Chapter 5
Cora
My hand shakes as I take the thick stone stairs toward the front door. I glance over my shoulder at Rune’s driver as he pulls the SUV around the back of the house. The entire drive here, Conner kept glancing at me in the rearview, no doubt wondering if Rune did this to me.
I wonder whether it bothers him. Seeing me so many times over the years with bruises or a fucked-up face.
I doubt it. He’s never said a damn thing as he’s driven me home from a visit with Rune, my face still streaked with tears because Rune got a little too rough with me yet again.
Conner probably thinks it comes with the territory.
Men like Rune do what they want. It’s their world, and I’m trapped in it.
Little does he know I stay for Delly. For Clyde. And now for the men.
They need me.
Which is why I’ve taken great pains to ensure no one saw me return to my condo.
The taxi dropped me off at the park, and I walked the two blocks, then took the side entrance so the doorman wouldn’t spot me, then rode the service elevator up to my floor.
I stayed long enough to shower and change, then called for Rune’s driver, making sure I was in my condo when I powered on my phone in case whatever tracking method Rune uses can pinpoint my exact location.
After what he did, his paranoia must be through the roof, which means I need to tread carefully.
Rune knows I’ll return to him. The first time Rune hit me, the second Clyde saw my face, he screamed and raged, threatening to rain hell on whoever touched me.
I lied and said I was mugged outside a club I snuck into.
The number of times I’ve covered for Rune sickens me.
But I’ll do it again, because this time, I’m not protecting Rune’s dirty secret. I’m protecting Clyde’s.
Which is why I’m here, walking up the driveway, my heart in my throat, pressing the code into the keypad on the door. Opening it and stepping into the large foyer.
Calling his name.
“Papa?” My voice echoes around the large space. Right when I turn to shut the door, he appears. My insides rattle almost as violently as his touch.
Rune steps from his office and moves toward me, his brows pinched like he’s shocked—concerned even—about what he sees.
Like he’s not the one who bashed my head into my floor and forced himself on me.
Like he isn’t the reason I’m battered and bruised and trembling, standing in the home of the only place I could go in order to keep everyone around me safe.
“Cora,” he breathes, cupping my face. “My sweet girl.”
He looks so sad, and there’s a part of me that wants to laugh because how dare he look so fucking wounded.
He tucks me to his chest, and I have to clench my jaw to keep from screaming. He’s still wearing the same clothes. The same tie, same pants. I bet my scent clings to him. I bet my anguish and his cum still cover his dick.
“God.” Rune pulls away, eyes moving from my cheek to the bruise on my forehead. The sadness that was there vanishes, his mask slipping off since no one is here to witness. “You’re a mess.”
“I’m sorry,” I say, and my voice trembles. I don’t have to act. The tearing sensation in my chest gets harder and harder to bear each time I return to him, begging for forgiveness, for sins I never committed.
“I fucking hate this,” he says, voice rough, verging on callous. “You make me so angry, and look?”
“I’m sorry I made you mad.” I drop my eyes to the floor, flexing my fingers to keep from balling them into a fist and smashing it into his face.
I’m here to grovel. To forgive him. Be his forgiveness to himself maybe.
I wonder now if that is what I have always been.
An outlet for his anger. Not just at my mother but at himself.
I wonder too, if over the years, I became the place he goes when he needs to repent for all his sins.
He ruins me, and I give him the gift of my forgiveness.
I keep quiet. Say nothing. I cover up his marks. Keep a smile on my face.
Be his sweet Cora and absorb his violence with barely a whimper.
But this is the last time.
I’m going to ruin him before he destroys me.
“Come here,” he says, pulling me toward the kitchen.
Rune flicks the light on as we enter and pulls out a chair, motioning for me to sit.
Those eyes soften slightly as he scans me, then brushes his fingers over my hair.
This is what makes it all so confusing. He almost looks like the loving man who raised me.
“You certainly know how to anger me,” he says. “Zane called the wedding off, and I saw everything I worked for, all my connections, falling apart.”
“What do I do?” I ask. “To change Zane’s mind?”
Please, say nothing.
“Nothing,” Rune says. He steps back, eyes falling to between my thighs. Fear sparks, making my heart race, but he pats my head, then gathers a mug and a box of tea from the cabinet. “I’m angry, but we have more important matters to tend to than Zane’s ego.”
Like the Snyder Group.
And that Breaker put Zane in the hospital.
“How is he?” I ask.
Rune fills the kettle and places it on the stovetop. “The surgery went well, but he needs time to heal.”
I bite my lip to keep from smiling, but my glee evaporates when Rune turns, his eyes locking onto mine. Cold. Sharp. The kitchen suddenly feels too small, the walls closing in as he continues to stare at me in silence.
Rune pulls the chair from the table and it screeches through the room. He sits down and last night blasts through me, hitting me so hard that I have to take a breath.
When he rubs my back, I force myself not to flinch.
Rune terrifies me in a way that no other person ever has.
I may have been able to appease him by spreading my legs in the past, but last night proved that tactic won’t work anymore.
Yet, there's an eerie stillness to him this morning, setting my teeth on edge.
Like he poured all his rage into me last night, emptied himself of all his meanness.
His fingers weave into a curl and he pulls it tight, then lets it spring free. “Why did Zane call it off?” he asks. “You said you don’t know why, but I have a feeling that’s a lie.”
My throat closes up, and my brain empties.
I blink, suddenly not knowing how to act.
What would I do if I wasn’t lying? It’s hard to say, because I’m usually lying—yes Papa, I’m fine, yes papa I want to play, yes Papa, that feels good—whenever I’m around Rune.
But none of that will work. Not with how he’s scrutinizing my every movement.
I would wonder why this is harder now, but I know the answer.
There’s too much at stake.
I lick my lips, unsealing them, and lie. “I don’t know.” My voice wavers slightly on the last word. Rune’s eyes narrow slightly. “Like I said before, I’m clueless. I didn’t know he called it off until you told me.”
My gaze drops to my lap, clasping my hands tightly together, willing them not to shake as fear runs jagged nails up my back. I’m too tense and we both know it. Rune grips my chin, forcing my focus back on him.
“You better not be lying,” he says, voice gentle, but I hear the threat. His hand drops and he settles back in his seat with a smile that makes my gut churn. When he meets my eyes again, there’s that slick look to them that always makes my insides crawl.
Heat. Lust. The knowledge that he can use me as he sees fit and I don’t protest. Not usually.
Because when I do, it never ends well for me.
And after he’s put me back in my place, he knows I’ll crawl to him, on hands and knees if need be, apologies and promises to obey spilling along with my tears, just to get back into his good graces.
“Come here, sweet girl,” Rune says, hand slipping into my hair.
He pulls me close and presses his lips to my forehead.
That old combination of fragile hope that maybe he’ll change, tinged with disgust, rattles my heart.
These moments always confused me before.
But I know he’s truly incapable of love.
He’s never loved me. And Delly is simply his shining gold star he has controlled as much as me, just differently.
But not anymore.
Rune leans back, looking into my eyes. “You’re going to make this up to me.”
My heart drops to my feet.
“When I ask something of you, you will do it. Right?”
I nod, my jaw clenched to stop the tears. “Yes, Papa,” I whisper. “Anything.”
“Good,” he says, patting my head, and relief floods me. It wouldn’t have been the first time Rune took me after hurting me to the point of bruises. He’s just never done it in the kitchen where anyone would catch him.
Behind us, the kettle screams, and I jolt so hard my knees hit his. With another dark look my way, Rune eases from the chair, then pours steaming water into the mug. He sets it down in front of me with a loud clink that crashes through the kitchen.
“He refused the amount I offered,” Rune says, watching me. “Another fucking game.”
“What?” I ask sharply, sitting upright. “They asked for money?”
He cocks his head to the side, looking at me strangely. “He sent me a letter. An actual letter. Handwritten, refusing the amount I offered.”
Money? I wrap my hands around the mug, letting the warmth center me, absorbing this.
“I didn’t hear from him for weeks,” he says. “It took Zane demanding your return to get him to respond. I offered money for her from the beginning, but he refused, saying it wasn’t enough.”
Because he doesn’t want a ransom.
“Now he’s gone dark again, refusing to communicate,” Rune says. “I even offered a larger amount. But no response means he’s refusing to negotiate.”
Bile rises in my throat, the one word rattling in my head, in my ribcage, against my heart, watching numbly as Rune pulls eggs from the fridge.
Negotiate.
I swallow the rising wave of fury, picturing their father’s face. The cold man with icy eyes and gray hair. The one who’s controlling this entire game.
The one who ordered them to send me back.
Lifting the mug to my mouth, I glance at Rune. “Did they say they wanted money for us? Those men?”
He makes a sound in his throat. “Who fucking knows what they want? I don’t know why he took you to begin with.”
Because they wanted me.
“And now that they don’t have you, they are playing games.
Negotiating a price for her release, then going silent.
The greedy bastard took you, probably thinking he could rob me blind, but he didn’t know about the arrangement with Zane.
Not until we made it clear it was set in stone before he took you.
” He pats my head. “I knew I’d get you back. There was never negotiating for you.”
“He?” I ask. “You mean the man who brought me back? He didn’t know about the marriage?”
Rune shakes his head. “The big one.”
Reaper.
“Did he say they wanted money for Delly?” I ask, meeting his eyes. “Is that why they took her?”
A smile cuts across his face, stained with cruelty. “He just wants to scare me,” he says. “But he doesn’t realize I know he’d never hurt my girl. He didn’t have it in him the first time.”