Chapter 10 #2
Yet Falcon’s daughter seemed to like him, and the tiny girl wasn't the only one who seemed to see something in him.
A stubborn, determined, gorgeous woman who had every reason to want him dead, but who had instead declared she was glad she hadn't slit his throat in her attempt to escape, also seemed to—
His thoughts trailed off as he spotted a figure slinking up the stairs below him. This factory wasn't as well fitted out as the warehouse had been, and there was no elevator to take from the basement level up to the main floor, so the stairs were the only exit.
Only none of the guys would be slinking up the stairs, keeping close to the wall, and moving that cautiously.
Which meant …
How the hell had she managed to get out again?
Picking up his pace, he didn't bother to hide his approach, and he heard Makayla gasp and saw her freeze as she tried to weigh up her options. Which were nothing. Either she kept going and faced whoever was coming, or she turned around and went back down to where she’d only just managed to escape.
Neither of those options was any good for her.
“It’s me,” he announced as he took the last few steps down three at a time to where she was.
At the sight of him, she let out a shuddering breath and sank back against the rough concrete wall. “Van,” she said, the relief in her tone at it being him and not one of the others obvious, but it was the small smile she offered him that almost had him faltering.
What was he going to do?
No one would ever have to know that he had returned in time to see her escape.
He could let her go without worrying about being punished for it.
Her escape would mean a whole lot more work for him, since they’d have to pack up and move again, probably quick-sale the other five women, which was the last thing he needed after Nathan and then Mateo left, but …
None of that seemed to matter as he looked down at the woman watching him, waiting to see what he was deciding her fate was going to be.
“Go,” he said. He didn't need to think about it. He might be empty inside, but he knew what the right thing to do was, and for once, he wanted to do it rather than shoving down any and all emotion and act like a robot rather than a human being.
“You're sure?”
“Yes. The only cameras in here are mine, so no one will ever know that we talked, that I saw you and didn't stop you.”
Pushing off the wall, she closed the couple of feet between them, stopping right in front of him. Then she pushed up onto her tiptoes, placed her palms on his pecs, and touched a kiss to his cheek. “Thank you.”
Unable to speak, her gratitude too overwhelming, Van merely nodded.
Instead of thanking him, she should be berating him for being part of this nightmare she’d gotten trapped in.
All because Adrian’s cousin had a problem that needed to be taken care of.
The man might not know that Adrian worked for a human trafficking ring, but he’d been confident that his cousin could take care of the social worker trying to take his kid from him.
“Go,” he said again, more gently this time.
Nodding, she took a step away from him but hadn't made it up more than half a dozen stairs before he heard shouts.
Whatever she’d done to get out had just been discovered.
“Sorry, Makayla,” he muttered before he launched himself at her, tackling her and taking her down, although turning their bodies so that his was the one that took the brunt of the fall. “Got her!”
His scream drew the others’ attention, and he heard them coming.
Laying there, he second-guessed his decisions.
Didn't matter how many times he tried to remind himself that Makayla wouldn't have gotten away regardless.
There were seven able-bodied men down there, against one woman who was already weakened from being starved the last several days.
They would have found her before she made it out of the building, let alone before she made it down the couple of blocks it would take for her to get to a road with people.
Still, it felt wrong to have been the one to catch her.
“It’s okay, Van. I know you don’t have a choice,” she whispered, right as the others ran up the stairs toward them.
“You got her,” Hank exclaimed.
“She knocked Josh out cold.” Deacon snickered.
“Probably gave him a concussion,” William added, clearly amused by the whole thing now that they knew Makayla hadn't managed to escape.
Pride flared to life inside him as he dragged the woman in his arms to her feet. She’d managed to knock out a man twice her size? Damn, that was impressive. Now he wished he’d let her run and then tried to slow the others down long enough to give her a shot at reaching freedom.
“I’ve told you all a thousand times that Josh isn’t ready for this kind of work,” he snapped, taking out his anger at the situation on the men responsible for the hell Makayla was forced to keep enduring. “Whose bright idea was it to leave him alone with this one?”
None of the others knew about her previous escape attempt, but they knew she was a fighter, and had to know she’d take advantage of a situation if one presented itself.
And they all knew that Josh was too young, too inexperienced, and frankly, too stupid to be allowed to handle work like this unsupervised.
“He wanted to punish her for mouthing off at him when we brought them lunch,” Deacon explained.
“Still using that mouth of yours to cause trouble, I see,” Van said, turning his attention to the woman in his arms. She wasn't trembling, although he could still sense her fear, which only made him respect her that much more.
“I won't cower before anyone. You want to keep me here, then maybe I can't stop you, but I don’t have to bow down to you,” Makayla said, her gaze shifting from him to include the others in her statement.
With her attitude, Van wouldn't be surprised if Griffin wanted her listed for sale through one of the auction sites that sold off wilder prospects for men who enjoyed breaking their own slaves. Although he was pretty sure that wouldn't break Makayla either.
Nothing could break this woman.
But he couldn’t let that perceived disrespect go unanswered. Taking her chin between his thumb and forefinger, he pinched hard enough to make her wince, but she didn't back down, maintaining her steady stare.
“On your knees,” he ordered, using his hold on her to force her down to kneel before him. He didn't like her in this position, he didn't get off on women being submissive.
For him, sex was usually quick, with a stranger, one who understood that this was nothing more than meeting physical needs.
He took them from behind, got them off, got himself off, then left.
Even if he liked a woman willing to meet his every need without complaint, he still wouldn't get off if she wasn't doing it because it was also what she wanted.
“Take me out, put that mouth to good use for a change,” he ordered. The others snickered, and he hated that he had to put her through this with an audience, but his hands were tied.
Still needing to punish himself for putting Makayla in this position, he didn't look away from her as she did what he ordered.
She was also aware that both their hands were tied here.
It wasn't pleasure that lit his system as she took him between her lips, it was a lifetime’s worth of repressed anger and grief, ripping away the empty shield that had protected him for decades, leaving him wondering how he was supposed to function, let alone dismantle a trafficking ring.