Gemma
“The Huntsman ison his way, along with his two right-hand men.” Richard’s laugh made my ears ring. “They’ll feel right at home here, yeah?”
I stared at him, feeling so much hate and dread swimming around my head. I was no longer dizzy. The second time I’d woken up, my head wasn’t spinning. It hurt, but the room was actually standing upright for the first time since I’d arrived—I thought.
Time was confusing, just like it had been when I was in the basement with Richard all those times.
“Isaiah will be here sooner than him, I bet.” Bain’s smug smile burned a hole through my stomach. I’d always had a small fraction of hope that he wasn’t as terrible as he acted. But I was wrong. I was so wrong about so many things.
“Good. I can’t wait to get my hands on him. And you’ll take care of his father? Is your father coming, too? I really couldn’t care less about The Huntsman and his little minions now that I have a new seller, but a deal is a deal.”
Bain nodded. “My father is leaving it up to me.”
Richard’s eyebrows raised in approval. The conversation suddenly switched from murder and illegal firearm deals to talking about a father being proud of his son. “I have to say, I was nervous about switching vendors, but the local police have been whispering to me that ATF is on The Huntsman’s tail.” He elbowed Bain, and he smiled, although it didn’t reach his eyes. “I have local and county on my payroll, so they give me all the details. Switching to you and your father has been a bit of a blessing.”
Richard’s stare pinned me to my spot against the wall, and I did everything I could not to flinch under his scrutiny. “I wouldn’t have known about Gemma’s little escapades, either, if it weren’t for you.”
There was something stirring inside my belly. Hate was crowding my head, and there wasn’t really any point in playing his games any longer. “Oh, you mean spreading my legs for Isaiah Underwood? How do you know I didn’t just do it to spite you?” Because at first, a part of me did. A tainted part of me wanted to do everything I could to take back the control that my uncle had taken from my grasp. I wanted to prove to myself that he didn’t rule me.
“Keep talkin’. It’ll make later that much sweeter for me. It’s obvious you like it when I punish you, so I won’t even feel bad when I bend you over and spank you.”
A flush crept up my neck like a fire-burning trail. I tingled all over and almost climbed to my feet. For what? I wasn’t sure. Richard was bigger than me and stronger, and not to mention, my arms were tied.
My teeth ground along one another, and my mouth was so dry I was surprised I could even form words, but with the adrenaline flowing through my blood, I felt like I could do pretty much anything—like take Richard down and warn Isaiah before he got too close.
I didn’t have a plan. I was flying blindly, and I hated that. I’d acted without a plan in the past, and it only ended terribly, but even when I had a plan set in place, it didn’t mean that things would go smoothly.
I mean, look at me now. Tied up, beaten, violated, and broken.
That wouldn’t stop me, though. Broken pieces were that much sharper.
A head peeked in the white padded room, and Bain and Richard both pushed off from the wall, pausing their totally mundane conversation as if a girl wasn’t tied up in the corner.
“Sir, your guests have arrived.” My head tilted when I recognized the man. That was the guy who gave me the injection. His eyes flew to mine momentarily, and I realized that what I saw earlier was real. There was a girl in here. A girl who stole his keycard. Hope sprung to my very being. Maybe she would come back for me. “I would also like to inform you that a patient is missing.”
Richard’s hands went to his waist. “A patient? From our floor?”
The man’s head fell in defeat, and I casually looked over to Bain. My breath halted when I saw him staring directly at me. My brows crowded as something passed behind his eyes. Was he trying to tell me something?
“Both, sir. Two patients are missing. One from the psych floor, and one from this one.”
“Bain.” Bain quickly took his gaze from mine. “Stay in here until I yell for you. I’m going to step out with Hank here and bring The Huntsman in. I guess he arrived before his son. I may be the one to take care of him, depending on how quickly our conversation moves.”
“He’ll tell me everything you say, so if you want to keep the punishment to a minimum later, I suggest you keep quiet,” Richard threatened me.
Then, he walked out into the hall, keeping the door slightly ajar.
Bain’s back was to me, and my heart raced. My wrists ached, and my head suddenly pounded as if it were only blocking out the pain while Richard was nearby. My body refused to show any kind of vulnerability while near him.
“How could you do this?” I whispered, shutting my eyes for a moment to ease the throbbing. “Was it all worth it? Did you know who I was from the beginning? Did you plan to use me just to take a customer from Isaiah’s father?”
“Gemma, shut up,” Bain seethed, still standing near the door. His head turned slightly to meet my stare, and the face he was making didn’t match the evil notch in his tone. His amber eyes were pleading. There was a small indent in between his brows, and suddenly, I was back to wondering if this was real. “Shh,” he mouthed, and I felt my resolve fall.
Don’t trust.
The small voice inside my head was back, and she was pounding against my skull. That leery feeling of trusting someone boomed like thunder, and I listened to it.
“How long have you known who I was? When did it finally click?”
Bain’s shoulders tensed. I could see the hardened curves even through his uniform shirt. Did he come here in a hurry? Did he come with Richard after I was taken? I bet Isaiah trashed every last room, trying to find him.
“Did he take Sloane, too? Did you know that you were not only sending Isaiah to his death, but me, too? Do you know what it's like to live with someone like that? Do you know how hard it is to please someone you want dead?”
I swore I saw his head nod, but our attention went back to the door. There were voices outside now. They were muffled, but I could hear the low murmurs. One of them was as familiar to me as Richard’s. Isaiah’s father. His voice had lived inside the deepest parts of my memories. He was the one who had nearly raped me when he caught me just outside the back door to this psychotic place. If Richard knew that Isaiah’s father had touched me the way that he did, he would kill him on the spot. Or maybe he wouldn’t. Maybe he would play with him like he liked to play with me. Richard liked to taunt and tease. It was always a cat-and-mouse game with him, except he would keep one mouse alive forever.
And that was me.
Their laughter carried into the room through the slight opening of the door. I almost screamed out, but I wasn’t sure I could. My voice was hardly above a whisper no matter how hard I tried to speak up. I wasn’t even sure how Bain could hear me from across the room. My throat was like sandpaper. Too hoarse to make much of a sound.
I felt a tear escape from the corner of my eye at the thought, and I pursed my lips. Why was I crying? Negative thoughts started to peg me, and fear began to dance in the distance. My resolve was falling. The helplessness that surfaced made me double over. Isaiah. He was about to get caught in the crossfire, and I would have to live with that guilt for the rest of my life. This was my fault. There wouldn’t have been this big of a target on his back if I’d never allowed him to kiss me or touch me…or love me. I should have stayed away like my fear had warned me to do.