CHAPTER 12
brYNN
Istruggle hard trying to loosen the plastic ties binding me to this chair, but they’re too strong. I can’t break them. Tears of frustration spill from the corners of my eyes. I sniff, swallow hard. Determined, but feeling defeated.
“Goddammit,” I growl.
Cole left me tied to this chair, alone, in the middle of an empty warehouse while he and his men stepped outside.
I have no idea what they’re doing. But all I can hear is Burke’s voice in my head saying that Cole probably had a buyer lined up for me.
It sends a shiver down my spine, and fresh tears trickle down my face.
Gritting my teeth, I strain against the zip ties and let out a cry when they bite into my skin. Looking down, I see crimson smears on the plastic. Despite the stinging pain, I keep trying, but simply feel them biting even deeper into my wrists. They don’t loosen at all.
“Fuck!”
A door opens somewhere behind me, and I listen as the footsteps approach. Cole steps around and stands in front of me, his eyes glitter menacingly in the dim light. His eyes flick to the blood on my wrist. He gives me a ‘tsk’ and shakes his head.
“Please stop doing that,” he says. “I can’t have you damaging yourself.”
“What are you going to do with me?”
“Me? I’m doing nothing with you,” he says. “Which is a pity. I know.”
His eyes slide up and down my body appraisingly, making me shudder.
“It’s a shame, really. Ordinarily, I’d spend a little time breaking you in, myself,” he says casually, as if he’s speaking about the weather.
“I am actually pretty upset we’re going to have to skip your training.
But your little disappearing act cost me time I didn’t have, and my buyer didn’t want to keep waiting. So, here we are.”
“Burke is going to find you. He’s going to kill you.”
Cole scoffs. “That old man? Please. He’s not going to find you.
But don’t you worry. He nearly cost me a lot of money, and I don’t take kindly to that.
Once my business with you is complete, I’m going to track that old fart down and show him just how displeased I am that I didn’t get to sample you first.”
I narrow my eyes to slits and glare at him. “You’re a fucking pig.”
He laughs, his eyes still roaming my body. He glances at his watch, then to the door he came through behind me, pursing his lips, considering.
“You know, I’ve got about half an hour before your buyer is supposed to be here,” he starts. “I bet I could have a quick taste of you before he gets here…”
His hands drift to his belt buckle, panic and fear surge through me.
I struggle and fight even harder with my restraints.
They bite into my skin deeper, but still don’t give.
I am so defenceless. My ankes and wrists are tied to the chair.
The chair is bolted to the floor. Tears of frustration race down my cheeks.
I gasp, swallow hard, and dip my head as a mix of tears and snot erupt from me into a full-on cry of frustration, fear and hopelessness.
“How about it?” he says. “You up for a little show before your new daddy arrives?”
“Fuck,” I gasp, “y o u!”
“Exactly. That’s the spirit,” he says. “Now, just be a good girl and don’t make too much of a fuss, and I promise this won’t hurt.”
A raw, primal scream bursts from my mouth and echoes around the cavernous warehouse.
Cole simply laughs. My stomach churns, and my heart beats a staccato rhythm in my chest. I have never felt so utterly powerless before in all my life.
He unzips and releases his scrawny dick.
He approaches me holding his semi-erect dick.
I focus on his wild eyes and the crazed grin on his pig lips.
He waves his dick in front of my face, and I ready my teeth to take a good chunk of it if he comes any closer.
I lick my lips hoping he is stupid enough to give me the chance to feast on his little manhood.
He dances around behind me and grabs my breats, one in each hand.
He squeezes, and pinches hard on my nipples.
I shout and try to bite into one of his arms. He stands in front of me, lifts a foot and kicks it hard into my crotch. My pubic bone takes the blow.
I’m defenceless.
Suddenly we both hear a muffled scream outside and a loud pop that sounds like a gunshot. His eyes flick to the doorway, and an expression of concern crosses his features.
“What the fuck?” he mutters.
All of a sudden, the door is torn open and one of his men staggers in, face bloody, limping and scrabbling across the floor. He collapses in a heap and is still. Cole’s eyes grow wider, his face etched with uncertainty. His dick falls even limper in his hand.
“What the fuck?” he squeals.
I crane my neck, trying to see what he’s staring at. I hear and feel the heavy thump of footsteps approaching. Cole takes a step back, a look of absolute horror dawning on his face.
“Back the fuck away from her. Now!”
My heart lifts at the sound of Burke’s voice. I crane my neck and see him stepping into view, and new tears, these of relief and joy, wet my cheeks. Burke steps forward, his gun pointed directly at Cole and a look of pure malevolence on his face. He stops and cuts a quick glance down at me.
“Are you okay?”
I nod. “I’m okay.”
“Did he hurt you?”
“No. You got here just in time.”
Relief floods Burke’s face. But that one moment of distraction is all Cole needs, and he launches himself at Burke. He drives his shoulder into Burke’s midsection, and a shot rings out.
Terrified that Burke is hit, I struggle and strain to see, but the zip ties hold me fast. And the chair is fastened to the floor.
“Motherfucker,” I hear Burke growl somewhere behind me.
Cole comes stumbling by me, moving backward and pinwheeling his arms. Burke is on him in a heartbeat, grabbing him by the front of the shirt and delivering a punch that snaps his head backward. Blood flies, and Cole stumbles backward again, then falls hard on his backside. No bounce.
Burke turns and looks at me, but I notice Cole reaching under his jacket.
“Burke!”
Burke turns and strides forward, delivering a vicious kick to the side of Cole’s head.
Cole’s eyes roll back, and he slumps. He’s unconscious before he hits the ground.
Burke steps forward and quickly pulls out the gun hidden beneath Cole’s jacket.
He tosses it away. He turns back and pulls a knife from his pocket, then cuts my zip ties loose.
He pulls me gently to my feet and wraps me in a warm, tight embrace. I melt into him, and the emotion of what happened overwhelms me. I bury my face in his chest and sob uncontrollably. Burke just holds me and strokes my hair.
“You’re safe now,” he says. “You’re all right.”
The sound of more footsteps fills the warehouse, and I turn to see an army of men in uniform pouring through the door.
A tall man in a suit with a stern expression on his face quickly walks over to us.
He studies me for a moment, then Burke. A pair of uniformed cops put the unconscious Cole in handcuffs.
“Are you all right?” he asks.
I nod. “I am.”
“Good. That’s good to hear,” he says. “We’re going to need your statement.”
“Of course,” I say, my voice shaky.
“This is Curtis. You can trust him,” Burke says, then turns to his friend. “Thanks for letting me come in first.”
“Glad you didn’t get shot.”
“Me too.”
“And thanks for the heads up. Busting up this trafficking ring is going to look real good come promotion time,” he says with a wink toward Burke. “Also, if anybody asks, you were on scene first and went in before we could stop you.”
“Copy that,” Burke replies.
Curtis nods. “Get her down to the station to take her statement,” he says, then offers me a small smile. “Then get her home and take care of her.”
“I plan on it,” Burke replies.
With his arm around my shoulders, Burke leads me out of the warehouse.
Cole and his men are sitting on the ground in various states of consciousness.
They are lined up loosely and cuffed. Burke tenses, turns to them, and I get the idea he wants to run over and give them all another kick in the head.
He controls himself, though, and instead leads me to his SUV. He opens the door and helps me into the passenger seat, then walks around and climbs in behind the wheel. He turns to me, and his expression softens.
“You sure you’re up for this?” he asks. “I can ask Curtis—”
I shake my head. “Let’s just get this over with,” I say, then smile softly. “Then go home.”
The idea of going home with Burke feels good. It feels right. And something in his eyes makes me think he feels the same way. He reaches over and gently picks up my hand and kisses the back of it, his eyes fixed on mine.
“Sounds good, works for me,” he says.