24. Jace
Standing in Eli and Raina’s basement, I watch Kayla where she sits blindfolded, gagged, and handcuffed to the wall. Eli, Kaden, and Rico stand beside me, studying her as well.
Then Rico turns to me and raises an eyebrow in silent question.
I shake my head. Let’s give her another minute to truly think about the consequences of her actions.
After our fight last night, I figured it was time to show her exactly why she needs a bodyguard. Which was why I asked my brothers for help yesterday. Then it was only a matter of letting her sneak away from that café and sending a text to Eli, who was already waiting in the car with Kaden and Rico. They did the rest.
Eli has slid his gun back into its holster and is now smirking down at my shackled little demon while Kaden shoots me a look full of wicked approval. Rico just shrugs in response to my headshake and turns back to watch her as well.
The short blue dress she’s wearing has been pushed up a little so that it only covers her upper thighs, and her ponytail is a lot messier now than it was earlier.
A faint smile blows across my lips.
She looks incredibly hot when she’s handcuffed to a wall like this.
We wait in silence for another minute until I’m certain that Kayla has thoroughly revised her ridiculous notion about being able to stop a kidnapping attempt on her own.
Then I at last move forward so that I’m standing right beside her, lean down, and grab the edge of the duct tape across her mouth. She flinches slightly when my fingers brush her cheek, but then she sits completely still while I gently remove the tape.
She doesn’t try to scream. Only works her jaw a couple of times and then closes her mouth again.
I give her an approving nod even though she can’t see it.
Despite the panic that no doubt clangs inside her, she has managed to properly think through her situation. Eli put a gun to her forehead earlier, so she knows that at least one of her captors has a weapon. And doing something that would antagonize someone with a gun, like screaming, is a terrible move. Especially when you’re also blindfolded and handcuffed to a wall.
Staying quiet was the right move here, and I’m going to praise her for that.
As soon as I have finished lecturing her.
Reaching behind her head, I remove the blindfold and drop it to the floor on top of the discarded piece of duct tape.
She blinks a couple of times and then quickly flicks her gaze across the room now visible around her.
I know what she sees.
It looks kind of like a torture chamber. There are chains and manacles on the walls, and some pieces of furniture that really don’t belong in a normal basement.
But I know for a fact that Eli and Raina use this space more for their own insane sex games than anything else.
And to be fair, this particular basement isn’t even that bad. Kaden and Alina’s is much worse.
Kayla’s blue eyes do one quick sweep across the room, which reveals my brothers standing there on the floor, and then she snaps her gaze to me.
For a few seconds, it’s as if her brain can’t process what she’s seeing.
Then realization floods her features.
Her eyes widen with absolute bafflement and her mouth drops open.
“You,” she blurts out, staring up at me. “You, you…”
I grin down at her from where I’m standing next to her. Then I arch an eyebrow at her and give her a look dripping with challenge. “What was that thing you said about not needing a bodyguard?”
Anger flashes across her face like a lightning strike, and she yanks wildly against the handcuffs while screaming, “I’m going to fucking kill you!”
From a few steps away, Eli lets out a low chuckle.
“Me?” I press a hand to my chest in a show of mock outrage as I hold Kayla’s gaze. “I didn’t do anything.” Twisting around, I motion towards my brothers. “Meet your kidnappers. Eli.”
My eldest brother says nothing, just continues watching her.
“Kaden,” I continue.
Kaden gives her one of his psychopath smiles.
“And Rico,” I finish, with a nod towards him.
Raising two fingers to his brow, he gives her a lazy salute.
Hellfire burns in Kayla’s eyes as she drags her gaze back to me. I swear I can hear the actual noise from how hard she’s grinding her teeth.
“You had your brothers kidnap me?” She practically spits out the words.
I hold her furious stare. “Yes.”
“I’m—”
“And did you see how easy it was for them to take you?” I cut her off, my voice hard.
Rage flashes across her features again, and she yanks hard on the handcuffs. “I swear to God, when I get out of these handcuffs, I’m going to?—”
“Give me a minute, will you?” I say to my brothers.
Rico nods. “We’ll be upstairs. The girls should be back soon anyway.”
While he starts towards the door, and the short hallway and the stairs beyond it, Kaden gives me a knowing look while a little smirk tugs at his lips. I narrow my eyes at him, but he thankfully doesn’t say what I know that he’s thinking.
Eli does, though.
“You make a mess, you clean it up,” he warns, shooting me a long look as he starts towards the door as well.
Shock, and a little fear, pulses across Kayla’s face. She probably thinks that he means blood. But I know that that wasn’t the fluid that Eli was thinking about.
I shoot my annoying brothers a glare, which just makes them grin like the unhinged psychos that they are. However, they thankfully disappear out the door and close it behind them without making any more comments.
Staring at the now closed door, I shake my head at them and their twisted dirty minds. That was not why I brought Kayla here. I did it to teach her a lesson.
“I’m going to fucking kill you,” Kayla growls behind me.
Amusement ripples through me, and I have to take a second to smile before I wipe all traces of mirth from my features and turn around to face her.
Moving so that I’m standing right in front of her, I cross my arms over my chest and level a hard stare down at her. “And how, exactly, are you going to accomplish that when you’re handcuffed to the wall in my brother’s basement?”
“As soon as I get out?—”
“And how are you going to get out?” I hold her furious stare with merciless eyes. “Huh? You’re entirely at my mercy now.”
Her eyes flash like lightning strikes, but she has no comeback for that because she knows that it’s true. So instead, she just lets out a long string of curses.
“This is what I’ve been trying to tell you,” I push, still holding her gaze with commanding eyes. “You might be excellent at sneaking away from your own bodyguards, but against a team of trained professionals out to kidnap you, you don’t stand a fucking chance. That’s why I need to be there to protect you.”
“I wouldn’t need protecting if you hadn’t sent your psycho brothers to kidnap me!”
“You needed to see how easy it is for a trained professional to take you. And how fast it can happen.”
Apparently, she has no quick comeback for that either, since that is also true, so she switches to threats. “The moment I tell my father about this, he’s going to fire you, you arrogant son of a bitch.”
“Why would he do that? He approved it.” Cocking my head, I flash her a grin. “He said that it was, and I quote, a good training exercise for her.”
Another snarl rips from her throat, and she struggles against her shackles again.
Uncrossing my arms, I start towards her. Because of the handcuffs, she can’t move from where she is sitting on the floor. But she can move her legs.
The moment I get within range, she yanks her leg up in an effort to kick me in the balls. But since it’s the only possible attack she can accomplish in that position, I anticipated it and grab her ankle mid-air.
Moving her leg to the side, I step in between her legs instead before I release her. She can kick all she wants, but I’m out of reach in this position.
She bares her teeth at me.
I close the distance between us until my boots almost brush against her pussy. Then I crouch down to her level. She pulls against the manacles again.
Grabbing her chin, I hold her head immobile while I lock serious eyes on her. “Against people like me, like my brothers, people who know what they’re doing, you are out of your league. You’re smart. You’re strong. You’re stubborn. And that’s a good thing. But it doesn’t matter in situations like these.”
She just glares up at me in angry silence, because once again, she knows that I’m right. She has experienced it firsthand now.
“Admit it,” I say. “In situations like these, you need my help.”
A muscle feathers in her jaw as she grinds her teeth again.
“Admit it,” I demand.
She just continues staring up at me in stubborn silence.
I heave a deep sigh and release her chin. Placing my palms on my thighs, I get ready to push to my feet. “Alright, then. If you can do everything on your own, then have fun trying to get out of this basement. I’ll see you in the morning.”
Alarm pulses across her features, and she flicks a quick glance between the handcuffs trapping her to the wall and the door across the room. I straighten and start to turn around.
“Wait,” she says. It sounds as if she had to drag that word from the depths of her soul.
Pausing on the floor between her legs, I arch an eyebrow in silent question.
She forces out a long angry sigh. Then she presses out, “You’re right.”
“About what?” I coax.
Her fingers curl as another wave of angry frustration flits across her face. “It was easy for your brothers to kidnap me. And if you had been there, things would have turned out very differently.”
“Which means…?”
A downright murderous expression flashes across her face, and she grinds out her next words between gritted teeth. “That I need your help.”
I grin. It’s a grin full of smug victory that makes lightning flicker in her eyes again.
“Glad we’re finally on the same page,” I say, just to rub it in even more.
Sliding a hand into my pocket, I pull out the keys to the handcuffs.
Anger still in her eyes, she says nothing as I at last unlock the manacles.
They fall open with two distinct clicks.
Kayla immediately shoots up from the floor.
And attacks.