Beyond Revenge (The Ransom Series) (7 page)

“That wasn’t really her,” I assure
him.  “She wore those dresses and went to Mark’s business meetings because she
felt she had to.  She wanted to make herself useful to Mark to ensure her
survival, but it was
mostly an
act.  She enjoyed the
rush she got from it, but she wasn’t really like that.”  I remember what Robert
said about not giving up on her, so I correct myself.  “I mean, she isn’t really
like that.”

Robert lets go of the dresses, looking
up at me with a sad but knowing smile.  “She had her reasons for choosing this
life.”

What he’s really saying is she had me,
and she sacrificed everything for me.

I look away from Robert, unable to meet
his gaze again, and busy myself with filling
the rest of the
trash bag
of papers
with
some of
my clothes from the room.  I ignore the small part of my brain that
thinks if I look up I’ll see Morgan sleeping soundly on the bed.  It takes
every bit of willpower I have not to look for her
there
.

I move to the door, turning around to
take one last look at the place where my love for Morgan grew
stronger
and
blossomed into something beautiful
. 
I’m ready to move on
from here
.  I’m ready to get the
hell out of this place and back out into the world to find her.

His Perseverance

∞

I’ve only seen
pieces of him.

His past is
unknown to me

held by him in
darkness.

But I know of his
will to live,

to move forward.

I hold that with
me now,

tightly to my
chest.

He lived a similar
hell and survived.

He persevered.

As will I.

∞

Three weeks.  It’s been three weeks
since my skin last met with Leo’s.  I don’t even need a method of marking the
time.  It’s all I think about.  Every painstaking day I’ve been apart from him
etches into my brain
,
forming a permanent, scarred
record there.

I have something new think about as I
sit
alone on the bed in this suffocating basement
, something that
will force its way into my thoughts more and more as the weeks and months press
on.

I’m late.

The process has begun.

Life has been created within me.

I hug my pillow to my chest, staring at
the
edge
of the red and gold area rug that covers the
cement floor beneath the bed I’m sitting on.  It was no surprise to me when my
period never came last week, but my mind is still having trouble processing the
implications of
it
.  I have no idea what to expect or
how to react.  I don’t know the first thing about pregnancy or giving birth or
caring for a baby.  I should be in college right now, going out into the world
to find myself and learn and explore the next phase of my life.

Instead I’m stuck here, nurturing the
life growing inside me, creating a child for a madman.

A child that may not even be his.

Mark was elated when I told him I was
late.  I was elated because it meant he stopped visiting me for his evil purpose. 
He has kept his hands off me since I told him of my development, and the
majority of the few days since then I’ve spent crying into my pillow, expunging
all my sadness but also coming to terms with my new reality.  It gave me time
to think about Leo, to remember that he is still out in the world somewhere.

He suffered at the hands of Mark’s
mental and physical abuse for years
,
and he survived. 
The way he persevered has become an inspiration to me.  I want to emerge from
this like him, stronger and wiser and ready to take on the whole fucking
world.  I want to be the phoenix rising from the ashes just like the beautiful tattoo
that covers Leo’s back.

I will survive, for him, and for this
baby.

I almost cringe as the door handle
turns but breathe a sigh of relief when Jack walks in.  I haven’t seen him in
over
a week
, since the last time Mark had him check on how well my
wounds were healing.

Jack smiles briefly at me.  “How are
you, Morgan?”

He’s carrying keys and a small box with
him.  I know exactly what
’s in
that box.

“I’m okay,” I say
quietly
.  There should be more excitement in me at seeing the only other
man besides Leo who has shown kindness toward me since I was taken months ago,
but I can’t manage more than a half-smile.

Jack
sets the box on the floor
before b
end
ing
down beside me and
work
ing
a key into the handcuff on my wrist, releasing
it.  “I have some good news, just in time for Christmas.”

I stare blankly at the man.  My mindset has so fully
changed in these last few horrifying weeks that something as simple and normal
as celebrating a holiday seems completely foreign to me now.

Jack doesn’t seem to notice my vacant stupor and
continues on with his news.  “
Mark’s going to let me spend
more time with you.”

When
Jack’s words pierce through
my numb state and muddled brain,
I immediately throw my
freed
arms around
his
neck.  I hug him
there, holding back the hot tears that are burning holes in the back of my
eyes.

“Jack.” 
My voice trembles. 
My brain can’t seem to put words together into sentences.

He holds me, letting me cling to him
like a child clinging to her grandfather.
 
“You’re
okay, sweetheart.  I’m here.  I’ll get to be here more.”

His words are comforting, and I should
be happy to hear them, but I’m still on the verge of losing it.  I turn to
thoughts of Leo, remembering what he would tell me to do. 
Breathe.  Just
breathe, Morgan
.

So I do.  I take three deep breaths and
calm the emotions overtaking my body.  I regain control and pull back from
Jack’s embrace.
 
“How did you convince him? 
Why
do you get to spend more time with me?”

“He wants you to be happy.”

I laugh bitterly.  The irony in that
sentence makes me sick.  I know Jack’s just the messenger, but I can barely look
at him.

He grasps my hands between us.  “Morgan…”
 
My stubbornness wins out for just a little longer
,
but I finally give in and look him in the eyes.
 
“He’s not going to lay a finger on you now.  You realize that,
right?  You’re carrying precious cargo.  You’re the most important thing to him
now, and he won’t risk that by beating you or forcing himself on you.”

I don’t know how to react, so I just
nod.  I’ve just been told that the seemingly endless nightmare that started the
moment Russo and his men separated me from Leo is coming to a partial end, and
all I can do is nod.

This is how numb I’ve become.

“Mark and I are on the same page about
this,” Jack continues.  “The less stress and strain on you, the better it will
be for the baby.  It’s in everyone’s
best interests
for you to be as happy as you can be in this situation, and that’s why I’m
here.”

My lips curve upward just slightly.  “It
does make me happy to have you here.”  I think about what this means for a
moment and come to a sad realization.  “He wants you to keep an eye on me
though, doesn’t he?  He’s afraid I’ll do something to myself or the baby.”

Jack’s face remains impassive, his
voice silent.  It’s all the confirmation I need.

“I’m not going to do anything,” I
assure him.  “I’m not like Mark.  I don’t destroy the innocent for my own
benefit.”

Jack gives me an understanding look
mixed with something else.  He looks like he feels sorry for me, but I don’t
want his pity.

“He wants me to take the test, doesn’t
he?” I ask,
motioning
to the box Jack left on the
floor.

He nods with a sigh as he picks up the
box.  He opens it and hands the pregnancy test stick to me still in its
wrapper.  “Just to be sure.”

It seems a pointless venture, but I get
up and take the test with me to the small bathroom that is
connected to
th
e
basement room.  I close the door
behind me, taking a moment to breathe before I unwrap the test and remove the
cap on the end of it.

By the time I’m done and emerge from
the bathroom
,
I feel
like
a
completely different person than the girl who was here just minutes before.  My
hand is shaking as I offer the test to Jack.

There are no lines or
crosses
.  No code to be deciphered.  It says it there in plain English,
clear as day.

Pregnant.

Jack nods reluctantly and puts the test
back in the box before taking me up in his arms.  The tears I kept restrained
before fall freely from me now.  I deserve this cry, and I let myself give in
to every single tear, letting it all out of me at once so I can focus on being
stronger afterward.

“Okay,” I say, pulling back and
stepping away.  I wipe away the last of my tears on my sleeve.  “I’m okay
now.”  I take a seat on the bed to keep myself from pacing the room nervously. 
I need to relax.  I need a distraction.

Jack sits next to me on the bed, leaning
forward to put the pregnancy test on the floor out of my sight before resting
his elbows on his knees.

“How long can you stay?” I ask, fearful
that our time is already up.

“As long as you need.”

I breathe a heavy sigh of relief. 
“Just stay with me for a
while?”

He smiles and nods.  “Of course.”

My hands twist
and turn
anxiously within each other’s grasp in my lap.  Jack’s presence
helps alleviate some of my nerves, but Leo’s the one who would truly keep me
calm if he were here.  Maybe talking about him will give me the same effect.
 
“How long have you known Leo?”

“Since he was just a boy
.  Since
the day Mark took him in like his own son.”

“You saw him the day his family was
killed?”

Jack
diverts his gaze
from me, his hands
in his lap
becoming a
convenient distraction.  “Yes.  He had a bullet in his arm.  That was the first
of many injuries I treated for Leo.”

I remember the story Leo told me of
that awful day when he was only eight years old. 
Armed men showed
up at his home, killing his father
,
who
was
high-ranking on
Mark’s crew
,
and
killing his mother.  He was shot in the arm
,
but Mark
showed up and saved him, taking him under his protection from that day forward
even though the truth was that Mark ordered the deaths of Leo’
s
parents.  Leo grew up living a lie with Mark, the man who
did
more to hurt Leo than help him during the time up until my dad put Mark in
prison.

“Mark did it,” I say quietly.  “He had Leo’s parents
killed.”

Remorse and sorrow show openly on every aspect of Jack’s
face.  “I never got the truth out of Mark, but I suspected as much.”

“Did you know what was happening
between Mark and Leo all those years?”

“I was blind to it, or maybe in denial
of it, for a few years before I realized what was happening.  I
knew
Mark most of my life and could hardly believe that he would do
such horrible things to a young boy.  I confronted Leo about it when he was
twelve, but he told me to let it be.  He didn’t want me to intervene.”

“Why would he do that?  Those were the
worst years of his life, and he just let them happen?”  I’m dumbfounded by the
thought of it.  Jack could have helped.  He could have at least talked to Mark,
worked some sense into him,
done
anything to stop the
slow destruction of
the
young boy
Mark
was supposed to be caring for.

Jack seems uncomfortable, almost
reluctant to continue the conversation
, but he keeps talking
.
 
“Did Leo ever tell you about Stella?”

I know that name, but not from a
conversation with Leo.  Stella was Mark’s daughter, the innocent girl waiting
outside her home when Mark’s enemies rammed a truck into her, killing her
instantly.  Mark’s wife Elise saw it all
happen
and
committed suicide only days later.

Mark was in prison at the time.  Of
course he blamed the man who put him
there
for
preventing him from protecting his family.  That man was my dad, and once Mark
got out of prison
,
he enacted his plan for revenge: my
kidnapping and ransom to set the stage for me to choose Leo and Mark’s criminal
organization over my own family and former life, followed by Mark stealing me
away from Leo to create his own new family, to provide him an heir to his
empire.

“Mark told me about Stella, not Leo.”

Jack stares at me, seeming surprised by
my answer.  “Perhaps I shouldn’t have said anything, then.”

I’ve never had the feeling that Jack
was holding back or not being truthful with me until now.  He’s the only person
I can trust in my current situation, and I need him to be honest with me.  “What
is it, Jack?  Please tell me.”

He sighs and shifts uncomfortably on
the
bed
.  I fear
that
I’m
losing him, that he’ll get up and walk right out that door, but he turns to me
calmly instead.
 
“When I confronted Leo about what I
suspected Mark was doing to him and he told me stay out of it, I pressed him to
understand the very question you asked.  Why?  Why not get out when I was
giving him the opportunity?”  He pauses, lowering his voice.  “Leo
wasn’t
Mark’s first victim.  Before Leo came along, Stella was Mark’s
focus for abuse.  She was only two years younger than Leo, and they quickly
became close friends when Leo was brought into their home.  It didn’t take long
for Leo to realize what Mark was doing to Stella, so he did things to take the
focus away from her.  He put the bull’s-eye right on himself for Mark to fire
at, and he did.  For years he did just that, and Leo wouldn’t let me stop it
because he knew that if he left, Mark would hurt Stella again.  If we tried to
get Stella out, too, Mark never would have stopped looking for her.  Leo wanted
her to have as normal of a life as possible.  That’s why he took Mark’s abuse
all those years.”