Dangerous Beauty: Part Three: This is War (11 page)

He smiled.

“You have your strengths and I have mine. The baby and I need you just as much as you need us. Going through this alone would be terrifying, Gabe. Believe it or not, having you here makes me feel … safe,” Carter said truthfully. She didn’t even want to think about how she would have gotten through this mess without Gabriel. It would have been so much harder.

Gabe surprised Carter by lifting her into a tight hug. Squealing, Carter giggled when he twirled her around. “I’m glad I make you feel safe. You make me feel that way, too. You’re already a good sister, Carter.”

“Well, give it a little more time,” she laughed.

Gabe placed her feet on the floor and gazed at her with the same awe he had when they’d first laid eyes on each other.

“This is still too good to be true. It can’t be this easy. What if something else bad happens?” He took her hand in his. “I know that I’ve just met you, but I already care about what happens to you … and the baby.”

Wrapping her arms around his waist, Carter gave his back a comforting pat before she rested her head against his chest. “Don’t you think you’ve been through enough, Gabriel? From what you told me, it sounds like nothing other than bad things have been happening to you lately. Don’t you think it’s finally time for some good?”

Gabriel gave her a brief squeeze. “Yeah, I guess so. Come on, we should go. This castle is big, we need to do your little search and get out of here, before Silas and Aziz get back.”

Nodding, Carter cocked her gun and lifted it while walking slowly toward the door. Outside of the door, she checked for any type of danger before signaling for her brother to come out of the room. Gabe rolled his eyes and strolled into the hallway right past Carter. She tried to grab him but he’d already walked past.

“Gabe, what the hell? Stay with me,” Carter whispered.

Gabe pursed his lips. “Why the hell are you whispering, Carter? Nobody’s here.”

“We don’t know that!”

“Will you stop it,” he said through a chuckle. “And put that gun down. You said you would only kill if you had to. Why don’t you just use some of those fierce fighting moves you used before you killed Scott Flanagan? Then no one will have to die.”

Carter rolled her eyes. “Fine, but if things get too bad I’m shooting. Until then,” she lifted the gun in show of surrender, “I’ll be good and put it—”

Right when she was about to put her weapon away, she heard two people—one male and one female—coming their way. It sounded like they were arguing about something. Carter placed a firm hand against Gabe’s chest to stop him. She brought her finger to her lips, telling him to be silent. It sounded like the male and female were arguing about Silas.

Carter frowned.

“I told you it wouldn’t work,” the male said. “Father still won’t even see us!”

“And whose fault is that?” the woman yelled. “You’re the one that ruined the only mission he’d ever trusted us with!”

“I ruined it? You were supposed to be watching her that day remember?”

“Yes, Cole, I do. It was the day you felt her distancing herself from your
fake
relationship. You wanted to propose to our damn sister!”

“Half-sister, Lucretzia! I had to do what I had to do to keep her with me.”

“That was the problem, Cole. That’s why father hates us. You got caught up; you fell in love with her. The moment she gave you her virginity, you lost all power and influence. She ran the show, and she got away from you.”

“Correction, Lucretzia, she got away from
us
. We were supposed to be doing it together. You should have had my back.”

They came around the corner arguing and didn’t even notice Gabe and Carter standing in the hallway watching them.

“And you should have never fucked her!” Lucretzia spat. “You couldn’t control yourself? Was the sex
that
good?”

“No, it wasn’t,” Carter said.

Startled, Cole and Lucretzia released a loud gasp and stopped walking. They looked at both Carter and Gabe in shock before reaching for the guns at their sides.

Carter lifted her gun quickly. “I don’t think so,” she stated, stopping them. “For kicks, how about the both of you lift your hands in the air.”

They did as she said with scowls on their faces.

“What the fuck?” Cole said.

Carter smiled at the sick, perverted piece of shit smugly. She was going to enjoy this particular kill. This lying motherfucker was about to pay the price for his sins against Carter. From the moment she’d seen him on the street in New York, Carter had felt betrayed. When she found out that he’d coerced her into a sexual relationship with him, even though he knew they were siblings, she felt downright violated. Henr—
Cole
, must die.

As soon as she felt the chilling thrill at the thought of Cole’s blood make a slow creep through her body, she remembered what Gabe had said in the office. Killing could easily become an addiction for her … okay, she was pretty sure it already had.

Dammit! Killing is your last resort, a means to survival, Carter. You can’t let it become an addiction.
She recited the words to herself over and over again until she was able calm her inner killer, and think rationally.

Okay
, maybe she wasn’t going to kill the guy, but she was at least going to beat him to a bloody pulp.

“How did you get out?” Lucretzia asked frantically. “Where’s father?”

“Your father ran away like the little bitch he is,” Carter said with a shrug. “Why are you two still here?”

The woman’s jaw clenched. “We were looking for our father you fucking whore. We didn’t think we’d run into his two little mistakes!” she spat.

Carter chuckled, poking out her lips in a fake pout. “Jealous much? Are you mad because your daddy pays more attention to us than he does to you and your brother?”

Carter stared into her dark eyes and watched as anger masked her face. She could tell that the two had the same mother. Lucretzia had the same exotic features as her brother. Caramel-colored skin and striking Asian features, which Carter knew now, came from their mother.

“You little slut!”

“Calm down, Lucretzia,” Cole said. He lowered his hands and locked eyes with Carter. “Caterpillar,” he said with a sigh as if he were annoyed with her, “put the gun down. It’s me.”

He extended his arms as if he expected Carter to come running to him.

Carter frowned. “Who the fuck are you?” she asked.

He rolled his eyes. “You’re being childish. Let’s just talk about this. You’re upset with me because I betrayed you.”

He spoke to her as if she were a simple-minded weakling. Carter now remembered that he’d always talked to her in that same tone back in St. Louis and she hated it. When Henry had found her, she wasn’t in the best of shape and he reveled in that. He’d lied to her, made her think he was a nice Christian boy, and treated her like she was an idiot. Carter hated herself for letting him talk to her the way he had when they were together. She’d never told his stupid ass off because she thought she owed him her life. Now she knew she didn’t owe him shit but a thorough ass whoopin’.

“Fuck you, Henry!” Carter yelled for the first time ever and it felt damn good. So many times Carter had wanted to yell
“Fuck you!”
at the know-it-all motherfucker and now she finally had the chance to tell him off.

“I never loved your stupid ass,” she spat. “The best day of my life was when I got away from you. I’m glad you left that night because it gave me a chance to get my shit and catch the first plane out of that hell hole.”

Cole frowned. “You don’t mean that, Caterpillar.”

“I’m not your fucking caterpillar, Henry. I hated that name then, and I hate it even more now. And since I’m on the subject of what I hated, I hated the way you used to follow me around. You were so fucking desperate, and when I finally gave in to your pathetic ass you hurt me. However, I convinced myself that it was beautiful because you told me you loved me. I was so stupid and naïve then, but no more. You want to know why we barely had sex? It’s because I couldn’t stand being touched by you. Everything you did to me made me want to vomit! The sex was horrible, and your dick is the size of my damn pinky. These gave me more pleasure than you ever did,” she said, holding up two fingers. “I never should have given myself to you. You were nothing but a huge disappointment. You know what, as a matter of fact,” she lifted the gun and pointed it at his face, “you’re fired from being my first. I just decided that it didn’t count. The man that gets the title as my first is the first man that gave me an orgasm.” She smiled wickedly. “And that crown goes to Nathan Salerno, you little bitch.”

Rage filled Cole’s dark eyes and he shot forward toward Carter. She smirked and tossed the gun aside as she lunged forward, meeting him halfway. The first punch was for every time he made her feel stupid, the second was for the dumbass nickname. The five uppercuts, knee to the gut, balls, and face were for the few times she’d allowed him to have sex with her, and the series of forceful kicks to the face and body were just because it felt
damn good
to kick his ass.

She heard Lucretzia scream, and Carter had expected her to attack, but she never did. As a matter of fact, after a moment, her screaming had stopped and the only sound in the hallway was the sound of Cole’s wails of pain. Soon Carter stopped and took a step back, both tired and satisfied with the beating she’d given her ex-boyfriend.

“You should leave now,” Gabe said, nodding toward Lucretzia. “Let’s not wait for things to get worse.”

Lucretzia frantically ran over to her brother and pulled him away as quickly as she could while simultaneously screaming, telling them to get out of the castle.

Walking over to pick up her gun, Carter stuffed it in the side pocket of her backpack and grabbed Gabe’s hand, not even looking back at him. She stormed down the hallway with her brother.

“Now I’ll put the gun away and be good,” she said.

Gabe surprised her and burst into laughter. Carter couldn’t help it, she joined in. She was happy to see that although Gabe didn’t share her homicidal side, he did have a dark sense of humor like her.

~*~

“I didn’t see anything but the black doors. I don’t understand what Aziz was talking about.”

Carter continued to look through the huge chain of keys, searching for the key that opened the south basement. They’d searched the whole castle and came up with nothing. Neither of them had any idea what Aziz was talking about when he’d mentioned Carter might find
‘something else’
that she wasn’t supposed to.

“I don’t know either,” Gabe said. “Let’s just go, Carter. I don’t want to be in this castle anymore.”

Carter nodded in reply, and smiled when she finally found the key. She was ready to get out, too. They needed to get to Rashid, so that he could help them get anywhere other than here.

When Carter opened the door, she was met with darkness.

“Be careful on these stairs, Carter. There are a ton of them. Slowly feel for each one. I remember that they are easy to fall down, and it’s a long drop,” Gabe whispered. “The south basement is a narrow tunnel. There are cells holding some of Silas’s prisoners down here, not slaves. This is where he keeps members of his family when he punishes them.”

“Punishes them?”

“Yes. He does this to make them fear him. How do you think he stays in power?”

Snorting in disgust, Carter felt for the first step. “This Silas guy has a weird way of thinking. It’s like he doesn’t function in reality.”

“He doesn’t, but he lives in luxury and he offers it to all that follow him. The Steeles are like some kind of twisted cult. I didn’t fit in at all. Sometimes Silas looked at me like I was such a horrible disappointment, like it hurt him to look at me. It didn’t make me feel too good about myself.”

Carter frowned. “Yeah, I know the feeling.”

“It doesn’t matter anymore, though. I’m out of this bitch and I’m not coming back. There are a few things I want to do when I get out of here, too. Like eat McDonalds, buy a cell phone, meet people to call on the cell phone …”

Carter laughed.

“And I can’t forget sex. It’s been so damn long since I’ve had sex … with anybody other than myself that is.”

“Ewww! TMI,” Carter laughed. “And here I was thinking you were a virgin.”

“I haven’t been a virgin since I was fourteen, Carter.”

Carter continued to move slowly down the stairs into the dark basement. “But you were so young,” she said.

“Young and incredibly horny. I’m still young and horny. I haven’t had sex in three years.”

Frowning, Carter stopped walking. “But you’d been down there for eight,” she said, turning to face him.

He chuckled. “Silas sent servants down to clean three times a week. He’d lock them down there with me for about four hours. For a while there was one, his name was Johan. He was taken from London, which is where I used to live as a young boy. I moved here with Silas when I was nine and he was ready to teach me how to run this … bullshit. Anyway, Johan and I became friends, and it just sort of … became something more.”