Freed (Bad Boy Hitman Romance) (15 page)

She stepped up to me and jabbed her index finger into the center of my chest. “I was locked in a fucking room, shitting in a bucket for two days! I, for one, am plenty ready for it to end.”

I allowed her to vent. It was more cute than annoying, not to mention, even though I’d just fucked her, my dick was aching to be inside of her again. Replying in an eerily calm voice I said, “I think you just need to get over that.”

She pulled herself up to her full height, her eyes narrowing at me. I’d pushed her to her limit. I waited for her to make her next move. It took so long I was starting to think she wouldn’t give me the satisfaction of retaliation. Then out of nowhere, she hauled off and slugged me in the stomach. I wasn’t sure what surprised me more--the punch to my midsection, or the fact that despite her size, she packed a wallop.

I grunted and doubled over.

Chapter 14

Rebecca

That’ll teach him. If he thought he could humiliate me, he had another thing coming! I went into the living room and plunked myself down on the sofa, grabbing the remote from the coffee table. I wanted to chuck the remote at his smug face.

He’d better watch himself, or he’d wake up with a pillow over his face. If, of course, he allowed that to happen. Anger continued to bubble within me.

“Okay, what is it that you want?” Kyle asked as he rounded the sofa and plunked himself down beside me. I opened my mouth to respond, and he raised his index finger shushing me. “Besides freedom or my head on a silver platter. Because if I were to be honest with you, if something happens to me, and you escape, there will always be someone coming for you. So unless you don’t mind running for the rest of your life, it’s too late to turn back now.”

“Okay, what’s so important about me? Just quit it with the cloak and dagger bullshit. Let’s get down to the nitty gritty of it.”

His eyes surveyed me as I waited for his response.

“Well, fuck you.” I turned back to the television and flicked it on, and then began scrolling through the channels before eventually turning on Netflix.

“Turn the television off.”

I gave him the finger, selecting an Adam Sandler movie from the list and pressing play. I wasn’t surprised when Kyle reached across me and snatched the remote from my fingertips. Turning off the television, he sat waiting for me to acknowledge him.

I made him wait a minute before turning in my seat and facing him. “All right. What do you want?”

Hunger flickered in his eyes, and I groaned inwardly. “Besides fucking me again. What is it your people are after?” I asked the question even though I was pretty sure I knew already.

Kyle draped his arm across the back of the sofa and smiled. “All right. It’s as simple as this. We want to know where your sister and her boyfriend Tanner are.”

“Why would you want my sister? My sister is the biggest goody-goody you could ever meet. The perfect church girl.”

“We don’t want your sister, not exactly.”

I nodded. “Tanner. I see.” If I knew where they were, I’d have happily given up the information, but I didn’t. I just couldn’t let Kyle know that, not yet anyhow. Him thinking I knew where they were was the only thing keeping me alive at this moment.

“What did they do? Why do you want them?”

He leaned forward and ran his index finger along my jaw. I was tempted to bite it, but didn’t. Damned good thing it wasn’t his dick. Despite my anger, his touch still sent shivers through me. I couldn’t help there was still a physical attraction. Regardless of how horrible of a human being he was, he could still give me pleasure, so he was at least somewhat useful.

“Your turn to talk. Give a little and get a little, baby.”

“Hmm. See here’s the problem though. Once I tell you what I know, you’ll no longer have use for me. What stops you from killing me after that?” I shook my head. “I at least want answers before I take that risk.”

“Oh baby.” He lowered his hand from my lip and to my thigh. Slowly, he moved his hand up my inner thigh and under the loose leg of the pair of boxers. I inhaled deeply as his hand got closer and closer to the apex between my legs. By the time his fingertips were an inch away, I was uncomfortably wet. “I will always have a use for you.”

Just when I thought he was about to slip his digits into me, he pulled his hand away and sat back. I released the breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding, making him grin. Even though he was smiling, I could see it took a fair amount of willpower to pull his hand away.

“Okay. Fine. I’ll give a bit more. Where do you want me to start?”

“Who are you?”

His grin widened. “I told you.”

“So Kyle is your real name?”

He nodded. “My real name. I’m indeed from a wealthy family who runs a very profitable business. I work for my father, hopefully not for long, but for now, that’s how it is.”

“What kind of business?” Pulling my knees up, I hugged them to my chest, propping my head on my knees. Knowledge was power and I was hoping I could get as much information as possible from him before he caught on and put a stop to my questions.

“We do a lot of things.”

He was being deliberately coy, attempting to draw me in. “Like?”

“Firearms smuggling. Drugs. Trafficking. If it’s illegal, we do it.”

“You mean human trafficking?”

He nodded.

I chewed at my lower lip as I processed the information. I should have been appalled. Normal people would be. But it didn’t affect me, I felt nothing. Okay, well, maybe now it was affecting me, but up until I met Kyle, it wasn’t something that had a factor on my life. As callas as that sounds, it was true. Staring into Kyle’s eyes, I could see he expected my response, which was cold detachment from the topic.

“So what do you do for this company your father runs?”

He shrugged spreading his hands out. “I retrieve people.”

“Like girls?”

He slowly shook his head. “No. I don’t kidnap women and train them for export if that’s what you’re asking. I seek out people my father’s organization is looking for and deal with the issue.”

“So, I’m an issue?”

His eyes grew cold, and he slowly nodded. “You’re a big issue in my father’s eyes. And if it weren’t for me, you’d already be shipped back home and in the hands of a man far worse than I could ever be.”

I got angry all over again. “So, I’m supposed to be
thanking
you, is that it?”

“If you knew what would happen to you in the hands of my co-worker, you would be on your knees sucking me off and pledging your everlasting love and devotion.”

I could see from his expression he was dead serious. Before he abducted me, I’d always felt like he was holding something back, as if he were wearing a mask
 
I could only partially penetrate. But now, everything was clear. All his thoughts and emotions – or lack thereof in regards to emotions.

“Sorry to be ungrateful,” I said, sarcasm dripping from my tone. Instead of anger, I saw amusement dancing in his eyes.

“You’re forgiven. Now let’s get back on track. Hit me with your questions.”

“Okay, how do you know what happened to my father?”

“Because my associates helped stage the crime scene.”

“Do you know who killed my father?”

He slowly nodded his head, his expression smug.

“So the mugging, that was all a set-up?”

When he nodded a second time, I screamed
I knew it
in my head. Coming off of my sister being kidnapped, it had made zero sense. Why the police couldn’t see what I clearly could was beyond infuriating.

I leaned forward. “Was it my sister? Did she kill him? Or was it that asshole she took off somewhere with?” As soon as the words came out of my mouth, I cringed inwardly. I hoped he didn’t read very far into my words.

I wasn’t to be so lucky.

It was his turn to lean forward as he eyed me with suspicion, as if searching my brain for confirmation of the answer I’d unwittingly given him already. I expected him to question me on it, but he didn’t. Instead, he leaned back against the sofa.

But - he knew and I knew he knew.

After what seemed like an eternity, he spoke, “Do you know what your father enjoyed doing when away from the limelight? His secret passion?”

I shook my head. “What are you talking about?” Despite my words, there was something in the back of my brain that knew exactly what he was talking about – I just didn’t know it yet.

Kyle laughed, as he stared so deeply into my eyes it made me uncomfortable. “Have you ever heard of the Proverbs 31 Killer?”

It took me a moment, but random recollections and news reports came to me. When I thought a moment longer, I believe he was mentioned in one of my criminology classes. “Some serial killer. Murdered women leaving his mark on their chest. I vaguely recall hearing stories of him.”

Kyle’s expression became unreadable, and it started to sink in.

Memories, so many memories came crashing in around me – as vivid as if they were yesterday. It was like a floodgate which had been tightly held in place had broken open. “Holy fuck!”

Chapter 15

18 years ago

Rebecca

“Daddy?” I called out into the night air. Where did he go? Opening the car door, I slid out of the car. He said he’d only be a minute. It seemed like a lot of minutes had gone by.

I yawned. Balling my hands into fists, I rubbed my eyes. It was bedtime, so why wasn’t I home, snug in bed yet?

Looking back at the comfy back seat of the car, I thought about getting back in. I really wanted to go to sleep. But noise coming from the small building my dad had gone into caught my attention again.

I’d go get daddy, and we’d go home. Then I’d get into my own bed instead of a stupid car. Deciding that was what I was going to do for sure, I slowly made my way towards the building.

It was creepy outside. It was dark, and the only light was from the moon and a light flickering in the window of the tiny house. Maybe it wasn’t a house. I stopped walking towards the building and gave it a good look over. No, it wasn’t a house. It was a…

SHED!

That’s what it was, a shed. I smiled, proud of myself for remembering the word.

“Daddy,” I called out.

Still no response. It was pretty windy outside, so maybe he couldn’t hear me. Daddy had told me to stay in the car. He’d been very serious.

I stopped walking and looked back at the car again. Maybe I should go back. If I went to find him, he’d be angry. Really angry. But maybe not. Maybe he got hurt? Maybe daddy needed me?

“Daddy,” I called again as I approached the door.
  
As I reached for the door handle, I heard a scream. My whole body froze in terror. Who was screaming? Why was she screaming?

Oh no! Daddy!

I didn’t give it any more thought. Opening the door, I ran in, and the first thing my eyes fell on was a steel table in the center of the room with woman with no clothes on laying on it. She was screaming, and her screaming hurt my ears, so I put my hands over them to try and stop the sound. My eyes widened as I stared at her and my daddy standing over her.

“Daddy?” I looked up at my father, and he stared down at me. He didn’t say anything at first.

Was he mad at me for leaving the car?

“Who is that, daddy?”

I took a step into the little room and then another.

A smile spread across his lips, and he somehow looked different to me. I don’t know why, but he looked like daddy, but kinda didn’t.

“Come here sweetheart…” Instead of yelling at me, he motioned for me to come closer.

I wasn’t sure. “What are you doing?” I took a couple steps and saw
 
there was lots of red stuff on her.

The woman lifted her head from the table and started to open her mouth, but my dad put his hand over her lips and made her put her head back down. She was trying to say something or maybe scream some more, I wasn’t sure.

“Come here, Rebecca.” He motioned to me with his other hand, but it had a knife in it. You weren’t supposed to play with knives, because you could get hurt or hurt someone else. I was told that many times. Daddy shouldn’t be playing with this lady with knives.

“Rebecca!” he used the stern voice, and I ran to his side, putting my arms around his waist and holding onto him. I didn’t understand what was going on.

“Don’t you touch anything, okay?”

“Yes, daddy.” That was a big rule for me. No touching other people’s stuff until told I could touch. “What are you doing, Daddy?”

“Do you know what a proverbs 31 woman is, honey?”

I nodded. “Yes, Daddy.”

“Okay, what is it honey?”

“It’s a woman, like Mommy.”

“And what is Mommy?”

“A good and du- du- ” I frowned. I couldn’t remember the last part.

“Come on, honey. You can remember.”

With his coaching, the words came to me. “A good and dutiful wife. A woman who cares for her husband and family above everything else.”

My father’s smile returned, larger than ever. “Very good, honey.” He turned back to the woman on the table who was struggling against his hand and the things around her arms and legs. She was trying to escape.

“Is she a proverbs 31 woman, daddy?”

My father’s expression became dire, and he shook his head. “No, she’s not honey, and so she needs to be punished.”

I scrunched my nose up at him. “Punished. Like going to her room?”

He nodded. “Sort of. See, women like her need to be punished in a very special way. They need to be used as a sacrifice so other women will know their place. Do you understand?”

I nodded, but I really didn’t understand.

“Are you scared Rebecca? Do you feel bad for this woman?”

This was a hard question… I was supposed to feel bad… I think. The lady on the table was sad, very sad and scared. I should feel sad too. My sister would feel sad when she watched some movies. I never got sad. Not really.

After a moment of consideration, I shook my head. “I don’t know her daddy. Should I feel bad?”

When he looked down at me again, I saw pride in his eyes and expression. He seemed so happy by my answer. I was happy he was happy. “No sweetheart. You shouldn’t.” He turned towards the woman. “Back away honey. There is something I have to do, and it will be messy.”

The lady on the table began to thrash. She was trying to scream, but my daddy’s hand kept her quiet. He reached up and plunged the knife into her. I jumped back when I saw the blood. Daddy would be mad if I got my clothes dirty. After a minute, the lady stopped moving. Then daddy marked on her with the knife. I don’t know what it said, because the table was way too tall for me to see onto it.

“Go out to the car. I’ll only be a minute, honey.” Daddy smiled at me again, and I nodded.

“Yes, Daddy.” I left the shed and got back into the car. Getting in, I settled into my car seat. I was a big girl. I don’t know why I was stuck still using a car seat. My sister didn’t have to sit in one. That wasn’t fair. Car seats were for babies! I was four, almost five, I wasn’t a baby anymore.

I was almost asleep when I heard my father get behind the steering wheel. “Are you all done?”

He turned around in the seat and looked directly into my eyes. “For now. We need to have a little talk though, okay?”

I nodded.

“Are you a big girl?”

I nodded again.

“Okay, I believe you. We need to have a big girl talk.”

“Okay, daddy. Is the lady all right?”

He smiled. “She’s in a different place now.”

“Oh.” I didn’t know what that meant. I think he meant heaven, but I didn’t want to ask because I was a big girl, and this was a big girl talk.

“What happened in there didn’t frighten you?”

I shook my head. “No, Daddy.”

“How do you feel now? Are you feeling sad now that the lady is gone?”

“No, Daddy. I don’t know that lady.”

He smiled and nodded.

Daddy seemed happy with me, so I decided to ask a question
 
I’d been thinking about for a little while. “Is there something wrong with me?”

He cocked his head to the side and eyed me. He looked concerned.

“Emily would be sad for the lady. Emily is sad a lot. Mommy too. They get sad when they watch some movies on TV. And they get scared too. And they’re always worried they might hurt people’s feelings. But I don’t feel like them. I pretend I do, sometimes. I pretend really good, and they believe me. But I don’t.”

I paused my confession to judge his reaction. I hoped he wouldn’t think I was weird.

“Is there something wrong with me?”

He shook his head and smiled again. Reaching across the seats, he took my hand closest to him and gave it a squeeze. “No. Not at all. You’re special, Rebecca.”

“Special,” I echoed, sitting up a little straighter in my seat and grinning. “Why am I special?”

“You’re special because you’re just like me.”

“I am?” This made me really happy because Daddy was my favourite person in the whole wide world. Everyone loved my daddy. My daddy was a preacher and hundreds of people, more than hundreds, would come just to hear him talk! And they’d repeat stuff he said and do stuff he told them to.

“You are?”

“Is Mommy and Emily special?”

His smile faded, and he shook his head. “No, Rebecca. They are not. They’re not strong like you and me. They’re weak. That’s why they cry and why they want to make people happy.”

“Oh.” I mulled it over a moment, and my father let me. “Why am I special? We, I mean.”

“Because we’re superior. God has given us a gift that makes us very powerful.”

“Ohh.” I didn’t understand fully, but I kinda did.

“But we need to keep this a secret. Okay?”

I nodded.

He nodded his head towards the cabin. “What you saw in there is a secret, just you and me. A special club.”

I nodded with more enthusiasm this time. I loved the idea of being in a special club with my father, because we were better. He said so, so it must be true.

“And what I told you about being better, superior, you have to keep that a secret too, okay?”

I frowned. Why couldn’t I tell people?

As if reading my mind, he continued. “Normal people, inferior people, they don’t understand people like us. And they get jealous of us. So we have to pretend that we’re just like them.”

“Even though we know it’s not true.”

He nodded and smiled, giving my hand a squeeze. “You’re exactly right. Even if we know it’s not true. What’s important is that we know and that makes us powerful.”

“Okay.”