Sold To The Hitman (Men of Ruthless Corp)

“Titan,” I call out.

Steele kicks the cage, the pain from it silencing me. “Shut up, you bitch.”

I want this all to end… quickly.

Titan mouths something to me. I concentrate on his lips, the contours of his mouth as he tries to communicate with me.

I shake my head, unable to make out what he’s trying to say.

“So, it was you who ordered the hit on me?” Gunner asks Steele.

Steele laughs. “Yes, but when it was clear Titan wouldn’t be fulfilling his duties, we decided to do the job ourselves.”

“Give me a gun and I’ll finish it right now,” Titan shouts.

Always the hero. But this is not the time or place to be that hero. We need to figure out a way out of here, and so far, I’ve got nothing.

I can barely even move.

“Stop talking now, Titan. You’re here to watch. I’m not stupid enough to give you a gun.” Steele stares at him.

Titan shakes his head. “You’re gonna have to kill me.”

Steele laughs. “That’s the plan.”

“Titan, no. Let me handle this,” Gunner’s gruff voice booms from the office chair.

All eyes are on him as Frank moves closer to my cage. I guess he feels Titan would be an idiot to make a move right now with all these people around.

“You were fun to manipulate,” Frank says with an evil snarl that makes my stomach churn with acid. “You believed every word I said.”

“You make me sick,” I spit out.

“If it weren’t for that man over there, you would have been sold to Steele. And there wouldn’t have been a damn thing you could have done about it.” He laughs.

Steele laughs along with him. “I have to thank you, Titan. Now I get her for free.”

Titan rushes forward, grabbing a knife from an ankle holster. He slices Frank’s neck right before my eyes and an involuntary scream escapes me. Before anyone even knows what’s going on, or can react to it, Titan’s got a hold of Frank’s gun and has already put two shots into Steele’s chest.

Another man enters the room, taking out the other men. Bullets fly through the air and I close my eyes, holding onto myself to stay safe.

The room goes silent as the man steps further into the room. “All clear, Titan?” the man shouts.

“All clear,” Titan says back, aiming his gun at Gunner, who is still tied to the chair in the center of the room.

“Listen,” Gunner tries to shift in his seat, “take the girl. I won’t say anything. You can live out your days with her.”

“And you go back to trafficking women?”

“What do you care?”

“No. There’s one thing you never got around to teaching me.”

“What’s that?” Gunner asks.

“Morals. There’s no way we’re letting you go.”

“Rogue, Titan, I’ll pay you.”

The man must be Rogue, Titan’s boss. Titan and Rogue laugh. “Money we’ve got,” Rogue says. “I can’t believe you went dirty.”

Gunner stares at the older man. “I can’t believe you think we’re that much different.”

Rogue steps closer to Gunner, leaning over to stare him directly in the eyes. “I’m nothing like you. I would never hurt an innocent soul.”

Rogue grabs his phone, putting in a call to someone.

Titan holsters his gun and moves over to the cage I’m trapped in and fiddles with the lock, then turns to look for a key in Frank’s pockets.

Titan kneels, unlocking the lock but glancing over his shoulder at Rogue. “What are you going to do with him?” He opens my cage and helps me out.

Rogue shrugs. “Not sure yet.”

“I never thought I’d see you again.” I wrap my arms around Titan’s waist and squeeze him as tight as I can. “You saved me. Thank you.”

His strong arms wrap around me in an instant, and he nearly lifts me off the floor. “I’d never let anything happen to you,” he says against my ear.

“Take her home,” Rogue says. “I’ll call some men to help me clean up this mess.”

“I’ve never been one to let someone clean up after me,” Titan says.

“Go. Take her out of here. She doesn’t need to see any more of this.”

I stand on my feet, letting my arms fall to my sides. “What about all the women? All the women Gunner was selling?”

Rogue rubs a hand along the back of his neck. “I promise you, we will get to the bottom of it all.” He tosses Titan a set of keys he grabbed from Gunner’s pockets.

Titan nods, lifting me off the ground like a bride he’s about to carry over the threshold. Instead of carrying me over the threshold of a new home, he carries me out of the warehouse and into the back of an SUV.

“Whose car is this?” I ask.

“Gunner’s. I’m sure he won’t mind if we borrow it.”

It’s been nearly a month since the night Titan saved me.

Since the night Titan saved us all. True to their word, Rogue and Titan got the information I needed to write up an article on the whole operation.