Chapter 5
Chapter
Five
They were really doing this.
The acceptance in Rose’s eyes almost had Steel backing out.
There was no judgment there, she hated him, but she had made her peace with her fate, and she wasn't going to beg him not to hurt her, plead with him for her safety, or even her life. She was going to take whatever hell he and his team dished up without complaint.
Then he wouldn't put it past her to kill him if given half an opportunity and not lose sleep over it.
Unfortunately, the time to back out and choose a different path had passed.
He and his team were committed, the opportunity of turning Rose Gardner into an ally was lost to them forever.
It was continue with this plan or lose what could be their only chance at getting their hands on the man who had so carelessly and callously played God with their lives.
If it were only him, he might back out, sedate Rose, and take her back to her home, leave her in her bed with the safety of knowing that she had never seen his face and had no way of identifying him when she went to the cops.
But it wasn't just him.
Already once before he’d led his men into a situation that had changed their lives forever.
Steel had failed them that day, and he couldn’t fail them again.
Couldn’t take this chance away from them, even though he knew not a single one of the men dressed all in black surrounding the small woman with the dark red hair and defiant eyes, felt entirely comfortable being in this room with her.
She was an innocent.
They’d sworn an oath to protect the innocent.
Not only was the little ladybug innocent, but she was like them. She’d been warped and twisted into something she didn't want to be, but didn't know how to escape. Darkness lived inside her soul, making her a kindred spirit.
Perhaps that was why Steel didn't move a muscle as Rose locked her gaze onto his.
Neither of them flinched as Dragon moved in behind her and tugged down her pajama bottoms enough to bare her backside to the camera Blade was holding.
The ridiculous pink unicorn pajamas were perhaps the saddest part of all of this.
They were so incongruous with the room and its purpose that it almost made him laugh.
Not a laugh of joy or amusement, though, a pained laugh because in doing this, he and his team were crossing a line from which they would never come back.
They were now the monsters that Dr. Gardner had tried to create.
They were giving in to the darkness that the man had placed inside them, allowing their lack of empathy to destroy whatever human parts of them still existed.
This had better be worth it.
The thought passed through his mind a second before the whip Thunder had pressed into Dragon’s hand whizzed through the air, connecting with a sickening crack against Rose’s bared backside.
Of the seven of them in the room, Steel was pretty sure the only one of them who didn't flinch was the one who had just been struck.
He knew she felt the pain because he saw it flare in the gorgeous forest green eyes that seemed locked on his, but other than that, she didn't show any outward sign that she’d just been whipped.
Without breaking eye contact, Steel began to speak.
The words were for the camera, for the recording that would be sent to her brother, but it felt like he was speaking to Rose, explaining in some small way why he had to do this, almost as though that could lessen the sting of what he was inflicting upon her.
Not that he could really do that. Nothing could lessen the sting. Rose would wear the marks on her skin and in her soul.
“We have something of yours, Dr. Gardner,” Steel spoke, his voice low and rough, his heart beating harder than it should be, and he half wished that Rose would scream and thrash, beg and plead. “Something we’re going to have fun playing with. Destroying.”
Although, as he said the word at the same time Dragon delivered another blow to the little ladybug’s delicate skin, Steel realized that destroying this woman would not be possible. Nor did he really want to.
Carrying through with this charade was inevitable, the wheels were already in motion and there was no stopping them.
But even if they couldn’t lure in the psychotic scientist, he would ensure the woman was delivered back to her home and her life.
Rose Gardner didn't deserve to pay for her brother’s sins any more than she already had.
Again, Rose didn't make a sound despite the pain he knew she felt.
Nor did she cry out as Dragon struck her again, and again.
Despite her lack of sound, Steel could feel the tension in the room mounting.
None of his men liked treating a woman like this, especially an innocent one.
But they felt trapped, they’d been searching for Ridge Gardner for almost a decade, and they hadn't even had his full name or any details on his family until recently. They couldn’t wait another decade to get one step closer to the crazed doctor.
But this was wrong, and they all knew it.
“You want her back while there’s still some pieces left to put back together, then you better follow our instructions,” he said, ready to end this.
Steel wasn't sure he could take another second of the little ladybug’s stoic silence, and he could tell Voodoo in particular was about to break, even if Rose wasn't. Voodoo was a healer, and he’d been the most vocal about his desire to keep this as clean as possible, use other ways to break Dr. Gardner’s sister without inflicting physical pain.
Why couldn’t you have just been the hysterical woman we expected you to be?
Why did you have to be so strong?
Why couldn’t you just crack so we could get this over with and get you back home?
Dragon delivered one last blow, and other than that flare in her eyes, Rose showed no other sign she felt the pain they’d just wrought on her body.
Blade lowered the camera, nodded to let him know they were done, and quickly eased up the material of Rose’s pajamas to cover her, give her some modicum of modesty back.
The video would be processed through their programs to ensure it didn't include anything that would tip off their location to Dr. Gardner, and then it would be sent to the doctor’s old military email address in the hopes he still monitored it, along with instructions for making contact.
“We need to put antiseptic cream on the welts,” Voodoo said, and Steel knew the man was desperate to ease the pain they’d just inflicted on their strong little captive.
“No,” Rose said, her voice rough, but firm as her gaze finally shifted to the man who had stepped up behind him.
Steel wanted to growl at her and order her to return it to him. He and he alone deserved the privilege of holding her gaze, shouldering whatever small amount of her pain he could.
“They could get infected,” Voodoo lectured, like she wasn't already aware of that.
“It will help with the pain as well, numb them a little,” Lion piped up.
That earned them all an eyeroll. “Yes, I'm sure you're all very concerned about my pain. Totally believable since you were the ones who kidnapped me, tortured me, strung me up, and whipped me.”
Unfortunately for them, they did care.
Which made them the world’s worst abductors.
They knew what they’d done, and it would be a well-deserved smear on all of their souls. They were desperate, but that didn't give them the right to hurt others, which was exactly what they’d done.
Now Steel knew he wasn't the only one desperate to make amends in some small manner. Not that their little captive would ever believe that.
“You get the cream,” Steel growled. Flicking his gaze up to the dribbles of blood streaking her arms from where the plastic zip ties were cutting into her skin, he clenched his teeth as he tried to drag in a calming breath. “For your wrists as well.”
“Fine,” Rose huffed like she found them all to be interminably irritating. “But I’ll do it myself.”
“You won't be able to reach the wounds on your … ah … butt,” Voodoo finished lamely, his gaze refusing to land on Rose, who actually chuckled.
“I manage well enough, no need to worry about me,” she told him. Something in the way she said the words made it clear without her having to say it, that she was well used to caring for herself and didn't expect that anyone would ever worry about her.
Only Steel was finding that he did.
This was supposed to be an easy way to get to the man they all craved revenge on. Rose was supposed to be just a tool to use along the way and then throw away when they were finished with her.
But it wasn't.
It had become a whole lot more complicated, and he had no idea how he was supposed to deal with that.
December 26th
9:59 A.M.
“You're not tending to your own wounds,” Mr. Bedroom Man growled at her like the idea was offensive to him.
Which was crazy.
After all, he’d abducted her and planned this all out. She was his prisoner, and he’d used her like he always intended to.
“You are aware that they’re wounds you inflicted,” she reminded him. Probably not her smartest idea, but then again, Rose had always regretted never standing up to her brother.
Sure, she’d done things her way, refused to cry when she knew it was what he wanted, bitten down on screams that wanted to escape because she knew he craved them, and been purposefully obtuse at chemistry and biology since she knew it was what he wanted her to study.
All of that had infuriated her brother, but she’d never actually told him to go to hell, and she’d always wished she’d done it.
Now was her chance not to be the silent little victim.
They didn't care about her, they were just more people who wanted to use her. Story of her life, and she wanted to be the author of that story and not a passenger along for the ride.
Mr. Bedroom Man’s mouth tightened into a line, and there was a flash of pain in his eyes. Which again made absolutely no sense. This was what he wanted.