Chapter Thirty
Hayes
I storm back into the house as the SUV pulls out of sight. My feet pace back and forth at the kitchen bar.
All my men stand at my attention waiting to see what I do next.
“Sir,” Alan says, and I snap my head up searing my eyes into him. “We are going to get her back. You have trained her, and Maxwell will do what he can on his end. She will be okay.”
My nose is almost touching his before I notice the fist I have clenched at my side, “So help me, she better make it back in one piece or I will burn this whole fucking world down.”
I look around at all the men; their heads hang low. They obviously are as worried about Olivia as I am.
“Who the fuck let her out of that room anyway?” I snarl.
“I put her in there per protocol,” Alan starts, “I gave her my pistol as a weapon, just in case we were ambushed. None of us knew they had you, sir. We just knew something had happened and to be on alert. She got out herself.”
I take a deep breath, remembering the past few hours after leaving her here alone going to the office.
I was sent a text that Ellie needed to speak to me about her two weeks notice and that it could not wait.
I sat down in my office like usual, reviewing some reports and had just phoned into the bar area requesting she come meet with me.
A few moments later, there was a knock at the door and Ellie was not the one on the other side. Instead, Ashton and his goons walked right into my office and ambushed me so fast I never had time to reach for my gun.
One of his men tied my hands together, taped my mouth, and placed a bag over my head. I was shoved into a vehicle and the next thing I know, I am standing in front of my front yard with my men pointing guns at us.
I knew Ashton would be out for blood knowing I had her after the alley that night, but he should have never been able to get inside Club Rose.
I shouldn’t be mad at my men, I knew they would protect Olivia. I knew Alan would literally put his life on the line to protect her. We had that talk a few days prior. He assured me that other than myself, she was the main priority. I made him promise me that if it came down to me or her, to save her at all costs. Even though I know he wanted to disagree, he finally shook my hand on it.
Olivia is stubborn, but I would have never guessed the scared little doe I brought into my house that first night would be the bear I saw coming out of my front door sacrificing herself for my release.
My dick throbs.
She looked like a queen, walking out of the door, fully confident in what she was about to do. Knowing she may be risking death itself to protect her King and her Kingdom.
My father and mother would have loved this woman.
I step back from Alan, finally coming into reality. “She has been training. She is not as weak as she looked. I have faith in knowing she will put up a fight.” I take a deep breath. “But we can’t risk going to get her now. Ashton will be on high alert. My guess is he will be entering her again in this upcoming auction Saturday night.”
I pace back and forth at the bar again, thinking of a plan.
“What do you want to do, Sir?” Alan asks me hesitantly this time.
My feet halt and I turn to face my security, standing tall as I address my soldiers ready to go into battle with me to save my Queen. “We will go into the auction as we would any raid. She knows the plan, she knows we are coming.”
I turn to Alan, “Can you get some special instructions for your brother to get to her privately?”
He nods, “Yes sir.”
I take a deep breath, more relaxed now knowing this may have worked out in our favor, to save Olivia and the other women. “Okay men. This is what we are going to do. Listen closely, we cannot afford any mistakes this time.”
My men crowd around me at the bar as I lay out a paper and grab a pen from a nearby drawer.
Ashton doesn’t know it yet, but his days are numbered.
No one takes what is mine and gets out alive.
***
Olivia
B REATHING IN THROUGH my nose, allowing the air to expand my lungs, and slowly letting it out through my mouth, I try to calm my heart rate down.
I know what I have done. I know the consequences. I know I may not make it out alive, but I could not let them kill Hayes.
The man saved my life and gave me a whole new meaning to what it means to truly live .
Mememto Vivere — Remember to live, Olivia. Hayes’ words ring in my thoughts as I try to slow my breathing.
“This is just business, Olivia. How about we just forget about all of this and get you ready for the auction on Saturday?” Frances’ voice rises from the front seat.
I stay quiet while he starts a conversation with his driver and turn my head to the world outside the window.
Cars pass us, I notice the ones with the windows down are either smiling, dancing, or having conversations with their passengers.
They all look happy and not a care in the world. Is it not surreal how we could be passing someone in our everyday life, and we have no idea the life they live?
These people have no clue the punishment I am about to walk into—our car is just someone passing them as they are on their way to their destination. We all really do have our own lives we are living and just passing by one another.
It feels like an eternity later when we are pulling up to the iron gates of my father’s estate. The driver rolls down the window, types the code into the gates, and they swing open. The SUV slowly drives through, and creaky sounds echo from the iron gates as they close behind us.
A sudden stop under the awning of the breezeway and my door is jerked open. Someone puts their hand around my forearm, and I’m being forced out of my seat, making my feet land on the gravel below harder than normal.
“Welcome home, Princess,” my father says to me walking around the front of the Escalade.
I snarl, looking at the man whose hand is on me tightly. “I’m thrilled.”
“I know you are,” he snickers and looks at the guy holding on to me. “Put her in the basement.”
My heart falls to my feet, “What?”
“You really didn’t think I’d let you have your room again?” He chuckles, “I’m not stupid, Olivia. You are not to be trusted until you give me what I want.”
“And what is that?” I ask.
“You’ll find out eventually. For now, some time alone will do you some good.”
He walks off to the front door while his men force me to the back of the house where the entry to the basement is. It was a place I was never allowed to go in the house. It’s locked with padlocks and only a select few of his security have the key to get in.
Taking the locks off the door, it creaks as it opens, and I am being thrown to the dirt ground. I cough, inhaling the dirt around me, and the guy’s chuckle. “Wouldn’t it be fun to play with her?” one of them grins to the other.
My body tenses; please, no.
A loud bang at the door gets their attention and makes me jump, “Ashton needs you two. Now.”
Both guys look at one another, concerned, and turn to the man at the door, “Maxwell.” He pauses and looks back at me. “She is going to be fun to play with, isn’t she?”
Maxwell grabs the man by his shirt and brings him to his face, which is about another foot from his, “Are you refusing an order from your superior? Last time I checked, I was the one in charge other than Ashton himself. I would get out of my sight before I bust your head into the wall, Timothy.”
Timothy gulps, “Okay grumpy ass.” He turns his head to the other guy. “We can come back later.”
He hits the ground with a thud, “If I catch word that you come into this place without mine or Ashton’s permission, I will have you tied up down here and killed. Do you understand?”
They both run out like little puppy dogs.
Maxwell helps me up and my arms go around him in a tight hug. Pulling back from him I notice he is fighting back tears. “Miss Olivia. I was so worried about you.”
“Hayes told me everything, Maxwell. I am so sorry my father is the way he is. Thank you for protecting me all these years.”
He gives me a soft grin. “It has been my pleasure. I have been given a message to relay to you.”
I look at him, confused. He clears his throat, “I have been instructed to tell you, ‘Little doe, stay alive and stick to the plan. You are not alone’.”
My eyes well with tears, “Thank you, Maxwell.”
Hope swells in my chest. Come hell or high water, I know Hayes will get his way. Even if he must burn everyone and everything in the process. He will get me back.”
Maxwell looks back to the door and then back at me, “I am sorry I cannot get you out right now. I’m going to have to play my part if we both want to live.”
I nod, understanding. Looking up at him again with a grin, a new-found adrenaline pumps through my veins. The plan is still a go; Ruth, Gloria, my mother, and all the women from the Hope House can have their justice still.
“Then let’s give them a fucking show.”
This might just work after all.