Chapter 27
Belle
Oleg presses me against my bedroom wall and ties my hands behind my back with zip ties, pulling them tight enough to cut into my skin. The pain is nothing compared to watching my terrified daughter being hauled out of the bathroom by Barrett.
“Where’s Marina?” he barks at Oleg.
A woman clears her throat from just outside the door. “I’m here, Sir.”
Barrett shoves Piper in the direction of the voice. “Take her.”
Piper’s eyes widen. “No! I want my mommy!” she says, biting down hard on Barrett’s hand to escape his grasp.
With a cry, he shoves her away, and Piper runs. Straight to me. Oleg squashes my face harder into the wall, his other hand between my shoulder blades to keep me pinned there as Piper clings to my leg.
“Mommy, I don’t like this!”
“It’s going to be OK, honey,” I say. “Help’s coming. These bad men won’t stand a chance.”
Oleg uses my hair to pull my head back and slam it into the wall again. “Don’t be too sure about that.”
I grit my teeth through the pain as my daughter whimpers. “I’m OK, Piper,” I reassure her. “We’re going to get through this.”
“Belle, if you don’t get this fucking child to do as she’s told, I’ll deal with her myself,” Barrett snaps.
“Touch her and I’ll kill you,” I hiss. If Ash doesn’t get to him first.
“I can do what I want with her,” he says with more confidence than I’d like. “She’s my daughter too, remember? And I have enough judges in my corner who’ll ensure I get sole custody if I so choose, so don’t test me.”
I hate that he’s probably right. “Go to hell.”
“There really is no reasoning with you when you’re being hysterical,” he complains. “Marina, get in here and take the damn child!”
When the middle-aged woman appears, I finally recognize her. She’s the nanny we’d interviewed over a Zoom call. From the way she’s trembling, she isn’t too happy with the appointment either.
“This isn’t what I signed up for,” she says.
“Then you should have read the small print and the NDA when you took the money,” Barrett says, gesturing to where Piper still clings to me. “Suck it up and do your job.”
Marina’s hesitant as she reaches for Piper. She won’t look at Oleg. Or me. “Come along, little one. I won’t hurt you.”
Her gentle voice is a small crumb of comfort as our new nanny peels Piper from my leg. My baby’s eyes are wide with terror as she takes in my injured face. Moving my split lip is painful, but I try to smile. “I’ll be right behind you.”
Oleg yanks me off the wall as Piper is led away and out of sight. “Are we good to go?” he asks Barrett.
“I don’t think there’s anything else I need, but I might check the office. I have a feeling the Griffins will invade my property just for the fun of it. And I don’t want Mace finding anything he can use to his advantage.”
Oleg keeps hold of my neck to guide me out of the bedroom and towards the stairs. “Don’t bother,” he says. “Tell us which room, and we’ll throw a grenade in there.” He shakes me like a rag doll. “We can put her in there too if you’d like.”
“I don’t want anything blown up,” Barrett hisses, sounding almost as shocked by the suggestion as I am. “And as for Belle, may I remind you that she’s my wife.”
Oleg laughs. “It’s not me you need to remind, it’s this bitch,” he says, marching me down the stairs almost too fast for my legs to keep up. It’s like he’s willing me to fall. “I wouldn’t take a woman back after she’d been fucked by my brother.”
“You were listening to our conversation?” Barrett asks.
“It’s my job to watch your back,” Oleg says in a soft tone that curdles my stomach. “And from experience, I’d say this one’s going to be harder to break than you realize.” His pointer finger strokes my neck. “But if you need help, I have some tried and tested methods.”
I can’t see Barrett’s face as he follows us, but I imagine he’s as horrified as I am. Until he speaks. “I hope you’re paying close attention, Belle,” he says. “I might just take Oleg up on his offer if you don’t start complying.”
As much as I want to tell Barrett to go fuck himself, we’re only half way down the sweeping staircase, and I don’t want to give Oleg a reason to throw me down the rest of the way. I hold my tongue and concentrate on Piper’s faint cries. She’s already outside.
“I said I need to check my office,” Barrett says when Oleg marches me towards the doors.
There’s a crackle of radio waves as someone speaks in Oleg’s earpiece.
He answers in Russian before pushing me into sunlight.
I blink away tears as I glimpse Piper being lifted into one of our Land Rovers.
If it’s the same one that Barrett had arrived in earlier, it now has bullet holes in the rear passenger door.
“We need to get moving,” Oleg says. “The Griffins’ men may have lost their leader, but they’re preparing another attack.”
I swallow my gasp. Jake’s dead?
Oleg’s mouth comes closer to my ear. “Still think your lover boy can take us on?”
I’m forced into the seat directly in front of Piper. Marina had strapped her in, but Piper releases the buckle and her arm reaches from behind to wrap around my neck. I turn to look at her, but it’s Marina’s eye I catch first. She’s about to haul Piper back into her seat.
“Please, let her be.”
She nods, and her voice is almost inaudible when she says. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”
Oleg and Barrett are slower getting into the car. I see Barrett pointing to a window in the west wing of the mansion. Oleg shoots out the glass and one of his men launches a grenade through the broken window. We’re driving away at speed when an explosion sends dust and gravel raining down on us.
I kiss Piper’s arm, offering what little comfort I can while I remain bound. Barrett scowls at this small display of affection from the seat next to me. I can see now how he’s always been jealous of the love I give to his brother’s child.
If only I could get free, I’d beat him with my fists, gouge his eyes and cut out his tongue. I know Ash will want to do the same, or worse. I can’t imagine what’s going through his mind at this moment. He’s on his way. But we’ll be long gone by the time he gets here.
“Where are you taking us?”
“Somewhere warm and secluded,” Barrett says cryptically.
“Where no one will hear you scream, whore,” Oleg shouts back from the front passenger seat.
Piper strokes my shoulder. “Love you, Mommy,” she whispers.
“I love you too, honey.” I hold Barrett’s gaze. I might not be able to hurt him physically, but I can deal blows in other ways. “And I love your daddy too.”
We’ve pulled up in front of the jet that Barrett has presumably hired secretly so he could fly here undetected.
I know Mace has been monitoring Barrett’s movements, but how good is he?
Will he be able to track where we go next?
Or will Piper and I be completely at Barrett’s, or more likely, Oleg’s mercy?
I’m dragged out of the Land Rover and fight Oleg’s iron grip as he pulls me towards the jet.
Piper breaks free from Marina and comes alongside me, but I wish she wouldn’t follow.
If she could get to the woodland that skirts the landing strip, she could hide.
And with Oleg so eager to set off, there would be no time to chase after her.
For this briefest moment, time is on our side.
I drop to the ground, halting our progress long enough to whisper in Piper’s ear. “When everyone’s distracted, run to the trees and hide until help arrives.”
Oleg hauls me to my feet and his hand rears back to strike, but Barrett intervenes.
“She’s mine,” he hisses. “I deal out the punishment. Not you.”
With a shrug, Oleg shoves me towards my husband. “You’re welcome to her.”
Barrett drags me up the dozen metal steps to the open jet door, and Oleg follows.
Marina and Piper are still on the asphalt.
This is my last chance. I wait until I reach the very top step, and with a cry of rage, I ram my shoulder hard against Barrett, hoping to push him over the side.
He has a hand on the rail and although I knock the air from his lungs, he stays on his feet.
He turns on me so fast that I reel backwards. Barrett’s hand shoots out instinctively to catch me, fisting the neck of my summer dress.
“You fucking bitch!” he yells, his eyes wide. “Why do I even put up with you?”
My arms would be windmilling right now, but they’re tied uselessly behind my back. Time stands still, until a massive explosion sets birds rising up from the trees.
“Let the whore go!” Oleg commands. “We haven’t got time for this!”
I’m teetering on the steps at a forty-degree angle. There’s no way I can right myself on my own, and I can see the moment Barrett decides.
His lip curls. “Goodbye, Belle.”
“Piper, run!” I scream as Barrett lets go of me.
As I fall back into thin air, Barrett’s face recedes, followed by Oleg’s.
I turn my body so the back of my head doesn’t crack against the sharp edges of the steps, and take the first blow to my hip and shoulder.
I see my feet pointing up to the blue sky, then over I go again, my body jolting with pain each time I hit some hard surface or other.
My scream pulls the air from my lungs, and there’s only one word on my lips. “Run!”
I’m going to fight for my daughter until my last breath. She’s my reason for living, and she’ll be Ash’s too. Piper has to get away, but I can’t see her as black asphalt rises up to greet me. Darkness slams into me. I don’t see Piper run.