Chapter 18
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
T ia
Every part of me quakes in absolute fear that at any moment I’m going to die. I’ve never felt this terrified in my entire life.
Jaxon’s words about sending me away echo in my head, as do my claims that I’m tough enough to handle his life. What a fool I was to think that!
Kaia sits next to me tied to her chair like I am mine, our hands bound behind our backs and our ankles to the legs of our chairs. She seems so calm compared to me. I want to ask her how she’s making it look like she’s not scared to death, but Jaxon’s uncle and some other guy about the size of a car are too close by for us to talk at all.
I knew the moment I heard Jaxon’s voice that things were bad. Not that I didn’t understand we were in deep trouble when those two guys grabbed us at the car after shooting both our bodyguards. But Jaxon only sounds like that when he’s really upset or really scared.
He sounded like he was both.
Victor sits on a table with his legs hanging off like some elementary school bully watching us. I’ve been taking my cues from Kaia since she’s playing it as cool as a cucumber. She never looks away when he stares at her, tilting her chin up ever so slightly in a defiant way that makes her look strong.
I haven’t been able to master that look yet, so I’m simply trying not to burst into tears when he or that other guy even look at me for more than a moment. Unlike Kaia, I’m someone Victor wants to kill, and I can’t seem to make myself forget that for even a few seconds.
“So you’re the girl my son and then my nephew thought was worth the trouble?” he says as he looks over at me.
I have no idea how to answer that, so I try to smile, but it’s a lukewarm grin, at best. I’m not sure what he expects me to say.
Uncertain if I should even respond, I try to appeal to something he may care about. His son.
“I knew Michael, yes. We worked at the summer camp together,” I say, trying to sound confident and hopefully not giving away my true feelings on the bastard that was his kid.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Kaia looking at me like I’ve done something wrong. I want to scream that I don’t know how to react in this situation. I’ve never genuinely had a bad man take me hostage. Jaxon doesn’t count because no matter what I’ve been assuming about him because of his job, he was never like this with me.
Victor hops down off the table and slowly walks toward where I’m tied to this chair. Stopping right in front of me, he seems to study me for a long time, like I’m an animal in the zoo that he doesn’t understand.
I don’t meet his gaze, instead fixing mine on the button on his suit coat. Much fatter than anyone else in the Varens family, his clothes seem to be ill-fitting, like they used to be fine on him before he gained a lot of weight but now they’re barely holding all of him in. That button keeping his suit coat closed around his waist is doing what my mother calls “God’s work” and at any moment might fly right off and hit me dead in the face.
“My boy seemed to have liked you at some point. Why?” he asks, and I think he truly wants an answer.
The only problem is I don’t think I have one he’ll like, especially since I’m sure I’ve just been insulted. Shaking my head, I try to play dumb. “I don’t know. Maybe he liked blondes?”
Victor narrows his eyes and continues to stare at me. “Hmmph. I’ve had blondes before. Nothing special. Pretty much like every other woman. No, I don’t think that was it. Probably because you were a decent lay. That’s all that kid ever thought of once he hit puberty. Yeah, that was it, I’m sure.”
My instinct is to immediately tell him I’m in no way a good lay, just in case he’s planning to try me out for himself, but I press my lips shut and keep my comment to myself. God, I want to be free from this place. Are Jaxon and Ryker coming to get us? Is that even possible?
I don’t know how any of this works. I’m just a girl from a middle class family in North Carolina who happened to meet a guy and fall for him.
The thought of my parents immediately makes me wonder if they’re still safe with that man Jaxon has taking them around Italy. Are they still there? Or did Victor find them too?
Squeezing my eyes closed, I try to will myself to not think about my father being murdered by one of Victor’s hit men. I don’t want to cry in front of him, but it’s so hard to keep my emotions in check.
“She’s just a girl, Victor. Leave her alone. She’s never done anything to anyone.”
My eyes fly open, and I turn to look at Kaia as she says that. Why is she speaking up? Doesn’t she realize what this man is going to do to us if we piss him off?
He turns his attention to her, and for a moment, I’m relieved. Then he grabs her face and squeezes it between his fingers, making her cry out in pain, and I’m instantly back to being scared to death.
“Are you telling me what to do, Ryker’s bitch? You should watch what you say. My brother may be nice to you, but now you’re dealing with the real head of the Varens family, and I don’t put up with mouthy bitches.”
I watch as tears begin to roll down her cheeks and hate that she’s suffering because of me. “Please don’t hurt her. She didn’t mean any harm. She’s just worried about me because I’m so scared right now.”
He looks over at me and once again doesn’t seem to understand what he’s looking at. I can’t be that different from any other person he’s ever seen, so I don’t know why he stares at me so oddly.
“You know, I think I get why Michael and Jaxon liked you. It’s that innocent girl thing. It’s actually quite appealing.”
I’ve never wished I appeared more worldly in my life than at this very moment. I want to look like a badass instead of some virginal thing he may want to try out. God, please don’t let that happen.
Finally, he lets go of Kaia’s face and pushes her head back hard. “You? I don’t understand your appeal at all. My brother keeps you as his pet, and he ends up falling in love with you? I swear there’s something wrong with that man. You use women like you. Use them and then throw them out when they don’t please you anymore. You don’t marry them and have a fucking kid with them.”
As I listen to him detail what he thinks Kaia is useful for, I can’t believe this man could be related to Jaxon or Ryker. How could they come from the same family yet he’s so cruel?
Kaia continues to quietly sob as I try to figure out what’s going to happen next. I don’t want to let my mind go to a place that includes him raping one or both of us, but it’s impossible not to think of that considering he sees us a disposable things worth nothing to him.
Finished with us for the time being, Victor walks back over to the table and eases himself back up onto it. His heavy breathing tells me he’s not only fat but completely out of shape, so maybe if we could get loose, we might be able to run away.
Of course, the gun he keeps waving around is going to make our ability to run faster than his fat ass a moot point. Something about the way I say that in my head makes me smile. I sounded like Jaxon there for a brief moment. His cockiness might be rubbing off on me.
God, please give me the chance to see him again and tell him that.
“So, if I’m any judge of my brother and my nephew, they’re going to come in here shooting the place to shit once they figure out how to breach the gates. Both of them aren’t thinking clearly, though, which puts them at a disadvantage. You ladies are going to get to watch the whole thing on that monitor over there,” Victor says with a smile as he points his gun toward the far wall.
“Why are you doing this?” I finally ask, unable to take the stress of being tied up and held by this madman anymore. “These are your family members. Why do you want to hurt them or hurt anyone they love?”
For a long moment, he just stares at me like before, and I’m immediately sure I’ve made a mistake by opening my mouth. I wait for him to walk over to me again and do something to me like he did to Kaia, but he doesn’t move.
He just sits there with his legs swinging off the end of that table studying me. I’m like some butterfly under glass he can’t seem to figure out.
Pointing his gun at me, he smiles and says, “Yes, they are my family. Not much good it’s ever done me, but yes, we’re family. My brother has worked against me ever since he was old enough to try to become our father’s favorite. As for your boy Jaxon, he’s my other brother’s son but I treated him like he was my own. I gave that boy everything he could ever want.”
Something in his voice sounds almost nostalgic, so I take a chance and say, “You sound like you cared about them at one point. Don’t you think you could again? It’s not like you can get a brother or nephew back once they’re gone.”
His eyes grow big, and I know in mere seconds that was a mistake. “I loved them! Ungrateful bastards! I loved them and made sure their lives were the best. They got everything they wanted from me, and now they plan on killing me! And why? Because I don’t want to ruin the Varens name by being kindler and gentler. I’m a fucking businessman, for Christ’s sake! Kindness can go fuck itself. I loan money, and I expect it paid back the way it’s agreed upon. Those two think people should be given second chances. Fuck second chances! The world doesn’t give second chances, so why should I? Ryker’s gotten squeamish since he met this bitch and doesn’t want to traffic women or drugs. What the fuck are we supposed to make money on then? What the fuck are we now if we aren’t the family we’ve always been?”
He stops and jumps down off the table again, waving his gun even more erratically now. “I see what you’re doing, you know. You think if you get me talking you’ll distract me from what I plan to do. Well, it’s not going to work, little girl.”
“No, no. That’s not it at all. I was just hoping you would reconsider killing people I care about.”
Throwing his head back in laughter, he says, “Maybe I should just kill you two.”
“No! That’s not what I meant. I just meant that you care about Jaxon and Ryker. Maybe you don’t have to kill them or us. Maybe we could all just keep living.”
I hear myself and wish I sounded stronger and less na?ve, but I’m desperately trying to keep this man from killing Kaia and me while hoping he won’t be able to do anything to Jaxon and Ryker. I don’t know what to do to convince this man not to hurt any of us.
“You are an interesting creature. I’ll give you that. This one over here is the same old same old, but not you. I’m thinking I’m curious enough to know what makes you tick that I may let you live. You probably won’t like what I’m going to do to you as you live, but you know you can’t have everything in life.”
Sensing I might have a chance to at least help Kaia, I seize on Victor’s interest in me. “Then why not let Kaia go if you don’t care about her?”
He leans down in front of me and gets in my face so I can’t look away and says, “I didn’t say I cared about you. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves now.”
Up close, he’s absolutely horrific looking and smells like something deep fried. Unlike Jaxon and Ryker, he got none of his family’s good looks. His eyes are too close together and a strange shade of brownish green that reminds me of something you’d find in a baby’s diaper. Because he’s overweight, his face is unnaturally full, as if he’s hoarding food in his cheeks. Patches of hair dot his jawline making it look like he can’t grow a beard too.
And as if all of that isn’t bad enough, he smells like he’s full of freshly deep-fried carnival food. I have to fight the urge to throw up with each second that passes and he’s still right in my face.
“I know you don’t care,” I squeak out, “but if I’m the only one who interests you, send Kaia home. It might make your brother not want to come here and exact his revenge. That’s one less person to deal with, and I know for sure that he never wanted to kill you.”
Victor listens to me as I hurriedly say what I hope will convince him to free Kaia. I know that will likely mean I don’t get out of here without something unspeakable happening to me, but at least Maxim will have his mother back.
Mostly, I’m hoping Jaxon will get here before anything really terrible happens with Victor.
Beside me, Kaia gasps in horror as I bargain for her release. “No, Tia! Don’t give this man anything!”
In a flash, Victor slaps her hard across the face with the back of his hand. “Nobody asked your opinion, bitch!”
I watch in horror as she falls over in her chair, her head slamming off the floor. “Please, don’t! I’ll do anything. Just don’t hurt her. Let her go. You don’t like having her here. Let her go. I promise to do whatever you want. Please!”
My begging seems to appeal to him, and he nods like he’s considering my suggestion. God, I hope he lets her go. That little boy with the big brown eyes who sat with me at breakfast this morning singing his ABCs deserves to grow up with his mother by his side.
Turning toward the other man standing on the side of the room, he says, “Take her out and leave her by the gate. My brother can pick her up when he gets here.”
My hopes soar until the other man asks, “Can I do whatever I want with her first?”
Unable to keep my mouth shut, I cry out, “No! Don’t hurt her!”
Victor’s amused by my plea and shrugs as he laughs at me. “Make sure she doesn’t have any marks on her if you do.”
The giant man picks Kaia up chair and all and carries her out of the room unconscious. I can’t stop myself from crying at the thought of what he’s going to do to her before she’s released. Oh, God. Please let her remain unconscious if it’s something truly terrible. I don’t want her to have to live with the memory of him raping her.
Alone with Victor, I hold my breath in anticipation of what he’s going to do next. Whatever it is, at least Kaia isn’t trapped in this room with him anymore.
I can only pray she’ll be safely back with her husband and little boy soon.