Chapter 27
Lena
My heart hammers in my chest, and I have to force myself not to stare at the door and to pretend to listen as Zeke drones on about his plans for the building and his empire.
What’s taking so long? The minutes seem to creep past at a snail’s pace.
Then, suddenly, the door opens and Mary Beth strides in like she owns the place—her heels thunder across the floor with each confident step.
Mary Beth is evidently assured of her position in Zeke’s household.
It doesn’t bode well for me, my entire fate rests on Zeke believing me over her.
“Zeke, baby, this looks fabulous, so romantic!” she declares.
Like me, she’s dressed in a gown. Hers is made from black lace, the sheerness revealing her bare skin. Hers is even more revealing than mine, which is an impressive feat. A small, young woman with mousy hair who is carrying Mia trails behind her.
“Mama!” Mia cries with delight, reaching her chubby arms out for me.
“Mia!’ My voice is thick as the words catch in my throat at the sight of her looking happy and well cared for. I jump up from my seat, ready to run to her, but Zeke grabs hold of my wrist again, keeping me firmly in place.
Mary Beth tuts, turning to scald Mia. “What have I told you? I’m your mama now.” She turns her attention toward Zeke. “What’s she doing here?” she asks, glaring at me.
“Sit down and I’ll tell you.”
Mary Beth looks as if she’d like to argue with him, but she doesn’t. She takes the seat on Zeke’s other side, scowling at me from across the table.
Confused as to what’s going on and why she can’t see me, Mia begins to cry. It kills me to hear her calling for me and not be able to do anything about it.
“Will you shut her up?” Mary Beth snaps, looking at the nanny who’s trying and failing to calm Mia across the room. “What are we paying you for?”
“Please, Zeke, if you would let me hold her, just for a moment, she’ll calm down, I promise,” I beg, my heart breaking.
Zeke nods. I don’t give him a chance to change his mind. Immediately, I’m on my feet, rushing over to take Mia from the relieved nanny’s arms. “It’s okay, baby, Mama’s here,” I whisper to her, holding her close and breathing her in.
All too soon, Zeke’s voice booms out. “That’s enough.
Svetlana, take the child back to her room.
The women and I need to talk.” The young woman, whom I now know is called Svetlana, reaches out, but I clutch Mia close, unable to let her go.
“Give her back, Lena, don’t make me regret letting you hold her. ”
Finally, with promises that I’ll see her soon, I give Mia back. “Mama loves you,” I tell her, fighting back tears as Svetlana takes her away. Her cries echo down the corridor and in my head long after she’s gone.
Defeated, I return to my seat. If Zeke aimed to show how much control he has over me, he’s achieved it.
“What is she doing here, Zeke?” Mary Beth hisses, narrowing her eyes at me. “She should be in the dungeons with the other traitors.”
“She’s here because I want her here,” Zeke replies coolly.
“I told you that she whored herself to our enemies,” Mary Beth adds indignantly.
Zeke shrugs. “Lena says she didn’t.”
Mary Beth’s voice is shrill with disbelief. “And you believe her?”
“The Lena I know is honest and pure. You’re the one who admits to fucking half of the Soaring Eagles and my own men. You and your sister,” Zeke says cruelly.
“A sister I killed tonight for you, to prove to you my loyalty and devotion. But if you still won’t believe me, I can prove Lena’s lying right now,” Mary Beth insists.
“By all means,” Zeke replies, leaning back in his chair and opening his arms wide. He’s enjoying this, seeing Mary Beth groveling for his affection. But I know from experience, Zeke likes the hunt. The reason he wants me is precisely because I don’t want him.
Mary Beth pulls out her phone and makes a call. “Bring them to the dining room now.”
When the men Mary Beth called appear, my heart sinks, and my blood turns to ice. All of my hopes of rescue disappear like dust in the wind.
Rex.
Two men drag him between them, limp and unconscious. His face is swollen and bloodied, his lips split, and a gash above his eyebrow is oozing blood. His hands are cuffed behind his back, and his shirt is soaked with sweat.
Mary Beth smirks triumphantly at me, and Zeke puffs his chest out with pride.
Behind them, Cole stumbles through the door, two goons holding him up under his armpits.
He’s conscious but barely. Cole’s handsome face is bloodied and bruised; his left eye is swollen shut.
Blood trickles from his nose and mouth. He looks like he’s been through hell, and still, when he sees me, he tries to smile.
It’s a broken, bitter smile, but it’s for me.
He looks at Zeke and spits on the ground, defiant even in the face of defeat.
My heart lurches, but I keep my expression neutral. I try to channel the hate I feel toward Zeke and Mary Beth and focus on that so it will appear as if it’s directed toward Cole instead. I pray he knows the truth.
Zeke turns to Mary Beth with a slow smile. “So Trish actually pulled it off. We’ve got all four of them now.”
Trish? I remember Trish from my day with the Iron Vultures. So she is—was, Mary Beth’s sister?
I’m still in shock at that news but then my heart sinks as I realize the implications of what he’s saying. They’ve captured Doc and Judge, too. I notice Cole sag at the news, too. Our last hope of rescue is gone.
Mary Beth bristles as Zeke didn’t direct his praise at her. “My sister nearly fucked it all up. I was the one who told her the plan and what to do. She was a liability, so I got rid of her.”
I get the impression she killed her sister because she didn’t want to share the glory, or Zeke, which doesn’t bode well for me. I do not doubt that if Mary Beth gets her way, I’ll be next on the chopping block.
Right now, looking at the bloodied faces of the men I love, I don’t even care for myself.
All I feel is an overwhelming sense of failure, because we’ve failed.
Zeke’s beaten us. He’s won. I know what comes next.
Zeke is going to make me watch as he kills the men I love, and there’s not a single thing I can do to stop him.
“Good work, Mary Beth, now the fun can begin,” Zeke says with a gleam in his eye.
My hands tremble. I know what Zeke means by fun.
Mary Beth smiles, a predatory, triumphant grin. “And Lena can prove to you how little these men mean to her. If I’m mistaken and she wasn’t willingly with them, she will have no problem watching you punish them, will she?”
Zeke nods slowly, whether or not he’d thought of this already, I know for sure it’s what’s going to happen now. “Take them to the others and get to work,” he orders the men. “We’ll join you after dinner.”
This isn’t just about punishment. It’s about breaking us—physically, mentally, spiritually.
Zeke wants to make a point. He wants me to prove to him that the lies he’s told himself about them being my kidnappers, not my lovers, are true.
I feel sick, but I keep my expression neutral.
He’s going to make me watch as he slowly kills them, and he’s going to expect me to pretend to be happy about it.
But Zeke’s made a mistake. He thinks he’s broken us. He believes this is the end. But he doesn’t know who he’s dealing with. As the men drag Rex and Cole away, I catch Cole’s eye—just for a second—and in that single glance, I see it. The same fire that’s burning in me. The same refusal to give up.
No matter what Zeke has planned. We will not break.
As the heavy doors slam shut, Mary Beth turns and looks at me, a small smile on her lips.
She’s a warrior who’s just won a battle.
Before she has a chance to gloat, attendants appear with plates laden with food—steak, potatoes, and vegetables drowned in a creamy sauce.
Zeke tucks in with gusto, unfazed. After a moment, he looks up and notices that Mary Beth and I haven’t touched our food. “Eat, before it gets cold.”
My stomach turns at the thought, but I pick up my fork and eat.
I have no appetite. Just the idea of what is happening under the same roof is enough to make me nauseous.
How could anyone eat at a time like this?
But still, I force myself to act normally and eat, trying not to choke on the rich food as I slowly chew each mouthful and swallow.
I push my food around, pretending to eat more than I am.
Mary Beth still hasn’t touched hers. “How can you expect me to eat at the same table as that bitch? Wasn’t that proof enough that she should be down in the dungeons with the others? Didn’t you see the way she looked at them?” she demands, slamming her fists down on the table and gesturing wildly.
Zeke cuts into his steak, blood oozing onto the plate, and takes a bite, chewing slowly. “That whore is going to be my wife. I saw how she looked at them, alright, with cold disdain. You, on the other hand, seem to be unable to control your hysterics.”
Mary Beth sputters in disbelief. “You cannot be serious.” Her nostrils flare.
“She’s a liability and a slut. She’s the common factor for every roll of the dice, every misstep we’ve had, every delay.
Behind all of the Iron Vultures’ problems, you’ll find her.
You need to get rid of her. Kill her. She won’t be a good wife to you like I will. ”
She said it like it was a favor for me, as if my death would be a mercy. Her eyes glitter with the merciless delight of someone used to being obeyed.
“You dare to order me around? To tell me who to kill?” he asks softly, putting down his fork and tapping his mouth with his napkin. “A good wife knows when to keep her mouth shut and doesn’t try to boss me around.”
She softens her voice, realizing she’s gone too far. She reaches out to place a hand on Zeke’s arm. “Zeke, baby, I’m your old lady, it’s you and me, we’re building this empire together.”
“You’re not my partner, and I won’t marry a whore.
Lena is pure, the mother of my child. She will be my wife, and you will continue to work for me.
” Zeke emphasizes the word for, he does not intend to be equal to Mary Beth.
“Don’t worry, I’ll still fuck you while Lena is fat with all the children she will give me. ”
Mary Beth’s chin lifts like a dare, her eyes flashing angrily.
“You’re stupid and weak when it comes to her, Zeke.
You’re blind when she bats those eyes. She’s a cancer that needs to be cut out.
I won’t be second place while she takes everything I’ve worked for.
If you don’t have the balls to do it, I will,” she declares, rising from her seat, a steak knife wielded in her hand.
Something alters in the space between the words and what would come, and time seems to slow down.
Zeke’s mouth presses into a thin line of displeasure as he slowly stands up, his steak knife in hand.
Mary Beth pauses her approach to me, thinking she’s won.
He steps forward, considers the knife in his hand, and for half a second, she waits for him to obey.
But instead of complying with Mary Beth’s demand, Zeke turns on her.
He smiles — a small, cold thing that doesn’t reach his eyes — and moves with deliberate speed. He raises the knife, and in a motion as sure and brutal as a butcher slaughtering a pig, he drives it into Mary Beth’s throat. Warm liquid splashes my face, and I realize with horror that it’s her blood.
A wet, surprised exhale is the only sound Mary Beth makes. For a second, she reaches for him, as if by begging for his help, he can take it back. Zeke steps away, letting her collapse in a twitching heap.
“No one tells me what to do,” he says calmly, wiping his blade clean.
The silence that follows is suffocating. Even the two, ever-present, silent guards look stunned. The men drag Mary Beth’s body away in a heavy, awkward silence. When the door slams, the room’s pressure releases like a held breath.
Zeke turns to me, leaning forward to wipe the blood off my face gently. His words are soft, but his threat is clear. “See what happens if you push me and overstep your place? And I decide what that place is. Not you.”