Chapter 30
CHAPTER 30
SILVER
S he’d barely gotten five minutes from the house before her phone rang and Ice’s name popped up on the screen built into the car’s dashboard. Bracing herself for the lecture coming her way, she dragged in a breath and hit the button to answer his call. “Hi, Daddy.”
“You are in so much trouble, little girl. Where are you?”
“Ah.” Reaching over, she hit the button to switch back to the GPS. “About to get on the interstate.”
“Pull over. Now, Amanda.”
Oh, shit. He was pissed with a capital P. “Why?”
“So you can text me the address of where you’re going and I can meet you there.”
“Nope, can’t do that.” Despite her occasional brat status, her heart slammed against her ribcage as the refusal left her lips. Being sassy was one thing. Flat out telling her Daddy ‘No’ was likely to end with more trouble than her ass could actually handle.
“Little girl, if you get on the interstate before you text me that address, I will make sure you do not come for a month. Am I making myself perfectly clear?”
Shit shit shit . “But, Daddy?—”
“Now, Amanda Louise.”
“Okay, okay, I’m doing it. Hold your horses,” she muttered as she guided the car into the parking lot of a gas station near her exit. “I’m parked.”
“Good girl. Now, text me the address.”
“This really isn’t necessary.” But she picked up the phone anyway and copied the address over to his text. “It’s not like I’m walking into a hostage situation or something. Ace isn’t dangerous.”
Except maybe to himself. But if she told Ice that, he really would insist on coming with her.
“That’s the only reason I’m not making you turn the car around.”
“You’re not?”
“No. I understand you and Ace have your own shit to work out. If you’d told me you wanted to go talk to him alone, I would have let you. But you chose to be sneaky instead, and you’re going to be paying a hefty price for that later.”
A familiar pressure she recognized as guilt tightened around her chest. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think you’d let me come if I told you he wanted to talk alone.”
“Why not? Like you said, he’s not actually dangerous. Unless there’s something you’re not telling me.”
“No,” she lied, cringing inside at how easily the lie rolled off her tongue. Once Ice found out about the texts Ace had sent, calling her a bitch and a whore and all manner of nasty things, she really was going to be in a world of trouble. “I just… sort of assumed you wouldn’t trust him with me.” That, at least, wasn’t a lie. It just wasn’t the whole truth.
Silence stretched between them, and she squirmed in her seat despite the fact he wasn’t actually there to stare her down the way it felt like he was staring her down. “Or do you still think I don’t trust you?”
“Maybe a bit of both,” she admitted, her voice dropping to a whisper. “I don’t know. I didn’t really stop to think about it, if I’m being honest. Seemed easier to just do it and beg forgiveness later.”
“Oh, my naughty little goddess.” His laugh, low and full of wicked promise, filled the car. “It seems you’ve forgotten exactly who I am. But trust me when I tell you that by the time I’m finished with you that you will never make the mistake of thinking forgiveness is easier than permission when it comes to me.”
Need pulsed between her thighs, drawing a whimper from her lips before she could stop it. “Yes, Daddy.”
“Now, go on and meet Ace. Beckett is sending a car for me since someone took mine without asking. Again. I’ll be about fifteen minutes behind you, which should give you and Ace plenty of time for whatever it is he has to say.”
“Yes, Daddy. Um. Thanks, for trusting me to take care of this myself.”
“You’re welcome, baby. But you better get back on the road. You’re losing your head start.”
Laughing, she put the car in drive and eased back out onto the main road. “See you when I see you, Daddy.”
Ice
Staring down at his phone, Ice tapped the address Silver had sent him and pulled it up on the map. Despite his assurances, something about the whole situation wasn’t sitting right with him. He’d feel much better if he was at least able to wait in the car while she went in to talk to him.
Which made no sense. Ace may have been an asshole, but to the best of Ice’s knowledge, he’d never been violent. Even during their worst breakups, Silver had never seemed concerned for her safety.
So why couldn’t he shake the feeling that this time was different?
Going with his gut, he pulled up Holden’s number. “Hey. I need a favor. How quickly can you have a couple of guys to this address?”
“Just a sec,” Holden grunted.
Seconds ticked by in silence, and Ice paced the floor of his kitchen, fighting back the urge to ask what was taking so fucking long.
“That’s an apartment building right around the corner from me,” Holden said after what felt like an eternity. “I can be there in two shakes. What’s up?”
“Silver’s meeting Ace there. He said he wanted to talk to her alone.”
“Did he make any threats? Tell her to come alone or he’d hurt you, that kind of thing?”
“No, not that I know of. And Silver didn’t sound stressed or worried when I talked to her a minute ago. I just can’t shake the feeling that something's not right.”
“Always trust your gut. I’ll call a couple guys in, get them over there. You on your way?”
The doorbell rang, alerting him that his driver had arrived. “Leaving now.”
“Good. I’ll keep you updated.”
Silver
The apartment building the GPS guided her to was a far cry from the five-star hotels the band usually occupied, but it was cute, with a historic charm she probably would have enjoyed if her stomach hadn’t been tied in knots. Even though she knew she was doing the right thing by coming clean with Ace, she still felt as nervous as a virgin on her wedding night.
Pulling her phone from her purse, she checked the address he’d sent again. Apartment 2B.
There was no elevator, probably because the building looked like it had been here since the town had been settled, so she was able to postpone the inevitable by an extra minute or so as she slowly climbed the stairs. Which was both blessing and curse, as it also gave her stomach extra time to protest each and every step.
By the time she was standing in front of the apartment he’d listed in his message, she was vaguely worried she might be sick right there in the hallway. But she inhaled deeply to quell the rolling nausea, and lifted her fist to knock.
“Over here, whore.”
Something was wrong. She heard it in his voice a split second before a hand clamped down over her mouth and the world around her slowly faded to black.
Silver
She woke to blinding pain and her stomach rebelling as she tried to force her eyes open. Panic followed on the heels of the pain when her arms refused to obey her mind’s command to move .
Oh god. I can’t move my arms. Or my legs. I’m paralyzed.
But as the fog in her brain cleared a bit more, she became aware of the ropes digging into her wrists and ankles.
Not paralyzed. Bound.
Helpless.
Fuck.
“Oh, good. You’re awake.” Ace stepped into view, his dark hair wild around his face, his eyes bloodshot. Whether from lack of sleep or the alcohol she could smell rolling off his breath, she wasn’t sure. Some mixture of both, probably.
Either way, he didn’t look anything like the man she knew. The man she’d thought she’d loved. Even after their worst fights he’d never looked so completely… unhinged.
Clutching a bottle of cheap whiskey, he dropped onto the leather couch in front of her. Now that whatever it was he’d drugged her with was clearing from her system, she could tell the apartment was rather beautifully furnished. A bit lifeless, with all the white and shades of gray, but it had clearly been renovated sometime recently, most likely with the intent of renting the space out to lovers on a little weekend getaway.
Your cleaning deposit isn’t going to cover blood if you kill me, Ace.
Blackness crept into the edges of her vision at the thought, and she quickly shoved it aside. Yes, he’d lied to her about the apartment number. Yes, he’d drugged her and knocked her unconscious. Yes, he’d tied her to a chair and yes, he looked like he’d started drinking the moment he got the news about her and Ice and he hadn’t stopped since.
But that didn’t mean he was going to murder her.
“We could have talked without all the theatrics, you know.” Raising a brow at him, she tugged at her arms, hoping to loosen the restraints a bit. To her dismay, they only tightened more, and she was vaguely worried about cutting off the circulation to her hands if she kept fighting them.
“You would know all about theatrics, wouldn’t you, Sil?” With a sneer that was pure hatred, he lifted the whiskey bottle to his lips and took a deep pull. “What a show you put on for me, convincing me you loved me. When all the time you were fucking my best friend behind my back.”
“No.” Her vision swam again as she whipped her head from side to side in denial. “You have to believe me, Ace. Nothing ever happened while you and I were together. This thing with Ice, it’s new. I swear.”
Tilting his head to the side, he reached behind him. “How new, exactly?”
Shit . “What do you mean?”
Light flashed against metal, and she realized with bowel-loosening terror that he was holding a giant kitchen knife. “How long, exactly, have you been fucking him? Just since you left California? Or did it start before then?” Rising to his feet, he stepped closer, the tip of the blade dragging along her jaw. Not hard enough to draw blood, but it was more than enough to have her breath freezing in her lungs. “Say… on Valentine’s Day, perhaps?”
“We were going to tell you,” she whispered. “I swear, Ace, we weren’t trying to sneak around behind your back.”
“Except you did!” His scream was punctuated by the back of his hand connecting hard with her cheek. “You’ve been sneaking around with my best friend for months . I bet he didn’t even go on sabbatical. You two have probably been holed up at his house, fucking like rabbits, laughing at me. Laughing at how stupid and gullible you thought I was. But I knew. I knew the whole fucking time.”
Pain radiated through her skull as she dragged in a deep breath, silently praying she wouldn’t be sick. “You knew? This whole time, you knew?”
“Of course I knew, you dumb bitch. You really think those assholes at that club you two love so much can keep a secret? I went to Black Light after our… misunderstanding on the tour to blow off some steam, and everyone was talking about Roulette.”
“Misunderstanding?” Rage rose up inside her, so hot it burned away everything else, even the throbbing pain in her cheek. “You call fucking someone else in our bed, with me in it, a misunderstanding ?”
“I was teaching you a lesson! But you’re too stubborn, too full of your own pride to see that.”
“A lesson?” For a moment, she could only stare at him as the sheer absurdity of his words sank in. And then the laughter started. Just a little snort of it, at first, but after a moment she was practically howling with it. “You really believe that, don’t you? You really believe you’re some big, bad Dom, and I’m just some wayward subbie who needs to be put in her place. Jesus, you really are fucking insane.”
Eyes wild, Ace raised his hand as if to strike her again. But he paused, staring down at her, and her stomach jumped at what she saw in his eyes as he lowered his arm.
“Perhaps I’m going about this the wrong way,” he said, his voice so calm it sent a shiver of terror down her spine. “When I was at Black Light, I heard lots of people talking about that one scene you did with Ice. You know what scene I’m talking about, don’t you, Silver?”
“I-I don’t remember.” Of course she remembered. Every second of that night was burned into her memory with crystal-clear clarity. But she needed to stall, just needed enough time for Ice to come, for her Daddy to rescue her.
“Oh, I think you do, my traitorous little whore. So let’s see how you stand up to some real interrogation techniques.”
This time when the pain came, she could only scream.