Chapter 31
Chapter Thirty-One
Steff’s stomach growled, and she took another sip from the bottle of water Cynthia had given her.
She’d been surprised when it had been shoved in her face.
Cynthia giving her anything was unexpected, and initially she’d been worried that it had been drugged, but the seal was still intact, and she hadn’t seen any indication that a needle had pierced the bottle anywhere.
Cynthia had laughed at her and told her the water was safe, as she wanted Steff conscious so she could watch the downfall of the Alliez men.
The more time she spent with her former friend, the more she could see that she wasn’t the person Steff thought she knew. Nothing about this Cynthia resembled the Cynthia she’d worked with. The one that she’d laughed with.
Or maybe that Cynthia was a fake one, and the one in front of her was her real self. Not that it mattered. Things were about to go bad, and there was nothing she could do about it.
Steff fully believed when Jag and the others arrived, Cynthia wouldn’t stand a chance. They’d be able to take her down quicker than a deer could scamper across a highway.
“I wonder how much longer it will take for them to get here?” Cynthia mused, as she gazed out the window.
“Cass probably arranged for a helicopter to deliver them, right? Although there’s no where they can land.
But all those guys could probably repel out of one.
That’s kind of sexy. Pity they’re into vanilla sex.
I like a man who gets rough with me. Shows me who’s boss.
Tells me what to do. Fox did none of that.
But that will happen for me soon. I know it. ”
“Do you really think you’re going to be able to go wherever you want, after this?” Steff couldn’t believe Cynthia was being so delusional. There’s no way Jag, or even Fox, would let her escape.
Steff didn’t want her to get away. Not after what she was doing right now.
“Of course. You don’t think we’re alone, do you? I’m a valuable asset to Viktor’s business.”
“What do you mean?” Perhaps if she could keep Cynthia talking, she would be able to get her to relax enough that Steff could subdue her until the others arrived.
How she was going to do that, she didn’t know, but the chair she was sitting on was wooden, and if she could break it, then she could hit Cynthia behind the knees.
An action hero she wasn’t, but Steff was determined for her story not to finish in this shitty little cabin in the middle of California. She was going to fight for the future she wanted.
A future with Jag.
“You are so na?ve. There was a reason I wanted to get on the entertainment beat. There are so many young men and women that fawn over stars. That also want what they have. They’re so gullible. Whisper a few words about an amazing future, and they’re putty in my hands.”
Steff recalled now, all the times Cynthia had engaged with the crowd while they waited on the red carpet.
“How could you do that with a clear conscious? You were taking innocent people from their families and putting them into hell! You took away any hope of them having the future they dreamed of.”
Cynthia waved away her comments, as if they were an annoying mosquito.
“I didn’t snatch them. I had my list of what clients wanted, and if I saw a pathetic like groupie screaming over a star that fitted what I was looking for, then I spoke to them.
After I was done, I fired off a quick text to another contact who took over and did all the dirty work.
It was all neat and quick for me, and I got paid handsomely for it. ”
In all the time they’d worked together, Steff would never have picked up that Cynthia was wealthy.
She never gave any indication. Then again, Steff didn’t flaunt the money her parents had set up for her.
She would rather have her parents than the money, but she’d accepted that wasn’t to be the case.
“How long have you been doing it for?” Steff asked, slowly standing. Cynthia’s attention was still fixed outside. Her chance to do anything was now, if she had the courage–and she did.
“Years. I’d agreed to be taken too, because I was about to get my reward for all the hard work I’d done for Viktor.
I had to play the part so you and anyone else taken wouldn’t get suspicious.
I had everything planned out.” She turned, and Steff plopped back down on the chair, the wood groaning a little at the sudden movement.
“What were you doing?” Her eyes narrowed.
“I just stood for a second, my butt was getting numb.” The lie tripped off Steff’s tongue as easily as water dripping out of a tap.
“Am I going to have to tie you down? Because I will.”
“No, I’m not going to do anything.” The last thing she wanted was to be restrained. She was only going to have a very short window to make her move.
“I don’t think I trust you. Seems we have a little time, perhaps you might enjoy some fun.
Yes, I think that’s perfect.” Cynthia stalked over to her, and Steff sat up straight; she wasn’t going to show any weakness in front of her.
“You remember everything that happened to you all those years ago? Well, this is going to be just like that. Only worse. Those men I sent were mild to the ones I’ve got helping me now. ”
Fear swarmed her, recalling all the horrible things done to her. The deprivation they seemed to crave and enjoy. And Cynthia was behind it all.
As she’d been living the nightmare, she hadn’t known if others were going through the same thing. Maybe they were, or maybe it had just been her.
“Why did you do that to me?” she whispered.
“Because I could.”
In that moment, it hit her that Cynthia had never been her true friend. To Cynthia, she was a job. A means to an end. “Was anything you ever said to me true? Like, had you been going to a therapist? Or did you really like me?”
Cynthia stared at her with a pitying look. “It was so easy to fool you. I did what I had to do to get closer to you, both times.”
“I was always a target, wasn’t I?”
“You were the ideal candidate. No parents. No one to look for you. And it would’ve been perfect if it wasn’t for the fact Teresa had hooked up with her old high school crush, and he worked for Alliez. It had been the ideal set up. And then it all got ruined.”
“What about Tom and Richard? Were you behind them getting hurt?”
She shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. All that matters is the here and now. You’re going to enjoy your new life after we get rid of Jag and the others.”
A laugh erupted out of Steff; she couldn’t suppress it. “If you think you’re going to defeat them all, you’re more delusional than I thought you were. These guys train every day. They’re skills are still as sharp as if they were still in the Navy.”
“And the ones who are lurking in the bushes waiting for them to arrive, are just as well trained, if not better.”
“Do you not feel any remorse about something happening to Fox?” Steff’s heart broke for the man. He’d been imagining a future with Cynthia, and she’d been planning his downfall along with Steff’s.
“No, I don’t. That night, I was trying to escape the warehouse so I could hide somewhere else and still make my contact so I could be taken to my new owner, but Fox scooped me up, and I had no choice but to play the victim. I’ve never forgiven him for that.”
“How did you know things were going to work out this way?” Steff asked, because it had only been a chance call from Teresa that had her turning up to Angelica’s birthday.
“I didn’t, but when I got that call from Teresa about her brat’s birthday, I began to plan.
Trust me when I say Viktor was more than happy to cause Alliez Security more pain.
He would love to get Isaac, but he knows that’s a dead end now.
That it would be impossible to exact the type of revenge he wanted. But this gave him another opportunity.”
Steff didn’t like the sound of that at all. If–no, not if, but when she got out of here, this Viktor guy was going to be even more pissed at Alliez.
“And if it doesn’t work out? What then? What will Viktor do? Will he still come after Alliez?” She needed to know the answer so that she could tell Jag when this was all over.
“I don’t know. He seemed a little reluctant at first, but then I worked my magic, and he eventually agreed that it was a good idea.”
Steff didn’t need to be shown a picture book to know just how Cynthia had persuaded him to do what she wanted.
“But none of this is your concern, little Steffanie. After today, Alliez will be a memory, and you will start to make some better ones.”
Steff doubted that, but didn’t rebuke her; there was no point. If Cynthia wanted the last word, then she could have it.
Silence descended over the cabin, and Cynthia remained inside, which Steff was more than glad for. It meant she wasn’t going to bring in some sick person who thought he could have his way with her. Not that she would give in without a fight.
A low drone reached the cabin, and Cynthia clapped her hands in glee. “They’re arriving. That there, is a helicopter coming in. Let the fun begin.” She dug into her purse and pulled out a small square box and held it up to her mouth. “Incoming. You know what to do.”
Steff didn’t want to say that so did Jag and the others. There was no way they were coming in blind. She fully believed– with everything Cass had at her fingertips–that the guys were ready for anything.
If anyone needed to be prepared, it was the men outside, because they were about to find out what men who lived and served to protect were capable of.
And so would she.
Getting up, she grabbed the chair and slammed it down, hard.
The sound of splintering wood echoed around the room.
Steff picked up a piece and screamed like a banshee as she ran toward Cynthia and swung as hard as she could, the wood connecting with the back of Cynthia’s legs, bringing her to her knees with a cry of pain.
“Bitch, you picked the wrong girl to take again! I’m stronger now than I was then! You won’t be winning this time.” Steff swung again and connected with Cynthia’s head. The other woman’s eyes rolled back as she fell face first into the floor with a satisfying thump.