Chapter 20
Icome back to myself in pieces.
First the pain, hot and electric, crawling up my spine and through my limbs as my nerves misfire long after the shock has ended. Then the cold floor under my cheek. Then the realization that I can’t move.
Confused, I look down at the ropes around my chest and register the ache in my shoulders caused by my hands being tightly bound behind my back. Lifting my head, I take in my position on the floor, braced beside a dining table in a modern, open-concept living room, dining room, and kitchen.
I’m still at the townhouse.
A soft groan draws my attention across the room to where Gabriel slumps in a chair, his body bound in a similar configuration to mine. The only difference seems to be that I’m on the floor and he’s in a chair.
His head hangs forward, chin on his chest, but as I watch, it lifts. His eyes find mine through the semi-darkness, and a pulse of emotion hits me so hard my breath catches.
Panic. Anger. Protectiveness. All of it floods across the space between us, palpable with its intensity.
I try to speak, but my bitten tongue and split lip turn the words to mush. “G’briel. Y’okay?”
He blinks sluggishly as he struggles to focus. A bruise darkens his cheekbone, and blood cakes his temple where he hit the doorframe during our capture.
His mouth opens, closes, then opens again to form a single word. “Saint.”
“Oh, good, our guests are awake.”
Footsteps tap across the polished hardwood floor, and I crane my neck to track the sound as a man circles into view.
Darrow. The asshole who slipped my hold at Foundation.
He stops between Gabriel and me, hands clasped behind his back. “Welcome back to consciousness.”
I draw in a breath and push out a Command, “Untie us.”
It leaves me with the familiar pressure in my vocal cords, a subtle vibration that stills weaker Alphas or Omegas, blurring their thoughts until obedience becomes easier than resistance.
Darrow doesn’t even flinch.
Not a hitch of breath. Not a blink.
Because he’s a Beta, and Command doesn’t work on Betas. It’s why so many of them go into law enforcement.
The realization hits a half-second too late, and frustration twists in my gut.
His smile widens. “Ah. There it is.”
I swallow, and only then do I register that the bitter bloom on my tongue, the citric burn in my nose, and the tightness in my throat aren’t from being tasered.
Alpha suppressant.
“Dosed you both while you were out,” Darrow says, as if reading my mind. “Doesn’t bother me, but no reason to take a chance with where you two are going.”
“What do you mean?” Gabriel garbles out.
Darrow continues his casual stroll around the room.
“Here’s the situation as it stands. Samuel— I’m allowed to call you that, yes?
It is your real name, after all. You’re quite the valuable commodity, and I thought to myself, why let someone else claim the bounty when I’m more than capable of seeing the job done myself? ”
His head cocks as he studies me. “And it might be a little personal. You hurt my back when you shoved me against the bar. Had to go to my chiropractor and everything.”
I spit at him. “Fuck you.”
“I dare say there will be no fucking on my end.” He pulls out a handkerchief to dab at the glob of phlegm on his jacket. “We’ll save that privilege for your buyer, who should be here soon. He’s quite eager to make your acquaintance. Or should I say reacquaintance?”
Cold dread pools in my gut.
Gabriel lunges in his restraints, body jerking forward despite the ropes, the chair strapped to him scraping across the floor. Even bound and bleeding, he fights to place himself between Darrow and me.
Darrow’s laugh holds no humor. “Such predictable biology. The Alpha rushes to protect what he considers his. Though I must say, Samuel, you made an interesting choice. Another Alpha? Really? Did you think his money would protect you?”
I twist within my binds, and the ropes cut into my flesh.
“As for our bonus Rockford…” Darrow pauses beside Gabriel, who stiffens under his attention.
“Tony wants to prove no one in your family is untouchable. He wanted your brother’s pretty little Omega.
Leo, is it? But he never leaves the manor, even having the baby without stepping outside, so you’ll be a nice appetizer to whet the palate. ”
Guilt crashes through me, powerful enough that I choke on it. I brought this danger to Gabriel’s door. My presence painted a target on his back. If I’d stayed away as he asked, he might be safe right now.
“Fuck you,” Gabriel snarls.
“Charming.” Darrow checks the time on his phone. “Your buyer arrives soon, Samuel. Tony’s people won’t be far behind for our Rockford friend. I have a schedule to keep.”
He turns away, pulling out a phone and tapping at the screen. The momentary distraction gives me a chance to look around, assessing options that weren’t visible in my first scan of the room.
Gabriel catches my eye and tips his chin toward the dining table to my left, the gesture so small I almost miss it. I follow his line of sight and spot the glint of metal under the tabletop. A knife, strapped to the underside. The kind of security measure an assassin like Caleb would install.
My pulse quickens. If I can inch toward it… But the distance might as well be miles with how tightly I’m bound. The way my shoulders scream from the strain of the ropes, every centimeter will cost me.
Gabriel taps his foot on the floor three times in silent question. Do you see it?
I blink once. Yes.
He jerks his head a fraction to the right, where a drawer sits ajar. Through the gap, I spot what might be a gun. How many other weapons are hidden around this condo? If I can just get my hands free…
I shift my weight, scooting my ass across the floor. The rope burns as it tugs at my wrists, but I grit my teeth through it. Another half inch. Another.
Darrow peers over his shoulder, and I freeze in an awkward position, muscles screaming at the strain. He stares at me long enough to draw sweat from my brow.
Then a knock breaks the silence, and Darrow smirks. “Looks like our first guest has arrived, Samuel.”
My pulse hammers at my temples as Darrow goes to answer it, and Gabriel’s eyes seek mine, raw panic reflected in the hazel depths.
Footsteps approach, two sets now instead of one, and as Darrow returns, my spine locks rigid as the tall man trailing behind him comes into view. My body recognizes him, my prey brain recoiling.
No. Not him. Anyone but him.
I bite the inside of my cheek, fighting to stay present. Dissociation means death right now. If I float away into that protective nowhere space, I’ll never come back.
“Well, look at that. You were right.” Darrow smirks at my reaction. “He does remember you.”
A laugh bubbles from the guard’s throat, the sound unchanged by the years between then and now. “Told you he would. Some things stick with you forever, don’t they, Samuel?”
Bile rises, acid burning all the way up.
“I’d say you should’ve grown out of it by now,” Darrow comments, circling behind me. “But you never got the chance, did you?”
The guard steps closer, and the overhead light illuminates how age has thickened his features, adding lines around his mouth, and gray at his temples. But the eyes remain the same flat gray.
“Hello, Samuel.” He draws out my name with a lazy Southern lilt. “Or should I call you Saint now? Such a dramatic choice.”
His name surfaces from the depths of memory where I buried it.
Winters. Officer Paul Winters.
Before, he existed as a nameless horror, a monster without definition. Now he stands solid before me, a human man with a human name who did monstrous things, and the reality of him crushes me.
“You look good.” Winters circles me like he’s inspecting merchandise. “Grew up strong. Those skinny arms filled out nicely.”
His hand descends toward my head, and my entire body flinches away before contact.
The reaction pleases him, his lips curling up at the corners. “Still jumpy. That’s good. Means you remember your place.”
Across the room, Gabriel jerks within his restraints hard enough to topple the chair. The crash echoes as he kicks and bucks, lunging toward us despite the ropes biting into him. Rage drives every movement, the cords in his neck standing out as he strains forward.
“Get away from him!” Gabriel tries to Command, but the words come out weak.
Darrow crosses to Gabriel in three long strides, and his hand closes around Gabriel’s throat, fingers digging into the sides of his neck. “Even Rockfords bleed like anyone else. Remember that before you try anything stupid.”
“Let him go!” I jerk at my arms.
“Don’t pay attention to them. Focus on me, Samuel.” Winters kneels beside me, his breath warm on my skin, smelling of mint gum and coffee.
The scent triggers another wave of nausea as my mind superimposes the past over the present.
“I’ve waited a long time for this reunion.” He drops to a whisper meant only for me. “When I saw the photo of that other Alpha, and you were in the background, I knew it had to be fate.”
“Funny how that worked out. I was just tasked with tracking the Rockfords and their mates. You were a nice bonus.” Darrow releases Gabriel’s throat with a shove that slams Gabriel’s head on the floor.
“I pocket some side cash by collecting your bounty, and Tony’s people are en route for our Rockford prize. ”
Winters runs a finger along the rope around my torso, tracing where it cuts into my shirt. “Tonight, everyone gets what they paid for.”
My stomach drops as Darrow checks the time on his phone, then turns back to Gabriel. “We should give them some privacy, don’t you think? For old time’s sake.”
The implication sinks into my bones, freezing me from the inside out.
“And I’ve got fun planned for my pretty boy here,” Darrow adds, grabbing Gabriel by the hair. “Different rooms for different purposes. More efficient that way.”
“No!” The word tears from my throat before I can stop it. “No, you fucking—”