Chapter 36
36
ELLA
M y head is screaming for some relief right now.
The drugs are starting to wear off, and my body doesn’t feel as heavy as it did earlier but in return, it feels like my head is attacking me from the inside out. The only thing that I’m happy about at the moment is that all the lights in the building are off and not making my headache any worse.
A headache should be the least of your worries.
Right. I should be thinking of ways to get out of this situation but the pain is so bad, that’s its the only thing I can concentrate on. Until the pain is gone and the drugs are fully out of my system, nothing I do right now is going to help me.
A small movement to my right catches my attention and I can’t help but to flinch as the figure gets closer to me.
“You don’t need to be scared of me,” Marisela lets out when she comes into view, a small sadistic smile playing on her lips.
“From what you told Peter, I do.” I say, using my voice for the first time since all of this started.
A laugh leaves her. “When it comes to men like him, you have to give them the words they want to hear. Just because I told him that we should kill you, doesn’t mean that I’m actually going to follow through with it. I could think of a few reasons why keeping you alive could be beneficial.”
She slide her finger down my face, and I try my hardest to move away but I’m still tied to a chair. I can’t really move much.
“Why are you doing this?” The question has been plaguing me since my eyes met hers earlier. I’ve tried to come up with an answer but my head hasn’t been clear enough to figure it out.
“Why are you still tied to a chair?” She smirks down at me. “Or why am I working with Mr. Hill to take down Bennett?”
I don’t answer. She knows that I’m asking.
Her smirk grows even more. “Well, you’re still tied to a chair because I don’t know what you are capable of. For all I know you are a trained assassin and the second you are free, you’ll come for my throat.”
How can she be joking right now?
“As for the other question, Bennett took something from both of us, and we think it’s time for him to pay for his actions.”
Anger starts to boil inside of me. “His actions? What did he do? Besides raise your children and treat them as if they were his own.”
A slap land against my cheek and for few seconds the pain in my head is forgotten.
“You don’t know what you are talking about.”
“I know that you’d rather kidnap someone and work with a slimy bastard like Peter Hill than go to your children and make things right.”
A sharp pain radiates from my scalp as Marisela grabs me by the hair and starts to pull.
She snarls down at me, her face so close I can smell the minty gum she is chewing.
“If I were you, I would keep that pretty mouth of yours shut and not mention my children again.”
My head snaps back with so much force that it takes a second to stop the dizziness.
As my head settles, I come to the realization that if I ask the right questions, there is a chance that Marisela, might actually talk. Especially if it’s just me and her in here. I just have to make sure that I don’t say anything that is going to make her mad. The kids are off the table and I’m guessing so is Bennett’s brother, but I’m sure there are other topics that she would be more than willing to talk about.
Peter seems like a good place to start.
“How do you and Peter even know each other?” I ask.
The two of the together seems like a very odd paring. It’s unexpected and definitely not something I saw coming.
If the rumors that Bennett and Dante were telling about Marisela are true, then she is known to run with the cartel. As far as I know, Peter is nowhere near that level of shadiness.
For a second, I think that Marisela is going to ignore me, but then she starts talking.
“I guess you can say that we met by chance.”
A wave of pain hits my head, making me groan, but I try to ignore it. “What does that even mean?”
“It means that when someone puts outs a call to bring down a powerful billionaire, people come from all over the place answer. I was one of the people.”
I don’t know if it’s the drugs, but I’m having a hard time following.
“A call? What do you mean by “put out a call?’”
I swear I could hear this woman roll her eyes at me. “It means that Mr. Hill went on the dark web and started talking about how he wanted to bring down billionaire extraordinaire Bennett Lane because he took a role that was supposed to be his, and was looking for help to do it.”
The CEO title.
That’s why he hasn’t been as vocal about taking Bennett out as CEO, because he has been planning to take him down behind the scenes.
He couldn’t do it as a Lane Enterprises employee, so he decided to do it for himself, hoping that everything will work out in his favor and the title would fall to him.
Bennett was right. Peter Hill is a conveying bastard.
And Marisela is right there next to him if she is helping him with this.
“How did you even know about the call that Peter put out?” I ask, trying to piece everything together.
Marisela turns to face me, giving me another smirk. “Just because I’ve been in hiding for years, doesn’t mean that I don’t keep tabs on people. The man that took my children away from me has been at the top of that list for years. So when his name popped up, I took hold of the opportunity. I would be dumb not to. And when Peter found out my own personal connection with Bennett, he was excited to get started.”
Her own personal connections.
Something clicks in my mind.
“You were the one behind the number, weren’t you? The one that kept calling him?”
Please say no. Please say that it wasn’t you.
The way she grins tells me everything that I need to know. She was behind it, and she has no regrets about it.
“Of course, it was me. I had to get little Bennett’s attention somehow, what better way than and number that would trace back to his brother.”
“You’re a cruel bitch.”
She closes the distance between us and once more, runs her finger along the length of my face. “Honey, you haven’t seen cruel. That was just me getting started.”
I’m able to pull away enough from her to let her finger fall, but even with the distance, I can still feel her skin against mine as if it were burned to my flesh.
As much as I don’t want to hear what her and Hill had planned for Bennett, I have to keep Marisela talking.
“What’s in it for you? If you succeed in taking down Bennett. Hill gets the title of CEO but what do you get?”
The first thing that comes to mind is the kids.
They are old enough to truly see their mother for who she really is, but what if she goes to them and starts manipulating them until they think that Bennett is the bad guy in all of this instead of her.
Her children are the only logical thing that I could think of her wanting. Especially if she has the mindset that Bennett took her children away from her.
The bitch hold be fucking grateful that he took them in and raised them as if they were his own. Not a lot of twenty-two year olds would have done that.
“What I get is a little more complicated. Where Peter’s part of the deal is a little more straight forward, mine comes in sections.”
I know that I’m going to regret asking, but I have to know. “How?”
Marisela looks down at her nails as if she is bored out of her mind. “The plan was fairly simple. We take out Bennett first, and since you are now married, you would be next followed by Henry. That way the only individuals that were left were my kids and all the family fortune would fall to them. Peter gets CEO and every company that the Lane family owns, and I would do everything in my power to repair my relationship with my kids and we’d be the richest and powerful family around.”
I hate this woman.
I hate her so fucking much.
Just the thought of her using her four kids to get the money that is meant for them and them alone, makes me sick. They deserve more than a mother that is going to use them. They deserve to have a mother that will for them, to help them through life and to love them wholeheartedly, and Marisela will never be that.
For the first time since I met her, I feel bad for Marisela.
She will never get to know the amazing humans that her children have become.
She will never know that Elliot loves to explore the world and helping people in need.
She will never know that Samantha is loyal beyond comprehension and that loves to work on cars because it’s something she did with Henry when she was younger.
She will never know that Grayson’s love for hockey runs so deep that there is no doubt in my mind that will make it the professional level one day and hopefully play for the Dark Knights.
She will never know that Drake loves computers and has a love for math like nobody else.
She will never know her children and see how great they are, and that’s okay. They don’t need her in their lives.
Which makes getting out of this all that more important. If I can’t make it out of here for myself, or for Bennett, then I will try for them. They may not be my kids and only my niece and nephews by marriage, but I love them and like Bennett I would do anything for them. Including protecting them from a mother that is greedy and power hungry.
“They deserve more than just being used for their money,” I say out loud, my inner thoughts slipping through.
Marisela throws a snarl in my direction. “They also deserved to grow up with a mother and look that worked out. Sometimes, you don’t get all that you deserve.”
If only I had my hands free, then maybe I can will myself over to her and strangle the shit out of her.
I hate this woman beyond measure.
For the next few minutes, we stay silent. She walks around me, still in her expensive heels and I continue to sit here, just letting the drugs seep out of my system.
“Why don’t you just kill me already?” I find myself asking during her fifteenth lap around my chair.
“I could, but I fear that if I have one of my men kill you now, Peter is going to freak out and call this whole thing off. So I think I will wait it out.”
“Where is Peter anyway?”
I haven’t seen him in a while. He was panicking a bit ago, about there being a chance in plans, but he disappeared after that.
“He’s trying to convince himself that going back to the Penthouse and grabbing Bennett would be a good idea.”
I can’t help but to let out a snort. “Bennett knows that I’m gone. That penthouse probably has more security than the White House right now. Hill toys going anywhere near there, he’s dead.”
“That’s exactly what I told him, but men can be stubborn with comprehension.”
As if he heard us talking about him, Peter walks into the room that we are in, looking like he just took a hit of the whatever drugs they gave, but instead of relaxing his body, they’re having the opposite effect.
When he takes out a gun and points it in my direction, I know that he has gone off the rails.
“What the fuck do you think that you are doing?” Marisela asks, looking at the man as if she is tired of his crap.
“We need to get rid of her.” Peter growls, his eyes are hard and never leaving mine.
I’ve never seen him like this. Sure there were times where he let his anger get the best of him in board meetings, but this an a whole different level.
“You’re fucking insane. I told you that I could use her form something.”
“I don’t care. She knows too much already. If we let her go, she’s going to talk and is going to screw everything up. We need to get rid of her before she does that.”
Tears roll down my face as I try to look anywhere but the gun pointed at me, but I can’t.
This is it. The second that Peter pulls the trigger, I’ll be gone.
The only think that is saving me right now, is the fact that Marisela is still talking to Peter, buying me more time.
“What makes you think that they don’t already know who took her? Do you really think that you can kill her, and walk away without facing the consequences? Newsflash Peter, they are going to know who pulled the trigger and they are going to come after you no matter what.”
Peter’s grip on the gun tightens up.
“They wont come after me.” He states with so much confidence.
“And why is that?” Marisela asks, making her stance combative.
“Because I’m going to make them believe that you did it. Lane will be so damn distracted with the fact that you’re here and that you killed his wife and distraught, that he will just hand the company over.”
Does he live in a delusional world? If that were to happen, if Peter were to kill me right now and made it believable that it was Marisela pulled the trigger, he would definitely go after her, but he wouldn’t hand over the company to someone like Peter. Bennett would rather let the company burn to the ground than hand it over to him.
Apparently I’m not the only one that thinks that this man’s plan is insane because Marisela actually lets out a laugh.
“You’re more stupid than I thought if you think that is going to happen.”
“It will, just you watch.”
Marisela shakes her head at him. “It won’t. Want to know why? Because you won’t make it out of this room alive.”
“What the hell are yo-” A shot rings out and Peter’s question is stopped abruptly.
For a few seconds, there is silence. No movement. Me and the two people in the room with me, too stunned to even do anything. But the second that blood starts to gush out of Peter’s mouth, it’s pure chaos.
Screams leave me, people start yelling, more people start storming into the building, shots are being fired and people are running for cover.
So much happens, and the only thing that I can do is sit here and hope that a bullet doesn’t hit me.
Eventually all the chaos starts to die down, but fear is still running deep in me, more so when all the new face that are now surrounding me, don’t look familiar.
This is truly where I’m going to die.
I don’t realize that I was hysterically crying until a figure crouches down in front of me. I don’t register his face until he says my name.
“Elizabeth.”
As soon as I hear my name, and the voice that it’s coming from, a different type of sob escapes me. A relieved on.
“Bennett?” I ask, the stars in my eyes making it hard to see.
“Yes, baby. Let’s get you out of here.” He says the words and the ties that were holding me to the chair loose and I’m able to finally move.
The tears finally clear and as soon as my arms are free and I’m able to see his face clearly, I wrap my arms around Bennett’s neck and I hold on to him for dear life.
His arms wrap around my body so tightly, I know wI will still feel them when he lets go. “I got you. I got you.”
His words are soothing, but when I look over his shoulder and see the body that is only a few feet away from, all comfort is gone.
“Peter is dead.” I voice, not being able to believe what I just lived through.
“He is.”
“What about Marisela?” I ask, pulling myself away from him just a fraction to look around the room for the her, but she is nowhere to be seen.
“She ran as soon as the shots started firing. We don’t know where she went, but we have men searching for her.”
They’ll find her. And if it’s not tonight, it will be soon. I just know it.
“Let’s get out of here. We need to get you to a doctor.” Bennett pushes himself up and brings me along with him.
All I can do is nod at his suggestion and cradle myself into his arms as he walks us out of the room.
It’s not unit we get to the car, that I’m finally able to speak and I try to give Bennett the words that I wished I was able to give earlier.
“Bennett?” I ask, as I rest against him in the back seat of the SUV.
“Yes, my sweet Ella?”
“I love you.”
His words come quickly. “I love you too, baby. I love you so damn much.”