Phantom's Destruction or Destiny

“No. No you don’t. You don’t care about me or the fact that I’m going to get killed. They are going to kill my sister and my nephew.”

“You have a sister and a nephew?” Flynn asked, taking a step toward her.

She grew angry. “You’d know that if you really cared.”

“Damn, baby, you’re right. We should know more about you, but we haven’t asked,” Jett whispered.

“Because you don’t care. I get it. I admitted that part to myself weeks ago.”

“We do care. It’s not like that. We’ve been pushing you away on purpose,” Flynn told her.

“On purpose? But why? What do I matter? You can have any woman you want and anything you want. What would I matter?”

Flynn took her hand and brought it up against his chest. “You’re wrong. We’ve been assholes.”

She shook her head. “I don’t understand.”

Flynn looked at Jett.

“Fuck it.”

He pulled Adelina closer, pressed his hand over her shoulder, under the back of her head and pulled her to him. He covered her lips with his and kissed her.

Jett watched as Flynn devoured her moans and explored her mouth with his tongue. She gripped his waist, but when he pressed her against the door, she gasped in pain and pulled from his mouth. She hugged him as she lay her cheek against his chest.

“Why did you kiss me like that?”

“Because I’ve wanted to for far too long.”

She looked up at Flynn. “You never said a thing. You never made a move or even tried.”

“We wanted to. But we didn’t feel as if we were good enough for you.” Jett reached up and pressed a strand of hair away from her cheek.

She stared at him as he cupped her cheek. The tears rolled down her face.

“I wish you had. Now it’s too late.”

* * * *

Adelina couldn’t believe what they were telling her. Part of her wanted to believe that they were lying to try to get information from her, but then came the instant guilt and recognition that she trusted them too much to believe them capable of such a thing.

But what could she do now? Their proclamation of caring for her came at the worst time. She was supposed just deny her feelings, her care for them and do what that madman, Raymond, wanted her to do. She would be finished. They would hate her, her sister and Bryer would be safe, and she would go with Raymond, and be his…whatever it was he expected. She closed her eyes and squeezed them tight. The pain in her back seemed to intensify with the thought of going willingly with Raymond. He’d own her like some sort of object. Could Jett and Flynn somehow save them all? Could she trust them and tell them everything or would she be digging her own grave even deeper?

“You’re hurt,” Jett whispered, as he ran his finger gently down her shoulder and back to the zipper of her dress. She could feel the ache beneath the tight material, yet somehow Jett’s gentle touch eased it.

“Tell us what happened.”

She was silent a moment as she contemplated her words. She didn’t want to see their disappointment in her for allowing Raymond to do what he did. Despite the fact that deep down she knew she had no choice and that he intimidated her, she still felt guilty and like a failure in these perfect men’s eyes.

Flashbacks of being bent over the desk in that dirty back room at O’Connor’s went through her mind. The way Raymond’s large hands caressed her skin, and then hurt her, with each strike he broke down her fight, her independence, and her belief that right won over wrong. No, in life it seemed that power, dominance, and evil would prevail.

She gulped at his tone. The instant feelings of defeat, unworthiness, and self-deprivation filled her soul. Somewhere in the back of her mind she yelled out “No, don’t give up, don’t give in, fight.” But this was real. Raymond killed people, and he would kill Kaitlin and Bryer, and more than likely kill her when he was done with Jett and Flynn.

“Baby, please. You need to talk to us. What happened? What did he do to you?” Flynn asked. She looked at both of them, as she crossed her arms, hugging herself.

“You said that you have ways of making people confess and do things you want…so does he.”

* * * *

They were going around in circles and getting nowhere. Flynn was losing his cool. He was filled with a mix of emotions. Did Adelina really care for them, too, and was she just caught in the middle of a crazy situation? She had been at their beck and call for two years. She always went above and beyond her job as their manager, and all they really wanted was for her to share their bed. Had they somehow placed her inadvertently in danger? Now he was thinking like an agent, instead of thinking with his cock, and wondering if she would screw him and Jett over, like other women had tried. Like Tess?

“What did he do to you? Was it Raymond or someone else?” Flynn asked abruptly. The thought that her boyfriend did this, or was part of something bigger and had used her to get to him and Jett started to get his temper flaring.

She turned away.

They stood side by side behind her.

“Adelina, tell us. We want to understand what happened. We don’t want to believe that you would be part of a plan to destroy us and The Phantom. We expect more from you,” Jett said firmly.

She glanced over her shoulder, the tears still in her eyes, but now anger, too. “Expect more from me? I’ve given you both a hundred percent of me every day when I step into this place.”

“And so easily you could turn against us because of some poser? Some wealthy guy who swept you off your feet and promised you what, Adelina? Money, security? What?” Flynn challenged her.

“I wasn’t promised anything.”

“Bullshit! You think we were born yesterday? You think we’re fucking stupid? We know that you’re involved with this. You’ve admitted to it and then try to say that this guy threatened to kill a sister and nephew we never even knew you had. Is that supposed to make us weak? Is that supposed to get us to forgive you?” Flynn yelled at her.

“You’re worse than Tess. What you’ve done hurts worse, too.” Jett told her.

She gasped. “I’m not. I have no choice. He will kill me.”

“Bullshit. So he threatened your family? We could have protected them. We could have protected you. But no, you decide that this guy’s threats are more powerful, more capable. Give me a break, Adelina. What would make you comply to this guy’s demands? You broke Tess’s nose because she was going to use me. You’re not weak, you don’t back down. What could this guy have done to you? What, Goddamn it?” Flynn yelled at her.

She was shaking. They could see her, despite the fact that her back was toward them. She reached back and began to unzip the back of her dress. As her fingers caused the material to part she stared at them over her shoulder. She was shaking like a leaf.

“This, you self-centered son of a bitch! This is why I’m going to help him. Because I have no choice. Because I’m scared to death, and there are no other choices!” she screamed, her last words choked back with tears as the bruises and marks over her back came into view. Red, bruised streaks of welts crisscrossed along her bare back to the top of her panties.

Flynn never felt so much anger in his entire life. Adelina kept one hand holding up the front of her dress, while using the other hand to hold the desk in front of her for support. The marks on her back looked painful, and the realization that someone beat her and threatened her by force attacked every one of his senses.

He couldn’t move, but Jett did. Jett was there to pull her into his arms and hold her as she cried, her body shaking. The desperate sounds of her sobs tore at his heart.

He tore his eyes away from her damaged, abused skin and felt his own heart ache. He never felt so helpless, so weak and just downright angry in his life. He failed her. They failed her.

“Fuck!” he yelled out and then slammed his fist down onto the table beside him. He ran his fingers through his hair, paced the room like some caged animal, all while Jett consoled her. His brother’s words, his ability to care for their woman in a time like this was commendable. She was their woman. They had been so fucking stupid. Instead of protecting her, caring for the one woman they knew would make them happy, they pushed her away repeatedly.

There was so much to ask and discuss, but the one thing that remained at the forefront of his brain was revenge. He’d kill the bastard responsible for this. He’d kill him with his bare hands.

* * * *

Jett felt his own body shaking as he held Adelina against his chest. She was sobbing and as he closed his eyes, absorbed the feel of her in his arms, and inhaled her perfume, he saw the damage to her body. They should have been there for her, protecting her.

“I’m so sorry that I wasn’t there to protect you. We’ve been stupid, Adelina. So fucking stupid.”