Chapter 4 #2
The green-eyed one with long hair laughed. “We can do anything we want, printsessa.” His accent transformed consonants into weapons, Russian heritage evident in every syllable. “This is our house. Our island. Our rules.”
She didn’t know what was worse, the large one’s silence or the other one’s taunting.
She looked to the blond for help, but he only crossed his arms over his equally broad chest. Their united front was clear.
She was the intruder, and they were the law.
She glanced back at the giant holding her, her gaze meeting fathomless black eyes.
She instantly dropped her stare.
Every inch of him was thick muscle, and he did nothing to hide his brute strength. With a torso like a tree trunk and arms built to crush, he could snap her in half without even breaking a sweat.
This one—Hunter, the one with green eyes had called him—wasn’t like the others. He was worse. There was something utterly untamable behind his obsidian scowl. And when his glare narrowed on her, she stopped struggling immediately, recognizing when she was outmatched.
The heavy scruff around his jaw did nothing to hide the hard angles of his face, and his mouth never strayed from a flat line. His dark skin, marked by old scars, told a story of survival. Nothing about this man was vain. He merely existed in the rawest form of masculinity she’d ever seen.
The casual way he restrained her with one massive hand demonstrated just how powerless she truly was in this place. He wasn’t even breathing hard, wasn’t even trying, while she squirmed like a fish on a hook.
The other one’s molten green eyes settled on her face, as the giant’s thumb brushed across the delicate skin of her inner wrist, then loosened enough for her to break free.
She stopped struggling, stopped squirming, and looked back at him in question. She was free. She turned to green eyes.
“What do you think will happen if you run, little rabbit?”
The blond glanced at the blizzard outside the tall windows. “In case you haven’t noticed, there’s nowhere to go.”
My god, they were terrifying.
Cowering, she scanned their faces but found no sign of compassion. These men did not want her in their territory, and they were the only shelter for miles. “Please,” she said, softening her tone. “I swear, I’m not a danger to anyone. I just need a place to stay.”
“This isn’t the Ritz.”
Thunder rumbled outside the windows, and wind howled. A grey hell made of wind and sleet seethed on the other side of those stone walls. She came here for shelter and willingly walked into a cage, but there was truly nowhere else to go.
“There has to be a way. You have plenty of room—”
“Do not speak of what we have,” the quiet one snapped in a thick Russian accent. “What we have is a pest in our home.”
“I swear, if you just give me a few nights—”
“You’re staying,” Green Eyes said, contradicting the larger one, as if it wasn’t even a question. “You trespassed on private property. Now, we decide when you get to leave.”
His threatening promise landed like a gavel in a corrupt hand. “Until the storm passes?”
“Until we say you can leave.”
“You can’t keep me here forever.”
“That’s not your decision to make.” The blond searched her coat pockets with methodical precision, withdrawing her soaked paperwork and dropping it into a pile on the bed beside Mary’s license, a few crumpled bills, and the wrapper of her last snack.
He looked at her expectantly when he finished his search.
A sense of violation raced through her, stirring up familiar, indignant fury until she snapped, “That’s all I have.”
“No, it’s not,” the green-eyed one dragged his stare down her body.
“What else do you want?”
“We want to know why you’re really here.” The quiet one reached over her to flip the identification card right side up, and she caught his scent—cedar and something wild that made her recall the forests they used to play in as children.
“I told you. I got lost.”
Green Eyes cocked his head as if to silently tell her they all knew that was a lie. She looked at the blond, but he shook his head. When she glanced at the silent giant, she again lowered her gaze.
“We’re going in circles.” Green Eyes reached back to adjust the tie in his long brown hair, and her gaze drifted to his ridged abdomen, hardly concealed by his fitted thermal shirt. “What are you willing to do to make amends for your transgressions?”
“Transgressions?” Fear transformed into anger, and anger made her reckless. “I was dying! I needed shelter!”
“And we provided it.” The rugged, dark-haired man’s grip tightened on her upper arm just enough to remind her who controlled this situation. “Fed you. Clothed you. Kept you warm and safe through the night. That kind of generosity isn’t free.”
“I can pay you back,” she said quickly, words tumbling over each other. “Whatever you think I owe—”
“With what?” The blond flicked the pile of trash on the bed. “This? A few bits of trash and a license I’m almost certain you stole.”
“I’m not a thief!”
“Tell me this coat was yours.” The blond lunged forward, speaking through gritted teeth. “Tell me where you bought it, how much you paid for it. I. Fucking. Dare. You. Tell us one more lie.”
Ice formed in her veins as he held up the invitation and flicked the damp paper until it unfolded. The elegant cardstock was meant to be her ticket to freedom. Now, it served as the damning evidence that would see her punished, and possibly cost her her life.
“Kassel’s Winter Gala,” he read with the focus of a scholar. “A private invitation made out to none other than...” His eyes flicked up to meet hers with predatory intent. “Mary Langford.”
The quiet one flipped over the plastic ID, and the three men looked at her. “Mary’s a brunette.”
“Haven’t you ever heard of bleach?”
They laughed, taking a moment to relax as if this was all in fun—then she was on her back, pulled into the middle of the bed as they flipped up her sweater and spread her legs.
“Let go of me!”
They did, just as the one with long-dark hair chuckled. “Sorry, blondie, your honeypot says otherwise.”
“Honey gold from crown to cave.” The blond looked into her eyes with that cool arctic stare, tasting his lower lip. “A little thief and a little liar.”
“I’m Mary Langford! I swear.”
“I’ll remember that.” The blonde tucked the invitation into his pocket with a sense of territorial entitlement. “I’m sure you won’t mind if we verify your identity with Kassel authorities?”
Panic clawed at her chest with razor talons. But wait… Did that mean she was in Kassel? She’d made it? Dear god, she was a badass.
“You seem impressed with yourself.”
Her unintentional smile vanished. If they contacted the authorities, if they started asking questions, it would all be over. Her family would find her. Drag her back. Lock her away again, this time permanently.
“Please,” she whispered, the word scraping her throat raw. “You don’t understand.”
“Then explain it to us,” the quiet giant said with deceptive gentleness. “Start with your real name.”
She stared into his cold black eyes but found no mercy.
None of them seemed the least bit compassionate.
And why should they be? She broke into their home, stole their food and clothes, told them lies, and looked nothing like the real Mary Langford.
They held all the cards, and they knew it. But she couldn’t give them the truth.
“I can’t.”
“Can’t?” Hunter flashed his white teeth in a snarl. “Or won’t?”
“Does it matter?” She was trembling now, and not from the cold. “You’re going to turn me in anyway.”
“That outcome depends entirely on you, little thief.” The rugged giant released her arm, his massive frame caging her against the headboard. “We’re reasonable men. We believe in negotiating.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means,” the quiet blond said softly, moving to drop a knee on the bed.
He crawled close enough that she could feel the heat radiating from his body.
“We’re willing to keep your secret. Protect you from whoever you’re running from.
And allow you to stay here.” He trailed his finger up her leg. “For a price.”
Hope fluttered in her chest, then quickly transformed into a shiver. “A price?”
“A steep price,” he added, his words falling like guillotine blades.
The three men watched her with shared understanding. They’d calculated this outcome before approaching her. This was always the result they’d expected, and at no point did they plan to walk away with less.
“I…” She swallowed tightly, unsure what to say, but clear on what they were asking. Fearful she had no choice but to agree to their terms, she searched her mind for any other alternative.
“A stolen identity. Showing up in the dead of night. Kassel has very strict rules about unwelcome people showing up unchaperoned and uninvited.” Those penetrating green eyes glanced at the weathered invitation.
“You stole this, thinking it would be enough. Unfortunately, that’s not how it works around here. There are consequences.”
The blond trailed a finger down her leg. “You understand, don’t you, Mary.” It wasn’t a question, but she nodded anyway.
“Yes.”
The long-haired man leaned close to her neck and breathed deeply, with a satisfied growl. “Until your debt is paid or the weather breaks. But fair warning, if you run, you’re only tempting us with a good chase.”
“And we love a lively hunt.” The one with blond hair grinned. “It’s going to be a long winter.”
“Does that mean I can stay?”
He shifted close enough that she could count the gold flecks in his ice-blue eyes. “Printsessa, didn’t we just make that clear? You’re not permitted to leave until we say so.”
“But, you expect me to…”
Green Eyes grinned. “You’ll do exactly what we tell you to do. When we tell you to do it. No questions. No arguments. No escape.”
This couldn’t be happening. “And if I refuse?”
His smile was as sharp as a scalpel. “Then we make a phone call.”
“After the authorities come for you, it won’t be long for whoever you’re running from to follow. But, if you consent to our terms, we’ll protect you from whatever enemy is out there.” He pointed toward the window where the storm raged outside.
Protect her under circumstances where she had absolutely no control. “You aren’t leaving me much of a choice.”
“There’s always a choice. Just like you chose this home, these clothes, and this bed. Now, you get to choose if you stay or go.”
They wouldn’t call it a choice if they knew what her other options were.
Marigold stared at the three of them. Massive, dangerous men who held her life in their hands.
Did they realize how much power they literally had over her?
She should never have lied about not knowing where she was going.
She could have kept up the story of Mary and shown them the invitation.
But hiding her intentions gave them all the leverage they needed.
She had no other choice but to give them what they wanted, but she wouldn’t give them her secrets. She would stick with her story and demand they call her Mary, whether they believed her or not. She would do anything to avoid returning to where she’d been.
“What exactly are you asking me to do?” she whispered, the words barely audible above the thundering of her own heartbeat.
The quiet one leaned down, his face angled over her thighs, as he made a show of breathing her in. When he looked up at her with possessive arctic eyes full of chilling promise, he grinned and said, “Everything.”
That single word carried the weight of her destiny. Outside, the storm howled like a living thing, but inside this room, she had gone deadly still. If she planned to survive these monsters she had to be courageous enough to let them devour her whole.
If she managed that, and managed to keep them from killing her or turning her in, she might actually make it to the end of winter. Then she could start her new life wherever she wished. But tonight, the real nightmare was just beginning.