All In: ALL IN KNIGHTS OF MAYHEM (29 page)

Leo

I
tug on my restraints, wiggle my fingers, damn I am taped. I could find a way out if these fuckers would leave me alone long enough. The coppery taste of blood fills my mouth from where the chicken shits tied me up then beat me. I try to stand and realize my feet are taped to the legs of the chair I am sitting in.

The door clicking open takes my attention momentarily away from getting loose. The
man with the thick accent and beret comes sauntering in, ‘Well, well look who is awake.”

“Where the hell is she?” I squint through the swollen eye and blood running down my face. The last thing I remember is being cold
cocked in the face by a butt of a gun and Avery screaming for someone to let her go. Since I woke up, I have been in a room alone, except for the occasional visitor who likes to show me his fists.

“Not for you to worry
, I will assure you she is fine. She is however in much better shape than you are my friend.” He drags a chair so he is sitting in front of me, ‘I hear you are looking for me.”

Feeling like I have downed a bottle of Jack and finding it hard to raise my head I finally get my neck to cooperate, ‘you Heratio?”

“I am.” He has a bad porn stash.

“Okay good, you are under arrest.” He laughs throwing his head back in best bad guy dramatic fashion.

“Wait, I’m not done,’ I pause and drag in a breath, ‘you have the right to remain silent.” His laughter continues, I have to keep him busy with me and away from Avery. I run my tongue around my mouth and rejoice that in the malay and fighting I hadn’t lost the tracker I had capped on one of my back teeth. Clenching my teeth together I hear it snap setting off the ping so my team can find us.

“You are very funny
man, Mr. Tucker.” He claps his hands together like a giddy child.

I smile up at him, ‘I am trying. Anything you say can and will be held against you in a court of law.” I swallow another mouth full of blood.

“You are still trying to arrest me even though you are tied to a chair?” He has leaned up tilting my head back so he can see my eyes.

“We have your little errand boy in custody
, what makes you think you are any different?”

“Yes, Yes Zach, it is very unfortunate he was collared.” He steps away from me and begins to pace, ‘I assure you he is a problem which will be fixed within the hour. A hit was put on him the minute he was introduced into general population.”

I laugh, ‘I had him yanked and put in solitaire, so sorry for your plan though, I am sure it was a good one. And after this my men have taken him into protective custody. Come on man, you know how it all works.” Keep him talking.

I think my last comment has pissed him off, he storms across the room and bangs on wall. After a few minutes they drag a very limp
unconscious Avery into my room. Tugging hard on my fetters again, ‘you fucker, I will kill you.”

He points
to the old iron bed directly in my line of sight, ‘put her there and tie her back up.” The large man flops Avery backwards stretching her out on the soiled bed and ties her hands and ankles to the frame.

Coming back over to me he leans down so I can see his face, ‘not so smug now, uh?”

Turning back to the man, ‘Thank you Malachi, that is all for now.” He waves the man out of the room, ‘you think about what it is you really need to say to me.” He walks to the door, ‘I give you an hour Mr. Tucker and then I will be forced to give you motivation.”

Watching him walk out of the room, I count the seconds until my boys show up. Until then I have got to get to Avery.

“Avery, baby wake up now.” I wait for a response and regrettably get nothing.

“Avery you need to wake up!” I try to hop my chair over to her
, ‘Avery!”

****

Avery

I snuggle deep down in to the covers and roll so
his breath is caressing my neck. I reach for his hair and run my fingers through the lavish black strands. My other hand caresses his taut stomach, my fingers tickle the slight dusting of hair leading to the waist band of his boxers. I have memorized his body and familiarized myself with every inch, enjoying every minute of study.

A callused finger strokes my cheek, but there is something not right, the vibe of electricity
that sparks on my skin when Leo touches me isn’t there. I jerk my face away forcing myself out of the drug induced haze once more. My throat is sandpaper as are the back of my eye lids. The pain in my head has tripled and every vein feels on the verge of exploding with every beat of my heart.

This time it is different, I am no longer sitting but lying down. The stench of unlaundered linens fills my nose to the point of gagging. My arms and legs are immobile but my head is still free. Rolling it from one side to the other
, hoping to clear it and to get my bearings. I am once again in a dark room the only light is a single lamp across the room. The silhouette of a man sitting comes into focus.

His head is hung
and his torso is free of his shirt displaying the deep cuts on his chest that have blood trickling down his stomach, ‘Leo!” My voice is barely a whisper.

His head falls back to reveal a face that has been beaten almost unrecognizable, ‘oh god what have they done to you?”

His slight chuckle turns up the corner of his mouth without any kind of damage, ‘not much.” He winces as his laugh incites pain somewhere on him.

I fling my head back forgetting about the splitting headache
thumping it down on the pillow wincing at the pain.

Another low chuckle leaves his throat, ‘is this a bad time to tell you how fuckin’ hot you look tied up to the bed like that?” I raise my head to only be met with Leo’s
hungry gaze drifting over my body.

I huff as I throw my head back
a little more gingerly this time, ‘okay so it is a bad time but we need to try that shit when we get home.” His voice is little more than a raspy whisper.

“Leo this is so not the time to be talking sex!” I chastise him for his inappropriate comment but
somehow I am not surprised, it is Leo after all.

The door creeks open and
Malachi enters the room like a conquering hero, ‘is that not a scene to behold there Leo.” His eyes taking the same journey over my extended body Leo’s had just traveled.

Leo tilts his head in
Malachi’s direction, ‘she and I were just discussing our future plans.” This comment garners Leo a punch to the side of the face splitting his lip open even more. I watched in horror as blood drips to the floor and splatters on his boot.

“
Malachi please just stop.” I pleaded through my tears and watch as his eyes darken at the sound of his name.

He crossed the distance between us and lowers himself down to where he can talk to me face
to face. I turn mine away only to have it hauled back so that he can look at me in the eye.

He nods his head in Leo’s direction, ‘you know that your boy over there made quit a name for himself in the corps,’ he turns his head to look at Leo, ‘were you dishonorably discharged or court marshaled I can’t remember.”

Leo tilted his head up, ‘come untie me you fucker and we can discuss it like real men.”

Directing his attention back to me, ‘see Avery, he was ruthless and killed without prejudice or remorse.
I believe is what the court papers said.”

The flood of uncertain emotions
washed over me as the realization I had no clue who Leo is. Trying to put on a brave face in defiance, ‘I don’t care.” I glare up at his beady eyes.

“
Oh now come on I know the little worm of betrayal is borrowing its way through that little dejected mind of yours.” He stands to tower over me taking something from his pocket. I hear it click open and watch as the light glints off a silver blade.

“
Malachi please you don’t have to do this.” Tears streak down my cheeks as I try and slink away from him but the binds around my wrists and ankles keep me firmly in place.

“I know I don’t have too
Avery, I want to.” He lifts the hem of my ragged tee shirt. Slicing the ragged cotton up the middle exposing my bra, a satisfied smile on his face as he looks down at me, ‘now that’s better.” He leans back and takes all of me in, ‘Zachy boy said you were a feast, but damn girl.”

The commotion from the other side of the room detracts his attention only for a moment as Leo yells, ‘get your fucking hands off her!
” He struggles against his restraints.

Malachi’s
sinister laugh sends chills over my body but I am thankful for the reprieve, his attention is momentarily on a very pissed off Leo.

“I will fucking kill you asshole,’ Leo is seething and his arms and legs are straining against the restraints th
at are holding him to the chair. His face is red as fire and the muscles in his arms are stretched to the point of snapping.

I twist and writhe
, not in pleasure as he thinks but in a repulsive reflex. I can hear Leo going ape shit crazy across the room trying to get to the bed. Malachi is completely clueless at the threats being hurled his way by Leo.

The bed dips as
Malachi’s knees rest on either sides of my hips, ‘now hold still Avery I want tell you again.” I force myself to swallow the bile rising up my throat.

Malachi
turns a menacing eye back to a raging Leo as if to say ‘look at what I am doing and there isn’t a damn thing you can do about it’. Refocusing his attention to me his eyes are glassed over as he raises his hand a smacks me dead across the face.

“I am going to deliver the message now, the one Zach never got to.”
I start to sob loudly hoping to detract from Malachi’s pleasure.

“Shut up,’ I feel the full pressure of his body as he rest his hands on my out stretched arms. As much as he tries my body will not respond to him, I lay still as a cold fish. He tried to kiss me as I fight by thrashing my head from side to side.
He takes my jaw in his hand to hold me still that is when the loud pops come from the adjoining room.

Malachi’s
head jerks up as he lifts himself quickly off of me and bounds off the bed. The screams from his comrades flood the space as the air is electrically charged with fear. Loud pops accentuate the screaming and thuds on the floor occur after each pop.

“You hear that fuck
head, those are my boys and they are here for you asshole and there is nowhere to run.” Leo’s low guttural laugh is chilling but strangely comforting as Malachi’s contorts with fear. He runs over to Leo getting on last punch in much to his dismay it doesn’t quell Leo’s hearty laughter.

That is when the door is kick
ed in and three large black clad men storm the room, like the chicken shit he is Malachi throws his hands in the air and lowers himself to his knees. One of the men sees me and in a fury of hell lands the butt of his semi automatic to Malachi’s temple knocking him out. I watch as his body slumps to the floor in a cowardly heap.

The man
delivering the blow rushes over to me taking off his helmet as he speaks, ‘hello beautiful.” It is Roman. He makes quick work of the ropes binding my hands then quickly moves to the ones at my ankles. I struggle to sit as I message the skin beginning to burn from the sudden blood flow. Roman tears the top sheet rumpled up at my feet and covers my exposed torso.

Looking down at me with a mix of anger and compassion, ‘you good
baby doll?” Before I can answer I am jerked free of Roman and enveloped in Leo.

He lands kisses all over my face, ‘god
almighty,’ looking down at me, ‘you okay?” my legs are wobbly and I am finding I have a severe case of pins and needles in my hands and feet. I waver and Leo takes me up in his strong arms, ‘god Avery I am so sorry,’ he tucks me back into him as we stand still for a moment.

Leaning back and looking up
I take his face in my hands, ‘no, are you okay, I am fine.” Seeing I am not quit right but okay he hands me back off to Roman and rushes over to Malachi’s limp body hauling him up by the collar of his shirt.

Slapping his face several times, ‘wake up you piece of shit.”
Malachi moans in defiance but as he is slapped a few more times begins to come around. Realization hits him he throws his hands up to protect his face from the blows Leo is delivering in a rapid succession.

“Leo man stop!” Dalton yells as he grabs for the fist Leo was heaving through air towards
Malachi’s face. Dalton looks over at Roman, ‘a little help here man.”

Roman sits me back down on the bed, ‘stay here for a minute Avery.’ He
rushes to assist Dalton hold Leo off of Malachi. It is taking them both to restrain Leo. Two other men, who I assume to be Eno and Cowboy, have come in to take Malachi by both his arms hauling him up to a semi standing position.

My father is the last to rush in
. He crosses immediately over to me, ‘Avery, are you hurt?” He takes me into his strangle hold of a hug.

“No
Dad, I am fine.” My voice is muffled by his chest. He turns to the men, ‘unfortunately Heratio was gone by the time we got here, and we have detained what men we could.” He releases me back to my sitting position and goes to Malachi.

“Where did he go boy?”
My Dad takes Malachi’s flailing head by the hair and jerks his face into view.

Blood dripping from his lip
, he spits, ‘I don’t know, it is not my day to keep up with him.” His smirk of a grin is smacked quickly from his face by my father. The sudden sound of the impact makes me jump.

“
Beeker!” My Dad yells never taking his eyes away from Malachi.

The
young man enters through the door wearing the same fatigues the others are wearing, ‘yes sir.”

Dad throws his head in my direction, ‘get Avery out of here.”

“Where do you want me to take her sir?” Beeker hesitates.

“Take her to our house, wait there and take Eno with you.”
Leo interjects before my father gets a chance to answer. With a curt nod Beeker collects me by the arm and proceeds to drag me out of the room. I break free and run over to Leo. His voice is cold and calculating, his stare has never left Malachi. His jaw is set as he grits his teeth, ‘you can let me go now man I am fine.” He addresses Dalton and Roman.

“You
sure?” Leo glares at Dalton, throwing his hands in the air, ‘okay big man letting go now.”

Leo shifts his feet and looks at me, ‘
Avery,’ the sound of my name makes my head jerk in its direction, ‘go on with Beeker and Eno and I will be there soon.” The tone of his voice and the look in his eyes tells me it is only a half truth. Unsure if I should argue or go willingly, I stand and move to him.

“
Where are you going?” The haze of the drugs is quickly being replaced by panic.

He takes
me by the arm and out the door for a little privacy, ‘I have to go see a man about a dog.” He rubs his hands over his head I reach to touch is swollen eye. He lays his head into the palm of my hand, ‘please understand when I get home I will fill in the blanks.”

“
There are a lot of blanks Leo.” Searching his face for some sort of understanding all I see is regret and compassion.

“I know but I have to
finish this.” His sullen eyes tell me it pains him to send me off with someone other than him. He sighs, ‘please Avery go so I can do my job.”

“Okay,’ I lean up on my toes and place a kiss on his nose, ‘be careful and Leo I love you.”

He takes me by my shoulders and leans his forehead down to mine, ‘thinking about you is going to get me killed.” He drops his hands and turns as Beeker and Eno gather me up and take me to a waiting vehicle.

I stumble on my feet and watch as Leo
’s large body disappears around the frame of the door.

“Come on Avery.” The sympathy in Eno’s voice brings me to tears, ‘he will be fine. He is one of the best agents I have ever known.” God bless Eno
and his attempt to make me feel somewhat better about the whole fucked up situation.

****