She turns away from me, and two men with her step into the light, and both are fucking ugly as hell. I glare at them, but it doesn’t have any impact, especially when one pulls out a knife and waves it in front of my face.
“From what we hear, you used to be the pretty one. You don’t look all that pretty anymore,” he rumbles, excitement lighting uphis eyes and turning my stomach. “But let’s make sure nobody will make the mistake of thinking you’re pretty ever again.”
I bite back a scream when the knife presses against my cheek, in a spot that doesn’t already have a fucking scar, and as it digs in, I curse them mentally. Grunting at my lack of response, he pulls the knife out and puts it to my forehead. My breath stutters as he stares down at me.
“He’s a whore, right? Let’s mark him so everyone knows it,” the other man says, as he also takes out a knife. With a grunt of agreement, the henchman moves his knife further over on my forehead. I know exactly what they plan on doing, and my stomach turns. There’s no way in hell Jude will ever want me again…
I manage to make it through the W, H, and O, before I scream. The man on the left digs his letters in so violently that I’m surprised he doesn’t embed the damn knife. I’m not sure if it’s from the pain, the blood dripping in my eyes, or fuck, the knowledge I’m being branded as something I thought I’d left a long time ago that pushes the memories of that time to the forefront. Hell, I worked my way up—or I thought I did.
Fuck. If Allesandro interfered…hell. Was he my savior or my captor? And if he was my savior, what the fuck happened? Is Marcus right? My stomach churns as the R is finished and tears escape, mixing with the blood. Everything goes dizzy, and I struggle to breathe.
They finish the E and step back, exchanging a high five. I’m panting and slumped against the chair, but fury ignites in me, and while I’m unable to catch my breath enough to speak, I spit at them instead. It doesn’t reach them, but their yells of outrage bring joy to my soul.
At least, until the man on the right punches me in the face. Fuck. Not to be outdone, the other man pulls his arm back, and there’s shit all I can do but take another hit. This time, there’sa crunch, a bone breaking, and the dizziness gets worse. I feel unconsciousness pulling at me, and I want to wrap myself in it. Maybe when I wake up, I’ll be home again…I’ll be wrapped up in Jude, and not deformed further. That he won’t have to look at me and remember I’m nothing but a whore…even if that’s really all I am. All I want is to get away from here, away from the pain, and the nauseating knowledge that keeps pummeling me.
One more punch. And another. And finally…blissed blackness.
Itry to get comfortable in my seat. Being somewhere other than my room is strange. I’m no longer used to sitting on anything other than a hospital bed, but being around everyone else is nice, even if it’s for something as fucked as what’s currently going on.
Fucking Leandro.
I don’t know if I admire the guts he has for the level of manipulation he’s been doing in the background, or fear that my family’s been caught up in his game.
Knowing he allowed Cristian and Il Padrone to be kidnapped… My feelings for Allesandro have shifted. I care about him because he saved me, but I also know what he did to me and the other Boys, what he put Benjamin through in his last punishment, wasn’t right. I can’t hate him. What he did wasn’tokay, but at the same time, I know I wouldn’t be here without him.
It’s a good thing his fate isn’t up to me, because I am not the right person to make those types of decisions. That makes me think of Roman, and how I have no idea what he’s doing with me. I’m not polished like his other lovers, but I won’t insult him and his choices by questioning him. All I can do is try to be what he deserves, and even if I fall short, I know it won’t make him love me any less.
Which is why, despite my wound aching from being forced to sit up for longer than I’m used to, and the tenseness that comes with learning all we have today, I stay where I am. Roman believes in me, and I refuse to let him down.
Hollis comes back into the sitting room, after escorting Leandro to their office. He’s now armed with a laptop, two tablets, and a cellphone. He sets everything up on the coffee table and takes a seat next to me.
“How’d you convince Doc to give you your phone back?” Tennant asks.
“I didn’t give him a choice,” Hollis responds carefully. “I promised to hand it back over once the meeting is done.”
Tennant watches his lover for a long moment before finally nodding.
“I’m going to walk Carter back to his room, but you can get started without me,” Keegan says to the room at large, before he tugs Marcus close and whispers something in his ear.
The pain and anger on Marcus’s face ignites my own. Antonio being gone…it’s a kick to the gut, in an already volatile time, where we’re missing part of us. We might not be Boys anymore, but the bonds between us will always be there. And losing not only Lio, but now Antonio, has a burning need igniting within me, one that calls for us to destroy everything in our path, and save what’s ours.
I watch as Keegan and Marcus help Carter out of his chair. Carter sets a hand on Marcus’s cheek, and leans in to kiss him softly. Surprise washes over me at the action, but I can’t say I’m not happy for them all. I just hope those two are prepared to face Roman. He might be an adult, with his own life and lovers, but I know how protective he is of Carter.
Fuck, we need to get him back.Every day that he’s missing is an arrow in my heart. I know he’s strong enough to handle whatever’s thrown at him, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to protect him all the same.
He is…everything to me. My heart and soul, and being without him weighs heavily on my shoulders. Especially since there isn’t shit I can do to help find him.
Carter and Keegan finally leave, and Marcus wanders over, a look of sheer determination on his face. War is in play, and I can’t say some of my tension doesn’t ease at that.
“I’m surprised Jude didn’t want to stay,” Marcus says, as he sits on the couch opposite the one Hollis and I are on.
“He knows his strengths,” Hollis muses, focusing on his computer. “He’s putting a lot of pressure on himself to keep the Family going with Roman gone, and now he has the twins to worry about, since Antonio has been taken. It’s not that his input wouldn’t be insightful, but he knows we have it handled, so he can focus on other tasks.”
“Are the trackers still online, Hol?” Tennant asks. He stands behind the couch Marcus sits on.
“They are, and from the looks of it, they’ve stopped at their destination.” Hollis tilts his head as he studies his screen. He types something in and says, “Looks to be a warehouse. It’s not in any of the names we were checking, so it’s gone unnoticed until now.” He grimaces. “This means that wherever the Boys are—if they're not here—it's probably the same. It would makesense. They would know we’d be checking into their properties; it’s what we would have done in the same instance.”
“Can you do a search for other properties under whatever name they’re using for this one?”
