Chapter 51 Violet
Violet
There was nothing more disorienting than waking up somewhere I didn’t remember falling asleep.
My body ached, the deep, pulsing kind that came from rough sex.
I was pretty sure there was a bruise blooming where Ryder’s fingers had dug into my thigh, not to mention the marks on my back from the stupid beam.
I groaned and pressed my face deeper into the pillow, frustration prickling under my skin. Not just at him, but at myself. At how easily I’d given in. Again.
Ryder was chaos wrapped in control, and he confused the hell out of me. Because for a man who swore he didn’t care about anyone, who lived by his own self-indulgent rules… he seemed to care about me.
Which made this worse.
Because I had no intention of forgiving him. Not now. Maybe not ever.
I was using him, his resources, and connections to help mum.
That was it. Nothing more.
This wasn’t some fairytale, and I wasn’t the damsel in distress.
A gentle sigh pulled my attention over, and I found mum curled on her side facing me. She clutched that bloody gun to her chest like it was a cuddly toy, her face relaxed in sleep.
Sitting up, I swung my legs off the bed, sleep now impossible. I had no idea how long I’d slept. My body felt exhausted, but my mind wouldn’t quiet.
The sky outside was still dark as I eased out of the room and slipped into the hallway, moving softly, not wanting to wake anyone else. But voices drifted from the floor below, so I followed the sound.
“How much?” Ryder asked, leaning forward over a desk, hands braced against the polished wood while I peeked through the open door. The glow from the phone screen painted sharp angles across his face, all focus and tension while Roman sat opposite, his eyes calculated.
“How much?” the voice echoed through the speaker, cold and detached.
“How much for you to leave Geraldine Hoffman and her daughter alone?” Ryder said. “I’ll buy out their contracts.”
“There are no contracts, Mr Finn.”
I paused in the gap, looking in. Maxim spotted me over Roman’s shoulder, giving me a reassuring nod as I stood there, silent.
“Then—”
“There is no ‘then’,” the voice cut in sharply. “You were chosen for your reputation, but it seems you’ve gone soft.”
Ryder’s lips pulled into a sneer, but he didn’t have a chance to speak.
“You made a grave mistake double-crossing us. But all will be forgiven… if you hand over the package as promised.”
Roman frowned, scribbling something on a piece of paper for Ryder to read that I couldn’t see.
“I’ve already taken out two of your men,” he chuckled, the sound dark. “So tell me, what makes you think I won’t hunt down you and your boss next? You know exactly how good I am at finding what I want. That’s why Mr C hired me.”
“Threats won’t work.”
A muscle ticked in Ryder’s jaw. “You called me.”
“To negotiate,” the voice replied, almost amused. “But it’s clear you’re unwilling to part with Miss Sonne.”
Ryder’s expression shifted, the anger draining from his face, leaving something far more dangerous behind.
“You will give us what we want. If you do, you’ll walk away alive. Refuse, and the price on your head will continue to rise. How long can you hide, Mr Finn?”
Roman stiffened. Maxim’s jaw tightened, and I held my breath.
Finally, Ryder clicked his tongue. “That it? You must think I’m a right cunt to believe you’ll let me walk away from this. Shame I don’t negotiate with terrorists.”
“This is your last warning. Hand over Miss Sonne, with or without her mother, and the bounty will be removed. If you don’t, Mr C will use every resource at his disposal to collect what he’s owed.”
“I’m going to take option fuck you.” Ryder clicked the phone, his shoulders hunched for a moment. “Did you get all that?” he sighed.
“Loud and clear,” Aeris replied through the receiver. “Though, your conversational skills leave much to be desired.”
“How confident are you with the information?”
“Confident after that call,” she said. “It seems both our instincts were correct. Those flowers are used as product names, and your friend Jürgen is the delivery boy.”
“Wait, so those girls in the photographs were sold?” I asked, pushing the door open until everyone’s attention was on me.
“Hello, Violet,” Aeris greeted, her voice crackling slightly through the line. “I haven’t found any direct records of sale. Which is unsurprising, given the nature of the business.”
“But they were moving these girls?” I asked.
“From what I can tell… it’s not just one operation.” Her tone darkened. “Young girls and boys go missing and then reappear at certain parties under new identities. Different names but the same faces.”
“How far have you been able to source this?” Roman asked.
“Through six different countries across Europe so far.”
“Blyat,” he muttered, glancing at Maxim with a grimace.
Ryder moved across the room to stand beside me, his nearness grounding me even as the air seemed to thin.
“Do you know who’s behind it?” I demanded.
It wasn’t until Ryder’s hands closed around mine that I realised they were shaking. I looked up at him, meeting that steady gaze of his, and it made something inside me burn hotter.
I wasn’t scared. I was furious.
Furious that it was sex trafficking.
Furious that he’d started this conversation without me, like I was something fragile that needed protecting instead of someone directly involved.
“It’s not that simple,” Aeris said. “But I’ve been asking around, specifically about the flowers, and I did find one name.”
“The Caretaker.”
The name froze the air, and I turned to find mum standing in the doorway, her frame swallowed by a black silk robe that made her look like death incarnate. Her hair was loose, her eyes distant, almost haunted.
“I remember now,” she whispered. “He called himself the Caretaker.”
“In all honesty, finding anything concrete on him has been difficult. But what I can gather is that he has a reputation and is a more… prominent figure in the extreme side of the sex industry. A world I’m not familiar with, nor do I want to be.
” She sounded disgusted even just saying it.
“There are rumours that if any of his products misbehave or run, then he’ll personally see to it that they’re… disciplined. Including termination.”
“How do we stop him?” Ryder asked, running a frustrated hand through his hair.
“I don’t want you to just stop him. I want you to destroy him,” mum snarled, her movements rigid as she stepped further into the room. “I want him dead.”
Aeris, still on the line, agreed. “I’m with you, but we have to be careful. There’s been whispers of an event at the end of this week. One of the parties I mentioned earlier.”
“Are you able to get us in?” I asked, feeling Ryder’s gaze sharpen against my cheek.
A pause, as if she was thinking. “Yes,” she said after a moment. “But it’ll be dangerous, and you won’t have friends there.”
Ryder cocked his head. “What do you expect us to find at this party?”
“I don’t know. But it may be your best chance to find people willing to talk about the Caretaker, including where to find him. I believe he never attends himself, but it’s a way into that world. But you will have to be careful. One wrong move and he may disappear, or retaliate.”
“We should go, gather intel,” I said, glancing at Ryder, half-expecting him to argue with me. “Otherwise, this will never end.”
Instead, he held my gaze with his brows pinched, as if trying to figure me out. After a moment, he gave the tiniest of nods. “Okay, get us in,” he said. “Send me the invoice.”
“Done,” Aeris said as she cut the call.
“No,” mum snapped, shaking her head so hard her hair whipped around her face. “You’re not going. It’s too dangerous.”
“What? You just said—”
“You don’t understand!” she screamed, the sound raw enough to make me flinch. “You don’t remember, but I do.”
“Mum—”
“Do you not get it?” she cried, her voice breaking. “That’s what he wants. For you to go to him.”
I bristled. “I’m not going to him.”
“You stupid child!”
“Don’t speak to her like that,” Ryder growled, stepping between us.
“You want a bad guy? Then I’ll be the bad guy. But you’re done, Violet,” she said, ignoring him entirely. “It’s too dangerous.”
“They’re never going to stop, are they?” I shot back, my voice rising until it echoed through the room. It wasn’t until I caught movement in my periphery that I remembered we had an audience. Roman and Maxim, both watching like this was some tragic play.
Mum didn’t even glance at them, her attention and rage concentrated on me. “You only think the world is safe because of what I’ve done to protect you.”
“All you’ve done is hide me!”
“Hiding is better than dead!” she screamed, her frame trembling. “Or worse, and there is far worse out there, Violet.”
Silence punched between us, thick and suffocating.
“Please, flower,” she said, calmer this time. “We can run again. Just you and me.”
“Forever?” I asked, the word splintering. “What kind of life is that?”
A single tear slipped down her cheek, tracing the lines of exhaustion. “I just want you to be safe.”
“I will be. We will be, but I also deserve the truth,” I said, stepping closer even as she shrank away. “I deserve to control my future, not spend my life terrified of someone from your past.”
Mum laughed, the sound unhinged as her eyes never left mine. Even as the rest of her tears fell.
“Shit… mum, I’m sorry.” I went to reach out, but she stepped back. “I didn’t mean it to come out like that.”
“After everything I’ve sacrificed,” she whispered, turning her back on me, “you want freedom? Then take it.”