16. Chapter 16
Chapter 16
Naomi
T he next morning I wake up in an even worse mood than I was in when I went to bed. I spent all night tossing and turning, thinking about the damn chess game. It’s not that I mind losing, but it felt like a metaphor for how I feel here. I’m supposed to be taking the king down. Instead, every time I think I get closer to my objective, he makes a counter-move and it’s a draw again. Meanwhile, I’m over here spending time with my captors and getting further confused about my mission. Things aren’t adding up. What if it wasn’t Killian? All of this back and forth is driving me insane. The last thing I want to do is kill the wrong person. Like Killian, I have a code.
Knowing I need to run to clear my head, I go down to the dining room. I grab a banana and immediately turn to walk out, not wanting to give any more acknowledgement to Killian and Axel. “I’m going for a run in the training room.”
“We can — ” Killian starts.
“I want to be alone,” I say simply, but I hide behind the wall when I’m out of sight.
“She’s acting weirder than usual,” Killians says.
Axel responds, “I mean, what's usual for someone who’s being held against their will?”
“Shut up.”
“You know what I mean. But nothing about her is usual. I expected her to run for the door or windows a dozen times since she got here. She hasn’t tried anything. Just stoically waiting like she’s playing the long game,” Axel says.
“I think you’re right,” Killian admits.
“What do you think it could be?” Axel asks before taking a swig of orange juice.
“I think we need to help her find peace with her mother’s death.”
“I thought — ” Axel cuts him off.
“I know it’s a lot of work, but we need to give her closure.”
Tears sting my eyes, I can’t hear any more of this—it just further confuses my brain. I rush down to the training room.
What would closure look like? Does that mean he’s telling the truth and didn’t kill my mom? Does that mean he’s lying to trick me? I don’t fucking know.
“Hey, Belle!” I hear Axel call out as he enters the gym.
My heart’s beating fast, and my breathing is slightly erratic from running on the treadmill. “Hi,” I say back, but I can’t look in his direction after yesterday or with all of these questions swirling around in my head.
Without another word he puts a workout playlist on the speakers and jumps on another treadmill near me. The only noise is from the beat of the music. And we run.
Not sure what he’s running from. But my feet move faster and faster as my brain crushes me with the guilt I have. Guilt for not finishing this for my mother. Guilt for potentially hurting Axel for no reason.
When we stop thirty minutes later, we’ve run in silence to the point of exhaustion.
My muscles ache, but what hurts more is the feeling of letting my mom down. Instead of focusing on that, I focus on what I can control and fix in this moment to subside my guilt. “Axel,” I say as I jump off the treadmill and grab a towel to wipe my face. “I’m sorry for yesterday.”
“Nai — ” he starts as he climbs off his treadmill.
I hold up my hand. “No, I was angry. And yes, you and Killian are utter assholes for keeping me here, but I have my own shit to work through. And neither of those things excuse how I treated you after you confided in me.” I move closer to him and reach for his hand to hold. “You do deserve love. Just maybe don’t kidnap the person to find it.”
He smiles at me. “What ever will I do instead?” he jokes.
“I don’t know, maybe ask them out like a normal person? Or one of a million other things?”
“I don’t do normal, Belle. I don’t think you do either.”
I shrug. “Maybe not. Normal’s overrated.”
“That it is.”
We both head to the fridge to grab some bottles of water. “Do you still talk to any of your family?”
“No, I used to talk to my great-aunt only, but she passed away a few years ago. She didn’t like any of the family, so it was us black sheep herded together.” He snorts a pitiful laugh.
“That sounds nice. Like your own club.” I tap on the water bottle before asking the next question, not sure if I should. “If your parents basically disowned you, how are you rich? Or is it just — ”
“Killian funding my life?” he laughs out. “No, my great-aunt named me the beneficiary for all of her assets and estate. So, even through all the loss and abandonment, I ended up staying filthy rich.”
“I guess that’s a plus.” I laugh too. Looking toward him with sincere eyes I add, “It’s hard losing people you love.” His family may not have died, but that abandonment still hurts, even when they’re assholes. “But it’s nice to have someone who’s your person. Quinnly is that for me.” I miss her and wish she was here to help me through this.
“Thinking of it that way isn’t so bad.” Axel smiles as he seems to have a distant thought—probably memories of his aunt. “Your sister seems like a good time.”
I raise my eyebrows at him in warning.
“I didn’t mean it like that, not that she wouldn’t be. It’s just that we’ve seen her around while looking into you. I meant she looks like a fun friend to have,” he says, throwing his arms up.
“She’s the absolute best friend to have. The most judgmental non-judgmental person to have in your corner.”
“Sounds like Killian for me—my found family.”
I smile at the masterpiece I created in the form of the brutally beaten man tied to a chair. It’s been so hard to get away to kill this asshole with Killian watching my every move, but I made sure to do it when he and Axel were away for a conference. I knew he wouldn’t trust anyone else to watch me, but even so, I took extra precautions and am away myself.
“Wake up!” I demand.
Martin’s eyes flutter open. “Please,” he mutters softly.
“No. I asked you three times.”
“I’m sorry,” he cries out.
I roll my eyes at him as I kneel down and use my scalpel to go into the open cavity in his arm and sever another nerve. “I would’ve let it go after punching you. But then I decided to do a little research, Marty; you never take no for an answer.”
“Wh-what?”
“There’s a long string of people who said ‘No’ to you, but you took it upon yourself to hear ‘Yes.’ So now I get to say ‘No’ to you. No, you won’t be making it out of here.”
“Please! Fuck! Pleeeease!” he yells.
I swipe down all of his major arteries. I’ve had my fun with him, now he’ll bleed out in a few moments.
There’s a creak from the floorboards of this creepy abandoned house. Fuck, who is that? My heart starts rapidly beating.
“Naomi!” my sister sing-songs, releasing the building anxiety.
“In here.”
“Nice! Looks like you had all the fun without me. Is this what you’re gonna do to Killian?” she asks.
I smirk at her. “No, he’s gonna get it much worse.”
I walk to where the bench for the weighted workouts is. “Do you kill with him?” I ask as I take a seat.
“Uh, yes and no. I support him if he needs it, and will kill out of necessity to keep our activities a secret. But it’s not something I seek out.” He pauses a moment before coming to sit next to me. “Killian, on the other hand, is — ”
“Earns his nickname— Killer, ” I finish for him.
Leaning forward on his knees, holding the water bottle with both hands, he looks up at me. “Yeah, that he does.”
I wonder if he knows about my mother. “Do you know about his early kills? When he first started?”
He turns his face at an angle. “Why do you want to know?”
I stammer out some bullshit I pull out of my ass. “Oh, ‘cause he’s clearly into the violent side of his nature. The doctor in me is curious how that looked when he was young.”
“Hmm. Okay,” he says, clearly not buying it. “I think he should be the one to tell you this, not me.”
“He started to,” I say faster than I need to, “yesterday in his trophy room, but it became a lot so I needed a moment.”
“Oh, he took you down there already?”
“Yeah, so I was just curious.” Internally I’m crossing my fingers and toes that he buys that, and gives me some information I can use.
“He started when he was eighteen,” Axel says. That would put him at the right age and timeframe. “It was a regretful kill for him though. Leaving that little girl all alone for no reason.”
“He regretted it?”
“Oh yeah. He made sure that the girl went to a good foster home, and he's been watching her from afar. She’s thriving now, even with the tragedy at such a young age.” He didn’t mention this stuff when he spoke about that man. Remembering the pocket watch he showed me, it had a picture of a couple and two kids. Not a single daughter. My heart skips a beat as I realize the slip-up Axel just had without even noticing. I’m a single daughter who lost my mother at a young age. One who ended up with the best family with every opportunity to help lead me to being a top surgeon in New York City.
“Does he have contact with her?” I ask.
“He — ” His godforsaken phone rings at that exact moment. I see the screen when he pulls it out of his pocket. It’s a Detective Garrison calling him. “Sorry Naomi, I have to take this.” He quickly gets up and heads out. “One second, going to move for some privacy,” I hear him say as he moves down the hallway.
Of course they have the police force in their fucking billionaire pockets. They covered it all up. And now they’re trying to lure me into their club as some sort of sick statement.
Getting the daughter of one of his victims to fall in love with him.
Axel just gave me all the proof I’ve been looking for to make my move.
Checkmate.