Chapter 32
32
NATHAN
N athan had been caught and tortured too many times in the past month.
It was getting tiresome.
He’d been on his way to convince Caden to stay with him when he was run off the road, pulled out of his truck, and tossed in the back of a black van. They’d then proceeded to beat the living hell out of him until he’d passed out.
The worst part of it all was that he’d missed his chance with Caden. She could be literally anywhere now. She’d probably gotten on that plane and hadn’t looked back. He’d have to start from scratch in finding her again.
Fucking Kyott.
Nate was going to kill him.
And just what the hell did Kyott want with him ? He was retired. Any information he did know was outdated and useless.
He’d been getting beat on for the past hour with no questions asked. If they wanted to torture someone, any old Tom, Dick, or Harry would do. Why track him down and go through the trouble of kidnapping him again?
Which made him think that this all had something to do with Caden Quinn. She was the only thing he had information on. Unless, of course, he was there for some random reason he couldn’t possibly fathom. She was the only thing that made sense.
Another hit to the face and Nathan was seeing stars. The goon delivering the beating had himself a powerful right hook.
Nathan spat blood onto the floor, his vision blurring as another punch sent his head snapping back. The metallic taste of blood lingered in his mouth, mixing with the bitterness of frustration.
As the goon pulled back for another swing, Nathan braced himself, biting down on the urge to groan. His mind raced, trying to make sense of the situation. Maybe Kyott had gotten wind that Caden Quinn had been staying with him? Maybe this was another one of those bought to be tortured things. Not him, but Caden.
The next punch didn’t come. Instead, there was a pause. Nathan blinked through the blood and sweat, his eyes locking on the figure standing just behind the goon. He recognized that smug silhouette anywhere.
“Marskib,” Nathan rasped, his voice hoarse but laced with venom. That mother fucker. “Finally decided to join the party, huh?”
Charles Marskib stepped forward, his hands clasped behind his back, a cold smile tugging at the corners of his lips. Kyott and the goon took a step back and stood in the shadows of the room. Nathan couldn’t decide if he was satisfied or not with this turn of events. He’d been in Moscow to track Marskib’s movements, but all that had changed when he’d gotten captured.
“Savage. You’ve always had a talent for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. But this? This is different—you’re exactly where I want you to be this time.”
“What do you want, Charles?” Nathan’s jaw tightened.
“I want Caden Quinn.”
“I don’t have her.” Nathan shrugged his shoulders. His heart pounded in his chest, his mind scrambling to piece together the puzzle. Why did Charles Marskib want Caden Quinn?
“But you know where she is.” He crouched down, leaning so close Nathan could smell his aftershave. “What did you do with her once you escaped my compound?”
“That was your compound?”
“Yes, it was unfortunately run by idiots.” He tsked and shook his head ruefully. “Had I been running it, you would have never escaped.”
“I heard that Caden Quinn escaped you.” Nathan couldn’t help but remind him. Just to nettle him.
“That was a fluke, and I assure you, it won’t happen again.”
“Ah.” The pieces were coming together in his mind. “You want Caden Quinn so you can take up where you left off. Torturing her.”
“Is that so much to ask?”
“I think so.” Nathan nodded his head and watched the man sigh dejectedly and stand.
The goon came out of the shadows, wielding a cattle prod and a self-satisfied smirk. Charles sighed again and stood to face Nathan. “If you don’t tell me what I want to know, Jacoby here is going to stab you with a cattle prod until you are cooked from the inside out.”
Great . Electrocution. Nathan took a deep breath in through his nose and tried to remember his SERE training. The cattle prod came down on his arm and pain shot through him. Electric hands gripped every muscle in his body and squeezed until he was in a tight ball of electric pain.
“Okay, okay.” As soon as he gained control of his voice again, he spoke. “What if I told you I took her home to meet my parents?” Nathan smirked as Marskib rolled his eyes and motioned for the goon to electrocute him again.
“You’re not funny, Savage.” He got close again and gripped Nathan’s hair in a fist to bring his head back up. “Where is she?”
“No, seriously,” Nathan stated again, knowing that there was no way in hell that they would believe the truth. “I took her home and had her meet my mama?—”
Another shock with the cattle prod.
“Where is she?”
“Why do you want her, of all people?” Nathan’s breathing was ragged and his muscles spasmed erratically.
“That woman is mine.”
“I didn’t get real taken vibes from her.” Nate cocked an eyebrow. Was this guy for real?
“Caden Quinn is mine ,” Marksib growled, grabbed the prod out of his goon’s hands and struck him with it. As Nathan burned and burned under the electric onslaught, the man went on. “She thinks she can escape me, doesn’t she? That after all the time we’ve spent together, she’s somehow free? But I know better. Deep down, she understands. I’ve carved myself into her mind, into her very soul. Every scream, every tear she shed in my dungeon was a symphony, and every scar a reminder that she belongs to me.”
“Oh, so you’re like a psycho psycho.”
“Savage,” he sighed and handed the prod back to his goon, “this can either get easier for you or harder. I can continue to play nice with the cattle prod and you tell me what I want to know, or I can get more creative and start with your teeth.”
Nathan heaved a resigned sigh and opened his mouth to retort, but the building rocked under his feet, and at the same time, gunfire opened up.
“Fuck!” Marskib turned on Kyott and yelled, “I thought you checked him for tracking devices!”
“We did!”
“Then why are we being attacked?”
“I don’t know, sir!”
“Get my chopper here,” Marskib commanded as they left the room.
It was a few minutes of gunfire and yelling as Nate waited patiently for his brothers to get to him. Eventually, Nathan watched as the Savage Security team flowed into the room. They swept the area and Nate was cut from the chair.
“Can you walk, Nate?” Kade helped him out of the chair.
Nathan staggered to his feet, muscles still twitching from the cattle prod’s brutal assault, but the adrenaline now coursing through his veins kept him upright.
“Yeah.” Nate took the proffered bullet-proof vest. His feet were bare, but he would just have to deal with it. “They’re headed to the roof.”
The chaos outside was deafening—the sound of gunfire and shouts reverberating through the walls, making it clear that the rescue operation wasn’t clean. The Savage Security team moved with military precision, sweeping through the room and covering all angles as they secured the space.
“Let’s go, Nate,” Kade muttered, his eyes scanning the door, already anticipating what was next.
Nate grimaced as he slipped on the vest, the rough material chafing against his bruised skin. He nodded at Kade, though the pain still lingered. “You got an extra pair of shoes in your kit, by chance?” His feet were already throbbing from the cold, hard ground, but he knew this wasn’t the time to complain.
“Nope.” Kade smirked grimly. “You want me to carry you?” he teased.
“You’re hilarious.” Nate’s eyes narrowed as he heard the distinct sound of helicopter blades whirring from the roof above. “Marskib’s making a run for it. You got a chopper on standby?”
“We’ll catch him before he gets that far.” Kade signaled the team, and they moved toward the exit. “Let’s make this quick.”
Nate limped behind them, pushing through the pain and the dizziness still clouding his mind from the electrocution. He wasn’t about to let Charles Marskib slip through his fingers—not after the taunts about Caden. The thought of her, and what this madman had done to her, fueled his determination to see this through.
As they hit the stairwell, Nate’s heart raced faster. “He’s obsessed with her,” he muttered to himself as they ascended the steps. “He’s not gonna stop, no matter how many times she escapes.”
“Obsessed with who?” Dax tilted his head and swept the staircase with his automatic.
“Caden. He’s obsessed with Caden.”
“Then let’s make sure this is the last time,” Maddox replied, his tone dark with purpose.
They burst onto the rooftop, the wind whipping against their faces. There, standing near the helicopter pad, was Marskib—his cold, smug expression faltering as he saw Nathan emerge from the stairwell. The chopper in the air hadn’t landed yet.
“We can either do this the hard way or the easy way, Charles.” Nathan recited the man’s earlier words and smirked when the other man looked enraged. “You can surrender your arms and come quietly or you can?—”
“Fuck that!” The man raised his handgun and aimed it directly at Nathan’s chest. Before he could get a shot off, one of the Savage Security team took him out with a quick shot to the torso. Kyott and the goon dropped their weapons and put their hands up in surrender.
It didn’t take long for Charles Marskib to die.
Nathan watched as Marskib collapsed, a look of disbelief frozen on his face. The shot had been swift, surgical, and final. Nate didn’t feel the satisfaction he thought he would—not yet. Marskib’s obsession with Caden still echoed in his mind, the way he spoke of her as if she were some twisted possession.
Kade knelt down, checking Marskib’s pulse out of protocol, but shook his head once. “He’s gone.”
“I’ve got to find Caden.”
“Find? She’s here.” Maddox secured Kyott while Kade secured the goon.
“What do you mean?”
“Who do you think blew up the building?”