23. Molly
Molly
M y time in captivity moved slowly. It was warped, disorienting.
The darkness skewed my sense of direction, forcing me to fumble along the walls as I traced the perimeter, searching for a way out.
The walls were uneven, like roughly sawn planks, and I’d caught more than one splinter in my exploration.
“What are you doing, Cait?” my sister whispered, from where she sat in the middle of the room.
“I’m trying to find us a way out of here.”
“It’s no use. There isn’t one. I’ve looked.”
Ignoring the defeated tone in her voice, I pressed on.
Another sweep around the perimeter, but this time I reached as high as I could.
Biting my lip, I suppressed the urge to cry out when another splinter lodged in my fingertips.
Running my thumb over the pads of my fingers, I felt the bumps and ridges of the little wood daggers now embedded into the top layer of my skin.
“It’s useless,” my sister said, echoing my thoughts.
“There has to be a way out of here,” I repeated. I had gone through hell and back after I’d killed my stepfather. There was no way it would end like this. “I refuse to be trapped here forever.”
There was a click , then a sudden draft barreled into the room like a door had been opened. I fell into a crouch, eyes squinting into the darkness to see a faint silhouette.
I crawled toward the center of the room where Orla was sitting. Her short, sharp breaths ruffled the hair at my nape as I positioned myself between her and, what I assumed, was a man.
“Who are you?” I demanded.
A match rasped against the striker for a split second before light flared about ten feet in front of us. The flame grew, revealing a familiar face.
“Owen,” I said, hating the way his name felt on my lips. I’d gotten a bad feeling from him when we were at Gael’s house, and time hadn’t changed my opinion. “What are you doing here?”
“Collecting something that’s owed to me,” he replied.
I shifted in the dirt, blocking my sister from his view. “You want me?”
The flame disappeared with the shake of his hand, so the only light which showed where he now stood came from the cigarette perched in his mouth. “I was promised you, but now I’ve seen your sister, I think I might want to keep you both.”
“Who told you that you could have me?”
A sinister chuckle rolled through the room, and the red end of his cigarette flared to life as he inhaled. The noxious scent of tobacco tickled my nose, and I found myself searching for the smell of something sweeter and spicier instead. Something mixed with the subtle notes of dark chocolate.
“Your mother, kitten.”
Behind me, my sister made a small noise, and I reached a hand out to hold hers. “My mother?” I asked.
He took another deep inhale from the cigarette. “Her cunt is getting a little tired for the streets, but she knows her stuff. Knows which girls to target and bring into the business. Knows which johns will pay the most.”
None of this made sense. “My mother?” I repeated. “What does she have to do with this?”
“She wanted you home, kitten. Said she’d do anything to make it happen.”
Anger popped and fizzed in my veins. “How do you know her?”
Again, there was that chuckle, the one which said he was enjoying this game of half-truths and deception. “She’s my whore. Well, she was my whore. She’s my business partner now. She runs my brothels, and in exchange for money and power, I get you.”
“Cait, what’s he talking about?” Orla whispered.
“I don’t know,” I replied just as softly, but I was going to find out. “I still don’t understand.”
A bare bulb flickered to life overhead, and I squinted against the sudden illumination, shielding my eyes so I could keep my gaze on the threat.
“Tell me what the fuck is going on!” I demanded, my thumb accidentally brushing against the splinter-riddled pads of my fingers when my free hand curled into a fist. I kept the pain hidden, though, as a predator like this didn’t need any encouragement.
Owen moved further into the room, though a shadow lurked in the once hidden doorway behind him. It was the Caddie, who watched the entire exchange with an almost avaricious gleam in his cold eyes.
“I only know her because of you, kitten,” Owen crooned. “After you disappeared from Dublin, I became obsessed with what you did. How ruthlessly you killed your father.”
“ Step father,” I corrected. I never wanted to be associated with that man.
Owen smirked. “Your stepfather, my apologies.” He started walking around the room, and I followed him with my gaze. “At first I wanted to meet the girl who had killed a full-grown man so thoroughly, so savagely. But as I tracked you across the country, my curiosity turned into an obsession.”
An obsession ? He was obsessed with me? I’d been fifteen when I’d killed Brian. It was nine years ago. He couldn’t have been older than sixteen or seventeen at the time.
“You were always meant to be mine, kitten. We were always meant to rule together.” He flicked the ash from his cigarette, then stared at the glowing end.
“When I saw you with that bastard Keir in our living room, on your knees, sucking his cock, I’ll admit I almost lost my fucking mind and blew the whole thing.
I had to remind myself of the greater plan. ”
A frown formed on my brow as I tried to piece it all together.
“I can see things aren’t clear for you yet, so let me share some more of the details.
” Owen was behind us now, and I turned my head so I could watch both men.
“Getting you here was complicated. I knew you wouldn’t come back for your mother, she’d told me enough about your turbulent relationship.
I knew you’d come back for Orla, though.
So, what was I to do? There needed to be a threat, and that came in the form of your ex-boyfriend, Grady.
I’ll admit, when I found out he’d been between your legs, I’d wanted to put a bullet in his skull and dismember his body to feed to my pigs.
But I’m a smart man. A patient man. I knew I could use him somehow.
Once I did a bit of digging, I found out I’d had some business with his cousin.
In exchange for wiping our debts, his cousin brought him into the Fiach Clan and I sent him to Galway with a special delivery. ”
“You sent the bullet?”
He wound his way back to the doorway, his smirk like the cat who got the canary.
“But why? Your clan is allied with the Mac Tíre Clan.”
“My father’s clan is. Not mine .”
“I don’t?—”
“I’m starting my own clan, and with you by my side, Caitria, we will dominate.”
He was insane if he thought this would work.
“You don’t believe me?” he tsked.
“How can I work with you when you hold my sister captive?”
Owen shared a look with his Caddie before his frenzied expression returned to me. “You want me to let her go? I will, but you have to promise to stay with me.”
“Cait, no ,” Orla whispered, tugging on my hand. “Don’t do it.”
I spared a glance at my sister. She was the goodness that softened my darker edges.
I had to keep her out of this life for as long as I could.
She was almost eighteen. She could leave Dublin, but she wouldn’t if she knew I gave up my freedom for her.
Maybe Keir could take her back to Galway with him when he left.
At least then I’d know she’d be safe, well, at least safer than she was here.
“Release Orla and I’ll stay and discuss my terms with you.”
Owen folded his arms across his broad chest and smirked. “You’ll be mine?”
Hope flared in his eyes, and I knew this was my only chance. Keir said I bewitched him. Owen said I was his obsession. Yet I knew which affliction I wanted to claim.
“I’ll be yours, but you have to let Orla go. I have to see her leave with my own two eyes.”
Owen’s arms fell to his side as he strode forward and claimed my mouth.
His kiss was forceful, his lips hard against mine as his tongue intruded against my own.
He pressed one hand to my hip, his fingers digging in painfully, holding me close.
I gasped in surprise when I felt his erection pressing between my thighs, and my stomach revolted at the thought of anyone other than Keir touching me so intimately.
He broke the kiss, licking my lips, and looked smugly satisfied to be claiming his prize.
Resisting the urge to wipe the back of my hand over my mouth, I forced myself to give a coy smile. “Let’s get Orla on her way, then I can show you my appreciation.”
Owen’s pupils dilated, his cock twitching against me. “I can’t wait to break you, kitten.”
With another grin, he stepped away and looked at my sister. She flinched, cringing away from his gaze. With one final wary look in his direction, she turned to me.
“You don’t have to do this, Cait. We—we can find another way out of this.”
“This is the only way, Orla.”
Owen turned to the door, taking my hand in his and tugging me after him. Wincing in pain, I tried to communicate with Orla with my eyes, telling her to trust me. I could see that she didn’t understand, though, so I stuck out my pinky finger from my free hand, and prayed she understood.
Blood dripped from the end of the bat to splatter on the threadbare carpet in Orla’s bedroom.
My sister hadn’t made a noise after the first strike of the bat. I could only blame that on shock. I thought she’d hide her face, but she’d watched the whole time. What kind of eight-year-old would watch her older sister bludgeon her father to death? One who had already been through hell.
I looked at her, wiping at the blood on my face. “Are you okay?”
Her chartreuse eyes widened, but she nodded. “I’m okay,” she whispered.
“Did he touch you?”
“Not tonight.”
Not tonight, but other nights he had. I’d been too late.
“Not like that,” Orla rushed to explain. “He gave me massages after my football matches sometimes. Tonight was the first night he ? —”
The bat dropped from my slick fingers, landing with a muted thud and cutting her off. I couldn’t stand to hear her say anymore. “You’re safe now, Orla. He can’t come back and hurt you.”
Her gaze dipped for a second before I tipped her chin back up. “Don’t look at him. Please,” I begged. “Just … don’t…”
There was blood on her chin now, and I pulled the sleeve of my pajama top down to wipe it away.
She clutched my hand, pulling it away from her face. “What are you going to do, Cait?”
I knew what I should do, but what I was going to do was something different. “Do you trust me?”
“Always,” she replied fiercely. “Always.”
“Then I need you to keep this a secret. When the Garda come, tell them … tell them…” Fuck, what could she say that wouldn’t incriminate her? “Tell them you don’t know what happened. That we’d gone out and when we got home, I came upstairs while you stayed in the kitchen…”
She frowned. “Won’t they know that’s a lie?”
“Possibly but stick to the story. Nobody can dispute it.” I held out my pinky finger to her. “Promise you’ll stick to the story? Promise that you trust me?”
Without hesitation, she linked her pinky finger with mine. “I promise.”
Leaning forward, I kissed her forehead and disappeared from the room.
I knew I wouldn’t see her again. The memories I’d collected over the last eight years of her life were going to have to be enough.
Orla’s pinky finger twined with mine, and I blinked our current reality back into focus.
“Always,” she whispered.
“Always,” I repeated, relief flooding my veins.
“But please don’t disappear on me again,” Orla added quickly.
“I promise.”
Owen made a soft sound of derision as he released my hand. “Let’s go before all this sentimental bullshit changes my mind.”
Together, we followed Owen through the door and into a large barn-like space, while the Caddie came up behind us.
The scent of rotting hay bales intensified, and I covered my nose with the sleeve of my hoodie.
Tugging Orla after me, we moved through the dim, cavernous space until we reached a smaller door on the other side of the barn.
Owen stepped through it, and the rush of cool, clean air against my face was like heaven.
I inhaled deeply, hoping it could wash away the last few hours from my soul.
Dusk had fallen, the darkness of night chasing on its heels.
Soon, it would be so dark we’d barely be able to see our hands in front of us.
In the dying light, I saw the Rover I’d driven parked near a dry-stone wall, and I could’ve wept in relief.
“Say your goodbyes, kitten,” Owen told me. “Because afterwards, I’m going to claim what’s mine.”
A shiver tracked down my spine at the coldness in his words, a contrast to the heat blazing in his eyes. Striding forward, bringing Orla with me, I bit down on my bottom lip when she squeezed my fingers too tightly.
“Shit, sorry, Cait,” she said, realizing her mistake and releasing my hand.
I snatched it back, unwilling to let her go just yet. Leaving her the first time had almost ruined me; doing it again would annihilate me. But if it meant she’d be able to live without this threat hanging over her head, it was a sacrifice I would willingly make.
When we got to the Rover, I opened the door for her. The internal light was a weak yellow, but it illuminated enough of Orla’s traumatized face to know that what I was about to do was the right thing.
She scrambled into the seat, her breath heaving rapidly. Her wide eyes darted over my shoulder to where I knew Owen’s lackey was hovering.
“Jump in,” she whispered, panic heightening her voice. “Get in, Cait. I can drive us out of here. I can—” She stopped at the shake of my head. “What do you mean, no?”
“I’ve been on the run for almost ten years, Orla.
A decade .” As I sucked in a deep breath and released it, I felt the bone-deep weariness settle over me more firmly.
“I’m tired. So damned tired of this. All of this.
The running. The lies. Never being able to trust anyone completely and let them know the truth. ”
Thick tears fell from her eyes, running down her dirty cheeks. “I need you, Cait.”
Smiling despite the cracks shattering my heart, I pressed my forehead to hers. “You’ll always have me.” Reaching out, I placed my hand on her chest, over her heart. “In here.”
She clutched my hand. “I need you.”
The Caddie was suddenly there, his hands on my shoulders surprisingly gentle. “That’s enough,” he said. “Leave now, little mouse, or I get to keep you.”
Orla’s chartreuse eyes bulged, but I could see her resolve in the tightness of her jaw. She was going to fight.
Before she could open her mouth, I slammed the Rover’s door shut.
“Go,” I mouthed.
With a desperate swipe at her face, she cleared the tears from her eyes and started the engine. So slowly, I didn’t think she’d ever leave, she backed out of the driveway and disappeared down the road.