Chapter 25
Belle
The rumble of a low flying plane sends vibrations through the kitchen, but my body stills. I’m not expecting Barrett home, and the noise of the jet engine is louder than what I’m used to.
“Stay here,” I tell Piper as I race for the back door.
The sun’s in my eyes as I glimpse the silhouette of a plane disappearing behind the tree canopy that blocks the view of Barrett’s private landing strip. It’s coming in to land, and as I suspected, it isn’t the Emerson jet. I don’t know if that should make me relieved or more concerned.
There’s the distant screech of wheels as the jet touches down followed by the blast of an engine in reverse. It could be Ash making some grand statement. He’s already edgy about me staying here, but this seems a bit excessive. And he would have given me some warning.
I’m reaching for my cell phone when it starts to ring.
“Are you expecting visitors?” Jake demands.
It can’t be Ash if Jake’s been taken by surprise too. My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth and I struggle to answer. “I don’t know who they are.”
“Belle, I need you to grab Piper, get in your car and meet me at the gate. Now.”
“But shouldn’t I find out who–”
“Leave. Now,” he insists. “We’ll work out answers once I know you’re safe. Go!”
His final order jolts me into action, and I shove my cell back into my pocket as I race inside.
I skid to a halt in the kitchen. The chess set Piper had been playing with sits abandoned on the kitchen table, her empty chair at an angle.
The chess pieces are neatly arranged. There’s no sign of a struggle, and I would have heard her cry out if she’d been taken.
I have to remind myself that whoever’s on the plane will only now be disembarking. I’m panicking unnecessarily. Or am I?
I’m calling out Piper’s name as I rush towards the foyer. The house is too damn big, but as her name echoes high above me, I hear a reply.
“Up here, Mommy! Come see the plane.”
“I need you down here right this second!” I yell.
There’s only a fifty-fifty chance that my daughter will listen to me. And even if she does, she’ll take her precious time.
As I take the stairs two at a time, my cell phone rings again, but I don’t have time to answer. “Piper! Where are you?”
“I’m by the window,” she says as if it’s a stupid question.
I’m gasping for air through fear as much as exertion, but despite my heavy panting, I’m able to fix on Piper’s location from her voice. She’s on the third floor where there’s a window at the top of the stairs that gives an uninterrupted view across the estate.
Maybe I should take a look myself. Jake could be the one panicking, and if there is some simple explanation, my behavior is going to upset my plan of leaving quietly and without fuss.
My dress is sticking to the sweat on my back by the time I find Piper with her nose pressed to the window.
She’s wearing yellow leggings and t-shirt covered in daisies.
The sight of my little ray of sunshine would normally ease my heart, but at this precise moment, I forget all my complaints about her growing up too quickly. She looks so vulnerable.
I scoop her into my arms and hug her to me.
“Mommy!” she scolds with a gasp. “You scared me!”
“I gave you a fright?” I demand, but fear like I’ve never known grips me as I spot one of the estate’s Land Rovers pulling up in front of the mansion.
It’s one of our gardeners in the driving seat. Chris must have been asked to pick up the new arrivals, and since it wasn’t me who made that request, there’s only one other person it could be.
Barrett gets out of the front passenger seat and fixes his cuffs from beneath his suit before marching towards the house. There are other figures climbing out of the car, dark figures in tactical gear, and a woman who’s vaguely familiar, but I don’t waste time checking her out.
I spin around, Piper perched on my hip as I pull my phone from my pocket. The missed call was from Ash, and I dial his number while I’m creeping back down the stairs.
“It’s Barrett. He’s home,” I say, my voice a trembling whisper.
“Sweetheart, I need you to get to Jake,” Ash says breathlessly. He’s running.
“I can’t. Barrett’s here. And he’s brought armed men with him. I’m scared, Ash. Please, come get us,” I beg, turning my head to the side in the hope that Piper doesn’t listen in. But of course she does.
“What’s wrong, Mommy?”
“Nothing, honey. We’re going to be just fine,” I tell her, forcing a smile as I look back at her.
Footsteps echo in the foyer, growing louder as I descend to the second floor. I pause, waiting for them to disappear.
“I’m on my way, Belle,” Ash promises. “And Jake is about to break through the gates. Can you hide? Can you lock yourself away somewhere safe?”
“I don’t know. Maybe…”
Down below, Barrett hasn’t called out my name yet. If he and his friends are searching the lower floor, I might be able to sneak out. If I could reach the Land Rover, Chris could take me to Jake.
I take a chance and start creeping down the stairs. The staircase has a sweeping curve, and I’m still out of sight of the entrance when I hear a popping sound in the distance. It’s rapid gunfire.
“Mommy, what’s that noise?”
“Belle, lock yourself in a bathroom. Go now,” Ash says as gently as he can while clenching his jaw.
I’m about to retreat when a shadow creeps along the wall. Barrett appears a second later.
“There are you,” he says brightly.
“What the hell is going on, Barrett?”
He continues walking towards me, taking slow, purposeful steps. I can hear mutterings and curses down the line.
“Shouldn’t I be the one asking you that, darling?” he asks smoothly. “Is that my brother you’re whispering sweet nothings to?”
Wind scrapes across Ash’s microphone, and there’s the deafening sound of rotor blades whirring.
“I’m on my way, Belle!” he yells down the line.
“Don’t put yourself at risk, but get away from him.
Hide if you can. And if you can’t… Don’t fight back.
Stay safe. I will get to you. I swear I will. I love you both.”
Barrett snatches my cell from my hand before I can reply. He drops it over the side of the staircase and it shatters on the marble floor below. “See how easily I can break things?” he says, his gaze shifting slowly to Piper.
My daughter has her head pressed to my neck. Her thumb is in her mouth. She hasn’t done that since she was a toddler.
Barrett’s scent of overpriced cologne stings the back of my throat as I take deep breaths. I don’t know how I ever felt safe with him. He’s been wrapping me in spider’s silk, and what I thought was a cocoon, was my prison. And not only mine. Piper’s too.
“What do you want, Barrett?”
“What I’ve always wanted. For you to be a proper wife,” he says.
He makes a point of looking at my bare left hand.
My wedding band is on Barrett’s desk, a parting gift.
“We have a lot to discuss, but not here. And not in front of our daughter. I suspect what we have to say won’t be for a child’s ears. ”
Ash is on his way, and if that was gunfire, Jake could be here soon. I just need to wait it out. “If you want to talk, then fine, but we do it here.”
There are footsteps behind Barrett, and an armed man in black tactical gear appears. He completely ignores me, freezing me out with his ice blue eyes. “We’ve dealt with the issue at the gate.”
My legs turn to Jell-O. He has a Russian accent. And apparently he has the firepower to stop Jake from getting in. Was it warning shots I’d heard? Or have Jake and his men been hurt?
“Thank you, Oleg,” Barrett says. “Can you send Marina up to take care of Piper.”
I’d been backing away while Barrett was distracted, but now I turn and bolt for the safety of my bedroom. I’ll lock us in the bathroom. We just need to wait it out.
But how long will it take Ash to get here? He’s in Chicago. It’s going to take hours. And I don’t have hours.
Barrett grabs my ponytail, and as he yanks me back, I bend my elbow into a sharpened point and snap it back. When it connects with his face, he lets out a cry and releases his grip. I glimpse a spurt of blood from his nose, but I keep moving.
Piper sobs quietly in my arms as I run into my bedroom. I’m a step away from the bathroom when Barrett fists my hair again. This time when he pulls my head back, it’s only to slam my face against the bathroom door.
I’ve twisted Piper away so I take the full impact. Pain explodes across my nose and cheeks, and I see stars. I can’t run, and I can’t defend myself unless I let go of Piper. As I struggle against Barrett’s grip, I let my daughter slip down my body.
“Lock yourself in the bathroom!”
“But Mommy,” she sobs.
“Piper, do as your told! Now!” I yell, louder than I’ve ever yelled at her before. Now is not the time for a fifty-fifty chance of being obeyed.
My daughter howls as she slips into the bathroom and slams the door behind her. As I turn to face Barrett, I hear the lock engage. I claw at Barrett’s face, but he bats my hands away before my fingernails can connect with skin. Fury rises in me, and I make a fist.
I’m pulling back my arm, ready to strike when Barrett backhands me, sending me flying across the room. I’m scrambling to my feet when he grabs my hair again. His other hand comes to my throat as he keeps me kneeling in front of him. His grip is possessive, and I can barely breathe.
Blood smears Barrett’s face as he laughs. “You have no idea how many times I’ve dreamt of getting you in this position, Belle.”
Don’t fight back, Ash had said, but where has that ever got me? I’ve been listening to Barrett for too long, accepting everything he’s said or done. No more.
“You’ll never measure up to your brother,” I say, arching an eyebrow as I glance at his zipper. He actually has a hard-on.
Barrett’s expression darkens as he squeezes my throat tighter. “You take me, or no one, Belle.”
Like that’s a difficult choice. “Then I choose no one,” I answer back with a croak as my airway narrows. I gasp between words. “You sicken… me, Barrett. I know it was… your bank that foreclosed… on my loan. And I know what you did… to Ethan.”
Tighter and tighter, he squeezes until blackness threatens my vision. I’m lifted up by my hair and neck, and as I try to find my footing, Barrett catapults me backwards. I land on my bed, gasping for air.
“I saved you from that marriage!” he roars, climbing on top of me.
Barrett straddles my hips and pins my arms over my head. Blood drips from his nose and onto my cheek as he leans over. I twist my head away, but he takes both my hands in one of his, and uses the other to grab my chin.
“But it’s time you saw who I am,” he hisses. “I killed for you, Belle. And it was a mercy to end Ethan’s sad and miserable life.”
I let out a whimper. “You killed him?”
There’s a flicker of confusion in Barrett’s eyes. When I’d said I knew about the gambling trap, he’d mistook it for me knowing about a far worse crime. He killed Ethan?
As disgust and guilt overwhelm me, Barrett puffs out his chest. He’s proud of what he did.
“He was a hard man to bring down,” he says.
“It surprised me how resilient he was given what he told me about his PTSD. Well, he told some random guy he started talking to online. We had quite a bromance. I heard all about how he couldn’t satisfy you in bed. ”
Barrett grinds his erection against my stomach, and I resist the urge to gag.
“You know how he got into debt, right?” he asks, then continues when he receives no more than a glare. “Of course you do. Ash has been filling your head with all kinds of nonsense.” He leans closer, spittle flying when he asks, “Is that all he’s been filling my wife with?”
Don’t fight back. Stay safe.
“No,” I answer with a defiant smile.
Barrett rears up, releasing my hands so he’s free to pull back his arm. He slaps me so hard that my teeth clack, and my head snaps to the side.
“Either you learn to respect and obey me, Belle, or I’ll destroy you,” he growls. “Ash can’t help you. He’s not here. And his men are no match for mine.”
I taste blood, but I swallow it back. “How could you go back to working with the Russians?” I ask, ignoring everything else he’s said. Ash will come.
“I don’t work for anyone. Oleg and what’s left of Ilya’s army work for me now. I’m untouchable.”
He remains kneeling over me, resting back on his haunches as he enjoys his moment of power. And it is only a moment. I punch him hard in the groin and he tumbles back. As he attempts to curls into a ball, he falls off the bed. I leap up and head straight for the bathroom.
“Piper, let me in!” I shout just as two thick arms wrap around my chest.
Barrett’s still groaning on the floor. It’s the other man. Oleg.
I’m lifted off the ground with my arms pinned to my sides. I kick back against his legs, but then I hear a sound that freezes the blood in my veins. It’s the soft click of the bathroom door unlocking.