Chapter 17
Zoe
Cleaning up after myself had kept my mind and body busy for a short time.
It didn’t last long enough to tire me out so I could sleep away the hours left to me, though.
In an effort to do something constructive I searched every square inch of my cage to find something I could use as a weapon.
My efforts were in vain. Damien had been careful.
Now even the dim lights were turned off and I was left in complete darkness.
All hope was lost to me. What good had fighting for my freedom done me?
Rebelling against outdated traditions and defying my father had gotten me nowhere.
I had barely had a chance to discover how much I loved Prime and hadn’t even told him how I felt in clear words.
The Sinners, who had welcomed me as one of their own, were too small a group to rescue me, though I knew without a doubt they would try. I also knew they would die for it.
Every thought I had was about Prime. He’d come for me. Damien was certain to challenge him to do so if he wasn’t already on his way. I would lose him, so what was the use of caring whether I lived or died?
Father? Did he love me at all anymore? Would he try to help me or was his allegiance wrapped up in Mathias?
Was I nothing to him as he had told me? I missed him more than I dared to admit.
I also missed the strange certainty I’d always had that nothing bad could touch me as long as I held his love.
The mafia had always been there to protect me no matter what foolish danger I got myself into.
Without that protection I was afraid of trying to save myself.
The pity for myself came to an abrupt end when the lights suddenly blazed on, much brighter than before.
It took several wasted seconds to get my eyes to adjust before I understood what the sounds I was hearing meant.
Something heavy hit the concrete floor but it didn’t sound like metal, wood or bricks. It sounded more like flesh.
Prime! Two thugs, huge and muscular, were kicking Prime across the floor where they had flung him without any thought of what it might do to him. The sickening sound of heavy boots making contact with human flesh made me sick.
Each brutal kick brought a moan from his unconscious body. The bruises that already showed on the outside of his body were nothing compared to what must be happening on the inside…broken bones, and internal bleeding.
His hair was covered in dried blood which was also concealing his handsome face. He made no movement to try to defend himself. My heart sank. If he had been capable of doing something to fight back he would have.
“Stop!” I screamed. “You’re killing him!”
“Who cares, bitch?” was the answer I got.
“I do,” Damien shocked me by answering from behind them. “I need him to remain alive until I give him to Aguilar. It is part of the deal we made. He gets to cut Prime’s throat for all the money he has cost him and all the trouble he has had to go to in order to gather more women.”
“Then get him medical help,” I demanded. “You’re goons have done too much damage. He may die before Aguilar comes.”
Damien shrugged. “If he dies I will simply say he resisted capture too much and blame it on these men. They can face Aguilar’s wrath.”
He pulled a gun and pointed at his goons who didn’t care for his words and turned on him menacingly.
“Do not think you can so easily turn on the one who feeds you. You are expendable as always. Do your duty and I may spare you, at least until Aguilar needs to be soothed. Put Prime in the cell with Zoe. Do it now!”
Addressing me as Prime was dragged across the distance to my cell he added, “I will not waste any efforts to keep him breathing. I will give him to you to care for. At least you will have a few hours to say your goodbyes. It is a kindness I can offer since you were once a beloved niece. Do not think that it means I will save you in the end. I will not. I do this for you because it costs me nothing and I know you will do what you can to keep him alive, which is advantageous to me. I win.”
As his men turned to leave Damien shot them, one in the head the other in the heart. They fell right outside my cage. Damien didn’t glance at them. He simply walked away and dimmed the lights.
Tears ran down my face as I examined Prime for the damage that had been done. The scent of his blood was quickly masked by that of the fresh blood pouring out of the men who had beaten him. I didn’t give a fuck about either of them. I had no pity for such heathens. My tears were for Prime alone.
His muscular body was a mass of black and blue bruises.
It was difficult to distinguish his tattoos from the mottled skin.
His head wound still oozed a slight amount of blood.
I checked his pulse, and it remained steady and strong.
I breathed a small sigh of relief. But his breathing was rougher, and I became concerned that a rib had punctured his lung.
Swiping at my tears I rushed to the small bathroom and scrubbed out the washcloths I’d used to wipe up my mess. I used the hottest water my hands could handle and tons of soap. I needed to clean Prime’s wounds without causing infection.
I started with his head, rinsing the cloths as necessary. I ripped off a portion of the expensive sheet on the bed and used it to bandage the wound. Then I moved on to his poor, broken body, cleansing it the way I would a child’s.
“Why did you come?” I sobbed. “You stupid man! You had to know it was a fool’s errand. Damn you, Prime! I can’t lose you. I need to tell you I love you. If you die I do not wish to live. Please! You have to be okay. I need you.”
Once I had done all I could I sat and held his head in my lap, rocking back and forth. I yelled. I begged. I cried, and I demanded. Still, he didn’t wake.
The hours were passing quickly, and I knew the end would come soon one way or another. Aguilar was coming. I had no doubt we would be dead soon. I kissed Prime’s slack mouth and said my goodbyes.
“Not so fast,” he whispered. “Not ready to give up just yet.”
“Oh! You’re awake. Don’t move. You might have internal injuries. Those assholes were kicking you while you were unconscious and helpless,” I pleaded while kissing his face all over.
“I was awake at first. For some reason they didn’t like the fact that I refused to just let them drag me face down over the driveway and down the stairs. They made me pay for my defiance as weak as it was.”
His voice was barely audible, and it seemed to be coming through a rusty pipe. I realized one of the kicks that had been delivered was to his neck causing damage to his throat.
“You should not have come for me,” I proclaimed, letting the anger rise to cover my fear. “I can take care of myself. If not, then it isn’t your concern.”
“Always my concern, now and forever,” he croaked.
“Just because you took my virginity doesn’t make you responsible for me. This rescue mission was stupid!” I argued.
His head moved left to right almost imperceptibly. “Not stupid. Not because of that. Not even because you’re mine. Love.”
His words were slower and more labored. He’d put forth too much effort on the previous short speech and now he was paying the price for it.
A sob escaped me. I gritted my teeth against my emotions and stated, “You’re only saying that because we are about to die. I wish it was true, but I know it’s not.”
A grimace that I assumed to be a smile came over his barely visible face. “No lies. Not now. Truth only. Love you. We will survive.”
“That is not possible. Aguilar is coming. We’re gifts for him. He’s going to kill us but will probably torture us first. He wants revenge for destroying his compound and releasing his hostages,” I explained.
“Is that all you can think to say?” he said more clearly now. There was a small amount of anger behind his words despite his obvious pain. “I say I love you and Aguilar is what you think of?”
A harsh laugh erupted from me. He was right. I wasn’t giving him the proper response to his admission, but it wasn’t the time or place for sentimental admissions.
But then his trembling fingers brushed over my cheek so softly I knew he was serious and had a good reason for telling me his feelings now. He thought he was dying from his injuries.
“Don’t you dare leave me! I refuse to let you die and leave me alone to face Aguilar. I admit that I love you. Of course I do. So, you must stay alive. There is more to love than simple words. Actions are necessary.”
A burst of laughter through his swollen throat caused him to choke. Between coughs he murmured, “There’s my hardheaded Zoe. As bossy as ever.”
“Now find us a way out of this cage,” he added after catching his breath.
I glanced at the dead bodies just outside the cage doors. I gagged over the idea of touching either of them, but it was something that had to be done. One of them had the keys to the lock and I was determined to find it. When Aguilar came I wasn’t planning on making things that easy for him.
I laid Prime’s head down gently on the bed and slowly walked to the bars.
Blood ran beneath my feet and each step sent fresh waves of the sickeningly sweet smell toward my nose.
I clung to the bars to steady myself to reach out for the keys I now saw at the waist of the man shot in the chest. My hand groped for them through the sticky wetness of the congealing blood.
Unable to undo the hook from his beltloop, I gave a hard yank to rip it. In doing so I touched bare skin that was growing cold. I turned my head away so I could pretend the body was anything but a dead human. Finally, the keys laid in my palm.
I unlocked my gilded cage. We were free. But for what? The cage was actually the least of our obstacles. Guards by the hundreds remained between us and the streets beyond the compound. Damien and Aguilar were in the way as well. Then there was Prime’s condition.
The tiny inkling of hope that had formed inside me with my victory quickly dissolved.
“Faith,” Prime said when I showed him the keys. “Have some faith in the Sinners. They’ll come. I believe your father will come with them. He hasn’t abandoned you completely.”
“You know better than that. He disowned me. I’m nothing to him. He doesn’t go back on those kinds of proclamations,” I replied.
“For you he will. He doesn’t like the fact that he loves his daughter more than the organization, yet he does so anyway.
I know why we’re here, why Damien is handing us over to him.
I heard the men talking. If Drago truly has to make a choice he’ll choose you.
He’ll be angry and make us all pay for it somehow, but he’ll still choose you over the power. ”
“You must have a fever because you are delusional. Power is all that matters to the Dons. They say family means everything, but they mean the organization not their actual family. We are expendable just like anything else they own. Or have you forgotten he was willing to hand me over to the highest bidder? Marry me to an assassin? Was that so different from what Aguilar was doing with the women he kidnapped?” I asked.
“He wouldn’t have. He’d have changed his mind eventually. How else do you explain the fact that I’m alive when I took everything he thought was so special about you? Any debt I owed him would be null and void if he wasn’t on your side, if he didn’t want you to be happy.”
“Damien wants him to hand over the leadership of Chicago. No matter what he thinks of me Father cannot do that. It would break him. He would lose face with the other leaders. They’d see him as a coward and turn against him,” I tried to explain.
“Faith. Have a little in your father. He’ll prove who’s disloyal and in a deal with Aguilar. He’s an intelligent man. In the meantime, get us out of this cage and hidden somewhere in this basement. I’m not going to make this easy on Aguilar.”