Chapter 20 Acts of Contrition #4
“I think we can,” Ash said with an indifferent shrug. “Probably from the years of torture and abuse we endured, from sociopathic pricks just like you.” He fisted his hair, lifting his head. “Tell me, did you always lack empathy?”
Stone slammed a fist into Jordan’s back, and the breath whooshed out of him. He leaned close to his ear. “That was your kidney, by the way.”
“Please,” Jordan whispered, all his arrogance stripped away. “Whatever you want…money, connections, anything—”
“What we want,” Stone said quietly, “is for you to understand exactly what you did to those innocent girls.” Stone quietly removed his tie and tossed it on the table. “What you stole from them. What you broke.”
The men hoisted him onto his feet, but Jordan was too weak to hold himself up. They threw him down on the table as Stone slammed his knee into Jordan’s thigh.
“We’re going to enlighten you tonight. And then,” Hunter added with a smile depraved enough to make a monster shiver. “We’re going to make it so you can never hurt anyone ever again.”
Stone kicked his feet, and Jordan’s legs gave out. They dragged him back to the table.
Marigold had seen enough.
She wanted Jordan to know he’d caused his own downfall, that his lies didn’t destroy her, and she would go on to life a full and happy life, free to do whatever she chose.
“Where are you going?” Cole was on his feet, his eyes darting between her, the door, and the monitors as chaos unfolded on the screens.
“I need to be there.”
“Those aren’t the rules. You heard what they said. You stay here, unless one of them comes to get you.”
“That was before. Everything’s different now.”
“The rules stay the same.”
“Look, I’m a part of this.”
“I can’t let you leave—”
“No!” She screamed when he grabbed her, fought as he tried to restrain her.
Cole was fast and professionally trained, twisting her into a restraint hold before she made it to the door.
“Let go of me!” It was just like when they held her down at Whitmore. The feeling of helplessness, the fear of having no choice over her body. Something inside of her snapped. “You can’t do this! I’m not crazy! You can’t keep me here!”
“I don’t want to hurt you.” He tried to restrain her, but she was through being confined against her will.
He reached for something on his belt. Silver flashed as she lifted her feet, trying to slide through his arms as dead weight.
When that didn’t work, she slammed her feet down and swung her head back.
He grunted. Silver handcuffs glinted in the blue glow of the monitor screens. “You’re giving me no choice—”
“No!” She twisted and spit, dropping to dead weight again. Slithering out of his grip and shoving him back. The cuffs fell and he fumbled to catch them. When they clattered to the floor, she snatched them up then—CLICK.
Cole looked at her with wide eyes, jerking his arm from the desk bolted to the wall. “What did you do?”
“I…” She rushed forward and snatched the keys off his belt, tossing them into the closet. “I’m sorry. But I have to go.” Against every rational instinct, she left the observation room.
“Marigold!”
She rushed out of the room and raced down the hall, her footsteps muffled by thick carpet as she raced toward the conference room. From the corridor, she could hear the sound of heavy fists slamming into battered flesh. Jordan’s pleading was lost against the grunts of pain.
She pushed open the door and rushed inside. “Stop!”
The room fell silent.
All eyes turned to her, but it was Jordan’s reaction that made her blood sing with dark satisfaction. His face went white with shock. “Mari—gold,” he coughed. “You have to help me!”
She folded her arms deliberately over her chest, showing him that she had no intention to intervene on his behalf.
“Please,” he begged.
She let the sight of him sink into her mind, giving it a permanent home. Maybe she was disturbed, because in that moment, whatever loyalty she felt for this man was gone. His blood was not her blood. They were no longer family. He was nothing.
She slowly rounded the table, her eyes never leaving him as the other men watched her carefully, deferring to her lead.
“I begged too,” she confessed softly. “When they dragged me away, my bare feet sliding helplessly on that cold linoleum floor, I pleaded for them to listen.” She paused to let that sink in.
“And when they strapped me to that table, and forced that rubber guard in my mouth, I screamed for you or father to come save me. Do you know what the they told me?”
Jordan’s panicked gaze settled on her, but even now, beaten and bloody, he’d never tell the truth. He would always put himself before others, choose that self-serving hate over love or trust, because he was the one that was broken. Not her.
She stood before him, as he panted on his knees, Hunter holding his head up by the hair so he could look at her. “They told me you and Father ordered it. That you requested every level of treatment, no matter how controversial or cruel.”
Understanding dawned. He was not only powerless here. He was at her mercy now.
“You fucking bitch,” he seethed. “You set this up.”
“Language,” Hunter warned, smashing his face into the table.
Jordan sputtered blood and gasped for breath. “I’ll fucking kill you.”
“No, you won’t.” She waited for him to look at her. “You’ll never hurt me again. Or anyone else for that matter. I’m not going back, Jordan. But you’re going away for a very long time.”
He dragged his sleeve under his nose, ruining his jacket, and sneered. “You think the world will just open for you if you spread your legs?” He laughed and spit blood on the floor. “You’re not that pretty. And you’ve never been special.”
Stone and Ash cocked back but she held up a hand, ordering them not to strike. “Doesn’t that make this that much sadder for you? Imagine, being brought down by an ugly, unremarkable female.”
“You’re a whore!”
She smiled in the face of his fury. “Maybe I want to be.”
“I’m not the only one looking for you. They know you killed that guard.”
She swallowed at the memory of Willum. “Self-defense.”
“Your word against theirs.”
“In a month, Whitmore won’t exist. Your sister wasn’t the only one being abused,” Ash informed. “It, and all its complacent benefactors are going down.”
“You’re done,” Stone said.
“Fuck! You!” Jordan went ballistic, thrashing, spitting venom and blood. Until he was on the floor, the echo of Hunter’s fist resounding like a gunshot through the room.
That time, Jordan didn’t get up.
Hunter crouched beside Jordan’s unconscious form, checking his pulse with clinical detachment. “Ona Moya,” he said, making his claim on her clear. His dark eyes found hers, unapologetic, but no longer cold. In those obsidian pools, she found endless warmth and safety. “We protect what’s ours.”
Ash’s arms came around her, anticipating the moment her knees went weak. “I’ve got you.”
She turned into his strength, hugging him tight.
“Me too.” Stone came to protectively cover her back, his hands sweeping over her in calming strokes.
Sheltered and safe, they held her as two security guards appeared with the bearing of former military personnel. They moved with practiced efficiency.
“Take him to Room Seven,” Hunter instructed, straightening as he brushed off his hands.
“Strip him down, tie him spread-eagle to the bed. Then piss on his chest until he wakes up.” His smile was winter-cold, as he closed the distance between the guards and his brothers. “I’ll be along shortly to finish this.”
The guards lifted Jordan between them like he weighed nothing. His head lolled back, hair matted with blood.
As they dragged him out, Hunter pulled Marigold into his arms, his demeanor instantly softening as he inspected her for any sign of harm. “I told you to stay put until one of us came for you.”
She bit her lip and wrung her hands, failing to appear the least bit contrite. “I didn’t listen.”
Ash and Stone prowled to her like wild animals. Hunter framed her face with his massive hands. Their surprising gentleness shocked her, and when they kissed her, their touch was soft and reverent, nothing like the violence they’d just displayed.
“Clever little fox,” Hunter whispered against her lips. “How did you get past Cole?”
Stone’s laughter spiked, as he swiped his finger over the screen of his phone. “Goddamn, Goldilocks. How’d you manage that?”
Ash pulled her close, pressing his lips to hers as soon Hunter snatched the phone. When she broke away from the kiss, Hunter looked back at her with equal shock.
Ash frowned. “What?” He took the phone and looked back at her with wide eyes.
She stepped back, holding her hands up defensively. “He was going to retrain me! I needed to be here, with all of you.”
Hunter laughed. “One of you go unlock him.”
“On it,” Ash said.
“The keys are in the closet,” Marigold called after him.
“His ego will never recover from this,” Stone laughed, then eyed her with dark intent. “Neither will your ass.”
Her smile vanished. “Why?”
Stone took a predatory step closer, his hand sliding possessively between her cheeks. “There are consequences for breaking the rules, Zayka.” He captured her mouth in a punishing kiss. “Consequences I can’t wait to reveal,” he murmured against her lips like a wicked promise.
“How do you feel?” Hunter asked, stroking a gentle hand down her arm.
“I’ll be fine.” It was the truth, but her voice still shook. “The things he said—”
“Meaningless lies, Lisichka. The desperate lashing out of a cornered animal,” Hunter finished firmly. “He knew he lost, so he tried to wound whatever he could reach. Don’t give him that power.”
“What are you going to do to him?” The question came out smaller than she’d intended.
Hunter’s smile was sharp as a blade. “Only what he deserves. He’ll wait, imprisoned by his worst fears, powerless without his autonomy. But you need not concern yourself with that.”
Stone rubbed her hands, which were trembling and cold. “In the end, Katya will decide his punishment.”
“But if you have any suggestions, we’re happy to listen.”
“He’ll live?”
“Yes,” Hunter assured. “Scarred but breathing.”
“Reformed,” Stone added.
She accepted Jordan’s fate, finding Katya’s role in his punishment fair and just.
“Then he goes to the authorities,” Hunter explained, pulling her back into his arms. “Katya has agreed to press charges. With your testimony supporting hers, he’ll spend the next decade in a cell where his daddy’s money won’t protect him.”
“If we’re that lucky.”
Hunter frowned. “What does that mean?”
She shrugged. “Men like Jordan go to prison all the time, but their sentences are reduced to a mere slap on the wrist. Powerful men rarely face the punishments they deserve.”
“You forget, Lisichka, Jordan might be wealthy, but he will never be as powerful as us.”
“And don’t forget, there is only one Jordan, but three of us to bear.”
Capturing her face again, Hunter pressed his lips to her forehead. “We have connections. We vowed to protect you, and I promised he would pay. There will be no slap on the wrist for your brother.”
They had a vicious thirst for justice, but she shared their hunger. To think, she never had to see him again unless from a witness stand.
The weight of her relief, weeks of running, months of fear and helpless rage, a lifetime of being gaslit and controlled by men who cared only about themselves. She was finally free. Finally safe, surrounded by men who’d moved heaven and earth to protect her peace.