Chapter 2
Brielle
I give Victoria a quick smile, but I know it doesn”t meet my eyes.
I”m miserable here. There are so many things I was accustomed to back in Ohio, and my daily life now looks nothing like it used to.
I feel like an ungrateful asshole because I”m safe. I don”t have to worry about being punished for locking my bedroom door. I might get looks from the other women here, but I don”t have to worry that one of them is going to threaten my life at any point. Most of them keep their distance, and as much as I know that”s best for everyone involved, it still makes for a very lonely existence.
I don”t bother asking if anyone in the kitchen needs help with preparing breakfast. I attempted to get involved when I first arrived over a year ago, but it became very obvious they didn”t want me around. My help wasn”t very helpful. My entire life I”ve been catered to, and although the women here haven”t been told my story, it was clear that I didn”t have a clue what I was doing.
I”m sure they think I”m some sort of snob who has no business being here, but I can guess they”d be shocked by my history and the things I”ve endured. I might”ve had all my meals served to me by staff, but, more often than not, my breakfast was served with a side of abuse. Nothing like being forced to eat eggs while your stepbrother carved his name on your skin with a steak knife.
I tug at the long sleeves of my shirt, hooking my thumb into the hole I cut at the cuff.
”I”ll get it,” I rush to say the second the phone hanging on the wall rings.
The ancient thing on the wall is a little archaic, but I”ll use anything as a distraction right now.
”Hello?” I say into the phone.
The only people who usually call the house are from the jobs some of the women have, when they need an extra shift filled. For a few seconds, all I hear is silence.
A wave of cold chills runs up my spine before anyone even speaks.
I close my eyes, swallowing thickly when,”Please help me! Brielle, please! Please!” comes through the line.
”Nathan,” I whisper, my heart already breaking for what will happen to Beth.
”Hi there, angel. I”ve missed you.” His voice is everything my nightmares are made of.
”I didn”t know you were looking for me,” I say, trying to sound brave, but even I can hear the edge of fear in my voice.
”What did I tell you about lying, angel? You know I”ll go to the ends of the earth to protect you.”
Protect me.
It has always sounded like a threat, a way for him to remind me that he may be evil, but there are much more evil men in the world.
”And you really think that kidnapping that bitch you have there would work?” I ask, knowing the second he thinks that Beth means anything to me, he”ll identify her as a weakness, and that means horrible things for her.
”Did you really think she gave a shit about you?” I hear Nathan ask her. The tsking noises that come through the line make my skin crawl. ”She doesn”t care about anyone. I”ve taken care of her for years, practically raised her, and you see what she does to me?”
The fatherly act is such bullshit. What that man has done to me has been anything but what anyone would consider for a family member they claim to love.
”Nathan Adair,” Beth pants, and I want to cry for what this means for her. She has recognized him, making it now impossible for him to even think about setting her free.
”Goddamn it,” I snap.
”I need you to come to me, angel,” Nathan says, using the same pet name he”s always used. It carries with it a certain level of threat on its own.
I want to tell him to go to hell, that he”ll never see my face again, but I can”t. Running from the man is one thing, and as much bravery as that took, confronting him, challenging him in any way to his face, is signing my own death certificate.
”Just let me go, Nathan. Please,” I beg instead. There have been times, long ago, that pleading with him is exactly what he wanted. When I gave in, when I begged, he relented, if only for a little while.
He doesn”t speak, telling me that my request is never going to happen.
”On one condition,” I barter, recalling that there were also times when he wanted me to stand up for myself.
Nathan Adair has never been an open book. I could never get a good read on him, but he changed how he operated so often, I don”t imagine anyone could.
”I don”t do very well with compromise, angel. You know that all too well.”
”You have to kill her quickly,” I tell him, knowing that her fate is sealed. It”s honestly the best either of us can hope for at this point.
”I”ll think about it, angel,” he says, and I know he”s only placating me right now. ”Now, you know the rules. Come alone and don”t alert anyone.”
He gives me the address of a local park.
”See you soon, angel,” he says, knowing I”m going to do exactly what he”s demanding.
With tears threatening to roll down my cheeks, I hang the phone up, finding Victoria standing just a few feet away.
Her stricken face tells me that she knows exactly who was on the phone.
I swallow, trying to fight down the fear. It mingles with the regret of even asking Beth for help with my schoolwork. I don”t know how long Nathan has been watching this house, but he has to know that I”m somehow connected to the woman.
I was angry yesterday when Beth helped me through a couple of assignments before telling me that she had to go back home to Texas. When I asked her how long she would be gone, she couldn”t give me an answer, and I knew she was never coming back. I wished for bad things to happen to her. I felt betrayed and abandoned by the first person I felt any level of connection to since escaping Nathan and Xan.
I never wanted this. I wouldn”t wish the Adairs on anyone, including my worst enemy.
”Nathan?” Victoria whispers.
She”s the only one in the house that has any clue about why I”m here and who I”m connected to. I”ve always suspected that the women connected to Cerberus who come here know, but Beth never looked at me like I was the stepdaughter of a crime boss. She was firm but fair when she showed up here to help. When I didn”t want to comply with her requests because I was having a bad day and felt like she should”ve been the one to research scholarships for me, she didn”t sneer at me. She put it simply that if I didn”t do it myself, it wouldn”t get done.
She left that decision up to me, and I respected her for it.
We”ve spent time watching movies and working on assignments. Beth has been instrumental in increasing my motivation, reminding me why my high school diploma was such a big deal.
I think Beth was so helpful because she didn”t know who I was. She didn”t judge me. I never questioned her motivation the way I have Victoria”s every day since I arrived.
I don”t think Victoria hates me. She”s just cautious because she knows what kind of trouble I can bring to this organization. I know she wasn”t happy with my arrival because I overheard her arguing against it with Kincaid, the president of Cerberus MC. This shelter is only here because Emmalyn, his wife, wanted to give back to the community. Victoria knows this, and her hand was forced. I couldn”t exactly argue with my placement. Being here has been much better than being back home in Ohio.
”It”s fine,” I tell Victoria, but the woman isn”t a fool.
She has to know what this means for the shelter.
My throat burns with the effort to choke down my fear.Every woman here could”ve already been marked by Nathan. He could easily and systematically either take each one as they leave for work, or he could drop them where they stand. Both he and Xan have relayed stories and tales of the things they”re capable of doing. I believe every word they”ve ever whispered to me in the darkness while hurting me.
”It”s not fine,” Victoria says, her voice lowered so others don”t hear, but there”s still terror in her tone.
”I need some fresh air,” I tell her before walking away.
The closest I”ve gotten to being outside is going into the solarium at the back of the house.
The fencing around the back of the property has to be at least ten feet high. It provides privacy, and I imagine the intent of it was to help the women here feel safe, but I know better. I know that no one, especially myself, is safe now that Nathan knows where I am.
The women here don”t even have to be involved with me for Nathan to see them as betrayers.
I can”t stay here. I know Victoria will have already placed a call to Cerberus, and good for her. It”s commendable that she wants to help the others, albeit it’s a futile endeavor.
I head straight for the back of the house, knowing there”s no point in going to my room to gather any of my things.
Dead women don”t need a purse or a change of clothes.
The crisp winter air whips around me as I open the door leading into the yard.
As private as the property is, this place isn”t a fortress. The walls aren”t here to keep people trapped inside, making it easy to use the side gate and let myself out.
No one of importance is here, so Cerberus isn”t standing sentry at the street. They did that for a while after I first arrived, but after Nathan didn”t show up with guns blazing, they backed off at Victoria”s insistence.
I have to get out of town, and running for the hills is the best plan.
There”s no point in trying to help Beth. She”s as good as dead, and, honestly, I know I am as well. But I”m also a fighter, and I can”t just give up.
Nathan promised me that only death would keep him from me, and he always keeps his promises.