Chapter 10
10
RAINE
T he upstairs is a blur as Killian pulls me through a shadowy living room. We follow the one called War down a hall. He turns on a light, and we’re in a huge bedroom. This room is on the side of the building that faces the street not the waterfront. There are no windows.
A king bed with a black silk duvet fills the majority of the space. The tall headboard is charcoal leather, but the design has two round cut-outs in it that look like stainless steel portholes.
I don’t notice War go to his dresser, but he must because his arm appears in front of me holding a black t-shirt.
“Change.” It’s an order.
My eyes go wide. “Right here?”
“Yes.”
My eyes dart to Killian. His expression never changes, but he nods.
War’s gruff voice booms across the room. “I’m too tired to look at your ass, little girl. But I will work up the energy to spank it if you keep me waiting. Fucking change now.”
I wince .
Killian moves in front of me as War stalks to a heavy wood dresser with intricate carvings and an antique silver finish. The handles are curved steel and remind me of human spines.
With Killian positioned in front of me, I’m not anywhere in view in the mirror above the dresser, and War is partially turned away. He’s not looking at me.
Killian grabs my arms and lifts them. Leaning down, he whispers, “Don’t fight. Stay still.”
“This can’t happen…” I whisper.
His fingers grab the hem of my sweater and lift it up and over my head. He unclasps my bra, making me suck in a small breath. I drop my arms to cover myself, but he pushes them aside so he can push the bra’s shoulder straps. It drops onto my feet.
I’m already shaking when my teeth start to chatter.
Killian pulls the shirt, which must be like 3X, over my head, and it falls into place, reaching my thighs. His hands go under it to unfasten my jeans. It helps that I’m staring at his chest, rather than meeting his eyes. As he jerks my jeans down, my underwear starts to go with them. I don’t even move.
He reaches into the jeans, grabs the undies, and pulls them back into place. Then he pushes the denim to the floor and takes each of my feet out of them.
When he stands, I stare straight ahead at his muscled chest. My lip is quivering, and tears fill my eyes.
“Stay calm till we’re alone.” Killian’s voice is no more than a whisper, but it’s commanding. “You can do that.”
Life around Killian is never normal. I’m out of practice, but I know how to act like everything’s okay when it’s definitely not. My heartbeat stutters to a slower rhythm, trying to reach a normal rate. I can’t get there, but at least I don’t feel faint.
When Killian turns his head, his voice is like a knife stabbing the air. “She’s ready.”
War, who’s had his back to us, may have been watching Killian in the mirror. He walks over and looks me up and down. “Like a little doll.” He starts to guide me to the bed.
A pulse of reality hits me, and I try to backpedal. His arm loops around me and tosses me on the bed like I’m exactly what he called me.
My gaze darts around the room. Killian’s between me and the door, watching with a deadly expression.
I wonder if War realizes how close Killian is to attacking him.
War pulls a chain through the porthole and, at the end, there’s a black padded cuff. My mind kind of dissolves. The next thing I know it’s around my right wrist. I stare at my shackle. What is happening? Who are these guys? Why do they need slave cuffs on their bedroom walls?
“Let’s go, Killer. Show of good faith.”
My gaze rises to Killian. He doesn’t hesitate. Apparently, he’s already decided he’s going along with this. Sitting on the bed next to me, he holds out his left arm. His hostile expression is trained on his massive housemate.
“Gonna buy me a gold necklace?” he says in a surly tone.
War’s dark smirk is not reassuring. “Sure, if you’re a good boy.”
“Yeah,” Killian says slowly. “I may kill you for this.”
War’s dark gaze rises to Killian’s face as he locks his wrist in the cuff. “Then, no gold necklace for you.”
They’re fucking with each other? Half joking? When lives are at stake?
War straightens and goes to a wardrobe that matches the dresser. He opens it and digs out a plastic monitor like you’d use for babies. He sets it on the nightstand and plugs it in.
“J’s a light sleeper, so I’ll put the receiver next to his head. If you gotta take a piss or she does, wake his ass up. I’ll leave the shackle key with him.”
War starts to walk toward the door and then turns back, his expression grave. “Killian, Jamie’s right. We can still sort this, so don’t strangle him with that chain when he comes to un-cuff you. Remember who his cousin is.”
“I haven’t forgotten a thing. I never do.” Killian’s voice is smooth and hard, like always.
War shrugs. “Bring it, then. I’ll be ready. ”
Is he taunting Killian into trying to kill him? What the hell is happening?
Killian exhales, and War strides out of the room.
We’re silent for a few moments, and the only sound is my sniffles as I try to pull myself together.
When I have half a handle on my emotions, I say, “So, they’re going to kill you, too? Why? Because you made a mistake and sent me the text message to come over?”
“They don’t want to kill me. Or you.” He shoves the covers down and then maneuvers them over our bodies. His free arm, which is freezing cold, brushes my stomach, sending tingling sensations through me.
“They locked me up because they think I might take off while they sleep.”
That’s reassuring to hear. I know Killian doesn’t want to kill me, but from things Marianne said, he’s spent months working hard to get this job. It’s obviously very important to him.
“When you said in person… I thought you meant to come right then. You texted right back so I knew you were awake.”
“Don’t feel guilty for something that’s not your fault. That typo is on me, not you.” Although his tone is terse, now that I know his anger isn’t directed at me it’s easier to breathe.
He shifts positions, causing the mattress to dip. While he’s on his side facing me, his left arm is raised. He closes his fist around the chain and pulls it. Once the slack is gone, my arm raises. It’s not two separate chains as I thought. Our arms are connected.
“They’re lucky,” he whispers. “If my chain was just hooked to the drywall, I probably could’ve torn the whole bolt from the wall.” He sucks his lips between his teeth.
The wild thump of my heart has started to slow now that we’re alone. Which should not be the case. He’s a sociopath, and most of the time, he’s the person I have to be afraid of. But tonight, he’s not the most dangerous threat, and I’m glad he didn’t leave me chained in this room alone.
The silk-covered feather duvet is soft and warm. If I weren’t so scared, the bed would feel good .
“I don’t understand why they chained you,” I say. “If I’d been chained to the wall and you didn’t have the key, you couldn’t have taken me. So, why not let you leave if you want to? I’m the prisoner. Are they thinking you’d go to get your brothers to help you?”
“No,” he says, exhaling a small sound of amusement. “That would be complicated. I almost want to try it, just to watch the chaos unfold.” There’s an eerie quality to his short laugh.
My head tilts as the pieces start to click into place. “They think if you weren’t cuffed with me, you might get the key while they slept to unlock me and take me with you?”
“Yes.”
“Would you have?”
“No.”
No. For some reason that makes a small slice in my heart. He rescued me once. Of course, that was a different time. Back before he knew I would eventually completely reject him.
Killian releases his hold on the chain and rolls onto his back. I pull some slack to my side so my outstretched arm can lay on the bed.
Closing my eyes, I try to relax my tense muscles. Concentrating on Killian’s even breathing helps. Nothing will happen for a few hours. There’s no point freaking out now. Screams for help wouldn’t be heard… except by them.
Killian once told me if I was ever grabbed or kidnapped, and there was no way to get help or get away, I should stay calm and quiet since screaming could trigger the aggressor into an unplanned killing… just to make the noise stop.
While I understood the theory, it took some unfortunate practice for me to be able to follow those instructions.
That thought takes me back to the first thing that happened to change my whole world view.
Alicia Zenker was the most popular girl in school. She looked like a Barbie doll and dressed like one, too. After Killian sat with me and my outsider friends at lunch, she took an interest in me. It made me happy. I had this crazy idea that I could bridge the gap between the cliques. That we would all become friends. The theatre kids would go to football games and cheer competitions. The jocks would come to our plays.
Alicia invited me to stay over at her place. I was excited because a sleepover at Alicia’s was the most coveted invitation for a St. Seb’s underclassmen and not just because she was popular. It was like going to a spa. There was an incredible dinner, a soak in the hot tub, skin treatments with expensive products and a gift bag. Inside the bag, there would be a little bottle of her signature scent, a friendship bracelet, and a designer handbag she thought would suit the friend receiving the bag. It was incredible.
What I remember from that evening is that her bedroom had a pink crystal chandelier, and my gold gift bag sat on the day bed, waiting for me. Then, I remember fragments of her dad coming in to talk to us and that he joined us in the hot tub. The bitter aftertaste of the mango “health smoothie” is vague.
There’s an image of her dad standing in the bedroom doorway that I see a lot… when his questions turned personal and creepy. I don’t remember exactly what he said.
Alicia fell asleep on top of her bed, leaving me alone with him. My sharpest memory is that I had a sick feeling in my stomach that I was in trouble.
My next memory is being scraped by the bushes beneath the bathroom window as I fell through them. And then nothing until I woke up the next day.
The rest I’ve had to piece together. My phone showed I had texted Killian. He hadn’t wanted me to go to Alicia’s because he never wanted me to go anywhere. He didn’t answer the first text I sent that said I thought something was wrong. That I didn’t feel right after drinking a smoothie shake.
I don’t know if he was still mad I’d gone out and just thought my text meant I had an upset stomach, but he didn’t answer. I sent a text to my dad’s phone, too. All it said was please come get me . My dad wouldn’t see that until the morning. My last text was to Killian and it said, im scared hes gonna hurt me trying to get out window please help please come .
Killian did come.
The rest of what I know has come from coaxing Killian to tell me things.
When he arrived, he found me unconscious behind the hedges. Alicia’s dad was searching for me, too. When his flashlight landed on Killian, he ordered him to leave the property. I don’t know what Killian said or did in response. I only know Alicia’s dad went in the house, and Killian carried me to his car and drove away with me.
Killian should’ve taken me to the hospital. Anyone would have. To get my stomach pumped and to get my blood tested as evidence. Instead, he put me in my bed and watched me all night to be sure I didn’t stop breathing.
When I woke, I was so relieved and grateful I would’ve done anything he said. When he told me not to tell anyone, I tried to convince him I should or it might happen to other girls who went to that house. He said he needed a chance to find something out. I stayed quiet, waiting.
I thought he must be planning to ask the girls in his circle questions about nights spent at Alicia’s. To see if any of them had had similar experiences or had been sexually assaulted. Maybe Killian did ask them questions. I don’t know because then Mr. Zenker disappeared and the focus shifted.
After some bouts of anxiety, everything went back to normal for me. I stayed on my side of the cafeteria with the theater people. Alicia stayed with her friends, never speaking to me again. In the halls, she looked right through me.
Her dad had been missing for four months when his body washed ashore. No one could tell how he died because his body had been in the water too long.
Deep down, I knew.
By then, my dad had noticed Killian showed signs of being a sociopath. Dad asked me not to play video games in the basement with Killian alone. He warned me to stay as far away from him as possible.
I didn’t follow Dad’s advice. At least not then.
Instead, I asked Killian if he knew how Alicia’s dad ended up in the river. Killian was so calm as he looked me in the eyes and said no. He’s a really good liar.
For a little while, I let myself believe him.