Chapter Sixty-One
TYLER
I sit in my truck outside the hotel, looking at the camera feed I’ve hacked on my phone. Needless to say, I don’t even have to go inside to get what I need. It’s simple enough. Although, the idea of going inside seems almost poetic. Theatrical, honestly.
Patiently, I wait for them to arrive as I watch the live feed on my phone. Cole got the information for me after the engagement party. Now, I actually have a reason to use it.
Governor Matthew Goodman told his wife and daughter that he was catching a red eye flight to California for a campaigning event.
The two of them believe he is going to contract with other politicians to ensure votes, showing support for one another, and so on.
When in reality, he’s here, pulling up with a young woman, ready to fuck her in the penthouse suite of this hotel.
Matthew's car drives up to the valet and hands him the keys. A young woman steps out of his expensive car. She looks a little too young. I take a deep breath in, leaning back in the seat because this means I very well may have to do something about this.
My eyes shift back to the feed on my phone, and watch the two through the cameras. She looks around the grand hotel, wide-eyed, while Matthew checks them in. Repulsion forms like bile in the back of my throat.
While I send off a screenshot of the girl's face for Cole to research, they make their way into the elevators alone. I switch my camera views to follow them.
Matthew swipes his card to give them access to the suite. No one can enter unless they have a card. And sadly for him, one sits in my wallet right now.
He corners the girl in the elevator and fists his hand in her blonde hair, yanking her head back painfully. She cries out as her eyes go wide. My jaw tics at the action, but she doesn’t try to stop him.
Matthew and the woman make it up to the penthouse. I made sure to plant cameras there before their arrival. So, I switch to the feed inside that gives me a clear view of every angle. I need no questions asked if I have to use these tapes. There will be no skewing whether this is Matthew or not.
He throws his bag on the floor and wastes no time grabbing the girl, dragging her by a bundle of hair in his fist, and throwing her on the bed.
He pulls out a pair of handcuffs, and secures them on her wrists behind her back. A whip of his belt has it off and smacking across her ass. Her cries do nothing to stop him from rolling her onto her back, crushing her secured hands in the process.
I don’t have sound on these cameras, but her head shakes as tears start to stream down her face.
Sitting up straighter, my heart starts to pound. She tries to crawl away from Matthew now, but he drags her back over, making her kick her legs to get him away.
This is no longer consensual.
Immediately I’m getting out of my truck, slamming the door shut and racing into the hotel.
“Mr. Caddell, good evening.” The receptionist says at the desk.
I ignore her as I run to the elevators, pushing the button multiple times even though I know it won’t make it come faster. I pull up the feed to see Matthew securing her legs to the bed posts.
Fuck.
I hate that this is happening, but now it’s the best fucking leverage I have against him.
The elevator doors open, and I swipe the card to get access to the suite. My eyes dart between the switching numbers in the elevator to the feed on my phone. Matthew is now gagging the poor girl.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
I grab my knife from my jeans pocket and slide it open, putting my phone in my pocket as the adrenaline courses through me. The elevator doors ping open and I rush through, running to the bedroom where Matthew is now naked, and I hear the girl screaming through the gag.
“What the– ” His words are cut off by my hand around his throat, slamming him against the wall. I bring my knife to his carotid as I meet his brown eyes.
“No means fucking no, Matthew,” I growl. “Why do people in your goddamn family not understand the concept?”
“What the fuck are you doing here?” he snaps as he attempts to shove me off.
“This is what’s going to fucking happen, you’re going to call off the stupid fucking arrangement you and Mitchell made.
If you don’t, I will hack every station, every news outlet, every goddamn TV in this city and blast the camera feeds of you almost raping a girl.
It will destroy your reputation, your career, your fucking life. ”
He blinks at me, his brown eyes rounding with fear. “And what do I tell Mitchell?”
I smile. He’s listening like a well-trained dog. “You give him whatever the fuck he asks for in exchange.”
The girl still tied to the bed whimpers. My eyes pan over to her.
I tighten my grip on his throat, taking more of his air while pushing my knife into his skin. The blood trickles down his neck and over my hand gripping it. I hit his head with the hilt, making more blood trickle down his face.
“If I catch you trying to do this again, I will fucking cut your balls off and gag you with them myself.” That’s a promise I will actually keep.
I tie Matthew’s hands together above his head on the canopy bed posts. He doesn’t fight me. He knows that’s a losing battle. I approach the young woman in the bed, tears streaking down her face. She tries to move from me. Scared shitless.
“I’m not going to hurt you.” I pull my jacket off to cover her exposed body. I unlock the handcuffs, and cut the rope off her ankles with my knife. She rips the tape of her mouth, spitting her gag out.
She secures the jacket around her bare body as cries escape her mouth. I kneel down to level myself with her, being sure to leave a good distance between us. I grab her panties and the duct tape from Matthews bag, shoving them in his mouth and slapping some tape to seal them in.
“Tell me how you like that.” I give his face a tap.
Muffled words come from his mouth and he tries to move around the ropes I have him tied to. Humiliation widens his brown eyes as he stands completely naked, barely on his toes.
I look at the girl, hating what I have to say. “I can’t kill him. But I promise you, this won’t happen with him again.”
She nods with tears spilling down her face. I squat down in front of her. “How old are you?”
“Eighteen,” she cries.
Rage gets the better of me as a growl forms in my chest and I turn to look at Matthew.
I stand and approach him. “Coward. Having to use me and cling to my name, my legacy, my fucking success to build up your own. Because you couldn’t do it without pawning off your daughter to the next highest bidder. ” He starts squirming.
I want to fucking kill him, but I can’t. I can’t let rage ignite me. If I do, I’ll get sloppy. I need to be methodical. I came here for one thing, and I got it and then some.
“My fucking promise still stands,” I say, meeting his stare. I run my knife along his chest, creating a nice long gash across his abdomen. Just enough to bleed, but not enough to kill him.
“It will no longer be my job to ensure your family’s success,” I say, walking away from his groaning body.
I grab his phone, put it to his face to unlock it and text his wife from it, telling her to meet him here so she can see the coward she married.
My phone rings with the information on the woman from Cole.
“Get dressed,” I tell her. “I’m taking you home.”