Controlling Interests: A Step-Brother Romance (The Legacy Series Book 2) (24 page)

“Nick will have to understand,” I said.

Reed nodded. “You think he trusts you?”

“I don’t think any of us trust the others.”

“You know you could
always
trust me.” He softened his voice. “Come on, Sarah. Unlock me so we can talk with my boxers on.”

I didn’t free him, but I tossed him the boxers and the TV’s remote control. His jaw tightened. Without his smile, the scars on his face and cheek and ear were suddenly visible.

I rifled through his discarded pants. “I’m sorry, Reed. Where are the keys to your car?”

“Porsche?”

“Sure.”

“Under the visor.”

I nodded. “I’ll be back before you know it. And I’ll fill her up with a full tank. I promise.”

“Don’t bother. He’ll find you anyway.”

“Darius won’t know I’m gone.”

“Not talking about my father.” Reed’s voice darkened. “I’m talking about Nick.”

I didn’t want to imagine it. “He’ll understand.”

“I doubt it. I’d rather run from the man who thought he lost you than from the man who thinks you stole everything. If you go and talk to Wescott, he’ll know you’re seizing the company.”

“I
am
seizing the company. What difference does it make if it’s today or if it’s on my birthday?”

“A couple months is a big difference,” Reed said. “Enough time for Nick to save the day.”

“Well, I can’t wait.”

“You have to.”

“Reed, they’re going to kill me if I don’t conceive.”

He tilted his head. “
They
?”

So he didn’t know. Nick kept it secret, even from his brothers.

Was he that desperate to protect me?

Or did he really think he could stop it?

“The Bennett Board of Directors knows about me,” I said. “They sided with Darius. They
voted
to have me raped and bred so they can save the company. And if
you
refuse? They’ll look the other way while Darius kills you.”

Reed paled. “Jesus.”

“So, if anyone asks where I am, just tell them I’m taking care of some errands.”

I turned to the door. Reed swore, tearing at the cuffs on his hand. The bed shook as he yelled for me.

“Sarah, wait! You can’t go! If that’s true, it’s suicide!”

And that fear made my decision for me. I took a breath.

“I’d rather kill myself then give Darius Bennett the satisfaction of pulling the trigger.”

Reed’s voice hardened. “Yeah, that’s great. But remember where else he’s aiming the gun.”

My insides chilled. I stilled.

“See the problem? You march out that door, you kill us both.”

“But...I handcuffed you.” Why did I argue? Why didn’t I just go? Why couldn’t I leave without Reed understanding? “He’ll think I trapped you. He can’t blame you.”

“My father has never missed an opportunity to blame one of his sons for their failures.”

I didn’t have any other options, and Reed was always too honest with me.

“If I let you go, will you try to stop me?”

“Yes.”

It hurt. I knew he’d say it, but it still hurt.

“Then you are just keeping me prisoner here too.”

He didn’t hide it. “Yes.”

“That isn’t fair.”

“Sarah, you said you’d submit to keep my father happy.”

“And get raped?” My voice shrilled. “Is that worth keeping Darius happy? Watching him destroy my farm and my family’s honor? My
mother
?”

“It’s better than being dead.”

“Not if Darius
wins
.”

“The only victory is the one you’re imagining,” he said. “We are talking blood. Life or death. Forget the company. Forget the feud. Vengeance won’t save you.”

“It’s more than just vengeance.”

“Yeah. This feud is about people too. The ones killed in car crashes. The girl stolen in the night.”

“You don’t get it, Reed.”

 He tried to soften his voice and failed. “Yes, I do, I know you’re afraid of him—”

“I’m
not
.”

“Sarah, you are so afraid of my father you aren’t thinking clearly. Admitting your fear doesn’t make you weak, it makes you
human
.”

“If I get scared it means I’ve given up.”

Reed tugged the handcuffs, but not to escape. He wanted to hold me. That was worth running from. I wasn’t admitting
anything
. I wasn’t letting Darius get into my head. I was doing this to
save
myself.

And nothing he could say would stop me.

“I’ll come back,” I said. “And we’ll pretend like this never happened.”

“That’s not possible.” Reed stared at the ceiling. “If you leave, we’re gonna have a problem, and I won’t be able to fix it.”

My chest ached, but it wasn’t asthma. “It doesn’t have to be fixed. Nothing is broken.”

“Do you know why I fuck you, Sarah?”

I stiffened. Reed didn’t mean it to be harsh, but it was the roughest he ever dragged his words.

“It’s not about knocking you up. It’s not about obeying Nick. It’s because I’m trying to give you a taste of pleasure, something that will give you the strength to fight.” He shrugged. “I told you before I’d protect you however I can. Sarah, I told you. I’d rather meet my father in hell than let him hurt you.”

“I remember.”

Reed looked away. “But I can’t protect you from Nick.”

I stilled. He stopped struggling against the cuffs, but with his surrender came something else.

Anger. Insult.

Betrayal.

“I hope to God you can control Nick,” he said. “Because I don’t care who you ally with in this house, if you cross Nicholas Bennett, no one will be able to save you.”

“I have to try.” I hesitated. “Can you forgive me?”

He didn’t answer the question. “You’re just as ruthless as they are.”

“Only because I have to be.”

“No.” Reed’s voice stung. “You’re choosing to be. You don’t realize how much blood will spill.”

“I didn’t draw it first.”

“But they’ll draw it last.” Reed tucked his arms behind his head, but only I flinched as the metal clanged. “Trust me, Sarah, my father will make it hurt.”

“I’m not afraid of him.”

“Yes, you are.” His voice layered with remorse. “But you haven’t seen half of what my father is capable of. If you leave, he will give you a real reason to fear him.”

“Sarah Atwood has escaped.”

It wasn’t the first time it happened, but it was surprising it took this long for her to attempt it again.

My father didn’t agree. His voice corroded with venom.

“I’ll find her,” I said.

“Yes, you will, after you’ve returned to the estate. First you will free your brother, and then I will meet with all of my sons to discuss what must be done.”

“…Free my brother?”

“Don’t delay, Nicholas.” His words sliced with a familiar rage that would split the long-healed scars on my back. “The little cunt’s final fertility treatment is tomorrow. I will have her home and bedded or it will be the
last
time I give her the opportunity to escape.”

Christ.

I slammed the phone on the receiver only to immediately call for my helicopter.

What the hell was Sarah doing?

If she was lucky, my father would break her legs and chain her in the basement to be fucked.

If she truly angered him, he’d do the same and then kill her. 

The thought shredded my heart, and the threat of madness fueled my veins with rabid fury.

If my gut twisted and blood poisoned when my father merely looked at her, what monster would I become if he dared to lay a hand on her?

And how could I prevent it? Sarah didn’t listen to me. Willful disobedience made for a sensual challenge but a terrible epitaph. Her safety depended on my
one
command.

Submit.

And still, she defied me.

At each and every turn, she disobeyed me.

And now she had escaped.

It was hard enough controlling her when she was at my side. She fled from our home to go…where?

Anywhere
.

Anywhere she could free herself from the Bennetts.

Anywhere she’d be rid of me.

Sarah was slipping away. I held her in my arms, promised my love, and damned her to a life of captivity and horror. She blamed me for all of it—my father’s attempted rape, the fertility drugs, the conspiracy of the board. And she was right. I’d vowed I’d do whatever I could to keep her safe.

Except free her from my possession.

And the instant she realized it—when she truly understood my obsessive devotion—I’d lose her forever, no matter the restraints, seclusion, and madness that bound her within the estate.

All the more reason to find her before she did something reckless.

Something
more
reckless.

The helicopter arrived within a quarter hour. I texted Max from the air.

Where are you?

He responded with a slight delay.
The estate. Enjoying the show.

What show
?

You’ll fucking see.

I didn’t have time for cryptic games—not from my father, not from my brother, and not from Sarah Atwood endangering herself in a foolish attempt to return home or hide from my family until she inherited the trust.

The
trust
.

Christ.

Sarah never retreated, she only delayed to arm herself.

The helicopter was halfway to the estate, but I didn’t order the pilot to return to San Jose. I knew exactly where she was. If she had any common sense, she’d hurry to the mansion before my father traded the last of his patience for a loaded gun.

If she wanted to survive, she’d leave me and never look back.

But the thought of losing her was a pain that surged with dark desperation and unjust rage. Sarah Atwood was the true cornerstone of any empire I’d ever build. Nothing else tempted me. Nothing else moved me.

I needed Sarah in my life, at my side, in my bed.

I didn’t trust myself to deny the selfish desires. My love endangered her more than my father’s wrath.

The helicopter landed. I met my brothers within Reed’s suite.

Nothing prepared me for it, and yet, somehow, I knew this was how it would happen.

“Oh, Christ, the cavalry’s here.” Reed knocked his head against the headboard. He wore only a pair of blue boxers. The color matched the light bruising on the wrist trapped in a handcuff.

Max snickered from the corner, twirling a set of keys in his hand.

“Would you tell him to fucking unlock me?” Reed clattered the metal around his wrist. “This isn’t as comfortable as it looks.”

I surveyed the room. No signs of struggle. No sign of Sarah.

Just my youngest brother, handcuffed to his own bed.

Like a jackass.

“How…did this happen?” I imagined it quite vividly, but I hoped I was wrong. Sarah slamming a chair through a window and running was acceptable panic. But overpowering my brother? Her escape was premeditated, and it would enrage my father.

“I’ll let you out,” Max said. “Just gotta say your own little safe word.”

“Fuck you, I have to piss.”

“That’s not it.” He dangled the keys in front of him. “Say
Sarah Atwood made me her bitch
. Then I’ll uncuff you.”

Why weren’t they worried? “Where is Sarah?”

Reed shrugged. The handcuffs jingled. She managed to restrain a man twice her size.

Sarah was as impressive as she was idiotic.

“She left about six hours ago.”

“
Six hours
?” It was like she tried to enrage my father.

Max frowned. “Where’d she go?”

My brother pointed to the cuff. “I wasn’t at liberty to follow her. She stole my car and left.”

“She stole your
car
?” Max’s voice rose.

Reed huffed. “She sure as hell wasn’t taking my bike. Don’t worry, she said she was coming back.”

“Why in the
hell
would she come back?” Max paced the room, but he made no effort to unlock our brother. “Where’s her dog?”

“She left him.”

That reassured me. “She wouldn’t leave Hamlet with our father.”

Max swore. “What the hell happened?”

“Christ. We were just messing around. I wasn’t paying attention. She cuffed me and ran.”

I didn’t want to consider the possibilities, but my mind was nothing if not a bastion for jealousy. “Why did you have handcuffs?”

Reed had the decency to look shamed. “She said she thought’d it be fun. Then she pretended to freak out with them on. I took them off because she was scared. Now I know she’s one hell of a liar. She blew me, cuffed me, and left.”

My spine stiffened.

“She
blew
you?”

Reed’s eyes jaded with impatience. “Yeah, cause
that
is the pressing issue at the moment.”

“You don’t make a lot of babies that way,” Max said.

“Fuck you.”

“Now you’re getting it!”

“Enough.” I checked my watch. “Max, let him up. We have to meet our father downstairs.”

“He’s pissed,” Reed said.

Max unhooked the cuffs. “No shit.”