Dark Boundaries (8 page)

Chapter Fifteen

Garrett~

I’m a twisted fuck to make her feel safe and then in the next moment break her down.

I’ve made my decision. All that matters is Andrea. Kristine will be broken and sold. I can’t care about her. She’s just a means to an end.

I slide my hand down her waist and I feel her muscles clench, as if they can escape my touch.

A sudden bang on the door disrupts us. Kristine’s eyes dart wildly to the door and terror fills them. Good, she needs to be scared. She’ll be safe as long as she’s scared.

The door opens and Justin’s head pops in. “Chase is losing it. You better come and see.” He sounds and looks tired.

I shove away from Kristine and start to walk away, but then I hesitate. I point to the floor. “On your knees. Crawl next to me,” I bark out the orders.

Kristine’s eyes widen and then her mouth sets in that stubborn way I’m now growing accustomed to. I move fast, grab hold of her hair and yank her off the bed. “When I give an instruction you obey!”

She whimpers as she falls to her knees, but at least she stays down. I start to walk, but she’s not following. Grinding my teeth with impatience, I walk over to the cupboard. I take out a collar and leash. If I have to degrade and force her, I will. There’s no more time for these games.

When she sees the collar and leash, she scrambles back until she hits the bed. “No! Don’t you dare, Garrett. I’m not a dog!” Anger flushes her face red.

“A dog still has choices. You’re nothing,” I hiss and then pounce on her. She’s too weak to fight me off and I get the collar quickly strapped around her neck. I clasp the leash onto the collar and then yank her forward. Her fingers claw at the collar and she makes a hoarse choking sound.

I crouch next to her, grabbing hold of her neck. “Get up and crawl or I will strangle you myself!”

Tears spill over her flushed cheeks and for the first time the fight in her eyes start to dim. For a split second I want to cradle her, beg her to keep fighting, but I don’t. Instead I stand up and drag her behind me. I ignore the choking sounds and I avoid my brother’s eyes.

“Where’s Chase?” I bark as I walk by Justin.

“He’s in the kitchen. He’s leaving,” Justin quickly fills me in. “Says he’s not going to do this shit. He let the girl go, Garrett! What if she runs to the police and tells them where we are?” Panic slithers through his words.

“We’ll deal with it all,” I snap, pissed that Chase couldn’t keep his shit together. What type of men did Bill hire?

I find Chase in the kitchen, stalking a hole in the floor.

“What’s this I hear?” Letting go of the leash, I grab hold of Chase’s shirt. “You let the fucking girl go! Are you fucking insane? She’ll run straight to the cops!”

Chase grabs hold of my arm and yanks it away from him. “I’m not doing this. I can’t rape her! I’m not a fucking animal like y’all are. I’m leaving. I’m packing and then hightailing it out of here. Y’all can clean up this fucking mess. I’m done, man!” He grabs a backpack I didn’t even notice and just leaves.

I scrub a hand over my face. It’s all going to shit. Think! I have to think!

“Go get your stuff, Justin. Get the girl ready. We’re heading out. It’s not safe to stay here. I’m not going to wait for the cops to bust in on us.”

I grab Kristine at her waist and throw her over my shoulder. I don’t have time for this shit. She starts to slam her tiny fists into my back, not doing any damage. She can’t throw a punch to save her life.

“You keep doing that and I’m going whip you worse than Eric did!” She stills at my warning, and then I feel the old familiar shivers of fear making her tremble like a leaf caught in a shitstorm.

Up in my room, I toss Kristine on the bed. I open the cupboard and grab the first item of clothing, a grey dress that qualifies more for a sack than a piece of clothing. I just want her covered, we’re not out to win any beauty contests. “Put that on!” I bark her into action.

She grabs the dress and yanks it over her head. It reaches her mid-thigh, hanging loosely around her slender body. It makes her look innocent. I grab the cuffs and yanking her arms behind her, I cuff her. I’m not taking chances with her. I take hold of the leash and drag her out of the room.

We meet up with Justin and Riza in the kitchen. I’m relieved to see he gave her something to wear, a light blue dress, something summery. So the opposite of what Kristine is wearing. The second the girls see each other they cry out and scramble to stand together. I hope they don’t try to escape again. I don’t have the energy to chase after Kristine again.

“I say we burn the place,” Justin says, his eyes not leaving Riza. “We don’t want to leave evidence.”

“You’re right. You load the girls in the van and I’ll torch the place. Meet me out front.” Justin takes hold of each of the girls. “Make sure you cuff them. I don’t want them running around,” I warn him as I make my way to the shed outside.

I find the gas I’m looking for and head back inside to soak the place. After lighting the place up, I run out front and climb in the passenger seat. “Let’s head to the warehouse. Bill can clean up this mess.”

~*~

Chapter Sixteen

Kristine~

Justin cuffed us to handle on the inside of the door. It hurt when he slammed the door closed. Riza cried out, I think she might have sprained her wrist.

At first we just hold each other, glad to be together again. After a while I get the courage to speak first. I don’t want the men to hear us so I whisper, “Are you okay? I heard the screaming. Did he hurt you? Do you know if Kelly’s okay?”

Riza shakes her head and then a broken sob shudders through her. “H-he…” she swallows hard, “he made me do it!” Her tears fall faster, her quick breaths cut off once in a while by a sob. “He made Kelly watch. He threatened to beat her, and I remember what you looked like. So I let him have his way. I was too scared to stop him. I didn’t want him to hurt Kelly and now she’s gone.” She sags against me, crying her heart out. I can’t keep my own tears from falling.

“What do you think happened to Kelly? Justin said she ran?” I take a deep breath, trying to ease the ache in my heart. “I hope she got away. She’ll get the police to come look for us. They’ll get us before we’re sold at that auction.” I can feel a small slither of hope blossoming in my chest at the thought of being found by the cops. I know Kelly won’t stop looking for us.

Riza takes hold of my arm and pulls it tighter around her. “Just hold me, Sis. Don’t let me go.”

I hold her as tight as I can with my one arm. Tears spill over my cheek. Hearing the endearment she called Kelly and me as kids, shreds my heart.

We both eventually fall asleep, too exhausted by all that’s happened to us to try and stay awake. I drift in and out. Each time I wake up I tighten my hold on Riza.

We’re together. That’s all that matters.

It grows very hot in the back of the van. Sweat beats on my forehead and snakes down my back from my under my hair. I don’t let go of Riza to wipe it off. The leather choker around my neck makes me feel even hotter.

Riza stirs and weakly lifts her head. “I’m so thirsty,” she murmurs. I know I’m dying of thirst, but that’s nothing compared to my worry for Riza. I don’t know when last she ate or drink.

“Did he give you food today?” I ask, brushing some sweat soaked hair from her flushed face.

She slowly opens her eyes and then shakes her head. “Yesterday.”

“Try to sleep. I’m sure they’ll let you have something soon,” I pacify her, drawing her back against my chest.

Time crawls by. The van gets hotter. I fight to stay awake. I’m too worried about Riza to allow myself to drift off.

I don’t know how long we’ve been driving, but it feels like days have passed by the time the van comes to a stop. I hear voices, new voices. The lock on the door rattles and then it’s yanked open. I’m yanked along with the door. A sharp pain shoots up my arm and into my shoulder. “Riza!” I cry out as she’s yanked away from me. Her body hangs limply from the other door, out of my reach. She’s not waking up!

Fear floods me and even though I was dying of heat just a second ago, chills spread over me. “Riza!” I cry again. I look around frantically. Men! There are so many men and they’re all staring at us.

“Look what the cat dragged in,” I hear the familiar sneering voice of Warren. My eyes lock on him and I swallow hard on the terror clogging up my throat.

Justin unlocks the cuffs holding Riza up and catches her as she slumps into him. He lifts her up, handling her with more care than Garrett shows me. That’s a good thing, right? At least it seems that Justin has feelings for Riza. He’ll look after her then.

“She needs water. Please,” I beg on her behalf. Justin scowls at me, but then he nods, carrying her into a large warehouse.

Garrett unlocks the cuffs and grabs hold of the leash as I slump to the floor. He yanks at it, not as hard as the first few times. I’m too weak to fight and don’t want to draw more attention to me. I crawl behind him, the gravel digging into my palms and knees. My eyes are focused on the ground, so I can miss the rocks. A piercing pain slices through my side and I feel my body jerk to the right. Dizziness clouds my vision and I don’t know what caused the pain until I see Warren’s boot coming at me. Another violent kick robs me of my breath.

My vision starts to blur, but before the darkness drags me under I see Garrett swing a fist at Warren. Confused that Garrett would defend me, I let the darkness take me.

~*~

Chapter Seventeen

Garrett~

I feel the leash yank back and turn around to scold Kristine. Now is not the time to be stubborn. I turn just in time to see Warren kick her so hard her whole body lifts from the impact. I don’t think. I just react. I step over Kristine and throw a punch at the motherfucker. I deliver punch after punch, intent on giving him a facelift. As he sags to the floor I go down with him. I don’t stop until arms grab me from behind, dragging me away from the fucker’s unconscious body.

I swear I’ll kill him if he touches her again. She’s mine.

I yank my arms free and rush to Kristine where she’s lying in a small bundle. “Kris,” I whisper and when she doesn’t move, I start to worry. I quickly pick her up. Cradling her close, I leave the other men to deal with the asshole. I take her to the back where the empty containers are kept. That’s where they bring the idiots who default on their payments, to torture them. I pick a container that’s not too dirty and place Kristine on the floor. Staring down at her pale face I know I can’t show her any sympathy.

Justin comes in behind me. “I’ve got Riza in the container at the end. I gave her some water.” He peeks over my shoulder. “What happened to her?”

“Warren kicked her. Keep an eye on Riza. You don’t want to leave her alone with him around. He’ll kill her and we’re already down to two girls.”

I hear Bill’s thunderous voice coming from the front. He can be pissed all he wants, we didn’t have a choice.

“What are you doing here?” he shouts, red patches of anger forming on his chubby cheeks.

“The two idiots you hired fucked up. Eric killed the other girl so I put him out of his misery and Chase took off. He let the third girl go so we had to spilt, as well. We didn’t want to stick around for the cops to crash the party. We’re down to the two girls now.” Quick thinking lets me add, “Next time let me pick the men.” That way he’ll think I’m in it for the long run.

“Idiots! A man can’t even find decent men these days,” he huffs. “Except for the two of you. Knew you boys wouldn’t let me down.” He eyes Kristine, disgust making him look like one ugly fucker. “Is she any good?”

I force my stiff lips to smile. “Yeah. She’s going to bring in a few thousand dollars. She’s a fighter. I don’t want to kill that completely. I think the men will love the wildcat streak she has in her. Looks like a kitten,” I point to the scratch on my face, “and claws like a wildcat.”

“Just make sure to cut those nails. We don’t want her drawing blood,” Bill chuckles. Then his face goes all serious. “I was going to phone you boys. They’ve given the auction date. We don’t have a month like I thought at first. You have six days. The auction is Monday night.”

The smile drops from my face. Six days! I’ll have Andrea back in six days! For the first time in months I feel a glimmer of happiness.

“Can you break them in that time?”

“Sure,” I answer quickly. “That won’t be a problem.

Bill goes back to his office, taking his three bodyguards with him. I slap Justin on the back. “Six days. We’ll have her back in six days. Keep it together until then and remember, Andrea is all that matters.”

“She’s all I think about,” he says. “I’m going to go check on Riza.”

I look down at Kristine and freeze as my eyes meet hers. Her lips are slightly parted with shock. Her eyes lock on mine, keeping them a prisoner. She heard what I said to Justin. She knows Andrea is real. Fuck!

~*~

Chapter Eighteen

Kristine~

He didn’t lie to me! He’s really looking for his sister.

I’m flooded with all kinds of emotions ranging from anger to pity, and everything in between.

I try to sit up, but a throbbing pain in my side makes it difficult. Garrett crouches down and taking hold of my shoulders, he helps me to sit. His face is dangerously close to mine and I can feel tension building between us. I’m not sure it’s the good kind.

“It wasn’t a lie?” I whisper, scared he’ll lose his temper any second.

He places a finger under my chin and turns my face until our lips are inches apart. “If you even think of telling a soul, I won’t hesitate to kill you. I love my sister and I’ll do anything for her.” The threat sinks deep into my gut. I believe him, the piercing look in his eyes tell me he’s very serious.

“I won’t tell,” I quickly try to set him at ease. “Why did you tell me differently? I can help you. We can help each other.” Somewhere along the line my voice turns pleading. If he’s here for his sister, it means he cares. He’s not like the others. If only I can get on his good side!

“The only way you can help me is by doing everything I say. Don’t argue. Don’t fight. Just give in and make this easier for both of us. In six days we’re going to the auction and I’m going to get my sister back. When we get there, you’re on your own.”

“What do you mean I’m on my own?” My eyes dance over his face, looking for any sign that he cares.

“It means you are not my problem. I’m not going to help you. I won’t come back for you. When we get to the club I’m handing you over. What happens after that …” He shrugs as if I’m nothing.

I grab hold of his arm. “You can’t just do that! You stole me! It’s all because of you that I’m in this mess. You owe me!”

He shakes my hand off. “I owe you nothing. You were stupid enough to go to that club. You placed yourself in that position. Don’t put any of this on me.”

I cover my mouth with a trembling hand. I can’t believe he’ll let me become a sex slave. What kind of man will do that to another human being?

The desperate kind. A brother who loves his sister.

I’d do the same for Riza. I’d kill for her. In this moment I know he will kill me, if I stand between him and his sister.

Now it’s a matter of who kills who first. I want Riza and he wants Andrea.

It's a fucked up world when two innocent people are forced to cross dark boundaries.

~*~