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 Iturn 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.
