one of my least favorite places to visit, but right now I’m so fucking excited to be surrounded by buildings because it means I’m far away from him .
Jesus, why the fuck does my chest constrict when I think about him?
Nope, I close off that train of thought and focus on work. I pull my laptop out and place it on the tray in front of me and start reading over the reports the contractors have sent. I may not have gone to college or even have a degree, but I’m smart and I know how to read through this type of shit and spot when they are fucking us over. Which is why I can already see these assholes in Chicago are deep in the shit right now with all this red tape.
I make note to read through all the legislation in regard to opening a hotel and sex club in the city and find out why we are being hard-balled at every turn. I get so lost in reading over everything and catching up on the shit I missed that I don’t realize we're about to land until I’m asked to pack away my computer.
I’m bone tired and still sore from Alex fucking me like a crazed man. I shiver and I hate to admit it but it isn’t from disgust. The way he took what he wanted while still making sure I felt good was so unexpected but utterly addictive. I’ve never wanted a man as badly as I wanted Alex, and that notion frightens the fuck out of me. I follow the crowd off the plane and collect my luggage, then head out the front to meet my Uber. I didn't organize a driver thanks to my impromptu escape. The drive to the hotel passes by in a blur and by the time we arrive, my movements are sluggish and I’m practically falling asleep on my feet.
After checking in, I head to my room and nearly weep at the sight of the bed. I dump all my belongings on the desk in the corner, pull the curtains shut, then turn out the lights and climb into bed. A sigh escapes me when I get comfortable and close my eyes, ready for sleep to claim me until my fucking phone starts ringing. I want to cry and debate ignoring the call but if it's a work emergency I’m the person they call. I reach for the fucking thing blindly then hit answer without checking the caller ID.
“Yeah?” I croak out.
“Do you know what it's like to be hunted by a predator?” My eyes snap open and I bolt upright in bed. Suddenly the darkness that envelops me starts suffocating me as I panic that he is hiding in the darkness.
“Leave me alone, you got what you wanted.”
“Hmm, see the thing about that, Miss Lawson, is that now that I have satisfied one craving tonight, I realized that I crave the taste of your blood on my tongue.”
I shudder. “Fuck you.”
His dark chuckle fills the line and I start panting. I hate my body's reaction to just the sound of his voice. “No one escapes me, Tatum, never forget that.”
“Go to hell, Alex,” I snap, then end the call. My heart is racing and suddenly I’m so fucking wired I don’t know if I’ll be able to sleep now thanks to that Aztec fucking god and the memories of how good he felt inside me.
How can you hate someone yet crave them?