30. Vicki
Chapter 30
Vicki
M y hand kept stroking over my throat, feeling the wire's indention that'd been left behind. When my airway had been cut off, I felt the true fear of the dark life these corrupted men lived. My guys were a soft dark, but this had been too much for my mind. Hell, my life flashed before my bleary eyes, staring at Valentino through the plastic. I'd have nightmares for a long time, especially because I did pass out from it. Apparently, it didn't take a person long to shut off when they couldn't breathe. A thing I learned from personal experience now.
"How are you holding up, Miss D'amour?" The man who led his SWAT team in came to talk to me now that I'd been treated at the hospital for my injuries. Kage and Talon knew how to spin their story because they knew Leo would be pinning my initial kidnapping on Valentino. One officer confirmed it when he first came into our shared room, about locating my abductor. He asked if Valentino been the man to take me. We nodded then, so I played it up first, having a story at the ready with my broken words.
"I'm okay, I think." My hand kept touching the intent, feeling a pain that came from it. My voice was scratchy too because he impacted my vocal cords when he squeezed my neck like my head was a blackhead needing popped.
"I'm sorry for what you've been through."
"Thank you," I appreciated his sincerity. This man had probably seen plenty of instances when they didn't get somewhere in time. And I had a moment believing I’d be one of them.
"Can you tell me again where you were taken?"
"The bank. I went to make the money drop for my father's business like I did every Tuesday. They threw me into a van, but I couldn't see who they were. They put a bag over my head, and they had masks on in the bank." I touched my hair, remembering more of the plastic bag moments ago than the thin black cloth, but he didn't need to know that. "I h eard two men confronting my takers when they stopped somewhere on the way here because they followed the van. Talon and Kage heard me screaming for help, but they were overwhelmed by the weapons. They were taken too because of it. Both were waiting for me because we were about to discuss the layoffs of my father's employees. They were two of them."
My eyes drifted over to where they were together, telling a similar spin. Talon was hooked up to an IV like me, but he had to have a blood transfusion for the amount he lost. Kage never left his side, helping him when Talon didn't have the strength to reach for something.
"I feel so guilty that I got them hurt, and my family ruined their lives. I got Talon shot..." In a way, I took the blame for Talon being shot because I'd been the one to give him a window for his attack, but had I not, Leopold would've never found us.
"Why did you feel the need to reach out to Talon Walker and Kage Duran specifically?" He wrote my responses down, but I didn't like he tried setting me up to walk into a trap. He wanted to see if we were somehow lying.
"I didn't. They reached out to me about what happened. Why are you trying to get me to say something else?" Yeah, he got the bitch now.
"Mr. Carnelli swears you'd already been kidnapped when he kidnapped you. He says he was just after Talon Walker."
"Right, and why would I defend them if they kidnapped me? And why did they take two others if they came for one man? Why go into the bank at all after me?" I placed my hands on my hips. "Sergeant, I've literally been put through hell this week because of Valentino and his men!" Yeah, I let the tears fall because they wanted to expel for other reasons that included almost dying. "One tried using my body, and one even put his dick in my mouth, but I'm hiding my abductor?"
"Right, I'm sorry. You've been through a lot. We're just trying to get the story straight."
Before I could reply, an officer came running toward his boss with a piece of paper. "Here's his tie! We found it while sweeping Valentino's office. There’s more proof on his computer as well."
Sergeant Hamilton studied whatever he'd been given, his eyes widening. Now he really looked sorry for his bullshit. "Apparen tly, Mr. Carnelli had been using your father's factory for smuggling. With it closing down, he'd lose one of his fronts. Now we at least know why he took you even though he wouldn't tell us the truth."
Damn. Luce and Leopold kicked ass.
"Victoria?" a deep voice called from the entrance of the room. In my surprise, my father came, but he didn't come without his awful wife. My hope quickly turned to sadness because I didn't want to deal with her. The hand holding my IV pole tightened, unready and unsteady for this interaction. He moved toward me at a brisk pace, and I realized why he acted like he cared. He had a camera crew following him. He wrapped me in a tight hug only wearing my hospital gown, pretending it was a normal thing for us. "You're okay!"
"Yep. I'm good." I didn't react nice or rude. Neutral was my only path to not cry because I knew the moment that camera turned off, he'd let me have it. I stepped away from his hold. That's when they both noticed my neck. His hand even reached to skim over the angry flesh, but I winced in fear. My eyes closed, and I comprehended I showed him I wasn't okay. I showed him how fucked up Valentino made me in a single night. Though, he'd believe it was nearly a week.
"Victoria," he said my name with too much compassion. "What did they do to you?"
"So now you mean it." I crossed my arms and repeatedly tapped the ground with my big toe in the hospital socks, looking at the tile flooring they kept in here to clean easier. I bit back my tears because being kidnapped wasn't reason enough to care. No, he had to see I'd been strangled to give a rat's ass. "Are you streaming live?" I asked the cameraman.
He nodded.
"Cecilia?" Talon looked like he was seeing a ghost before letting his glance swing to Kage. "Ugh, I am dead, and I must’ve gone to hell for her to haunt me here."
"She came with Vicki's dad," Kage explained, both now viewing this interaction differently.
"Victoria?" Talon fought through his meds to call my name from behind, placing his hand on the safety arm of the bed to sit up. "Are you okay?"
To everyone else, we looked like two survivors who bonded during our torture together, but I knew he meant with my father and stepmom because I told him I hated her. "Um, yeah. Th ey brought a camera to stick into my face. I guess the world wants a close-up of the rich girl who got kidnapped, but they don't know my dad's act of caring will drop when the camera does. I'm just a publicity moment. He doesn't actually care that I was violated and in the process of being suffocated and strangled when the police showed up. Hell, he won't even care that I bit the cheek of the hired killer to have a chunk of his DNA in my stomach if they did find my dead body! Oh god, I actually ate part of a man! I just learned what I’d do when in danger, and I literally bit his face off like a cannibal. Then you come in to pretend to care? After what I’ve suffered?"
"Victoria, you've been through a lot, but don't talk to your father like that!" Cecilia tried to mother me, her eyes skirting to Talon.
"Cecilia, maybe you should take your own advice," Talon growled, sitting up closer.
"Talon," her tone disgusted as she tried to pretend she didn't already see him. She thought she could snub her nose and pretend he didn't exist, but he saw her right away. She hissed her next words full of the loathing she felt for him. "What the hell are you doing here?"
The words from his room that day clued in. The wife he was with didn't think he was enough for her. She wanted someone rich, and she went higher in the company to achieve it. She went to my fucking dad. So much rage began to vibrate through me. "You're the woman who thought he wasn't worth enough? You fucking cheated on Talon with my dad to keep your pocket lined? Oh my god! I knew you were a snake, but now the world knows too."
She turned around because she knew what my finger now pointed at. Cecilia Combs looked embarrassed, and the camera was still rolling, still streaming. My father wasn't much help to defend her, his eyes stuck on where I'd been nearly killed.
I shoved my finger into her chest with my own repugnance geared toward her. "He's been nothing but a gentleman! Hell, he tried to save my fucking life! That man—who should hate our family and could've left me to die—tried to save me! He took a bullet for a stranger, and you walked away from that to have an expensive handbag hanging off your arm!"
She wanted to cry. Good. I did my part. Before I could say anything else on the subject, someone called for all our attention at the door.
"Vic!" Lucinda came barreling into the room in her full theatrics. She did it to catch the eyes of the officers in the room and hall, but I didn't mind because I knew she'd been part of my extraction. I bet her and Leopold knew we were okay before Kage called him to verify it. Though, when she hugged me as hard as possible, that was real. "You're not allowed to leave my side again."
Leopold had to come in like he didn't know me, heading to Kage to check in. Talon wanted to fall asleep but kept fighting it now that he dealt with his ex-wife. Our evil was the same entity, and it made my heart hurt. I knew her ruthless side, so I knew how she treated him to fuck him up so much, he couldn't think about being in a relationship. Today, our fling ended, and that only made me want to cry for a new reason.
"You were absolutely brilliant," I whispered where the sergeant couldn't hear, watching the back of my father's head leave with his bitch of a wife. He chose to leave me again, and the fucking cameraman captured my rejected look by spinning the camera one last time. I flipped him the bird.
"Um, duh! I was the lead in our high school's theater at every audition. No one can role play better than me." Her typical dialogue m ade me feel like this could all be normal, but I knew what came when I left this room. I knew what detachment I'd have to grieve the moment I left. "When can I spring you from this joint?"
She must've felt my heart, bleeding down my sleeve.
"The nurse said to call for her when I was ready. They just wanted to get some fluids into me, and they took some scans of my brain to make sure the oxygen deprivation didn't cause harm. I'll hear back on those when the doctor reads them, and they call."
"So now? You're saying now?" She lifted a brow.
"Yeah, we can go now. I think I'm ready to be in my bed."
"You sure because we can get a hotel for the night?"
"No, I need to go see the current state of my things." I pressed the call button, waiting for a nurse to pick up. When she did, she remained sweet over the radio. "Hi, I was wondering if someone could get my discharge paperwork and unhook my IV? I'm ready to leave."
"We'll send someone right in." She hung up her end.
"You're leaving?" Leopold's eyes widened in sorrow. We didn't get our last night together, even if his junk was casted right now. The cop gave us a funny look, wondering how we knew each o ther, and he picked up on that. "But I haven't given you a proper thanks."
"Thanks?" I chuckled. "They were the ones who saved me! Well, kind of."
"We attempted to save you," Kage corrected.
"Hey, Sergeant, would you mind giving us a moment? I'd rather not have extra eyes for this goodbye," Talon murmured. We bonded, and even though the cop thought it came for the hostage thing, he understood we needed a minute alone.
"Sure thing. I need to go check in with my team anyway. You guys just keep your phones on, and you let me know if you change your mind about having a detail watch your house. This might raise a ruckus from his other two sons."
"Thank you," Leopold used his kinder mannerisms to speak for the group. When he left, Leopold asked me the same thing. "You're leaving?"
"Yeah. I don't want to keep delaying the inevitable." I bit my lip. "I'm holding up my end of the bargain. You gave me a week of endless orgasms, so I need to leave like I promised now that you got the ransom."
"You're not going anywhere besides to your home to gather your real shit to bring to the house," Talon commanded. "That's the only thing I'm allowing, and that's only because I'm stuck here for a few days. Or else I'd force you to stay at my side to go get your shit."
"W-what?" I shook my head. "But you don't do relationships?"
"I thought I didn't," he agreed. "But the moment your life was on the line, for real, my mind couldn't calm down. Your voice kept me fighting to stay. The thought of you getting hurt, or I couldn't save you..."
His gaze dropped. It made my heart pick up an extra few beats while also skipping one.
"Victoria, I can't lose you. I can't let someone take you from me, and I can't let you walk out that door… away from me. Whether you like it or not, you've become ours. Leo will track you down if you refuse, so just know we will come after you again, if you say no." His slight tease made my grin grow more.
"Just call me Vicki when you don't use my nicknames. Only my dad uses Victoria."
"And you're just telling us this?" Kage challenged our week together.
I shrugged in m y awful gown. "I thought I'd only know you for a week. Now it sounds like you're signing up for longer."
"Forever not for longer," Leopold corrected, and I squealed before realizing how obvious I made my intentions to the group. “And now I’m glad I only called you Vicki.”
“Why is that?” I just realized he never did call me anything else.
“I learned generic nicknames can be used for anyone at any given time, so when I’m with the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with, I call her by name, so she knows it’s only her on my mind.”
My heart swelled.
"Ugh, this mushy shit is going to make me puke. Meet me at the car, you slut." Luce nailed my ass with a slap that she got in through the small gap along the back. The nurse came in when she left, undoing everything I'd been hooked to and helped me keep my balance in the bathroom to put Kage's shirt on with my mini skirt I'd been in when we were taken. My shirt had blood on it for evidence, so he offered me his because Leopold would bring them new ones. The nurse made sure I had everything before leaving me to exit on my o wn. I fiddled with the straps of the hospital bag they gave me, waiting.
"Are you going to do as instructed, Little Diva? Are you going to be a good girl, waiting for me when I get home?" Talon asked.
And I knew the perfect thing to say once he eased the tension around my heart, claiming he wanted me. "I don't know. It could be fun to be hunted and punished. Maybe I'll be a bad girl, Daddy?"
Kage groaned with a guttural sound, wanting exactly that, so I left, knowing I would be a good girl who waited for them to pick me up at my place. The hunt wouldn't be too extravagant, but the discipline would be when Talon got released. I turned my back to leave, biting my lip in anticipation instead of anxiety.
My feet barely moved to the door when Talon spoke again. “Oh, and Little Diva?”
I swiveled my head to take in the three of them. The three that were now mine. “Yes, Daddy?”
They groaned at my playful response because I moaned with it. It felt nice to hold that power. Talon let the corner of his mouth turn up. “Happy Valentine’s Day, Baby.”
Ugh, it was lik e he wanted me to fuck him right here, right now. I let my dark smile broadcast. “Careful, or the nurse just might have to return from your heartrate accelerating, and it might scare her to find out why…”
Kage muttered some curses. “Can I just catch her now?”
Yeah, I ran from the room just in case Talon okayed that order.