23. Marilee
Marilee
“Can you please sit down?” My coworker Angie sent me an exasperated look. “You’re driving me crazy with all that pacing.”
“Yeah? How calm would you be if that was Suzie in there alone with some mafia asshole?” I demanded.
Suzie was Angie’s cupcake baking mate, the one who’d brought the bears into our lives when they opened up a diner a few doors down from her bakery.
“Fair point. But please, sit the fuck down for a few minutes.”
I settled on a chair, crossing my arms and staring at the blank screens as if they would add more context to what we were hearing over the comms. Being here was killing me.
I trusted my team with my life. On some level I also trusted them with Hazel’s.
My teammates were among the best in the business.
But to them, Hazel was a client. I was her mate.
I wasn’t sure why she’d insisted on leaving me behind. I was hurt, and angry and confused. When this was all over, we’d need to talk about it because if she didn’t trust me to be at her side and keep her safe, we had work to do.
“What can I do to show you how sorry I am?” The flirty tone in Hazel’s voice grated on my nerves.
“Let’s start with this.”
I heard movement, then the unmistakable sounds of kissing. I felt my claws lengthening as my wolf tried to break out. Then Hazel giggled.
Giggled.
“Oh Donny, you always were such a good kisser,” she simpered. “But I want us to get to know each other again before we do anything physical. Can we do that? Can we wait just a little longer?”
“You always were a prude,” he mumbled, clearly put out. “I should put you on your knees and make you show me with that pouty mouth exactly how sorry you are.”
Hazel gasped, and a growl ripped from my throat in response.
“She’s acting,” Angie reminded me.
“But I know you’ve always been a good girl, so we’ll save that particular activity for later. After you’ve earned it.”
Damn, this guy was delusional.
“Can I tell you a secret Donny?” Hazel said coyly.
I hated the way she was acting all meek and subservient with this asshole.
“Of course.”
She lowered her voice. “I saved myself. For you.”
“You’re still a virgin?” he asked in surprise.
Technically she wasn’t lying. Hazel had told me she’d never been with a man, so she met the hetero definition of a virgin.
“You know I was saving myself for marriage. Well, I’ve never married. I never met another man who made me feel the way you do.”
I could practically feel the giddiness emanating off this asshole over the airwaves.
“That’s the best news I could have hoped for. Let’s have lunch, sweetheart, and talk about our future.”
“I’d like that.”
We continued to listen as the two moved to the dining room for lunch.
As they ate, Hazel drew information out of him with an impressive skill.
She had the perfect combination of meekness and curiosity to make the guy pontificate about how important he was.
He went on at length about all of his criminal enterprises, and how he concealed them behind legitimate businesses while she periodically expressed her admiration for his business acumen.
“I can’t believe those Rossis turned our families against each other,” she said as their lunch dragged on. “We were always such good friends.”
“That friendship has been strained since you ran off,” Donny said, clearly talking with food in his mouth. This guy had no manners. “But now that you’re back and we know what happened with the Rossis, perhaps we can have a fresh start.”
“I’d like that Donny, I really would. It’s more than I could have hoped for when my parents said you wanted to see me again.”
They ate for a few more minutes before Hazel spoke again. “Can you tell me about her? Your wife?”
“Stella was like you in many ways. Headstrong. Thought she could do better than the life she was born into. After seeing what my being too lenient with you led to, I tried to take her in hand right away,” Donny said with what I was sure was meant to be sadness.
“But she remained willful. She went out of her way to make me angry. I hated having to punish her, but it was my job as the husband to correct her behavior.”
“Did this guy just admit to beating his wife?” Angie said, disgust clear in her voice.
“That must have been hard for you,” Hazel said over the mic. “How did she die? Was it a rival family?”
“She was late from shopping.” Donny’s voice turned robotic.
“Stella was always late for everything. I warned her that if she was late again, I’d make her regret it.
She didn’t listen and I was so angry. I guess I hit her too hard, because when she fell…
she hit her head on the table and never woke up. It was a terrible accident.”
“He fucking killed her,” I growled.
“And you’re surprised why?” Angie replied.
“She should have listened to you,” Hazel said mildly.
“She should have,” Donny agreed. “But you won’t make that mistake, will you Moira?”
“Of course not. I’ve learned my lesson and I’m ready to settle down and be your partner. If you’ll still have me.”
Donny’s voice turned considering. “To make sure of that, I must do one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“I must punish you for leaving and embarrassing me. Remind you who’s boss here. When you submit to me, that will clear the slate and regain my trust. Then we can have a fresh start.”
“Punish me?” Hazel’s voice had a quiver. I couldn’t tell if it was real or not. “What do you mean?”
There was the sound of a chair scraping across the floor, then some rustling.
“Come with me to the study. The servants don’t need to see this.”
I pressed the comms button to connect with the Sapphic Security team. “Get her out of there. Now!”
“Stand down Martin.” Lois’s voice came back immediately. “We have a code word. When she needs to use it, she will.”
We heard walking, then a door closing. Donny began lecturing Hazel about how she’d been disobedient, and his expectations for her behavior in the future. He was getting more and more agitated now, losing that cool calmness he’d employed most of the visit.
“I want you to know I take no joy in punishing you.”
“I know you don’t,” Hazel said meekly.
“But it’s something I have to do to help you. We’ll start with a hand spanking,” he said. “Then we’ll move to the belt. When we’re done, you’ll feel your punishment every time you sit down for the next week, and you’ll remember what happens when you disobey me.”
“You want to spank me like a child?” Hazel asked in a shocked tone. “There must be another way.”
“You heard me, Moira. I don’t repeat myself. Now take off your clothes and lean over the side of the couch. I want to see how my belt paints stripes on your skin.”
I’d always heard the phrase ‘seeing red’ but until that moment, I hadn’t understood it.
“Yeah, that’s not gonna happen, Donny.”
Angie and I both looked up in surprise as Hazel’s voice turned hard.
“Spanking can be fun in the right circumstances, with the right person, but corporal punishment is not okay,” Hazel said firmly. “You don’t get to hit me, or any other woman, in anger. Not anymore.”
“You insolent bitch.”
There was the sound of flesh hitting flesh, then Hazel cried out.
“He hit her!” I screamed in fury. “He fucking hit her.”
“She’s okay Martin, trust her. The minute she’s in trouble we’ll go in, I promise you,” Lois said.
“Sometimes you have to face your own monsters,” Angie said softly.
“You’re going to be very sorry that you hit me,” Hazel said, her voice calm and steely.
Donny laughed like she’d said something amusing. “What are you gonna do? Call the cops? They’ll never believe you.”
“You know, despite the fact that I’m a girl, my parents insisted that I learn to defend myself,” Hazel told him, her voice conversational. “Once I was on my own, I kept up my training, because I knew I had no one but myself to depend on. So no, I don’t need cops. I can take care of my damned self.”
Donny made an angry sound and then there were sounds of a scuffle. A kick. A grunt of pain, his. Then another from Hazel. Something falling over, a table maybe. Then there was a howl of pain followed by a loud thud.
“I can’t believe you kneed me in the nuts,” Donny wheezed.
Ah, Hazel’s signature move.
There was more movement, then he cried out again. “Quit kicking me, bitch!”
We listened as Hazel hit the floor, likely pulled down by Donny, and they continued to struggle until Hazel cried out again.
“You’re going to pay for that,” he gritted while my mate made wheezing noises.
“He’s choking her!” I yelled.
“We’re going in now,” Lois yelled over the comms.
Angie and I continued to listen as Hazel somehow got away from Donny, breathing heavily enough that we could hear it through the mic.
Donny was a big guy. I was surprised she’d gotten away from him so easily.
Or maybe not. My mate was strong and resourceful and clearly had taken her training in escaping attacks seriously.
She could probably work at Sapphic Security with her skills, even if she was a human.
Suddenly Donny laughed evilly.
“You’re pulling a gun on me? Really? Well guess what, my gun is bigger and unlike you, I know how to use this thing.”
A shot rang out, then two more, and then all hell broke loose as the team infiltrated the mansion. Glass broke, agents growled as they let their inner demons take over, furniture crashed to the floor, and somewhere in the melee, I heard another shot. Then there was a moment of charged silence.
“What the fuck is happening?” I yelled over the comms.
“Hazel, are you okay?” Wanda asked in a calm voice.
I heard my mate’s voice, shaky but alive. “Yeah, but Donny’s going to need an ambulance.”
“The ambulance can’t help him,” Wanda replied. “The dude’s dead.”