Chapter 45 Leeva
Leeva
Everything hurts. My head. My body.
What the hell happened?
Nausea hits me when I try to move, bile forcing its way into my throat, and I swallow rapidly to keep from vomiting.
As I stay still, trying to remember what happened, I realize I’m lying down. I try to sit up again, but the attempt makes me groan in pain, and the threat of vomiting returns.
“Take it easy.”
Hands wrap around me and help me to sit up. Dots pepper my vision, and I blink rapidly. When my vision begins to clear, I realize I’m sitting on a bed, and a man’s blurry form is crouched in front of me.
“Hayes,” I whisper, my throat feeling dry and scratchy.
But when my vision clears completely, the man crouching in front of me isn’t Hayes.
“Nope, guess again, little lamb.” Guerilla might be smirking, but his eyes are filled with wrath.
I jerk, trying to get away from him, making me groan in pain, and dizziness explodes.
How did I get here? And why am I with Guerilla? How?
As my pain and dizziness ease, some clarity returns.
I remember being in the SUV with Keifer, Ursula, and the guys. The sound of crunching metal and glass, followed by something that sounded like a small explosion. The feeling of flying and rolling.
Oh my god. My family.
“What have you done?” I choke, staring at Guerilla.
He stands looking down at me with a dark smile. “Reclaiming what’s mine, little lamb.”
I try to stand, too, but dizziness assaults me again, and I fall back on the bed. “Stop calling me that and tell me what you did to my family.”
His nostrils flare. “They’re not your family; they kept you from me all these years.”
“Are they dead?” My lip quivers, and I bite it to make it stop.
He scoffs. “They’re not the concern, Leeva. And it doesn’t matter—payback is a bitch and all that,” he says flippantly, like their lives mean nothing.
I remain sitting, trying to get my world to stop spinning so I can clear my head and get my bearings. I need to figure out how to get out of here.
I’m in a small, cramped bedroom; the ratty bed is the only thing in here. Nothing to use as a weapon. He’s not as tall and muscular as Hayes, but I’d never be able to physically overpower him.
“You don’t want me,” I try to reason, since obviously, brawn and brute force are not on my side.
“Of course I want you.” He crosses his arms over his chest. “I chased you after you disappeared from the hospital. Well, I chased after you once I recovered enough to do so from the beating my fucker brother gave me,” he states darkly.
“You only want me to get back at Hayes.”
“I did at first, yes.” He reaches down to brush my hair back, and I recoil, making him frown. “I love you.”
“You don’t know what love is,” I snap with more fire than I actually feel. “Or is your version of love fucking around on me with not one woman, but three at the same time?”
His jaw shifts, and his mouth pulls tight. But there’s not an ounce of remorse or regret in his expression. “That was your fault.”
“Excuse me?” Fury flares hot and wild within me. If I felt steadier, I’d stand and slap this asshole. “How fucking dare you.”
He tsks, his face darkening. “You know I don’t like when you swear. You’re my sweet little lamb.” He runs his tongue over his lip. “My docile little lamb.”
“I’m your nothing, Guerilla.” I stand now, willing myself not to topple over as dizziness tries to push in again and my body protests in pain. Fire fills my veins, and I can’t resist reminding him just how nothing I am to him. Tilting my chin, I point to my neck. “Or have you forgotten?”
He stares at my neck, free of his tattoo, his hands clenching and unclenching. “I’ll mark you again. Maybe this time with an actual brand so you can’t remove it.”
He wouldn’t dare. Would he?
But he has a crazed look in his eye, warning me that he just might make good on his words, and fear ripples through me.
“I’m not yours, and you can’t force me to be with you.”
He chuckles, rocking back on his heels. “We’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto,” he mocks. “Ash and his rules of not forcing the woman to be with you don’t mean shit in my world.”
“Why do you want me?” I try again. “And is my family okay?”
Please, God…please let them have survived the attack.
He ignores my last question but answers my first one.
“At first, I chased after you because it was the principle of you trying to run from me, and because having you was the biggest ‘fuck you’ I could give Hayes and put him in his place.
“When I almost caught you in New Orleans, I discovered Luthor Wentzell had whisked you out of the country. For years, I tried to find a way to get to you, but his security was too good. But then, a few years ago, I stumbled upon a group that could help me.”
His uncharacteristic openness isn’t doing anything to appease my nerves and fears, only amplifying them.
“Why would they help you?” I ask, and I hate the slight quiver in my voice that I can’t hide.
“Because you went and married a billionaire, sweetheart.”
I swallow the lump in my throat, shaking my head. “I signed a prenup; I don’t have Luthor’s money.”
“Ah, but you do.” He smiles, and it’s filled with evil, malicious intent. “You’re a billionaire, little lamb, which means I’m a billionaire since I’m your old man and will be your husband.”
“You’re my nothing.” The words are out before I can temper them, but I lift my chin, defiantly. “And you’re wrong; I signed a prenup, I made Luthor draw one up.”
“And it seems he went behind your back and gave you everything you didn't want.” His smile morphs into a grin. “And thank you very much, Mr. Luthor Wentzell for making me a very rich man.”
I can only stare at him. Is he unhinged or just a psychopath?
But I stiffen my spine. “Even if that’s true, you’ll get nothing from me, Guerilla. Nothing,” I emphasize. “Because you’re nothing to me.”
His grin widens, and there’s a maniacal look in his eyes. “I’m your entire world, Leeva. And you’re going to hand everything to me.”
Regardless of my growing fear and the pain and dizziness from my injuries, I laugh. Maybe I’m unhinged myself, but facing off, finally, with this piece of shit who’s haunted me for too long gives me courage. “Yeah, how about no, fuckface.”
His grin fades. “I don’t like you swearing.”
“Does it look like I give a shit?” My aching body warns that I should sit down and rest, or at least take stock of my injuries from the car crash, but I refuse to do so.
Anger coats his face as his eyes skate over me. “And I really don’t like that you went to a fucking sex club. You’re too sweet and pure, and my dick of a brother corrupted you. Lots is going to change.”
“Yeah, that’s a hard pass.” Courage and defiance surge through me because this man will get nothing further from me. He’ll take nothing else from me. I tremble, thinking of the little baby girl I lost, but I can’t focus on that right now.
“Nothing is going to change, Guerilla, because you’re nothing to me but a piece of shit that smears my past.”
His nostrils flare. “This defiance doesn’t suit you, little lamb. But do you know what I think?” He doesn’t wait for me to answer. “You will do everything I say, and you will give me everything I want.”
“Again with the delusional bullshit.” I really shouldn’t taunt him, given my current situation, but honestly, fuck him.
I was a docile little lamb when it came to him when I was younger, but I’m no longer that vulnerable, na?ve, foolish young woman.
“Even if I’m the wealthiest woman in the world, you’ll get shit from me. ”
“You owe me. What I did with those three Club Pussy is your fault.”
I’m getting whiplash trying to follow his logic.
“I cheated on you, Leeva, because I knew you loved my brother.”
I know he’s just trying to get under my skin, but I can’t help it. “Yeah, that sounds like great justification, asshole.”
“You always murmured his name in your sleep.” For a second, I see the pain that caused him, but then he flashes me a smug little smirk. “I knew I’d never have you completely.”
“So, you fucked around on me?”
“Just like you were with me.”
“I never cheated on you, Guerilla.”
“Maybe not physically, but I’d never have you the way you wanted him to have you.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose. “Then why did you ever pursue me in the first place?”
Suddenly, I’m deflated and exhausted. So many mistakes, and so many ways all this could’ve been avoided.
“Don’t you see how this is a vicious cycle, Guerilla? You don’t want me; you only want me because Hayes does. Just let me go.”
He straightens, any sign of vulnerability gone. “Oh no, little lamb. Not when I’m set to be a billionaire.”
“The Wentzell money isn’t mine or yours.”
“And since I am,” he continues as if I hadn’t spoken, “the group that’s been backing me to get to you wants a piece of that pie, too. And if I don’t deliver, I’m as good as dead.”
“Look,” I try to reason, but he cuts me off.
“And you’re going to be my docile, compliant little lamb, because if you aren’t,” he warns, and a shiver of pure fear rakes through me, “I’ll hand my brother over to la morte, the death ring that’s been helping me.
Then I’ll make you watch as Hayes fights for his life until he’s finally slaughtered. ”
And the psychopathic glint in his eyes warns me he’ll do exactly that.